October, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Laurel Park Moves To 12:25 P.M. First Post Thursday – With Big Race-Day Exceptions

Post time moves to 12:25 p.m. for the duration of the calendar year-ending fall meet starting with the return of live racing to Laurel Park Thursday, Oct. 22, to open Maryland Million weekend.

Limited to a maximum of 250 persons, Laurel will open its doors at 11:30 a.m. to spectators, who must enter through the clubhouse entrance, have their temperature taken and maintain social distancing guidelines.

Post time on Maryland Million Day, Saturday, Oct. 24, will be 11:25 a.m. Other exceptions come on Breeders' Cup Saturday, Nov. 7, and Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, also at 11:25 a.m.

Thursday's eight-race program is highlighted by a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the main track in Race 7. Among the field of seven are 2019 Sapling Stakes winner Big City Bob, most recently third in the Federico Tesio Sept. 7 at Laurel; Thundershook, a winner of three straight races and five of his last six; and two horses that were pre-entered in the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic – Galerio, a three-time winner from the last four starts, and Toughest 'Ombre, second in back-to-back races beaten less than a half-length combined.

Also on the card are maiden special weight events in Race 3 going seven furlongs for fillies and mares 3 and up led by Back Roads, a homebred son of Grade 1 winner Liam's Map making his race debut, and Pago Querido, a $235,000 2-year-old in training purchase last April; and Race 6, a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for 2-year-olds featuring four first-time starters in the field of seven including Medaglia d'Oro homebred Filigree.

Race 5 is an entry-level optional claiming allowance for 2-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track. Five of the seven entered are coming off maiden special weight wins including Whiskey and Rye, a daughter of Maclean's Music that fetched $150,000 out of Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic 2-year-old in training sale in May at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.

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The Revenant Enters Winter Quarters

Saturday’s G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. hero The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has emerged from his QIPCO British Champions Day test in good order and will not start again this year. Besides the QEII, the 5-year-old gelding also landed the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein on Arc Weekend this term, his second edition of the race.

“He’s back in his box and very happy–he came out of the race well,” said trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. “The QEII was the plan since the race last year. Obviously we had to miss a big part of the season, and our patience was rewarded. He had a very good comeback in the Wildenstein and came on a lot for the race. He produced a very good performance.

“We will wait until next year now–we won’t travel abroad and will stick to Europe. Hopefully we will be able to run him in the spring and the autumn. He has won on good ground, but obviously he can perform at a very high level on soft and heavy.”

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Devamani Leads 1-2 Chad Brown Finish In Knickerbocker

Sanford J. Goldfarb and Samuel Abraham's Devamani previously had come within a neck and nose of notching his first graded stakes win this year. On Sunday, the French-bred broke through, overtaking pacesetter En Wye Cee in the stretch and drawing away to a two-length victory in the Grade 2, $150,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up at Belmont Park in Elmont Park, N.Y.

Devamani, who ran second by a nose to Admiralty Pier in the G3 Tampa Bay in February and by a neck to Instilled Regard in the G2 Fort Marcy in June over the Belmont grass, fended off stablemate Olympico's late charge to complete the 1 1/8-mile journey over the yielding inner turf course in 1:51.78, giving trainer Chad Brown the exacta for the five-horse field.

Out of the gate, En Wye Cee broke sharp from post four and led the field through the opening quarter-mile in 25.66 seconds, the half in 51.13 and three-quarters in 1:15.58 with Devamani tracking in third position under jockey Joel Rosario.

Through the final turn, Devamani, who had plenty in reserve, pressed on from the outside, taking command in the final furlong and powering home to his first victory in six starts this year.

“He's a neat horse. He's a very well-bred horse. He's always been at the top of his game in his training, his looks and such,” said Brown, who took over training duties for the 6-year-old Dubawi gelding starting for the current campaign. “Obviously, he took to our program well right away and we had him running in stakes right away. He's a very useful horse and he'll be exciting to have as a 7-year-old here next year.

“This horse has a pedigree to get better when he gets older,” he added. “I'm not shy to run 6, 7 or 8-year-olds on the turf. Sometimes, they find their feet there. I'll talk to the ownership group and see, but this horse is running super. We may run him one more time [this year] or we may not. But I'm looking to run him as a 7-year-old.”

Off at 3-1, Devamani returned $8.80 on a $2 win bet. Out of the Group 1-winning Selkirk mare Daryakana, Devamani improved his career record to 5-8-5 in 25 career starts.

“He was just there for me and was able to go along early and he kept going,” Rosario said. “To be up a little closer with the slow pace, he was on his game. He always runs hard. He had been unlucky a couple of times and he got the job done today.”

Brown put blinkers on Devamani for the first time in his previous start when third in the Lure on September 7 at Saratoga and removed them for Sunday's contest.

“Joel really rode him perfect,” Brown said. “We got the position we were looking for with him. We put the blinkers on him because he was falling so far out of position in his races and it didn't really work out. He wasn't happy with them. When we took them off, what it left us with was a little sharper horse. Putting them on and taking them off, even though we took a defeat last time, might have been the final piece of the puzzle for this horse just to put him in the race a little bit.”

Fellow French-bred Olympico edged En Wye Cee by a neck for second, marking the second consecutive year he finished as the Knickerbocker runner up.

“He was second-best. The winner got a perfect trip,” said Olympico jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. “He ran a perfect race, he just got beat.”

Olympico was making just his third start of his 5-year-old campaign and posted his first overall on-the-board effort since last year's Knickerbocker.

“He was a little out of position. I thought he would be ahead of Devamani early, I was surprised they flip-flopped,” Brown said. “Irad thought he gave him a good run. Fortunately, he was able to squeak out second there.”

Breaking the Rules, the 2-1, favorite, finished fourth, with Seismic Wave completing the order of finish.

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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From Teenage Years With Hirsch Jacobs To 1,000-Win Milestone, Lewis ‘Fortunate’ And ‘Grateful

Craig Lewis did a little bit of celebrating Saturday night after Warren's Showtime won Saturday's Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., to give the 73-year-old trainer career victory No. 1,000.

He watched a baseball game and a boxing match on TV, then it was business as usual and he was back on the beat early Sunday morning.

“I stayed up till 10 o'clock,” said Los Angeles native Lewis, who began training in 1978 and who holds a bachelor's degree in history from Cal Berkeley.

“I was a little disappointed early yesterday when we ran second with the first two horses I ran (Warrens Candy Man in the first race and Dancing Dana in the fourth), but I guess we won the one that mattered and it kind of worked out well.”

Lewis started in racing as a teenager, learning the ropes under legendary Hall of Fame trainer Hirsch Jacobs, who claimed the iron horse Stymie for $1,500 as a 2-year-old. Stymie would go on to run in an amazing 135 races, winning 35 and also earn Hall of Fame recognition.

Not only did Lewis win a graded stakes for his milestone victory, he trained both the sire (Clubhouse Ride) and the dam (Warren's Veneda) of Warren's Showtime, both multiple stakes winners in their own right.

“I've been very fortunate,” Lewis said after the victory. “I've had a lot of great horses in my career. Cutlass Reality beat back to back Derby winners Alysheba and Ferdinand in the (1988) Hollywood Gold Cup, Music Merci, winner of the (1988) Del Mar Futurity and (1989) Illinois Derby, and many other big races, and of course Larry the Legend (game winner of the 1995 Santa Anita Derby).

“I've had multiple other good horses and a lot of great owners. I'm very thankful and feel very fortunate, very grateful, to be in this situation.”

Said winning owner/breeder Benjamin Warren: “This is just wonderful and it's great that this is Craig's 1,000th win. This puts her at $500,000 in earnings at age three and that's pretty good. … I went partners with (former Major League baseball star) Irv Noren on my first horse in 1980, so to have this filly doing this well is tremendous.”

Warren's Showtime was fifth of seven early in the Autumn Miss but responded to strong urging by Flavien Prat to win by a neck as the 7-10 favorite. Victory didn't come easy.

“What was going through my mind was she might not get there,” Lewis admitted. “But as usual she did not disappoint. She's really a genuine filly who gives it every time.”

That usually results in a happy ending, none so happy as yesterday.

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