David Cassidy on the Web
Half Heaven ($86.20) wins Woodbine's River Memories off-the-turf
October 28, 2006
by Rab Hagin
www.nybreds.com
HALF HEAVEN #1
In the first non-turf effort of her career, David Cassidy's and Edward Lipton's New York homebred HALF HEAVEN pulled a shocker in Woodbine's River Memories Stakes for fillies and mares on the all-weather track, capturing that $91,872 (U.S.) Saturday co-feature as the 42.10-to-1 last choice among 12 starters. Originally scheduled for a one-turn turf mile, the event was switched to Woodbine's all-weather track at a two-turn mile and 70 yards under showery skies, for which the favorite at 1.50-to-1 was Financingavailable coming off three consecutive big-margin Woodbine wins -- the last two on the all-weather surface. Half Heaven, who only a week earlier had finished a tiring unplaced on yielding Belmont turf in New York Showcase Day's $150,000 Ticonderoga Handicap and was picking up two pounds off that effort, raced in fifth place within the tightly-bunched competitors for a half-mile. On the second turn, jockey Emile Ramsammy -- who was riding the four-year-old New York-bred filly for the first time in competition -- sent his mount between rivals to within a length and a half of Financingavailable with about 500 yards to go. Financingavailable responded by drawing away to a two-length advantage at mid-stretch, but Half Heaven refused to back off, getting up in the final strides to score by a neck over her five-year-old multiple stakes-winning rival, who placed 2-3/4 lengths ahead of the third-place finisher.
Half Heaven's first stakes victory and first stakes effort outside New York boosted her earnings by $53,622 (U.S.) to $246,461 and improved her record to 5 - 6 - 1 in 19 starts, which includes four stakes-placed efforts -- three seconds and one third -- on Belmont and Aqueduct turf in 2005-2006. The filly's Woodbine trainer, Arthur Silvera, had considered scratching her because she was untested on anything other than turf but could not reach co-owner Cassidy: "I was constantly trying to phone Mr. Cassidy to get the approval to scratch her, but I couldn't get a hold of him," Silvera recalled. "I just figured we should run.
"She was devouring some ground and really looked like she was making some headway," Silvera added. "I'm delighted. All the credit goes to Gary Contessa (New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2004 Trainer of the Year and Half Heaven's regular conditioner). I've only had this horse for seven days."
The 50th stakes winner sired by syndicated Canadian champion and New York-based stallion Regal Classic, Half Heaven is a half-sister to three-year-old 2006 Niagara Stakes winner Doll Baby, being the second of three offspring of racing age through 2005 -- all winners -- produced from seven-time winner Sand Pirate. The filly's breeder and co-owner, television and singing star Cassidy, has bred all of the registered offspring produced from Sand Pirate, a Desert Wine mare who is a half-sister to the dam of Grade 2-winning millionaire Continental Red ($1,363,788) and is a complete outcross (no inbreeding) through five generations. Sand Pirate descends from a strong California family and is herself an outcross to most of the popular North American sire lines, having no Northern Dancer, Raise a Native, or even Bold Ruler ancestry in her pedigree.
Half Heaven is the 23rd New York-bred winner of a 2006 stakes outside state-bred company -- following open Finger Lakes Juvenile winner LIGHTS OF BROADWAY by about nine minutes. The River Memories was the 33rd stakes event open to runners bred anywhere (exclusive of the New York Stallion Stakes series) won by a New York-bred this year -- scored in nine U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and Italy.
