Published Tuesday, October 27th, 2015   ( 8 years ago )

Stable Notes
October 27, 2015

Bill Spawr 
 
By Hank Wesch
 

 
SPAWR SETTLES IN FOR THE FULL FALL EXPERIENCE
 
“Put it this way. If we feel a horse needs to be down here early, it will be here.”
 
That was John Sadler’s response to the question, put to him on the final day of the summer meeting, Los Angeles-based trainers must answer regarding the fall Bing Crosby Season: “Are you going to mostly ship in and race or stable on track?”
 
With horse vans routinely making the freeway trips from Santa Anita, Los Alamitos, San Luis Rey Downs and other outlying training areas, it’s a relatively convenient and economically sound idea to ship horses for the Bing Crosby Season to Del Mar shortly before, or on the day of their races.
 
That’s what veteran trainer Bill Spawr did last year for the inaugural Crosby season. But he’s taking the alternate approach for the 20-day season which opens Thursday.
 
Spawr has 30 horses in Barn Y, just east of the grandstand. And he’s hoping that presence will make his starters run stronger.
 
“I think it might be an advantage to some of my horses that are nervous and need to be more settled in their surroundings,” Spawr, 75, said Tuesday morning. “I figured that for their mental attitude they needed to be here, but I couldn’t bring three-quarters of (the stable) down here and leave the others.
 
“It’s expensive, but we hope to win some races and make it worthwhile.”
 
Spawr said he was encouraged to take the chance by owners, some who live nearby and some out-of-staters who have secondary residences in the area, wishing to see their horses run in person.
 
“With the five-week season (one more than 2014) it makes it more of a viable option economically and otherwise,” said Jon Lindo, one of Spawr’s main clients. “Also, the traffic on the track is light so it’s almost like having a private training center for your horses. Del Mar was super accommodating for Bill (who had back surgeries earlier this year and gets around with a cane) moving him to a barn right near the track.”
 
Besides Lindo, Spawr counts Judy and Barry Becker, Jonelle and Tom Sanford and Bob Beauchamp among clients who are area residents. Kip Knelman, proprietor of Far Fellow Farms in Kentucky, is coming in for Thursday’s opener to see his 4-year-old filly Vanlose Stairway run in the seventh race.
 
Having the owners close at hand might also be a boon for Spawr in the claiming game which has been his bread-and-butter for nearly 40 years as a trainer. He most notably conditioned claimer-to-stakes winners Exchange, Sensational Star, Restage and My Sonny Boy among others. He won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2011 with Amazombie and the Grade I Bing Crosby Stakes here the following summer.
 
Ensconced in Barn G in the stable area for the past 25 summer meetings, Spawr said being located in the much larger and newer barn is requiring some adjustment. But he’s pleased with the condition of the main track which was installed last spring.
 
“I really like it,” Spawr said. “They’ve added a light sand (since the summer meeting) and horses seem to get over it a little bit better. Whatever they’ve done, they’ve done the right thing.”
 

 
PATRIOTIC DIAMOND FAVORED FOR OPENING DAY JUVENILE FILLIES
 
Patrick Biancone-trained Patriotic Diamond was made the 5-2 favorite in a field of 14 on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s morning line for the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies, featured event of Thursday’s eight-race opening-day card.
 
The 2-year-old daughter of Hat Trick owned by Diamond 100 Racing Club LLC has been freshened since winning the $150,000 Generous Portion Stakes here on August 28 in the second start of her career.
 
The field, from the rail: Sharp Holiday (Felipe Valdez, 20-1), Run For Retts (Martin Garcia, 20-1), Yodelsong (Alex Solis, 20-1), Obey (Tiago Pereira, 8-1), Dragon Flower (Santiago Gonzalez, 15-1), Red Stitch (Fernando Perez, 20-1), Pacific Heat (Joe Talamo, 9-2), Khalaya (Ry Eikleberry, 20-1), Octofy (Corey Nakatani, 15-1), Patriotic Diamond (Rafael Bejarano, 5-2), Sambamzajammin (Miguel Perez, 20-1), Halo Darlin (Alonso Quinonez, 20-1), Forthenineteen (James Graham, 12-1) and Just Google Me (Edwin Maldonado, 3-1).
 

 
BREEDERS’ CUP POST POSITIONS FOR DEL MAR-CONNECTED HORSES
 
Twenty-seven horses who raced in and/or won stakes events at Del Mar made the fields for the 13 Breeders’ Cup Championship races on Friday and Saturday at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky.
 
Del Mar will offer races from Keeneland beginning at 9:30 a.m. (Pacific) on Friday in addition to a nine-race live card starting at 12:45. On Saturday, there will be 12 races from Keeneland starting at 8 a.m. (Pacific) and nine local races starting at 12:45.
 
The Del Mar-connected Breeders’ Cup horses by race:
$5 million Classic – American Pharoah (Victor Espinoza, 6-5) post position 4, Hard Aces (Joe Talamo, 50-1) No. 8 and Beholder (Gary Stevens, 3-1) No. 10  in a field of 10.
$2 million Distaff – Stellar Wind (Victor Espinoza, 12-1) post position 9, Yahilwa (James Graham, 20-1) No. 10 and Warren’s Veneda (Tyler Baze, 30-1) No. 13  in a field of 14.
$2 million Mile – Obviously, (Joe Talamo, 15-1) post position eight in a field of 12.
$2 million Juvenile –Ralis, (Javier Castellano, 12-1) post position 10, Swipe (Victor Espinoza, 15-1) No. 12 and  Nyquist (Mario Gutierrez, 9-2) 13 in field of 14.
$2 million Juvenile Fillies – Land Over Sea (Mario Gutierrez, 8-1) post position No. 1, Right There (Kent Desormeaux, 30-1)No. 3 and Songbird (Mike Smith, 7-5), No. 10 in field of 10.
$1.5 million Sprint – Kobe’s Back (Gary Stevens, 15-1) post position No. 2, Wild Dude (Rafael Bejarano, 10-1) No. 8, Masochistic (Mike Smith, 10-1) No. 9, and Big Macher (Joel Rosario, 20-1) No. 12 in a field of 15.
$1 million Filly & Mare Sprint – Super Majesty (Alex Solis, 10-1) post position No. 6 and Judy the Beauty (Lanfranco Dettori, 6-1) No. 11 in a field of 14.
$3 million Turf – Big John B (Rafael Bejarano, 30-1) post position No. 3 in a field of 12.
$2 million Filly & Mare Turf – Sharla Rae (Jose Lezcano, 30-1) post position No. 4 and Elektrum (Victor Espinoza, 30-1) No. 13 in a field of 14. 
$1 million Turf Sprint – Jimmy Bouncer (Mario Gutierrez, 15-1) post position No. 4, No Silent (Gary Stevens, 15-1) No. 9, Marchman (Robby Albarado, 15-1) No. 11 and Holy Lute (Martin Pedroza, 30-1) also eligible in field of 14.
$1 million Juvenile Turf – Hollywood Don (Joel Rosario, 10-1) post position No. 11 in field of 14.
 

 
DEL MAR REACCREDITED BY NTRA SAFETY & INTEGRITY ALLIANCE
 
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced today that the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has earned reaccreditation from the NTRA Safety & Integrity Alliance.
 
The reaccreditation of Del Mar was the culmination of a lengthy process that began with the track’s completion of an extensive written application and continued as the track hosted several meetings with Alliance officials. An on-site review included inspections of all facets of the racing operations. Interviews were conducted with track executives, racetrack personnel, jockeys, owners, trainers, veterinarians, stewards and regulators. The inspection team was comprised of Jim Gates, consultant and former general manager of Churchill Downs; Dr. Ron Jensen, DVM, former equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board; Mike Kilpack, security and integrity consultant and past chairman of the Organization of Racetrack Investigators; Steve Koch, executive director of the NTRA Safety & Integrity Alliance; and Hugh Mecum, former New York State Gaming Commission investigator.
 

 
CLOSERS – Horses working at Del Mar on Tuesday were: Dirt -- Woodie B Awesome (4f, :48.20), Sir Samson (5f, :59.20); Turf – Di Georgio (4f, :54.60), Mischief Clem (4f, :50.40), Safety Belt (4f, :51.00). 
 

 
Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793