November, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Weekend Lineup Presented By Fall Festival Of Racing At Laurel Park: Stakes Aplenty

The holiday weekend's Thoroughbred action is highlighted by the final live racing dates of the year at Churchill Downs, featuring the Grade 1 Clark, and at Del Mar, featuring both the G1 Hollywood Derby and G1 Matriarch, as well as the opening weekends at both the Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay Downs. At Laurel Park, the Fall Festival of Racing is offering six stakes on a nine-race Saturday program that gets under way at 12:25 p.m. ET.

Here's a brief look at some of the graded stakes action (all times Eastern):

Friday, Nov. 27

5:27 p.m. – $500,000 G1 Clark at Churchill Downs

W.S. Farish's multiple G1 winner Code of Honor will take on 13 rivals including graded stakes winners By My Standards, Mr Freeze and Owendale in the 146^th renewal of the $500,000 Clark presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) – the marquee race of the Fall Meet at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD112720USA10-EQB.html

6:30 p.m. – $200,000 G2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar

A wide-open edition of the Hollywood Turf Cup – a handicapping delight for those who like the challenge of a well-matched and highly competitive field – will be the day-after Thanksgiving treat this Friday at Del Mar. A trio of out-of-towners add special spice to the handicapping stew – Donegal Racing, Bulger and Coneway's Arklow, Manfred Ostermann's Laccario and Agave Racing Stable or Sam-Son Farm's Say the Word. They'll all be making their Del Mar debuts. The race also has drawn its defending champion – Messineo or Sands' Oscar Dominguez, who rallied through the lane to win by a neck over turf star United in last year's running. It additionally has lured back a pair of runners who have been there before – Mr. & Mrs. Larry Williams' Ward 'n Jerry, third in the Turf Cup last year, and Little Red Feather and Tavares' Marckie's Water, fourth in the 2018 edition of the race.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112720USA7-EQB.html

Saturday, Nov. 28

4:57 p.m. – $200,000 G2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs

Harold Lerner LLC, Magdalena Racing and Nehoc Stables' Alcibiades (G1) winner Simply Ravishing will lead a field of 10 promising juvenile fillies in Saturday's Golden Rod. Among the other rivals to Simply Ravishing in the Golden Rod is Kueber Racing's undefeated $98,000 Rags to Riches winner Coach. Trained by Brad Cox, Coach is a perfect 3-for-3 in her young career. She'll be joined in the starting gate by stablemate Travel Column. Owned by OXO Equine, Travel Column dazzled on debut by 4 ¼ lengths and returned with a third-place effort behind Simply Ravishing in the Alcibiades.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD112820USA9-EQB.html

5:56 p.m. – $200,000 G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs

Cypress Creek and Arnold Bennewith's Breeders' Cup Juvenile third-place finisher Keepmeinmind will be in search of his first-career victory against a competitive field of nine 2-year-olds, which includes stakes winners King Fury and Sittin On Go, in Saturday's 94th running of the Kentucky Jockey Club.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD112820USA11-EQB.html

6:27 p.m. – $200,000 G2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar

The Seabiscuit Handicap this Saturday at Del Mar brings together a big field of 13 turf horses from around North America in what should be an extraordinary race to watch and to wager on. Leading the field in career earnings at $1.8 million is Next Shares, who posted the 27 to 1 upset winning the 2019 Seabiscuit but who is winless this year in six races. Close at hand in terms of career accomplishments is Bowies Hero, who has earned more than $1.5 million with his last big win coming in the 2019 Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile. Next is My Boy Jack, who has banked more than three-quarters of a million. Starting his career on dirt, My Boy Jack was a top 3-year-old in 2018, including a fifth place effort in the Kentucky Derby before going on the sidelines in the fall of 2019 and making his return to the races in this race. Flavius appears to be a strong contender as well, having won the Tourist Mile Stakes this past summer before a troubled effort in the Shadwell Turf Mile.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112820USA7-EQB.html

7:27 p.m. – $300,000 G1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar

A field of 13 3-year-olds of both quality and quantity was entered the 79th running of the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. Among the group were five shippers from East Coast-based trainers with two from Christophe Clement and one each from Chad Brown, George Weaver and Thomas M. Bush. Clement is sending out Decorated Invader, a winner of the G2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park and the G2 Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga last summer and Gufo, a winner as the favorite of the Belmont Derby on Oct. 3. Brown is dispatching Domestic Spending, a winner of the Saratoga Derby Invitational in August by a head over Gufo; Weaver will be represented by Ever Dangerous, fresh from a win in a $150,000 stakes at Keeneland on Nov. 6, and Bush sends Get Smokin, a wire-to-winner of the G2 Hill Prince on a yielding Belmont turf on Oct. 18.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112820USA9-EQB.html

Sunday, Nov. 29

7:00 p.m. – $300,000 G1 Matriarch at Del Mar

A field of nine, one-third from the stable of mega-trainer Chad Brown, was entered today for Sunday's G1 Matriarch Stakes, the signature event of the final day of the Bing Crosby Season. Brown's trio of shippers from New York is comprised of graded stakes winners Tamahere and Viadera and graded stakes-placed Blowout.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112920USA9-EQB.html

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Oisin Murphy Banned Three Months

Jockey Oisin Murphy has been banned from race riding for three months by France Galop stewards as a result of a positive test this summer for cocaine metabolites. The ban will run from Dec. 11, 2020 to Mar. 11, 2021 and has been reciprocated by the British Horseracing Authority. The typical ban in such cases has been six months, but the stewards were persuaded to lessen that after receiving hair sample results and a testimony from Murphy that the positive test arose from an unintentional, environmental contamination. The positive sample had been taken on July 19, the day Murphy rode The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire}) to finish second in the G2 Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly. Murphy, who has denied ever taking cocaine, has said he will not appeal the decision.

“I would like to thank France Galop and the panel of Commissioners for a fair hearing and for accepting the evidence I presented that I had not taken cocaine,” the rider said in a statement. “This evidence included my hair sample results–the results of which I am making public today–and an expert witness statement from an eminent toxicology and anti-doping expert. Whilst I am obviously disappointed that I will still have to serve a three-month suspension, I am pleased the Commissioners accepted the evidence presented and am hugely relieved to have been cleared of taking cocaine.

“I respect the rules of France Galop, respect their decision and will not be appealing. Despite my relief, I regretfully put myself in a situation whereby cocaine has been able to filter into my system through environmental contamination and must live with the consequences. As a professional sportsman I cannot put myself in a similar situation again.

“Even though I have been exonerated from taking cocaine, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Sheikh Fahad al Thani, David Redvers and Andrew Balding and thank them for their support. I also want to thank my legal team, particularly Florence Gaudilliere, who represented me in France but also Rory Mac Neice, the Professional Jockeys Association, Johnno Spence and others who have advised and supported me throughout.

“Finally, I would also like to apologise to the whole Qatar Racing team, to the owners and trainers I ride for, my supporters, my weighing room colleagues and to my commercial partners as well as Racing to School. The next three months will give me much time to reflect on my actions, but I will learn from this experience and come back better and even more determined than before.”

Also on Friday, jockey Nathan Evans was banned six months after testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine from a sample given on Aug. 20 at York. Evans has had his licence withdrawn until Feb. 26 next year following a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel hearing on Friday, with the suspension backdated to Aug. 27.

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Oisin Murphy: Champion jockey banned after testing positive for cocaine

Champion jockey Oisin Murphy is given a three-month ban after a positive test for cocaine.

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The Difference Between Sleep Deprivation And Narcolepsy In Horses

Similar to humans, horses need to be physically and emotionally comfortable to fall into deep sleep. Though they don't require this deep sleep every night like humans do, their behavior and demeanor can change if they don't get adequate rest.

Equine sleep has three distinct phases: it begins with the deep restfulness phase where the horse is relaxed, but easily roused; he can stand while in this phase. Next is slow-wave sleep where he is even more relaxed, but can still be standing. To enter the final sleep phase, paradoxical sleep, the horse must lie down. This phase of sleep is where a horse loses reflexed and muscle function; REM (rapid eye movement) occurs in this phase, as well. The horse's brain is just as active in this phase as it is when the horse is awake.

Though people need two to three hours of paradoxical sleep each day, horses need only 30 to 60 minutes. Horses don't have daily sleep cycles like humans, so they don't need paradoxical sleep every day. They can typically only go between seven and 14 days without this type of sleep before becoming sleep deprived. A horse that desperately needs paradoxical sleep will begin having “sleep attacks” that may look similar to narcolepsy, but are not: Narcolepsy is where a horse has frequent, uncontrollable periods of deep sleep. It is a neurological problem typically brought on by stress, excitement or exercise.

Equine sleep deprivation can have physical causes, including pain. Some older horses may have difficulty lying down and getting up because their joints hurt. If a horse won't lie down to roll, he is most often too painful to lie down to rest, as well. If a horse has enteroliths, stone-like formations in his colon, he may not lie down as the stones may press and pull on his colon, causing pain.

If the horse is uncomfortable in his environment he may be unwilling to lie down. He may be alone and fearful in his field, or he may feel unsafe as his herd is lacking a leader. Additionally, horses trying to enforce a specific pecking order in a herd may be too vigilant to sleep.

Three questions can be asked to help determine if a horse is having sleep issues:

Has he rolled lately?
Has his social situation changed?
Is his environment noisy or somehow disturbing?