11/12 (AQU): My Pal of Pals (AE 13)
 

7th race
Turf
6f
MSW $40k
NYS bred
9 horse field (10, 11 & 12 are MTO's); 5 first-time starters
pp8

And oh yeah.... Johnny Velasquez aboard!

Great news. Will not be able to be there but will stop something to watch it for sure. Best of luck and safe travels for all involved.

Belmont Park - October 5, 2011 Race 7 - 4:11 PM

MAIDEN SPECIAL WEIGHT

Purse $40,000. For Maidens, Two Years Old Foaled In New York State And Approved By The New York State-Bred Registry. Weight, 120 Lbs. (If the Stewards consider it inadvisable to run this race on the turf course, this race will be run at Six Furlongs on the main track.). Six Furlongs. (Turf)

1 5 Stage Debut (NY) 2/G L1 R Curatolo 1155 C F Martin 12/1
2 1 I'm Da Ya Yo (NY) 2/C A Lezcano 120 J Odintz 30/1
3 2 Andromeda's Storm (NY) 2/C L1 J Bravo 120 G D Sacco 15/1
4 3 Johnny's Cafe (NY) 2/C L1 R A Dominguez 120 B Tagg 8/1
5 4 Little Dale (NY) 2/G L M R Cruz 120 D L Romans 5/2
6 6 Alarmed Ndangerous (NY) 2/C L C H Velasquez 120 L Rice 5/1
7 7 Comstock Prize (NY) 2/C L1 J Lezcano 120 M E Hushion 6/1
8 8 My Pal of Pals (NY) 2/C L J R Velazquez 120 G Sciacca 6/1
9 9 Sleepy Freud (NY) 2/G L A O Solis 120 L Rice 3/1
Also Eligibles:
1A 12 Bizarroworld (NY) (MTO) 2/G L R Curatolo 1155 C F Martin 12/1
10 10 Quiet Favorite (NY) (MTO) 2/C L A O Solis 120 L Gyarmati 3/1
11 11 There Goes Vinny (NY) (MTO) 2/C L1 D Cohen 120 E R Barker 8/1

A - Coupled Entries - 1 - Stage Debut, 1A - Bizarroworld

Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10), Pick 3 Races (7-9), Daily Double Wagers

Reading the forecast, warm sunny weather now the rain has cleared out, the chance for being on the turf is looking extremely good, yes?? Will be trying to sneak a peek at the race from work, good luck Pal and Team Dee Tee!

Are you guy's sure he is running? Steve has not said anything.

Off the turf, so he will scratch...the extra week will probably do him good.

Bummer.... We've got a whole pocketful of Benjamins with no place to go.... :mad:

Looks like another race w/ the same conditions will be run next Thurs, Oct 13th.... Are you pointing for that one? Any idea whether you can still get Johnny V to ride?

Ideally yes.. And you would expect JV to take the call back unless he has prior commitment that was pointing for that spot.

5th (3:07)

6 Furlongs (Inner turf) | Open | 2 Year Olds Maiden Special Weight | Purse: $40,000

1 Sleepy Freud Velasquez C 120 L
2 Lord of Love Smith A E 120 FTL
3 Synthesizer Dominguez R A 120 L
4 Big City Boy Cohen D 120 FTL
5 Stage Debut Curatolo R 115 L
6 Image of Disco Trujillo E 120 L
7 Powerful Instinct Chavez J F 120
8 American Buffalo Castellano J J 120 FTL
9 Win for the Zipper Lezcano J 120 L
10 Johnny's Cafe Castro E 120 L
11 King Keene Espinoza J L 120 FTL
12 Muster Up Lezcano A 120
AE My Pal of Pals Nakatani C S 120 L
MTO Irish Etiquette Ortiz I Jr 115 FTL
MTO Think I'm Hooked Ortiz I Jr 120 L

Bleech..

Steve,

What determines whether or horse gets entered or ends up on the AE list? Are they randomly drawn? Seeded in some way? Other?

Thanks

Random..

It goes by a date system according to the last time the horse ran, or when the dates reset. The system can be somewhat Byzantine in determining what takes precedence, turf dates, NY bred dates, yadda yadda...unfortunately "Pal" has a "scratch date" (from last week) which is the worst type of date to have.

And the 5 day forcast for rain Wed-Fri another scratch upcoming:

http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Jamaica+NY+11439

:mad:

Will likely SCR even if it stays on and he draws in. After 2 starts by Ausable and the 1 by Pal in turf sprints in the last 6 weeks from the most extreme outside post, I think we've learned our lesson.

Turf Sprint Post Stats at Belmont-Fall '11 to date:

Post 10: 2-45 (.04)
Post 11: 1-38 (.03)
Post 12: 1-24 (.04)


Turf Sprint Post Stats at Belmont-Spring '11l:

Post 10: 3-59 (.05)
Post 11: 1-26 (.04)
Post 12: 0-14 (.00)

Thanks for pointing out this trend, Steve. Good info.

As Jim Croce once sang, "You don't spit into the wind...."

Any idea when the next opportunity might be for Pal? I didn't see anything in the Oct 13-30 Condition Book that looked like a fit.

Also, any idea for what the plan might be for Pal this winter? Stay in NY? Head south?

Thanks, Steve.

They'll bring back 6f-T MSW's for NY 2yo's steadily.. He'll stay in NY over the winter..

Safe to assume Pal is not running today?

Now that Belmont *just* updated their website (their last update had been MONDAY :mad:), I can answer my own question:

SCRATCHES
Race 5

7 Powerful Instinct
13 My Pal of Pals
14 Irish Etiquette
15 Think I'm Hooked Early

Pal - Workout
 

My Pal of Pals (2-Year-Old Colt)

Date: October 22, 2011
Track: BELMONT PARK
Distance: Four Furlongs
Time: 51:88 Breezing
Track Condition: Fast
Surface: Dirt training
Rank: 84/85

My Pal of Pals: 11/4 in the 8th at The Big A
 

My Pal of Pals is entered on November 4, 2011 at AQUEDUCT.
Full Entries for Race




Race: 8 - 5:04 PM Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10) Wagers
MAIDEN SPECIAL WEIGHT

Purse: $ 41,000. For Maidens, Two Years Old Foaled In New York State And Approved By The New York State-bred Registry. Weight, 120 Lbs. (if The Stewards Consider It Inadvisable To Run This Race On The Turf Course, This Race Will Be Run At One Mile On The Main Track.). One And One Sixteenth Miles. (Turf)
PP Horse A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer
6 My Pal of Pals 2/C L Jorge F. Chavez
120 Gary Sciacca

Looks like a go for Friday...hoping the weather holds out. Janice Blake Baeza unavailabe, so Choppy is next best option. Looking for a big effort in finale of Big A's opening card.

Good Luck to MPOP & stable at the Big A tomorrow - safest of journeys to both the colt & Jorge..

Pal looks live in this group, hope I won't be the only one at the Big A on his behalf today! Good luck to the rest of the owners, let's get a photo today!

Hope everyone enjoys their Friday out at the Big A, looks like a beautiful fall day has played in our favor - good luck to Pal and Team Dee Tee, come home safe all!

Chavez could be hot today....

1st race - pilots a 79-1 shot to a 2nd place finish ($51.00 to place!)

2nd race - wins as a result of a DQ aboard a 6-1 horse; pays $15.60


Why not US? Why not NOW?

Go get 'em Choppy!!!

Considering the quality of riders at the Big A today with the big boys (and somehow David Cohen) down in Kentucky, Chavez is one of the better riders on the grounds.

How did My Pal of Pals come out of the race?

Steve, or Paul,

Any post-mortem on the effort Friday?

It looked to me, on the small screen, like Pal was crowded and taken back at about the half mile pole. Then, he stopped running.

Just an uneducated observation, as I say, off of a small video screen.

Thanks for everything.

-- dan

Dan,
Choppy told Gary he got tired at the end..not much else. I have no doubt that the 1 1/16 may not be his best distance and he might have been a bit short. That being said, I love Jorge but I think he was pissed the colt dumped him at the gate and rode him indifferently at best.

Thanks for the word.

He DID look pissed. Hah, hah.

Granted, I didn't have a great view on my computer screen, but it looked like he broke really well. Was he acting up behind or in gate?

No. But, Pal tossed Chavez during the post parade and Chop Chop didn't remount until Pal had been loaded and just seconds before the break.

I am not really sure what Choppy's plan was. Pal broke well but then got hung wide around the first turn and then was taken back. Not really sure why you make that move to be hung only to be brought back to a position that you could have gotten easily without having to use the horse early. Just seemed to me like there was no sense of where he wanted the horse in the race.

Thanks for the info; I hadn't realized that.

Any chance you'll run him back on the 19th? I think there's another turf race @ AQU for NY-bred 2yo's that day, tho I think it's another route.

When the weather gets colder and they come off the grass, do you still plan on running him on the dirt?

Time yet to drop MPOP for a tag? How long does Gary want to run him at MSW level?

Find a level where he can run and make some small $$ for Gary S.

Be patient. He is the best bred foal of a dam that has consistently thrown runners. Paul can detail U R Theweakestlinks and her family and its' quirks, but remember that half Loyal Shadow (Wheelaway) took forever to break her maiden (14 starts?) thanks to the same kind of hijinx Pal demonstrated behind the gate the other day. She's now 31/5-2-3 with 2 NYB ALW wins and $161,000 in earnings.

PAL enters back with Luz for Saturday but is AE..


9th (4:15)

1 1/16 Miles (Turf) | Open | 2 Year Olds Maiden Special Weight | Purse: $41,000

1 King Keene Espinoza J L 120 L
2 Win for the Zipper Lezcano J 120 L
3 Van Tassel Castellano J J 120 Blk-On L
4 Papa Tom Lezcano A 120
5 I'll Stake U Luzzi M J 120 L
6 Ida's Pride Ortiz I Jr 115 Blk-Off L
7 The Tapinator Studart M 120 L
8 Post Pattern Curatolo R 115
9 Lone Star Gold Curatolo R 120 L
10 Summer Breezing Maragh R 120
11 Sonnyandpally Alvarado J 120 L
12 Sleepy Freud Velasquez C 120 L
AE My Pal of Pals Luzzi M J 120 L
MTO Quiet Favorite Curatolo R 115 L
MTO Live for Today Curatolo R 120 L