An old warrior soars in Chicago; then retires
It was a story book ending for Helicopter. Last Saturday, on the closing day of the Arlington meet, the 10 year old won the first race on the card and then exited the track for a well-deserved retirement. Helicopter has been named the agameofskill.com Claimer of the Week. The bay gelding advanced on the leaders, swung over five wide into the stretch and passed his younger rivals to win the 1 1/8 miles event on the main track while wrapped up at the wire.
The Florida bred defeated fellow $7,500 claimers and stopped the timer at 1:54.52. The son of Three Wonders returned $5.40 to his backers as the favorite. Helicopter is not just a typical 10 year old. The victory was the 30th of his remarkable career and the third in 2016. The game veteran has won on fast dirt, off track, turf and all-weather surfaces. He was ridden by Jose Valdivia and trained by top horseman Larry Rivelli. Helicopter’s victory also provided the 1,000th win for his successful trainer. The grandson of Storm Cat is owned by Richard Ravin and Christine Wagner. Helicopter finished in the money 59 times (top three finishers) from 94 career starts. His accumulated career earnings exceed $557,000.
Thanks for the memories, Helicopter.
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It’s no surprise that Ken and Sarah Ramsey would win of the first races at the Keeneland spring meeting. The successful owners captured the second race with Slan Abhaile after he contested the early pace and disposed of a late challenge. The Mike Maker trainee defeated $10,000 claimers over six and one half furlongs in 1:17.16. Ridden by Javier Castellano, the bay gelding returned $3.00 to his backers after claiming his sixth career victory. The son of Hard Spun has finished in the money (top three finishers) in 18 of 32 races and has accumulated $243,000 in lifetime earnings. Trainer Mike Maker is one of the 24 “Kings of Keeneland” featured in Art Parker’s book.
