Hawthorne Stable Notes for Sunday, October 25, 2009

A dry/fast track today for the 10 race card.  All of the races will be contested on the main track as only one of those races was hurt by scratches.  Looking back at yesterday, as the track dried out, the inside became much better and speed held a bit more.  I am planning on a similar surface once again.

Jockey Tanner Riggs took off in the middle of the card yesterday and it was smart that he did as a brief trip to the hospital revealed a Kidney stone for the young rider.  He will be off his mounts today but we are hoping to see him back in the saddle on Wednesday.  Jockey Megan Gammon is under the weather as well with bronchitis but she should also be back on Wednesday.

On Saturday, jockey Jose Ferrer and trainer Hugh Robertson bookended the card with winner’s in the opener and the closer.  Today we kick things off with our quarter horse final as the key scratch of #7 – La Chica Cartel completely opens up the race.  Despite three scratches in the sixth, we still have five solid two-year-old fillies, including Deceptive Glory, who ran 4^th behind She Be Wild in the Grade 3 Arlington Washington Lassie.

Changes

Main Track – Fast

Off the Turf

Race 1

Scratch #7 – La Chica Cartel

Race 2 – Off turf – 1 mile 70 yards main track

Scratch #2 – High Aspirations

Race 3

Scratch #6 – Beat the Freeze

Race 6 – Off turf – 5 ½ furlongs main track

Scratch #2 – Wild Hare

Scratch #4 – Dreaminofjosephine

Scratch #8 – Mis Pardner Rules

Race 7

Scratch #4 – Heart Thief

Race 10 – Off Turf – 5 ½ furlongs main track

Scratch #4 – Broctane (NZ)

Scratch #5 – Death Valley

Scratch #6 – Sevnthingstretch

Scratch #12 – Zoeling

Scratch #14 – Kemp

Best Bets

Race 4 - #1 – A Renoir – Based on how I expect the track to play and how well Sukie has been riding lately, I really like this runner from the inside.  The jock/trainer combination almost always finds the board and with only the pace of #5 High on Top to challenge, I expect a perfect rail trip and a fine response in the lane.

Race 10 - #11 – Denos Keys – This is the only race where I completely stray from the inside but the pace of the race dictates what could happen here.  There is a good amount of early speed and Denos Keys has been solid over this track.  He ran well in a tough race in his last and the three scratches to his inside will allow him to tuck in a bit more into the turn.