David Cassidy on the Web
A 'lucky' win for Half Heaven
October 30, 2006
By Bill Tallon
Daily Racing Form
www.drf.com
Half Heaven certainly had fortune on her side here in Saturday's $102,800 River Memories, which had been scheduled for one mile on turf but was run over a mile and 70 yards on Polytrack.
A 4-year-old filly owned by David Cassidy and Edward Lipton, Half Heaven finished ninth when she faced fellow New York-breds in the Ticonderoga over 1 1/8 miles on yielding turf at Belmont a week earlier.
Following the Ticonderoga, Half Heaven was shipped here to trainer Arthur Silvera to run in the River Memories, which she won at 42-1 under jockey Emile Ramsammy. Last year, Half Heaven, who had made her first 18 starts on turf for trainer Gary Contessa, had been entered in the River Memories after racing at Belmont one week earlier, but she was scratched when the race was moved to the main track. Silvera said the same scenario could have played out last Saturday if he had been able to reach Cassidy early in the afternoon.
"I couldn't get hold of him to get his approval to scratch," said Silvera. "So, I thought I should go ahead and run her."
The victory was even more fortuitous because Half Heaven is slated to sell in Kentucky next Sunday.
"She kind of came up here to try to add some black type to her line, and ended up getting her first stakes win," said Silvera.
