DARNQUICK RUNS JUST LIKE HIS NAME SUGGESTS
If you name your horse “Darnquick,” you better hope that you have a four-legged Ferrari in the barn.
Well, Northern California based 2-year-old gelding Darnquick might not be quite as fast as a Ferrari, but most horses aren’t, so one can be forgiving of that. He certainly has ability as a racehorse, though.
Owned and bred by Cliff Plum and trained by Allen Rogers, the California bred son of Run Brother Ron is now 2 for 3 after winning the co-feature on Saturday, an allowance for 2-year-olds sprinting five and one-half furlongs.
Darnquick kicked off his career at Pleasanton on July 5 with a 5-length score against maiden special weight company. Off at odds of 11-1, he set fast fractions and never slowed down. Darnquick was spotted in the August 2 Graduation Stakes for his next start, a tough California-bred stake at Del Mar, and ran a better-than-looked fifth while only losing by 3 lengths to the best California-bred 2-year-olds on the West Coast. Wheeling back in just 2 and a half weeks, Darnquick rebounded off the loss and defeated allowance foes on Saturday under jockey Kyle Frey.
“I think he’s only going to improve,” said Frey. “He felt really good underneath me. He is a naturally quick horse so he got to the lead [on Saturday], but I don’t think he needs the lead. He is still 2 and I can tell he is still learning out there. At the wire, I had a lot left in the tank.”
Darnquick has earned $48,460 from the first 3 starts of his career. Darnquick is the first foal out of the Forest Camp mare Darncat, who won 2 races in the Bay Area for owner/breeder Plum as a racer.
CURLIN TO MISCHIEF PICKS UP FIRST WIN AS A STALLION AT GOLDEN GATE
California-based Curlin to Mischief picked up his first winner as a stallion at Golden Gate Fields on Friday afternoon when 2-year-old gelding Monstrodomous won the second race, a maiden $12,500 claimer on the Tapeta. The grey or roan equine is owned by Scott Herbertson and conditioned by his son, Ari.
“[Monstrodomous] is a real laid back horse,” said the younger Herbertson. “He is pretty workmanlike; trains steady all the time and has tried really hard in both of his races. He has a competitive edge to him, though, which is always something you like to see in a racehorse.”
Curlin to Mischief is by 2-time Horse of the Year Curlin and out of the mare Leslie’s Lady, one of the top broodmares of the 21st century given she has produced three Grade I winners: champion racemare Beholder, Grade I winner and top stallion Into Mischief, and Breeders Cup champion Mendelssohn. As a racemare, Leslie’s Lady won 5 races including the Hoosier Debutante Stakes at Hoosier Park as a 2-year-old.
Curlin to Mischief stands at Ranch San Miguel in San Miguel, California with a stud fee of $3,500. He was foaled in 2011.
FINISH LINES: After Week 1, jockey Irving Orozco has the most wins out of any rider at the meeting with 7 victories in 4 racing days. Kyle Frey and William Antongeorgi III won 5 races apiece last week and are tied for second…Trainer John Martin had an outstanding Week 1, winning with 4 of his 7 starters. The Bay Area native sits atop the trainer standings with 6 weeks to go…Congrats to Golden Gate local Hollywood Hills, who finished second in the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday. Steve Sherman trains the George Krikorian homebred…Also on Saturday, Golden Gate track record holder Keeperof the Stars ran fourth in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks for trainer Jonathan Wong and owners Tommy Town Thoroughbreds…A congratulatory “well done” to trainers D. Wayne Baker and Steve Specht. On Saturday, both Bay Area conditioners saddled the exacta in two separate races. Baker picked up a 1-2 finish with Cool Hunter and The Public Halo in Race 5, a 5k claiming race, while Specht campaigned the top two finishers in Race 7, an allowance event won by Miss Super Saint. Stablemate My Sweet Lou rounded out the exacta…Jockey David C. Lopez won with his first mount back in the Bay Area on Thursday when Drill Time, a 3-year-old gelding from the Steve Miyadi barn, pulled off a last-to-first win in the nightcap…Happy birthday to D. Wayne Baker & GGF Director of Operations William Rizzuto, both whom celebrate birthdays this week…$10,199 is carried over into the 20 Cent Golden Pick Six Jackpot wager on Thursday.