LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Phil Bauer didn’t win here at Churchill Downs this fall until the final race of the meet, but it sure was worth the wait.
Bauer sent out a first-time starter named Calmbeforethestorm to a visually impressive triumph in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race in the meet finale Sunday, with the colt overcoming a poor start to prevail by a length. Calmbeforethestorm, by Stormy Atlantic, was 20-1 on the morning line but paid $6.20 as the favorite in a field of 10 2-year-olds.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ken and Sarah Ramsey tied with Gary and Mary West for leading owner at the 24-day Churchill Downs meet with 12 wins each, allowing the Ramseys to extend their own Churchill record for the most meet titles by an owner to 23. It was the second Churchill title for the Wests. Either couple could have won the title outright in the 10th race Sunday, but Kitten’s Queen (Ramseys) ran third, and Flashy Gal (Wests) ran fourth.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bob Baffert wasn’t even here for closing weekend of the Churchill Downs fall meet, and yet he was most responsible for the racing memories that will linger through the long Kentucky winter.
Baffert not only won the annual fall highlight, the Grade 1 Clark Handicap, with Hoppertunity on Friday, but he also was represented by a 2-year-old whose victory on the Stars of Tomorrow card Saturday was so awe-inspiring that the colt drew the most backing among individual interests in the opening pool of the 2015 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The Belmont Child Care Association will hold its annual holiday event Saturday at Belmont Park, where children of backstretch workers will get to buy presents for their parents and siblings.
The event is held at the Turf and Field Club at Belmont Park from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – David Hinsley posted a training double on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, taking the opener with Hashtag Giddy Up ($9.20) and the ninth race with On the River ($19.20). Fan favorite Rosemary Homeister Jr. piloted On the River and received a warm round of applause as she returned to the winner’s circle. Homeister, who has finished second in the standings at Tampa twice during her career, had been absent since February 2011 when she stopped riding after becoming pregnant with her first child. Victoria Rose was born in August of that year.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – “Good luck and good racing!”
It’s a simple five-word phrase, but much like Tom Durkin’s “at the Spaaaaaaaa,” Richard Grunder’s trademark salute to the fans following the completion of his daily announcement of scratches and changes is completely unique and an indelible part of Tampa Bay Downs’s charm.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Leave the Light On and Frosted, the 1-2 finishers from Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, are heading to south Florida for the winter as their trainers plot out a campaign that each hopes ultimately gets his charge to the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Patrick Husbands took full advantage of Luis Contreras’s absence last week in the race for the Woodbine riding title, winning four races from Friday through Sunday to carry a 164-159 advantage into the meet’s final week. If Husbands can preserve his lead, he would snap Contreras’s streak of three straight Woodbine riding titles.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A pair of Woodbine trainers weren’t shy about trying their fillies against males in stakes races last weekend. Mark Casse and John Ross sent out the fillies Shez a Masterpiece and Brooklynsway to third- and fourth-place finishes in Saturday’s Coronation Futurity, and Casse also sent Queen’s Plate winner Lexie Lou out to a second-place finish behind Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Saturday.
