Contact Information:
Bob Roberts (216-662-8600)
July 31, 2008
www.thistledown.com
OHIO FUND STAKES PROGRAM AT HALF-POLE;"BEST OF BUCKEYES" TITLES UP FOR GRABS
Pass out the Racing Forms and programs, Mrs. Tweedy, the Ohio Fund stakes program is at the half-mile pole and it's time for a review of the stakes and handicaps run at Thistledown, as well as at the Buckeye state's other two thoroughbred ovals, Beulah Park and River Downs.
There are 33 added-money races scheduled for 2008 and 16 of them are already in the books. Of course, the big day for Buckeye-breds is still to come when the Best of Ohio series, five races worth nearly $400,000, goes to the post at Thistledown on Oct. 4. Here's a look at what's transpired so far.
TWO-YEAR-OLDS --- Just two of the eight stakes have been run, both at River Downs, and trainer Tim Hamm has both winners in his barn. Raise The Reward, a son of Parents' Reward that Hamm races in partnership with Brian Broll, upset the July 13th Hoover Stakes at River Downs (the 8-5 favored Astronaut was second), and Slides Choice, a Mary Crawford homebred that she races in partnership with Gerald Brown, won the July 27th Tah Dah Stakes. The daughter of Devil His Due upset Holy Harem, the 1-2 favorite who finished second and is also from the Hamm barn. The top prizes for Ohio-bred freshman colts is the $75,000 Juvenile, while the fillies chase the $75,000 John W. Galbreath Memorial. Both races are part of the Best of Ohio series that will be run at Thistledown on Oct. 4.
THREE-YEAR-OLDS --- Leadership in this division, especially in the colt sector, is up in the air with the Ohio State Racing Commission's ongoing investigation into the eligibility of Marble Cliff, winner of both the $100,000 Cleveland Gold Cup at Thistledown on June 28th and the $50,000 Howard B. Noonan at Beulah Park on April 26. While his combined margin of victory of 20 3/4 lengths puts Marble Cliff heads and shoulders above any other sophomore male runner, should he be declared ineligible, victory in the Gold Cup would go to a filly (Formal Arrangement) while Cold Trial, a colt, would be awarded first place money in the Noonan.
Formal Arrangement, winner of the May 17th Tomboy at River Downs, seemed the leading sophomore lady in Ohio, but she failed as the favorite in the $100,000 Queen City Oaks at River Downs on July 19th and now shares top billing with J'espere, a Mercer Mill filly, who upset the Queen City.
If Marble Cliff is disqualified, the sophomore male division will be thrown wide open. The only other male to win a stakes is Type A Personality, who scored in the grassy Green Carpet at River Downs on May 31. He subsequently ran sixth in the Gold Cup.
HANDICAP HORSES -- This division has leaders, and both are Ohio champions. Catlaunch, the state's handicap champ in 2007, has won the May 30th Michael Rowland Memorial and the July 12th George Lewis Memorial, both $50,000 features at Thistledown, and leads the pack into late summer and early fall. Pay The Man, the state's champion filly last year, has also won two Thistledown stakes this season, capturing the May 2 Angenora and the June 21 Petro Memorial, both 50 granders.
BUCKEYE FIRST --- Anne Sanguinetti, who finished sixth in the season-opening Summit-Thistledown Meeting that ended July 18th, registered her first Ohio stakes victory and the second added-money score of her career when she urged first-time starter Slides Choice to victory over stablemate Holy Harem in Sunday's $50,000 Tah Dah Stakes at River Downs. Racing for Mary Crawford and Gerald Brown, Slides Choice defeated the 1-2 favored Holy Harem by 1 1/4 lengths. Tim Hamm trains both fillies. "I really liked her chances," said Sanguinetti. "I told that to Tim. In fact, I was gushing over the filly. He probably thought I was nuts. But I've been working with her in the mornings and I really like her." Sanguinetti's only other stakes victory came in 2006 in the $27,000 Portland Meadows Mile astride Charlies Pride.
THISTLEDOWN NOTEBOOK --- The doors will open at 11 a.m. Saturday, a half an hour earlier than usual, to accommodate those who want to play the Hambletonian card at The Meadowlands. Post time for the first race at the New Jersey track is 11:30 a.m. . . . Delightful Kiss, winner of the 2007 Ohio Derby, worked a half-mile in 49 2/5 seconds at Churchill Downs last Saturday . . . Luis Gonzalez enjoyed the biggest day of the 2008 season by a Thistledown jockey when he won with four of his six mounts on last Thursday's (July 24th) seven-race card. Gonzalez' other mounts where unplaced . . . The track's annual golf outing is scheduled for Sept. 9th at Raccoon Hill in Kent. Those interested in participating should contact the racing department. Entry fee, which includes green fees, lunch and dinner, is $70 . . . Thistledown will be open for evening simulcasting Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday of this week. It is open each and every day for afternoon full-card simulcasting . . . The North Randall oval lost one of its regulars last week when Clevelander Don Novak died. He was just 56. "He was one of our perfect attendance guys," said Thistledown television analyst Rich Ruda.