Month: August 2020

Chart Lands Ontario Colleen In Four-Horse Blanket Finish At Woodbine

With a determined stretch run, Chart prevailed in a photo finish to take the $125,000 Ontario Colleen Stakes (Grade 3) for three-year-old fillies on a windy Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

One of four Mark Casse trainees in the field of six, Chart got the first call breaking sharply from the gate for jockey Justin Stein and settled into second behind the Casse-trained Grade 3 Selene champion Two Sixty, who sped out front and clocked an opening quarter in :23.55 and half-mile in :46.93.

Heading into the turn in the one-mile turf test, Chart advanced outside of the pacesetter with the Alex Patykewich-trained Saratoga Vision moving three-wide and Diamond Sparkles, another Casse contender, poised to go widest of all past three-quarters in 1:10.38.

Down the stretch into a headwind, Chart battled on gamely against Two Sixty with even-money favorite Avie's Samurai, from the Josie Carroll barn, emerging at the rail.

Digging in, the determined Chart prevailed in a blanket finish, getting the nod in 1:35.24 over Avie's Samurai. Diamond Sparkles finished another head back on the outside in third, with Two Sixty a half-length back between foes. Saratoga Vision finished less than a length behind in fifth while Fly So Pretty rounded out the field.

“She broke sharp and I didn't have to ask her to leave there,” said Stein, who is now just a couple wins behind meet-leading rider Rafael Hernandez. “She settled into stride right away and just galloped around there until it was really time to start running.

“I got to sit and wait for a while. I was pretty comfy sitting up to the quarter pole and when I asked her to run, she really kicked. I just could feel the try that she had inside. She was digging in and giving me everything that she had. Running into that headwind, I don't know how she did it, but she found more to get the job done.”

The lightly raced Kentucky-bred filly sired by Lea has now won half of her six career starts for owner D. J. Stable LLC.

Sent postward as the 9-2 second choice, Chart returned $11.20 to win.

Morning line favorite Walk In Marrakesh was scratched.

In other action, Theregoesjojo ($7.80) and Kazushi Kimura won the $50,000 second leg of the Woodbine Turf Endurance Series for trainer Michael De Paulo and the Samotowka Stables.

Stretching out to 1 1/2 miles, the five-year-old English Channel gelding stalked the top pair before sweeping to command on the final turn and winning by two lengths in 2:29.78 over the late-rallying Peace of Ekati.

Theregoesjojo was a runner-up in the 1-3/8-mile first leg to Artistico, who finished third in round two as the 6-5 favourite.

The series, which offers $40,000 in bonuses to the top point-earners, continues on Saturday, Sept. 26 with the third round at 1-5/8-miles.

Live Thoroughbred racing continues at Woodbine on Sunday, featuring the $770,000 Canadian Yearling Sales Stakes. Post time for the 11-race card is 1 p.m.

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Yaupon Stays Unbeaten With Snappy Amsterdam Victory

Yaupon answered another challenge thrown his way, improving to 3-for-3 in his career by wiring a six-horse field by two lengths in his stakes debut in the 28th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam for sophomores on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Yaupon was unraced as a juvenile but won his debut by a nose going six furlongs on June 20 at Churchill Downs. The Uncle Mo colt proved he could ship well in his last start, a 3 3/4-length allowance win at Saratoga on July 18, before handling the step up in class on Saturday.

Breaking well from post 2 under jockey Joel Rosario, Yaupon was sent to the front, where he registered the opening quarter-mile in 21.93 seconds and the half in 44.68 over a muddy and sealed main track after earlier rainfall.

Out of the turn, Rosario kept Yaupon focused for the stretch run, repelling any potential challenge from runner-up Basin, completing six furlongs in 1:08.50.

“He's extremely fast. He's got an elite amount of speed,” Asmussen said. “It's very important that a horse with his physical [gifts], and as fast as he is, is a graded stakes winner here at Saratoga. I think we can sit down and map out a serious future for him from here.”

Owned by L. William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Yaupon rewarded his 7-5 favoritism, returning $4.80 on a $2 win wager.

“He broke out of there well. I was trying to get a forward position and he put himself on the lead,” said Rosario, who notched his third win on the card. “He went on well. He's a very talented horse. He had no problem [with the surface].”

Yaupon, purchased for $255,000 at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale, won on an off track for the first time. He nearly doubled his career earnings to $168,264.

“He had very minor issues, but it was just the physics of it when you're capable of going that fast,” Asmussen said. “We wanted to give him all the maturity we could. We were trying to follow a similar plan with him as we were with Mitole for the Heiligbrodts. They had expected to run him over the winter at the Fair Grounds, but he had another minor issue, so we erred on the side of caution as far as waiting and letting him get to 100 percent.”

Basin, making his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher, finished two lengths in front of Premier Star for second in his first start at Saratoga since winning last year's Grade 1 Hopeful.

“The winner was very good,” Pletcher said. “We were hoping for a bit of a speed duel, but it never really developed. We were pleased with the effort though.”

Wondrwherecraigis, Long Weekend and Liam's Pride completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card that features the Grade 3, $125,000 Shuvee for older fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles in Race 9 at 5:46 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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Channel Maker Coast To Coast in Soggy Sword Dancer

Channel Maker (English Channel) is now a Grade I winner at ages four, five and six after wiring the GI Sword Dancer S. over a soggy Saratoga turf course Saturday. The victory also earned him a spot in the starting gate for the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland in November.

Gliding up to dictate terms, the 8-1 shot was under a tight hold by Manny Franco through measured splits of :25.10, :51.14, 1:17.27 and 1:42. with Marzo (Medaglia d’Oro) on his tail. That rival called it quits on the backstretch and his stablemate Aquaphobia (Giant’s Causeway) took his place with Corelli (Point of Entry) alongside him. Turning for home in front, Channel Maker still had plenty left in the tank and readily responded when asked for more by Franco, cruising clear to a decisive victory.

“He was strong throughout the stretch,” said winning trainer Bill Mott. “He ran a powerful race. He loves the going. He likes it here. He’s tough when he turns for home on the lead. We thought Marzo could be on the lead and we might be laying second, but opportunity presented itself for him to be on the lead and the jockey accepted the opportunity and it worked out very well. Sometimes, you make the right decision and it worked out well today.”

“He’s not an easy horse to ride,” said Franco. “We try to go to the lead but sometimes he doesn’t break good. But today, we were able to make it and he was traveling the whole way fine and handled the soft ground really well.”

“Early on, I thought Manny had him in a great position,” said co-owner Dean Reeves. “He broke well and said that afterwards he had a lot of horse. So, he just took his time and got him in position and he got going early into the turn and just left everybody. It was a spectacular ride and the horse did the job.”

Winner of this venue’s GII Bowling Green S. back in 2018 on soft turf, Channel Maker was second in that year’s renewal of this event before scoring his first top-level success in the 2018 GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S., also run over a soft course. His next victory at the highest level came in the 2019 GI Man o’ War S. and he was fourth in that season’s Sword Dancer and a close second when attempting a title defense in the Joe Hirsch.

A well-beaten 12th behind Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway) in last November’s BC Turf, the gelding was fourth in the GII Mac Diarmida S. at Gulfstream Feb. 29 and could only manage eighth next out in the GII Mervin Muniz Memorial Cup S. at Fair Grounds Mar. 21. Filling the same spot in Belmont’s Tiller S. June 4, the Ontario-bred completed the superfecta in the GI Manhattan S. July 4 and crossed the line fourth last time in the Aug. 1 Bowling Green, but was promoted to third after Sadler’s Joy (Kitten’s Joy) was disqualified for interfering with Channel Maker in the stretch.

 

Pedigree Notes:

Channel Maker is one of nine Grade I winners, 28 graded stakes victors and 52 black-type scorers for Calumet stalwart English Channel. The winner’s full-brother is Sovereign Award winner Johnny Bear, who captured consecutive renewals of Woodbine’s GI Northern Dancer Turf S. Their stakes-winning half-sister Court Return (Court Vision) is the final foal out of their stakes-winning dam In Return and both of them set new course records with their black-type scores. Channel Maker hails from the family of Grade I winner Auntie Mame (Theatrical {Ire}).

Saturday, Saratoga
SWORD DANCER S.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-29, 4yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:34.86, sf.
1–CHANNEL MAKER, 122, g, 6, by English Channel
1st Dam: In Return (Outstanding Broodmare-Can, SW), by Horse Chestnut (SAf)
2nd Dam: Bartered Bride, by Shadeed
3rd Dam: Lady Vixen, by Sir Ivor
($57,000 RNA Ylg ’15 KEESEP). O-Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R. A. Hill Stable & Reeves Thoroughbred Racing; B-Tall Oaks Farm (ON); T-William I Mott; J-Manuel Franco. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 35-6-5-4, $2,494,051. *1/2 to Court Return (Court Vision), SW, $116,342; full to Johnny Bear, Ch. Turf Male-Can, MGISW, $702,706. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Cross Border, 120, r, 6, English Channel–Empress Josephine, by Empire Maker. ($180,000 Ylg ’15 KEESEP; $10,000 2yo ’16 OBSOPN; $100,000 4yo ’18 FTKHRA). O-Three Diamonds Farm; B-Berkshire Stud & B D Gibbs (NY); T-Michael J Maker. $100,000.
3–Aquaphobia, 124, h, 7, Giant’s Causeway–Pussycat Doll, by Real Quiet. O-Paradise Farms Corp, David Staudacher, Hooties Racing LLC & Skychai Racing LLC; B-M Roy Jackson (KY); T-Michael J Maker. $60,000.
Margins: 5 3/4, 3HF, 4. Odds: 8.00, 3.15, 4.80.
Also Ran: Sadler’s Joy, Corelli, Pedro Cara (Fr), Marzo. Scratched: Highland Sky.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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