Derby winner Giacomo to retire

Giacomo, the 50-1 winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby, will join two other high profile horses -- Bernardini and Henny Hughes -- in retirement.

The 4-year-old son of Holy Bull, who finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic a week ago today at Churchill Downs, will be a stallion at Frank Stronach’s Adena Spring Farms in Midway, Ky. in 2007.

Besides the Derby, Giacomo, who was owned by Jerry and Anne Moss and trained by John Shirreffs, won only two other races in a career that spanned 16 starts. His other victories came in a maiden race in 2004 and in the San Diego Handicap in July at Del Mar.

With Giacomo’s retirement, Funny Cide, who won in 2003, remains the lone Kentucky Derby winner who is still active.

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Jockey Russell Baze is getting closer to becoming the sport’s all-time winningest rider.

Baze won five races on Thursday at Bay Meadows and two more on Friday, giving him 9,509 in his career, 21 fewer than Pincay.

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Neither of the two stakes races to be run at Hollywood Park this weekend is significant.

The main event today is the $60,000 Hermosa Beach Handicap, a 1 1/2 -mile turf race for older fillies and mares.

Highlighting the card on Sunday is the $60,000-added Audrey Skirball-Kenis for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 -miles on grass.

Half a dozen were entered on Thursday morning for the Hermosa Beach.

The 118-pound highweight is Aubonne, a 6-year-old German-bred mare who has won four of 20.

Owned by Gary Tanaka and trained by Neil Drysdale, Aubonne will be ridden for the first time by Garrett Gomez and will be opposed by Lasika, Bend A Little, Nakaba, Trade Only and Naughty Rafaela.

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Upsets by Miesque’s Approval and Red Rocks in the two Breeders’ Cup races for males on turf opened the door for The Tin Man to win the Eclipse Award as the top grass performer in 2006.

A victory in the $400,000 Citation Handicap on Nov. 24 could secure the award for the 8-year-old son of Affirmed. A win by The Tin Man in the Grade I would look good on a resume that already includes victories in the Clement L. Hirsch, American Handicap and the Arlington Million.

Owned by breeders Ralph and Aury Todd and trained by Richard Mandella, The Tin Man, who bypassed the Breeders’ Cup Turf because his hall of fame trainer didn’t like the way he was training last month, worked an easy seven furlongs in 1:31.20 over the Hollywood Park turf on Thursday morning.

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Grand Couturier will make his Aqueduct debut against a field that includes 117-pound highweight Always First in the $150,000 Red Smith Handicap today. The race is the final graded turf stakes of the year in New York.

Grand Couturier, who will be ridden by Mike Smith, was only beaten 2 1/4 lengths when fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp in France in July. Rail Link, who won the Group 1, later captured the Prix de’l Arc de Triomphe and Red Rocks, who was second, won the Breeders’ Cup Turf a week ago.

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With the thought from the California Horse Racing Board that it would allow trainers to better plan schedules for both works and the application of medications and for tracks to better promote races, entries at Hollywood Park will now be taken either 72 or 96 hours in advance. Previously, entries were taken either 48 or 72 hours ahead of time.

Entries for this coming Wednesday’s races will be taken this morning. The schedule will then continue with Sunday for Thursday, Tuesday for Friday, Wednesday for Saturday and Thursday for Sunday.

This schedule is supposed to continue when Santa Anita begins its winter-spring meet on Dec. 26.

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Ron Banks, a former rider who also served as a manager for the Jockey’s Guild, died Tuesday. Banks was 69.

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