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Newcastle 7.0 Wicklow Warrior – win bet.
Month: February 2021
Weekend Lineup Presented By Laurel’s Winter Sprintfest: Saudi Cup Showdown
The $20 million Saudi Cup, headlined by 2020 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Knicks Go and fellow top-level victor Charlatan, will be broadcast on FS2 and FS1 as part of the NYRA-produced “America's Day at the Races” series on Saturday. Undercard races will air on FS2 from 8:30 a.m. to noon ET, and the Saudi Cup will air on FS1 during an hour-long broadcast from noon to 1 p.m. ET.
FOX Sports is the exclusive broadcast provider of the Saudi Cup in the United States. Scheduled post time for the Saudi Cup is 12:40 p.m. ET and wagering is available in the United States via NYRA Bets.
Saturday is also set to feature Laurel Park's Winter Sprintfest, a nine-race program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses co-headlined by the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie and Grade 3 General George.
Saturday, Feb. 20
12:40 p.m.—$20,000,000 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racetrack on FS1
Multiple Grade 1 winner Knicks Go and fellow top-level victor Charlatan head up the American contingent set to go to post in the second edition of the $20 million Saudi Cup. Knicks Go captured the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in track-record setting fashion last November to cap off his 2020 campaign and began his 2021 season with a triumph in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on Jan. 23. The Saudi Cup will mark the seasonal bow for Charlatan as the son of Speightstown captured the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park on Dec. 26.
Entries: https://www.racingpost.com/racecards/1016/riyadh/2021-02-20/778770/
3:46 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/LRL022021USA7-EQB.html
4:19 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/LRL022021USA8-EQB.html
5:16 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG
Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's Eres Tu is scheduled to seek her fourth straight comeback victory in Saturday's Royal Delta. The 5-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon, who is undefeated since returning from an 18-month layoff and joining trainer Arnaud Delacour's stable, will also pursue her second straight graded-stakes triumph. The homebred mare returned to action with a 2 ¼-length optional claiming allowance victory last October at Keeneland. She followed with a 1 ½-length score in the Nov. 26 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes and a length triumph in the Dec. 26 Allaire DuPont.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022021USA11-EQB.html
6:46 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG
A pair of talented California-breds, Mucho Unusual and Warren's Showtime, head a competitive field of 10 older fillies and mares in Saturday's Buena Vista Stakes, to be contested at one mile over the Santa Anita turf. Owned and bred by George Krikorian and trained by Tim Yakteen, Mucho Unusual seeks her third consecutive graded stakes victory at the current meeting. A winner of the Grade 3 Robert J. Frankel on Dec. 27, she again stalked the early pace and registered a three quarter length victory at 2-5 in the Grade 3 Megahertz on Jan. 18.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA022021USA7-EQB.html
The post Weekend Lineup Presented By Laurel’s Winter Sprintfest: Saudi Cup Showdown appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Oregon Fairs Circuit ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ About Racing This Summer
Regulators and stakeholders in Oregon are making tentative plans for the state's four-track fairs circuit to be back in action in this summer after getting cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
But Oregon Racing Commission (ORC) executive director Jack McGrail said during a Feb. 18 meeting he expects those venues will need to be supported by some forms of outside funding in order to conduct mixed Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meets in 2021.
“I'm happy to report that the larger takeaway is that the fairs really do want to run this year,” McGrail said while recapping the highlights of a recent conference call among industry stakeholders. “They are cautiously optimistic that with protocols in place and some improvements in the overall COVID numbers they'll be able to put on racing.”
The Eastern Oregon Livestock Show meet in Union traditionally kicks off the summer fairs circuit in June. Crooked River Roundup in Prineville, which races at night and generally attracts the largest handles and average attendances in Oregon, races in July. Tillamook County Fair in Tillamook (August) and Harney County Fair in Burns (September) round out the circuit.
Grants Pass Downs, which transitioned from a fairs track to being the lone commercial licensee in Oregon last season after the closure of Portland Meadows, will race two extended meets that don't overlap with the fairs, from May through July and September through November.
McGrail said that the concerns of operators were focused on how to keep crowds manageable relative to pandemic restrictions while making sure there would be enough attendees to generate sustainable revenue.
Keeping fans socially distanced in a fairgrounds setting was one issue that came up. Plus the fairs are also primarily staffed by volunteers, who thus far have expressed a health-related reluctance to commit.
McGrail added that the tracks are exploring technologies that would allow fans to place wagers without having to walk up to mutuel windows. But one concern in that area has to do with making sure those bets get counted as on-track wagers, “which is a significant issue, because there's a lot more money and revenue for the operator when they're on-track wagers,” he said.
“These limitations might require that there be an influx of money from sources, whether it's the ORC and/or others, to allow the fairs to run,” McGrail said. “All of the summer fairs are going to need more funding just to operate in this environment.
“But I do applaud the fairs for all of their innovation and commitment to running, and I think it's important to racing in Oregon to keep these fairs going to the extent that we can,” McGrail said.
McGrail said that the next step in the process would be for the fairs to submit financial data to the ORC prior to the Mar. 18 meeting, which is when budgeting issues will be taken up. This will enable the ORC to “review what the commission might be able to offer and what the fairs are requesting,” he said.
The post Oregon Fairs Circuit ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ About Racing This Summer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Foley Takes Jockeys Challenge
Irish jockey Shane Foley took top honours in the stc International Jockeys Challenge in Riyadh in Friday after winning two of the four races comprising the contest, which set the stage for Saturday's card that includes the $20-million Saudi Cup.
Foley beat just three home in the opening leg of the challenge, which was won by Mike Smith, who was deputizing for jockey John Velazquez whose trip to Saudi was dashed on account of travel-related issues. Foley turned things around in the next race, however, navigating Emblem Star (Take Charge Indy) from the extreme outside gate 14 to take up a handy position before kicking clear by four lengths. Foley made it a double in the next with Motawariyah (KSA) (Fong's Thong), who similarly exited gate 13, and although he was unplaced in the final race his lead was safe, with his closest pursuer Smith finishing fourth. After sealing the championship, Foley paid tribute to the late Pat Smullen.
“It's fantastic to be involved, and maybe I wouldn't be here if Pat Smullen was here,” Foley said. “He'd have probably got the invite as he was the go-to man and it's days like today that make you think of Pat, but he'd be proud of me I think.”
Of the event, he added, “When you're competing in these races it's a random draw, so you've a chance of getting on a fancied horse and I was lucky enough to draw two that had chances. I had a nice run around on both of them and they both won. I know they're not group races, but it's on the big stage with a lot of people watching and obviously good for your career. It's up there was one of the most enjoyable nights I've had for a while.”
Saudi rider Adel Alfouradi won the final leg of the challenge, giving him enough points for second, while Mike Smith, who is in town to ride Charlatan (Speightstown) in the Saudi Cup, was third.
The post Foley Takes Jockeys Challenge appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
