Turf News

As the field was galloping out following Curl Talk’s nearly eight-length romp in the fourth race at Finger Lakes yesterday, announcer Tony Calo wistfully sighed into his microphone, “I didn’t give her enough credit in my pre-race analysis.”

Calo was not alone. Despite Curl Talk’s three-length victory in her career debut at Mountaineer just 20 days earlier, Finger Lakes bettors sent the 4-year-old daughter of Ride On Curlin off at 4-1, fourth choice of five runners contesting the $25,800 allowance race at 5 1/2 furlongs.

The race was over after about 20 yards when Emanuel De Diego gunned his filly out of the gate and she was in front by two lengths before the other riders knew what happened. From there on it was no contest as the filly bred by Lonnie Stokes put more daylight between herself and the other four as she passed the furlong markers in :22.78 and :46.12 and drew the comment “Nobody can step up to the Mountaineer invader” from Calo .

Curl Talk’s final clocking was 1:05.02 and was worth $13,680, giving the filly owned and trained by Shelly Green $23,250 for her two starts. Jokers Run, the 4/5 favorite, was never close, but did get up for second in the final yards.

Finally, Curl Talk paid $10 to the dismay of Calo and the other non-believers. Do we have another sequel to “A Star Is Born?”

In her career debut as a 2-year-old at Evangeline Downs last August, Splenda Gail broke her maiden in a breeze – by 4 1/4 lengths. It took a return to Louisiana for the filly by Neolithic to find her mojo again, and she finished third in the $60,000 Arcadiana Stakes on April 15.

Off that good effort, the 3-year-old bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon was sent off at 3/5 yesterday in a $27,000 allowance race at ‘about’ five furlongs on the turf with Taylor Bethany riding. Leaving from the No. 3 post, Splenda Gail was squeezed at the break and immediately fell behind by five lengths. Bethany kept her on the inside while the leaders were flying up front, putting up suicidal fractions of :21.32 and :45.04.

When Bethany asked for her best on the turn, Splenda Gail unleashed a monster five-wide run, took the lead in the stretch and left the others gasping behind her, winning by 2 1/4 lengths in :56.66. She earned a check for $26,490, lifting her total to $51,830. She became Neolithic’s eighth winner of 2022 from just 19 starters, and her percentage of 42.1 in that category is second best among the top 15 active Florida stallions.

In her six-year racing career, Dealer’s Girl has dealt winning hands at Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park and Charles Town, and last night the 8-year-old daughter of Gone Astray raised her record to 7-9-6 in 50 starts with a stylish victory in West Virginia.

The New Jersey-bred mare had finished second by half a length in her last at odds of 9-1, yet she was sent off at a generous 7-1 in the race at 4 1/2 furlongs. Carrying high-weight of 124 pounds, Dealer’s Girl broke alertly under Kelmar Trotman and joined a five-horse charge to the quarter where the rider took hold and Dealer’s Girl dropped back to fourth on the inside. He swung her off the rail heading into the stretch and Dealer’s Girl swept into the lead and proved to be much the best late, scoring by a length in :52.75 and paying $16.80.

The victory was worth $9,420 and lifted Dealer’s Girl’s career total to $221,363.

Freshman sire No Never No More lost his chance for his first winner last week when Maryland-bred Tiz No Clown finished first in a $40,000-$32,000 maiden claiming race at Pimlico Race Course and was disqualified and placed third amidst a highly controversial decision by the track stewards. Ironically, the horse who finished second and was moved up to first was Coffeewithchris, a Maryland-bred gelding by Ride On Curlin.

The two had made their debuts in the same maiden special on May 1 and neither had shown much. Tiz No Clown finished sixth by 9 3/4 lengths at odds of 31-1 and earned a check for $1,012. Coffeewithchris went off as the 9/5 favorite and wound up eighth, 14 lengths back.

In their second try against each other, Tiz No Clown broke from the outside No. 7 post and broke quickly under Andre Ramgeet, but he was lugging in and had a mild confrontation with two other colts inside him that didn’t last more than two seconds. He continued on in front for the rest of the 4 1/2 furlongs and was 1 1/2 lengths clear of Coffeewithchris at the wire, clocked in :52.98. The inquiry sign went up and after the customary deliberations, Tiz No Clown was taken down. It cost owner/trainer William Atkins $22,425, the difference between the $26,910 Coffeewithchris was awarded and the $4,485 Tiz No Clown had to settle for.

‘Incidents’ leaving the gate occur in almost every race and mostly are dismissed as just that. It’s a good bet that at many other tracks, No Never No More would have had his first winner.

Handicappers who routinely dismiss runners who have been sidelined for several months have missed a good many opportunities lately, and Happy Hill Lil added to their woes in the fourth race at Belmont Park yesterday.

In her first start since November 6, the 5-year-old New York-bred daughter of Handsome Mike – dismissed at 8-1 – came from off the pace with Joel Rosario and captured a $60,000 starter allowance at six furlongs over the inner turf course. The super jockey settled Happy Hill Lil in fourth place down the backstretch, about three lengths off the leaders, who sped past the furlong markers in :21.80 and :45.13. Rosario sent her up on the outside on the turn and the mare was up in time to win by half a length in 1:08.63, good for an ‘E’ speed figure of 98, 12 points higher than the previous best of her career.

The victory was worth $33,000 for owner/breeder Roger Cimbora Jr. and left Happy Hill Lil on the verge of hitting the century mark at $98,478. She paid $19.80 and gave Handsome Mike his 13th winner of 2022.

Gone Astray jump-started the weekend with winners at Monmouth Park and Gulfstream plus a pair of thirds in New Jersey, adding $34,000 to his progeny earnings and winding up Saturday closing in on the $800,000 mark for the year.

Hard West began the afternoon with a 1 3/4-length score in a $31,000 starter optional claimer at Monmouth under Richard Mitchell. The 5-year-old horse broke well and took up a spot in fourth place down the backstretch. Mitchell moved him on the turn and Hard West quickly closed the gap between himself and the leaders and went on to win with something left in the tank, clocked in 1:11.20 and receiving an 89 ‘E’ speed figure. He paid $15.60, raised his record to 7-3-4 in 32 starts, and the check for $18,600 increased his earnings to $114,276.

In Hallandale Beach, Authentic Heart broke his maiden in his sixth try and gave Gone Astray 21 winners in 2022, tied for third best among Florida sires. The 4-year-old gelding hadn’t shown much in his first four races, until Chantal Sutherland hopped aboard. She guided him to a second-place finish on April 10 after a layoff of 5 1/2 months, then won with him yesterday carrying 125 pounds over a sloppy surface while lowering the track record for ‘about’ a mile and one-sixteenth over the Tapeta course to 1:45.97. He paid $5.00 and collected a check for $11,600 after making up more than 10 lengths and scoring by 1 1/2 lengths.

At the age of five, Meteorito has taken his career to new heights, including a record-breaking performance yesterday over the Tapeta track at Gulfstream Park.

With Chantal Sutherland in the irons, the 5-year-old gelding by Gone Astray lowered the record for ‘about’ a mile and 70 yards on the all-weather surface to 1:41.75, winning the $48,000 allowance race by nearly two lengths. What makes the effort more mind-boggling is that Meteorito had been running in lower-level claiming races prior to the record-breaker, and had been taken for a tag in each of his previous three races – on Jan. 21, Feb. 26 and April 3.

Meteorito finished second in both the Jan. 21 and Feb. 26 races, receiving an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 90 in the latter. He then won on April 3 by 10 1/2 lengths with an 88 ‘E,’ and yesterday received a 92, his best figure in 17 tries to date.

Sutherland sat him fifth down the backstretch in the three path, opened him up on the turn, and Meteorito did the rest, drawing off without a challenge in deep stretch and paying $6.40. He boosted his record to 3-5-1 in those 17 starts and the $29,300 winner’s check raised his career total to $83,170, with $53,020 coming this year from just four starts (2-2-0).

After Big Cyn finished off the board in five straight races in 2021, trainer Karl Grusmark shelved the New York-bred daughter of Handsome Mike for six months. The 4-year-old filly returned on April 26 and finished third at Finger Lakes under Jackie Davis after turning in some good morning trials over the Belmont Park training track.

That prep was all Davis needed to get acquainted with Big Cyn, and she guided the filly to her fifth career victory yesterday at the upper New York State track. Leaving from the No. 3 post, Big Cyn went out for the lead, but was restrained back to third on the rail down the backstretch. On the final turn, Davis swung her filly out to the six path looking for racing room but the filly appeared to be beaten in mid-stretch. Then she switched into another gear coming to the sixteenth pole and coasted by the leaders to score by 4 1/4 lengths in 1:46.77 for the mile and 70-yard trip.

The filly bred by Patricia Generazio collected $11,640 for the victory, raising her total to $85,392 and her record to 5-0-4 in 21 starts. She paid $7.40 and became Handsome Mike’s 11th winner of 2022.

In the ‘horses for courses’ column, add Alabama Slammer, a son of Handsome Mike who won at Tampa Bay Downs yesterday and raised his record at the Oldsmar track to 3-2-0 in five tries. All told, the 4-year-old gelding sports a record of 4-3-0 in nine starts.

David Cardoso was aboard Alabama Slammer for the first time and he took the gelding wire-to-wire in the $31,000 allowance test, winning by nearly three lengths in 1:43.50 for the mile and one-sixteenth on the turf. He received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 92, best of his career, and continued a streak in which his “E’ rating has risen over his previous races in every outing but one.

The gelding bred by Dr. Ross Russell paid $6.00 and collected a check for $18,900, increasing his total to $77,723.

One of the toughest assignments for morning line-makers at every track around the country is getting a good handle on first-time starters. The line-maker at Mountaineer Casino and Race Track missed the boat by a mile last night with Curl Talk, a debut filly by Ride On Curlin.

Curl Talk, who turned four on April 2, was the only first-timer in the field of eight for the five-furlong maiden special with a purse of $16,500, a race that was taken off the turf due to rain. Despite three pretty fair works listed at Starting Point Training Center, Curl Talk was listed at 8-1 in the morning line. However, at post time, the filly bred by Lonnie Stokes was on the board as the slight favorite at 2-1.

Luis Batista sent her right to the lead and Curl Talk led through fractions of :22.75 and :47.85 over the sloppy track, reaching the wire three lengths in front even after she ducked in and barely missed hitting the rail at the top of the stretch. She was clocked in 1:01.32, paid $6 and collected a check for $9,570.