January, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Maxfield Past ‘Hiccup’ In Training, Potential Targets Include Mineshaft, Saudi Cup

Though a minor illness knocked undefeated Maxfield out of contention for this weekend's Pegasus World Cup, the 4-year-old son of Street Sense has fully recovered and recorded a half-mile breeze in :49.80 last Saturday at the Fair Grounds.

According to the Daily Racing Form, trainer Brendan Walsh and the Godolphin ownership are planning to start Maxfield in either the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 20, or the G3 Mineshaft Handicap at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 13.

“He looked good and he came back good,” Walsh told drf.com on Wednesday. “It seems like he got over that little hiccup just fine. He trained this morning before I left, and he looks great.”

Maxfield won the G1 Breeders' Futurity in 2019 at Keeneland, then missed the Breeders' Cup due to injury. He returned to win Churchill's G3 Matt Winn Stakes in May of 2020, but missed time again until he returned to win the listed Tenacious Stakes at the Fair Grounds on Dec. 19.

Defending Lady Apple Tops Nominees To Houston Ladies Classic

Nominations have closed for the Houston Racing Festival at Sam Houston Race Park. The annual event, featuring six stakes and purses in excess of $1 million will be contested on Sunday, Jan. 31 with a special afternoon post time of 1:45 pm (CT).

The Houston Racing Festival includes two graded stakes, the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic and the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf.

The Houston Ladies Classic, to be contested at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, closed with 22 nominations including 2020 champion Lady Apple. The 5-year-old daughter of Curlin out of the Clever Trick mare Miss Mary Apples is owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III and KatieRich Farms.

Trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Asmussen, the Kentucky-bred mare has won six of her 18 starts with earnings of $1,045,984. One year ago, she closed gamely under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., defeating a contentious field which included 2019 Kentucky Oaks champion Serengeti Empress, Mylady Curlin and Street Band. The victory was the second Houston Ladies Classic score for Asmussen, who is nominated for Eclipse Award winning trainer honors. In 2019, he saddled Midnight Bisou, who went on to national prominence winning five Grade 1 stakes, banking $7.4 million and honored as 2019 Eclipse Award winning Older Female.

Jeweled Princess is on target to ship to Houston and represent owners Walking L Thoroughbreds of The Woodlands, Texas. Trained by Kenny McPeek, the 4-year-filly Cairo Prince, out of the Scat Daddy mare Jersey Jules, earned her fourth career win on Dec. 18 at Remington Park when she captured the $75,000 She's All In Stakes. McPeek won the 2004 Great State Challenge Distaff at Sam Houston Race Park with Take Charge Lady as well as two editions of the Maxxam Gold Cup.

Trainer Michael Maker has nominated Ujayji, a 5-year-old mare by Smarty Jones, who would make her Texas debut for her breeder and owner T. L. Wise. The Pennsylvania-bred mare exits a third-place finish in the $100,000 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct on Jan. 17.

Additional nominees include two fillies trained by Tom Amoss who are currently stabled at Fair Grounds. Hoffman Racing Family, LLC and Steve Landry's Beautiful Trauma, a 4-year-old daughter of Tapiture exits a runner-up finish in the $75,000 Spanky Broussard on December 26. Figure It Out, owned by Joe Politi was an eight length winner in New Orleans on Jan. 1. Trainer Scott Gelner is pointing Norman Racing Stables, LLC's Shes Our Fastest to the stakes. The Texas-bred daughter of Oratory won the 2019 Texas Rose Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park and has earned $344,537 in her 29 lifetime starts.

Inaugurated in 2013, the Houston Ladies Classic was awarded its graded status by the American Graded Stakes Committee in 2016.

Nominations were also strong for the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup, at the distance of 1 1/2 miles with 43 nominations received by the Sam Houston Race Park racing office. Mike Maker, who has won the Connally a record seven times, has nominated 11 turf specialists. Three Diamonds Farm's Marzo, ran third in last year's edition of the race before running in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga. Sired by Medaglia D' Oro, Marzo has won four races and $310,000 to date.

Ajourneytofreedom closed to complete the superfecta in the $100,000 Gio Ponti at Aqueduct last November for her owners Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher. Maker's third likely starter is Conviction Trade, who was claimed by Staudacher and tested his distance prowess last month in the H. Allen Jerkens, a two-mile turf stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Kentucky-bred son of Exchange Rate closed for second.

Signalman, a 5-year-old son of General Quarters who has earned over $671,000 in his 17 starts, has been nominated by McPeek. He competed in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The John B. Connally Turf was awarded Grade 3 status in 2006 and boasts a solid roster of past winners including Chorwon, Fort Prado, Rod and Staff as well as three-time champions, Candid Glen and Bigger Picture.

The draw for the Houston Racing Festival will take place on Sunday, Jan. 24. The remaining stakes include the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile for three-year-olds, which was added last year and drew a highly competitive field of ten; the $100,000 Pulse Power Turf Sprint, the $75,000 Jersey Lilly Turf Stakes and $75,000 Stonerside Sprint.

The post Defending Lady Apple Tops Nominees To Houston Ladies Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Maryland-Bred Owner Program Launches ‘Developer Bonus’

The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and Maryland Jockey Club have announced changes to the Maryland-Bred Owner Bonus Program to accommodate a new Developer Bonus Program, beginning in phases with the Jan. 22 racing program at Laurel Park.

A 15 percent bonus will be paid to the developer—the owner or owners of a horse when it makes its first career start—for any Maryland-bred that finishes first, second or third in an open overnight race at a Maryland track. The Developer Bonus only applies to a horse still owned continuously by the original owner of the horse as of Jan. 22, 2021, or the owner of a horse that makes its first career start after Jan. 22, 2021.

The Developer Bonus is not part of the purse and will not be included in a horse's earnings. The bonuses will be paid monthly once the testing of samples is completed and the races are released by the stewards. It will be the responsibility of the developer to provide the Horsemen's Bookkeeper with a W-9 if they do not already have a horsemen's account.

The Maryland-Bred Owner Bonus will continue to be paid to all Maryland-bred horses that finish first, second or third in an open overnight race in Maryland and will continue to be part of the purse. However, in order to provide a grace period for owners who currently own Maryland-breds but are not the developer, and for those who have recently claimed a Maryland-bred with expectation of receiving the full 30 percent bonus, all horses will continue to earn the 30 percent Owner Bonus through May 31, 2021—unless the horse is claimed or sold.

If a horse is claimed prior to May 31, the Owner Bonus for the new owner will drop to 15 percent for the horse's next start. If that horse was owned by a developer at the time of the claim, the 15 percent Developer Bonus will begin for the horse's next start.

The Developer Bonus concept, offered by MJC President Sal Sinatra, has been discussed by the MTHA Board of Directors and MJC racing officials over at least the last six months. It is designed to provide additional incentives for owners to support the Maryland racing program through the development of weanlings, yearlings and 2-year-olds, thus increasing the number of horses available to fill races.

The national Thoroughbred foal crop is about half that of the early 1990s, while the Maryland foal crop began to grow in 2013 and in recent years has held steady for the most part. It costs far more now to develop a horse—either bred or purchased at auction—and get it to the races. On top of that, a Maryland-bred that can't compete at higher levels when it begins its racing career could very well be claimed, leaving the owner with no further return on investment on that particular horse. The idea is to shift the balance to try to compensate individuals who invest heavily to get a horse to the races.

In approving the Developer Bonus Program, the MTHA Board agreed to analyze the program after one year to assess whether the objectives have been met and assess whether changes to the program are necessary.

The post Maryland-Bred Owner Program Launches ‘Developer Bonus’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

TVG’s Weekend Coverage Features Live Pegasus Broadcast, Opening Weekend At Oaklawn

Expanded coverage of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) will anchor TVG's weekend coverage as the award-winning network is live from Gulfstream Park with exclusive behind-the-scenes features, interviews and expert analysis. TVG's weekend broadcast will also feature opening weekend from Oaklawn Park including the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on Friday which will offer points towards a berth in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

Todd Schrupp, Gabby Gaudet and Joaquin Jaime will be live from Gulfstream Park for the twelve-race Pegasus World Cup card which will feature six stakes races in addition to the Pegasus World Cup (G1) including the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1). The Pegasus World Cup (G1) has drawn a field of twelve of some of the top older horses in the country including Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Knicks Go for trainer Brad Cox and trainer Shug McGaughey's multiple Grade 1 winner, Code of Honor. Mr. Freeze, the runner-up in the 2020 edition of the Pegasus World Cup (GI), has also been entered for trainer Dale Romans.

The network has several features planned throughout the day including a retrospective on the evolution of the Pegasus World Cup (G1) since the inaugural running in 2017, a feature on Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner and Pegasus World Cup (G1) contender Knicks Go and a profile on private investigator turned horse trainer Eric Kruljac, who will be saddling Kiss Today Goodbye in the feature race.

Oaklawn Park will begin their meet on Friday and TVG's Caton Bredar will be live from Arkansas with interviews and insights. The nine-race opening day card will feature the $150,000 Smarty Jokes Stakes which will offer 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Derby points to the top four finishers. Cowan, the 9-5 favorite on the morning line for trainer Steve Asmussen, will face six rivals for his sophomore debut. Second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1), the chestnut son of Kantharos will have Ricardo Santana, Jr. in the irons.

TVG will be covering every race, every day of Oaklawn Park's meet. The season runs through May 1 and will feature marquee stakes races including the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1), a major prep for the Kentucky Derby (G1) which is scheduled for April 10.

In addition to racing from Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn Park, TVG will be featuring racing from Santa Anita, Fair Grounds, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

The post TVG’s Weekend Coverage Features Live Pegasus Broadcast, Opening Weekend At Oaklawn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post