Picturesque, but God It=S Cold
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SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2016 PICTURESQUE, BUT >RACHEL= HOPES TO FOLLOW IN MOTHER=S HOOFPRINTS By Christie DeBernardis GOD IT=S COLD... Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d=Oro) demolished the only two fillies brave enough to show up by 19 1/4 lengths in the 2009 GI Mother Goose S. and now her daughter Rachel=s Valentina (Bernardini) looks to follow in her hoofprints in Saturday=s renewal of the Belmont-based race. Unlike her dam who entered this test off an equally impressive tour de force in Rachel=s Valentina | A. Coglianese the GI Kentucky Oaks, the ATDN Rising Star@ comes into this off a sixth-place finish as the favorite in that May 6 event. Cont. p5 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Racing at Les Landes Race Course | Kandid Prints AUSTRALIA-BOUND COLT TOPS ARQANA Dance Of Life (Fr) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) is bound for By Bill Finley Australia after selling for a sale-topping €400,000 at Arqana’s Does a temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit disqualify a Summer Sale on Friday. Click or tap here to go straight to place from being a paradise? TDN Europe. That=s never a question I thought I=d have to ponder until traveling to the Isle of Jersey to experience a racing card at Les Landes. Beautiful place. God awful weather. God awful weather in July. I guess the answer is you have to take the good with the bad. After the drive from hell (more on the that later), I arrived just prior to the first race Friday at Les Landes and discovered that I was at perhaps the most unique racetrack in the world, one whose charm is in direct contrast with the down-on-their-luck horses that race there and weather right out of the South Pole. The Isle of Jersey is part of the Channel Islands, a group of islands about 14 miles off the coast of France, but actually part of the U.K. Jersey is the biggest island of the group and on the northwest tip of the island sits a racetrack. It is so close to the sea, that if a horse bolted over the outside rail coming out of the clubhouse turn it=d better be a good swimmer. It challenges any racetrack in the world when it comes to the most picturesque setting. AThis is the most picturesque race course in the British Isles,@ said track president Tony Taylor said. Cont. p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] Saturday, July 2, 2016 EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Associate Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Assistant Editors Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Kusch Advertising Designer Your mother’s Mother Goose. Rachel Alexandra and her happy connections return to Amanda Crelin the barn after a 19 1/2-length romp in the 2009 GI Mother Goose S. Can Rachel’s Advertising Assistants Valentina follow in her dam’s hoofprints? Story continues on page 5. | Sarah Andrew Brittlan Wall @bwallTDN August Pons @APonsTDN Alexa Reisfield TODAY’S GRADED STAKES EDT Race Click for TV Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. 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To have a racetrack on a cliff overlooking the ocean with cows grazing in the infield makes for a scene you can=t find anywhere else. Sorry, Del Mar. If only the sun would come out. It was 57 degrees and raining in the morning. The weather got a bit better during the day, but it was unbearably cold and windy by the time of the first race. The locals kept telling me that I picked the worst day weather-wise to come to the races, and that on a good day it can get up to 63 or 64 degrees and the wind won=t blow over small children. Gee, whiz. There are nine race meetings on Jersey and one more on Guernsey, another one of the Channel Islands. The purses stink. With so few meetings, the horses can only run a handful of times and the total handle on the card was probably in the neighborhood of $7.82. It makes no sense to have a racetrack here. Yet, that=s the beauty of Les Landes. Nobody runs here to get rich or famous and the track operators aren=t looking to make any money. They=ve been racing here since 1961 because they love horse racing. Alyson Malzard is the top trainer. She is so good that it=s quite possible she could become a successful trainer in the U.K. or France. It=s not something she wants to do. AI train racehorses and love it,@ she said. AI live right next door to the race course. I have taken horses to France and have had winners in France. I travel a bit, but I am a Jersey trainer.@ With so few races available on the island, the money Malzard makes from purses is minimal. She says she must survive on her day rate, mainly from local owners, who, like her, get a thrill from winning races in their own backyard. She charges ,37 a day. AI make my living training horses whether they win or not,@ Malzard said. AThe yard gets 10% when we win, but the main thing is that winning keeps the owners happy. The prize money doesn=t affect me in any way.@ These horses will never win a Group 1 in England or France and may not be able to win at the Grey Panel as a foal with his dam lowest level at the Minnie=s Mystery | Emma Berry lowest tracks in the U.K. Still, they can become Jersey legends. The fourth race on the card was won by Grey Panel (Largesse), who scored his 12th win on the island. The purse was ,1,780 pounds. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 12 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • JULY 2, 2016 Les Landes Race Course on the Isle of Jersey | Jersey Race Club As for the jockeys and trainers, they have all sorts of back Picturesque, But God It=s Cold cont. stories. Leading rider Mattie Batchelor admits that he=s fallen Bred by Emma and John Berry, Grey Panel is out of Minnie=s Mystery (Fr) (Highest Honor {Fr}), who won 11 races on the Isle out of favor in the U.K. of Jersey and is a Jersey champion. She currently resides at AI=m getting old, I=m 40,@ he said. AIt=s like football. It=s a young Haras de la Cauviniere. man=s sport and times changes and there=s a changing of the ARacing is a disease,@ said his trainer Tony Le Brocq. AWe do it guard. I=ve been coming over to Jersey now for nearly eight because we love it.@ years. It=s good to build up a rapport with the trainers and I=ve The third race, the ,2,380 Smith and Williamson Champion been lucky to always have some winners every year.@ Hurdle was won in a driving finish by Rosetti (GB) (Dansili) (GB), Trainer Karl Kukk galloped horses for Godolphin and wanted to for his second straight win in the biggest jumping race held in try his hand as a trainer. He fell in love with Jersey and settled the Channel Islands. He=s won numerous times in the U.K., here. Jockey Freddie Tett wants to remain an amateur in France, including his last start at Stratford, which makes him a local but rides here professionally to pick up a few extra dollars. hero. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 12 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • JULY 2, 2016 Picturesque, But God It=s Cold cont. As far as my car, it has two flat tires, dents all over the place It probably doesn=t hurt that he was allowed to ride at 154 and is somewhere I couldn=t begin to describe.