Some racehorses peak at an early age, flashing brilliance right from the start. Others require more time to reach their best form, maturing slowly over the course of several years.
Month: February 2021
Dream Shake Crushes Santa Anita Maiden Field; Highly Touted Bezos Seventh
With most all of the pari-mutuel attention focused on Bob Baffert's first-time starter Bezos, trainer Peter Eurton's longshot Dream Shake stole the show on Big Game Sunday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as he powered to the lead turning for home en route to an emphatic 4 ¾-length win that could serve as an onramp to the 2021 Derby Trail. A 3-year-old first time starter by Twirling Candy, Dream Shake got 6 ½ furlongs geared down under Joel Rosario in 1:17.34.
“The things that he did in in his first half miles (works) were quite impressive, but we never (had) really tested him, we've always worked him against mediocrity most of the time and he's done that pretty easily, so we were all optimistic about him, but you really don't know until you put 'em in the gate against the quality (competition) that we had today,” said Eurton.
So, does this win against a highly regarded field of sophomores that also included Mr. Impossible, who was second in his debut versus Saturday's Grade 2 San Vicente winner Concert Tour suggest Dream Shake could be headed to the Derby Trail?
“Against a field of this stature today, I would've been happy with anything fourth and above,” he said. “Now that he's done this, it's just a question of how he comes back. I think anything further, seven furlongs to a mile, would be very good. We'll just try to enjoy this for now, but trust me, we'll probably be looking for a race before the evening has ended.
“He's such a smart horse. At the beginning he was a little bit green, he wouldn't run inside, so we put blinkers on him. As soon as he started becoming aware of things, he did everything pretty handily.”
Out of the Street Cry mare Even Song, Dream Shake sold for $75,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s April 2020 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Dismissed at 20-1 among a field of nine sophomores, Dream Shake paid $42.00, $13.40 and $6.80.
Owned by Exline-Border Racing, LLC, SAF Racing and Richard Hausman, Dream Shake banked $36,600 for today's win.
Trained by Mike Puype and ridden by Jose Valdivia, Jr., Harbored Memories was attentive to the pace, trading early punches with Bezos and Mr. Impossible. In his second start and first on dirt, Harbored Memories was off at 13-1 and paid $10.20 and $6.20 while finishing 3 ¼ lengths in front of Mr. Impossible.
Ridden by Umberto Rispoli for Simon Callaghan, Mr. Impossible had a half length lead after the first half mile and was clearly third best on the day. The second choice at 7-2, he paid $3.40 to show.
Bezos, who was heavily favored with Mike Smith at 3-5 and who has generated a good deal of hype in Kentucky Derby future wagering, broke alertly from his number five post and appeared to a have perfect trip but was done at the top of the lane, finishing seventh.
Fractions on the race were 23.40, 46.19 and 1:10.99.
Racing will resume with a four-day week on Friday. First post time for an eight-race card is at 12:30 p.m.
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Gulfstream: Jouster Beats Rachel Alexandra’s Full Sister; Brown Unveils Promising Filly; $1.2 Million Jackpot Guaranteed Wednesday
Starlight Racing's Jouster remained undefeated on grass Sunday at Gulfstream Park, scoring by 1 ¾ lengths over Gladys, a full sister to 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, in the Race 7 feature at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track. The race was a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance on turf for 3-year-old fillies..
The Todd Pletcher-trained daughter of Noble Mission, who scored a front-running 8 ¾-length maiden victory in her Jan. 10 turf debut at Gulfstream, again showed the way before holding Gladys at bay through the stretch to prevail as the 1-10 favorite. Jouster, a $360,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling sale, ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.56 over a 'good' course after setting fractions of 25:02 and 48:07 for the first half-mile, 1:10.99 for six furlongs and 1:35.57 for a mile.
“I was a little concerned running on soft ground today because she handled the firm ground so well last time. But she dug in and found a little more when she had to despite going quick internal fractions,” Pletcher said. “She got the job done. She's 2-for-2 now on the grass, so we'll try again.”
Dede McGehee's Gladys, who was making her turf debut Sunday, chased Jouster throughout the entry-level optional claiming allowance and made up some ground in the stretch. The Kelsey Danner-trained Gladys, who broke her maiden Oct. 25 at Gulfstream Park West before finishing off the board in the Jan. 1 Cash Run at Gulfstream, was wearing blinkers for the first time for her turf debut.
Trainer Chad Brown unveiled a most promising 3-year-old filly in Sunday's Race 6, a six-furlong sprint won by Peter Brant's Boston Post Road with a thoroughly professional performance. The debuting daughter of Quality Road pressed the early pace before drawing clear by three lengths under Paco Lopez.
Purchased for $525,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, the long-striding Boston Post Road ($8.20) ran six-furlongs in 1:11.68.
Wednesday's Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $1.2 Million
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $1.2 million Wednesday at Gulfstream Park.
The Rainbow 6 went unsolved for the 10th straight racing day Sunday, when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $88.36.
The jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
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Lynch Makes Long-Awaited Return Following Injury: ‘Glad To Get Back On Horses Again’
More than six months since he last rode, journeyman Feargal Lynch returned to action with a single mount Sunday at Laurel Park in Maryland.
Lynch finished eighth on Stone Farm's Saintly Samurai for trainer Graham Motion in the featured seventh race, a second-level optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up won by Oxide ($12) in 1:24.28 for seven furlongs over a muddy track.
It was the first race in 200 days for the 42-year-old Lynch, sidelined with a condylar fracture in his neck and wedge compression fracture in his back from a fall in the third race July 23, 2020, at Laurel. Saintly Samurai, a 6-year-old gelding sent off at odds of 10-1, was making his first start since last July 17.
“It's been a long time; a lot longer than we thought it was going to be, but we got there in the end,” Lynch said. “There wasn't a whole lot I could do with back and neck injuries, so we just had to give it time and let the body heal and, thankfully, it's all come back good.”
Lynch ranked among the leading riders at Laurel's 2020 summer stand in wins and purse earnings at the time of his injury. He was unseated when his mount, Epitomize, clipped heels and fell leaving the backstretch, sending horse and rider to the ground. Both eventually walked off the track.
Initially fitted with a neck and back brace, Lynch was cleared to return to race riding last week. He began his comeback by getting on horses at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., and has continued exercising in the mornings at Laurel.
“About a month ago I went up to Fair Hill for Graham,” Lynch said. “He asked me if I'd come up, so I went up and rode a few in the morning and I've been getting on horses at Laurel ever since for Brittany Russell and Jeremiah O'Dwyer, Hammy Smith, and just getting fit again.”
Lynch is a two-time meet leading rider at Pimlico Race Course, owning 525 career North American victories and nearly $19 million in purses earned, according to Equibase statistics. He is the younger brother of Laurel-based trainer Cal Lynch.
A former champion apprentice in England, Lynch rode Caribou Club to a record-setting victory in the 2019 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3) at Laurel, setting the Dahlia turf course mark of 1:33.35 for one mile.
Lynch was also the regular rider of retired multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Irish War Cry during his undefeated 2-year-old season of 2016 that included a win in the Marylander, now Heft Stakes.
Represented by agent Chris Pipito, Lynch said he has rides lined up on Needs Supervision in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3), Majestic Dunhill in the $250,000 General's Stake (G3) and Buckey's Charm in the $100,000 Wide Country on Laurel's Feb. 13 Winter Sprintfest program.
“I've got some nice mounts coming up next week for the stakes so that's been a good incentive for me coming back,” Lynch said. “2020 was a bad year for everybody. The main thing is the family in Ireland and everything is good, so I'm happy about that. I'm just glad to get back on horses again. It feels good. My body's healed itself. I'm looking forward to it.”
Notes: Jockey J.D. Acosta scored back-to-back wins Sunday with Great Go Go ($3.20) in Race 2 and Galilean Moon ($7) in Race 3, and apprentice Charlie Marquez did the same on Oxide ($12) in Race 7 and Hydra ($18) in Race 8 … Sheldon Russell also doubled aboard Acadian Girl ($5) in Race 4 and Gravity's Rainbow ($5.40) in Race 6 … Live racing returns with a nine-race program Friday, Feb. 12 starting at 12:25 p.m.
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