Illinois
Outsider Ambiente Friendly defies odds to stun favourite Illinois in Derby Trial
One of the aspects of the two-week run of Classic trials after the Guineas meeting at Newmarket that makes it so much fun is that you can never be entirely sure when a realistic – and previously unconsidered – contender for the Derby or Oaks will suddenly throw their hat into the ring. Ambiente Friendly was a 100-1 shot for the Derby before the Lingfield Derby Trial but he is now no bigger than 12-1 after a powerful run down the middle of the track saw him stride nearly five lengths clear of Illinois, the Aidan O’Brien-trained 6-4 favourite, at the line.
O’Brien for one will probably have better Derby candidates in his yard than his runner here but there was no hint of fluke about Ambiente Friendly’s success. Instead, there was the sense of a young, improving colt who was a headstrong, hard-pulling type at two suddenly putting it all together, with the possibility of better still to come.
“I’ve been riding him a lot at home and he’s become so much more manageable,” Callum Shepherd, Ambiente Friendly’s jockey, said. “My feet were on the dash quite frankly for nine furlongs at Newmarket [in April] and he’s just developed so well [since], I decided to trust him today and slide forward in the hope that he’d relax, and he did.
“He handled the quicker ground and the camber beautifully and he was just relentless up the straight. I certainly didn’t think I’d be looking around in a Derby trial if I was fortunate enough to be in front in one, so what a wonderful dress rehearsal.
“He really gets his head down, he’s become a really kind and willing horse and hopefully the best is yet to come.”
The Derby on 1 June now promises to be a huge moment for everyone associated with Ambiente Friendly, who runs in the famous yellow and black silks of the veteran owner Bill Gredley that were carried to victory in both the Oaks and St Leger in 1992 by the outstanding filly User Friendly.
For his trainer, James Fanshawe, meanwhile, there is a rare chance to add a British Classic to a career record that includes nearly two dozen successes at Group One level, dating back to Environment Friendly’s win, in the same colours, in the Eclipse Stakes in 1991.
“We don’t get many horses that head for the Derby, Tom Fanshawe, the trainer’s son and assistant, said, “but thanks to Mr Gredley, it looks as if we do now.
“He’s always been a nice mover and everything he does is effortless. We know Charlie Appleby and Aidan will have contenders, but we feel we have every right to be there.”
There was a much tighter conclusion to the card’s Oaks Trial as You Got To Me, who had raced into a clear lead at an early stage, found more when challenged inside the final furlong to hold the late charge of Rubies Are Red by half a length.
after newsletter promotion
“It wasn’t deliberate to go quite that quick [but] she likes to get on with things and if you get in an argument with her, she’s 10 times worse,” Hector Crouch, the winner’s jockey, said.
Quick Guide
Greg Wood’s Sunday racing tips
Show
Ludlow 1.43 Playful Saint 2.18 Bellbird 2.53 Trapista 3.28 Him Malaya 4.03 Awesome Foursome 4.38 Flashy Boy 5.13 I Look How I Look
Plumpton 2.05 Global Esteem 2.40 Eliza Doolittle 3.15 Magistrato 3.50 Andapa 4.25 Yalla Habibi (nb) 5.00 Jacamar 5.35 Eileen’s Milan
Newcastle 3.07 Cross The Tracks 3.42 Jungle Land 4.17 Jean Baptiste 4.52 Natzor (nap) 5.27 Monsieur Melee 6.00 Legendary Day 6.30 Eldrickjones 7.00 King’s Lynn
“She came down the hill beautifully. She’s a very big horse but she’s beautifully balanced.”
Ralph Beckett, You Got To Me’s trainer, saddled Look Here to win the Oaks after a second-place finish in this race in 2008 and You Got To Me is 16-1 to give him a third career success in the Epsom fillies’ Classic. Rubies Are Red, meanwhile, also caught the eye as she stayed on strongly from off the pace, and O’Brien’s filly is four points shorter than the winner to go one better on 31 May.
Illinois
Produce Recall Issued In Parasite Outbreak Hitting IL
A number of Taco Bell locations have posted signs announcing they are “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” according to Detroit-area news radio outlet WWJ.
Taco Bell told the Post it would keep monitoring the situation and follow authorities’ guidance.
Taco Bell Lettuce Linked To Growing MI Parasite Outbreak: FDA
“Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer,” the company told the Post. “While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”
In Michigan, where cases have been concentrated, media reports said notices were posted at some Detroit-area Taco Bell restaurants last week telling customers the chain was “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro-Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.”
Illinois
Illinois GOP trails badly in midterm cash
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223K in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual end balance was $101K higher than it had reported the day before.
But that bit of found money was basically the end of the “good news” for the GOP last week.
Republicans no longer have a pet billionaire. Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin have fled the state. The legions of wealthy business titans who once contributed and raised money have either retired to sunnier climes or passed away. Several prominent party members have publicly shunned labor unions and their hefty political war chests, although the state GOP legislative leaders have at least tried to rebuild ties to trade unions and even the Illinois Education Association. But the heavily gerrymandered legislative map combined with the current political climate means they’ll mostly receive scraps.
And, yes, the House Democrats are struggling this month with scandals, including a state representative who resigned under pressure and another who was indicted. I’m not trying to downplay that at all. But Democrats have the national political environment, the local infrastructure and tons of cash behind them. The Republicans have little to none of that.
The GOP’s gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That sounds like a lot, but he spent almost all of that on direct mail fundraising costs. The huge expenditures do give him a prospect list for future fundraising, but he ended the quarter with a mere $128K in the bank. That was still a whole lot more than the rest of the statewide ticket.
Attorney General nominee Bob Fioretti, a perennial candidate, raised $31K, spent $39K and had $28K on hand at the end of the quarter along with almost $15K in recent debt. Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris raised $6K, spent a bit over $4K and had a paltry $1,816.42 in the bank. Treasurer candidate Max Solomon, who ran as a write-in during the primary because the party failed to recruit anyone, raised less than $3K, reported no spending and ended the quarter with less than $8K. Comptroller candidate Bryan Drew raised $30K and received $47K in in-kind contributions from a company owned, ironically, by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, spent less than $3K, ended with $54K and had $25K in debt from earlier this year.
Man, that’s just downright pathetic.
But I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway unless we see a massive sea-change in national opinion in the coming months or the federal government finds a way to not certify certain election results. Regardless of where individual candidates are at this moment, they’ll have the money to compete. Unlike the Republicans, the Dems do have a pet billionaire (JB Pritzker) and, I assume eventually for most of them, organized labor.
The Republican legislative leaders have tried to scrape and claw as much as they can, but they’re vastly outgunned. Senate Republican Leader John Curran raised just $75K in the second quarter. He spent $71K and reported having a bit more than $3 million in the bank. His caucus committee reported having $160K in the bank.
Leader Curran has three Republican-held districts to defend in the Chicago media market that have all trended Democratic in the last three cycles. Depending how bad things get, he could be defending a couple, two or three more.
The Senate Democrats have a ton of money to do whatever they want. Senate President Don Harmon has about $20 million in his personal campaign account and $1.7 million in his caucus account.
Over in the House, Republican Leader Tony McCombie has at least four Democratic-trending or swingy districts to defend and just $1.3 million in her personal campaign account and another $363K in her caucus account so far.
In contrast, House Speaker Chris Welch had $11.4 million in his personal account and $1.2 million in his caucus account. Like Senate President Harmon, he has more than enough money already, but more is never enough when there’s so much out there, so those numbers will likely rise by November.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
Illinois
Hillsboro grad, Springfield golfer Alex Eickhoff 2nd at state amateur
BLOOMINGTON — Springfield’s Alex Eickhoff nearly had a magical Thursday as he tied for second place in the 95th annual Illinois State Amateur Championship at Crestwicke Country Club.
Eickhoff, a 2020 Hillsboro High School graduate and former standout on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s men’s golf team, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Thursday’s third round and followed that with an even-par 71 to finish the three-day, four-round event 1-over 285. He tied for second with Bloomington’s Logan Stauffer.
Eickhoff briefly took the lead through nine holes of his fourth round when he sat at 1-under par. Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin finished both of Thursday’s rounds under par and finished 2-under 282. He was the lone golfer to finish under par for the tournament.
Eickhoff was The State Journal-Register’s Small School Boys Golfer of the year twice in his high school career: once as a freshman in 2016-17 and again as a senior in 2019-20. After high school, he golfed for the University of Minnesota for two years before transferring to SIUE.
He began the tournament with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and shaved off a stroke Wednesday with a 2-over 73. He closed out the event with an even-par 71 in Thursday’s final round.
Other area golfers who made the cut were Springfield’s Charles Hoogland (7-over 291, tied for 20th) and Jacksonville’s Brady Kaufmann (8-over 292, 25th).
The last golfer from The State Journal-Register’s coverage area to win the Illinois State Amateur was Jay Davis. Davis, a Jacksonville Routt graduate, won the 1991 and ‘92 tournaments.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
-
Atlanta, GA6 minutes agoThis is the world’s No. 1 busiest airport. Here’s why | CNN
-
Minneapolis, MN12 minutes ago2 women injured in shooting under south Minneapolis bridge
-
Indianapolis, IN17 minutes agoIndiana Black Expo honors diverse leaders at annual summer celebration luncheon
-
Pittsburg, PA24 minutes ago
What is adenomyosis? Pittsburgh area women, doctors aim to spread awareness
-
Augusta, GA30 minutes agoAugusta marks Good Trouble Day with voting rights community forum
-
Washington, D.C36 minutes agoWeather Alert: Brace for unhealthy air, heat index over 100° and strong storms
-
Cleveland, OH42 minutes ago
17 indicted in multi-agency drug bust in Northeast Ohio, 50 grams of fentanyl confiscated
-
Austin, TX48 minutes agoAustin Gamblers Announce: ALL MY(EUX) GROOVY FRIENDS & TEJANO QUEEN FOREVER