Month: February 2021

Impressive Maiden Winner Prevalence Could Show Up In Fountain Of Youth

Godolphin's sophomore homebred Prevalence, an impressive debut winner on the Pegasus World Cup (G1) undercard Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, breezed Friday morning in anticipation of a possible start in the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) Saturday, Feb. 27.

With exercise rider and assistant trainer Tom Molloy up, Prevalence went five furlongs in 1:01 at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. It was the second work following his 8 ½-length maiden special weight triumph.

“He worked good and he galloped out good. We're happy with him,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “We're in good shape right now.”

Prevalence was sent off at 7-1 in his unveiling, which drew a full field of 12 including fellow first-time starter Stage Raider, a half-brother to 2018 Triple Crown champion Justify, and narrow favorite Holy Redeemer, by Blame.

After breaking a half-step slow, Prevalence quickly gathered himself and chased the pace for a quarter-mile before taking over the top spot through a half in 46.09 seconds. From there, the bay Medaglia d'Oro colt widened with each stride under a hand ride from Tyler Gaffalione, completing seven furlongs in 1:23.

“I thought he was a good horse before he ran, but did I expect him to do what he did? Absolutely not, especially one of mine first time out,” Walsh said. “They generally improve, so I would like to think that this guy has some improvement in him. We won't get too carried away. We'll move on to the next one, and he'll be given plenty of chances to prove himself as we go forward.”

The 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth is the next step for 3-year-olds on Gulfstream's road to the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa March 27. There is also an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles in the condition book for Thursday, Feb. 25.

“He ran so well at Gulfstream the last time we would probably like to keep him in something at Gulfstream. There's the Fountain of Youth and there's an allowance race there, as well. It's probably going to be one or the other,” Walsh said.

“We'll just see how he does here over the next few weeks and go from there. We'll let him tell us,” he added. “He'll probably have just a little work next weekend at some stage. If we go to the Fountain of Youth or the allowance race, he'll probably do a little bit next Friday or Saturday and that should set him up right.”

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Tattersalls Launches New Craven Bonus

Tattersalls has announced a new £250,000 Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus for graduates of its Craven Breeze Up Sale, which is this year scheduled for Apr. 13 and 14 at Park Paddocks, with the breeze over the Rowley Mile on Apr. 12.

Half of the bonus will be paid out to the connections of the first Craven Breeze Up winner of any 2-year-old race at Royal Ascot, with £100,000 designated for the owner of the horse and £25,000 for the vendor. The second half of the bonus, with the same owner/vendor split, will be paid to the first Craven Breeze Up winner of a European Group 1 for 2-year-olds. The G1 Nunthorpe S. and G1 Prix de l'Abbaye, which are all-age and open to 2-year-olds, also qualify.

The Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus will be run alongside the current £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus, which rewards owners if their purchase wins a Class 2, 3 or 4 maiden or novice race in Britain or an open 2-year-old maiden in Ireland. There is a £1,000 buy in.

“The new £250,000 Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus reinforces our commitment not only to the flagship Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, but also to rewarding owners in as many innovative ways as we can,” said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony. “The £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus immediately captured the imagination of owners and trainers and the new £250,000 Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus further enhances the appeal of a sale which annually produces a consistent flow of high class precocious Royal Ascot 2-year-olds as well as Group 1 performers throughout the year. The multiple bonuses will reward numerous owners and in addition, the prospect of an owner winning a £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus, followed by the £125,000 Royal Ascot Bonus and ultimately the £125,000 Group 1 Bonus is also very real.”

Trainer Richard Hannon endorsed the concept, saying, “We have bought some serious 2-year-olds from the Craven Breeze Up with Peter and Ross Doyle over the years and the combination of the new £250,000 Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus with the £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus will make it a compelling prospect for our owners. Mehmas springs to mind, although we will have to do better this time. He finished second in the Coventry at Royal Ascot, second in the G1 National S. and third in the G1 Middle Park.”

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Laurel’s Winter Sprintfest: First 50-Point Derby Prep Held At Fair Grounds

The Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes headlines a six-stakes card billed as Louisiana Derby Preview Day at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Saturday and will offer a total of 85 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers with 50 points going to the winner. The $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes is also part of the card and will have 50 points to the winner up for grabs toward the Longines Kentucky Oaks.

The thirteen-race Fair Grounds card will air on TVG. In addition to racing from Fair Grounds and Santa Anita, TVG will be featuring racing from Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park, 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.

Live racing from Aqueduct Racetrack, Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay Downs will also comprise Saturday's broadcast of America's Day at the Races, the national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will air from 2:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET on FS2, including four graded stakes from Fair Grounds, highlighted by the Risen Star.

Due to winter weather expected in Hot Springs, Oaklawn canceled its extended Presidents' Day weekend and is rescheduling the three graded stakes and one listed stakes. The Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes, Grade 3 Razorback Handicap, and Grade 3 Southwest Stakes will now be run Saturday, Feb. 20, and the $150,000 Dixie Belle Stakes and $150,000 Downthedustyroad Stakes will be run Sunday, Feb. 21.

Saturday, Feb. 13

2:34 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

Leinster looms as a solid favorite in Saturday's Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint on the strength of a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland last November. The Rusty Arnold trainee is set to make his 2021 debut in the five-furlong turf sprint for 4-year-olds and up. Leinster, a 6-year-old son of Majestic Warrior, finished a length behind victorious Glass Slippers and a half-length behind runner-up Wet Your Whistle in the 5 ½-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in his 2020 finale.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP021321USA6-EQB.html

3:23 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

With few remaining gaps on Hello Beautiful's resume, trainer Brittany Russell will seek to achieve a significant milestone for both herself and her stable star when they go up against seven rivals in Saturday's Barbara Fritchie. A graded win would fill an important blank on an otherwise stellar ledger for Hello Beautiful, a Maryland-bred daughter of Golden Lad that has won five career stakes and takes a three-race win streak into the richest and most prestigious event of the winter meet. Sporting a perfect 7-0 record over Laurel's main track, Hello Beautiful is three-for-four at seven furlongs including wins in the Maryland Million Nursery and Safely Kept last fall to cap her sophomore campaign.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL021321USA7-EQB.html

3:53 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 General George Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

Grade 3 winner Majestic Dunhill, exiting a pair of disappointing efforts off a career-best performance, trades the South Florida sunshine for Maryland's winter chill as he attempts to regain his winning form in the General George. Majestic Dunhill has placed in three stakes since, including the 2019 Polynesian at Laurel, and beat Share the Ride by a head to capture the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Stakes in the mud on Halloween at Belmont Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL021321USA8-EQB.html

5:16 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

Multiple graded-stakes winner Mischevious Alex is expected to be a short-priced favorite to capture Saturday's Gulfstream Park Sprint. Mischevious Alex, who is owned by Cash is King LLC and LC Racing LLC, joined trainer Saffie Joseph's stable for his 2021 campaign after a productive 3-year-old season that included victories in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream and the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Making his first start since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes last August at Saratoga, the son of Into Mischief made a sweeping move into the stretch and drew off to win by 3 ¾ lengths in a Jan. 10 optional claiming allowance race.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP021321USA11-EQB.html

5:44 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Godolphin's unbeaten homebred Maxfield, who was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2019 and the Kentucky Derby last year, starts as a prohibitive favorite in the Mineshaft at 1 1/16 miles, which should serve as a perfect launching pad for what his connections hope will finally be a season-long campaign. Trainer Brendan Walsh has had to endure some obvious disappointments with Maxfield as he's started just four times in what is now his third season of racing. The son of Street Sense captured the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity in 2019 but missed the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a minor foot injury and then got derailed off the Derby Trail last year when he came out of a June workout with a condylar fracture of his right front cannon bone.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA10-EQB.html

6:16 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Fair Grounds Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Trainer Brad Cox is hoping a return to Cajun Country will inspire a return to form for Factor This, who figures to start as a solid favorite when he looks to defend his title in Saturday's Fair Grounds Stakes over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course. Factor This started his rise to national prominence in last year's Fair Grounds for Cox, as he set the pace and posted a surprise 8-1 win. He used that score as a springboard to another local tally in the meet's turf highlight, the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial, then followed that up with wins in Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes and then the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup at Ellis Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA11-EQB.html

6:47 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

The path to the Kentucky Oaks begins in earnest Saturday at Fair Grounds when Travel Column starts as what figures to be a strong favorite in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Travel Column announced her presence in the Grade 2 Golden Rod when she was sandwiched at the start, raced last-of-9 early, then got caught in traffic entering the far turn. She couldn't get out until midstretch, then hit another gear in an instant and won going away.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA12-EQB.html

7:18 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Trainer Todd Fincher rolls into town with the undefeated Senor Buscador, who rates as an exciting newcomer in a sterling renewal of Saturday's Risen Star. Senor Buscador went from an unraced maiden in early November to a wise guy Kentucky Derby contender a little more than six weeks later, as he parlayed a 5 ½-furlong maiden win at Remington November 6 into a 5 ¾-length win in the Springboard Mile there Dec. 18. Among his chief contenders figures to be Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, who led every step of the way in the Grade 3 Lecomte on the Jan. 16 and has shown plenty of versatility in his career as well.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA13-EQB.html

7:20 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

A longshot winner of the opening day Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, trainer Eoin Harty's Fair Maiden will seek to validate that victory as she heads a solid field of 12 older fillies and mares going seven furlongs in Saturday's Santa Monica Stakes. Dismissed at 20-1 in the La Brea, Fair Maiden rallied for an emphatic 2 ¼ length win, as a pair of Bob Baffert fillies, Golden Principal and Merneith, ran second and third. She will have to again contend with those two plus yet another Baffert runner, Qahira, who will be making her first Grade 1 appearance on Saturday.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA021321USA8-EQB.html

Sunday, Feb. 14

6:30 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Sweet Life Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

An impressive winner of her U.S. debut going six furlongs on turf on January 2, trainer Phil D'Amato's Majestic Steps (IRE) figures tough right back among a competitive field of 12 sophomore fillies going the same distance out of Santa Anita's turf chute in the Sweet Life Stakes. D'Amato will also be represented by another Irish-bred in the Sweet Life, Going Global (IRE), who has been idle since defeating 13 rivals in open company going seven furlongs on synthetic Nov. 11 in Ireland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA021421USA7-EQB.html

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Sam-Son Farm To Be Recognized With Special Sovereign Award

Sam-Son Farm will be presented with the Special Sovereign Award during the 46th Annual Sovereign Awards Virtual Ceremony, which will be held in April. Selected by the Jockey Club of Canada's Stewards, the Special Sovereign Award honors those who have accomplished outstanding achievements and made a significant contribution to the Thoroughbred Industry in Canada.

Over the past five decades, Sam-Son Farm, a Canadian Thoroughbred breeding and racing operation founded in 1972 by Ernie and Liza Samuel, has been the recipient of four Eclipse Awards, 13 Hall of Fame Awards and 84 Sovereign Awards. Since its inception, Sam-Son Farm has enjoyed five Queen's Plate winners, eight Woodbine Oaks winners and 60 graded stakes winners.

Also to be recognized at this year's virtual awards, Michelle Gibson will receive the 2020 Outstanding Groom Award. Currently employed by Robert Tiller, she is the groom of 2017 Canadian Horse of the Year, Pink Lloyd.

Additionally, the finalists for the 2020 Sovereign Awards Media categories were announced Thursday. This year's entries were evaluated by media professionals within the industry selected from across North America. A 4-2-1 points system was used to determine the first, second and third place finalists in each category.

Digital Audio/visual and Broadcast Category:

  • Santino Di Paola – Dear Horse Racing
  • Horse Racing Alberta – Canadian Derby Year of the Mask
  • Woodbine Entertainment Group – The Queen's Plate

Photograph Category:

  • Rusty Barton – The Race Goes on a Year Without Fans
  • Michael Burns – Training Before Dawn
  • Lisa M. Thompson – One Rider Two Horses
  • Will Wong – Mambointheforest

Writing Category:

  • Muriel Lennox – Northern Dancer: A virile stable genius
  • Chris Lomon – The Pep-Talking Groom, Willy, and a Queen's Plate Crown
  • Bruce McDougall – Riding for Freedom

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