Sibcy Cline

Trainer Mike Rone knows horses from the ground up – literally. Before he took out a trainer’s license he was a farrier.  He used to shoe a filly named No Tide for Martha Parsons.  On Saturday he saddled a son of No Tide named Tsunami Stu who made a bold and unconventional move in the final furlong to capture the $50,000 Sydney Gendelman Memorial Handicap at River Downs.  The 5-year-old gelding was bred by Parsons and is owned by her father Sam Lipscomb.

Ridden by 21-year-old Albin Jimenez, Tsunami Stu, who usually is a pacesetter was eleventh and last for the first half-mile of the 1 1/16 mile turf test.  “Today he took it slow and relaxed and there were a lot of horses outside of me who wanted the lead,” said the graduate of the Panamanian Jockey School.  “Into the final turn he started moving and a lot of the field went a little wide so I stayed near the hedge and when a hole opened up we just went for it.”

Three-time Ohio Horse of the Year Catlaunch was battling with favored Pyrite Personal into the stretch.  Track record setter Shakeyogroovething caught a brief lead in the final stage of the race, but could not hold off the late charge of Tsunami Stu who snuck inside to win by a half length.  Shakeyogroovething held on for the second spot over Pyrite Personal.  The winner returned $28.60, $13.20 and $6.60. Shakeyogroovething paid $29.80 and $10.00 and Pyrite Personal had a show price of $2.60.  The final time was 1:42.55.

As for the future of the gray Ohio-bred, breeder Martha Parsons said, “We’ll just leave that up to Mike, we may have been his first customer when he got his trainer’s license and we trust his opinion 100%.”  If the shoe fits, wear it.