Tlaq... er, Tlaqer... um, Tlaquepaque · 2 days ago
It’s deja-vu all over again in the juvenile division at Hastings this year.
Lara Racing Stables and trainer Juan Olmos have raced the top local two-year-old in each of the last two racing seasons: El Sinaloense (2008), and Huitzilopochtli (2009). Now Olmos has another impressive juvenile with an almost-impossible-to-pronounce name: Tlaquepaque, winner of the New Westminster Stakes last week.
The tail-male descendant of Seattle Slew gained the lead in deep stretch and won the New Westminster by 2 1/2 lengths, stopping the clock in 1:18.47 for 6 1/2 furlongs. In his only previous start, Tlaquepaque won a maiden special weight over the 3 1/2-furlong “nursery course” on June 18, scoring an easy 7 3/4-length win.
Unfortunately, Olmos has a poor record when it comes to getting his precocious two-year-olds to mature successfully. Both “El Sin” and “Huitzi” went into sharp decline late in their respective juvenile seasons, and were never the same afterwards. So forgive me if I cast a wary eye at Tlaquepaque as the Hastings racing season approaches its climax — while he is more lightly raced than his predecessors were, his connections’ ability to guide him to maturity must be held suspect.
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Say goodbye to Koffee · 4 days ago
This coming Labour Day, September 6, local favourite Krazy Koffee will be saluted in a special retirement ceremony. Owned by Butch Goertzen and trained by Cindy Krasner, “Koffee” enjoyed his best year in 2008 as a three-year-old, winning six races, including the B.C. Derby. Those six scores, plus a close second in the Premier’s Championship, were enough to earn Krazy Koffee Horse of the Year honours over top older horse Spaghetti Mouse.
He came back the following year with mixed success, the highlight being a score in the 2009 B.C. Cup Classic. As a confirmed closer, always subject to pace and traffic scenarios, Krazy Koffee was always at a disadvantage — but he almost always managed to get up for a share of the purse. This year saw him struggle with inconsistent form, and a maddening tendency to either drop back too far to be a factor or burn himself out in an early pace duel.
To their credit, Krazy Koffee’s human connections have seen the writing on the wall and are retiring him while his abilities are still respectable and his health is intact. To Hastings’ credit, the track is going to the effort of honouring him prior to the running of the Richmond Derby Trial, one of the races he won during his championship season. Enjoy your retitrement, “Koffee”!
Update (September 1): Nice write-up in the DRF by Randy Goulding provides more background. Krazy Koffee’s next career will be as a dressage horse.
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Hastings grapevine · 8 days ago
- Remember I was asking where’s Huitzi? a few months back? This, after I expressed concern about Huitzilopochtli late last year? Well, according to the grapevine, “Huitzi” is done, finished, stick-a-fork-in-him-he’s-cooked — probably due to over-racing, just like stable-mate El Sinaloense the year before.
- Tommy Danzigger is back in training after a long lay-off, but is reportedly nowhere near back to racing-fit. Too bad, he looked great breezing at the Open House back in April….
- Anybody who listened to At The Races With Steve Byk last week might have heard caller “Bob from Hastings” say how much he liked Teide in the Longacres Mile, but that he was recovering from a quarter crack which “Bob” feared might compromise him. If true, it might explain why he was reportedly reluctant at the gate, and was never a threat in the Mile, finishing seventh.
- Hastings security official Dave Dahl, badly injured in that terrible accident late last month, is still recovering in hospital. He’s gone through three surgeries, and reportedly has now picked up an infection….
- The PNE as forced Hastings to move racing from weekend afternoons to weekday evenings. The crowds have been good, but full of newbies, so betting handle is way down….
- Construction of the new day-care centre at Hastings, intended for the benefit of both neighbourhood and backstretch families, has unfortunately eliminated the playground and picnic area near the top of the stretch that our family has enjoyed for several racing seasons. The centre is due to be completed next year, in time for the 2011 season — at which time, my sources say, the family-friendly area will be restored.
- Jim Reynolds recently published issue no. 20 of HorseRacingBC — always a good read….
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2010 Unofficial Champion Stayers' Award -- current standings · 9 days ago
Two years ago, Left Coast Racing inaugurated the Unofficial Champion Stayers’ Award, to fill a void in the year-end series of North American racing awards and give due recognition to the distance specialists who best represent the qualities of stamina and durability in the Thoroughbred. The unofficial title of Champion Stayer is awarded to the horse whose performances in North America at distances of 1 1/2 miles and beyond, on dirt, turf, and synthetic surfaces, are deemed to be superior to its rivals.
The winner of the Champion Stayers’ Award is determined using a points system, similar to that used by the Breeders’ Cup for its divisional standings:
| GI | GII | GIII/ Ungr. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| 2nd | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 3rd | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Note that ungraded stakes are included, and are given the same value as Grade III’s. This permits consideration of ungraded races which are included in the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” series, and so logically deserve consideration for the purposes of the Champion Stayers’ award. They are given the same point value as GIII races for two reasons: first, for simplicity’s sake, this allows the existing Breeders’ Cup points system to be easily adapted without adjustment, and secondly because as Breeders’ Cup prep races they tend to attract higher-class horses than ungraded stakes normally would. This policy has been maintained even after the Cougar II Handicap became the first of these new marathon preps to be granted graded-stakes status.
Current standings (as of 25 August 2010):
- Bourbon Bay — 18 points
- 1st: San Luis Obispo H. (IIT), San Luis Rey H. (IIT), San Juan Capistrano Invitational H. (IIT)
- Bearpath — 12 points
- 1st: Pan American S. (IIIT); 2nd: Sword Dancer Invitational H. (IT), Louisville H. (IIIT)
- Unusual Suspect — 12 points
- 2nd: San Luis Obispo H. (IIT), San Juan Capistrano Invitational H. (IIT), Cougar II H. (III); 3rd: Sunset H. (IIT)
- Drosselmeyer — 10 points
- 1st: Belmont S. (I)
- Telling — 10 points
- 1st: Sword Dancer Invitational H. (IT)
- Alcomo — 8 points
- 1st: Brooklyn H. (II); 2nd: Greenwood Cup
- Musketier — 6 points
- 1st: Fifth Third Elkhorn S. (IIT)
- Marlang — 6 points
- 1st: Sunset H. (IIT)
- Acclamation — 6 points
- 1st: Jim Murray Memorial H. (IIT)
- Fly Down — 6 points
- 2nd: Belmont S. (I)
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Stayers' Watch: summer omnibus II · 13 days ago
Signature Stallion Waya Stakes (F&M 4yo&up) (Saratoga, 9 August)
- Changing Skies
- Casablanca Smile
- Liberally
Time: 2:27.46 (12f, firm turf)
Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (gr. IT) (Saratoga, 14 August)
- Telling
- Bearpath
- Al Khali
Time: 2:25.29 (12f, firm turf)
Stars and Stripes Handicap (gr. IIIT) (Arlington Park, 21 August)
- Memorial Maniac
- Lemonade Kid
- Free Fighter
Time: 2:44.29 (13f, good turf)
