Posted by: admin on Monday, March 29, 2010 - 12:26 PM
Oregon Racing
From the Daily Racing form:
You would think trainer Ben Root would feel confident going into Wednesday's $10,000 Oregon Oaks at Portland Meadows. His star 3-year-old filly Shame On Rosie is coming off a wire-to-wire score in the one-mile Oregon Ms. in her first try around two turns, and she's drawn the rail for the 1 1/16-mile Oaks.
Posted by: admin on Friday, March 26, 2010 - 12:06 PM
Miscellaneous
Racetrack executives give out hundreds of stakes trophies each year, but few ever stand on the receiving end in the winner’s circle.
Will Alempijevic, the 31-year-old general manager of Portland Meadows in Oregon, could experience that thrill if Alexie Mattosie wins the $132,000 final of the Four Leaf Clover Series Saturday night at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The four-year-old pacer bids for his third straight win, and a series sweep, in the featured seventh race. Rated as the 3-1 second choice on the morning line, Alexie Mattosie will start from Post 7 with leading driver George Brennan at the lines.
Posted by: admin on Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 08:58 PM
Oregon Racing
From the BloodHorse...
When Paul Megson attended the 2007 Keeneland November breeding stock sale with his young daughter, Valerie, he had his eye on a particular weanling that stood out from the hundreds of other catalog entries because of one obvious reason: his pure, white coat.
To the delight of Valerie, who was jumping up in down with tears in her eyes, Megson was able to acquire the colt for $80,000 from Painted Desert Farm through Rosemont Farm, agent. Appropriately named Arctic Bright, the colt was the top-priced weanling of that session, and immediately captured the attention of local media and fans alike.
Nearly two and a half years later, after much preparation and conditioning, Arctic Bright, a son of Airdrie Apache, is finally slated to make his first start in Turfway’s last race March 19.
Bred in Oregon by Darlene Knight, Arctic Bright is the first foal out of the Reign Road mare Mesa Queen. He hails from the family of 1975 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Foolish Pleasure.
Posted by: admin on Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 06:45 PM
Oregon Racing
Seven Torrents edged out rival Gentle Rain in the final sixteenth of the Willamette River Stake for 3 year olds yesterday.
Seven Torrents, trained by Jim Penney, broke alertly under jockey Mario Gutierrez and went wide through the first turn. Stalking the leaders from the outside and finally edging out leader Gentle Rain, Seven Torrents scored another stakes victory at the Delta Park oval.
Later in the day, Coronas at Delmar took the Governors Speed Handicap after a long duel with Krueger Park. Owned by Shelly Nance and trained by Jonathan Nance, Jose Torres was up for the win.
Polish Miner, Oregon’s leading sire in 2009 and ’08, will move to St. Hilaire Thoroughbred Farm in Yakima, Washington, from Bar C Racing Stables in Oregon for the 2010 season.
The 13-year-old is by Danzig out of the winning Mr. Prospector mare Miner’s Game. He was a multiple graded stakes-placed winner who earned $344,646.
Polish Miner’s stud fee will be reduced from $1,000 to $600.
Posted by: admin on Monday, March 15, 2010 - 02:01 PM
Oregon Racing
Kruger Park has been given the role of morning line favorite and high weight for the $18,000 Governor’s Speed Handicap on Wednesday March 17th at Portland Meadows, but he will have to defeat some classy rivals to get to the line first. The 6 year old son of Johannesburg is a perfect 2 for 2 at Portland Meadows and comes off a facile win in an Invitational Handicap back on February 24th. Troy Stillwell will once again be on board the big grey for trainer Carlos Moreno, but the competition will be much stiffer on Wednesday.
Shem has been installed as the 3/1 second choice and will make his Portland Meadows debut off a good second place finish in a $50,000 allowance/optional claiming race at Golden Gate Fields. Shem was claimed out of that race by North American Thoroughbred Racing Company and has been shipped up into the barn of Pat Jarvis for the Governor’s Speed. Shem has been primarily a router and has had great success on both turf and synthetic surfaces. He is however 0 for 4 at today’s six furlong distance and has not been on the board in any of those four tries. Mario Gutierrez will come in for the ride. These connections teamed up last season at Portland Meadows to take the Oregon Derby with El Cugat.
Another interesting new face is that of the 5 year old mare Secret Gypsy. Secret Gypsy is a Grade 2 winner and a look through her past performances shows she’s been very close to beating the last two Breeders Cup Ladies Sprint Champions, Informed Decision and Indian Blessing. Secret Gypsy is coming off a long layoff and has been training at the Pegasus Training Center east of Seattle.
The other three horses in the Governor’s Speed are Portland Meadows regulars who are all strong older sprinters. Coronas at Delmar is a perfect 4 for 4 at Portland Meadows and has been steadily rising up the class ladder for trainer Jonathan Nance. Nance will also send out Ex Mountain Cop who was second behind Kruger Park in their last start. Ex Mountain Cop is 10 for 15 lifetime at Portland Meadows and 8 for 15 career at this distance. Stealth Attack is another who almost always seems to run a big race at Portland Meadows and completes a very stellar cast. Between the six runners in the Governor’s Speed, they have career earnings of $1,147,447.
Post time for the Governor’s Speed Handicap is approximately 4:15pm PST on Wednesday March 17. The Governor’s Speed Handicap goes as race 8 of a 9 race card, and first post is at 12:40pm.
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News and Notes….Seven Torrents will headline the co-featured Willamette River Stakes which will be race 6 on Wednesday March 17. The 3 year old has been perfect at Portland Meadows thus far including a huge win in the $48,000 Oregon Thoroughbred Breeders Derby.
Posted by: admin on Friday, March 12, 2010 - 08:22 PM
Website Stuff
Well, this website has been "attacked" nearly 2000 times in the last 24 hours; thankfully the system has kept the hackers at bay. However, there is a strong possibility the site may go down if one of these attempts is successful. If that happens, please drop an e-mail to jolene*at*oregonracing.com or michael*at*oregonracing.com, and we'll get to it as soon as we're near a computer.
Don't forget, the big Portland Meadows Derby event is, of course, the First Saturday in May (which incidentally, is the first). There will be a buffet in the Turf Club; might not be a bad idea to make reservations now.
Posted by: admin on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 01:03 PM
Oregon Racing
Starting on March 8th, 2010, all jockeys at Portland Meadows will be required to use equine friendly riding crops that conform to a new house rule at the North Portland race track.
Portland Meadows along with the help from horse people Ron Sutton of Sutton Tire and Chain in Portland and Debbie Funk of the Vince Funk All State Agency in Olympia, Washington, have purchased sixteen of the new softer equine friendly riding crops from four different companies. Riders will use these crops in all races conducted at Portland Meadows beginning on March 8th.
“I’m thrilled with how Portland Meadows management has worked with the riders on deciding to use the equine friendly riding crops,” said Darrell Haire, west coast regional manager of the Jockey Guild. “These riding crops are safer for the horses and it is a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
Equine friendly riding crops are generally lighter, shorter and feature a softer and smoother flap, which is the part that comes into contact with the horse. The equine friendly riding crops have been used at Del Mar in California as well as at Arlington Park in Chicago and Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. They have consistently received favorable reviews from both riders and horsemen. The equine friendly riding crops are made of a much softer leather and makes a louder popping noise when used, thus the horses respond more to the sound than the physical reaction.
“I’ve used the new crops up at Emerald Downs both in the morning and in races,” said local jockey Robert Burney. “I think that they seem to be very fair and I certainly feel comfortable riding with them.”
Posted by: admin on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 05:51 PM
Oregon Racing
Shame on Rosie had to overcome a torrid pace battle throughout the early stages of the $10,000 Oregon Ms. Stakes, but was able to find her stride and held off challengers to win by one and a quarter lengths. Sent off as the 2/5 favorite in a field of six Oregon bred three year old fillies, Shame on Rosie went right out for the lead. Nita Juanita was sent after her early, and floated the favorite out to the five path as the two sped into the clubhouse turn. Shame on Rosie was able to shake clear of that rival as the field turned onto the backstretch, but had to go through punishing opening fractions of 23.33 for the quarter and 46.87 for the opening half mile. Shame on Rosie built up a big lead as she turned for home, and though she was visibly leg weary in the final furlong, she held off her stable mate Amanda’s Turn, who rallied on for second. 41 to 1 long shot Yamasham finished up in third.
Shame on Rosie races for owners Gate 2 Wire Racing and trainer Ben Root. Marijo Terleski was aboard for the winning ride, and has been aboard the 3 year old daughter of Seattle Shamus for all three of her career wins. Shame On Rosie has now won three of seven career starts for earnings of over $30,000.
Final time for the one mile Oregon Ms. Stakes was 1:42.44.
News and Notes
*Juan Gutierrez had four wins on the Wednesday card
*Leonel Camacho Flores had a riding double
*Jim Fergason and Ben Root both had training doubles on the Wednesday program
*Trainer Howard Belvoir’s entry in the day’s third race finished first and second, the second time that’s happened this year for a Belvoir entry.
Posted by: admin on Monday, February 15, 2010 - 10:12 AM
Oregon Racing
Portland Meadows has announced that the purse for their signature race, the Portland Mile has been increased from $40,000 to $50,000 for the 2010 edition of the race, to be held on Wednesday April 28th. This year’s Portland Mile will be the 45th running of the annual event for older horses and is contested over a one mile distance.
“Working in collaboration with the Oregon HBPA, we’re very excited to announce an increased total purse for the Portland Mile from $40,000 to $50,000,” said Director of Racing Jerry Kohls. “Hopefully by doing this, our signature race will now be a black type stakes event and should draw more interest from horses up and down the West Coast.”
In the 2009 Portland Mile, Crafty Power broke the track record for the distance, covering the eight furlongs in 1:35.94.
