Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Zenyatta remains without a winner.
The great racemare's best runner (out of two), Ziconic, contested a $54,345 maiden race at Santa Anita and finished fourth in a field of six, beaten 6 1/2 lengths. The time for the mile on the grass was a good 1:34.51, so the effort wasn't as bad as it appears. Ziconic did close a big gap along the way; he was 19 lengths behind after a quarter of a mile, and 12 1/2 back at the half.
The Kentucky-bred has now started 12 times and compiled a record of 0-2-6. The $3,240 check for fourth raised his earnings to $70,465 for Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs, so, as they say, he's still better than an empty stall.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR - It certainly doesn't compare to a trainer winning his first race with the first horse he saddles, but Norm Casse can't really complain that his first runner finished second.
Norm is the son of Ocalan Mark Casse, who has blossomed into one of the best trainers in North America, and the grandson of the late Norman Casse, one of the founders and guiding forces of the Ocala Breeders Sales Co. for more than four decades.
Norm has been an assistant to his dad for years, and recently made the big move and went out on his own. His first runner was the 3-year-old maiden filly Rate of Return at Gulfstream Park, and the daughter of Eskendereya was the 4-1 third choice in a 1 1/16th-mile turf race with a claiming price of $50,000 and a purse of $35,000.
Julien Leparoux, who is one of his father's go-to riders, was aboard Rate of Return, and she led every step of the way until nearing the wire, where she was passed by 15-1 shot Hazana, with John Velazquez. The runner-up check was worth $6,000, lifting Rate of Return's earnings to $11,900 on a record of 3-0-1-1.
comments powered by