Trainer Dutrow believes Big Brown will run again after Belmont
NEW YORK -- Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. has plans for Big Brown beyond the Belmont Stakes, even though there is speculation the unbeaten colt will be retired following his attempt to become the first Triple Crown champion in U.S. thoroughbred racing in 30 years.
"No one told me that," Dutrow said when Big Brown first arrived at Belmont Park earlier in the week, adding a few days later, "our plan is the Belmont, Travers and Breeders' Cup. We are going to show up if our horse is good and ready."
Dutrow has been consistent in his comments since Big Brown won the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, a day in which majority owners IEAH Stables sold breeding rights to Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky for reportedly more than US$50 million.
Before Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby, IEAH co-president Michael Iavarone said Big Brown would not run next year as a four-year-old.
That prompted talk that the Belmont in just more than two weeks would likely be Big Brown's final race, win or lose. While IEAH has yet to confirm Big Brown's post-Belmont plans, Dutrow clearly wants to keep the colt in training. First, for the Travers on Aug. 23 at Saratoga, and then a grand farewell in the $5-million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.
The Classic could match Big Brown against 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin, who won the Preakness and Classic last year and the $6-million Dubai World Cup this year.
"We'll show up for the last one if our horse is good and if he's ready," Dutrow said, referring to the Breeders' Cup. "I would like them to run against each other. It would be good for racing, and it would be good for us. It wouldn't be so good for (Curlin)."
Copyright (c) 2008 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved
Big Brown doing well; Stevil preps for Preakness bid
BIG BROWN (Boundary) could become the first Kentucky Derby (G1) winner since Citation 60 years ago not to face any of the horses who ran against him in the 1 1/4-mile classic when he makes his next start in the $1 million Preakness S. (G1) on May 17 at Pimlico. The middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown is likely to include eight new shooters.
The only Derby finisher that might return to challenge the winner is RECAPTURETHEGLORY (Cherokee Run), who finished fifth in the Run for the Roses. Co-owners Louie Roussel III and Ronnie Lamarque told Pimlico stakes coordinator Coleman Blind that a final decision could be made Tuesday. The Illinois Derby (G2) winner will remain at Churchill Downs until a decision is made.
"Louie and Ronnie are still talking about it," said Lara Van Deren, assistant to Roussel who also serves as Recapturetheglory's exercise rider. "They want to see how many horses are likely to be in there before they make a decision."
The Roussel and Lamarque team captured the Preakness 20 years ago with Risen Star.
Meanwhile Michelle Nevin, assistant to trainer Rick Dutrow, reported all was well Monday morning at Churchill Downs with the winner of Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Dutrow, who has been under the weather, took the morning off and is expected to be back at the track Tuesday morning.
Owned by IEAH Stables (Michael Iavarone and Richard Schiavo) and Paul Pompa Jr., Big Brown is not scheduled to return to the track until Wednesday morning. A decision on when the Derby winner ships into Stall 40 of the Pimlico stakes barn will be made by the end of the week.
"It is surreal and tough to digest," Iavarone said. "The reason anybody gets involved in horse racing is for something like this. It is like hitting the lottery five times. It is like borderline unbelievable. Now we are starting to focus on the Preakness. We have our blinkers back on. I am not trying to think Triple Crown. We just want to get through the Preakness just like he did at the Derby. We will take it one step at a time."
It will be a homecoming of sorts for Big Brown's trainer and jockey.
Dutrow was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and attended Atholton High School in Howard County. His father, Dick Dutrow, battled King Leatherbury, Bud Delp and John Tammaro for training supremacy in Maryland in the 1970s. The elder Dutrow captured four training titles at Pimlico during that decade. Dutrow's older brother, Tony, was a top Maryland conditioner before moving his stable to Philadelphia Park four years ago.
Kent Desormeaux won five riding titles at Pimlico from 1987 to 1989. The Hall of Famer has had 10 career Preakness mounts, including a victory aboard Real Quiet in 1998.
The first Preakness horses to call Baltimore home will arrive Wednesday, when KENTUCKY BEAR (Mr. Greeley) and TRES BORRACHOS (Ecton Park) are vanned to Pimlico from Kentucky.
Kentucky Bear, who finished a close third in the Blue Grass S. (G1) on April 12 at Keeneland, worked five furlongs in a bullet :59 at Keeneland on Saturday. One week earlier, the chestnut colt worked five furlongs in a bullet :59 3/5 on a muddy track at Churchill Downs. The Reade Baker trainee is expected to turn in a five-furlong drill at Pimlico on Saturday morning, immediately after the renovation break at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
"The last two works were great," said Baker, who arrives Friday to oversee the work. "We were very anxious to get into the Kentucky Derby. He is doing super. Since he arrived in Kentucky (on April 2), he has put on 75 pounds. It is hard to believe but he is eating that green grass like a lawn mower. The new fad is not to come into Baltimore early but we are going to."
Tres Borrachos galloped 1 3/4 miles at Churchill Downs after the renovation break on Monday under Andy Durnin. Trainer Beau Greely is expected to arrive in Louisville, Kentucky, from his Southern California base on Tuesday to supervise a Wednesday work. Tyler Baze has the riding assignment for the Preakness. Durnin galloped the bay gelding a bit further than normal on Monday.
"The track was closed Saturday morning (because of heavy overnight rains) and he had just jogged the day before, so he needed to do more yesterday (1 1/2-mile gallop) and today," Durnin said.
Wednesday's work will be the third at Churchill Downs since Tres Borrachos finished third, beaten 4 3/4 lengths, in the April 12 Arkansas Derby (G2) at Oaklawn Park. Tres Borrachos will then to ship to Baltimore later on Wednesday.
Also at Churchill Downs, STEVIL (Maria's Mon), who finished a closing fourth in the Blue Grass, worked four furlongs on a fast track in :48 3/5 under Megan Smillie. The move was the eighth fastest of 40 at the distance on a sun-splashed morning and drew a nod of approval from trainer Nick Zito, who saddled Louis Quatorze to victory in the 1996 Preakness.
"He worked good and he has done well here since the Blue Grass," Zito said. "He will work here again next week and then we will ship to Baltimore."
Stevil has compiled a record of 6-1-1-1 with earnings of $95,685. The lone win came at first asking and in all of his starts he has been competitive.
"He's a very consistent horse and he has never run a bad race," Zito said. "In the Louisiana Derby (G2) when he ran fifth, he drew the one hole and then Pyro (Pulpit) beat him to a spot."
Zito would tie Max Hirsch for second on the all-time starter list among trainers with 19 if he saddles Stevil in Maryland's signature race. D. Wayne Lukas leads all conditioners with 32 Preakness starters.
Meanwhile in Southern California, trainer Patrick Gallagher confirmed that California Derby winner YANKEE BRAVO (Yankee Gentleman) is bound for the Preakness. Since his victory in the California Derby, Yankee Bravo ran third in the Louisiana Derby and fourth in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). Alex Solis, who won 1986 Preakness aboard Snow Chief, has the riding assignment.
"He'll work mid-week, sometime on Wednesday or Thursday," Gallagher said. "He didn't have the earnings for the Derby so we decided to skip and take a close look at the Preakness."
Yankee Bravo will arrive on May 14 on a plane that is also expected to bring San Rafael S. (G3) winner EL GATO MALO (El Corredor), who was fifth in the Santa Anita Derby, to Baltimore. That was the first time the son of El Corredor finished out of the money for trainer Craig Dollase.
At Belmont Park, trainer Richard Schosberg announced GIANT MOON (Giant's Causeway) would be arriving at Pimlico on May 15. The bay colt, who won his first four starts, including three stakes races in New York, finished fourth most recently in the Wood Memorial (G1) at Aqueduct.
"He went January until April between races," Schosberg said. "He needs time after a big effort and it was four weeks between the Gotham (S. [G3] on March 8) and the Wood (on April 5) and now it's another six weeks to the Preakness. We thought about running in the Withers (S. [G3] on April 26) in between, but a month between races is probably best. He really ran a big effort in the Wood after his race in the Gotham. The Gotham was run over some very bad conditions and he was in deep traffic and I think that race is a throw out. In the Wood he showed he belongs with horses at this level.
"Big Brown actually opens things up," Schosberg continued. "He ran such a big race and was so impressive that he is going to scare off a lot of them and leave it to others to take a chance. I don't care if it is two weeks or two days between the Derby and the Preakness, that was some effort."
Schosberg indicated Giant Moon will work Wednesday and possibly again next Tuesday before arriving in Baltimore.
Trainer Todd Pletcher is expected to start a pair of Preakness runners for the second consecutive year. The Eclipse Award-winning conditioner will be represented by BEHINDATTHEBAR (Forest Wildcat), who won the Lexington S. (G2) on April 19 at Keeneland, and HARLEM ROCKER (Macho Uno), who captured the Withers one week later at Aqueduct.
The post position draw for the Preakness will be held on May 14 at 5 p.m. (EDT) at the ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore. The event will be televised live on ESPN. The Preakness is limited to 14 starters. Thirteen of the last 16 years have produced double-digit starters.
The 133rd running of the Preakness on May 17 will be televised by NBC. Post time is 6:15 p.m.
brisnet.com
Colonel John's work put him in elite group
LOUISVILLE -- A 5-furlong workout in under 58 seconds is special for any horse.
But when Colonel John was clocked in 57.80 seconds Sunday, he solidified his status as one of the favorites for the 134th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
"A '57' is a pretty sensational work," trainer Eoin Harty said Monday. "I've never worked a horse in 57 and change. Bob (Baffert, Harty's former boss) may have, but not many."
Harty wasn't anticipating the speedy workout, but he wasn't surprised either. "That's what he's been working like since Day One at Keeneland last year.
"He's been on a sand track before, and he's done very well. He trained on dirt as a 2-year-old, and he handled it well then. I've been confident in that regard all along."
Colonel John caught the trainer's attention with an opening eighth in 12.40 seconds (12 seconds according to the clockers).
"He started to pick it up and pick it up," Harty said. "(Exercise rider Karine Lhuillier) looked like she was slowing him down, but she said there wasn't much she could do."
Harty said he felt "somewhat vindicated (by the workout). I have a lot of faith in this horse."
Colonel John's time was the best of 62 workouts at 5 furlongs on Sunday.
Females united
Eight Belles has been getting some extra encouragement as she prepares to enter the Kentucky Derby.
It's not enough that trainer Larry Jones is doing all he can to prepare the filly, who won't get the lilies from the Kentucky Oaks on Friday but will chase the roses in Saturday's Derby.
"My wife (Cindy) talks with her," Jones said. "She says, 'Anything a man can do, a woman can do better.'"
Eight Belles must be taking the advice to heart. She turned in a 5-furlong workout in :58.20 on Sunday. "I had to run her down with a pony to get her to stop," Jones said.
Winning Colors was the last filly to win the Kentucky Derby two decades ago.
"Winning Colors was a big filly," Jones said. "Eight Belles is not as large, but she is close. She is definitely bigger than Genuine Risk (the 1980 Derby-winning filly). She's as large as Hard Spun."
The Jones-trained Hard Spun was second to Street Sense in the 2007 Derby.
He mentioned Colonel John's history of racing on nothing but artificial surfaces, including his Santa Anita Derby victory that stamped his credential as a Kentucky Derby favorite.
Jones conceded that Colonel John's speedy workout filled in that "hole."
The trainer known as Cowboy praised Big Brown for "his superior race" in winning the Florida Derby by 5 lengths, especially overcoming his outside post position in a field of 12.
"Maybe the hole he has in him is his lack of experience," Jones said of Big Brown's three-race career, including a maiden, allowance and Grade I stakes race.
"Three races aren't enough preparation for the Derby," said Jones, whose Hard Spun had six starts entering last year's Derby.
Happy return
The best thing about having Visionaire in the Derby, according to trainer Mike Matz, is being in Louisville to compete for the second time in three years. He won with Barbaro in 2006.
"I'm glad to be back, that's for sure," said Matz after Visionaire worked a half-mile in 48:40, 11th of 33 at the distance Monday. "Any time you're here, it's a nice situation."
Asked whether the 2006 Derby was happy or bittersweet because of Barbaro's ultimately fatal breakdown in the Preakness, Matz responded: "Very happy with what he did, what he accomplished. I hope to have the same feeling Saturday."
Matz wants a quicker pace than the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes in which Visionaire was fifth. "At the end, he was the only one gaining on the leaders," Matz said.
Bad news, good news
Trainer David Carroll sent Denis of Cork out for a mile gallop earlier than usual Sunday morning.
"It's my son's first communion, and we had to be at church by 9," Carroll said.
With Behindatthebar skipping the Derby for the Preakness, Denis of Cork is 20th on the graded-stakes earnings list and should be a Derby starter on Saturday.
Before he got the news Monday, Carroll said, "It's a crime. It is very frustrating now seeing the way he has trained the past couple of weeks."
When he got the news about Behindatthebar's defection, Carroll said, "I am over the moon."
Copyright 1996-2008 The Miami Herald Media Company
Force Freeze's win earns start on Preakness card
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Force Freeze is headed to Maryland after running the fastest six furlongs of the young Lone Star Park meet on Thursday night. The speedster, who is 3, will make his graded stakes debut at Pimlico in the Grade 3, $100,000 Hirsch Jacobs at six furlongs on the Preakness Stakes undercard May 17.
"We'll try to fly him out four days before the race," said Allen Milligan, who trains Force Freeze.
Force Freeze won for the third time in four career starts on Thursday, leading throughout in a second-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up and covering the distance in 1:09.16. The track was rated good. The previous meet-best time for six furlongs came on April 19, when Trouble Now won a $35,000 optional claimer on a fast track in 1:11.16. Lone Star opened April 10.
Force Freeze won by 4 1/2 lengths. He set fractions of 21.84 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.45 for the half-mile mark. Force Freeze broke next-to-last from the rail after the start was delayed because another horse proved difficult to load.
"He left there flat-footed," Milligan said of Force Freeze.
"When you can overcome a bad break, it means a lot."
Force Freeze's two other wins came wire to wire at Oaklawn. Cliff Berry is the horse's regular rider, and Milligan said Berry has the mount in the Hirsch Jacobs.
Wrenice could return on Million Day
Wrenice, who has been idle since December, was to have her first work back here Saturday, depending on the weather, said her trainer, Randy Mayfield. He freshened Wrenice after she finished an uncharacteristic ninth in the $50,000 Yellow Rose at Sam Houston on Dec. 1.
"She needed the time," he said.
Mayfield said Wrenice, 4, could make her first start back in the $100,000 Valid Expectations for fillies and mares at six furlongs on the Lone Star Million Day program of stakes here May 26. He said the other comeback option for her is the $50,000 Nevill/Kyocera Stakes for fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf here June 21. Wrenice has been galloping at Lone Star.
"She looks like she's never been off," said Mayfield. "I don't think it will take many works to put her back where she was."
Wrenice is a seven-time stakes winner who has earned $389,046.
Gold Coyote eyes Stallion Stakes
Gold Coyote, the horse of the meet last year at Lone Star, is scheduled to make his first appearance this meet on May 10. Trainer Bret Calhoun said Friday that Gold Coyote is being pointed for the $125,000 Stymie division of the Texas Stallion Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile race is restricted to the 3-year-old offspring of eligible stallions.
Gold Coyote tuned up for the stakes here Wednesday morning, working a bullet five furlongs in 59.60 seconds. He last raced on March 29, winning the $50,000 Fort Bend County at Sam Houston Race Park by nine lengths.
Last year at Lone Star, Gold Coyote won a 2-year-old division of the Texas Stallion Stakes with a Beyer of 102, and also captured the closing-day Middleground Stakes.
Services set for Whitey Nolen
Whitey Nolen, a trainer and popular member of the racing community at Lone Star, died Tuesday night of heart failure in a Fort Worth hospital. He was 67. A memorial service for him will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. in the chapel in the racing office building at Lone Star.
"Besides being a successful racehorse trainer in the 80s and 90s, he was also an auctioneer," Lone Star chaplain Sam Spence said.
Nolen is survived by his wife, Marilyn, who is an office manager at Lone Star.
* Ferdinand's Flyer, the runner-up to Gold Coyote in the Fort Bend County, is among the top contenders in the featured eighth race Sunday. The six-furlong allowance is for 3-year-olds and up bred in Texas.
drf.com
Animal Rights Activists Fight For Legislation
Animal rights activists are working to raise awareness over the cruel and inhumane way more than 100,000 unwanted horses a year are driven to their deaths.
Some of the unwanted horses are killed and butchered for horsemeat in Canada and Mexico, but proposed legislation may change everything.
Horse racing is a big business in Maryland, where the Preakness is held every year. More that 150,00 horses are involved in the industry in Maryland alone.
Horse activists are now speaking out over what happens to these horses when they are no longer wanted.
"It's hard to watch a race and know that maybe 75 percent of those horses are going to end up as horse meat," said actor and activist, Paul Sorvino.
Sorvino and his daughter own a horse rescue farm in Pennsylvania and they are fighting for national legislation to protect horses from slaughter.
"I have watched them be beat on the truck with sticks and whips and a cane actually. That's how they are transported and once they are at the place they are off-loaded the same way," said horse activist, Jo Deibel.
Deibel is actively involved in horse rescue and she has seen first hand what she calls a horrifying process.
The horses are lined up and forced into a narrow pen where they are electrocuted, often numerous times, to render them unconscious. Sometimes this process doesn't work.
"You have to whack it 4 to 5 times to get the horse down. That's cruel and not a humane ending," said Deibel.
Then the horses are strung up by their legs and their throats are slashed.
The proposed legislation also attacks the problem of cruelty in the way the horses are hauled to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.
Buyers purchase them at auctions and one of the auction sites is in New Holland, Pennsylvania.
"I think anything that smacks me as unnecessary is disturbing. Cruelty is cruelty," said Sorvino.
The demand for horse meat usually comes from Europe and parts of Asia.
(c) MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved
Curlin to take a breather from racing while de Kock plans big
DUBAI (AFP) — Newly crowned Dubai World Cup champion Curlin is to be given a well deserved rest by his connections as they prepare to map out his campaign in the United States later in the year.
The four-year-old American equine superstar franked his reputation as the world's highest rated horse with an emphatic victory on Saturday in the 6million dollar race as he eased home ahead of Asiatic Boy and Well Armed.
His trainer Steve Asmussen, brother of former top jockey Cash, said that all the connections - apart from two of his minority share owners who are presently in jail awaiting trial on wire fraud charges - would sit down once the Breeders Cup Classic and Preakness Stakes winning star got back to Kentucky on April 6 and discuss the future.
"From there, we'll plan a course for the second half of the year," said Asmussen, who had described Curlin's win as awesome.
"It will be decided collectively and based on what's in the best interest of the horse and his legacy," Asmussen added of his star, who has come out of the race without any problems.
Meanwhile Dubai-based South African trainer Mike de Kock revealed he had ambitious plans for his two winners at the meeting, filly Sun Classique, who collected the 5million dollar Dubai Sheema Classic, and Honour Devil, who won the UAE Derby giving the South African his fourth win in the 2million dollar race.
"She's (Sun Classique) absolutely fine," he said on Sunday.
"We will probably take her to Sha Tin (Hong Kong) for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
"She'll then spend the summer in the United Kingdom, with the rest of my string from Dubai, and we'll think about Royal Ascot, although that might be a big ask as we won't have much time.
"There are other races like the Nassau and Sun Chariot Stakes to consider, so we don't have to rush her," added de Kock, who established himself as a trainer of the higest rank when he used to travel from South Africa and plunder some of Dubai's top prizes.
De Kock, who saddled Asiatic Boy in the World Cup, said that America was the likely destination for Honour Devil.
"We might think about some races in America with Honour Devil and Royal Vintage (second in the UAE Derby) could be our Dubai World Cup horse next year," he said.
Fellow South African winner Jay Peg, who landed the 5million dollars Dubai Duty Free despite his saddle slipping dramatically in the final metres, is also bound for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup and then possibly the Singapore Cup.
"The horse is fine and he pulled out in great shape this morning (Sunday)," said Terry Fripp, assistant to trainer Herman Brown.
Copyright (c) 2008 AFP. All rights reserved
Godolphin set for strong classic bid
GODOLPHIN look set to mount a strong challenge on the classics this season, with Ibn Khaldun and Laureldean Gale among their brighter hopes.
Racing manager Simon Crisford confirmed the former, winner of the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October, will be targeted at the Stan James 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 3.
Speaking at Godolphin's open day at Al Quoz stables in Dubai, Crisford said, "A homebred by Dubai Destination, he is a fantastic colt. He has had an excellent winter and is working very well.
"He is 60 per cent fit at the moment and we have very strong hopes for him in the 2000 Guineas."
The Godolphin operation purchased Fast Company, formerly with Brian Meehan, after he finished a close second to the unbeaten New Approach in the Dewhurst.
While the team retain every faith in this son of Danehill Dancer, Crisford admits he has not been setting the world alight at home.
"He has not been showing us a great deal this winter so far in his faster paces, but we know he is a good horse and are sure he will be much better when he gets to the racetrack," he said.
Fourth in the Dewhurst was Rio De La Plata, who, conversely, has been showing all the right signs.
"He has had a fantastic winter. He is moving well and training extremely well. We are very happy with him," Crisford continued.
"We may well run him in the French 2000 Guineas if we choose not to run him in the English 2000 Guineas at Newmarket."
McCartney was only seventh in the Dewhurst for Mark Johnston and is to be stepped up in trip at three.
"He has never had a good action throughout the winter, but he is a very promising colt and goes for the Dante Stakes at York 0n May 15," Crisford added on Godolphin's site.
Among the fillies, Crisford has high hopes for Laureldean Gale, who has the Stan James 1000 Guineas as her primary objective.
"She was a very impressive winner of a maiden at Newmarket and later ran disappointingly in the Prix Marcel Boussac in France, but she got very excited in the pre-parade ring at Longchamp before that race," he said.
"She is going for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 4.
"She has had a very good winter and is working very well indeed. We hope we can see her back to her very best."
Screen Star outclassed her rivals by 11 lengths and more on her debut and is another expected to blossom at three.
"She is a homebred daughter of Tobougg and she won very, very impressively at Redcar," Crisford added.
"Unfortunately, she had an injury after that race and could not go for the May Hill at Doncaster.
"We want to run her over a mile in a York Listed race towards the end of May and we are hoping that maybe she will be good enough to represent the stable at Royal Ascot."
Meanwhile, Godolphin stable jockey Frankie Dettori insists Jalil is capable of denting the lofty reputation of Curlin in Saturday's Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba.
Dettori takes the mount of Godolphin's improving colt and was buoyed by the four-year-old's victory in round one of the Al Maktoum Challenge earlier this month.
Despite Jalil's unbeaten three-from-three record in Dubai this winter, the three-time World Cup-winning rider is acutely aware of the threat posed by Curlin, the American Horse of the Year.
"I have been very impressed by Curlin. But he is beatable, every horse is beatable," stressed Dettori.
"But, if the Curlin of the Breeders' Cup or Preakness Stakes turns up, then it is going to be very hard.
"But he has had to travel a long way - it is different conditions on a different track. We have a good hand and we have to go out thinking we can beat him.
"But it is still there in black and white that he is rated 11lb higher than us and that tells its own story."
After costing the Godolphin operation $9.7m as a yearling, Jalil last year failed to impress on the turf in Britain.
However, the son of Storm Cat is slowly living up to his huge price tag.
"Jalil always had potential, he is a fantastic-looking horse - a little on the weak side - but he always had potential to become a good one," added Dettori, who finished last on Discreet Cat in the 2007 World Cup.
"He seems to love the dirt and every time we have pulled the bar up he has risen to it and gone on.
"We haven't got to the bottom of him yet, but he has had three challenges this year and every time he has come up with the goods.
"Now he has got a higher step to climb but he has got something more to give."
Trainer Saeed bin Suroor accepts Curlin is the one to beat, but is confident Jalil can continue on the upgrade.
He said, "Curlin is a star and you could say he is the best horse in the race coming from America.
"I have a lot of respect for him, but Jalil is an improving horse all the time.
"When I saw him last year I knew that he was a good age and he would do better and he has proved me right.
"With time he has improved and improved his record – that shows you that the horse is doing very well and we expect a big run from him on Saturday."
Copyright (c) 2008 owned by or licensed to Media Wales Ltd.
|
