Rock Hard Cowboy remained perfect over the local turf course by capturing the $35,000 Jeff & Jack Coady, Sr., Stakes and the filly My Blue Sky showed she’s a force to be reckoned with in winning the $35,000 Chandler Stakes Saturday at Turf Paradise.  
 
Jeff & Jack Coady Stakes
            Handled by current leading rider Scott Stevens, Ride Hard Kowboy ($3.80) launched his bid from fifth on the far turn, shook off Carouse who moved with him and then swooped by pace-setting Shrewd Move and went on to post an easy 4 ¾ length victory. Shrewd Move held second three-quarters of a length in front of a tiring Carouse who saved third in the field of eight 3-year-olds.
            Trained by Molly Pearson for Turner Shiew and Robert Morgan, Ride Hard Kowboy covered the one mile over firm turf in a snappy 1:35.30.
It was the fourth win in 14 efforts for Ride Hard Kowboy with all victories coming over the local turf course. The $21,049 in purse earnings pushed Ride Hard Kowboy’s lifetime earnings to $105,434.
 
Chandler Stakes
Geovanni Franco patiently rated 5/2 second choice My Blue Sky ($7.80) in third, allowing 6-5 favorite Showcase Winner to dictate the fractions. Making his move at the head of the lane, Franco swung My Blue Sky to the outside of a tiring Showcase Winner, switched leads and then burst clear by 2 ½ lengths at the wire of the closing Springsprangsprung and Cup of Soup who finished in that order. Showcase Winner finished next to last in the field of seven 3-year-old fillies
Owned by Craig Minten and trained by Dan McFarlane, My Blue Sky covered the one mile over the grass in 1:36.49 for her third victory in 10 attempts and earnings of $60,521.
It was the fifth time McFarlane has won the Chandler Stakes.

                           Ditch The Malls. Get Off The Couch. Get to the Track.
             Free Admission Friday. Free Sweatshirts On Saturday. Sunday Fiesta Day.
 
Once again Turf Paradise is offering fans and families a way to enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend, get outside, and watch, wager and win on live local horse racing.

For 60 years the Phoenix racetrack has been the place Arizonans gather once the leftovers are in the fridge and the folding chairs have been put away. It’s also a great place to hide out and avoid mobs at the malls. In fact, we were here before the malls.

Got a house full of relatives? No problem. Take them to the track. Turf Paradise has three days of exciting and inexpensive fun.    

Free Friday November 27th

Grandstand admission is free Friday. After spending Friday morning running around at the mall looking for reindeer socks, why not spend the rest of the day at Turf Paradise watching horses run around our track?  It’s a lot more fun and you can bet on them as well. There’s also $2 draft beer.  And ladies if your spouse, boyfriend or grumpy male relative won’t stop complaining about holiday shopping, drop them off at the track. You’ll both me much happier.

Family Fun Day November 28th

After spending all your cash the day before holiday shopping, Turf Paradise offers a day of family fun. Grandstand admission is $2. Kids 16 and under get in free and the first 3,000 paid admissions get a free Turf Paradise sweatshirt, which will get a lot more use than that pair of reindeer socks you bought the day before.  In addition to a full card of live horse racing, there are two heart-stopping stakes races. The $35,000 Queen of the Green Stakes and the $35,000 Walter Cluer Memorial Stakes feature the best local and regional thoroughbreds competing in two signature races. Cluer founded Turf Paradise in 1956 and he was never fond of reindeer socks. All domestic aluminum bottled beer is $3 which is a much better bargain than those reindeer socks. There’s also live music and a kids fun park with bounce house inflatables.

Sunday Fiesta Day November 29th

Sunday has arrived and the kids are bored, the relatives are restless and you really need a break from leftovers. Turf Paradise is here to help with Fiesta Sunday featuring Mexican food specials and music. Grandstand admission is just $2 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. And if you still have the urge to go holiday shopping, Turf Paradise has two gift stores where you can find a large assortment of gifts for horse racing fans, with the exception of reindeer socks.

Turf Paradise General Manager Vince Francia said, “At Turf Paradise we believe horses should go fast and a dollar should go far. For 60 years we have been providing affordable family fun on Thanksgiving weekend and  all season long.”

In addition to offering live local racing through May 8th the season also includes:

•     Special Fiesta Sundays throughout the season featuring Mexican food and music
•     60th Anniversary Party featuring the $75,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons Mile January 16th
•     Super Saturday February 13th
•     Wiener Dog Races March 12th
•     Camel and Ostrich Races March 26th
•     Kentucky Derby Party May 7th

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.

Two three-year-old stakes, the $35,000 Jeff and Jack Coady Stakes for colts and geldings and the $35,000 Chandler Stakes for fillies will be featured Saturday at Turf Paradise.

Both stakes, which drew fields of eight runners, will be run at one mile on the turf, with the Jeff & Jack Coady going as the 5th  race and the Chandler as the 7th on the eight-race card. Post time is 12:55 pm. 

The Jeff & Jack Coady Stakes: (Named after father and son, two of Turf Paradise’s premier and beloved track photographers).

Focusing on Ride Hard Kowboy trained by Molly Pearson, the lone stakes winner in the field, it becomes apparent that the son of Kodiak Kowboy may find the Coady Stakes right up in his alley after competing against tougher stakes competitors in southern California.

Ride Hard Kowboy, who is a perfect 3-for-3 locally on the turf, including a win in the Temper Handicap, and who prefers a come from behind style will have Scott Stevens aboard.
The lightly raced Carouse (2 wins in 5 lifetime starts) won his local debut October 24, an eye-catching come from behind allowance win at 7 ½ furlongs on the turf. Trained by Robertino Diodoro, who won this race last year with Twelve Tribes, Carouse, a son of Curlin, will have JorgeCarreno up.

The pace-setting role will be sorted out among Purple Heaven, Shrewd Move, Solomon and Prater Sixty Four, each one looking for his first career turf win.

The Chandler Stakes: The two newcomers to Turf, Avenue Montaigne and Hero’s Amor, will attract attention due to their front-running styles and competitive resumes, in a field of closers.

Avenue Montaigne turned in a front-running mile victory at Zia Park October 3. She will be making her first turf start for trainer Shaun Morrow.  The five-time winner Hero’s Amor, has won three of her last four efforts in Canada, including a hard-earned victory in the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks for trainer Greg Tracy.

A daughter of Street Hero, the Kentucky bred Hero’s Amor leads all entrants in wins and bankroll -$98,874.
The Dan McFarlane-trained My Blue Sky should find the competition softer in the Chandler after failing to be a factor in the $199,000 Kentucky Downs Oaks, in her last start, February 19. McFarlane is not a stranger to the Chandler Stakes winner’s circle, having won this event four previous times, the most recent in 2013 with Of Royalty.