Hawthorne Stable Notes for Thursday, October 29, 2009

I am so sick of Mother Nature and even sicker of the horrible weathermen!!! That may be one of the jobs that you can continually be wrong and still get paid. I guess it is like being an on-track handicapper.

I spent an hour on the turf course this morning and without any sun or wind I just couldn’t see the turf drying out sufficiently for the races. I will always go with safety first, even if it means we are in jeopardy of losing handle due to scratches.

Looking ahead to the weekend, it now appears that we will have rain overnight. That will not help for tomorrow’s card, but fortunately we only have one race carded for the grass. On Saturday, the current forecast (which is probably going to be wrong anyway) is for a clear and dry day. That should mean a fast track for our Illinois Stakes. The six races that comprise the Illinois Festival of Racing will take place on Saturday as we have a tremendous card assembled.  Also, Saturday will mark the final race in the career of millionaire Fort Prado.  The Chris Block trainee has posted 18 wins from 58 lifetime starts, for over $1.2 million in earnings.  He is cross entered in the Lightning Jet and Buck’s Boy and the connections have not yet made their final decision as to which race they will enter.

Changes

Main Track – Fast

Turf – Off

Race 1

Scratch #7 – Share The Joy

Race 2 – Off Turf – 1 1/16 miles main track

Scratch #5 – Miss Sippy

Race 5

Scratch #2 – Stealth

Race 6 – Off Turf – 1 mile 70 yards main track

No Superfecta Wagering

Scratch #1 – My Cousin Pepi

Scratch #2 – Xpectation (NZ)

Scratch #4 – Itsagimme

Scratch #6 – Marsh Marigold

Scratch #7 – Chantilly Lady

Scratch #9 – Jolie Visage

Scratch #10 – Mona Lisa (GER)

Race 7

Scratch #2 – Miss Rerun

Race 9 – Off Turf – 1 1/16 miles main

Scratch #2 – Finchster

Scratch #10 – Chrissy’s Honor

Scratch #11 – Jermidy

Best Bet

Race 4 - #1 – Blue Knight – First race off a claim for a good barn that has been tremendous with these type of runners.  This horse has some tactical speed and while I expect N.Y. Wise Guy to head for the front, Blue Knight may get a perfect stalking trip.

Race 7- #1 – Chuffed – Chuffed is a horse that has been battling time and again to grab her third lifetime score, but I feel that she has run a pair of solid races this meet and was just beaten by a better runner.  She should be sitting in the second flight of horses early and I expect another solid performance.