| FORTIFIED EFFORT ATBA Fall Sales Stakes (Colts & Geldings) Turf Paradise Phoenix, Arizona November 4, 2017 Race #08 Purse $59,263 6 Furlongs 1:10.52 J. Lloyd Yother, Kevin Eikleberry, William Mathews & Marvin Fleming, Owners Kevin Eikleberry, Trainer Ry Eikleberry, Jockey Oh Brother Jack (2nd) Superb Moment (3rd) $4.00 $2.40 $2.10 Order of Finish - 11, 5, 6, 7 Please Give Photo Credit To: Coady Photography |
Put Down That Turkey Leg. Put Off Your Holiday Shopping. Spend The Holiday Weekend At Turf Paradise
Dollar Day Friday. Free Sweatshirts On Saturday. Sunday Fiesta Day A cold beer, a warm breeze, and red hot horseracing. It sure sounds better than braving the holiday shopping crowds or staying at home arguing about politics with your brother-in-law. Turf Paradise continues its tradition as the place for fans and families to enjoy Thanksgiving weekend. It’s the place where the horses go fast and the dollar goes far. Turf has three days of exciting and inexpensive family fun. It’s a great place to take the kids and visiting family members, or go alone if you need a little ‘me’ time. $2 Day Friday November 24th It’s the day after Thanksgiving. Who says you have to spend the day shopping? Just buy a bunch of gift cards and spend the rest of the day at Turf Paradise. Gates open at 11am. There’s a full card of live local horseracing where you can watch, wager and win. And it’s $2 Day. Grandstand admission is $2 Friday, and so are hotdogs, popcorn, soda, and ice cream. Kids 16 and under get in free. General parking is free. There’s also $2 draft beer $4 Vodka drinks and a live DJ. Family Fun Day November 25th There’s no need to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving cooped up in your home chewing on a turkey leg. Get off the couch and get to the track for a day of family fun. Grandstand admission is $3. Kids 16 and under get in free and the first 4,000 paid admissions get a free Turf Paradise sweatshirt. There’s also a full card of live horse racing featuring The Queen of the Green Stakes and the Walter Cluer Memorial Stakes. There’s also live music and a kids fun park with bounce house inflatables. Plus $3 aluminum bottle beer. And if you still feeling guilty about blowing off holiday shopping, Turf Paradise has two gift shops where you can find a large assortment of gifts for horseracing fans or anyone who loves horses. Sunday Fiesta Day November 26th Make the most of the last day of the holiday. Ditch the leftovers. Take the family to Turf Paradise for Fiesta Sunday where you can enjoy Mexican food specials and music. Grandstand admission is just $3 and kids 16 and under get in free. There will be a full card of live horse racing, including some of the best quarter horse racing in the southwest. Turf Paradise General Manager Vince Francia said, “Turf Paradise is the ultimate local getaway for fans and families on Thanksgiving weekend. It’s affordable family fun where the racing is red hot and the horses are cool.” Who: Turf Paradise What: Thanksgiving Weekend Party When: November 24, 25, 26 Where: Turf Paradise 1501 West Bell Road How Much: Grandstand admission $2 Friday. $3 Saturday and Sunday The season also includes: Special Fiesta Sundays throughout the season featuring Mexican food and music (Last Sundays of the month except for December) 62nd Anniversary Party featuring the $75,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons Mile January 13th Super Saturday February 10th Wiener Dog Races March 3rd Camel, Ostrich and Zebra Races March 17th Kentucky Derby Party May 5th Turf Paradise opened its doors in 1956 and has operated at the same location (19th Avenue and Bell) ever since making it Arizona’s first sports franchise. PHOENIX – Horse training is in the blood that runs through Robert Diodoro’s veins. He describes it as a “disease” and cannot recall a time when horses weren’t a part of his life. Diodoro’s grandfather was a horse trainer and spent a great portion of his life at the racetrack. As a young boy, Diodoro remembers running around the barn area in hopes of being allowed to ride a stable pony horse. Today, with over 20 years of experience in training horses to compete at the most elite level, Diodoro looks to become the all-time winningest trainer at the Turf Paradise racetrack. His successes include having an entrant just four years ago in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile, which runs today as part of the two-day racing event in Del Mar, California. Turf Paradise opened its 62nd season on Oct. 14. Diodoro entered the season with 418 career victories and is on a pace to catch Richard Hazelton, who has 462. “One person brought it to my attention before the meet started,” Diodoro said. “That’s exciting, especially since Phoenix is home for me now.” Diodoro will also be seeking his fifth consecutive trainer’s title. Now training in Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, California and Arkansas, Diodoro was ranked fourth by wins and 20th by earnings in 2016. That amount of success is not easily attained. Training horses demands an extreme amount of dedication and time to care for the animals. “There’s no such thing as weekends off,” Diodoro said. Similar to coaching, to maintain a level of excellence, Diodoro’s lifestyle is tailored around his “athletes.” “Seven days a week, the alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m.,” Diodoro said. “We go in spurts because we train the horses in the morning so we’re done at 10 or 11 a.m. The guys go home to have lunch and they’re back from 3 to 5 p.m. Then sometimes we have night race. It’s a different lifestyle.” Horse training encompasses multiple dimensions. Diodoro, however, believes three different aspects are essential for success: good clients, good horses and good help. Diodoro emphasizes the importance of good help, especially with a stable as large as his with over 60 horses. “If you don’t have those three it’s a pretty tough game,” Diodoro said. “It’s a tough game at the best of times.” Diodoro’s passion is driven by his inherent love for horses. He acknowledges to be successful “competitiveness” must be within you, but a love for horses is where it all begins. Growing up in Canada, Diodoro was a hockey player familiar with the excitement that comes from winning. Competing, and ultimately winning, is an unparalleled reward of training, he said. “I always say it doesn’t matter if it’s a $3,000 race at Turf Paradise or a $500,000 race at Arkansas or wherever we race,” Diodoro said. “I always say a guy can be in the worst mood and be having the worst day ever, you come into the race, win a race and ‘poof,’ it just picks it back up.” The highlight of Diodoro’s training career came in April at Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Inside Straight, a 4-year-old New York-bred horse, pulled away in the deep stretch of the Oaklawn Handicap to upset the heavy favorite, Midnight Storm. This victory was significant, not only because it was the biggest victory in Diodoro’s career, resulting in $750,000 of earnings, but also because the owner of the horse is one of his close friends. “Randy Howg, has been a friend and a client from day one,” Diodoro said. “So 23 years, I’ve trained for him.” After 23 years as a horse trainer, Diodoro is unable to fathom how many horses he has trained. That number, whatever it may be, is certainly a large one. Horses are constantly entering and leaving Diodoro’s stable. It can be difficult to not get attached, especially to a successful horse. “You always like a winner,” Diodoro said. “One of our best horses right now is Chief Know It All. We claimed him, we ran him twice and he won two derbies for us in two starts. Of course, now he’s one of our favorites and we’re attached to him. He wins the two biggest races we’ve won in a while and he’s just like a little pet on top of it, so it’s hard not to get attached.” Over the last four years at Turf Paradise, Diodoro and his horses have averaged 104 wins per meet. This year Diodoro looks forward to competing with his stable, which boasts 62 horses set to compete in the various races. Source: http://arizonasports.com/story/1300282/diodoro-on-track-to-become-turf-paradises-winningest-trainer/ |
BCZ MIDDLETON Princess of Palms Stakes Turf Paradise Phoenix, Arizona October 21, 2017 Race #08 Purse $30,000 6 Furlongs 1:08.95 William Burns & Rebecca Turcott, Owners Jeffrey Metz, Trainer Scott Stevens, Jockey Brookys Star (2nd) Fight To Glory (3rd) $5.60 $2.80 $2.10 Order of Finish - 8, 1, 4, 6 Please Give Photo Credit To: Coady Photography |
The Princess of Palms, to be run at six furlongs attracted a field of nine fillies and mares. First of eight races is at 12:55 pm.
Metz may have to re-think BCZ Middleton’s front-running tactics that resulted in last year’s Princess win since five of the nine entrants have a similar running style. BCZ Middleton parlayed her Princess victory into a runner-up effort in her next start, the City of Phoenix Handicap.
Metz then shipped 4-year-old daughter of Nobiz Like Shobiz to Emerald Downs for a five-race summer campaign that resulted in a second place finish in the $50,000 Hastings Stakes and a victory in the $25,000 Kings County Stakes on August 13, her most recent start.
Leading trainer Robertino Diodoro who won seven 17 starts over the three-day opening weekend, will send out his lightly raced 3-year-old filly Fight to Glory. The daughter of American Lion, who has two wins against older fillies and mares in her last two efforts, will surely challenge BCZ Middleton for the lead. Diodoro, who’s vying for his fifth consecutive trainer’s title, won this race in 2012 with Jaws n’ Paws and 2011 with Shakenwithanolive.
Far from a two horse race, Valerie Lund sends her own speedball Risque Legacy. The 3-year-old daughter of multiple stakes winner Atta Boy Roy and who has never gone off worse than 5-1 odds in seven career starts, counts two stakes wins to her credit.
Southern California shipper Princess Kendra, who has won six of 28 lifetime efforts and who leads all entrants with a $174,387 bankroll, is being sent forth by Reed Saldana. A closer, Princess Kendra will benefit from the assured quick pace of the Princess.
SHREWD MOVE Bienvenidos Stakes Turf Paradise Phoenix, Arizona October 14, 2017 Race #08 Purse $30,000 6-1/2 Furlongs 1:14.77 Yeaman's Racing Stables LLC, Owner Dan McFarlane, Trainer Leslie Mawing, Jockey Madiba (2nd) Storm Power (3rd) $3.20 $2.60 $2.40 Order of Finish - 9, 1, 3, Please Give Photo Credit To: Coady Photography |
Shrewd Move ($3.20) handled by Leslie Mawing, was immediately engaged by last year’s Bienvenidos winner Kaabraaj. The two matched-race clear of the field until Kaabraaj tied to finish fourth and Shrewd Move drew clear to win by 2 ½ lengths. Madlba finished second and 2014 Bienvenidos winner Storm Power third in a field of seven reduced by five scratches.
Owned by Yeaman’s Racing Stables and trained by Dan McFarlane, Shrewd Move covered the 6 ½ furlongs in 1:14.77. Shrewd Move winner’s share of $18,228 pushed his career earnings to $241,499 from ten wins in 18 lifetime efforts.
Giving notice that he’s earnest about ruling the trainers’ standings, Diodoro swept the first three races on the card with London Legacy ($3.00), Vidaks Back ($3.60) and Strut N Swagger ($7.40). Diodoro came back to win the seventh race with Jam N Addy ($7.00). Jockey Andrew Ramgeet was aboard three of the four winners.
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