Rick Hammerle, new director of horsemen’s relations and racing relations at Kentucky Downs and the new racing coordinator at Oaklawn Park, correctly selected 11 of 12 props to win the fifth week of the TIF Summer Prop Contest. Hammerle’s tiebreaker was closer to actual result of the Arlington Million exacta, giving him the win over Week 4 victor James Leal, who nearly pinched the contest for a second consecutive week. Hammerle has now moved into fifth place overall in the contest.
Hammerle chose to direct $1,250 to the Jockey & Equestrian Initiative of the University of Kentucky’s Sports Medicine Research Institute. Leal directed $500 to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, as did Zachary Levine of Las Vegas, Nevada who won a four-way tiebreaker for third and directed $250. Michelle Yu, who set the props for the week and is a contest regular, was in that tie for third, but failed to claim another placing after doing so in Week 2.
NBC handicapper Matt Bernier will be in the prop-setting seat for Week 6.
Below, please find the distribution of responses for the props and the updated standings, which now reflect the four best scores for the top performers from the five week stand thus far. Jeffrey Amster and Terry Ostrowski are now tied for the overall lead with a four-week best of 36 points. Tommy Massis and the aforementioned Yu are tied for third with 35 points.
1 – The winner of the Arlington Million (Race 11) will be…
A – #3 Bricks And Mortar (67.52%)
B – Any other horse (32.43%)
2 – According to the official Equibase chart of the Arlington Million, at what position will the race winner be at the 1 mile point of call (a.k.a., the ¼ pole)?
A – On the lead (4.50%)
B – Within 2 lengths of the leader (45.95%)
C – More than 2 lengths behind the leader (49.55%)
3 – Who will train the first AND second place finishers in the Beverly D (Race 9) at Arlington?
A – Chad Brown ONLY (#3 Competitionofideas, #7 Sistercharlie, #8 Thais) (24.32%)
B – Chad Brown and Aidan O’Brien each with one horse in the exacta (42.34%)
C – Any other combination (33.33%)
4 – Will the winner of the Beverly D be winning their first race of 2019?
A – Yes (#1 Fleeting, #3 Competitionofideas, #6 Magic Wand, #8 Thais) (21.62%)
B – No (#2 Awesometank, #4 Oh So Terrible, #5 Remember Daisy, #7 Sistercharlie) (78.38%)
5 – The sum of the saddle towel numbers of the first and second place finishers of the Beverly D will be…
A – Odd (37.84%)
B – Even (62.16%)
6 – Will the winner of the Secretariat (Race 10) raced at Arlington in its previous start?
A – Yes (#4 The Last Zip, #8 Faraway Kitten, #9 Crafty Daddy) (9.01%)
B – No (#1 Clint Maroon, #2 Van Beethoven, #3 Never No More, #5 Ry’s The Guy, #6 Fog Of War, #7 Valid Point) (90.99%)
7 – What is the combined winning margin of the Secretariat, Beverly D and Arlington Million (where any margin of a neck or under equals ¼ length)?
A – 1 length or shorter (0.90%)
B – 1 ¼ lengths to 3 lengths (23.42%)
C – 3 ¼ lengths to 5 lengths (53.15%)
D – 5 ¼ lengths or longer (22.52%)
8 – The winner of the Saratoga Special made his last start in…
A – New York (#2 Zyramid, #3 Green Light Go, #4 Tuggle) (63.06%)
B – Kentucky (#1 Noose, #5 Long Weekend) (27.03%)
C – Illinois or Florida (#6 King Snake, #7 Peruvian Boy, #8 Iberico) (9.91%)
9 – The winner of the Fourstardave was bred in…
A – North America (#1 March to the Arch, #2 Dr Edgar, #6 Got Stormy, #7 Krampus, #8 Hembree, #9 Made You Look) (35.14%)
B – Europe (#3 Uni, #4 Raging Bull, #5 Ostilio, #10 Gidu) (64.86%)
10 – HEAD TO HEAD: Which Chad Brown-trainee will have the better finishing position in the Fourstardave at Saratoga?
A – #3 Uni (57.66%)
B – #4 Raging Bull (42.34%)
11 – Prior to Saturday’s race, the winner of the Best Pal at Del Mar will…
A – Be a maiden, or have had only 1 career start (#1 Wrecking Crew, #3 We’re Still Here, #4 Schrodinger, #5 Collusion Illusion) (52.25%)
B – Have raced 2 or more times and is not a maiden (#2 Raging Whiskey, #6 Thanks Mr Eidson, #7 Fore Left) (47.75%)
12 – Which will be higher?
A – The $2 trifecta return in the Best Pal, rounded up the nearest whole number (55.86%) $137.60
B – The number of penalty yards accumulated by the Los Angeles Rams in Saturday’s preseason game against the Oakland Raiders (44.14%) 95 yards
Overall Standings (Best four-week scores out of five weeks)
Jeffrey Amster (36)
Terry Ostrowski
Tommy Massis (35)
Michelle Yu Hanson
Rick Hammerle (34)
Charles Bedard (33)
Michael Domabyl
Larry Kerr
Patrick Ray
Keith Stafford
Robert Carniol (32)
Leonard Dodson
Bruce Kluft
Matt Miller
Peter Rotondo
Matthew Taylor
Donald Wells
Thomas Lippai (31)
James Mulvihill
Dave Nichols
Tyler Whisman
Kenny Gordon (30)
Patrick Moroney
Phil Spade
Rory Arnold (29)
Mike Coutu
John Gaspar
Ken Kasowicz
Zach Levine
Scott Little
Todd Van Drie
David Browning (28)
Darren Fish
David Fiske
Brian Floetl
Connor LeClair
Jacob Shepard
Jim Sweet
Michael Vito