January, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jesus’ Team In ‘Perfect’ Pegasus World Cup Drill; True Timber, Mr. Freeze Also Prep

Grupo 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team breezed a half-mile at Palm Meadows Saturday morning in preparation for a start in next Saturday's $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Jose D'Angelo-trained 4-year-old was timed in 48.50 seconds. Regular exercise rider Simon Rodriguez was aboard for the workout at Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

“Jesus' work today was perfect. I think, with this work, he will be ready for the Pegasus World Cup,” D'Angelo said.

Jesus' Team, who broke his maiden for a $32,000 claiming price at Gulfstream last March, has been stakes-placed in his last five starts, including a third-place finish in the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes (G1) and a second-place finish behind Knicks Go in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The Kentucky-bred colt most recently captured the Dec. 2 Claiming Crown Jewel at Gulfstream.

Jim Bakke and Gerry Isbister's Mr Freeze, who finished second behind Mucho Gusto in last year's Pegasus, breezed five-furlongs in 59.83 seconds Saturday morning at Gulfstream for his second Pegasus start. The Dale Romans-trained son of To Honor and Serve produced the fastest of 40 workouts recorded at the five-furlong distance. Romans also sent Pegasus also-eligible Coastal defense to the Gulfstream track for a half-mile breeze in 47.11 seconds.

Calumet Farm's True Timber breezed five-furlongs in 1:01 at Palm Meadows Saturday for a third start in the Pegasus. The Jack Sisterson-trained 7-year-old son is coming off a victory in the Dec. 5 Cigar Mile (G1) at Aqueduct by 5 ½ lengths.

The son of Mineshaft, who was transferred to trainer Jack Sisterson's stable upon the retirement of Kiaran McLaughlin in the spring, finished seventh and eighth, respectively in his first two Pegasus tries.

Trainer Todd Pletcher sent his three candidates for the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) to the Palm Beach Downs track for final five-furlong tune-ups for the 1 3/16-mile turf feature. Largent, who captured the Dec. 12 Fort Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream, and multiple graded-stakes winner Social Paranoia, who came off a 5 ½-month layoff to win a Dec. 16 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream, were timed in 1:01.49. Colonel Liam, who captured the Dec. 26 Tropical Park Derby by 3 ¼ lengths, was clocked in 1:01.49.

The post Jesus’ Team In ‘Perfect’ Pegasus World Cup Drill; True Timber, Mr. Freeze Also Prep appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Bruce Headley: A Legacy Dating Back To Seabiscuit And Kayak II

The racing world and Santa Anita in particular mourn the passing of Bruce Headley, who died Friday, just a month short of his 87th birthday on Feb. 17.

A no-nonsense stickler who adhered to a pristine philosophy when it came to training, Headley was born on Feb. 17, 1934, 10 months before Santa Anita opened on Christmas Day, 1934. More than eight decades later, Headley had remained close to his home away from home, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

I had one of the last interviews with Headley in his waning days at Clockers' Corner. It appeared in Santa Anita's Stable Notes on April 14, 2019, and as it concisely captures the essence of the man and the horseman, it seems appropriate to reprint it here in his memory:

Headley, best remembered as the trainer of Kona Gold, is still a fixture at Santa Anita, where his Aunt Flora brought him as a kid when he was five years old.

“I saw Seabiscuit and Kayak II run here,” Headley said, referring to the winners of the 1939 and 1940 Santa Anita Handicap, trained by 'Silent' Tom Smith. “That's how I got hooked on racing. My Uncle Ted was a security guard here. I was born in a house in nearby Baldwin Park that's still there.”

Kona Gold was pure race horse. A Kentucky-bred son of Java Gold from the Slew o' Gold dam Double Sunrise, the bay gelding owned in part by Headley won nearly half his starts, 14 of 30, with seven seconds and two thirds, earning $2,293,384.

Sold as a yearling for $35,000, he was the champion sprinter of 2000, winning an Eclipse Award that year in which he captured the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs in a dazzling 1:07.60 for six furlongs. He raced until he was nine years old.

“He could run faster than anybody and stayed sound,” Headley recalled. “He had real good bone structure. He was just an honest race horse and when he ran, he ran.

“When he got too old to race, he became a very good pony. He'd lead the horses back and forth to the track, and even though some of them had a wild brain, he knew he had a job to do and he did it.

“When he got too old to pony, I retired him to the Kentucky Horse Park so everybody could visit him.”

Kona Gold was euthanized at the age of 15 on Sept. 25, 2009, after fracturing his left front leg while exercising in his paddock. But for Bruce Headley and others of his ilk who sanctify the equine ghosts of Santa Anita, Kona Gold lives on in perpetuity.

The post Bruce Headley: A Legacy Dating Back To Seabiscuit And Kayak II appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Oaklawn’s Opening Day Smarty Jones Stakes Kicks Off Arkansas Road To The Kentucky Derby

More than a decade after winning the final major local Arkansas Derby prep, trainer Mac Robertson will try to capture the first when he sends out Martini Blu, a sharp winner of his only career start, in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds Jan. 22 at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark.

The one-mile Smarty Jones is Oaklawn's first of four Kentucky Derby points races and highlights the opening-day nine race program. Probable post time for the Smarty Jones, which goes as the eighth race, is 4:11 p.m. (Central). It is the first of 33 scheduled stakes races during the 57-day meeting that ends May 1.

The Smarty Jones will offer 17 points (10-4-2-1) to the top four finishers, respectively, toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby points series continues with the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) Feb. 15, $1-million Rebel Stakes (G2) March 13 and the $1-million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 10.

Post positions for the Smarty Jones were drawn Friday, with Martini Blu among the seven horses entered. Robertson sprang an upset in the 2009 Rebel with late-running Win Willy (56-1) and Martini Blu will represent the trainer's second Smarty Jones starter after Stormy Holiday finished fourth in 2013.

Martini Blu, a son of Maclean's Music, already owns a victory around two turns after winning his Dec. 27 career debut at Hawthorne by 5 ¼ lengths when under the care of Robertson's father, trainer Hugh Robertson. Martini Blu, who stalked the leader, covered a mile and 70 yards in 1:42.70 over a fast track to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 64.

“He was kind of a speed-crazy horse this summer and I didn't want to run him,” Mac Robertson said. “He was showing too much speed, just go to the front. Sometimes it takes longer than you would like for them to tone down a little, even their first time. Once you run them, it's hard to slow them down. But he rated some the first time, passed horses and probably got something out of the race.”

Robertson said Martini Blu was green-lighted for the Smarty Jones after working a half-mile in :49.80 over a fast track Thursday morning at Oaklawn. He had previously been breezing at Hawthorne.

“He worked good over this surface, and it's not like there's a two-turn race any time soon,” Robertson said. “It just made practical sense.”

A $40,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase in 2019, Martini Blu is owned by Robertson's longtime client, Novogratz Racing Stables Inc. (Joseph Novogratz). Robertson and Novogratz also campaign multiple stakes winner Amy's Challenge, who is scheduled to make her 2021 debut in the $150,000 American Beauty Stakes for older female sprinters Jan. 30 at Oaklawn.

The projected Smarty Jones field from the rail out: Martini Blu, Francisco Arrieta to ride, 115 pounds; Lawlessness, David Cohen, 115; Cowan, Ricardo Santana Jr., 115; Big Thorn, David Cabrera, 117; Hardly Swayed, Martin Garcia, 115; Moonlite Strike, Joe Talamo, 115; and Caddo River, Florent Geroux, 115.

Cowan and Big Thorn are trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who won the 2020 Smarty Jones with Gold Street. Cowan finished a fast-closing second in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) Nov. 6 at Keeneland and completed his 2-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish in the $200,000 Springboard Mile Dec. 18 at Remington Park.

Caddo River exits a powerful front-running maiden special weights victory Nov. 15 at Churchill Downs for trainer Brad Cox and breeder/owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs.

The post Oaklawn’s Opening Day Smarty Jones Stakes Kicks Off Arkansas Road To The Kentucky Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Tohill, 57, Eyes 4,000-Win Milestone With Detour To Oaklawn

Ken Tohill enters 2021 chasing a career milestone. That chase begins at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., where the veteran jockey will be riding regularly for the second time after winning 22 races from 172 mounts in 2014 to tie for seventh in the standings.

According to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization, Tohill, 57, entered Saturday with 3,928 career victories to rank 84^th in North American history. Only 77 riders in North American history, through Friday, had reached 4,000, according to Equibase.

“That's something I didn't think 15 years ago was even a possibility,” Tohill said. “Now, I always said I'm not quitting until after 4,000.”

Tohill rode his first winner in 1979 and has been a fixture in New Mexico, Iowa and Northern California (the back yard of all-time North American kingpin Russell Baze), consistently ranking among the top 100 riders nationally in victories since 2004. He won a career-high 221 races in 2005 to finish 20th nationally.

“I really kind of ruined the first two-thirds of my career,” Tohill said. “Just drinking and scared to leave Northern California. You had Russell Baze there. Think it was more fear than anything.”

Tohill said his return to Oaklawn coincides with COVID-19 restrictions, which continues to shutter racing in New Mexico. He rode nine winners at the recently concluded Remington Park meeting.

“It changed all of our patterns,” Tohill said of the virus. “They're shut down in New Mexico. There wasn't an option. Then, my business had started picking up at Remington and a couple of offers from people that would ride me.”

Tohill is named on two horses Jan. 22 (opening day) – All Shacked Up in the first race for 2015 Oaklawn leading trainer Chris Hartman and Five Star Moon in the fourth race for trainer Tim Martin. Tohill rode 15 of his winners at the 2014 Oaklawn meeting for Hartman.

“I'm going to pester everybody, but hopefully I'll have a little business with Hartman again,” Tohill said. “That's my main push.”

Tohill said he doesn't know where he'll ride after the Oaklawn meet ends May 1, adding there are no thoughts of retirement, especially since he's poised to reach a career milestone in 2021.

“I'm going to go until the body … or I don't belong,” Tohill said. “Right now, I feel really good. I probably feel as good as I did years ago. Knock on wood, I hope it stays like this.”

Tohill is represented at Oaklawn by agent Joe Santos. Tohill's only other Oaklawn mount came in 2009 aboard Kick On, who finished 11th in the $250,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds. Alsvid, the Hartman-trained millionaire sprinter, and multiple stakes winner Mr. Trieste are among Tohill's top career mounts.

The post Tohill, 57, Eyes 4,000-Win Milestone With Detour To Oaklawn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post