Arlington Park Barn Notes (9/18/10)
Contact: Graham Ross
graham.ross@arlingtonpark.com
In today's notes:
TAMMY TAPS INTO ARLINGTON’S TOP TEN TRAINER LIST
In Thursday’s feature race at Arlington, Charlene Gabler’s Hello Jake launched a strong bid when set down for the drive and was up to be clearly best at the wire despite being carried out in the late stages.
In Friday’s sixth race, Jay Skibinski’s Dot’s In Style broke in full stride to make the pace and increased her margin in the late stages to be easily best at the wire.
Both horses are trained by Tammy Domenosky, both were haltered in recent starts by the twenty-something conditioner, and together the winning twosome on back-to-back racing days allowed Domenosky to crack the top 10 list of Arlington’s leading trainers at the end of Friday’s racing day.
“I love the claiming game,” Domenosky said shortly after Dot’s In Style win by more than eight lengths, “and I’ve learned a lot here at Arlington this summer. You’ve really got to know where to enter your horses here. For instance, a race with one set of conditions here at Arlington is not the same as a race with the same set of conditions at Hawthorne. The two races wouldn’t be in the same league.”
Although Domenosky, born in Waukesha, Wisconsin (on the outskirts of Milwaukee), was a presence at Arlington last summer, the bulk of her stable was campaigned at Canterbury Park in Minnesota’s greater Twin Cities area. This summer, she has brought the larger group to Chicago, with the smaller division based at Canterbury.
“I love living here in Chicago,” said Domenosky. “It’s a very exciting city and I’m very happy being based at Arlington.”
One of the best horses in Domenosky’s barn is Miracle Logistics’ Moralist, who won Canterbury’s $35,000 Honor the Hero Turf Express Sprint May 31, returned to the local oval to run third the 14th running of the $125,000 Arlington Sprint June 26, and then went back to Minnesota to capture the $50,000 Claiming Crown Express July 24. Since then the 5-year-old Talk Is Money gelding has turned in two bullet works at Arlington last month.
“I have a couple of races right at the beginning of Keeneland I’m looking at for him,” Domenosky said. “One is at six furlongs on the Polytrack (Grade III Phoenix Stakes Oct. 8) and the other is at five and a half on the grass (Grade III Woodford Stakes Oct. 9). I haven’t decided which one he’ll go in.
“I’m generally pleased with the way the meeting here this summer has gone here for me,” said Domenosky, “but I’m never completely satisfied with anything. I always want to do better. I’ve got very good help in my barn. My assistant, Pam Little, used to train here at Arlington and she’s as passionate about our horses as I am. In fact, all my barn help is completely dedicated. We’re a team and there’s no ‘I’ in team.
“I’ve enjoyed Chicago and I enjoy the claiming game, but it’s not like I’m going to buy a house here or anything like that,” Domenosky said. “I’m going to continue living like a gypsy. I’ll probably split my stable again this winter, leaving some at Hawthorne taking others down to Oaklawn or maybe Gulfstream.
“I want to keep getting better horses, and like everybody else, someday I’d love to have a Derby horse,” Domenosky concluded. “These are all stepping stones for me right now. Maybe someday some big owner or some big Kentucky outfit will come along and say ‘We’d like you to train 20 horses for us at Keeneland,’ and if that happens, you can bet I’m gone.”
LEADING RIDER MICHAEL BAZE DOUBLES BACK FRIDAY
Current leading Arlington Park jockey Michael Baze enjoyed a riding double on Friday’s nine-race program to increase his advantage to five wins over Arlington’s defending jockey champion Junior Alvarado entering Saturday’s card – the 86th racing day of Arlington’s 91-day 2010 season.
Baze, riding at Arlington for the first time this season after hanging his tack in Southern California for most of his young career, captured Friday’s opener aboard leading owner Frank Calabrese’s East Coaster, trained by Ron Faucheux, and came back to win Friday’s third race aboard Hans Poetsch’s Grassy Nellie, conditioned by Faucheux’ uncle Louie Roussel.
CASTANON, CATALANO INCH CLOSER TO PERSONAL MILESTONES FRIDAY
Veteran reinsman Jesus Castanon rode Jay Skibinski’s Dot’s In Style to an easy victory in Friday’s sixth race for trainer Tammy Domenosky and increased his number of career winners to 1,994 as he pursues the 2,000-career win milestone.
Arlington’s perennial leading trainer saddled Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Next Kitten to win Friday’s seventh race with jockey Shane Sellers up.
It was the 72nd winner of Catalano’s 2010 season at the local oval, where he established Arlington’s all-time single-season win record of 74 victories for trainers at the local oval three years ago during Arlington’s 2007 session.
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