February, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Cross Country Pick 5 Pays $1,263 After Three Favorites, Two Longshots Win

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5, encompassing live racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack and Tampa Bay Downs, paid $1,263.50 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The sequence's total pool was $80,134.

Aqueduct started the first of its three total races in the wager when Good Culture registered an upset win in a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds going a one-turn mile in Race 5. Under jockey Manny Franco, Good Culture rallied from seventh at the quarter pole and third in the stretch to post a two-length score, returning $21.60 on a $2 win wager.

Kaleidoscope Kid commenced the sequence's Tampa Bay leg with a 6 ¼-length score at 6-1 odds in Race 8. Piloted by Antonio Gallardo, Kaleidoscope Kid drew away to capture the one-mile and 40 yard claiming contest for 4-year-olds and up, paying $14.40.

Action alternated back to Aqueduct, as the Eric Cancel-ridden Eloquent Speaker was the first favorite to win in the Cross County Pick 5, besting Wailin Josie by 1 3/4 lengths in a six-furlong allowance race for New York-bred fillies and mares 4-years-old and up in Race 7. Cancel, who won three races total on the day, rewarded Eloquent Speaker's favoritism, with the Anthony Dutrow trainee paying $3.40.

Another favorite, Himelstein, followed with a victory in Tampa Bay's Race 9. Under jockey Hector Diaz, Jr., Himelstein returned $5.20 for winning the six-furlong maiden claimer for 4-year-olds and up, registering a half-length win.

Make Mischief capped the Cross Country Pick 5 by winning the sequence's lone stakes contest, rallying to edge Brattle House by a neck in the $100,000 Maddie May for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies in Race 8. As the 8-5 favorite, Make Mischief was forwardly placed by Cancel before finding a seam along the rail and overtaking Brattle House in the final sixteenth for a thrilling finish in the one-turn mile. Make Mischief ($5.30) won her first career stakes after three runner-up efforts.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

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Dysfunction Reigns Supreme In Blue Jays’ Clubhouse!

Just when I leave Toronto, all the fun begins. In Cincinnati, where I sit in the rain, the Reds finally ended up in the black against the Mets. On Wednesday the Jays gave the boot to .300 perennial hitter Shea Hillenbrand after manager John Gibbons reamed him out in front of the entire team. Just prior to the All-Star break, general manager J.P. Ricciardi blasted the Jays’ 3, 4, and 5 hitters as the reason for the Jays not being on top of the division.

Hillenbrand was becoming a cancer in the clubhouse, constantly complaining about his lack of playing time and the Jays needed to read the Riot Act. With the New York Yankees arriving on the scene today, this will surely affect baseball betting across the board for those who were planning on siding with the Jays. Here’s why…

The modern day athlete treats sports as a business and this type of upheaval may not even cause them to bat an eyelash. Toronto sits six games back of Boston in the AL East and will send Roy Halladay to the hill against Mike Mussina. Halladay (12-2, 3.06 ERA) is emerging as a leading candidate for the Cy Young Award which he won in 2003. He leads the AL in wins and is 4-0 with a 3.41 ERA over his last five outings.

The right-hander is 6-1 with a 1.61 ERA in his last seven starts against New York (55-37) including a victory on April 28 at Yankee Stadium when he yielded seven hits over 5 1-3 scoreless innings in a 7-2 win.

Two Yankees who have struggled mightily against Halladay are A Rod and Jason Giambi. Rodriguez is 2-14 since 2003 and Giambi is batting just .250 in his career. On the bright side for the pinstipers is Johnny Damon who is 14-40.

Halladay is also unbeaten in his last eight starts at home going 6-0 with a 2.93 ERA.

This is the first of 14 remaining meetings between the AL East rivals after New York won three of the first five. Toronto trails the Yankees by four games for second place in the division. The Yankees are 1 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Boston.

Mussina (11-3, 3.30) has already clinched posting double-digit victories for the 15th straight year. He is 3-0 with a 2.74 ERA in his last four starts for the Yankees.

The veteran right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in two starts against Toronto (52-42) this season. He’s also 5-2 with a 3.67 ERA over his last eight starts at Rogers Centre.

If sports betting is your thing, call up your local sportsbook and grab the Yankees as a dog!

Bob Acton

Online Sports Betting

Can Li’l Tootsie Continue Amoss And Politi’s Roll With Sophomore Fillies?

Should Tom Amoss win his 12th trainer's title at Fair Grounds, he'll have an arsenal of 3-year-old fillies to thank. The New Orleans native currently sits atop the standings with the help of a talented group of sophomore fillies, and the streaking Li'l Tootsie could cap a banner meet should she handle the class rise in the March 20 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2).

Joel Politi's Li'l Tootsie has been busy at the meet for Amoss. The daughter of Tapiture was second on debut in November before breaking her maiden in January. On February 12 she won her two-turn debut in an optional-claiming allowance and it was that effort that got Amoss thinking Oaks. Li'l Tootsie closed stoutly along the rail and won going away and that wasn't necessarily the way it figured to play out on paper after she had raced close up in her two sprints.

“It was a very impressive two-turn debut for a number of reasons,” Amoss said. “Anybody that was handicapping and watching the race, knowing what she is, seeing her break, fall back, and then getting into stride late in the race. I don't think that was expected by anyone. It was an unusual race in the sense that she was totally out of position of where I thought she would be, based on what she accomplished in her other races sprinting. Having said that, it was a very enjoyable outcome.”

Amoss and Politi teamed up and had some historic success with the since-retired Serengeti Empress, who won five graded stakes, including the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs in 2019 before ending her career when second in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland in November. Li'l Tootsie is far less accomplished at this point, and would be making her stakes debut in the Fair Grounds Oaks, but Amoss knows you have to take a shot to see where you fit, since options can become limited.

“This time of year, if you have a horse that has won two races, boy or girl, it's either stakes competition or sit in the barn,” Amoss said. “Allowance races don't go beyond that first condition. Joel and I have already spoken, and we think with that successful transition to two turns, we think the Fair Grounds Oaks is going to be our next start, provided she stays healthy.”

Mineola Farm II and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Save won her debut here on New Year's Day and made it 2-for-2 with an optional-claiming win February 16. The daughter of Violence got tested early and often in her second start and responded nicely to win going away by 1 ¼ lengths. Like Li'l Tootsie, Save is also likely in line for a rise in class for her next start.

“With Save, I think certainly we're looking at stakes competition next but whether we stretch out to two turns or stay at one-turn, that's still to be determined,” Amoss said. “Her race was certainly workmanlike but you have to look beyond that and what's going into these races and what these horses are trying to accomplish.”

Amoss already tested the best 3-year-old fillies on the grounds with a trio from his barn in the February 13 Rachel Alexandra (G2), though the results were a mixed bag. Politi's Littlestitious was best of the lot, running fourth, about seven lengths behind the top two – Clairiere and Travel Column – while Cosmic Racing's Zoom Up was seventh, and B.C.W.T.'s Off We Go was well-beaten and last of eight. As with all lightly race horses, Amoss knows there will be ups and downs, and a lot of adjustments, while trying to figure out where they all belong.

“Littlestitious finished the best of the three and she showed she's a good horse, but she's not where those other fillies are that ran in front of her at this stage, particularly the top two finishers,” Amoss said. “It's a growing process, a developmental process. A lot could change in the next few months from where they are right now. Each of those horses will stand on their own merits and what we do with each of them will be a decision between the owners and myself (about where they will run in the next).”

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Cafe Pharoah Takes ‘Win And You’re In’ February Stakes In Japan

In 2015, American Pharoah took the racing world by storm when he captured the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). On Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, Koichi Nishikawa's Cafe Pharoah, a Kentucky-bred son of American Pharoah, earned the first automatic berth into this year's $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series with a three-quarter length victory over Air Spinel (JPN) in the one-mile $1.84 million February Stakes (G1) on dirt.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California.

As a part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, the Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Cafe Pharoah to start in the 1 ¼-mile Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Breeders' Cup also will provide a $40,000 travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships.

Trained by Noriyuki Hori and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, the 4-year-old Cafe Pharoah, the 3-1 favorite, completed the mile in 1:34.40. In defeating 15 rivals for his first career Group 1 victory, Cafe Pharoah improved his overall mark to five wins in seven starts. Out of the More Than Ready mare, Mary's Follies, Cafe Pharoah was bred by the late Paul Pompa Jr.

Absent of fans and cheers, the 38th running of the February Stakes, the first Group 1 event of the Japanese racing season, was on its way on the backstretch with Air Almas (JPN), Helios (JPN) and Wide Pharaoh (JPN) fighting for the lead. As Helios slipped back in the early stages, Cafe Pharoah, breaking from stall three, stalked the two frontrunners while saving ground before smoothly angling out right beside them to enter the lane in third. From there on, Cafe Pharoah unleashed a powerful stretch drive, securing the lead by the furlong marker and held off the fast-closing 35-1 Air Spinel.

“His condition was super, and I had confidence already at the paddock,” said Lemaire, who also won last year's February Stakes on Mozu Ascot (JPN). “We decided to use cheek pieces [headgear strips similar to blinkers] hoping for a more aggressive performance. His start was good, we were positioned well and he responded beautifully. The colt has such high potential. I had no doubt that he could land a G1 win if he gave his best. I'm happy that it all worked out today.”

Air Spinel was settled on the rail in mid-division and struggled to find room in early stretch. Once he angled out, finding a clear path 300 meters out, he finished fast, overtaking the tiring pacesetter in the final sixteenth and threatening the winner. Wonder Lider (JPN), sent off at 19-1, took an economic route behind the winner up to the last turn and displayed a powerful stretch drive furiously chasing the runner-up to the line while holding off a strong challenge by 6-1 third choice Red le Zele (JPN) for third. Air Almas finished fifth, followed by Inti (JPN), the 2019 February Stakes winner, in sixth.

In 2020, Cafe Pharoah won twice at the race distance over the Tokyo track, taking the two Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying races, the listed Hyacinth Stakes and the Unicorn Stakes (G3). He suffered his first defeat as the favorite in the Japan Dirt Derby on July 8 at Ohi, finishing seventh. He rebounded on Oct. 3 to win the 1 3/16-mile Sirius Stakes (G3) at Chukyo. In his final start last year, Cafe Pharoah stepped into Group 1 company for the first time, in the 1 1/8-mile Champions Cup at Chukyo on Dec. 6, finishing sixth.

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