Today’s NYRA press notes. Gotta say this about Union Rags: He was most impressive in winning the Champagne. Overcame all kinds of trouble.

• Next stop, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for G1 Champagne winner Union Rags
• Asmussen reflects on four-win Saturday; My Miss Aurelia, Tapizar exit races in good shape
• Alpha, Miss Netta emerge from Champagne, Frizette in good order; Breeders’ Cup still on the agenda for both
• Frizette runner-up Stopshoppingmaria heading to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
• Winter Memories, Bold Hawk bound for Keeneland following Sunday turf breezes
• Compliance Officer tunes up on turf for NY Showcase Day

 

 

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Michael Matz, who was spending Sunday at a horse show watching his children compete, reported that undefeated Union Rags returned from his victory in the Grade 1 Champagne is excellent order.

 

“He ate up everything last night and again this morning,” said Matz, who trains Union Rags for Phyllis Wyeth’s Chadds Ford Stable. “He was out in the paddock for about two hours this morning, so everything looks good.”

 

The Champagne, Union Rags’ third victory in as many starts, gave the colt an automatic berth in the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs on November 5.

 

“If everything goes well, we would like to go to the Breeders’ Cup,” said Matz, whose only Breeders’ Cup starter to date is Round Pond, winner of the 2006 Distaff at Churchill Downs. “We haven’t mapped out a schedule for him; there’s time for that. But he will train at Fair Hill and go down to Churchill in sufficient time for the race.”

 

A son of Dixie Union, Union Rags broke his maiden going five furlongs at Delaware Park in July, then won the Grade 2 Three Chimneys Saratoga Special by 7 ¼ lengths on August 15. He has earned $498,000 for Wyeth, who bred the colt, put him up for sale and, after changing her mind, bought him back for $390,000.

 

*          *          *

 

Steve Asmussen picked a good day to make a rare appearance at Belmont Park, winning four races on yesterday’s card, including the Grade 1 Frizette with Stonestreet Stables and George Bolton’s My Miss Aurelia. It was the first time in his recollection that he won four races on a single day at a NYRA track.

 

“We’ve been pretty fortunate in the ‘win races’ category,” said Asmussen on Sunday morning as he sat at the desk normally occupied by Toby Sheets, his Belmont-based assistant. “We had a seven-win day at Lone Star once, and we had two six-win days at the Fair Grounds. I’m very proud of how well they ran. Obviously, My Miss Aurelia is a tremendous filly, Grade 1 win, homebred. Just a lot of warm fuzzies about that.”

 

Asmussen’s four winners were all ridden by Corey Nakatani, who became the third jockey in Belmont Park history to win six races on a single card.

 

“I’ve had luck with him,” said Asmussen of Nakatani, who is riding full-time on the East coast after having spent 23 years primarily in Southern California. “I had ridden Corey a couple of years ago when we went to [Oaklawn Park], and we had a lot of luck. This winter, when we went to California, he won on a few horses for us. He rode Nehro, who was second in the Derby and had a couple of good runs. Nice comfort level there, so we’re pleased with that.”

 

Asmussen said all four of his winners – including Ron Winchell’s Tapizar, a graded stakes winner who returned from an eight-month layoff to capture a contentious allowance/optional claiming race yesterday – came out of their races in good shape. My Miss Aurelia and Tapizar will depart for Churchill Downs on Monday, Asmussen said.

 

Plans remain undetermined for Vinery Stables’ Western Aristocrat, who will now be under Asmussen’s tutelage after winning yesterday’s Grade 1 Jamaica Handicap under Nakatani for English trainer Jeremy Noseda.

 

*          *          *

 

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin reported Sunday that Alpha and Miss Netta, respective runner-up and third-place finishers in the Champagne and Frizette, had both emerged from their races in good order.

 

“Everyone came back in good shape and of this morning, all systems are ‘go’ for the Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies], but we still have to discuss it with all the parties and see for sure,” he said.

 

Both juveniles were eye-catching maiden winners at Saratoga and made just their second starts in yesterday’s stakes. Alpha got away slowly in the Champagne but kicked on in the stretch to grab second by a neck, while Miss Netta ran greenly as she trailed through the early stakes of the Frizette, but came home well to collect show honors.

 

Alpha and Miss Netta will be joined by dual Grade 1 winner It’s Tricky, headed to the Ladies’ Classic, and speedy Trappe Shot, looking at either the Sprint or the Dirt Mile, in the Breeders’ Cup..

 

*          *          *

 

Stopshoppingmaria, second as the beaten favorite in the Frizette, returned from her effort in good order, trainer Todd Pletcher said.

 

“She looked very good this morning,” said Pletcher, adding that the Mike Repole-owned filly remained on schedule for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on November 4.

 

Stopshoppingmaria will be part of Pletcher’s four-horse Breeders’ Cup contingent, joining the Classic-bound Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty and Juvenile Turf hopeful Finale.

 

Owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, Finale has won three straight, having broken his maiden on Belmont’s inner turf by 5 ¾ lengths on July 15 in his first start on the grass, taking the Continental Mile at Monmouth Park on August 20 and most recently victorious in the Grade 3 Summer Stakes at Woodbine on September 17.

 

Sunday morning, the Scat Daddy colt had his first work since the Summer Stakes, covering a half-mile on Belmont’s training track in 47.64, second-fastest of 31 at the distance.

 

All four are scheduled to depart for Kentucky on October 24, said Pletcher.

 

*          *          *

 

Winter Memories and Bold Hawk are Keeneland-bound after turning in separate breezes on turf at Belmont on Sunday. Clockers caught Winter Memories working five furlongs in 1:01.50, with Bold Hawk traveling the same distance in 1:02.70.

 

The long-range objective for Grade 1 Garden City heroine Winter Memories has been the Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies, which will be held at Keeneland next Saturday. Her dam, Memories of Silver, won the Queen Elizabeth in 1996.

 

“We’re all set to go,” said Jimmy Toner, who trains Winter Memories for Phillips Racing Partnership. “She leaves tomorrow. It was a nice breeze and she finished up good, so we’re right on target. Last week we couldn’t breeze on the grass. We breezed on the dirt, which is OK, too. We got on the grass today and had a nice maintenance breeze.”

 

Toner said Winter Memories couldn’t be doing any better following her Garden City victory, in which she closed resolutely to prevail by a neck after being trapped behind horses in upper stretch.

 

“She’s where she’s supposed to be,” said Toner. “We don’t want her going over the top. She’s happy, she’s fresh. I don’t think we can move forward off that last race. I think she went as forward as she could possibly go, so we’re just maintaining her and keeping her fresh and happy.”

 

Patricia E. Nicholson’s Bold Hawk is targeting the Grade 3 Sycamore, a 1 ½-mile turf race that will be conducted October 20. The seven-year-old gelding missed three years of racing after winning the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby and finishing third in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in 2007. He’ll enter the Sycamore off a third in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Handicap on September 10 at Belmont Park.

 

“We’re going to run him at Keeneland in the Sycamore and maybe try to keep him away some of the heavies he’s been running against,” said Toner. “I’d just really would like to win a race with him. He’s just such a nice horse and gives you everything. It’s been a long time between drinks for him, so we’d like to win a race with him. I think he deserves to win one after coming back off a three-year layoff. You have to like the guy.”