DANCE WITH RAVENS COLT WINS FUTURITY

Dr. Ellen Stephens’ bay colt by Dance With Ravens, out of Clear Vision by Chromite was named Grand Champion of the 2008 Virginia Breeders Fund Yearling Futurity August 24 at the Warrenton Horse Show Grounds. The Clear Vision colt (center below) won the Colts & Geldings Division, earning $3,000. Laurel, Inc. bred the colt.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Zurich’s and Mr. and Mrs. George Ryaborn’s homebred filly by Value Plus, out of Gilded Ivory by Gilded Time won the $3,000 top prize in the Filly Division as was awarded Reserve Champion.

The Grand Champion is by Dance With Ravens, a graded stakes winner in Canada of over $340,000, who stands at Northview Stallion Station in Maryland. He is by A.P. Indy, out of Dance Smartly by Danzig. Dance With Ravens first foals are yearlings of 2008.

The winning colt is ouf of the winning mare Clear Vision who earned $9,479 at the racetrack. She is a half-sister to $536,354 stakes winner The Exeter Man, and Brazilian graded stakes winner =Icy Wind.

At stud, Clear Vision has produced five winners including $184,018 winner Lasik (Mazel Trick), The End Is Clear (Precise End) a winner of $110,018 and the course record setter Leading Brave (Indian Charlie), a winner of $49,815. She has also produced Path to Perfection (Precise End) a winner of $68,283 as well as the winner Otherpeoplesmoney (Patton).

She has a two year old colt by Black Tie Affair, and was bred back to Stephen Got Even this spring.

The Reserve Champion filly is by the seven-year-old Stonewall Stallions (KY) stallion Value Plus. Value Plus is by Unbridled Son and a stakes winner and graded stakes placed winner of over $414,000. He was second in the Futurity Gr.1 as well as the Florida Derby Gr. 1). At four, Value Plus won the Artax Handicap in track record time defeating Gigistar. His first foals are also yearlings of 2008.

The dam of the Reserve Champion, Gilded Ivory is a winner of $44,745. She is half-sister to the winners Coolasacat ($172,394), Mount Cavell ($63,881) and Mesopotamia ($32,375). Her dam Mesappiano is a full-sister to graded stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Funistrada. At stud, Gilded Ivory has produced four foals including $8,715 earner Mach Z (Macho Uno). This spring she was bred to Cozzene.

GRAND CHAMPION

GRAND CHAMPION AND WINNER OF COLD DIVISION: Unnamed, Bay Colt, by Dance With Ravens, out of Clear Vision by Chromite. Breeder Laurel, Inc. Owned and Shown: Dr. Ellen T. Stephens, DVM.

RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION

RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION and WINNER OF THE FILLY DIVISION: Unnamed, Gray/Roan Filly, by Value Plus, out of Gilded Ivory by Gilded Time. Breeders and Owners: Mr.& Mrs. Frank Zureick & Mr. & Mrs. George Rayborn. Shown by Frank Zuerick.

COLTS

SECOND: Daytime, Bay Colt, by Seeking Daylight, out of Maria’s Crown by Maria’s Mon. Breeder and Owner: James H. Falk, Sr.

THIRD: City Minister, Chestnut Colt, by Mr. Executioner, out of Purple Dancer by Citidancer. Breeder and Owner: Rosemary Thomas.

FOURTH: Class Happening,Chestnut Colt, by Hap, out of Class Promise by Class Secret. Breeder and Owner: Mede Cahaba Stable & Stud, LLC.

FIFTH: (above) Finneas, Dark Bay/Brown Colt, by Partner’s Hero, out of Cherokee Sunshine by Sunshine Forever. Breeders and Owners: James E. Bryant & Linda P. Davis.

SIXTH: (left) Class Indian, Gray/Roan Colt, by Waquoit, out of Class Story by Class Secret. Breeder and Owner: Mede Cahaba Stable & Stud, LLC.

SEVENTH: Monstaleur, Chestnut Colt, by Meadow Monster, out of Taluer by Stalwart. Breeders and Owners: James E. Bryant & Linda P. Davis.

FILLIES

SECOND: Filly by Smoke Glacken, out of Miss Moola by Saint Ballado. Bred and owned by Nellie Mae Cox and Rose Retreat Farm.

THIRD: Sally Mill Road, Dark Bay/Brown Filly, by St. Averil, out of Proud Sally by Spend a Buck. Breeder and Owner: Albert O. Poe.




FOURTH: Aredia’s Affair, Gray/Roan Filly, by Black Tie Affair (IRE), out of Aredia by Williamstown. Breeder and Owner: Atkins Homes, Inc.

SIXTH: Unnamed, Bay Filly, by Silver Deputy, out of Captain’s Daughter by Captain Bodgit. Breeder and Owner: Atkins Homes, Inc.
SEVENTH: Unamed filly, by Black Tie Affair (IRE), out of Media Mania by Deputy Minister. Breeder and Owner: Carlos S. E. Moore & Gillian Gordon-Moore.

EIGHTH: Unnamed, Dark Bay/Brown Filly, by Cape Town, out of Alexandra’s Time by Time for a Change. Breeder and Owner: Morgan’s Ford Farm.

THE FOLKS THAT MAKE IT WORK

Judge John Melton, Futurity Chief Cook and Bottle Washer and Event Organizer Heather Stanley, and Tommy Lee Jones representing the Warrenton Horse Show and the VTA.

Owner/Breeder Jim Falk, with the VTA's Pat Faramarzi.

THANK YOU, ETC.

The Virginia Thoroughbred Association and the Virginia Breeders Fund would like to extend special thanks to the following individuals and companies for their support of Virginia’s Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry: trainer John Melton, our judge; Tommy Lee and Diane Jones (pictured below with breeder John Baffa of Warrenton), for their Herculean efforts to open the Warrenton Horse Show Grounds for our use; Carol Holden (pictured above) of Middleburg Broadcasting Network, our announcer; Torrey Charles Pocock, our videographer/photographer; Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred magazine, our sponsor; Jimmie’s Market, our caterer; and all of our exhibitors. Thanks again.

Owners/Exhibitors:
Atkins Homes, Inc., Darlene Bowlin, Dr. James E. Bryant & Linda P. Davis, Terry A. Corbin & Chelsea Virginia, LLC, Nellie Mae Cox, Rose Retreat Farm, Donna Estes, James H. Falk, Sr., Mignon C. Smith’s Mede Cahaba Stable & Stud, LLC, Carlos S. E. Moore & Gillian Gordon-Moore/Corner Farm, Wayne and Susie Chatfield-Taylor/Morgan’s Ford Farm, Albert O. Poe, Stephen W. Proctor, Sr., Breaking Maidens Farm, Mr. & Mrs. Samuel H. Rogers, Jr., Run Aweigh Stable, LLC, Dr. Ellen T. Stephens, DVM, Laurel, Inc, Rosemary Thomas, and Mr. & Mrs. Frank Zureick & Mr. & Mrs. George Rayburn.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Former Virginia Derby winner Go Between, left, ridden by jockey Garrett Gomez beats Well Armed to win the $1,000,000 Pacific Classic horse race Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008, at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

(AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Former Virginia Derby winner Go Between, left, ridden by jockey Garrett Gomez beats Well Armed to win the $1,000,000 Pacific Classic horse race Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008, at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

(AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 2

Colonel John with jockey Garrett Gomez aboard, center, holds off Mambo in Seattle with Robby Albarado aboard, left, to win the 139th Travers Stakes horse race at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008.

(AP Photo/Mike Groll)

GENUINE RISK

An article from 2007 in the New York Times aboout Genuine Risk.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/19/sports/othersports/19horse.html?_r=1&oref=sloginothersports/19horse.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

PICTURE OF THE DAY

PALIO DE SIENA -- The horses from various districts race in the Palio of Siena horse race, held to celebrate the apparition of the Assunta virgin, on August 16, 2008 in Siena. Giuseppe Zedde on Elisir Loguduro of the district of Caterpillar won the event.

Eye witnesses say the race is well worth the trip.

(Photo by Nico Casamassima/AFP/Getty Images)

THE VIRGINIA WHIP

Back in late May, the VTA asked the Virginia Racing Commission, the Virginia HBPA and Colonial Downs to consider using the more humane "Pro Cush" style of whip during the 2008 meet. While it was impossible to organize a rule or policy change for this year's meet, Frank Petramalo and the Virginia HBPA purchased some of the whips and conducted a test at Colonial.

Generally, the whips were well received and it seems likely they may well be utilized in the future.

When Petramalo saw $500,000 Man O' War Gr. 1 winner Red Rocks and jockey Javier Castellano on the cover of the Blood-Horse recently, he said "That's my whip!"

Not literally, but the whip Castellano used to upset HOY Curlin was one of the ones owned by the Virginia HBPA and given out by Petramalo during the meet.

VA-BRED WINCHESTER WINS GRADE 1 SECRETARIAT

(Four Footed Photos)

BAY EAGLE FIRST VA-BRED

A few weeks ago, we wondered if Virginia Derby fifth place finisher Southwest was the first Virginia-bred to pick up a big check in Colonial Downs premier race. Nich Hahn was quick to let us know that that the answer was Bay Eagle (yellow and green silks on the outside) back in 2001.

Lazy Lane Farm’s Bay Eagle and Unaccountedlea were the first two Virginia-breds to run in the Derby. Bay Eagle, by Secret Hello, out of Sea Wake by Alydar, was beaten a neck by Augustin Stables’ Potaro in the $200,000 Virginia Derby on July 14, 2001. Unaccountedlea was fifth that day.

Bay Eagle would go on to win $390,000 during his seven year racing career. He won the listed $75,00 Private Terms Stakes at Pimlico and the $50,000 Daniel G. Van Clief Stakes at Colonial. Bay Eagle also placed in four other stakes including a third in the $325,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes Gr. 2.

Pimlico Stables Closed, Stakes Cut

Pimlico Race Course will be closed for training and stabling on August 31 and trainers will be relocated to barns at Laurel Park and the Bowie Training Center, officials of the Maryland Jockey Club said on Wednesday.

The organization also announced on Wednesday that the fall stakes schedule will be slashed and several races will be put on hiatus this year, including the Frank J. De Francis Dash Stakes (G1), one of only three Grade 1 races run in Maryland.
According to a press release, the moves were necessary because of a shortfall in the Maryland purse account.

“This is terribly disappointing but these are serious times,” Maryland Jockey Club President Tom Chuckas said. “We remain hopeful that the playing field between Maryland and our neighbors to the west, north, and east will be leveled and that we will be able to resume running [the De Francis Dash] in the future.”

Other races removed from the fall stakes schedule include the Laurel Futurity and Selima Stakes for two-year-olds and the Safely Kept Stakes (G3). The only stakes races on the remainder of the 2008 calendar will be state-bred or state sired stakes, headlined by the Maryland Million on October 4.

Laurel Park will open a ten-day summer meeting on Friday which closes on August 21.At the conclusion of that meeting, live racing in Maryland shifts to Timonium for the seven-day state fair meeting.

The 17-week Laurel Park fall meeting will be conducted from September 4 through December 27 with live racing Wednesday through Saturday. An official announcement of the stakes schedule for the 65-day meeting will be made after the Maryland Racing Commission’s meeting on August 19.

Pimlico will remain open for simulcasting, and live racing will return to the Baltimore track next April. Horses that are moved and assigned stalls at Laurel or Bowie will be shipped to those facilities at the expense of the Maryland Jockey Club.

“We understand this is an inconvenience to the horsemen and we will work with them to ensure a smooth and fluid transition,” Chuckas said. “This was a business decision based on the revenue stream.”

201 Wins for Ferris Allen

A. Ferris Allen, III won two races on Colonial Downs’ closing day to become the first trainer to win 200 races in Virginia and demolish his own single-season wins record.

Allen got his 200th win with Jealously in race 3 Wednesday and his 201st with Don’tquestion It in race 4. Allen finished the 2008 season with 30 wins, shattering his 1997 single-season record of 25 wins in a season. The Varina, VA native earned his seventh training title in the 12-year history of Colonial Downs.

(When he’s not training horses, Allen is playing baseball. He played the sport while at William & Mary, and he still plays second base for the Baltimore Baseball Club, a nationally ranked 50+ squad.)

Horacio Karamanos earned his fourth leading rider title at Colonial Downs, capping a strong season with a four-win closing day that boosted his total to 65 wins, just one win shy of his own single-season record of 66. Karamanos also won jockey titles in New Kent during the 2002, 2005 and 2007 seasons.

Katie Crews earned leading apprentice honors with a 27-win season that ranks fourth overall behind Karamanos, 2006 champ Luis Garcia, and 2007 apprentice champion Malcolm Garcia.

David A. Ross picked up his fourth straight leading owner title with 18 wins from 73 starts. His 2008 season was typically dominant as he scored as many wins as the next three leading owners combined.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Participants in the 2008 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. hold their plaques Monday, Aug. 4, 2008. From left are: Bradley "Mike" Shannon, owner of inductee horse Manila, Diana Valenzuela, daughter of inductee jockey Ismael Valenzuela, Lynn Russell Meyers, granddaughter of the owners of inductee Ancient Title, inductee jockey Edgar Prado, Ogden Mills Phipps, owner of inductee Inside Information, and inductee trainer Carl Nafzger.

WEEKEND STAKES WINNERS

SO VAIN - $60,000 Jamestown Stakes.

CHASIN TIGER - $60,000 Chesapeake Stakes.

CITI CHERISSE - $35,000 Sissy Woolums Stakes.

(Photos by Jeff Coady/Coady Photography)

BIG WIN FOR BIG BROWN

According to the Thoroughbred Times, Big Brown came out of his victory in the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) in good order, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said on Monday morning.
The dual classic winner has been shipped back to Dutrow’s base at Aqueduct. He will resume training on Thursday, Dutrow said.

Dutrow would like to watch Big Brown train before he weighs in on plans for the Boundary colt’s next start.

“I think that’s the wise thing to do,” Dutrow said.

A 20-day turnaround for the Travers Stakes (G1) on August 23 would be unlikely, especially after Big Brown gutted out the final furlong to win Sunday’s Haskell by 1 3/4 lengths over Coal Play.

ALLEN SETS SINGLE SEASON RECORD

Last Friday was a milestone for all-time leading trainer A. Ferris Allen, III, who set a new single-season wins record when his Cool Days took over in deep stretch to win the nightcap. Allen now has 26 wins from 121 starts. The Varina, VA native set the old record with 25 winners during the inaugural 1997 campaign.

Allen (pictured here with owner/breeder Nellie Mae Cox and Virginia Racing Commission Chairman Peter Burnett) is now just one win short of becoming the first trainer to win 200 in New Kent. After winning a race on Saturday and one on Sunday, Allen enters the last three days of racing just one win away and with 21 entries on the three cards.

SILVER TREE, RED GIANT KEEP ON WINNING

Two past Virginia Derby winners won graded stakes over the weekend.

Trainer Todd Pletcher had planned on bringing Grade 1 winner Red Giant back from a 10-month layoff against allowance company earlier in the meet. When the race did not fill, Pletcher went to Plan B, which turned out even better after Red Giant rallied to outfinish Stalingrad by a neck in Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga.

“This race was the backup plan and we got lucky," said Pletcher, who trains Red Giant for the Peachtree Stable.

Red Giant, winner of the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes and the Grade 2 Virginia Derby at 3, had not started since finishing second in the Grade 2 Jamaica Handicap in October 2007. And the son of Giant's Causeway couldn't have gotten a better trip for his return.

Pletcher said he had no specific race picked out for Red Giant's next start. "He's been off for a while so we'll play it by ear," said Pletcher. "The Bernard Baruch is a possibility. We'll just have to see if it gives us enough time."

The Grade 2 Bernard Baruch will be run as part of the Travers Day program on Aug. 23.

Peter Vegso’s Silver Tree got up by a neck in the Grade 3, $150,000 Oceanport Stakes, one of seven supporting stakes Sunday on the Haskell Invitational undercard at Monmouth Park.

It was one of three stakes wins on the afternoon for jockey Kent Desormeaux, including the Haskell with Big Brown.

"This is my favorite horse in the barn," said Desormeaux, referring to trainer Bill Mott's stable. "This horse loves his job and always gives his best in every race."

Silver Tree ($5.60), 8, earned his 14th career win with a bold move between rivals to secure the victory.

The pacesetting Giant Wrecker (owned by Edward P. Evans) was second, with Hotstufanthensome, another 8-year-old, third.

The time was 1:40.05 for the 1 1/16 miles on the firm turf.

(Silver Tree: Jessica Denver/Equi-Photo and Red Giant: AP Photo/New York Racing Association, Adam Coglianese)

WHAT'S IN A NAME...?

Driver and trainer Ray Schnittker gives Deweycheatumnhowe a drink from the Hambletonian Cup after winning the Hambletonian horse race on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008, at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J.

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)