Robin Goodfellow’s Racing Tips: Best bets for Monday, October 19
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow dishes out his tips for Monday's meetings at Pontefract, Windsor, Wolverhampton, Plumpton
Month: October 2020
Etoile Gets The Trip, Earns Grade 1 Status With E.P. Taylor Triumph
Etoile, runner-up as the favorite when invading from New York for trainer Chad Brown in the Aug. 15 Dance Smartly, made amends at Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario, on Sunday by taking the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes by a neck under Rafael Hernandez.
Court Return, an improving half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winners Channel Maker and Johnny Bear, closed resolutely on the far outside to finish second in the field of seven for the $600,000 race over 1 1/4 miles of the renowned E.P Taylor turf course.
“It was a good trip,” said Hernandez, who was riding his meet-leading 12th stakes winner. “I called Chad this morning and he told me, 'Raffi, try to get a good trip like last time. Just make sure you clear down the stretch.'
“He told me he'd been working the horse a few times and he put her outside of other horses, and she'd be finishing great.”
Theodora B., who had defeated Etoile by three-quarters of a length in the Dance Smartly over the same course and distance, assumed her preferred position on the front end while carving out fractions of :26.44, :51:03 and 1:15.50 over the 'good' course.
Elizabeth Way prompted the pace from second on the outside with Etoile sitting pretty while in easy striking distance in third on the inside.
Turning for home, Hernandez swung Etoile off the rail and was getting to Theodora B. as the mile went in 1:38.68.
Two lengths in front with a furlong to go, Etoile had enough left to prevail with Court Return ending two lengths to the good of third-place Secret Message.
“I heard that other horse coming late but I wish she was coming closer,” said Hernandez. “It was too far out so my horse couldn't see. That's why I switched the whip to the left, to try to get her out and get her attention. But we did it.”
Rideforthecause, coming off her first stakes win in the 1 1/8 mile Canadian, was unable to mount a serious challenge while another half-length back in fourth.
Theodora B., Pretty Point and Elizabeth Way completed the order of finish. The final time was a solid 2:03.12.
The E.P. Taylor also was the final leg of Woodbine's “Ladies of the Lawn,” a four-race turf stakes series for fillies of mares consisting of the Nassau, Dance Smartly, Canadian and E.P. Taylor Stakes.
Elizabeth Way, the Nassau winner, ended third and fourth in the ensuing legs and finished with 19 points for the top bonus prize of $50,000. Second money of $15,000 went to Etoile with 17 points, and $10,000 for third, to Canadian winner Rideforthecause with 13. Points were awarded on a 10-7-5-3-2 basis for the top five finishers in each stakes with one point earmarked for other also rans.
Starship Jubilee captured the 2019 E.P. Taylor while prevailing as the inaugural “Ladies of the Lawn” champion and went on to be voted Canada's Horse of the Year.
Etoile, a French-bred 4-year-old by Siyouni owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. M. V. Magnier, and Mrs. Paul Shanahan, was recording her first G1 win and first victory of any stripe in just her third start this side of the pond.
In the E.P. Taylor, Etoile returned $7, $3.60 and $3.40 as the co-5-2 second choice with Theodora B.
Court Return, the longest shot on the board at almost 42-1, paid $28.90 and $11 for the place and show and completed a 3-5 exacta worth $205.60.
Secret Message ($5.50) rounded out a 3-5-6 trifecta worth $895 with 3-5-6-1 superfecta coming back at $1,714.85 for $1.
Etoile winning the E.P. Taylor under Rafael Hernandez
The post Etoile Gets The Trip, Earns Grade 1 Status With E.P. Taylor Triumph appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Helium Floats Away from Them at Woodbine to Become First Stakes Winner for Ironicus
Helium backed up a sharp and fast track-and-trip debut score Sept. 27 to dominate Sunday’s Display S. at Woodbine and become the first black-type winner for his freshman sire (by Distorted Humor). Off as the narrow 7-5 favorite over fellow impressive debut winner Maclean’s Posse, the bay broke well and took up a stalking spot off the inside as his chief market rival took heat from two foes through splits of :23.65 and :46.40. Helium advanced ominously while out wide heading for home, and found another gear when called upon in the stretch to float away from his foes at will while capping a huge weekend North of the border for his trainer.
For the racing week at Woodbine, Casse sent out one winner each on Thursday and Friday; five on Saturday including dominant ‘TDN Rising Star’ Souper Sensational (Curlin) in the filly equivalent of the Display, the Glorious Song S.; and three on Sunday. He now boasts more than triple as many wins as the next trainer in the Woodbine meet standings.
“He’s a pro, this horse is like an old soul,” said pilot Emma-Jayne Wilson, who was celebrating a three-win day of her own that also included a victory in the GI Northern Dancer Turf S. “First time he ran, we wanted to just get his legs and come running. He was up near the point and when I asked him to quicken, he quickened… So today, I was pretty confident. They set some decent fractions in front of him and he wasn’t fazed. Even the horse on the outside moved up and he was like ‘Oh, can I go now?’ I said ‘No, we’ll just wait.’… And sure enough, when I pulled the trigger–you’ve heard this said time and time again when you’re standing in this winner’s enclosure…when you pull the trigger and they go, they’re good horses. Well, that’s what got me here today.”
Helium’s dam produced a Classic Empire maker colt in 2019 and an Accelerate colt this term before being bred back to American Pharoah. Sire Ironicus, now a Claiborne resident, blossomed at ages four and five, annexing a trio of graded races on the grass for Shug McGaughey and Stuart Janney III before just missing in the 2016 GI Shadwell Turf Mile S.
DISPLAY S., C$101,600, Woodbine, 10-18, 2yo, 7f (AWT), 1:22.62, ft.
1–HELIUM, 120, c, 2, by Ironicus
1st Dam: Thundering Emilia, by Thunder Gulch
2nd Dam: Saint Emilia (Per), by Saint Ballado
3rd Dam: Proud Emilia, by Proud Appeal
($55,000 Ylg ’19 FTKOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-D. J. Stable
LLC; B-Teneri Farm Inc & Bernardo Alvarez Calderon (KY);
T-Mark E. Casse; J-Emma-Jayne Wilson. C$60,000. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $77,763. *1/2 to Mighty Scarlett (Scat
Daddy), GSP, $225,860; Emilia’s Moon (Malibu Moon),
G1SW-Per.
2–Gospel Way, 120, g, 2, Brody’s Cause–Bible Belt, by Pulpit.
O-William B. Thompson, Jr.; B-William B. Thompson (VA);
T-Nathan Squires. C$20,000.
3–Decimator, 118, g, 2, The Big Beast–Ragtime Road, by
Dixieland Band. ($40,000 Ylg ’19 OBSOCT). O-Colebrook Farms;
B-Jimmie Ballinger (FL); T-Ashlee Brnjas. C$11,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, NK, 4. Odds: 1.40, 5.35, 56.85.
Also Ran: Exceed, Maclean’s Posse, Knight Kingdom, Souper Classy. Scratched: Rocket Reload. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
The post Helium Floats Away from Them at Woodbine to Become First Stakes Winner for Ironicus appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Get Smokin Turns Tables On Decorated Invader In Hill Prince Upset
Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust's Get Smokin made every call a winning one to turn the tables on familiar foe Decorated Invader in Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Hill Prince, a one-mile Widener turf test for sophomores at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
Trained by Tom Bush and expertly piloted by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, Get Smokin ensured his fourth attempt versus Decorated Invader was successful after finishing third in the Cutler Bay in March at Gulfstream Park and second in the G2 Hall of Fame in July at Saratoga in races won by his Christophe Clement-trained rival. Both Get Smokin [8th] and Decorated Invader [5th] entered the Hill Prince from off-the-board efforts in the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Derby Invitational on Aug. 15.
The free-wheeling Get Smokin once again broke sharply Sunday and led the field of seven through splits of 24.25 seconds and 49.52 over the yielding turf, with Assiduously tracking in second. Decorated Invader, the prohibitive 2-5 mutuel favorite, raced from sixth position under Joel Rosario as Get Smokin continued to dictate a moderate tempo into the turn.
Bodecream advanced along the rail late in the turn with Starting Over following suit to his outside as Decorated Invader was roused into action racing inside of Buy Land and See. Get Smokin maintained a two-length advantage at the stretch call, as Decorated Invader surged beyond Starting Over and angled outside of Assiduously and the stubborn Bodecream to take dead aim at the leader.
Decorated Invader continued to find more inside the final sixteenth under urging from Rosario, but there was no reeling in Get Smokin who held on for a head score in a final time of 1:36.95.
It was a further two lengths back to Bodecream in third with Buy Land and See, Starting Over, Glynn County and Assiduously rounding out the order of finish. Chocolate Bar and main-track only entrant Money Moves were scratched.
Castellano, who guided Get Smokin to a second-out maiden score in September 2019 on the Belmont turf, secured his third win in the Hill Prince following scores with Rey de Café [2005] and Outperformance [2006].
“The way I handicapped the race, I felt the horse would fit the mile perfectly,” said Castellano. “The last race was a little longer. The last time the horse won, I was on him when he broke his maiden last year.”
Get Smokin is by the Bush-trained multiple Grade 1-winner Get Stormy, who Castellano piloted to six wins in prominent fashion.
“When I got to the paddock, the first thing he [Bush] told me was, 'ride him like Get Stormy,' and that's what I did,” said Castellano. “I rode his father at Keeneland and New York, too. Today, he was so patient. I was walking the dog, basically. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”
Get Smokin narrowly missed making the grade in his seasonal debut when second, defeated a half-length to Island Commish in the Grade 3 Kitten's Joy on January 4 at Gulfstream Park.
The front-running chestnut continued that run of form at the Hallandale Beach oval with a second in the Dania Beach in February ahead of the Cutler Bay effort.
Following a freshening, Get Smokin returned to action in June at Belmont to be fifth in an allowance tilt ahead of a memorable Grade 2 Hall of Fame run in which he opened up a 7 ½-length lead at the half-mile, only to be collared late by Decorated Invader. He arrived at the Hill Prince from a pacesetting eighth in the Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 15, where he leapt at the start.
“He's been in some tough spots in running against the best horses on the East Coast, so we pointed for this race since Saratoga and we're really delighted,” said Bush. “We weren't sure about the soft ground, but he handled it.
“I've thrown this horse to the wolves,” continued Bush. “He's one of these rare horses that you'll see horses that run very out of their condition and they don't get discouraged and keep being a top runner and that's the type of horse he is. You're not breaking his spirit.”
Rosario said Decorated Invader, who won the Grade 1 Summer at Woodbine as a juvenile, was hampered by traffic trouble when trying to find a clear path for the stretch run.
“With the soft ground, it's hard to close. He ran well. He put in his effort,” said Rosario. “Turning for home, I had to start moving. Then, the horse in front of me came out a little bit, so that got him out of balance. He ran a good race. He looked like he was going comfortable. He was trying hard, but it's just too bad we couldn't get them.”
Bred in Kentucky by Hurstland Farm, Get Smokin banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 10-2-3-2. He paid $17.40 for a $2 win ticket.
Live racing resumes Thursday with a nine-race card at Belmont with a first post of 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
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