Another Comeback For I Want Revenge
Named for the venerable gelding whose career spanned eight years, Saturday’s (Jan. 21) $75,000 Evening Attire Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack has drawn a field of six veterans headed by 2009’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial winner, I Want Revenge.
Now six, the son of Stephen Got Even is two-for-two at Aqueduct, having taken the Grade 3 Gotham and the Wood Memorial before being scratched with an ankle injury from the 2009 Kentucky Derby as the morning-line favorite.
He returned to run twice in 2010, finishing third to Haynesfield in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park and third to Duke of Mischief in the Grade 3 Philip Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park, and ran three times in 2011, most recently as runner-up to Hymn Book in the Three Coins Up Stakes at Belmont in May.
Owned by IEAH Stables, Resolute Group Stables, Puglisi Racing LLC, Dubb and Frimmel, I Want Revenge returned to the worktab in late November and has since been breezing steadily for trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr., most recently going six furlongs in 1:16.42 at the Big A on Saturday.
Ramon Dominguez rides I Want Revenge, the morning-line favorite, from post position two.
Jimanator will make his Big A debut in the 1 1/16-mile Evening Attire. He was claimed for $20,000 by trainer Michael Trombetta out of a winning effort in a seven-furlong offthe turf race at Saratoga Race Course in August and finished second in his first start for his new connections,
The six-year-old Broken Vow gelding next took an allowance race at Parx Racing in October by 6 1/4 lengths and topped that with a threequarter length win over odds-on Mambo Meister in the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper at Calder Race Course on Nov. 26, his first stakes appearance.
“I wish I could I say there was some special secret, but he’s just gotten really good the past couple of months,” said Trombetta of the Three Diamonds Farm color-bearer, who closed out 2011 with a third-place finish behind Heart Butte in the Auld Lang Syne at Parx. “We originally claimed him at Saratoga because he had good numbers. It would be nice if all of them worked out like that.”
With a record of 2-1-1 from four starts for Trombetta, Jimanator has now won 10 of his 35 career starts and earned $249,040. Saturday, he will carry high weight of 123 pounds, including Cornelio Velasquez, as he leaves from post position three.
Another who has had a light schedule in recent years is multiple graded stakes winner Redding Colliery, who in 2010 won the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap and the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup. The now six-year-old son of Mineshaft ended the year with a third in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap and was promoted to second through a disqualification, and after having time off to deal with foot issues returned in November to finish sixth as the even-money favorite in the Swatara at Penn National.
“The race at Penn National was a two-turn race, and he got tired,” said Art Magnuson, assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “He’s bigger and rounder than he was back when we first got him [in 2009] but he’s been training well and he’s ready to run.”
Alan Garcia is aboard Redding Colliery, the third choice on the morning line, from the outside.
Shipping in from the mid-Atlantic is Eighttofasttocatch, the second choice on the morning line who has won three of his last four, including the restricted Jennings Handicap at Laurel Park in December. Trained by Timothy Keefe, the six-year-old Not For Love gelding will be ridden by Sheldon Russell from the rail.
Rounding out the field is supplemental entry Day of Destiny, claimed for $35,000 by trainer Doodnauth Shivmangal two starts back, and Stronach Stables’ Thunder Ball, a winner of three straight who is making his American stakes debut.
Filly stays unbeaten in Ruthless
Agave Kiss took another step forward in her unbeaten career, taking the $75,000 Ruthless Stakes for three-year-old fillies by 3 1/4 lengths last Saturday, Jan. 14, at Aqueduct.
Looking for her third straight victory, Agave Kiss seized a two-length lead through an opening quarter mile in 22.62 seconds, extended the ad- vantage to three lengths with a half in 45.68, and received only mild encouragement in the stretch from jockey Ryan Curatolo as Well Kept gave vain chase in second.
Agave Kiss, the 4-5 favorite, returned $3.70 for a $2 win wager and completed six furlongs in 1:10.28.
“I took hold at the beginning because I didn’t want her to go too fast,” said Curatolo. “But, I didn’t take hold for long because she was so relaxed. I wanted to sit there for a bit because I know what she can do. I let her keep going the way she wanted: on an easy lead. When she really started to move, she did everything right. Today, she was still a little bit green, but next time she will be better. She’s really nice.”
In her two previous starts, Agave Kiss broke her maiden by 6 1/4 lengths on New York Showcase Day, Oct. 22, 2011 at Belmont Park and took an allowance by 10 1/2 lengths on Dec. 1 at Aqueduct. Both starts came against New York-breds, with the Ruthless being her first race against open company.
“I thought she was that good,” said her trainer, Rudy Rodriguez. “I just try to keep her happy and let her do her job. She’s a very classy horse.”
Rodriguez said he wasn’t ready to make a commitment regarding Agave Kiss’ next start, but did say the Grade 1 Prioress Stakes in the summer could be the long-range objective for the daughter of Lion Heart.
Agave Kiss is owned by Flying Zee Racing Stable, whose principle, Carl Lizza, died in July. The operation, now led by Carl’s wife, Viane, has started dispersing the majority of the family’s equine holdings but has kept Agave Kiss.
Corderosa finished third and was followed home by Dance to Bristol, Better Lucky, Cute Cadet, and Perennial Song. Defy Gravity, Double the Energy, and Love Contract were scratched.
Jockeys affected by spills
Jockey Alan Garcia was released from North Shore University Hospital last Saturday afternoon after tests came back negative following a spill in the fourth race at Aqueduct.
Junior Alvarado, also involved in the spill, was in stable condition at North Shore last Saturday evening awaiting results of a CT scan of his abdomen.
In the race, a $7,500 claiming event, Garcia’s mount, Scorper, fractured his left front ankle and fell approaching the three-eighths pole, unseating the rider. Alvarado was unseated when his mount, Hardshell, stumbled over the fallen horse.
Scorper, a six-year-old gelding, was euthanized as a result of his injuries. Hardshell, a four-year-old gelding, continued running before being apprehended by an outrider and did not appear to be injured.
Both riders were stable and conscious after the incident, with Garcia complaining of left flank and shoulder pain and Alvarado complaining of abdominal pain.
Garcia, a 26-year-old Peruvian rider, has 17 winners since the start of the inner track meet on November 30 and is seventh in the jockey standings. The Venezuelan-born Alvarado, 26, is currently third in the standings with 33 winners during the meet.
Jockey Jackie Davis was released from North Shore University Hospital early Monday morning, Jan. 16, after X-rays and scans came back negative following a spill on Sunday, Jan. 15, after the conclusion of the ninth race at Aqueduct. Curatolo, also involved in the incident, walked off the track and appeared uninjured.
In Sunday’s race, a six-furlong maiden race for three-year-old New York-bred fillies, Curatolo’s mount, Raw Moon, collapsed after finishing fifth, apparently having suffered a fatal cardiovascular collapse. The 19- year-old rider was unseated, but exited the track under his own power.
