Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Capital OTB looking for handicappers

The following is a press release from Capital Off-Track Betting:


Thirty top handicappers will compete for their share of $75,000 in prize money as the state’s six Off-Track Betting regions partner to present the first-ever New York State $75,000 OTB Handicapping Championship.

Qualifying contests, open to the public, will be held Saturday at numerous OTB sites across New York. Players may purchase up to two entries at $20 each (cash only) in the qualifying round. The top five contestants from each region win $500 cash ($1000 at New York City OTBs), $250 in expense money and an invitation to compete in the championship round on Saturday, October 24, at OTB’s Albany Teletheater. Contestants will handicap races at Belmont Park.

The top three finishers in the championship round will share in the estimated purse of $75,000 (based on the total number of entries) and each will win an expense-paid trip and entry into the Horse Player World Series handicapping contest in Las Vegas in February 2010.

70 percent will go to the top finisher (estimated at $40,000), 20 percent to second place (estimated at $11,500) and 10 percent to third (estimated at $6,000).

Contestants must be at least 21 years old. Patrons may submit their qualifying entries online. For complete details, contest rules and a list of participating NYS OTB qualifying branches log on to www.capitalotb.com or www.nysotbcontest.com.

Capital OTB participating branches include Albany Teletheater; Woodlawn (Schenectady); Friar Tuck (Catskill); Glens Falls; Bridgeport; Partners Pub (Johnstown), Turnpike Racing Center (Rensselear); Valley Plaza Shopping Complex (New Lebanon).

Wednesday with the Rats

Today was media day for the Albany River Rats, a chance for writers and photographers (and even some out of work types) to meet with team personnel -- players, coaches, executives -- and talk about the upcoming season.

Optimism abounds at this time of year for every team, but the Rats have reason to be excited. Much of it revolves around highly touted youngsters such as forwards Brandon Sutter, Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman and Chris Terry, defenseman Jamie McBain and goaltender Mike Murphy.

"This is a group of kids that everybody's excited about," veteran forward Pat Dwyer said. "They're great hockey players, which means they're going to be able to adjust to the (pro) game. I believe the learning curve will be small with them, so it's exciting to get it under way and see what these kids can do."

Sutter comes from one of hockey's storied families, and spent most of his rookie season last year with the Carolina Hurricanes. Boychuk, Bowman and Terry are junior scoring stars who combined for 234 points (114g, 120a) in 158 games. McBain made his pro debut last spring after leaving the University of Wisconsin a year early, and Murphy is one of the most decorated goalies in junior hockey history.

"From a skill standpoint it's night and day from what we had last year. Just watching the guys move around the power play, it's just nice to see," head coach Jeff Daniels said. "At the same time, it's young guys. As we learned last year, some guys will adapt right away and some guys will take some time to adapt. From a skill standpoint, I'm happy with what we have. With us being young I think we have a good core group of veteran guys that can help these guys out.

"I'm excited about what we have on paper and I'm excited with how the guys look on the ice. I'm sure every team is saying that right now. It will be interesting to see how these guys adapt once the competiton does get tougher. Some of them will not miss a beat and lead the way and some guys will take some time."

Boychuk is featured in an upcoming issue of The Hockey News previewing the AHL season as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate. Bowman is also listed among the leading contenders.

Already, Boychuk is drawing comparisons to another smaller, skilled forward who came through Albany, New Jersey Devils star Zach Parise. They play a similar style (and will wear the same No. 11), though Boychuk is more mature physically than Parise was his rookie year. To me, there have only been three players of their caliber to play for Albany, the other being Steve Sullivan.

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Where Boychuk and Sutter, first-round draft picks in 2008 and 2007, respectively, have gotten much of the attention, don't overlook Bowman as a breakout star.

A third-round pick in 2007, Bowman has the kind of hands that make scouts drool. He does things around the net that make you have to look twice at the replay just to make sure they actually happened.

"He's a good player," Daniels said. "He's got a quick release shot. He can make plays. He's got good size. He got off to a little bit of a tough start from an injury standpoint. He missed the game the other night and is trying to get back on track and get his timing going.

"Obviously everybody wants to be a goal-scorer and unfortunately not everyone has the talent to do it. It doesn't mean you can't get to the next level because it takes all types, but it's nice to see these kids in practice with the kinds of goals they score."

Bowman raised turned heads in his first camp with the Canes two years ago, but raised some eyebrows, particularly among veterans, last fall when he openly said he felt he deserved to make the NHL club.

Instead, he was shipped back to juniors where he had 47 goals (and 83 points) in 62 games, becoming the first Spokane player in 15 years with back-to-back 40-goal seasons.

"At first when I got sent down, I was like, 'Another year of this,' " Bowman said. "But throughout the year I really learned how to play a complete game and added a few dimensions to my game that I was missing even before. Now looking back at it all, it did a lot of good for me in terms of being a more complete player. You don't always see that when it happens to you right away."

Bowman missed the second of Albany's back-to-back preseason games against the Adirondack Phantoms with a minor injury, but Daniels said he'd be good to go for the regular-season opener Saturday night at home against Manchester.

"I'm just going to be focused on going out and doing the best I can and hopefully developing into a player," Bowman said. "Most of the guys here were exactly like I was in juniors. They put up points and dominated at that level, so the game here is just one more step up. You have less time to get your shot off and less time to make decisions. It's going to be all about that and handling bigger, stronger players. But it's still the same game, so you just have to go out and do the things that got you here in the first place and hope it works out."

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Daniels will name his team captain and alternates at practice on Thursday. Dwyer wore the 'C' last season, with Mike Angelidis as one of his alternates. Other veteran candidates are Brett Carson, Zack Fitzgerald, Steve Goertzen and Bryan Rodney ..... Albany's games will be broadcast on WROW 590 AM this season. Jon Scherzer returns to do play-by-play, and don't be surprised to hear yours truly with the occasional color commentary ..... Only five of the 23 players on the current roster are American-born: McBain (Edina, Minn.), Fitzgerald (Two Harbors, Minn.), Bowman (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Sutter (Huntington, N.Y.) and Dwyer (Great Falls, Mont.).

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Without Trevor Gillies, one of the AHL's most feared enforcers who is in camp with Rochester, the Rats will be relying on team toughness this season.

"That's going to be our concept," Daniels said. "I think we've got a lot of guys that can look after their teammates. We might not have a true heavyweight and obviously Gilly will be missed, but I think from the (preseason) games they showed when there was a scrum, it wasn't about the fighting. It was about the guys in there together and sticking together."

Albany re-signed undersized but over-eager forward Brad Herauf to help fill Gillies' role, and forwards Mike Angelidis and Nicolas Blanchard figure to have their share of scraps. One player to watch who should quickly become a fan favorite is Goertzen.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and 216 pounds, the 25-year-old Goertzen comes to Albany from the Phoenix Coyotes organization, where he played the last season and a half. He has 67 NHL games (46 Columbus, 16 Phoenix) and 303 AHL games (224 Syracuse, 79 San Antonio) to his credit.

"The main thing for myself is just to make sure I play the way that I play and that's a very physical game; create energy and get in on the forecheck and things of that nature," Goertzen said. "I guess I haven't always been known for scoring a lot of goals, but at the same time chipping in when I can, mainly focusing on my defense. I pride myself on my penalty killing and just doing the little things and being a good teammate.

"I think when I was younger, you do anything to get into the league. You find a way to do that and that kind of fell my way. Not always being the most skilled guy; you've got to find a way every single night to be effective. I think that led me to playing a really physical game every night and being solid defensively. If you're not going to be scoring every night, you've got to be doing something. That kind of led me down that road and I enjoy it."

Goertzen, who played junior hockey with new Rats defenseman Zach Fitzgerald, also enjoyed his time in the NHL in Phoenix under former head coach Wayne Gretzky.

"He was great. He gave me an opportunity to play in all kinds of situations that I wouldn't normally play and it just gave me confidence," Goertzen said. "The first few times I met him, I didn't even know what to say. I felt like an idiot. You're like, 'That's Gretzky,' just like a little kid and then I'd go home and tell my buddies. Once you get used to that it's like anything else.

"He was on the ice for practice and every once in a while I'd want him to join in or something. There's one or two times where he'd be the passer. It's just cool to be around somebody like that. I'm from Edmonton and he's a god in hockey anyway but in Edmonton especially. I was at his retirement ceremony game. It was so cool to meet him and just a great experience. It's something I can always say, that I played for Gretzky."

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On the current 23-man roster, there are 17 players who spent all or part of last season with Albany. Of those, 10 are survivors of the accident where the Rats team bus flipped on its side on an icy Massachusetts highway early on the morning of Feb. 19.

"I think that's part of the excitement going into this opening weekend is to turn the page and get last year behind us and get our minds refocused on a new season and hopefully sweep all that out," Dwyer said.

"Obviously we all want to turn the page," goaltender Justin Peters said. "At the same time, you've got guys like Casey Borer who's still having surgery from the accident. It's tough to turn a page like that, but I think once we get out on the ice it'll be good for everyone. It's something we're moving on from but at the same time it's something that you can't forget because we realize how lucky we are."

Peters had his goalie mask crushed in the accident, and talked having a reminder from the accident incorporated into the paint job of his new lid. Ultimately, he chose not to have it done.

"You talk about moving on, and that's the reason that I didn't put it on because it's something we are trying to move on from," he said. "We definitely realize how thankful we are to be OK from it. We just have that bond with the guys that went through it, because it's something we'll share forever. We're trying to move on, but it's tough."

Rats, Phantoms division rival gets stronger

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins added a pair of impact forwards today in Ryan Bayda and Chris Bourque.

Bourque, the 23-year-old son of Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque, was placed on waivers by the Washington Capitals and claimed by Pittsburgh. He played the past four seasons with the Hershey Bears, helping them to an AHL-record 10th Calder Cup title in 2008-09, and has had seasons of 25, 28 and 21 goals (58, 68 and 73 points) for Hershey.

Bayda this week signed a one-year free-agent deal with Pittsburgh, and was formally sent down today. He passed on a two-way, NHL-AHL contract offer from the Carolina Hurricanes for this season.

The 28-year-old Bayda (who turns 29 in December) played 70 of his 179 NHL games for the Canes last season. He had 71 points (36g, 35a) in 76 games for the Albany River Rats in 2006-07 and 2007-08, including pro career highs of 29 goals and 54 points in 55 games three seasons ago.

Elsewhere, the Tampa Bay Lightning sent defenseman Matt Lashoff of East Greenbush to their AHL affiliate in Norfolk. Acquired at the NHL trade deadline in March from Boston, Lashoff was hoping to stick with the Bolts, where he had seven assists in 12 games following the deal.

Forward Ilkka Pikkarainen -- back for a second tour in the New Jersey Devils organization -- is sidelined indefinitely with an "unknown" injury. Gotta love those Devs.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Summer Bird ready to fly again; options for Icon Project

On Saturday, Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Summer Bird will take on older horses for the first time in the Grade 1 $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.

Trainer Tim Ice said today on a national teleconference that the 3-year-old Birdstone colt is ready for his next, and biggest, assignment.

"The way he came out of the Travers and the way he's coming into the race, I think he's ready for the step up," Ice said. "He's almost 4 now, so I think he'll handle it. He seems to have moved forward off the Travers. He's been doing super coming into the race and I look forward to the test."

Ice chose the 1 1/4-mile Gold Cup over the 1 1/8-mile Goodwood (Grade 1, $350,000) at Santa Anita on Oct. 10 for Summer Bird. The Goodwood is run at the same track where the Breeders' Cup Classic will be held in November, but regular rider Kent Desormeaux wouldn't have been available that day.

"With the Gold Cup being at Belmont and he's proven over the track already, I think the Gold Cup would be a very good stepping-stone for him to clinch 3-year-old male Eclipse Award," Ice said. "I think overall the Gold Cup set up perfectly; he didn't have to travel very far, just a shortcut down the road from Saratoga to Belmont.

"And it made a big decision in keeping Kent Desormeaux on him. Kent had an obligation to [trainer] Bill Mott on the 10th, so it played a big role as far as having Kent stay on."

Among the horses Summer Bird will face in the Gold Cup are Grade 1 winners Quality Road, who he beat in the Travers, and 4-year-old Macho Again, who is co-owned by Roger and Joyce Locks of Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa native Jim Cutbush through the West Point Thoroughbreds syndicate.

"I don't think Summer Bird is any less of a horse than Quality Road," Ice said. "I feel like I have the best 3-year-old right now, and that's how I'm coming into the race. Quality Road, he has to step up to beat me. I feel like Quality Road has a lot to prove against Summer Bird and not the other way around."

Macho Again ran second to superfilly Rachel Alexandra in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga Race Course on Sept. 5; Summer Bird was a more distant second to Rachel in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational in August.

"Obviously Macho Again is a very nice horse," Ice said. "He's coming back on four weeks and I have five weeks. He ran a very hard race, and I think that his setup to get him to run against her was definitely a lot better than mine. She was pushed several times before he had his run at her, so she was definitely softened up quite a bit for him to get closer to her than I was. He's definitely one of the horses to beat and I think that he's a very nice horse. We'll find out Saturday."

Summer Bird didn't make his race debut until March, and the Gold Cup will be just his eighth career start, factors that Ice feels could work to his benefit.

"He's very lightly raced, and he seems to be improving off of each race," Ice said. "He's a very sound horse, so I think coming up into this fall that's helped his progress go forward. It definitely helps having a fresh horse coming into the fall.

"I had a lot of confidence coming into the Travers with the way he was training. He showed me every day that he was coming up to a big race. He's done well since then. It's an honor to have one of the top 3-year-olds right now and basically we need to continue that success."

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Icon Project, impressive runaway winner of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga this summer, has options for her next start.

While Saturday's Grade 1 $600,000 Beldame on the dirt at Belmont Park is a possibility, so is the Grade 1 $500,000 Spinster over the Polytrack at Keeneland on Oct. 11.

Going in the Spinster would give Icon Project a race over an artificial surface prior to the Breeders' Cup, which is being run on the synthetic Pro-Ride track at Santa Anita for the second straight fall.

"We're leaning toward the Beldame, but we haven't ruled out the race at Keeneland," Rosen said. "We've been mulling that over for a week or so. We're going to decide that finally this week."

Icon Project is back in Florida with trainer Marty Wolfson. The filly has shipped to New York twice for the New York Handicap at Belmont and the Personal Ensign, and Delaware for the Delaware Handicap, returning to Florida each time. Rosen said she'll head back to Florida after her next start and then ship to California for the Breeders' Cup.

Rats make roster moves; looking around the AHL

Forwards Rob Hennigar and Jacob Micflikier (now there's a name I have to quadruple-check every time to make sure I spelled it right; even then, it looks wrong) were sent to ECHL Florida today.

The move leaves the Albany River Rats roster at 23 heading into Saturday's regular-season opener against Manchester at the former Knickerbocker Arena.

It's likely that this will be the roster that Albany begins the season with, barring any late moves from the Carolina Hurricanes, who are also at 23 players including forward Michael Ryan, defenseman Jay Harrison and swingman Tim Conboy.

Goalies: Justin Peters, Mike Murphy.

Defense: Jamie McBain, Benn Olson, Zack Fitzgerald, Brett Carson, Jonathan Paiement, Bryan Rodney, Brett Bellemore.

Forwards: Nick Dodge, Drayson Bowman, Mike Angelidis, Zach Boychuk, Steven Goertzen, Matthew Pistilli, Stefan Chaput, Jerome Samson, Harrison Reed, Brandon Sutter, Pat Dwyer, Chris Terry, Nicolas Blanchard, Brad Herauf.

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Several ex-Rats are on the move. Buffalo assigned forward Cody McCormick to Portland; Hershey sent Keith Aucoin (who's on a one-way contract this season) back to Hershey, where he's reunited with Alex Giroux; forward Ryan Bayda, invited to training camp on a tryout, signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins; goalie Tyler Weiman is back in the AHL with Lake Erie; Atlanta sent defenseman Michael Vernace to AHL Chicago; (former RPI) forward Kirk MacDonald joined Providence from Boston; St. Louis shipped forward Barry Tallackson to Peoria; forward Jamie Johnson is in Rochester; defensemen Chris Lee and Wade Brookbank are in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton;
and forward Brad Isbister formally announced his retirement.

Elsewhere, New Jersey sent Altamont native Jay Leach to Lowell; drafted 25th overall by Edmonton in 2004 but never able to stick with the Oilers, Rob Schremp was claimed by the Islanders off waivers today.

Tuesday with the Phantoms

GLENS FALLS -- Four days before their AHL season opener, the Adirondack Phantoms are at 27 players thanks to several recent roster moves.

The parent Philadelphia Flyers assigned forwards Jason Ward, Lukas Kaspar, David Laliberte and Patrick Maroon to Glens Falls, and released nine others who had been skating with the club on a training camp tryout.

None of Ward, Kaspar, Laliberte and Maroon were at the Glens Falls Civic Center for today's off-ice workout.

Among the players let go was forward Andrew Lord, an RPI graduate who played for ECHL Wheeling last season; and forward Aaron Clarke and defenseman Ryan McGinnis, who each spent time with the Albany River Rats in 2008-09. Clarke had five points (2g, 3a) in 22 games, while McGinnis had five assists and was minus-11 in 21 games.

Also released were defensemen Jamie Fritsch and Slavomir Tomko and forwards Bryan Marshall, Michael Mullen, Anthony Perdicaro and Chase Watson.

"Ideally you want to be at 22 or 23 [players] at the most," head coach Greg Gilbert said. "If [the Flyers] want us to carry some extra guys with the roster situation and the number of players that are under contract, then so be it. Ideally you want to be at 22, 23; maybe one guy at each position, if not two."

Due to rain, the Phantoms postponed a team-building outing on the rope course at the Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course in Bolton Landing scheduled for this afternoon until Monday, Oct. 5.

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Gilbert was unsure whether veteran defenseman Randy Jones, who cleared NHL waivers, will join Adirondack.

Jones, 28, has played 217 games in the NHL and 147 in the AHL, all in the Philadelphia organization, since leaving Clarkson University in 2003. All but two of his games since 2006 have been in the majors.

"I don't know yet. I haven't heard anything concrete whether Randy will be coming down or what the siatuation is," Gilbert said. "I'm sure that will get sorted out here in the next few days."

Jones would add a veteran presence to mostly young Phantoms blue line that includes highly regarded rookies Kevin Marshall and Marc-Andre Bourdon.

"If he ends up coming down, he's the kind of guy where he's played a couple hundred NHL games," defenseman Joey Mormina said. "For him it'll be a little different being down here, but I'd expect him be pretty dominant on the power play. He's been around hockey long enough where he'll adjust and he'll be very valuable for us."

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Mormina returned to Adirondack on Monday after seeing 15:06 of ice time in the Flyers preseason game on Sept. 26 against New Jersey.

"It was good," he said. "I played some pretty good minutes. I played a little bit of power play and played a regular shift. I felt comfortable out there. It was an opportunity to show the organization what kind of player I was and I thought I played my game.

"I think when you come into a camp, you always want to show what you can do and the best place to do that is in a game. I was finally able to do that and show that I'm reliable defensively. I moved the puck well with a good first pass. I tried to play physical down low and just tried to play within myself, I guess."

Originally drafted by the Flyers in 2002, Mormina has played for AHL teams in Manchester, Albany and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he spent last season. He will be the first player to skate for both the River Rats and Adirondack since the Phantoms' relocation from Philadelphia.

"It's weird that it's home now. I played here three times with Albany, just kind of visiting. It feels kind of nice that it's home. It's a pretty good setup," he said. Mormina skated in the first of back-to-back preseason games between Adirondack and Albany last weekend. The two Northway rivals will meet a dozen times during the regular season.

"Even the game here at home, I thought it was pretty intense; pretty chippy after the whistle and guys were into it," he said. "I can just imagine what it's going to be like in game 12. It's right up the road, so we're going to be battling the same guys all year. It'll be interesting to see what happens."

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Maybe more than most of the new players, Jared Ross, the AHL All-Star Game MVP in January who led Philadelphia in scoring with 69 points (29g, 40a) in 64 games last season, is well aware of the AHL's storied history in Glens Falls.

Ross' uncle, Tom Ross, skated in three games for the Adirondack Red Wings in their 1979-80 debut season, picking up a goal and an assist. Most of that season, Ross spent with the IHL's Kalamazoo Wings, where he scored 103 points (43g, 60a) in 63 games.

"He has mentioned it to me before," Jared Ross said. "He said he was only here for a few games, but it was a nice area.

"I think there's a lot of hype having the team here. People from here or who have been around here for a while, they know the tradition of hockey in Adirondack. I played one game here when I was in the UHL four or five years ago so I know there has been some history ... and I know that people are excited to have it come back."

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With Boyd Kane departed for Hershey, the Phantoms are looking for a new captain, though a decision may not come before Saturday's regular-season opener at home against Worcester.

"We're going over that situation right now," Gilbert said. "We'll be discussing that over the next couple of days and hopefully have something set in stone before the opener. But if not, we'll go with three alternates for the first game and then get it sorted out after that."

Ross wore an alternate's 'A' last season, along with defensemen Nate Guenin, who is now in Pittsburgh's organization, and Danny Syvret, still with the parent Flyers. Mormina, Ward, Krys Kolanos and Jonathan Matsumoto would be other letter candidates.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Flyers recall Backlund from Adirondack

Goaltender Johan Backlund was summoned from the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms by the Philadelphia Flyers today to sub for injured backup Brian Boucher.

Boucher will miss 7-10 days with a lower-body injury, suffered in the Flyers preseason game against New Jersey on Sept. 26.

Backlund, 28, played in one preseason game for Adirondack, allowing one goal on 27 shots in 65 minutes of regulation and overtime, and turning away all four skaters in the shootout for a 2-1 win over the Albany River Rats on Sept. 25.

Playing his first season in North America, Backlund signed a one-year contract with the Flyers in March. Adirondack opens its regular season on Saturday against Worcester at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Petrecki makes professional debut

Defenseman Nick Petrecki of Clifton Park played his first professional hockey game on Sunday, for the AHL's Worcester Sharks.

One of only two Capital District players ever drafted in the first round (28th overall by San Jose in 2007), Petrecki was credited with an assist and was plus-1 in Worcester's 10-3 preseason victory over Hartford on Sunday at the International Skating Center of Connecticut.

Petrecki picked up the primary assist on Dwight Helminen's power-play goal with 27 seconds left in the first period, the Sharks' fifth goal of the opening frame. Reassigned by San Jose to Worcester with Petrecki on Sept. 22, Helminen -- who played for the Albany River Rats last season -- had a goal and two assists in the win.

The 20-year-old Petrecki left Boston College following his sophomore season to turn pro. He had 19 points (5g, 14a) in 77 NCAA games, with 263 penalty minutes.

On Saturday, Petrecki and Worcester will be at the Glens Falls Civic Center for the Adirondack Phantoms regular-season opener. Sharks assistant coach David Cunniff played for his father, the late John Cunniff, on the River Rats.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Derby winner on the road again

Mine That Bird, upset winner of the Kentucky Derby in May, and trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley enjoyed a few weeks at home in New Mexico after leaving Saratoga Race Course in late August.

It was their first time back since leaving for Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. at the end of April. After winning the Derby, they ran second in the Preakness and third in the Belmont and West Virginia Derby.

Still recovering from a minor throat procedure, Mine That Bird was forced to miss Saratoga's premiere race, the $1 million Travers. He is scheduled to run again in the Grade 1 $350,000 Goodwood at 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 10 over Santa Anita's artificial Pro-Ride surface.

Woolley vanned Mine That Bird to Santa Anita over the weekend, arriving at 2 a.m. on Sept. 25. Six hours later, the Birdstone gelding was jogging on the main track.

“He’s doing good, real good,” Woolley said. “It was a typical transport and he settled in well. He didn’t eat all his feed, but that’s not out of the norm for him. He ate good and drank good, so that’s all right."

Woolley plans to give Mine That Bird two works over the track a week apart, the first either Monday or Tuesday. The Goodwood is being used as a prep for the Breeders' Cup Classic in November; only two Derby winners have won the Goodwood: Ferdinand in 1987 and Silver Charm in 1998.

Calvin Borel, aboard for the Derby shocker, will be back in the irons for the Goodwood. Also being pointed to the race are 2008 Travers winner Colonel John, Parading, Tiago and Richard's Kid.

Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting opens on Wednesday and runs through Nov. 8.

Rats get two more

The Carolina Hurricanes today trimmed their roster to the maximum 23 players by assigning center Brandon Sutter and rookie defenseman Jamie McBain to the AHL's Albany River Rats.

Today's moves means the Canes don't have to make any more before the season opener on Friday against Philadelphia, leaving forward Michael Ryan, defenseman/forward Tim Conboy and defenseman Jay Harrison with the big club, for now.

Ryan has been sidelined with a concussion from last week's preseason game against Atlanta. Conboy, who the Canes and their fans love for his no-nonsense, all-out intense approach and energy, is on a one-way deal. Harrison was added in the off-season and will likely last as long as Joni Pitkanen is out following knee surgery.

Sutter, 20, had one goal on three shots and was minus-1 playing in three of Carolina's four preseason games. He skated in 50 NHL games as a rookie in 2008-09 before finishing the season in Albany.

McBain, 21, made his pro debut with the Rats last spring after leaving the University of Wisconsin. He had no points and two shots in his only preseason game this fall.

Harrison, 26, was the only Canes player to skate in all four preseason games. Eric Staal led the team in scoring with six points (3g, 3a) in three games.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Tuning up for the Gold Cup

Grade 1 winners Summer Bird and Quality Road, and $3 million winner Asiatic Boy will share the track next weekend at Belmont Park, squaring off in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

This morning, the three colts were on Belmont's main track, getting in their final works before the 1 1/4-mile race for 3-year-olds and up.

Winner of the Belmont and Travers and runner-up to superfilly Rachel Alexandra in the Haskell, Summer Bird went five furlongs in 1:02.40 with regular Hall of Fame rider Kent Desormeaux up for trainer Tim Ice.

“It was perfect,” Ice said. “Last week’s work was superb, so wanted to slow him down a little today. He galloped out very strong and he’s right on target.”

Jockey John Velazquez was aboard Quality Road, who was caught in 1:01.60 for five-eighths. Record-setting winner of the Florida Derby on March 28 and the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga, Quality Road was third in the Travers.

Asiatic Boy, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, fired a bullet half-mile in :47.88, the fastest of 38 horses at the distance on the day. Forced to skip the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga with a fever, he came back to run fourth behind Rachel Alexandra in the Woodward on Sept. 5.

Other Grade 1 stakes on tap for Oct. 3 at Belmont Park are the Flower Bowl Invitational and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, both on grass; and the Vosburgh and Beldame on dirt.

Starting over

Welcome to my new blog.

'Phil-ing in the Blanks,' an award-winning blog that was discontinued by the Daily Gazette in Schenectady, NY last week following my sudden departure from the newspaper, has now become, 'My Phil-osophy.'

It is my intention to keep you up to date on the Albany River Rats, Adirondack Phantoms and the rest of the American Hockey League, as well as thoroughbred racing.

Try it out.