The step up in distance will see Mumtaaz put his head in front at Goodwood this afternoon.
Month: September 2020
Happy Saver Stays Perfect With Federico Tesio Triumph: Preakness ‘On The Radar’
Wertheimer and Frere's homebred Happy Saver, stepping up to stakes company for the first time, kept his perfect record intact through three starts with a popular and professional 1 1/2-length victory in Monday's $100,000 Federico Tesio at Laurel Park in Maryland.
The 39th running of the 1 1/8-mile Tesio for 3-year-olds was the third of five $100,000 stakes on a special 10-race Labor Day holiday program that capped Laurel's Preakness Prep Weekend. For the fifth straight year, the Tesio served as a 'Win and In' event to the 145th Preakness (G1) Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course.
Seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, watching from Saratoga where he won the training title, said the Preakness would be on the radar for Happy Saver, a chestnut son of Super Saver, who in 2010 gave Pletcher his first of two Kentucky Derby (G1) wins. Not Triple Crown nominated, Happy Saver would need to be supplemented for $25,000 to run.
“It's hard to win any races, much less your first three and step up in distance in your second start and into a stake in your third start. It's impressive he's been able to do that on three different surfaces, so I'm really pleased with his progress,” Pletcher said. “He's three-for-three and if he comes out and trains accordingly we'll consider stepping up and taking a shot.”
Happy Saver ($2.40), out of the Distorted Humor mare Happy Week, completed the distance over a fast main track in 1:49.15 – the fastest nine-furlong Tesio since Marciano won the 2001 edition in 1:49 when it was held at Pimlico Race Course. The Tesio was contested at 1 1/16 miles from 1981-91 and 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015. It was not run in 2012.
It was the second career Tesio win for both Pletcher and jockey Trevor McCarthy. Pletcher won in 2002 with Smoked Em, while McCarthy was first with Bodhisattva in 2015.
“He really turned it on that last eighth of a mile, the last quarter. They were running,” McCarthy said. “This horse is all class. Everything you want to do, he'll do for you. It was just a big privilege to be on him today. I have to thank Todd and his whole crew for doing such a great job.”
Winner of the Heft Stakes last December at Laurel but unraced since a fourth-place finish in the Withers (G3) Feb. 1 at Aqueduct, Monday Morning Qb broke sharply and was intent on the lead, rolling through a quarter-mile in 24.76 seconds and a half in 48.82 while Amen Corner chased along the rail and McCarthy kept Happy Saver in the clear three wide in third.
Monday Morning Qb was still there after going six furlongs in 1:13.69 when McCarthy began to move on Happy Saver and the top two gained distance from the rest of the field. Happy Saver nudged a head front once straightened for home and was set down for the drive while Monday Morning Qb determinedly kept on to his inside.
“He really warmed up well for me today. I was really impressed with the way he warmed up. He broke really strong and those speed horses on the outside didn't break very well. I knew [Monday Morning Qb] would break good off the layoff. I didn't know how fit that horse would be today but I just left him alone and let my horse get in a great stride and a great rhythm,” McCarthy said. “When [Monday Morning Qb] came to him galloping out, he rebroke. He was pretty impressive.”
Monday Morning Qb was a clear second, nine lengths ahead of late-running Big City Bob, followed by Mexican Wonder Boy, Amen Corner and Letmeno, who stumbled out of the gate and trailed throughout. Plot the Dots was scratched.
Happy Saver went unraced at 2, breaking his maiden at first asking in a seven-furlong sprint June 20 at Belmont Park then stepping up to open allowance company July 26 at Saratoga to win by four lengths at 1 1/8 miles. The Tesio was his first race against straight 3-year-olds.
“I just kind of told Trevor a little bit about the horse and told him he can ride him tactically however he wanted. He won first time out going wire to wire basically seven-eighths and then he came from off the pace and got some good education his second start so I told him to just use his best judgment,” Pletcher said. “He was in the clear, stalking. That was the horse that I felt like we had to beat. The horse put up a good fight but our horse was able to keep finding a little more.”
The Tesio is named for the noted Italian breeder, owner and trainer whose hombreds Nearco and Ribot dominate Thoroughbred bloodlines around the world. Tesio died in Italy in 1954 at age 85.
The post Happy Saver Stays Perfect With Federico Tesio Triumph: Preakness ‘On The Radar’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Prat Edges Rispoli For Del Mar Riding Title; Miller Tops Among Trainers
A victory aboard Dr. Schivel in the Grade 1, $250,000 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity was the decider as Flavien Prat overcame the unwavering challenge of newcomer Umberto Rispoli to win the riding title of the 81st Del Mar summer season at the seaside track near San Diego, Calif.
Prat won twice on an 11-race closing day program Monday while Rispoli was blanked. A victory in the seventh race, on Joe L. Turner's Table for Ten for trainer Phil D'Amato, forged a 49-49 tie atop the standings.
The 1 3/4-length score in the Futurity, the traditional closing day feature and penultimate race of the meet, secured a title defense for Prat and his fourth championship, solo or shared, in the past five years. The Futurity was the 15th stakes victory of the meeting for the 28-year-old native of France, a single-season record for a jockey.
The race between Prat and Rispoli, a 32-year-old native of Italy in his debut season at Del Mar, had drama like the final minutes of a tense NBA playoff or NCAA tournament basketball game. There were four ties and seven lead changes from the second weekend of the meeting through closing day. Three of the lead changes came on the last three days of a four-day, Labor Day weekend to end the meet.
On Saturday, Prat won four while Rispoli was blanked to take a 46-45 advantage in wins. But Rispoli responded the next day with four wins to Prat's two to take a 49-48 lead into the final day.
Rispoli had incredible success on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, winning 35 of 115 races on the surface, a 30 percent victory rate. Over one weekend in the middle of the meeting he went 7-for-14 in turf events.
Miller, a resident of nearby Encinitas, notched his fourth summer meeting title, equaling the number of fall championships he has logged in the six years Del Mar has been a venue for that session.
Miller saddled 28 winners from 116 starters, an eight-win margin over Phil D'Amato and 13 over third-place Bob Baffert.
The 28 wins was the second-most in securing a summer title for Miller. He had 21 to prevail in 2012; 20 in tying Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer in 2014 and 31 in 2018.
Miller and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert tied for most stakes wins with six each. One of them was the third stakes dead heat in Del Mar history when Miller's Proud Emma and Baffert's Message couldn't be separated at the wire in the Tranquility Lake Stakes.
Miller went wire-to-wire for the meeting. He saddled four winners on the opening weekend to get a lead by two and it was only threatened briefly. D'Amato put together back-to-back two-win days on August 14-15 to move within one, 15-14, of the top of the leaderboard.
But Miller padded the lead with three-win days on August 23 and August 28 and maintained a comfortable margin through the final seven days of racing.
| Jockey | Mounts | 1st | Purses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flavien Prat | 216 | 50 | $2,968,918 |
| Umberto Rispoli | 203 | 49 | $2,326,254 |
| Abel Cedillo | 246 | 30 | $2,240,567 |
| Juan J. Hernandez | 213 | 29 | $1,513,034 |
| Tiago Josue Pereira | 141 | 21 | $863,202 |
| Drayden Van Dyke | 132 | 17 | $1,224,242 |
| Ricardo Gonzalez | 132 | 16 | $829,040 |
| Mario Gutierrez | 103 | 14 | $781,150 |
| Victor Espinoza | 66 | 7 | $628,454 |
| Mike Smith | 59 | 7 | $506,012 |
| Trainer | Starts | 1st | Purses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Miller | 116 | 28 | $1,498,472 |
| Philip D'Amato | 83 | 20 | $1,010,690 |
| Bob Baffert | 63 | 15 | $1,432,102 |
| Doug F. O'Neill | 118 | 13 | $843,545 |
| Richard Baltas | 94 | 12 | $735,930 |
| John W. Sadler | 73 | 12 | $709,370 |
| Simon Callaghan | 32 | 11 | $461,240 |
| Mark Glatt | 74 | 8 | $718,632 |
| Peter Eurton | 50 | 8 | $327,540 |
| William Spawr | 29 | 8 | $152,020 |
The post Prat Edges Rispoli For Del Mar Riding Title; Miller Tops Among Trainers appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Maximum Security Unanimous Choice As Del Mar Horse Of The Meet
Gary and Mary West and partners' Maximum Security was unanimously voted the Horse of the Meet for Del Mar's 81st summer season in a poll of racing media.
Victories in the San Diego Handicap and the TVG Pacific Classic by the 4-year-old West Stables homebred son of New Year's Day made the choice for Horse of the Meet and Top Older Horse easy for voters, some of whom casts ballots electronically since COVID-19 rules limited on-site attendance.
The first two starts for Maximum Security since being transferred to the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert – also comeback efforts following a five-month layoff after a disputed victory in the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup — were scintillating for racing aficionados.
In the San Diego on July 25, “Max,” as he's known around the stable, had to dig deep into his competitive spirit to edge Midcourt by a nose. Given a month more of training under Baffert, Maximum Security produced a dominating wire-to-wire, 3-length victory in the $500,000 TVG Pacific Classic, the winner's share of the purse putting him over $12 million in career earnings.
Maximum Security was not the only unanimous choice in the voting.
The West's solely owned homebred Fighting Mad, a 4-year-old daughter of New Year's Day trained by Baffert and, like Maximum Security, ridden by Abel Cedillo, was marked on every ballot for Top Older Filly/Mare as a result of her victory in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on August 2.
Unanimity was also expressed for the winners of the Grade I, $250,000 stakes for 2-year-olds which highlight the final two days of the meeting. Princess Noor earned Top 2-Year-Old Filly honors off her win in the Del Mar Debutante and Dr. Schivel was Top 2-Year-Old via his victory in Monday's Del Mar Futurity.
Other divisional honors went to Bing Crosby winner Collusion Illusion (Sprinter); Shared Belief Stakes champion Thousand Words (Top 3-Year-Old); Del Mar Oaks victor Red Lark (3-Year-Old Filly), and Red King, who took a close vote for Top Grass Horse via victory in the Del Mar Handicap.
Champions of Del Mar 2020
| Horse of the Meeting | Maximum Security |
| Top Sprinter | Collusion Illusion |
| Top Grass Horse | Red King |
| Top Older Horse | Maximum Security |
| Top Older Filly/Mare | Fighting Mad |
| Top 3-Year-Old | Thousand Words |
| Top 3-Year-Old Filly | Red Lark |
| Top 2-Year-Old Filly | Princess Noor |
| Top 2-Year-Old | Dr. Schivel |
The post Maximum Security Unanimous Choice As Del Mar Horse Of The Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
