Posted: 22 Aug 2010 12:16 AM PDT

Snubbed again this year by the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame's nominating committee, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer made another emphatic statement for his induction when Blind Luck stormed from last place to win the Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

If 5,726 career winners - fourth most ever - and more than $115 million in earnings by his horses - eighth most ever - aren't enough, maybe this victory in the shadow of the Hall of Fame itself in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., will convince the skeptics.

Blind Luck's win all but guaranteed her the Eclipse Award as the nation's champion 3-year-old filly - the first such honor in Hollendorfer's 31-year career.

"They tried to get me to declare her the champion, but I'm not going to do that," Hollendorfer said when reached by cell phone. "If one of these other fillies wins in the Breeders' Cup (Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs), then they'll be voted in."

Blind Luck herself might win the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic, and even if she doesn't, she's beaten all of the other top 3-year-old fillies on their home tracks.

Earlier this year, Blind Luck won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks and Las Virgenes Stakes and the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes and Delaware Oaks. Her late rally fell short in a third-pace finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks and a second in the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks.

In every one of her races this year, Blind Luck has encountered slow paces that benefit the horses ahead of her. The fractions in Saturday's 1 1/4-mile race were a tepid 24.03, 49.45, 1:14.81 and 1:39.29, and even though Blind Luck was last in the field of six for most of the race, jockey Joel Rosario never let her fall more than 5 lengths from the lead.

She began her move midway on the second turn, reached the leaders at the sixteenth pole and outgutted Havre de Grace to the wire to win by a neck in 2:03.89. Devil May Care, the Saratoga-based 7-to-10 favorite, finished fourth.

"Joel kept her close enough to be able to run down the horse that got the lead in the stretch," Hollendorfer said. "This was a big race, and we're very gratified to win it."

Blind Luck paid $5.80 for her ninth win in 13 career starts - she also has two seconds and two thirds - and earned $300,000 to push her total to $1,878,712.

This article appeared on page B - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Horse racing returns to Kalispell

Posted: 21 Aug 2010 01:01 AM PDT

Janis Schoepf was explaining how horse racing returned to Kalispell for the first time in five years when someone politely interrupted with a plate full of barbecue.

"Here Janis, sorry to interupt but I knew if I didn't bring you a plate, you'd just keep working and never eat dinner," the woman said.

After nine weeks of planning, preparation, you name it, Schoepf finally took a moment to relax.

Horse racing is back at the Northwest Montana Fair in Kalispell. Today and tomorrow, 16 total races are scheduled to run at the track at Flathead County Fairgrounds.

Today's first race is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. with gates opening at 11 a.m. Each of the eight races will have between five and eight horses running distances as short as 350 yards to as long as seven furlongs (.87/mile). Two races of note are the John Deere Bonus Challenge today and the Pretty In Pink race on Sunday, which is sponsored by the Save A Sister foundation and aims at spreading breast cancer awareness and helping Montana women with medical costs associated with cancer treatment.

These last few years, horse racing hit rock bottom in Montana. The sport was dropped by Flathead County in 2006 after the Fair Board said $10,000 a day was being lost. A similar decision followed in Missoula a year later and there remained only three events sanctioned by the Montana Board of Horse Racing statewide.

But now, thanks to the work of enthusiasts like Schoepf, the sport appears to be rejuvenated. Last week, Missoula hosted its first horse race in four years at the Western Montana Fair, and this week the action has landed back in the Flathead.

"Somebody happened to mention one day that we needed to have it back, so a couple of us said, 'Well then let's have it,'" said

Schoepf, who grew up around the sport in Kalispell and now works with a local group named the Kalispell Race Meet that organized the return.

"It's been an obstacle course," she said. "I had no idea that there were so many minute details but you learn as you go."

The Kalispell races were privately funded thanks to a group of steadfast volunteers and helpers who did all the fundraising and sponsor searching, she said.

"Horse racing has had it's issues everywhere, but there are places where it's coming back and it helps the local economies," she said. "It has hurt our hay growers, the hotels, the stores. I think it provides financially the support that each community needs."

The horse races in Missoula brought in a record amount of wagering, roughly $243,000, according to Ryan Sherman, the Executive Director of the Montana Board of Horse Racing.

"(Missoula's races) went way beyond our expectations," he said. "Hopefully Kalispell falls right in line and is way above our expectations.

"(Horse racing) goes hand-in-hand, I think, with fairs because it provides one more event for those fairgoers and the community."

Like Schoepf, Sue Austin grew up in Kalispell attending horse races at the fair. Austin, who is a commissioner on the state's racing board, believes the sport needed to return for a reason beyond just profits.

"It was a big loss when they decided not to have it here anymore," she said. "I think people are excited to see it come back. Everybody I talked to is just thrilled. Horse racing is part of Montana's history and heritage, and to lose it was a big deal."

On the eve of the big return, a group including Austin, Sherman and the chairman of the Board of Horse Racing, Charles Carruthers, gathered together for a relaxing barbecue. There wasn't so much celebration going on as there was anticipation for the two days of excitement.

The wait is over.

But after a few moments' time, Schoepf finished her dinner plate and was gone.

There was still some last-minute work that had to be done.

Horse Racing: Paddy O’Prado makes move on homestretch to win Secretariat Stakes

Posted: 21 Aug 2010 07:27 PM PDT

Paddy O'Prado scored another first for his Iowa owners by winning Saturday's Grade I Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park in Suburban Chicago.

Paddy O'Prado, whose 11 owners include 10 Iowans, enhanced his status as one of the nation's top 3-year-olds by closing strongly in the stretch to win the Secretariat by 1 1/4 lengths from England's Wigmore Hall. He paid $3 for a $2 wager as the 1-2 favorite.

In the process, Paddy O'Prado became the first Iowa-owned horse to win a Grade I stakes in thoroughbred racing. There are only 113 Grade I stakes during the year — 0.2 percent of all races — and the Secretariat is one of just three Grade I turf races for 3-year-olds.

The winner's share was $240,000, but winning a Grade I race could be worth millions in enhancing Paddy's breeding value.

"We've had offers already from 16 Kentucky breeders," said Ray Smith of West Des Moines, who is part of Paddy's partnership wit wife Judi.

"I think it'll get ratcheted up a notch. They've been waiting for him to get a Grade I first and now they may want to start talking turkey."

The Secretariat was close enough to create a 200-person rooting section among friends and family of Paddy's owners.

"They said it was one of the biggest crowds of ownership that they've had for the Secretariat," said Jason Loutsch of Ankeny.

"It's all Paddy, Paddy, Paddy. It was so neat to have this many people. That's why we're in this, to have fun and enjoy this kind of moment. This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, to win a Grade I with your family and fiends, it's awesome."

Paddy O'Prado won the Secretariat by finishing like Secretariat. He stayed third, a 1 1/2 lengths behind a slow pace for the first mile of the 1 1/4 mile race, which was run in a dawdling 1 minute, 42.52 seconds. When the field turned for home, he made a three-wide move and shot to the lead.

Wigmore Hall was making a late run, but Paddy O'Prado outkicked him to win comfortably. The final time was 2:04.71 seconds, which means Paddy O'Prado, dubbed "The Big Gray Monster" by opposing trainer Michael Stidham, ran his last quarter-mile in about 23 seconds. That is 2 seconds faster than a top horse will finish most races of that distance.

"It was absolutely spectacular," Smith said. "We've never gotten to the bottom of his tank. He has more gas. God, he's just a specimen. He is the Gray Monster. He's just a once-in-a-lifetime thrill."

It was the third consecutive victory for Paddy O'Prado, who previously won the Colonial Turf Cup and Virginia Derby and was third in the Kentucky Derby in May.

He is in contention for two national championships — either as the year's leading 3-year-old or the best grass runner. His chances for a turf title were enhanced when Gio Ponti was upset in the Arlington Million an hour later.

His next start may be in the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Oct. 2 in New York against older horses. After that, he would run in the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs. Both races are 1 1/2 miles.

"We needed a Grade I under our belt — now we can take a shot (at older horses)," Loutsch said.

Horse Racing

Sunday, August 22, 2010

“HORSE RACING / Blind Luck makes her trainer look good” plus 2 more

“HORSE RACING / Blind Luck makes her trainer look good” plus 2 more

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