SPRING BREAK AT HOLLYWOOD HEADLINE ... p4 NEWS For information about TDN, DELIVERED EACH NIGHT call 732-747-8060. BY FAX AND INTERNET www.thoroughbreddailynews.com MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2004 “RIVER” DANCES TO QE II SURPRISE T R I P L E T H R E A T S Unheralded River Dancer (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), a P P winner of just one of his 20 starts since arriving in Hong Kong last year, came Slow Work for Friends Lake from just off the pace to outlast Friends Lake (A.P. Indy), looking to become the sec- a game Elegant Fashion (Aus) ond straight New York-bred to win the GI Kentucky (Danewin {Aus}) and score a Derby, had his final major prep for the race at Churchill monstrous upset in the G1 Downs yesterday morning. Working over a very sloppy Audemars Piguet Queen Eliza- track, the chestnut went five beth II Cup at Sha Tin Sunday. furlongs in 1:03, but trainer John River Dancer hkjc.com photo Purchased by Demi O’Byrne for Kimmel was not disappointed by 3.4 million guineas as a yearling the slow final time. “He worked and raced by Michael Tabor as Diaghilev, the bay won in driving rain,” Kimmel said. twice from seven European starts, including the 2002 “But he looked good and he fin- G3 Prix La Force at Chantilly. QEII Cup, cont. p2 ished good. It was hard to see the last eighth, but I caught him Friends Lake Equi-Photo Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong in under :12.” The clockers timed AUDEMARS PIGUET QUEEN ELIZABETH II CUP-G1, the colt in splits of :13, :26 and :39 and had him gal- HK$14,000,000, Sha Tin, 4-25, 3yo/up, 2000mT, loping out six furlong in 1:17. Friends Lake, who has 2:01.40, gd/fm. not been out since taking the Mar. 13 GI Florida Derby, 1--sRIVER DANCER (IRE), 126, g, 5, by Sadler’s Wells shipped in from Payson Park at the end of last week. “I 1st Dam: Darara (Ire) (G1SW-Fr, $142,470), by Top Ville (Ire) thought about giving him his final work [at Payson] on 2nd Dam: Delsy (Fr), by Abdos (Fr) Saturday and then shipping up, but decided to come 3rd Dam: Kelty (Fr), by Venture VII (GB) early and get a work in over the track,” Kimmel said. (3,400,000gns yrl ‘00 TATHOU). O-Ronald Arculli; “But the weather has been terrible since we got here. I B-Watership Down Stud; T-J Size; J-Glyn Schofield; hope he got what he needed from the work.” HK$8,000,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-Fr, 28-4-2-3, HK$14,581,780. **1/2 to Dariyoun (Shahrastani), Ch. Imp. Older Horse-Spa, MSW & G1SP-Fr, SW & Wimbledon Aces Final Prep GSP-Spa, $175,775-Fr; Kilimanjaro (GB) (Shirley While Friends Lake may have been slowed by the Heights {GB}), GSP-Eng; full to Darazari (Ire), sloppy strip, Wimbledon (Wild Rush) showed an affinity G1SW-Aus, GSW-Fr, GSP-HK, $155,862-Fr; and for the track. Working in com- Rhagaas (GB), G1SP-Fr, GSP-Fr & Ger, $115,995. pany with stablemate Deter- 2--Elegant Fashion (Aus), 122, m, 5, Danewin (Aus)-- mined, the gray dashed off his Wily Trick, by Clever Trick. O-Dr & Mrs Gene Tsoi five furlongs in a bullet :59.40 Wai Wang; B-Emirates Park Pty Ltd; HK$3,000,000. yesterday and went out three- 3--Scott’s View (GB), 126, g, 5, Selkirk--Milly of the quarters in 1:12.20. “It was Vally (GB), by Caerleon. (21,000gns yrl ‘00 very nice,” trainer Bob Baffert TATOCT). O-Great Escape Partnership; B-Cliveden said of the move. “The track Stud Ltd; HK$1,500,000. was demanding and, because of Wimbledon Horsephotos Margins: 3/4, NO, 1. Odds: 57.80, 3.90, 9.00. that, I think it’s hard to gauge, Also Ran: Bowman’s Crossing (Ire), Right Approach but I think he got a lot out of it...I knew he would like it (GB), Lucky Owners (NZ), Saturn (Ire), Visorhill (Fr), here and every work has been great.” He added, “This Blue Stitch (GB), Bullish Luck, Ain’t Here (Aus), is a big old dude with a lot of natural raw talent, like a Sarafan, Paolini (Ger), Tiber (Ire). big dorky kid, [but] he’s getting it down now.” n THREE 2YO WINNERS IN 2004, INCLUDING n u D SW AT GULFSTREAM APR. 24 g n i k c o h (859) 273-1514 P Fax (859) 273-0034 WHEATON S Alydar–Terlingua, by Secretariat www.overbrookfarm.com W 2004 Fee: $1,000 S&N Half brother to Storm Cat S TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 4/26/04 • PAGE 2 of 6 Triple Threats cont. Belmont Breeze for Eddington Reading Between the Lines Eddington (Unbridled) will need at least a couple of Read the Footnotes (Smoke Glacken) is one of three defections to get into the Derby field, but is keeping fit Derby candidates without a race in April, but trainer just in case. The Mark Hennig trainee Rick Violette Jr. is not worried worked at Belmont yesterday morn- about coming into the 10-fur- ing, going five furlongs in 1:00 and long test after a seven-week galloping out three-quarters in 1:13 layoff. “In fact,” he said yester- 1/5. The colt is not already at Chur- day, “I feel better about it now chill because of a lack of graded than when I made the deci- earnings, but Hennig does not dis- Read the Footnotes Horsephotos sion.” It has been 48 years agree with the system used to deter- since a three-year-old won the mine who gets into the race. “I don’t Derby without running in April, but Violette has been think there’s a lot wrong with it,” he Eddington Horsephotos looking more deeply into that stat. “When you take a said. “We had our opportunities.” If closer look, you’ll see that there were only 18 horses he doesn’t get into the Derby, Eddington will go next in during that period who came into the Derby without an the May 15 GI Preakness. April race,” he said. “Of those, only four had a legiti- mate shot at winning. So it’s really only 0-for-four, and QEII Cup cont. even the best hitter in baseball has an 0-for-four day.” A Late Bloomer... Read the Footnotes is set to have his final work today. Sold during the summer of 2002 to Hong Kong Jockey Club Chairman Ronald Arculli and later gelded, Pletcher Duo Beat Bad Weather River Dancer struggled to find the winner’s circle, but The early bird beats the rain. Trainer Todd Pletcher turned in some promising efforts, most notably a fourth had Limehouse (Grand Slam) out at 5:45 a.m. yester- in last year’s QE II Cup. However, he had managed just day, before the skies opened up and turned the track two minor placings in 11 starts since that appearance into a sea of slop. Coming off a third in the Apr. 10 GI and was coming off a 10th to Elegant Fashion in the Toyota Blue Grass S., the colt went five-eighths in 1:01 Chairman’s Trophy over a mile Mar. 21. Settled in sixth with stablemate Speightstown. “We went head-and- early as fellow European import Saturn (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) head for most of the work,” said exercise rider Michelle set a moderate gallop, he advanced on the final turn, Nihei, who was aboard Limehouse for the breeze. raced in tandem with Elegant Fashion past midstretch “Limehouse got the best of [Speightstown] right at the and edged clear from the five-year-old mare late to light finish. He was strong out there today.” She added, up the tote at 57-1. “He was always travelling well and “The track was pretty good--it was holding together.” it was the first time there has been speed on for him,” Pletcher was back out with GII Illinois Derby winner commented winning rider Glyn Schofield. “He’s a good Pollard’s Vision (Carson City) at 6:15. Also working in honest horse and I knew he would keep finding for me, company, the one-eyed runner drew off from his stable- which he did.” River Dancer becomes the first locally mate at the wire and was clocked in 1:00.80 for five based winner of this event since 2000. Most on hand furlongs. “I was happy with both their works,” Pletcher thought that distinction would fall to Lucky Owners said. “It was what we needed to get them ready.” (NZ) (Danehill), the G1 Hong Kong Mile and Hong Kong Derby winner who was dispatched the 6-5 favorite. But All Systems Go for Borrego the Tony Cruz trainee never looked comfortable, came Also working five furlongs over the wet strip at Chur- under pressure with a half mile to run and struggled chill yesterday was GII Arkansas Derby runner-up home sixth. “He just never picked up for me,” a de- Borrego (El Prado {Ire}), who went his five-eighths in jected jockey Felix Coetzee said. “It was disappointing.” 1:03 3/5. The chestnut clicked off splits of :13, :25.80, Both River Dancer and Elegant Fashion, who filled the :38 and :51.20 and galloped out three-quarters in runner-up spot for a second consecutive year, are pos- 1:19.60. “I liked what I saw,” trainer Beau Greely re- sible for the G1 Singapore Airlines International Cup, marked.