Wednesday, June 16, 2010

“Club works to bring horse racing back to Kalispell this summer” plus 2 more

“Club works to bring horse racing back to Kalispell this summer” plus 2 more

Club works to bring horse racing back to Kalispell this summer

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 09:54 PM PDT

Horse racing could return to the Flathead as early as August.

The local turf club has assembled an application that, if approved, will lease the Flathead County Fairgrounds track in Kalispell for racing on Aug. 21 and 22, a Saturday and Sunday.

Those are the final two days of the Northwest Montana Fair, and the weekend after the resuscitation of racing at the Western Montana Fair in Missoula.

The Montana Board of Horse Racing will meet by conference call at 4 p.m. Thursday to discuss the application.

"They would like to apply for dates," said Ryan Sherman, the board's executive secretary. "How serious it is and what the board thinks, we'll know more on Thursday."

Racing went dark in Kalispell in 2005 and in Missoula in 2006. There hasn't been a parimutuel horse race in western Montana since then.

"Of course, these are all hopes, but I definitely think we're beyond the dream stage," said Janis Schoepf of Kalispell.

Schoepf, a longtime horsewoman and trainer, is a member of the All-Breeds Turf Club. She was in Helena last week and met with the board with the proposal. She'll present it on Thursday's conference call while she's en route to a race meet in Idaho Falls with a load of thoroughbreds and quarter horses.

"I haven't been this hopeful for five years since we lost racing. We've got a lot of community support and a lot of volunteers behind us," Schoepf said.

She characterized the 20-member club as a "small local group that's all trying to get by." They are confident of making ends meet. The county cited a loss of $10,000 per racing day when it pulled the plug after the 2005 meet.

"We're hoping for a great turnout," Schoepf said. "We also have sponsors lined up and advertisers. We're definitely working on a shoestring, but there are a lot of people who are willing to volunteer their services because they want to see racing come back."

***

Missoula's race meet will be staged by Montana Entertainment, a private California-based company that also runs the races at Great Falls and controls simulcast racing in Montana. Company president Eric Spector has branded the live meets at Great Falls and Missoula "Montana Downs."

Kalispell's application for dates comes months after the November deadline set by the Montana Board of Horse Racing. A provision in the board's bylaws allows late applications "for good cause." Missoula's dates were approved in February.

"We're hoping to jump on the bandwagon and join Missoula and promote horse racing in western Montana," Schoepf said.

Schoepf said the application has been in the works for only a couple of weeks.

"It's possibly due to turmoil, possibly due to new people on the fair board and new people in the community needing to see how racing was done here," she said.

In February, the Flathead County fair board voted not to renew longtime fair manager Jay Scott's contract, despite an outcry of support for Scott. Two fair board members resigned after the decision. Another, Ted Dykstra Jr., was named interim manager, a position he still holds.

Scott recently filed suit against the county and the fair board, accusing them of not dealing in good faith and violating his rights to privacy and due process of law, among other things.

Six days of racing in Great Falls are set for July 23-25 and July 30-Aug. 1, followed by Missoula's meet on Aug. 13-14. Yellowstone Downs at Billings plans to race Aug. 28-29, and on the first three weekends of September.

"Hopefully if we can get our foot in the door this year we can look at getting more dates next year," Schoepf said.

Reporter Kim Briggeman can be reached at 523-5266 or at kbriggeman@missoulian.com.

 

Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Horse racing-Royal Ascot winning debut for Guyon

Posted: 16 Jun 2010 10:41 AM PDT

* Young French jockey impresses on royal meeting debut

* Byword leads home 1-2 for Khalid Abdullah

* Double for champion jockey Moore

* Dettori on 28-1 winner

(adds later races)

French challenger Byword gave 21-year-old jockey Maxime Guyon a dream Royal Ascot debut on Wednesday to land the Prince of Wales's Stakes from British defender Twice Over who battled in vain to peg back the fast improving colt.

The half-length victory delivered a one-two in the race for Saudi Arabia's Prince Khalid Abdullah.

He also won this month's Epsom Derby with Workforce and boasts one of the most successful breeding operations in the international world of racing.

Byword, narrowly beaten by champion filly Goldikova on his last outing in Paris, started 5-2 favourite and the colt's trainer Andre Fabre confessed he was only worried about the relative inexperience of his young jockey.

Those fears were unfounded.

Fabre, who trained Manduro to win the race in 2007, said: "The horse had the ability to win. I was a bit worried about an inexperienced jockey but he had a perfect ride."

Guyon, grinning from ear to ear after his debut at one of the world's most famous racecourses, said through an interpreter: "I am delighted to be given the opportunity. I cannot thank Mr Fabre enough."

Owner Prince Khalid was on the mark again in the last race of the day when Tom Queally booted home 5-1 chance Timepiece to give trainer Henry Cecil a phenomenal 72nd Royal Ascot success.

COURSE RECORD

Earlier, the 8-1 shot Rainfall handed champion jockey Ryan Moore his first triumph at Royal Ascot 2010 with a hard fought victory over Red Jazz in the opening Jersey Stakes.

The lightly-raced filly broke the course record over seven furlongs (1.4 km) with a blisteringly fast run.

For trainer Mark Johnston it was his 31st winner at Britain's top flat race meeting of the year.

Resplendent in tartan trousers to accompany his top hat and tails, the prolific Scottish trainer told reporters: "Rainfall is very, very straightforward, such an honest filly to train. She couldn't be easier."

Just over half an hour later, Moore was back in the winner's enclosure after holding on to land the Windsor Forest Stakes for fillies on Strawberrydaiquiri (9-2) in a tremendous tussle with Johnny Murtagh on last year's winner Spacious.

Strawberrydaiquiri prevailed by a short head to open this year's Royal Ascot account for Derby-winning trainer Michael Stoute who was full of praise for Moore's forceful ride.

"Ryan grabbed the initiative and she really showed her tenacity there," Stoute told reporters.

Frankie Dettori was another to break his Royal Ascot duck for the meeting after steering 28-1 outsider Invisible Man to victory for Dubai's Godolphin outfit in the Royal Hunt Cup, one of the most competitive handicaps of the year.

"It's great to be on the board. That takes the pressure off," said Dettori, given a rousing cheer as he leapt off Invisible Man with one of his trademark flying dismounts.

Day three of the royal meeting on Thursday, known as Ladies' Day, features the Group One Ascot Gold Cup.

(Editing by Dave Thompson; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Horse racing-Royal Ascot winning debut for France's Guyon

Posted: 16 Jun 2010 08:39 AM PDT

French challenger Byword gave 21-year-old French jockey Maxime Guyon a dream Royal Ascot debut on Wednesday to land the Prince of Wales's Stakes in storming style from the British defender Twice Over who battled in vain to peg back the fast improving colt.

The half-length victory delivered a one-two punch for Saudi Arabia's Prince Khalid Abdullah who also won this month's Epsom Derby with Workforce and boasts one of the most successful breeding operations in the international world of racing.

Byword, beaten by champion filly Goldikova on his last outing in Paris, started 5-2 favourite and the colt's trainer Andre Fabre confessed he was only worried about the relative inexperience of his young jockey.

Those fears were unfounded.

Fabre, who trained Manduro to win the race in 2007, said: "The horse had the ability to win. I was a bit worried about an inexperienced jockey but he had a perfect ride."

Guyon, grinning from ear to ear after his maiden ride at one of the world's most famous racecourses, said through an interpreter: "I am delighted to be given the opportunity. I cannot thank Mr Fabre enough."

COURSE RECORD

Earlier, the 8-1 shot Rainfall gave champion jockey Ryan Moore his first triumph at Royal Ascot 2010 with a hard fought victory over Red Jazz in the opening Jersey Stakes.

The lightly-raced filly broke the course record over seven furlongs (1.4 km) with a blisteringly fast run up the sun-baked Ascot straight.

For trainer Mark Johnston it was his 31st winner at Britain's top flat race meeting of the year.

Resplendent in tartan trousers to accompany his top hat and tails, the prolific Scottish trainer told reporters: "Rainfall is very, very straightforward, such a honest filly to train. She couldn't be easier."

Just over half an hour later, Moore was back in the winner's enclosure after holding on to land the Windsor Forest Stakes on Strawberrydaiquiri (9-2) in a tremendous tussle over the last two furlongs with Johnny Murtagh on last year's winner Spacious.

Strawberrydaiquiri prevailed by a short head to open this year's Ascot account for Derby-winning trainer Michael Stoute who was full of praise for Moore's forceful ride.

"Ryan grabbed the initiative and she really showed her tenacity there," Stoute told reporters.

The champion jockey was full of praise for the dogged winner too, saying: "She tries very hard. She is very, very game. When I did ask her, she found a little bit more."

Day three of the royal meeting on Thursday, known as Ladies' Day, features the Ascot Gold Cup.

(Editing by Dave Thompson;To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Posted by at

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)