Talented Fillies Strut Stuff on Thursday
While every year the racing world focuses on the three-year-old division at this time, this year the three-year-old fillies are also getting their fair share of looks. At Oaklawn on Thursday, two fillies showcased their abilities and showed their readiness for the upcoming stakes schedule.
Trainer Tim Ritchey brought to Oaklawn the talented Afleet Alex in 2005. He took the $1,000,000 Arkansas Derby on his way to capturing two-thirds of the Triple Crown, and taking three-year-old honors for the year. Now Ritchey has brought in Bon Jovi Girl, who as a two-year-old won a pair of stake races at Delaware Park, and then ran fourth in the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland. The daughter of Malibu Moon kicked off her three-year-old campaign in fine style yesterday taking the featured ninth race by two and a quarter lengths under jockey Jose Caraballo.
“After her last race we wanted to give her a chance to mature and be ready for her 2009 campaign,” confided Ritchey. “We wanted her to be one hundred percent, and give her a chance to develop a little bit. She will be going next into the Honeybee and if all goes well then hopefully the Fantasy, at the end of the meet. We are really excited about her.”
Trainers have been known after a long, but competitive campaign to give horses a freshening. A freshening means that, although the horse will still be in training, the conditioner has no intentions of running that horse in a race.
Trainer William “Jinks” Fires (pictured) has been known to give horses a freshening from time to time, and did so with She’s Our Annie. Fires sent out the nice three-year-old to her second consecutive win yesterday. She’s Our Annie took the seventh race by capturing the six furlong test by six lengths, putting her name in the hat for the Prima Donna on Sunday, March 22, going the same distance.
“I got her this past fall at Churchill and she showed a lot of ability,” mentioned Fires by phone this afternoon. “She had a little issue with her stifle and so we wanted to take our time with her. We wanted her ready for Oaklawn, and it really has paid off. We do plan on running her next in the Prima Donna, and if that works out then long term we would like her to start in the Instant Racing Stakes during the Racing Festival of the South. It is always nice to have a nice three-year-old in the barn.”
Luis Quinonez Can Do More Than Ride
Day in and day out Luis Quinonez’s (pictured) name can be found listed in the jockey section of the program, but this past Saturday Quinonez’s name made it in the program not only as jockey, but as breeder.
Olympic Flyer captured the second race on last Saturday’s card landing Quinonez in the winner’s circle not only as a jockey, but as winning co-breeder of the four-year-old gelding as well. Along with Quinonez, Jerry Dilaura, Luis’ agent for the past 18 years, bred Olympic Flyer as a way to get their kids involved.
“We bought the mare Kikika with plans on breeding her. So far we have three foals from her; two colts and a filly,” mentioned Quinonez between races on Friday. “We got into breeding the mare because of our kids. We board our horses now, but my daughter Alayna, who is 10, wants us to now get some pastures, build some paddocks, build a barn, and everything else like you see on TV or in the movies concerning horses.”
If the kids have fun, enjoy the horses, and take care of them, it is worth the effort and expenses. We don’t intend for our breeding business to get very big. The kids are excited and it helps them learn the value of responsibility,” Quinonez commented knowingly. “If by chance we collect a few breeders’ awards then that money goes towards their college funds.”
“When I was growing up in Mexico, I had horses around me. We lived far out from the town; we didn’t even have a car. I want my kids to have more than what I did,” said the doting father. “The children do a lot of the planning with this mare, and get to pick out the names and so forth. They know that part of the business will be to sell the foals, and that is what we did with this one. We sold it to Joe Petalino, and it has worked out well for him and for us.”
Look for Quinonez to continue his small, but productive breeding operation in the future, but riding horse comes first for the time being. Quinonez currently has recorded 11 wins at the Oaklawn meeting.
A Little Bit More
Trainer Kelly Von Hemel confirmed his barn star Semaphore Man (pictured) for the Hot Springs Stakes, Saturday, March 21sr. “It appears he will go into the Hot Springs, and depending on how he comes back then we will try the Count Fleet again. Can’t keep a horse off a track he loves,” said Von Hemel from the trainers stand this morning.
2008 champion three-year-old filly Proud Spell took another step closer yesterday to her 2009 bow by breezing five panels in 59.80 over Fair Grounds main track. The Larry Jones trainee plans on kicking off her 2009 campaign in the $500,000 Apple Blossom on Saturday, April 4th.
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