March, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Kentucky Oaks Winner Shedaresthedevil Kicks Off 4-Year-Old Campaign In Oaklawn’s Azeri

Shedaresthedevil, a finalist for an Eclipse Award as the country's champion 3-year-old filly of 2020, will make her seasonal debut in the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the Azeri, which goes as the fifth of 12 races, is 2:03 p.m. (Central). The 1 1/16-mile Azeri is the final major local prep for the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 17.

Shedaresthedevil will be making her first start since finishing third in her first race against older horses, the $400,000 Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 4 at Keeneland. Shedaresthedevil had won her previous three starts, including the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Oaks, which was moved from the spring to the fall last year because of COVID-19, is the nation's biggest race for 3-year-old fillies.

Trained by Brad Cox, Shedaresthedevil returned to the work tab Feb. 1 at Oaklawn, then shipped to Fair Grounds because of anticipated winter weather. The daughter of Daredevil recorded four works at Fair Grounds, the last a 5-furlong move in 1:00.20 March 6, before returning to Hot Springs Wednesday. Cox indicated in January that Shedaresthedevil, the 2-1 program favorite, couldn't afford any training hiccups to make the Azeri, won last year by 2019 Kentucky Oaks champion Serengeti Empress.

“In a perfect schedule, I would have liked to have gotten a few more works into her,” Cox said. “But her last two works have been really, really good. Kind of really was the decision-maker. Her last two works have been well in hand. She's doing well. Her weight's good, so I feel confident she's going to run a good race. I don't think she's 100 percent tight, but she's very close.”

Shedaresthedevil was the top locally based 3-year-old filly last year, winning the $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) before running third behind eventual divisional champion Swiss Skydiver in the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3). Shedaresthedevil races for a partnership that includes Staton Flurry of Hot Springs.

The projected five-horse Azeri field from the rail out: Envoutante, Brian Hernandez Jr. to ride, 121 pounds, 5-2 on the morning line; Motion Emotion, Ricardo Santana Jr., 117, 6-1; Letruska, Joel Rosario, 124, 3-1; Getridofwhatailesu, Javier Castellano, 121, 3-1; and Shedaresthedevil, Florent Geroux, 119, 2-1.

Envoutante, a stablemate of Swiss Skydiver, will also be making her 4-year-old debut Saturday. Envoutante exits what trainer Kenny McPeek termed a “beast of a race,” a front-running six-length victory against older horses in the $200,000 Falls City Stakes (G2) Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs.

Speedy Mexican star Letruska (12 of 16 overall) was an allowance winner last April at Oaklawn and a front-running 3 ½-length winner of the $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic (G3) Jan. 31 at Sam Houston in her last start.

“I think she's the speed,” trainer Fausto Gutierrez said. “You check the numbers. Anyone that wants to run with her, needs to run fast. If we lose, we lose. But the other one is taking a big risk.”

Gutierrez said he hopes to use the Azeri as a steppingstone to the Apple Blossom, among the country's premier two-turn events for older fillies and mares.

Getridofwhatailesu, also trained by Cox, came from well off the pace to win the $150,000 Pippin Stakes Jan. 23 at Oaklawn in her last start. She has a 3-1-0 record in four career starts in Hot Springs.

“She obviously likes Oaklawn,” Cox said. “It looks like there's going to be some pace in there, so she might get a setup. Come-from-behind horses tend to do not as well in shorter fields, but if there's ever one that looked like she could do well in, it would probably be this one, based off just the paper.”

Completing the field is Motion Emotion, who chased Letruska in the Houston Ladies Classic before tiring to finish a well-beaten fifth in her first start for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Motion Emotion recorded sharp front-running maiden and allowance victories in 2019 at Oaklawn before finishing second in the Honeybee and Fantasy when with trainer Tom Van Berg.

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Silver State Chasing Fourth Straight Victory In Saturday’s Essex Handicap

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State is the 2-1 program favorite for the $500,000 Essex Handicap for older horses at 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the Essex, which goes as the seventh of 12 races, is 3:08 p.m. (Central). The Essex is a major local prep for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 17.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Silver State is bidding for his fourth consecutive victory after the son of Hard Spun fell off the Triple Crown trail following a seventh-place finish in the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) last March at Fair Grounds. Silver State resurfaced last fall and recorded two allowance victories in Kentucky before capturing the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes by a nose Jan. 23 at Oaklawn in his 2021 debut.

“He's as beautiful as a horse can be,” Asmussen said. “For the Winchells and the Hortons to show the patience they did with him last year, they deserve to have a huge 4-year-old campaign with him and we expect it to happen.”

Among six other horses entered are Rated R Superstar and Night Ops, who won the Essex in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Rated R Superstar wheels back after finishing fifth behind Dubai World Cup-bound Mystic Guide in the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses Feb. 27 at Oaklawn. Rated R Superstar was making his first start since being claimed for $50,000 out of a Jan. 30 victory at Oaklawn by four-time local leading owner Danny Caldwell.

Night Ops finished third, beaten 3 ¾ lengths in the 1-mile Fifth Season, for Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. The Fifth Season marked the first start for Night Ops since winning the $100,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) July 5 at Prairie Meadows. Night Ops opened his 2020 campaign with a third-place finish in the first division of the Fifth Season.

“It was every bit as good as it was last year in that exact race,” Cox said. “I thought it was a good race off the layoff. He had been off a while. I thought he showed up and ran his race. Probably needs a little more ground and maybe a little bit better setup and, hopefully, he'll come back into form.”

The Essex also lured two starters from the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park in Tax (10th) and Harpers First Ride (12th).

Tax, a multiple graded stakes winner of almost $1 million for trainer Danny Gargan, returns to Hot Springs after finishing fifth in last year's Oaklawn Handicap.

Multiple stakes winner Harpers First Ride will be making his first start for Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn's leading trainer last year, after being privately purchased before the Pegasus. Harpers First Ride (10 of 18 overall) has recorded two workouts at Oaklawn leading up to his local debut.

“He ran real bad, but he had some issues that came up that we fixed,” Diodoro said, referring to the Pegasus. “I don't know how he'll stack up with these guys, but there's good form on him. He's a nice horse.”

The projected seven-horse Essex field from the rail out: Uphold, Fernando De La Cruz to ride, 113 pounds, 20-1 on the morning line; Harpers First Ride, David Cohen, 119, 4-1; Rated R Superstar, Ramon Vazquez, 114, 12-1; Tax, Joel Rosario, 120, 3-1; Silver State, Ricardo Santana Jr., 118, 2-1; Green Light Go, Francisco Arrieta, 116, 6-1; and Night Ops, Javier Castellano, 118, 3-1.

Also on Saturday's card is another stakes race for older horses, the $150,000 Temperence Hill at 1 ½ miles. The 3-1 program favorite is You're to Blame for trainer Ron Moquett and owner Staton Flurry of Hot Springs

The 7-2 second choice in the program is Campaign, who was runner-up, beaten a neck, in last year's inaugural running for Southern California-based trainer John Sadler. Campaign was the 3-2 favorite in the 2020 Temperence Hill.

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‘Horse Of A Lifetime’ Lord Glitters Ready To Shine On Dubai World Cup Night

When Elwick Stud's Lord Glitters came roaring back to form winning the G1 Jebel Hatta on Super Saturday at Meydan, it embodied why trainer David O'Meara has called the ghostly son of Whipper 'the horse of a lifetime' in interviews. Indeed, it seems the globetrotting fan favorite has been around for a lifetime–or at least two or three standard Thoroughbred careers–while competing at the top level and holding his own impressively.

A nine-time winner from 35 starts, the earner of $2,220,544 is in his sixth season of racing and has competed in 13 Group or Grade 1 affairs, winning twice and placing four times. Saturday's triumph added to an eye-catching victory in the 2019 Queen Anne Stakes (G1) and was his second win from four starts over the Dubai turf course.

“I'm over the moon,” O'Meara said. “It was a great ride by Danny (Tudhope) and a fantastic job done by (assistant/rider) Matt Ennis, who's looking after him out there. It's great for the Turnbull family. Geoff obviously passed away last summer and he'll be looking down smiling, I suspect. Nick, who (runs the stable) now is doing a great job. All systems go, now, for the Dubai Turf. Hopefully we can get there fit and well.”

Geoff Turnbull, who along with wife Sandra ran in name and as Elwick Stud, passed at age 74 in mid-July. The pair's dark blue and pink colors have competed at the top level across the world, including winning the Woodbine Mile (G1) and Arlington Million (G1) with Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) runner-up Mondialiste–who competed in UK, France, America, Canada, Hong Kong and Dubai–and in the past few years by his heir apparent Lord Glitters.

Since being purchased at Arqana for $322,659, following four wins from nine runs in France for Christophe Lotoux, the leggy Lord Glitters has gone on to eclipse Mondialiste's earnings mark, while competing against the best milers and middle-distance horses in the world. His brilliant third-place finish to one of history's great fillies, Almond Eye, in the 2019 Dubai Turf (G1) turned out to be a bit of magic foreshadowing, as he has returned to the UAE for the Dubai World Cup Carnival this year and thrice flourished over the same 1800m (nine-furlong) trip. In addition to the Jebel Hatta, he won the Singspiel (G2) and was an unlucky second in the Al Rashidiya (G2).

The focus now is on the next battle for the ageless warrior: a return to the $4 million Dubai Turf–one without Almond Eye and in which he figures as one of the favorites. A secondary focal point will be keeping the high-energy, massive athlete calm and collected as he faces the very best the globe can throw at him. Such appears to be a labor of love for connections who continue to admire his infinite fervor for competition.

“He's nearly been the same since the day he walked in the yard,” O'Meara said. “He hasn't lost any of his enthusiasm and his exuberant ways. He's a joy to have around the place.

“He's come out of the race okay and swam for a few days and had an easy time of it ahead of building him back up for world cup night,” O'Meara concluded. “We don't need to work him too hard. He's always very generous in his work. A lot of times, it's just keeping a lid on him. On race day, he can get a little warm, but we know him well, now, and how to manage his ways.”

Lord Glitters will surely shine as brightly as he can on Dubai World Cup day.

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‘Rising Star’ Prevalence Stays Unbeaten in Gulfstream Allowance

8th-Gulfstream, $45,000, Alw (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($75,000), 3-11, 3yo, 1m, 1:35.82, ft, 3 lengths.

PREVALENCE (c, 3, Medaglia d'Oro–Enrichment, by Ghostzapper), arguably the flashiest debut winner of 2021 thus far, backed up his huge first-out victory with a more workmanlike allowance tally Thursday at Gulfstream in what could serve as a springboard to an April GI Kentucky Derby prep for the Godolphin homebred. Unveiled as a 34-5 proposition in a loaded-looking maiden race going seven panels here Jan. 23, the bay survived a host of pace pressers and burst away in the lane to a devastating, wrapped-up 8 1/2-length score, easily good enough for 'TDN Rising Star' honors. Considered for a run in the Feb. 27 GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S., he was forced to pass on the race after missing a breeze with a fever. Quickly recovering to post two sharp works at Palm Meadows, Prevalence was pounded down to 1-10 against five overmatched-on-paper rivals here and broke a bit outwardly at the start. Tracking the speed in the clear from second through a modest :23.90 quarter, he turned up the pressure past a swifter :46.35 half and rolled by three-quarters on even terms in 1:10.74 under confident handling. Shaken up by Tyler Gaffalione outside the furlong pole, he scampered clear soon after and didn't face a serious danger from there, hitting the wire three lengths to the good of 32-1 longshot Southern Passage (Super Saver).

“It was probably not as flashy as his first race, but I think we're going to get a lot more out of this race today,” Gaffalione said. “He was definitely more green. He was looking up at the grandstand down the lane. He kind of got lost by himself. I just had to remind him to keep to his task. He has a really bright future. I'm really looking forward to getting to the bottom of him. He didn't disappoint at all today, if anything, I'm even more excited about him because I know, if it comes to it, he will give me some fight.”

The winner is a half to Estihdaaf (Arch), GSW-UAE, $183,491; and Libreta (Girolamo), SW, $128,660. His dam, a full-sister to MGISW Better Lucky (Ghostzapper), has a juvenile Quality Road colt named Emirates Road and foaled a colt by Frosted last term before visiting Uncle Mo. Second dam Sahara Gold (Seeking the Gold) is a GSW daughter of 1995 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint heroine Desert Stormer (Storm Cat). Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $52,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh.

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