Kentucky Derby 2007 AD

[imaufo]

Kentucky Derby Contender for Fusaichi Pegasus

Mark Smith - Monday, February 05, 2007


http://www.racenet.com.au/Breeding/news_images/fusaichi-pegasus-web.gif


Fusaichi Pegasus looks to have unearthed a Kentucky Derby contender in Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's Ravel, a one-length winner of Saturday's $101,500 Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/images/ravel-benoit.jpg

The son of Fusaichi Pegasus made a big impression on his jockey, Garret Gomez.

"From the first time I sat on him and rode him in his maiden win, I had high hopes for him," Gomez said.

"He can get a little warm-blooded being by Fusaichi Pegasus, but today he was very professional."

Trained by Todd Pletcher's assistant Michael McCarthy, Ravel was facing the starter for just the third time in his career. Ravel made his debut in a 7-furlong maiden at Keeneland on October 11, finishing second to future stakes winner Teuflesberg (Johannesburg). He then crossed the continent to break his maiden with a 3 1/2-length romp at Hollywood Park on December 3.

McCarthy indicated the Santa Anita Derby on April 7 could be the next target for Ravel.

A $950,000 purchase at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Ravel has a pedigree well known in Australia.

His dam, the A.P. Indy mare Let, was a top-class performer on the track, winning seven of her 19 starts and almost $A1 million including the 1999 Churchill Downs Distaff Hcp. (G2) and was placed in the Gr 1 Ashland Stakes.

She is a half-sister to star Japanese colt Eagle Cafe a group 1 winner on turf and dirt who captured the NHK Mile Cup (G1) in 2000 and two years later added the Japan Cup Dirt (G1).

The family descends from the influential broodmare Native Partner, whose descendents include Independent stallions champion two-year-old Arazi (Blushing Groom) and Darley Stud’s champion miler Noverre (Rahy), as well as the Japanese champion Dance In The Dark ( the sire of Melbourne Cup hero Delta Blues), champion 3yo filly Dance Partner, and the multiple Gr 1 winner Dance In The Mood.

One of Native Partner’s foals who failed to make the grade as a racehorse was Serheed. He made up for his shortcomings on the track by leaving the champion Northerly.

Let has an unnamed two-year-old colt by Seeking the Gold and a yearling filly by Fusaichi Pegasus.


http://www.breednet.com.au/newsFS2006.asp?id=24231

[Gloryfication]

Challenge Stakes winner to start the Kentucky Derby





Greg Wood (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/gregwood)
The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian),
Friday September 19 2008
Article history (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/sep/19/horseracing2#history-byline)
European three-year-olds will be able to earn a guaranteed place in the field for the Kentucky Derby from next year, as the result of a ground-breaking agreement between Kempton Park and Churchill Downs racecourse, the home of America's most famous race.

A new race to be staged over nine furlongs at the Sunbury track on March 18 next year, the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes, will carry prize money of $150,000 (£82,000).

However, it will also have the potential to turn its winner into a history-maker, as the first horse home will have a guaranteed start in the 20-strong field for the Kentucky Derby on May 2, and will also qualify for a bonus of $100,000 (£55,000) simply by lining up for the Run for the Roses.

Until now, qualification for the Derby has always been based on a horse's earnings. Since America stages important three-year-old contests from early in the year, their horses have had more opportunities to make the grade, and European yards have been reluctant to travel to Kentucky in early May when they are not certain to get a run.

Arazi, who finished down the field at Churchill Downs in 1992 having run away with the previous year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, is the highest-profile European challenger in recent years, though Dr Devious, who won the Derby at Epsom a few weeks later, also ran in the same race.

The new race is the result of two years of planning, and should ensure that previous, half-hearted European interest in the Kentucky Derby will be replaced by serious contenders on almost an annual basis.

If nominated to run in the Kentucky Derby, the winner of the Kempton race will automatically receive an entry to the next two legs of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico two weeks after the Derby, and the Belmont Stakes in New York another three weeks after that.

The latter race, run over 12 furlongs, could be of particular interest to European trainers and owners, whose horses tend to be more stoutly-bred than American middle-distance horses.

Dermot Weld - who won the Belmont Stakes with Go And Go in 1990 - and O'Brien, whose stable is always well-stocked with American bloodlines, were among the trainers to welcome the new race.

"This is a great initiative created by both Churchill Downs and Kempton Park," Weld said. "If I were to have the right horse for the job I would most definitely target the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes as a qualifying race ahead of the Run for the Roses."

There is a potential drawback for European runners at Churchill, however. While several major American tracks, including Santa Anita, which will stage the Breeders' Cup next month, have switched from a harsh dirt surface to artificial sand, the Kentucky course seems determined to keep its dirt for as long as possible.

Tom Aronson, the vice-president of Churchill Downs, said this week that there are no immediate plans to move onto an artificial surface, and denied that the anticipated arrival of the Breeders' Cup at the course, for a record seventh time, in 2010 would be dependant on such a move.

"Everybody who knows horse racing recognises that Churchill Downs is one of the safest racing surfaces in America, if not in the world," he said. "It is an extraordinarily versatile surface. Synthetics are and must be under consideration, but there is no immediate connection between that and the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs."

Aronson acknowledged that some American trainers and owners may be disappointed at the track's decision to guarantee a starting position to a European horse.

"I have never seen anything happen in horse racing that did not have an adverse reaction somewhere, and I would be shocked and amazed if I do not get home and find myself reading something [negative] about this.

"But we set the rules, and the rules are designed for our customers. We believe that they will want to see a European challenger. Also, in practical terms, a horse that is 20th on the list of stakes earning, while being a wonderful horse, is likely to have been beaten several times by those horses higher up the list."

The first nomination stage for the Triple Crown races is as early as January, with Churchill Downs hoping to see a significant rise in the number of European-based entries as a result. However, Aronson confirmed that it will also be possible to add the winner of the Kempton race to the Triple Crown entries after it has been staged.

[Gloryfication]

Women have played an active role in Kentucky Derby history since the turn of the century. In 1904, Mrs. Laska Durnell nominated Elwood to the Kentucky Derby, unbeknownst to her husband, trainer Charles Durnell. The decision was a shrewd one and Elwood won as the longest price in the field of five. Elwood was the first starter and winner owned by a woman, and also the first winner bred by a woman, Mrs. J.B. Prather.

By the 1940s, women owners in the Derby were almost commonplace. In 1942, seven of the first eight finishers in the Kentucky Derby were owned by women. The exception was Valdina Orphan, who finished third.

Besides the role of owner, a total of 10 women trainers have sent 11 starters postward in the Kentucky Derby, and four women have ridden in the famed "Run for the Roses".

[Gloryfication]

Keeneland Nov Cumulative Average Down 35.4%
Cumulatively after 10 sessions at Keeneland 1,999 horses have sold for US$175,875,300 (down 46.4% from last year's 2,407 sold for US$328,069,900). The cumulative average of US$87,982 is down 35.4% (last year US$136,298) & the cumulative median of US$38,000 is down 30.9% (last year US$55,000). (Nov 14)

[Seabiscuit]

That is good news. If this goes on for a few more years horses might become affordable

[imaufo]

The prices in Sydney ( Easter yearling Sales) last year were absurd. Many horses...untried yearlings sold on breeding... went for multi millions...I doubt more than two will go through and be decent over the coming seasons.

I wonder if they will br fetching the same sort of prices next year?