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Hong Kong Jockey Wins On First U.S. Mount At Ellis Park;

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Hong Kong Jockey Wins On first U.S. Mount At Ellis Park;
HENDERSON, Ky. (Sunday, July 30, 2017) — You couldn’t hardly find a more juxtaposed racetrack from the two in skyscaper-crammed Hong Kong (population 7.3 million and with the world’s largest betting pools) than Ellis Park, with its soybeans and now also corn and pumpkins in its infield.
But the track affectionately called the Pea Patch is where Hong Kong-based jockey Keith Yeung had his first American mount — and win — Sunday, guiding favored Flying Tipat to neck victory amid a swarm to the wire of the $42,000 turf allowance feature. Young, 29, also finished third in his second mount, aboard Iconic in a maiden race. Both horses are trained by Dale Romans.
Yeung has won races in Hong Kong, Macau and Australia but had never even visited the United States until he flew into Louisville via Chicago a week after the Hong Kong season ended July 16. He’s scheduled to be here two more weeks, working horses at Churchill Downs for Romans and riding some at Ellis Park.
“It was exciting,” he said, adding in reference to Romans’ partner Tammy Fox, “I said to Tammy in the parade ring, it feels like the first time I was on a racehorse in Australia. I was so excited, my heart was pumping. I was really excited for this trip and getting on a horse in the race. Fortunately I won the race — and nothing better than this.”
Yeung’s tie to America is Fox’s brother Billy, who as a jockey rode in Hong Kong, including for one of the trainers for which Yeung now works. Yeung said he tried to visit America a couple of years ago but couldn’t get the proper visa in time.
The jockey said you can’t compare Ellis Park to Hong Kong’s two racecourses: the urban Happy Valley and Sha Tin, where all the horses are stabled in multiple-story barns — a necessity with land at such a premium. That’s quite the contrast to Ellis Park, with its surrounding farmland.
“Tammy told me this is a really country track,” Yeung said. “I like it here. I enjoy the atmosphere. It’s relaxing. Back home it’s more like a betting place; we enjoy racing but we’re more into the betting. But here they come with their family and children. Perfect!”
“He’s a world-class jockey — showing up at Ellis Park,” Romans, who visited Hong Kong in 2013, said by phone from Saratoga. “The takeaway is that Ellis Park is getting bigger and bigger on the world stage. Everything about Ellis is on a major upswing.… Happy Valley is right in the center of downtown, like being in Times Square. And Ellis Park is in the center of a cornfield. It just goes to show that horse racing is popular no matter where you go.”
Flying Tipat, the 2-1 favorite owned by Louisville businessman Frank Jones, covered 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:43.09, the 5-year-old Tapit mare’s final sixteenth clipping six seconds to edge Pour Girl and jockey Sophie Doyle by a neck, with Deedeezee and Assembly losing by a total of a half-length.
“She always shows speed and she’s an honest horse, giving it her best,” Yeung said of Flying Tipat. “We’re happy she won this race. At the 800 meters when the leaders stopped, I got a beautiful run behind them and was lucky enough to get there at the finish line.”
It was Flying Tipat’s third win in 25 starts, with three seconds and four thirds. “She’s not an easy horse to ride,” Romans said. “I thought he did a good job.”
Yeung is scheduled to ride at Ellis Friday and Saturday for Romans.
“I think I’ve been staying home too long,” he said. “I decided it was time for me to go and look around the world and see if I can improve myself.”
Yeung won the $42,000 allowance feature before a large and festive crowd that included many children enjoyed a sun-kissed day with low humidity.
“It’s beautiful,” the jockey told Ellis Park owner Ron Geary. “Like before when I was riding in Australia, I was riding at track in Melbourne. They don’t have a crowd like this. Here, there was more fun, more joy than I was expecting. I was really surprised to see this.”

Adopt A Pet

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Caroline is a 2-year-old female brown tabby. She is the mom of the “Little House on the Prairie” litter of kittens, who spent several weeks in foster care. Now it’s time for Caroline to find a Little House on a prairie of her very own! (Or an apartment, or even a high-rise condo. She’s not picky.) Her $30 adoption fee includes her spay, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 or adoptions@vhslifesaver.org for adoption details!

Ellis Park 2-year-old spotlight: Thomas’ Upset Brewing

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‘We really thought she had the ability and would do that, but you never know until you run the race,’ trainer Bradley says after 9 3/4-length victory
Chester Thomas knows how to throw a birthday party for his mom, Sue. The Madisonville, Ky., entrepreneur, who won last year’s Ellis Park owner title, captured back-to-back races Saturday, the best gift being the 2-year-old filly Upset Brewing’s 9 3/4-length romp in the fourth race. That was followed by Curlino’s score in a $5,000 claiming race.
“We’re just having fun,” Thomas said Saturday. “(Sunday) is my mom’s 79th birthday, and we’re celebrating it today. Have a birthday cake coming. I’ve never won two in the same day on the same card.”
Thomas, who races in the name of Allied Racing, now has three wins out of 14 starters to move into a four-way tie for the owners’ lead heading into Sunday’s card. With a pair of seconds and thirds, his purse earnings of $75,542 trail only Calumet Farm’s $91,030. His victories have come with three trainers: Upset Brewing is in Buff Bradley’s care, Curlino was trained by Mike Tomlinson until being claimed Saturday and Brad Cox trains Ellis Park Turf Stakes heroine Invenium Viam (a $20,000 claim last winter who should be pretty salty in the Aug. 5 Louisiana Stakes for Louisiana-breds).
Thomas is working to upgrade his stock, and Upset Brewing is a good example, though the daughter of the Castleton Lyons stallion Justin Phillip cost a modest $30,000 at Keeneland’s September yearling sale. But she was hardly an upset Saturday, being the prohibitive favorite after being a good second in her first two starts at Churchill Downs, including rallying from far back in Churchill Downs’ Debutante after a troubled start. In her maiden victory, Upset Brewing coasted seven furlongs in 1:23.33, paying $2.60 to win and the minimum $2.10 to place and show.
“She’s nice,” said meet-leading jockey Corey Lanerie, riding Upset Brewing in a race for the first time. “I worked her twice (at Churchill) and went too fast. I can’t feel how fast she’s going. They say the good ones you can’t ever tell how fast they’re going. Even in the race, I thought I walked and crawled home.
“She’s got such a smooth stride, no wasted action, that she just covers the ground effortlessly. With the times, she’s got me puzzled. Because it sure doesn’t feel like that. She won awful easy. A lot of first-time starters in there, but still she beat them the way she was supposed to. Hopefully she continues to get better.”
“She seems like a nice filly,” Thomas said. “She ran second in the Debutante and had a tough trip. This is a good confidence-builder for her. There were some nice horses in there. I was a little nervous, ‘Oh, we’re going to hook a bear.’ But Corey did a nice job, and the horse did her thing.”
 The likely next step is the $75,000 Ellis Park Debutante on Aug. 20, itself designed to be a stepping stone to Churchill Downs’ Grade 2, $200,000 Pocahontas on Sept. 16, whose winner receives an automatic berth and travel stipend for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.
“We really thought she had the ability and would do that, but you never know until you run the race, of course,” Bradley said from Florida, where he was attending a friend’s wedding. “We haven’t talked a whole lot about it, but I think the Ellis Park Debutante would be good. That’s Chester’s home track. I was kind of looking at the Debutante before this race, but didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. But I thought, ‘If she does it easy, then we can go there in three weeks.’ And I think that was pretty easy.”
Bradley said that last winter he made a trip to Ocala, Fla., where Upset Brewing was among his young horses getting their early training preparation.
“She wasn’t really breezing fast or anything, but she was going with another horse,” he said. “I said, ‘I think this filly is all right.’ She looked like she was moving so effortlessly. Those were breezes we weren’t even timing, but she looked really nice.”
Upset Brewing was picked out for purchase by Lexington bloodstock agent Josh Stevens.
“She was one of the first horses I bought for Chester,” he said. “She’s actually the  cheapest horse we bought for him. What I liked about her was she was compact. I kind of liked the (offspring of) Justin Phillip because they were so sound; he was such a sound racehorse who got better as he got older. She just had a good fluid walk to her. She was a little fast-looking thing. But her mind has been the best thing about her.
“When she was second at Churchill Downs first time out, she did it like she’d run five or six times. And Buff did a good job. We talked back in March, and he was like, ‘I like this little filly. Let’s get her out and see what she’s got early; that if they catch up to her, maybe we’ll have made a little bit of money by that time.’ But it looks like she’s going to train on.”

(Photos below: Corey Lanerie guides Upset Brewing to a 9 3/4-length romp in a 2-year-old filly maiden race Saturday at Ellis Park. Headshot of owner Chester Thomas. Credit: Coady Photography)
Upset Brewing winning a July 29 maiden race at Ellis Park. Coady Photography

Three Injured in Rollover Crash along Interstate 64

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A single vehicle crash along Interstate 64 in Posey County Saturday evening injured three Warrick County residents.

Around 6:40 PM Central Time, 31-year-old Sheila Wiseman of Boonville was driving westbound on I-64 near the 12 mile marker, near the Poseyville exit, when her pick-up truck left the roadway, rolled twice, and came to rest in the median.

Wiesman and her two passengers, 58-year-old Dee Ann Folz and an 8-year-old child, both of Boonville, were all injured as a result of the crash.  They were transported to Deacconess Hospital in Evansville where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

While the crash remains under investigation, Troopers believe the crash was caused by a flat front tire.

All three occupants of the truck were wearing their seat belts, which greatly reduced the severity of their injuries.

Greeley and Ben impressive in allowance win off layoff; ‘I’m talking about a Street Sense-kind of horse,’ Borel says

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Calvin Borel couldn’t get much higher in his praise after the 3-year-old Greeley and Ben’s 4 1/4-length victory over Curlins Vow in a $41,000 allowance race Saturday at Ellis Park than this:
“I’m talking about a Street Sense-kind of horse,” Borel said, referring to his first of three Kentucky Derby winners who also was the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victor and champion. “I’m telling you, we just had a little bit of bad luck and one thing after another and finally have him what — maybe halfway? — maybe halfway right now. He’s not even there. And we know we just have to run him, do something with him. Got him going pretty good now, so we’re happy.”
Greeley and Ben, trained by Gary Thomas for long-time client and breeder Millard R. Seldin Revocable Trust, led all the way to cover the mile in 1:36.22 and pay $26.80 as the sixth choice in the field of nine. But it was no upset in Borel’s mind.
“And he’s a lot better than that,” he said.
In fact, Greeley and Ben was intended for a Kentucky Derby campaign, getting off to an extremely promising start when in his debut at Keeneland he broke slowly and came extremely wide and from far back in a field of 11 to lose by only a head. In his second start, he battled for the lead throughout en route to victory at Churchill Downs over Hence, who this year won the Sunland and Iowa Derbys.
Unfortunately, Greeley and Ben proved the old racetrack saying “no foot, no horse,” with a sequence of hoof issues sending the colt to the sidelines. The Ellis Park allowance race was only his fourth lifetime race and his first start in more than four months since finishing a respectable fifth off another four-month layoff in an Oaklawn Park allowance in which the third-place finisher was Indiana Derby runner-up Colonelsdarktemper.
“Second time in his life he beat Hence. This horse had quarter cracks on both feet,” Thomas said. “We knew he a good horse, just give him a little chance. This spring he got a quarter crack and couldn’t run. I patched another one this morning early. It wasn’t bothering him. The older one kind of got abscessed in there, because it was in there a long time before it busted out.”
While defeating older horses in the allowance race, Greeley and Ben earned a very solid 90 Brisnet speed figure, continuing the pattern of improving his handicapping number each time he’s run. Thomas now will look at the remaining opportunities to run for big money against fellow 3-year-olds, mentioning Louisiana Downs’ Super Derby and Remington Park’s Oklahoma Derby. Thomas won the 2008 Oklahoma Derby with Golden Yank, the Seldins’ near-millionaire who is from the same female family as Greeley and Ben.
“I don’t know. I’ve got to see,” Thomas said of Greeley and Ben’s next start. “Heck, I spent six months getting to this spot.”
Saturday at Ellis was a good day for Thomas’ family as his son in law, Buff Bradley, trains Upset Brewing, winner of a 2-year-old filly maiden race by 9 3/4 lengths two races earlier. Thomas is no relation to Chester Thomas, Upset Brewing’s owner.
(Photos: Greeley and Ben winning Saturday’s allowance race at Ellis Park under Calvin Borel. Headshot of trainer Gary Thomas. Credit: Coady Photography)

Hoosiers Total Three Gold Medals, Two World Records on Final Day of World Championships              

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BUDAPEST, Hungary – Indiana University put an exclamation point on a tremendous week at the 2017 FINA Swimming World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday.

Lilly King won a pair of gold medals in world record fashion, while IU alum Cody Miller added a third gold medal on the day. Over the course of the week at the World Championships, Hoosiers swimmers – current, alumni and postgrad – combined to win seven gold and two bronze medals. The IU swimmers also combined to set five world records.

King started the final day of the World Championships on a high note, winning gold in the women’s 50 breaststroke with a world record time of 29.40, marking the first time since Jessica Hardy went 29.80 in 2009 that an American has the world record in the event.

King’s time broke Ruta Meilutyte’s previous record of 29.48 set in 2013. The victory for King is also the first gold for an American in the 50 breast since Hardy won in 2011.

Just over an hour later, King finished off her record-breaking week, helping Team USA win gold in the 4×100 women’s medley relay with a world record time of 3:51.55. In her breaststroke, leg, King touched the wall with a split of 1:04.48.

On the week, King won two individual world titles (50 and 100 breast) and two relay world titles with Team USA (women’s 4×100 medley, mixed 4×100 medley) – all with world record times. Earlier this week, King became the first Hoosier to set a world record in an individual event since Jim Montgomery in the 100 freestyle at the 1976 Olympic Games.

With Team USA’s victory in the men’s 4×100 medley relay, IU alum Cody Miller earned a gold medal after swimming for the Americans in the morning prelims. Miller posted a time of 58.99 in his breaststroke leg, helping Team USA earn the No. 1 seed for the championship final with a time of 3:29.66.

Also in the 4×100 men’s medley relay, Indiana’s Mohamed Samy anchored for Team Egypt with a freestyle leg of 49.34 to help the team place 18th overall with an Egyptian National record of 3:40.85.

It was quite the week for IU’s trio of swimmer for Team Egypt – Samy, alum Marwan Elkamash and Ali Khalafalla. Combined the trio was a part of six Egyptian national records. Elkamash set individual records in the 200 free (1:47.40) and 400 free (3:46.36), while Samy set an Egyptian record in the 100 free (49.42). Khalafalla and Samy were on the 4×100 free relay (3:18.23), while Elkamash and Samy were on the 4×200 free relay (7:16.95).

Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Women’s 50 Breaststroke

  1. Lilly King – 29.40 (World record)

Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay

  1. Lilly King (Team USA) – 3:51.55 (World record; King breaststroke leg of 1:04.48)

Men’s 4×100 Medley Relay

  1. Team USA – 3:27.91
    Cody Miller breaststroke leg of 58.99 in prelims
  2. Team Egypt – 3:40.85 (Egyptian National record)

Mohamed Samy freestyle leg 49.34

 

Schaumburg Clinches Weekend Series, Beats Evansville

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 The Schaumburg Boomers took an early lead and cruised to 9-4 win over the Evansville Otters Saturday in front of 2,635.

Schaumburg scored two runs in the first inning when John Holland and Josh Gardiner each recorded RBI singles, giving the Boomers a 2-0 advantage.

Evansville got one run back in the bottom half when John Schultz’s RBI single scored Ryan Long, making the score 2-1.

Boomer David Harris had a multi-homer game with his first one coming in the third, a two-run shot, that gave Schaumburg a 4-1 lead. In the fifth, Harris hit a solo home run to left to make it 5-1.

The Boomers added another run in the sixth off Holland’s second RBI single of the game.

Schaumburg continued to roll with three runs in the seventh. The first run of the frame came on a wild pitch and Cosimo Cannella’s RBI single made it 8-1. Jack Parenty hit a sacrifice fly to make it 9-1 Boomers.

The Otters scored two runs in the seventh with an RBI groundout from Christopher Riopedre and a Long RBI double.

Josh Allen’s RBI ground out in the ninth capped the scoring.

Jason Broussard took the loss, allowing five runs–four earned–off nine hits and four walks in four innings. He also struck out six batters.

Kagen Hopkins earned the win for Schaumburg, giving up one unearned run and striking eight in six innings.

The last game of the longest homestand of the season is Sunday at Bosse Field with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m.

On Sunday, it’s Meijer Day and Courier and Press Family Sunday at the ballpark. For Family Day Sunday, tickets for four will be $12 and select concession items will be $2.

EPD ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD REPORT

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx

“READERS FORUM” JULY 30, 2017

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WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays READERS POLL question is: Are you disappointed in the way that President Trump has conducted himself since he has been in office?

Please take time and read our newest feature articles entitled “LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBS” and “LOCAL SPORTS” posted in our sections.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.

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EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City County Observer or our advertisers.

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