Quality Chicago Racing

10/2/2011 8:23 AM
I'm a fan
My Favorite
Aaaah, fall in Chicago!  The smell of leaves burning in the cool, crisp air, football, pre-season hockey, and horse racing at Hawthorne!  I admit I have never been to, watched, or wagered at Hawthorne Race Course before, but after day one I was thoroughly impressed with the full, quality fields, as well as the great card that was put together by the racing office.

Here are some of the things that jumped out at me initially:

•    It was great to see Chris Emigh back in the irons again!  Chris had a huge 8-length victory on Poplar House in the second race and another 5-length victory on Dolly Peach in the seventh race.
•    I really liked the consistent way Jim Miller broke down his top three picks in each race while watching the horses in the paddock.
•    Frank Kirby and Ingrid Mason started the fall meet out well with two victories each.
•    Bugler Bonny Brown actually played the second part of the call to the post (I hope you know which part I mean because it’s difficult to explain but I always have liked it)!
•    The unique race calling style of Peter Galassi.
•    The track seemed to play fair (speed vs closers and inside vs outside).
•    And how about the exotics payouts today…very nice exacta, trifecta, and superfecta winners!

To make the day even better, I hit quite a few winners myself.

So I give Hawthorne two thumbs-up after day one and I’m looking very forward to attending the Gold Cup next Saturday making this my first ever trip to the Cicero oval!

I also wanted to point out how well some of the Arlington shippers performed today.

•    Beverly D. winner Stacelita closed in from last and took the Flower Bowl at Belmont by two lengths.
•    Beverly D. second place finisher Dubawi Heights tracked the pace and took over in the stretch to win the Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Santa Anita.
•    Million winner Cape Blanco fought hard to just hold off Dean’s Kitten (who just happened to finish third in the Million) in the Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, also at Belmont (yes the Arlington exacta at Belmont!)
•    A Rivelli/Ice exacta paid $100 in a maiden allowance race at Presque Isle.

Wow!

Well done today Hawthorne Race Course, I’ll be seeing you soon.  And well done Arlington Park for hosting world-class talent that obviously translates to other stakes races across the land!


 

 

What the Nation is saying about Quality Chicago Racing...

Hawthorne is one of the best tracks and agree with Robert, is a "gritty fighter" in the IL racing scene. They never give up and continue on running. And racing 5 days a week with higher purses certainly helps us owners which in turn gives fuller fields. Enjoy!
Looking forward to seeing you out there, Chris!
So glad you enjoyed it and look forward to you playing the meet along with the rest of us. Hawthorne is like a gritty fighter-always digging in and moving forward with never a complaining word. Amazing,considering they are often given the short end of the stick!

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Arlington Park Christopher A. Emigh Hawthorne Race Course
MEET "THE CHICAGO DARK HORSE" - CHRIS SORENSON!

 

Hi everyone!  I have been a fan of horse racing since I was 12 years old.  Growing up in Minnesota, my dad would take me and my brothers to Canterbury Downs and I would practically BEG to go every weekend!!  I made my first "big" score there hitting the win, place, and exacta in the same race at age 14 (pulled in $84 with horses named Railroad Red and Racers Dream!).  I also had a poster in my bedroom of Lost Code winning the 1987 St. Paul Derby!

I followed racing all through the remainder of high school and college in Illinois, paying close attention to the likes of Lost Code, Alysheba, Cryptoclearance, Risen Star, Sunday Silence, and Tabasco Cat.  I spent every possible moment at Arlington Park with my dad, taking time to develop computer programs (on Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS) to try to find patterns and handicap races more accurately.  My dad taught me a lot about handicapping races, paying particular attention to class moves!

After taking some time off from racing to start a family and finish an MBA, I'm back in full force!  I'm more of a fan of racing now than ever before, and because of the internet I have made a lot of new friends in the industry, for which I am eternally grateful!  I was also recently deemed the second best racing ambassador in Chicago (hey I've been called worse). 

My goal for this blog is to get people more interested in horse racing while focusing on my home(s) away from home, the race tracks of Chicago!  

At the end of the day though, I'm just a regular guy who loves horse racing a whole lot.   I hope you enjoy this blog. 

Feel free to e-mail me anytime at chicagodarkhorse@att.net and I'll be sure to respond!  Also you can follow me on Twitter @ChiDarkHorse or on Facebook (TheChicagoDarkHorse)!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

Remember, to catch all of the Chicago Dark Horse blogs, you can click on the main page here:  CLICK HERE.

This blog is dedicated to the memory of Tim "Tiznow" Reynolds.

 

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