Page 126 - July 2015

Bob Morehouse Stakes
IRISH BREW
by John Moorehouse
Irish Brew beat the odds, and the odds-on favor- ite, when she nosed out Dirt Road Queen to win the $29,100 Bob Morehouse Stakes on June 28 at
Canterbury Park. A 4-year-old filly owned by Paul Knapper & James Olson, Irish Brew notched her 3rd win in 12 lifetime starts. In fact, this marked her 1st vic- tory since July 10, 2014, ending a winless drought that lasted nearly a full calendar year and spanned 4 starts.
None of that mattered when the gates opened. Irish Brew broke on top from the 5-gate and battled Dirt Road Queen for the lead for the entirety of the 400 yards. Irish Brew led by a head going into the stretch, then held off Dirt Road Queen to win by a nose.
Stormy Smith was aboard for the stakes-winning trip, which took :20.503 and produced an 84 speed index. Knapper and Olson banked a $14,550 payday, boosting the total winnings of the filly to $38,536.
Knapper also owns Irish Brew’s dam, Irish Bailey Brew, who is stakes-placed in her own right and now has produced a trio of stakes winners. Irish Brew joins Sociabull and Okey Dokey Irish. The latter is the most decorated of Irish Bailey Brew’s offspring, tallying four stakes wins as part of an 8-4-2 record in 29 starts that has cleared more than $111,000 in prize money.
Dirt Road Queen (Country Chicks Man- Inclinda), the betting favorite, took 2nd under Ry Eikleberry for Robert & Julie Petersen and trainer William Harris. Mr Hempens Feature (Feature Mr Jess-Hempeness) hit the board in third for owner Cynthia Besser and trainer Shane Miller. Siggy Golibrzuch did the riding. TTY From Mr Pye (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Miss Eyewear), Explosive Guns (Zoomin For Bux-Garters N Guns), Fastbacbaby (Okey Dokey Dale-Silver Fastbac) and Little Bit Brandy (Within Range-Little Special Flame) completed the field. This was the 16th edition of the race, which is named after Canterbury Hall of Fame breeder Bob Morehouse.
Skip Zimmerman Memorial
EYE A SPIT CURL GIRL
by Tracy Gantz
Eye A Spit Curl Girl gave Red Velvet Hero a head start in the June 13 Skip Zimmerman Memorial and won anyway. It was the mark of a classy mare
who knows her way to the winner’s circle.
Sent away the heavy favorite at 7-10, Eye A Spit
Curl Girl got away in third after the gate opened for the 350-yard event at Canterbury Park. Red Velvet Hero, breaking from the rail, zipped to the lead. That quick advantage looked like it would result in an upset, but jockey Jorge Torres urged Eye A Spit Curl Girl forward. The favorite responded gamely, cutting into Red Velvet Hero’s lead with every stride. Eye A Spit Curl Girl nailed the victory at the last jump, winning by a head in :17.880.
Stacy Charette-Hill trains Eye A Spit Curl Girl for owner-breeder Stacy Martin. The 5-year-old mare has now won six of 18 starts, with three seconds and three thirds. Those performances include a victory in last year’s Two Rivers Stakes-G3 at Prairie Meadows and three other stakes-placings.
Martin bred Eye A Spit Curl Girl in Oklahoma from winner Thisdimplesaniopener. The dam has pro- duced two other starters and winners—2011 QHRAI SSA Futurity winner Mukewater Creek and multiple stakes-placed Trickham. Thisdimplesaniopener is a 1/2-sister to three stakes winners.
Brenda Reiswig’s homebred Red Velvet Hero (Valiant Hero-Red Sticks) held on and took an easy second under Ismael Suarez Ricardo for trainer Vic Hanson. The filly has finished first or second in seven of her nine starts. Painted Summer (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Summertime Runaway) ran third for jockey Mark Luark, trainer Jason Olmstead, and owner Movin On. A two-time winner, Painted Summer qualified for the 2014 Heritage Place Futurity-G1, finishing fourth in the final. Followed by Thirty Six Belles (Tres Seis-Ja Desert Evening) & Jump the Creek (Jumpn-Rock The Creek). Talented Magician was scratched.
Gopher State Derby
PANTHER PRIZE ME
by Michael Cusortelli
Making her first start past 350 yards, Legacy Ranch’s Panther Prize Me scored her first career stakes win in the $26,000 Gopher State Derby
at Canterbury Park on June 7.
Panther Prize Me went 400 yards in :20.309
while blowing up the tote at odds of 27-1, the longest of the 11 competitors. Justin Shepherd rode the homebred filly for trainer Robert Johnson.
Panther Prize Me was coming off of a neck victory in a 330-yard sprint for non-winners-of-two $10,000 claimers at Canterbury on May 29. All told, the filly has won 3 of 9 outs, and the $13,000 winner’s share of the Gopher State Derby pushed her bankroll to $24,888.
“I knew she’d be a distance horse,” said Johnson of the daughter of Champion Panther Mountain. “Her full sister was an 870 horse. She just keeps get- ting better every time I bring her up.”
One of 6 winners from as many starters produced by Toast To Gypsy, Panther Prize Me is a full sister
to 2008 Silestone Stakes winner Panther Purr, an
earner of $163,146 and 3rd-place finisher in the ’08 Sam Houston Derby-G2. One of Panther Prize Me’s 1/2-brothers, Jessgonnafly, ran 2nd in the $112,280 Indiana Live QHRAI Derby at Indiana Downs in 2011.
My Girls Toasted (Toast To Dash-Girling), the 2-1 favorite, ran 2nd under Siggy Golibrzuch, a nose behind the winner, for owner John Witte & owner/ trainer Merritt Pride. Rodney Von Ohlen’s TTY From Mr Pye (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Miss Eyewear) ran 3rd under David Pinon for trainer Ed Hardy. Followed by PYC Powerwagon (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Chic
N Traffic), Miss Jess Blue (Jess Louisiana Blue-Eyes Opening Kiss), O Ya (Separatist-Royal Dip), BHR Guys Flash Me (CS Flashlight-BHR Missy Special), Corona Rattler (Corona Cartel-Streakin Millie), Carex (PYC Paint Your Wagon-First Prize Fancy), Dreamgirl On Fire (Walk Thru Fire-Allamericandreamgirl) & Cokato Cartel (Carters Cartel-Southern Fun).
Canterbury Park • $29,100 400 yards • :20.503 • si 84
Jess Zoomin IRISH BREW, ‘11-f.
Shazoom
Jess An Illusion Check The Charts Irish Expresso
Irish Bailey Brew
Canterbury Park • $22,600 350 yards • :17.880 • si 95
Mr Jess Perry
Lil Spit Curl
EYE A SPIT CURL GIRL, ’10-m.
Mr Eye Opener
Thisdimplesaniopener
Spit Curl Jess
Dimples Up
Canterbury Park • $26,000 400 yards • :20.309 • si 89
Meter Me Gone
Panther Mountain
PANTHER PRIZE ME, ’12 f. Toast To Gypsy
Cash This Runner Toast To Dash
Immagictwo
124 SPEEDHORSE, July 2015
RACING NEWS
Coady Photography
Coady Photography
Coady Photography