Barn Notes
Cruz & Ziadie Draw Clear in Tropical Meet Standings
Jockey Manoel Cruz and trainer Kirk Ziadie will each capture their second Tropical Meet championships as the track closes today, both having held substantial leads over their closest rivals since early in the 60-day session.
Cruz, 37, won the 2005 Tropical title and has posted 102 victories this season (through Jan. 1), 12 more than closest pursuer Elvis Trujillo, who ran away with this year’s Calder Meet championship. Veteran riders Eduardo Nunez and Jorge Chavez have come on strong late in the meet to rank third and fourth with 33 and 30 tallies, respectively.
Ziadie, 39, is the defending Tropical training champion and led the Calder meet this year for the first time. He has sent out 29 winners, 10 more than Eddie Plesa, Jr. second with 19 and Kathleen O’Connell and Bill White tied for third with 15 apiece. Ziadie has one horse entered on closing day.
In Summation Continues Winning Legacy for Gomez
Legendary Calder-based horseman Frank Gomez passed away on Sun., Dec. 23 at age 78 with highlights of his career including the outstanding young prospects he developed over the years that went on to national fame later in their careers for other trainers coast-to-coast while Gomez chose to stay close to home in South Florida.
The most notable of those top horses he developed included Princess Rooney, Smile and Cherokee Run, and all three would go on to win Breeders’ Cup Championship races and Eclipse Awards. Gomez did continue to guide Princess Rooney’s career through her victory in the 1983 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs.
One more name may be added to the remarkable list before the 2008 season is over as Waterford Farm’s 5-year-old In Summation continues to climb into the upper echelon of the nation’s sprint division, winning Tuesday’s $108,900 El Conejo Handicap (G3) at Santa Anita over the track where the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) will be run in late October.
A Florida-bred son of Put It Back, In Summation won the first five starts of his career for Gomez at Calder, including the Dr. Fager and Affirmed Divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes, missing a sweep in the In Reality by a nose. After a fourth-place finish in the Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream Park early in 2006, In Summation was shipped north to trainer Christophe Clement to continue his career.
In Summation hit his best stride again as a 4-year-old last summer with three straight victories, including the Bing Crosby Handicap (G1) at Del Mar and Arlington Sprint Handicap (dead-heat) at Arlington Park. He was pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Monmouth Park but Clement felt he needed more time.
In Summation returned in the Vernon O. Underwood Handicap (G3) at Hollywood Park on Dec. 2, finishing a strong second, before starting the New Year out impressively winning the El Conejo by a length in track record time of 1:01 1/5 for 5 ½ furlongs.
Clement’s Payson Park-based South Florida division made a strong showing at the Tropical Meet, highlighted by the victories Saturday of Rutherienne in the $100,000 Frances A. Genter Stakes (G3) and Bayou Lassie in the $100,000 Stage Door Betty Handicap (G3) on the Grand Slam III program.
The stable won nine races from just 27 starters with seven seconds and three thirds, including the thrilling victory of Live Oak Plantation’s remarkable 9-year-old gelding Revved Up in the $150,000 Bonnie Heath Turf Cup on Florida Million day, Nov. 10, capturing the race for the third year in a row.
