Bobby's Kitten WIns $500K Penn Mile @ Penn Nat

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Jon
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Bobby's Kitten WIns $500K Penn Mile @ Penn Nat May 29, 2014 23:32:44 GMT -5

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Post by Jon on May 29, 2014 23:32:44 GMT -5

Good $ for an ungraded race. Decent field too.

Brown has speedy pair for Penn Mile
By Marcus Hersh
DRF

Since his debut at Saratoga, Bobby’s Kitten has been one of those charismatic horses who can turn heads in the morning and empty wallets in the afternoon.

Bobby’s Kitten was the 13-10 favorite in his career debut and lost. He has been favored in all six of his starts and has lost three of them. Bobby’s Kitten has brilliance and substance. His problem has been excessive exuberance in racing, and he will need to let Javier Castellano push his off button Saturday night to win the Penn Mile at Penn National.

Bobby’s Kitten, said trainer Chad Brown, goes about his morning training straightforwardly, but put him in a race, and the colt wants to run through walls. Bobby’s Kitten speed-dueled himself into a third-place finish last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and faded to 12th – albeit on a synthetic surface he disliked – after fighting Castellano last month in the Blue Grass Stakes.

“Horses like this, they can challenge you,” Brown said.

Bobby’s Kitten will have seven opponents, including stablemate Storming Inti, when he tries to score his fourth win in the second edition of the Penn Mile. The $500,000 turf race came into existence last year and immediately found a niche. Won in 2013 by Rydilluc, this year’s edition attracted four upper-crust 3-year-old grass horses in the Brown-trained pair, Global View, and Divine Oath.

The Penn Mile, race 4 with post time scheduled for 7:31 p.m. Eastern, follows three other six-figure stakes: the Penn Oaks, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup, and the Mountainview Handicap.

Storming Inti, Brown’s second entrant, also is a front-runner, and the last thing Brown wants is an early battle of stablemates, but Storming Inti has been more tractable than Bobby’s Kitten and is drawn outside him.

“Bobby’s Kitten is more likely to be in front of the other horse,” Brown said. “Storming Inti is a little more agreeable if you need to rate him.”

Bobby’s Kitten, a Ken and Sarah Ramsey homebred by Kitten’s Joy, has won twice on the lead and once when he tracked the pace with a clear outside trip. Making his turf debut, front-runner Laddie Boy is drawn just inside of Bobby’s Kitten and could challenge him early. If not, Bobby’s Kitten, if he’s willing, could slow the pace enough to give both himself and the tracking Storming Inti a favorable setup.

Faster fractions work in favor of the other two obvious Penn Mile players, Global View and Divine Oath. Global View finished second to Bobby’s Kitten in a Tampa Bay Downs allowance race this year, chasing to no avail through a moderate tempo, and beat Storming Inti on May 3, closing strongly to win the American Turf. That race came over 1 1/16 miles, and Global View needs pace help to get up running one mile.

“Sure, I’d prefer it to be a little longer, but the race is called the Penn Mile,” trainer Tom Proctor said.

Divine Oath, trained by Todd Pletcher, most recently finished second in the Lexington Stakes over the Keeneland Polytrack after winning his first two starts, both on turf. Divine Oath displayed a good turn of foot in his grass races, both over 7 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream, and has the foundation to move forward Saturday with the right trip.

Like Laddie Boy, Coastline, Mr Brioni, and the hopeless longshot Sing the Dream all are making their first grass start.

Entries (Equibase)
Race 4 - Post Time - 7:31 PM Daily Double / Exacta / $0.50 Trifecta / $0.10 Superfecta $0.50 Pick 3 (Races 4-5-6)
Penn Mile S.
Penn National STAKES

Purse $500,000. For Three-Year-Olds. One Mile. (Turf)
P# PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1 Global View (KY) 3/C L G L Stevens 122 T F Proctor 5/2
2 2 Sing the Dream (NY) 3/C L W P Otero 116 C Crane 50/1
3 3 Laddie Boy (KY) 3/C L C Landeros 116 C Peery 15/1
4 4 Bobby's Kitten (KY) 3/C L J Castellano 122 C C Brown 8/5
5 5 Storming Inti (PA) 3/C L A Garcia 122 C C Brown 3/1
6 6 Mr Brioni (PA) 3/C L K Carmouche 116 R Allen 30/1
7 7 Coastline (KY) 3/C L S Elliott 116 M E Casse 10/1
8 8 Divine Oath (KY) 3/C L C P DeCarlo 116 T A Pletcher 6/1

Owners: 1 - Glen Hill Farm; 2 - D A S L Stable; 3 - Kevin Jacobsen; 4 - Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey; 5 - Santa Rosa Racing Stables; 6 - Club Risque Stable; 7 - John C. Oxley; 8 - Let's Go Stable

Breeders: 1 - Reiko Baum & Michael Baum; 2 - T/C Stable,LLC; 3 - Frederick J. McEwan; 4 - Kenneth L. Ramsey & Sarah K. Ramsey; 5 - Brushwood Stable; 6 - Mr. & Mrs. Rick Abbott; 7 - DATTT Farm, LLC; 8 - Sanford R. Robertson

Last Edit: Jun 1, 2014 11:23:23 GMT -5 by Evelyn

Evelyn
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Bobby's Kitten WIns $500K Penn Mile @ Penn Nat Jun 1, 2014 11:25:07 GMT -5

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Post by Evelyn on Jun 1, 2014 11:25:07 GMT -5

Penn Nat's big night as a very good card.

Bobby's Kitten flies home in lucrative Penn Mile
Brisnet

Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred Bobby's Kitten was under tight restraint from jockey Javier Castellano down the backstretch of Saturday's $500,000 Penn Mile, and once unleashed the Kitten's Joy colt easily powered home a 2 3/4-length winner for trainer Chad Brown.

The Penn Mile capped off a stellar night at Penn National for Castellano, as he guided home three of the five stakes winners on the 10-race program. Inaugurated last season, the one-mile grass test for three-year-olds highlighted a blockbuster card at the track, located outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Bobby's Kitten briefly held the advantage before the first turn but yielded when Sing the Dream slipped through on the rail rounding the turn. That one established splits of :23 1/5 and :48 while Bobby's Kitten tugged at Castellano just in behind. The 6-5 favorite finally got some loose rein and glided up to take over through six furlongs in 1:12 1/5.

Bobby's Kitten was never challenged after that, extending beautifully in the stretch to stop the clock in 1:35 4/5 on the good turf course. Global View proved best of the rest as the 8-5 second choice, two lengths in front of Storming Inti. That one just got his nose down on the wire to hold Divine Oath to fourth, while Laddie Boy, Coastline, Mr Brioni and Sing the Dream completed the order of finish.

Bobby's Kitten paid $4.60 to his many backers for this, his second stakes win. Now 4-0-2 from seven career starts, the bay colt has banked $589,766 thanks in part to a win in last year's Pilgrim at Belmont Park and a third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita Park.

That latter race, in which Bobby's Kitten was sent off the 6-5 favorite, capped off his two-year-old season, and the Kentucky-bred bay made his sophomore debut a winning one at Tampa Bay Downs in March. His only off-the-board finish came when switching off his preferred turf to the synthetic Polytrack at Keeneland for the Blue Grass on April 12.

Like Bobby's Kitten, Mr. Amore Stable's Tightend Touchdown lived up to his 6-5 favoritism in the $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup earlier on the card to post a 1 1/2-length victory. Castellano kicked off his winning evening aboard the Pure Precision gelding, who paid $4.40 while successfully defending his title in the five-furlong grass sprint for trainer Jason Servis.

Bold Thunder was quickest from the gate and battled with Stormy Rush through the opening quarter in :21 4/5. He managed to pull off a bit by the time the :44 3/5 half-mile mark had been reached. Meanwhile, Tightend Touchdown was saving ground down on the rail and maintained that position until midpack, when Castellano angled him out. The five-year-old chestnut rallied to finish in :56 3/5 while earning his first win since this same race a year ago.

Stormofthecentury followed Tightend Touchdown to take second by a head over Bold Thunder, with Sensible Lady rounding out the top four. Stormy Rush, Ol Army, This Ain't No Bull, Tate's Landing, Great Attack and Atlantic Seaboard all followed, while Kingsford Drive and Marriedtothemusic scratched.

Tightend Touchdown is now 10-6-1 from 24 starts and has accumulated $654,045 in lifetime earnings. His two Pennsylvania Governor's Cup wins are his only stakes victories, though the Florida-bred has also placed in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, Turf Monster Handicap, Parx Dash Handicap and Fiddlers Patriot, all last year. He entered Saturday's race off a season-opening eighth in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, his first off-the-board run in his past 12 races.

Interrupted kicked off the Penn National card and got back to her winning ways when running down pacesetting 28-1 longshot Je Suis Enchantee in the $100,000 Penn Oaks to score by a neck on the wire. The Graham Motion-trained miss entered the eight-furlong contest off a first career loss when third in the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs in early March, but showed no signs of rustiness off the two-month break.

Je Suis Enchantee made her intentions clear from the start, taking command while setting splits of :23 4/5, :48 and 1:13 in her turf debut. The last-out winner drew off down the backstretch from the rest of her rivals, including Interrupted whom jockey Angel Serpa has settled into fourth. The field began to draw closer as Je Suis Enchantee hit the turn, with Interrupted slipping through on the inside entering the lane.

The Pin Oak Stud homebred battled with Je Suis Enchantee throughout the stretch, just getting her neck in front on the line while stopping the clock in 1:37 for the good-turf mile. It was another 1 1/4 lengths behind Je Suis Enchantee to 3-1 favorite Ready to Act, with Famous Alice, Devilwentogeorgia and Ready's Legend completing the order of finish. Aurelia's Belle and Paloma P were both withdrawn.

Interrupted paid $16.60 as the 7-1 third pick and nearly doubled her earnings to $119,140 from a 4-3-0-1 mark. The Broken Vow Kentucky-bred opened her career with a pair of wins at Laurel Park last fall, then finished third while making her seasonal, and stakes, bow in the Florida Oaks last out.

The $200,000 Mountainview Handicap was the first of two dirt stakes on the card, and Last Gunfighter survived both a jockey's objection and steward's inquiry in taking the 1 1/8-mile fast-track contest by a nose.

Castellano, earning his second stakes win on the day, allowed Last Gunfighter to run outside of Ruler On Ice down the backstretch as Valid and Percussion led the way up front through fractions of :23 4/5, :47 4/5 and 1:12 2/5. When Arlo began his move from third, Last Gunfighter was quick to follow and found himself four wide running in tandem outside of Valid, Percussion and Arlo.

In the stretch, Last Gunfighter and Arlo leaned into one another, exchanging bumps, as Percussion backed up and Valid clung to the lead. Last Gunfighter managed to inch his way forward and got the nose-bobbing win while completing nine furlongs in 1:50 2/5. Sailor's Revenge rallied from last to take third by three parts of a length over Arlo, with Ruler On Ice and Percussion finishing the order under the wire. Golden Ticket and Taptowne were scratched.

Following the inquiry, and a review of Arlo jockey Jorge Vargas Jr.'s objection, the stewards left the Brown-trained Last Gunfighter on top to pay $3.40 as the 3-5 favorite. It was the First Samurai five-year-old's seventh stakes win, joining last year's Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap, Pimlico Special, Excelsior, Philip H. Iselin and Evening Attire as well as the 2012 Raymond Early.

Last Gunfighter, making his 2014 bow in this spot off his Gold Cup score in late November, also placed in the Suburban Handicap last season and improved his lifetime mark to read 16-9-3-2, $1,140,205. The John D. Gunther Kentucky homebred has been unplaced just twice in his career, running fifth in both the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Breeders' Cup Classic last fall.

Ronald Ulrich's King Henry took full advantage of 1-2 favorite Evolution Rocks' bad break and was crowned for a second straight year in the $50,000 Penn Dash to wrap up the stakes action on the card.

Jockey William Otero and King Henry led gate-to-wire in the second dirt stakes, posting splits of :22 and :45 in the five-furlong sprint, and held the fast-closing Evolution Rocks by 1 3/4 lengths on the wire for a final time of :57 2/5. King Henry paid $9.60 as the 7-2 second favorite for defending his title in the Penn Dash after taking last year's running by the exact same margin.

The usually front-running Evolution Rocks stumbled badly out of the gate, ducked in and bumped with another rival, then found himself in last during the short run down the backstretch to the turn. He put in a game rally in the lane, but ran out of room as Couldashuddawooda, Uptown Boy, Last Heartbreaker and Smash and Grab completed the order under the line. Flying Zealous, Marriedtothemusic, Uncle Todd, Norte Grande and Star Harbour were all withdrawn.

King Henry's only stakes tries have come in this race. The Tim Kreiser-trained son of Congrats spends the rest of his time running in starter allowances and optional claimers. Thus far, the six-year-old bay gelding, who spent his first two seasons on track playing musical barns, has racked up $332,584 in earnings while putting together a 43-11-12-8 scorecard.