Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Newfound Gold a golden oldie
Remember Favorite Trick? He was the prototype for the advanced 2-year-old and was Horse of the Year as a juvenile in 1997, but he was unable to carry his early success into later seasons.
Newfound Gold is the anti-Favorite Trick. As a 2-yearold of 2009, Newfound Gold began his career by losing three $12,500 maiden-claiming races at Emerald Downs. Last Monday at Fair Grounds, he won his first allowance race. Newfound Gold is 10 now and was making his 57th start.
Trainer Michelle Lovell knows the history inside and out. She claimed Newfound Gold for herself for $10,000 on Feb. 18. Lovell had done her homework. She saw that the old gelding had never won an allowance race and circled Monday’s first-level allowance in the condition book. She spent some money on routine maintenance, trained Newfound Gold for a few weeks, and entered. The winner’s share of the purse was $25,800. The monetary payoff provided only part of the satisfaction.
“That was one of my favorite wins ever, and just because of him,” Lovell said. “I’ve been watching him since he ran at Keeneland last fall. I talked myself out of claiming him there for $7,500. I took him to a client, and they said no, he was too old. I’m just proud of what he could do. It’s kind of nice to see old horses sticking around, to see they can compete at a higher level.”
Newfound Gold, by Newfoundland and out of Binntastic, raced in Washington through most of 2012 before being relocated to the Southern California circuit for the better part of four years. He wound up in Florida last winter and didn’t race between January and October, when he hit Lovell’s radar at Keeneland.
Newfound Gold has been claimed 18 times and has resided in the barn of 17 different trainers, and he has run hard for all of them. His record stands at 22-16-9 from 57 starts, but what’s most remarkable is that at this advanced age, Newfound Gold has won six races in a row and 13 of his last 16.
“Watching him move, he’s a very good mover,” Lovell said when asked to explain Newfound Gold’s late-career success. “He comes off the turn and switches his leads perfectly, and he doesn’t slow down. He’s not a big horse – very athletic. And you can’t measure the will to win. That horse just has a huge heart.”
Daria’s Angel likely for Oaks
Lacking other appealing options, and with the prospect of a short, shallow field, trainer Bret Calhoun said Thursday that the impressive maiden winner Daria’s Angel is likely to make her next start April 1 in the Fair Grounds Oaks.
Daria’s Angel finished second in a pair of sprint maiden races late last year, made her 3-yearold debut in a two-turn maiden race, and won by eight lengths in a good time, earning an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. Calhoun had hoped to start Daria’s Angel in a first-level allowance, but the race failed to fill.
“My back’s kind of to the door now. If she ran well in the allowance and came back well, we were going to consider the Oaks even though it was going to be a little tight for her,” Calhoun said. “I think she’s worthy of going in this race, but I just wanted one more race for her to prove it.”
The Fair Grounds Oaks will have Farrell as a heavy favorite, and with the talented Jenda’s Agenda entered this weekend at Laurel Park, Valadorna pointed to the Ashland Stakes, and a general lack of depth in the 3-year-old filly crop, Daria’s Angel could make a mark in the local Oaks.
Meanwhile, Calhoun said that the high-class filly sprinter Finley’sluckycharm would be back on the work tab in the next 10 days or so. Second last out in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, Finley’sluckycharm was diagnosed with a curbed hock following her most recent workout Feb. 2. Calhoun said if all went well, she could make her next start in May at Churchill Downs.
◗ The stakes-winning Louisiana-bred filly Smittys Cougar has been retired to become a broodmare after sustaining an injury in a Fair Grounds turf sprint on March 10, trainer Ron Faucheux said. Smittys Cougar, by Half Ours and out of Smitty’s Sunshine, went 7-4-3 from 16 starts and earned more than $300,000.
◗ The Saturday feature is race 9, a second-level optional $40,000 claimer for fillies and mares going long, but of equal note is race 8, a two-turn dirt maiden race for 3-year-olds. Multiplier came within a neck of the talented Souper Tapit while making his second start following an encouraging debut, but he could be challenged by the Steve Asmussen-trained Bernardini colt Insurgent, who flashed talent last year at 2 and makes his 3-year-old debut Saturday.