The crew from This Is Horse Racing and The Saratoga Special awoke from their very brief post-Saratoga respite, got out and about in recent weeks and filled up their notepads and voice recorders with plenty of quips and quotes.
Joe took in the races from Parx Racing, watching Songbird destroy the Cotillion and Connect take the Pennsylvania Derby, Sean soaked in the scene Saturday at Shawan Downs and Sunday at Foxfield and Tom hit the Oklahoma Training Track a few times last week in search of stories. (He found a couple, too. Check them out here and here.)
We’ve got a little of this and a little of that in this week’s edition of Here & There, which we always promise to make a weekly feature and most of the time deliver. Perhaps we’ll under-promise from here on our and just say we’ll make it a regular feature from now through the Breeders’ Cup and the end of the jump racing season.
Worth Repeating
“That kind of horse, he’s not explosive but he can come with a good run. He showed up today. He carries his speed. He never stops. Galloping out he was steady and strong. I really liked what he did today. He’s a big horse, he’s strong and he’s got a powerful, beautiful stride.” – Jockey Javier Castellano, about Pennsylvania Derby winner Connect
“I thought I could beat Songbird. But, she’s a champion. I give her all the credit. If you chase, you’re just going to die. If you let her go, you can’t catch her.” – Castellano, about riding Cathryn Sophia against Songbird in the Cotillion
“Filly of the year, Mikey, filly of the year. Just like Zanetta.” – Parx Racing fan, to Mike Smith, after Songbird on the Cotillion; Zanetta?
“We lose the battle, maybe we win the war.” – Trainer Rudy Rodriguez, to Smith after Summer Revolution finished ninth in the Pennsylvania Derby
“What Breeders’ Cup?” – Owner Rick Porter, trying to get a rise out of his trainer Jerry Hollendorfer in a post-race interview, about Songbird’s next start; it’s the Distaff
“What a machine, my friend. Give me a hug.” – Jockey Eurico Rosa Da Silva, to Noholdingback Bear’s groom, after the horse won the Gallant Bob at Parx Saturday
“When you come in and the water buckets and snaps are frozen, you have to question the sanity of what you’re doing.” – Trainer Mike Lerman, who owns a house in Florida, about winter at Fair Hill Training Center
“I can’t catch Jack, but I’d sure like to beat Cyril.” – Trainer Doug Fout, after creeping into third behind Jack Fisher and Cyril Murphy in the NSA trainer’s standings
“We retired her. She went out on a good note.” – Fout, after winning a maiden claimer with Storyville at Foxfield
“You wouldn’t have known he ran a race.” – Fout, after watching Hardrock Eleven train for the first time since taking the William Entenmann Novice Stakes at Belmont Park
“He’s not really giving us any points.” – Miles Clancy, 7, watching Donald Trump in the first presidential debate
“At least they aren’t looking for ours yet.” – Blair Wyatt to Sean Clancy, who was in charge of three kids at Shawan Downs, after hearing an announcement about a lost 6-year-old
“Could be a lot worse.” – Jockey Jack Doyle, five days after fracturing his pelvis and breaking his coccyx in a fall at Belmont Park
“He just jumps like a machine.” – Jockey Keri Brion, after winning the hurdle feature aboard Orchestra Leader
“They generally work single file at home, it’s hard to know how good the one in front of you is going. You’re going to get on the wrong one some of the time, you can’t get it right all the time. It’s a nice position and Jack always has them tuned up for the day.” – Jockey Sean McDermott who chose right at Shawan, taking the timber feature aboard Two’s Company
“He must have been a rock star to look at.” – Audley Farm’s Jamie McDiarmid on Scat Daddy colt – and half brother to champion Beholder – who brought $3 million to top at the Keeneland September yearling sale
“I’m going to get all my staff one of these. As soon as I get some staff.” – Artie Magnuson, wearing a t-shirt that read “My Barn Rules” last week at the Oklahoma Training Track
“We thought we’d come over here to see how things are done.” – Roger Horgan at the Oklahoma from Greentree with fellow Kiaran McLaughlin exercise rider Rob Massey last Thursday morning
“Where’ve you been, lost in the fog?” – Clocker Bob Hamlin to TIHR’s Tom Law on an extremely foggy morning last Tuesday at the Oklahoma
“Come back when you can see something.” – Clocker Joe Williams, the same foggy morning
By The Numbers
0: Goggles left on Mike Smith’s helmet by the time he got to jocks room after Pa Derby.
1: National Anthem heard just after 8 a.m. from the backstretch of Saratoga Race Course one morning last week, with barely a soul to be seen.
2: Barns on the Saratoga main track backstretch with equine occupants a week after Closing Day – Eddie Kenneally’s string in Barn 21 and Michele Nihei in Barn 20.
5: Stitches in the right front paw of TIHR mascot Katie the Labrador. She’s out of training and off the trails at Fair Hill for a bit.
6: Wins for owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey to take the owner’s title at Kentucky Downs.
8: Victories for Mike Maker, tops among trainers at the Kentucky Downs meet.
9: Yearlings that sold for $1 million or more at the Keeneland September sale.
22: Dollars found by Sean Clancy on the gravel road at Shawan Downs
2: Dollars given to Paige Wyatt
20: Owed to Willie Dowling after a horse-for-horse bet between Rodriguez and Syros in the maiden timber
268: Career starts for a runner at the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds Saturday
282: Yearlings sold by leading consignors Taylor Made Sales Agency at Keeneland September, for a total of $32,899,300.
$347,471: Average price during Book 1 of the Keeneland September yearling sale, up 15 percent from a year ago.
$1,767,773: Purses won by Florent Geroux’s mounts at Kentucky Downs, tops among jockeys. He also won the meet by wins with 12.
$3 million: Price paid by Coolmore’s M. V. Magnier for colt by Scat Daddy, who is a half brother to multiple champion Beholder and Grade 1 winner Into Mischief, to top the Keeneland September sale
$272,890,500: Total receipts for the 2,792 yearlings that sold at Keeneland September, down 3.1 percent from last year. The sale’s average was also down 4.7 percent to $97,740 while median dipped 20 percent to $40,000.
