November, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Stronach 5 Returns Friday With Races From Laurel And Gulfstream

Races from Laurel Park and Gulfstream Park West, including two on the turf, highlight Friday's popular Stronach 5.

The Stronach 5, with an industry-low 12-percent takeout, kicks off with Laurel's seventh race, a $42,000 allowance event at a mile. Trainer Steve Asmussen sends out Break Curfew, a 4-year-old Into Mischief filly who ships in from Belmont Park. Trainer Mike Trombetta will send out Savedbythebelle, trainer Shug McGaughtey Pilot Episode, Michael Matz Global Ambition, and Kelly Rubley One Last Trial.

After heading to the turf for the second leg and Gulfstream's seventh race, an optional claimer for fillies and mares going a mile, Laurel's eighth race will feature a $50,000 optional claimer at a mile on the main track. Golden Brown is the morning-line favorite. The 5-year-old comes from Monmouth Park where he finished second in the Dan Horn Handicap, fifth in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile, and won the Irish War Cry in July.

The fourth leg of the sequence is Laurel's ninth race, a $10,000 maiden claimer at 5 ½ furlong. The Stronach 5 remains on the turf at Gulfstream for the ninth race, a claiming event for 4-year-olds and up

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One – Laurel Park 7th Race: (11 entries, 1 mile) 3:24 ET, 12:24 PT
Leg Two –Gulfstream West 7th Race: (12 entries, 1 mile turf) 3:38 ET, 12:38 PT
Leg Three –Laurel Park 8th Race: (11 entries, 1 mile) 3:54 ET, 12:54 PT
Leg Four –Laurel Park 9th Race: (13 entries, 5 ½ furlongs) 4:24 ET, 1:42 PT
Leg Five –Gulfstream West 9th Race: (12 entries, 1 1/16 mile turf) 4:42 ET, 1:42 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

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Midcourt A Standout In Del Mar’s Native Diver Stakes

C R K Stable's Midcourt, the defending champion in Saturday's $100,000 Native Diver Stakes, looms as the one to catch and the one to beat in the 42nd edition of the nine-panel headliner that honors one of California's all-time great racehorses.

The Grade 3 stakes has drawn a short field of five and will be presented early on the nine-race Del Mar program – Race 2 to be exact. With the regular 12:30 first post in place, the stakes should go off shortly after 1 p.m.

Native Diver was the first California-bred to win $1 million in purses as he raced a remarkable 81 times between 1961 and 1967. The near-black speedster by Imbros out of the Devil Diver mare Fleet Diver – so popular and so ubiquitous that he earned the nicknames “The Diver,” “The California Comet” and “The Black Horse” — won an equally remarkable 37 races including a trio of local victories in the San Diego Handicap and a tally in the Del Mar Handicap on Sept. 4, 1967 that was the final start of his exceptional career.

Midcourt, a gelded 5-year-old by Midnight Lute, has won five of his 14 starts, including his 5 3/4 length triumph in last year's Native Diver. The John Shirreffs-trained runner – a winner of $546,695 in purses — has been handled by Victor Espinoza in most of his career starts and will have the Hall of Fame rider in the tack again Saturday. He's been running very competitively with Grade 1 horses of late and is listed as a solid 4/5 favorite on the Native Diver morning line.

Here's the lineup for the Saturday feature from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Hronis Racing's Combatant (Umberto Rispoli, 8-1); Don Alberto Stable's Stellar Sound (Tyler Baze, 6-1); Fox Hill Farms or Siena Farms' Royal Ship (Mike Smith, 4-1); Midcourt, and Jay Em Ess Stable's Extra Hope (Juan Hernandez, 3-1).

Combatant has a notable bankroll – all $1,049,498 of it. The 5-year-old ridgling by the late sire Scat Daddy has a claim to fame in capturing this year's edition of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap back in March, one of his four wins (to go with five seconds and five thirds) in 28 total starts. John Sadler trains Combatant.

Extra Hope chased home Midcourt in last year's Native Diver. The now 4-year-old homebred colt by Shanghai Bobby is a winner of three of 13 outings and has banked $234,831. He's trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella.

The first 36 runnings of the Native Diver were held at the now defunct Hollywood Park in Inglewood near Los Angeles International Airport. Upon his death, Native Diver was buried on the Hollywood Park grounds. But when the track was closed (and remade into what is now SoFi Stadium where the L.A. Rams and the L. A. Chargers play professional football), the horse's remains were dug up and shifted to Del Mar where they were reinterred in its infield.

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Churchill Downs Ends Turf Racing For Remainder Of November Meet; Turf Graded Stakes Put ‘On Hiatus’

Churchill Downs will not card any more turf races during the remainder of its November meet, out of “an abundance of caution,” per the track's overnights.

The statement in the overnights read:

“Out of an abundance of caution, there will be no turf racing at Churchill Downs through the remainder of the meet because the course has not satisfactorily responded to this fall's climate. Grass racing will resume next spring when the conditions become more optimum. As a result, there will be no turf entries taken for races scheduled to be run on turf from Nov. 25-29. All scheduled turf races in the condition book during this time period will be transferred to the main track and entries taken for the same conditions will be dirt only. Additionally, the $100,000 Cardinal (GIII) and $100,000 River City (GIII) will be put on hiatus this year.”

The announcement brings to a close what has already been a tumultuous fall meet for the Churchill Downs turf course. The track announced on Nov. 14 that it would be moving its turf races to the main track through Nov. 22. Races had already been taken off the turf on Nov. 13, and the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere Stakes was automatically downgraded to a Grade 3 when it was moved to the main track, and subject to review by the American Graded Stakes Committee for reinstatement to its original level.

The last turf race at Churchill Downs was the ninth race on Nov. 12, marred by the fatal injury to Grade 1 stakes-placed Winning Impression, who took a bad step at the finish and sustained a catastrophic leg injury as he was being pulled up.

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Woodbine Jockey Tests Positive For COVID-19; Live Racing Continues As Scheduled

The Woodbine Entertainment COVID-19 Health and Safety Committee confirmed today that an active jockey has tested positive for COVID-19.

Following Woodbine Entertainment's COVID-19 Prevention Protocols, the jockey will not be permitted to access Woodbine Racetrack for a minimum of 14 days while self-quarantining. At the conclusion of the 14-day self-quarantine, the jockey will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to being allowed to return to Woodbine Racetrack.

Since starting live Thoroughbred racing in early June, Woodbine Entertainment has established and enforced COVID-19 Prevention Protocols that include limiting access to the Woodbine Backstretch to essential personnel only, daily screening including temperature checks for those essential personnel accessing Woodbine property, mandatory wearing of face masks or face coverings, extensive disinfecting of commonly touched surfaces and common areas, the deployment of hand sanitizing stations throughout the property, including on the backstretch, and contacting tracing and other protocols to manage any suspected or confirmed COVID-19 exposure. Woodbine Entertainment's response and management of COVID-19 is captured in its Guide to Working and Racing Safely.

In following these established protocols, contact tracing has been performed and individuals who were in close contact with the jockey who tested positive are being notified. Those individuals, which includes one other jockey, will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test prior to being permitted to return Woodbine Racetrack. Contact tracing also confirmed that the jockey who tested positive contracted COVID-19 outside of Woodbine Racetrack.

As part of regular COVID-19 Prevention Protocols, the jockey room, and other common areas, at Woodbine Racetrack received thorough electrostatic disinfection following the conclusion of racing on Saturday, November 14, the last day Woodbine Racetrack hosted live racing.

Considering the result of the contact tracing suggests exposure to the jockey who tested positive is limited, and with the confidence in the COVID-19 Prevention Protocols Woodbine Entertainment has established and enforced, and after reviewing with outside medical professionals, live racing will proceed today as scheduled.

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