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Jockey Martin Bourdieu sustained multiple serious injuries in a spill Saturday at Turf Paradise.
Bourdieu, 44, was aboard Starz Decoy in a 300 yard Quarter Horse allowance race, when he was put in tight quarters by Matts Corona ridden by Luis Yescas, Jr. Bourdieu’s mount clipped the heels of Matts Corona, stumbled, throwing Bourdieu to the ground. Matts Corona would go on to finish third, but was disqualified and unplaced by the Stewards. Bourdieu, originally for Cordoba, Argentina, was rushed to Honor Health Deer Valley Medical Center, located minutes from the race track, where he underwent surgery for a broken femur. Further surgery is being considered for two punctured lungs and several broken ribs. No horses were injured in the race.
The red hot trainer Shawn Davis and winning-touch leading rider Francisco Arrieta won two of the three stakes over Thanksgiving weekend at Turf Paradise
$30,000 City of Phoenix Kicking off the three-day, post-Thanksgiving holiday weekend was Friday’s City of Phoenix for fillies and mare at 6 furlongs. From the get-go, it was a match race between leading trainer Robertino Diodoro’s duo entries of Time and Chance and last year’s winner and favorite Fight to Glory. The former, with leading rider Francisco Arrieta up, got the half-length victory over a game stablemate, who relinquished the lead inside the sixteenth pole. It was another three lengths back to Paddy’s Secret who finished third in the field of seven. Time and Chance ($11.20) covered the 6-furlongs in 1:09.17 for her fifth win in 14 outings. Racing for Fitch Racing Stable, the 5-year-old Time and Chance earned $18,228 to bring her career earnings to $100,633. $30,000 Queen of the Green In a catch-me-if-you-can performance prohibitive 1-2 favorite Medaglia Gold and Scott Stevens kept daylight between themselves and six filly and mare rivals to win the one mile turf test by 2 ¾ lengths with I Came to Praise finishing second and Boomerang Miss third. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams and trained by 50% win percentage horsemen Shawn Davis, the 3-year-old Medaglia Gold ($3.00), who was winning her fourth consecutive start, raced the 8 furlongs over firm turf in 1:36.27 for her fifth win in 14 starts for earnings of $119,717. $30,000 Walter Cluer Memorial Trainer Davis came right back in the Walter Cluer with an explosive performance by Consumerconfidence ($13.60) and the second stakes win of the weekend by Arrieta. The 5-year-old son of Quality Road shot putted from a congealed pack of horses as the field turned for home, and then romped to a 4 ¼ length victory over a troubled-trip Thetrailerguy with He’s Munnie in the field of ten 3-year-olds and up. Owned by Davis and Frank Bemis, Consumerconfidence raced the one mile (turf) in 1:36.47 for his fifth win in 22 career outings for earnings of $127,435. Three Stake races and sweatshirt give-a-way will be featured over the three-day Thanksgiving weekend at Turf Paradise.
The weekend kicks off Friday with special live racing and Two Dollar Day, featuring $2 Grandstand Admission, Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, Popcorn and Soda; plus $2 domestic draft beer. Saturday, the first 4,000 patrons will receive a free horse racing designed sweatshirt. There will be free multiple bounce inflatables for the kids and live music by the popular Doc and Gal. Sunday will be Fiesta Sunday with live Mexican music and plenty of tacos, burritos, carnitas, elotes and churros. Grandstand admission and general parking will be $5 each. Friday’s stakes race will be the $30,000 City of Phoenix, which attracted a field of eight fillies and mares for the 6-furlong sprint, including last year’s winner Fight to Glory. Saturday highlights two stakes race: the $30,000 Queen of the Green and $30,000 Walter Cluer. Both races will be run at one mile over the turf course. The Queen of the Green lured a field of seven fillies and mares, including two-time winner Hip Ninety Three. Named after Turf Paradise founder, the Walter Cluer attracted a competitive full-field of 12 which sport 52 accumulative career wins for the eight furlong test. Upset on his mind, Minister of Soul would not be denied, winning the $30,000 Luke Kruytbosch Stakes Saturday at Turf Paradise.
Deftly handle by Glenn Corbett, Minister of Soul ($23.00) tracked the pace-setting Kaabraaj and went on to post a diminishing neck victory over a fasty-closing Leadem in Ken with the favored Bourbon Cowboy third. Kaabraaj, who won this race the past two years, tired to finish fourth in the field of six sprinters. Owned and trained by Esteban Martinez, Minister of Soul coverd the 6-furlongs in a sprightly 1:09.3 for his fourth win in eights outings. Bienvenidos winner Izzy the Warrior will face familiar faces when he seeks his second stakes win in a row in the $30,000 Luke Kruytbosch Stakes Saturday at Turf Paradise.
The 6-furlong Kruytbosch attracted a field of seven, four of which (Bourbon Cowboy, Creative Art, Freedom Hill and Kaabraaj) experienced defeat by Izzy the Warrior in Opening Day’s Bienvenidos Stakes. The two newcomers are Leadem in Ken and Minister of Soul, both of which deserve a look. Racing for the current leaders of their respective divisions, trainer Roberto Diodoro and jockey Francisco Arrieta, Izzy the Warrior stalked the early pace, saving ground along the rail, and then pounced late to win by a game half-length. The 5-year-old has won six of 18 outings for a bankroll of $158,457. Leadem in Ken, who has won 14 of 37 efforts, campaigned from June thru September at Albuquerque and Remington Park, winning a handicap stakes in New Mexico and finishing second in the $159 grand David Vance stakes in Oklahoma. The 8-year old has won three of five starts locally and finished third in this race last year, and leads all entrants with a bankroll of $403,763. Minister of Soul won his allowance debut at Turf October 21. The lightly raced 4-year-old has won three of four outings. |











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