Gorella? She Ran More Like a Gazelle

Before jumping into today’s column headfirst, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you. You see, today happens to be the one-year anniversary of Zipse at the Track. I started this blog twelve months ago, with the simple idea of sharing my love for thoroughbred horse racing with whomever might stop by to take a look. It truly has been a labor love for me and I feel blessed to have connected with so many of you through your reading of my words. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your loyal support, and I vow to continue writing for as long as you continue to read. But enough about me, let’s get to today’s column about a filly who rocketed by me one afternoon on the Arlington Park turf course… The setting was the 2006 Beverly D. Stakes, and I was more excited to see the girls that day then the males a little later in the Arlington Million. And why not? It was a wonderful match-up of distaff turfers. Film Maker was there, a hickory turf mare for Graham Motion, and Todd Pletcher had the distance loving star Honey Ryder ready to go. Wend, Sharp Lisa and Live Life were talented front runners, while Rich in Spirit was a solid Midwesterner. None of them were favored though, that distinction clearly fell to a French lightning bolt, named Gorella. She had caught American’s attention with a fantastic finish to be 3rd by ¾ of a length in the previous Fall’s BC Mile, in which, if not for a horrid trip, she was the likely winner. Sent off as the 6-5 choice by the savvy Arlington turf fans, Gorella would not disappoint. On paper, her victory reads like this; Gorella won the 2006 Beverly D. by 1 ¾ lengths. The final time was 1:53 3/5, one of the fastest 1 3/16 miles ever run at the Suburban Chicago track. But this was the type of performance that you do not want to be satisfied by reading the chart. At the back of the pack for the first mile of the race, Gorella and her young French rider, Julien Leparoux, seemed to be in no hurry until the horses swung out of the final turn. Running widest of all, Gorella was suddenly asked to run. Sporting easy to notice fluorescent orange silks, the four-year-old filly seemed to take form of a fireball as she stormed down the green stretch. Last-to-first in a matter of seconds, to say the move was merely explosive is an insult. To this day, I have never seen another run quite like it at Arlington Park. Gorella had immense talent, and in the Beverly D., it was on full display for the world to see. Top mares Film Maker and Honey Ryder were left to fight it out for 2nd with pacesetter Live Life. To further illustrate the quality of Gorella and the Beverly D. of 2006, those two would return next time to run 1-2 in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl. Sadly, Gorella would only run two more times after the Beverly D. performance, winning the Grade 2 First Lady at Keeneland, and finishing in the middle of the pack against males in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs. The daughter of Grape Tree Road was a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding turf female. She was denied the honor by the great globetrotting mare, Ouija Board. Gorella was retired the following Winter, when bone chips were discovered in her ankle. Owned by Martin Schwartz and trained by Patrick Biancone, Gorella was a winner of 7 of 17 starts and earned $1,456,209. The Beverly D. was the second of three consecutive graded stakes wins, and she also was a group 2 winner in France, where she finished in the money in her final two races abroad, both Group 1 affairs. Not afraid to challenge anyone, Gorella ran against the males in four of her final nine races. But, once again, it is not the stats that tell the story. Gorella was a unique talent, and when you got to see her with a clear path down the lane, it was a thing of beauty. As it was that afternoon at Arlington Park four years ago.

Who Am I ???

*I finished first in more than half of my starts, but a disqualification left my average just under 50%. *I was a stakes winner in all three of my seasons of racing. *All five of my graded stakes wins in America occurred at the same racetrack. *I count a Kentucky Derby winner, a Breeders‘ Cup victor and a Kentucky Derby runner-up, among the horses I defeated. *Arguably my two best performances were both in million dollar races. *I was involved in a horrific accident, in which I was the only survivor of the three horses that went down. *Green was my thing, I never once raced on the dirt. *I won graded stakes in three different countries and was bred in a fourth. *Only two jockeys rode me in my final 17 races, one was a George Woolf Memorial Award winner, the other was English. *I only made one trip to France; c‘est magnifique! *I had one important thing in common with the recently retired star, Harbinger, as well as BC Classic winner Raven‘s Pass. You should know by now … Who Am I ???

Remembering ... Manila

The Arlington Million, one of my favorite races of the year, is only eleven days away. My memory bank of past Millions is deep and rich. There was the Miracle Million of 1985, and John Henry's fantastic wins in 1981 and 1984.  I saw one of my favorites, Paradise Creek win in 1994, and I witnessed the trials and tribulations of Powerscourt in 2004 & 2005.  But as far as sheer ability of the winner, no Million meant as much to me as the 1987 running. People often ask me, who was the best American turf horse I ever saw. With all due respect to the excellence and longevity of John Henry, my answer for the past 23 years has been the same, the 1987 Million winner, Manila. The first time I saw Manila in person was the 1986 Lexington Stakes. The moment was not lost on me. Manila, A Lyphard colt out of Dona Ysidra, by Le Fabuleux, had taken to turf like a fish to water just a few months before the Lexington. That day at Belmont, he would relentlessly track down a talented turf runner named Glow, who appeared home free in the stretch. It was an impressive and dogged stretch run that I remember left me thinking that Manila was on the cusp of becoming a turf star. Little did I know how soon that would become reality. Mike Shannon had purchased Manila just months before, from breeder and Filipino businessman Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr., who was a close associate of Phillipines president Ferdinand Marcos. Cojuangco left the country in February 1986 on the plane that carried the deposed dictator to exile in Hawaii. Shannon purchased several of Cojuangco's horses, including the young Lyphard colt who had been 0 for 3 on the dirt as a juvenile for his former owner. But it would not take long for Manila to prove to be the star of the bunch. Beginning with the race before the Lexington, Hollywood Park’s Cinema Handicap, Manila went on a stakes skein seldom seen in American turf. He rolled up nine straight stakes victories in a little over a year. After the Lexington, Manila would never run strictly against his age set again. He broke the track record in Atlantic City’s prestigious United Nations Handicap in his very next start, to bring his victory streak to three. After that, Manila would win a graded stakes at the Meadowlands by almost ten lengths, before earning hard fought victories in the Turf Classic and Breeders' Cup Turf, and what’s more, he won those races as a three-year-old. In that season of 1986, he was named the nation's champion grass horse and finished second in the balloting for Horse of the Year to the great filly, Lady's Secret. Heading into the Breeders’ Cup Turf, all the talk was about another three-year-old turf star. Dancing Brave was the toast of Europe after powerful wins in the 2000 Guineas, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Also a son of Lyphard, Dancing Brave’s press clippings were more than glowing and the colt was thought to be near invincible, despite the presence of Manila, and two other turf tigers in Theatrical and Estrapade. But my friends, that is why they run the race, for it was the other three-year-old who would prove to best on the Santa Anita Turf. As the field straightened for home, it was the great mare Estrapade on the lead, but a three-prong challenge of males was ready to pounce. Manila was moving strongly on the rail, with Theatrical in the middle and Dancing Brave a threatening presence on the outside. The threat never materialized as Dancing Brave hung badly and finished a well beaten fourth at odds of 1-2. Meanwhile Theatrical made a winning move collaring the mare and quickly edging away. Manila’s hole on the rail was closed tightly, and rider Jose Santos had to snatch him up at the 3/16 pole. Theatrical was in full flight and appeared to be long gone, that is, long gone if Manila had been just another horse. Digging down unbelievably deep, Manila accelerated in gargantuan proportions and nailed his older competition at the wire. It was a fantastic performance, and one that saw Manila beat three champions. Seeing Manila in the Arlington Million the following Summer was especially gratifying for me on many fronts. Despite winning impressively in three straight stakes races to begin 1987, naysayers were doubting him after his first loss in a long time when he ran 2nd in the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga. On that afternoon he was beaten by a half length. He did give winner Talakeno 12 pounds in the Baruch, but it was his first non-Manila like performance since I started following him. I was hoping for redemption for the great horse, and I was thrilled that he would be doing it in Chicago’s biggest race. As usual the Million came up tough, and to win he would need to beat the sharp import Sharrood, and his old rival Theatrical. It was no contest. Manila had all of his class and ability on full display in winning the Million easily over Sharrood, while Theatrical was beaten nearly five lengths back in 3rd. The win was ample affirmation of his spot as the nation's leading grass horse. Sadly, only 12 days later to Manila was retired from racing because of a hairline fracture in his left cannon bone. Theatrical would begin his own streak after the Million, culminating with a BC Turf victory and an Eclipse Award. But those of us lucky enough to see Manila’s final race, knew who the best turf horse was. Overall, Manila won 12 of 18 lifetime starts, including a sensational turf record of 11 wins and 3 seconds in 14 races, and earned $2,692,799. At the time of his retirement, his earnings put him into the top ten all-time. As a stallion, he was initially sent to Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, where he sired multiple Grade 1 winner Bien Bien from his first crop. He was purchased by the Turkish Jockey Club in 1996, where he would spend the second half of his life. Manila went on to sire three champions, and was the leading broodmare sire in 2003 in his new home. He remained in Turkey until the time of his death last year. Manila passed away on February 28, 2009, from an aortic rupture. He was 26 years old. In case my words have not yet displayed just how special a horse Manila was, perhaps his trainer can do him justice. Leroy Jolley declared that he considered Manila to be the single best horse he ever trained. Powerful words when you consider that this man also trained Genuine Risk, Foolish Pleasure, Ridan, Gulch, Honest Pleasure, General Assembly, Meadow Star, and What a Summer, to name a few. I remember you Manila. Photo by Frances J. Karon

2010 Eclipse Award Winner: Tuscan Evening … I Hope

Tuscan Evening is gone. In a shocking and saddening Sunday morning at Del Mar, she collapsed after a workout on the turf course and passed away. Preliminary reports point to a heart attack as the likely cause of death for the five-year-old grade 1 winning mare. The sudden, heartbreaking news sent me into reflection on the marvelous career of a beautiful racehorse. ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here

Don’t Blame Me for Gushing

“We were super confident,” Gomez said. “It’s just one of those things you don’t want to say too much so you can let the horse do the talking. He’s trained magnificently for this race and every other race I’ve ridden him in. He’s a magnificent older horse and I can’t wait until we go farther.  “If you watched me ride him, I never hit him. I actually moved up at about the three-eighths pole and I felt pretty confident then. I was just biding my time until we turned for home. I just didn’t want to sit too long because he’s got a long consistent run and just keeps coming. … He kept staying on and in that last eighth of a mile, when I finally got right to [Quality Road], I said ‘I got him.” Garrett Gomez had good reason to be confident. His charge Blame rallied relentlessly down the stretch to do what to some was the unthinkable, and nail Quality Road a few strides before the wire. No matter who you were rooting for, yesterday‘s Whitney Handicap lived up to advance billing. It was supposed to the best race so far in 2010, and it was. Yesterday’s race was a shining example of why we watch horse racing.  Three of the best horses in the nation put on a show, and they produced a thrilling stretch run. Yes, I said three. Musket Man deserves his props. After being forced wide on the first time, the gutty little Yonaguska colt chased Quality Road around the track, and once again ran a big race. It’s clear that he is not quite as good as the top two, but he is quite a horse in his own right. He is still my early pick to win this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile. But make no mistake, yesterday was all about Blame, and he could not be a more deserving star. Winning stakes in relative anonymity until yesterday, Blame continues to climb to the stratosphere of the racing world. I saw the Al Stall trained bay win last Fall’s Clark Handicap as a three-year-old; I was very impressed. I saw him rally on a speed track to win this year’s Foster; my respect for him grew. In the Whitney, he turned it up another notch. In beating the best male horse in America, he now smoothly steps into that title. Claiborne Farm’s Blame is now the top male horse in the nation. Yesterday’s win was his best yet, his fifth straight in graded stakes, and the scary thing is, he still may be improving. I have a feeling this horse will never be underestimated again. “I tried to put him into the bridle, but he was just going through the motions, which is strange for him. I was hoping there’d be nobody there, so I got to drifting. I was trying to make it more difficult for the horse on the outside.” So said disappointed rider John Velazquez who was aboard the race favorite. As for Quality Road, he ran a very good race, but it was not quite what his staunchest of supporters were hoping for. The terrific talent, who can make the speed figure dials spin, has still not proven that he can beat the very best gong a route of ground. Does yesterday prove he can not? Absolutely not, but the question lingers. Until he beats Blame, Zenyatta, Rachel, or all of the above at a classic distance, we just don’t know. What’s next for these two titans? Well the ultimate answer is the Breeders’ Cup Classic and a showdown with a couple of ladies, but for the immediate future, the Jockey Club Gold Cup would seem to be a sensible stage for Blame-Quality Road II. We shall see. For now I am going to watch the replay of the Whitney about a dozen more times. Race of the year so far? I’d say so!

Queen Z, West Virginia Sexiness, and a Booby Trap

The Queen Z has been buzzing around the Del Mar oval since Wednesday in what is believed to be preparation for a third consecutive victory in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes. Or is she? I don’t know … do you know? As of the writing of this column, it appears nobody knows. Just hours before post time, it seems her connections do not have an answer for millions of Zenyatta followers. The indecision is born from whether the Big Z can handle the synthetic surface of Del Mar, like she does other surfaces, and furthermore, whether or not the surface is safe enough to risk one of the greatest horses ever to set foot on these beautiful grounds. Trainer John Shirreffs has always been hyper-cautious with his big mare, but the cautioness has now been taken to new levels with this last hour waffling. Everyone wants to see Zenyatta run, and everyone wants to see Zenyatta run safely. To Shirreffs I say, make a decision now so your fans know what is going on. ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here