FLU OUTBREAK KOS AUSSIE RACING ...p12 HEADLINE For information about TDN, call 732-747-8060. NEWS www.thoroughbreddailynews.com SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2007 A HARD-FOUGHT KING’S BISHOP He had to fight off a determined challenge from First Defence (Unbridled=s Song), but Hard Spun (Danzig) proved he was up to the test in the GI King=s Bishop S. at Saratoga yesterday. AThis is a very important race for TRAVERS FINISH MAKES SENSE making stallions, and that was one Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}) was a little out of his reason we looked at it,@ trainer element yesterday. The three-year-old who rode the rail Larry Jones said. AIt=s very impor- to a dramatic come-from-behind tant for his stallion career to have victory in the GI Kentucky Derby the Grade I under him.@ Cont. p3 Horsephotos was rated just off the pace and raced three wide in yesterday=s CHASING THE CAT GI Travers S. at Saratoga. But, They have yet to catch her. Burmilla (Storm Cat) led despite an unexpected challenge her rivals on a merry chase in the Aug. 3 GII Honorable from 9-1 chance Grasshopper Miss S. at Saratoga to run her re- (Dixie Union), the champ pre- cord to a perfect four-for-four, and Horsephotos vailed, driving home a half-length they will be trying to run her down winner under jockey Calvin Borel. once again in the GI Ballerina S. this Trainer Carl Nafzger was not concerned as he watched afternoon. It won=t be an easy task. the race unfold. AI never worry about where Calvin=s The four-year-old dominated in two going to have him,@ Nafzger said. AThat=s Calvin=s busi- starts last season, and returned af- ness. When I saw where he was and saw the pace ter a 358-day layoff to post a game setting up slow, I knew Calvin had him right where he nose victory in an allowance test at had to be.@ Cont. p2 Churchill Downs June 21. Let go at 5-1 in the Honorable Miss, she Saturday, Saratoga Race Course cruised along through an opening TRAVERS S.-GI, $1,000,000, SAR, 8-25, 3yo, 1 1/4m, half in :45 4/5 and had plenty left in 2:02 3/5, ft. Burmilla A Coglianese the stretch, opening up to best In- 1--STREET SENSE, 126, c, 3, by Street Cry (Ire) 1st Dam: Bedazzle, by Dixieland Band dian Flare (Cherokee Run) by 2 3/4 lengths. After carry- 2nd Dam: Majestic Legend, by His Majesty ing the Darley colors in her first four starts, the filly will 3rd Dam: Long Legend, by Reviewer sport Godolphin blue for the first time today. AI wasn=t O/B-James B Tafel (KY); T-Carl A Nafzger; J-Calvin H surprised she went over there,@ said Eoin Harty, who Borel; $600,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt, had charge of Burmilla until she moved to the 11-6-3-2, $4,058,200. Godolphin barn. AThat=s why they give me these horses- 2--Grasshopper, 126, c, 3, Dixie Union--Grass Skirt, by -to find those that can run for Godolphin.@ Harty added, Mr. Prospector. O-Farish & Hudson Jr; B-Farish, AIt=s hard to say how good she really is because she Hudson Jr & Elkins (KY); T-N Howard; $200,000. keeps moving forward. She=s always found more when 3--Helsinki, 126, c, 3, Distorted Humor--Well Dressed, she needed to.@ Added Rick Mettee, who handles by Notebook. ($165,000 yrl '05 KEESEP). O-Four Godolphin=s New York string for trainer Saeed bin Roses Thoroughbreds; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); Suroor, ASheikh Mohammed and the Maktoum family T-Nicholas P Zito; $100,000. want the best they have running in the blue silks. We Margins: HF, 10 1/4, NK. Odds: 0.35, 9.60, 49.75. thought thought this filly would fit the bill with her race Also Ran: Sightseeing, C P West, Loose Leaf, For You Reppo. record and her pedigree.@ Cont. p9 TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 8/26/07 • PAGE 2 of 12 Travers S. cont. Near Perfect... In his seven starts since finishing third in the GI Lane=s Breeders= Futurity End last October, Street Sense has been just a neck away from a perfect record. After clinching an Eclipse Award with his 10-length GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile romp, the Jim Tafel homebred opened >07 with a nose win over Any Given Saturday in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby in March. He was beaten a nose by Dominican in the Apr. 14 GI Blue Grass S. and, after his Kentucky Derby triumph, missed by a head in the May 19 GI Preakness S. His connec- tions opted to skip the June 9 GI Belmont S., instead pointing for the July 29 GII Jim Dandy S. That race produced a workmanlike 1 1/2-length score, and Street Sense was odds-on to become the third straight three- year-old to accomplish the Jim Dandy/Travers double, following Flower Alley (2005) and Bernardini (2006). Playing It Safe... Avoiding any chance of traffic trouble on the outside, Calvin Borel had Street Sense positioned off early lead- ers Grasshopper and C P West (Came Home) through a moderate half in :48.18 and six panels in 1:12.43. Borel was motionless as Street Sense ranged up alongside Grasshopper at the quarter pole, and it appeared he would pull away from that rival under his own courage. But Grasshopper, making his stakes debut, dug in at the rail, and it was only in the final strides that Street Sense was able to edge ahead. AI know how Street Sense is,@ Borel said. @Once he gets in front, he kind of gives it up a little bit. I let him mess around for 40 or 50 yards, and then I hit him left-handed quick and he pulled away.@ Street Sense will have one more prep before the Oct. 27 GI Breeders= Cup Classic, but Carl Nafzger has not yet decided between the MassCap Sept. 22, the GII Hawthorne Gold Cup or GII Kentucky Leading First Crop Sales Sire at Saratoga Select Cup Classic Sept. 29, or the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup 8 yearlings sold averaging over Sept. 30. AWe=ll look at all of them, but let=s enjoy this $275,000 one,@ Nafzger said. Grasshopper, coming off a six- Look for his first crop of yearlings at length allowance win at Saratoga July 30, thrilled Keeneland September trainer Neil Howard with his performance. AIt was a great effort,@ Howard said. AWe got beat by an unbe- lievable horse. We might have to try him again.@ GI Travers S. Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}) fights Click for the brisnet.com chart or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Taylor Made. off Grasshopper (Dixie Union) for the score. GI King=s Bishop S. Hard Spun (Danzig) gets his first A Star in the Making? Grade I win. Bedazzle, in foal to Distorted Humor, was sent GII Bernard Baruch H. Shakis (Ire) (Machiavellian) through the ring at Keeneland November in 2005 and sets a new course record. was purchased by a partnership headed by Carl Nafzger for $180,000. The partnership sold the now 10-year- GIII Victory Ride S. Unbeaten La Traviata old mare to Darley for an undisclosed price after the (Johannesburg) romps to win number three. 2006 Breeders= Cup, but bought back her foal, a year- GII Molly Pitcher BC S. Hystericalady (Distorted ling filly now named Broadway Ticket, for $850,000 at Humor) goes gate to wire to win easily. the 2006 KEENOV sale. The mare also has the unraced two-year-old filly Elusive Sparkle (Elusive Quality), and GII Play the King S. Le Cinquieme Essai (Fastness dropped a filly by Speightstown this year. {Ire}) defends his title. TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 8/26/07 • PAGE 3 of 12 Saturday, Saratoga Race Course KING'S BISHOP S.-GI, $250,000, SAR, 8-25, 3yo, 7f, 1:22 1/5, ft. 1BsHARD SPUN, 121, c, 3, by Danzig 1st Dam: Turkish Tryst (SW & GSP), by Turkoman 2nd Dam: Darbyvail, by Roberto 3rd Dam: Luiana, by *My Babu O-Fox Hill Farms, Inc; B-Michael Moran & Brushwood Stable (PA); T-J Larry Jones; J-Mario G Pino; $150,000. Lifetime Record: 11-6-2-1, $1,393,470. *1/2 to Wild Current (Wild Again), MSP, $273,218; and Our Rite of Spring (Stravinsky), SW, $141,000. 2--First Defence, 119, c, 3, Unbridled's Song--Honest Lady, by Seattle Slew. O/B-Juddmonte Farms, Inc (KY); T-Robert J Frankel; $50,000. 3--E Z Warrior, 119, c, 3, Exploit--Carson Jen, by Car- son City. ($100,000 yrl '05 OBSAUG; $1,200,000 2yo >06 BESMAR). O-Zayat Stables LLC; B-Gulf Coast Farms Bloodstock LP (KY); T-Bob Baffert; $25,000. Margins: 1HF, 4 1/4, HF. Odds: 1.30, 6.00, 9.40. Also Ran: Teuflesberg, Most Distinguished, Bold Start, King of the Roxy, Longley, Pauillac, Forty Grams, Spin Master. Hard Spun, a $485,000 RNA as a KEESEP yearling, was purchased privately by Fox Hill Farm after the sale. He started his career in relative obscurity, breaking his maiden and taking the Port Penn S. at Delaware Park, and beat up fellow Pennsylvania-breds in his final start at two, the Pennsylvania Nursery S. at Philly Park. The colt proved he belonged with graded-stakes company when making it four in a row in the Jan.