March, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

6-Year-Old Chateau Makes Graded Stakes Debut Winning One In Tom Fool

Michael Dubb's Chateau made his graded stakes debut on Saturday, and the veteran 6-year-old proved it was worth the wait after surging to the front and having plenty left in the tank en route to a gate-to-wire 3 1/2-length score in the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap for 4-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Chateau, who had made just two previous stakes appearances through his first 32 career starts, broke sharp under meet-leading rider Kendrick Carmouche from post 3, leading the six-horse field through swift opening fractions of 22.81 seconds for the quarter-mile with the half in 46.18 over the fast main track.

Chateau built on his advantage approaching the turn and was never seriously challenged in the stretch, besting a charging Wendell Fong to complete the six-furlong course in 1:12.10.

Chateau, who earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure for a 1 1/2-length win against allowance company on January 18 going six furlongs, again led at every point of call at the Big A for trainer Rob Atras. The Flat Out gelding notched consecutive wins for the first time since 2018, when he won three in a row at the claiming and allowance levels.

“That was emotional,” Atras said. “He came running out of the gate and put away the other speed horse [Happy Farm], who is no slouch. Kendrick broke him so sharp. We had a plan; obviously it was no secret. He put away that horse and was controlling the race and got a little separation. When they turned for home, it didn't look like anyone was coming and Kendrick still had some horse. It was an amazing performance.

“We've always liked him and Kendrick has really figured out how to ride him. He's been a big help.”

Atras, who took over the training duties last year, has seen Chateau go 2-2-2 in his last six starts and now could earn the right to face even more challenging competition in the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap, with the seven-furlong sprint on the undercard of the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 at Aqueduct.

“It might be pushing it for distance, but off this race anything is possible,” Atras said. “We'll see how he comes out of the race and go from there.”

Off at 7-2, Chateau returned $9.60 on a $2 win wager. The Kentucky bred improved his career earnings to $477,769.

“When you read into it and there's a lot of speed, nine times out of ten, it doesn't happen that way. I knew my horse had to be forwardly placed,” Carmouche said. “I figured him out last time. This time I knew Rob had given him enough time in between races where he could carry his speed a little longer.

Carmouche has been aboard for his last two victories.

“The track is a little different than last time and is a little deeper,” Carmouche said. “The speed is carrying. But no matter what I just had to let him run his race and carry him home.”

Gold Square's Wendell Fong, who gave trainer Natalia Lynch her first career win in the Fire Plug in January at Laurel Park, outkicked Speed Pass by 3 1/4 lengths for second.

“It set up perfect. He did everything he was supposed to do and our goal was to see if he could handle the track and he did his job today,” said Lynch, who said she excepts Wendell Fong to go to the Carter. “It's just really good to see him compete at this level again.”

Added Wendell Fong rider Trevor McCarthy: “He got a good break. The Baffert horse [No. 5, Speed Pass] broke bad and then rushed up to get position and I thought that was the horse that would take me there and be a good horse to follow. When I tipped out, he finished up strong. He just couldn't catch the speed horses. They were going at a pretty decent fraction and speed is pretty good here at Aqueduct.”

Pete's Play Call, the favorite, finished fourth, with Happy Farm and Share the Ride completing the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card highlighted by the $100,000 Biogio's Rose, a one-turn mile for state-bred fillies and mares 4-years-old and up in Race 7. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

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Hit The Road Rallies To Win the Kilroe Mile

Hit the Road (More Than Ready) struck a blow for the locals, parlaying a perfect trip into a stirring short-neck victory in Saturday's GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. at Santa Anita.

Drawn in gate two with the visiting Florent Geroux in the irons, Hit the Road found the perfect spot in the box seat, as Flying Scotsman (English Channel) sped across from his outside barrier to supplant favored Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute). The pace was sensible through the middle stages, with positions largely unchanged, and Hit the Road appeared to be in some bother nearing the quarter pole, as Flavius (War Front) kept him in for a time.

Smooth Like Strait had first run and the race was there for the taking if good enough, but Hit the Road, off at odds of 4-1, sliced through at the rail and fought on bravely to post a narrow victory. Count Again (Awesome Again) came from a share of last to be third with a flying finish.

Hit the Road is the first Grade I in the career of 38-year-old trainer Dan Blacker.

“I was pretty anxious, but I thought if he can get through, he's got a good chance,” Blacker said. “Luckily, 'Flo' found a gap and he just proved that he's the best today. I gave myself 10 years to win a Grade I and luckily we got it done in year nine. I don't want to make this about me. It's all about the horse, he's such a professional animal–he is a true racehorse. He was born that way. He's just a true athlete and so mentally focused on racing. I just feel so fortunate to have him and with a great group of owners. Being with me for such a long time, they've been so patient, and I'm just really thrilled for them all to get a win like this.”

Hit the Road, an impressive last-to-first winner of the Zuma Beach S. over course and distance at two, entered the Kilroe Mile riding a three-race winning streak. Two-for-two in an abbreviated 3-year-old campaign, including Del Mar's Runhappy Oceanside S., Hit the Road fired fresh off the bench with a sharp tally in the local GIII Thunder Road S. Feb. 6.

Pedigree Notes:

Hit the Road is the 26th worldwide top-level winner for the sensational dual-hemisphere stallion More Than Ready and 12th Grade I winner in North America. Hit the Road is bred on the wildly successful cross over Danzig-line mares-predominantly through Danehill-that has been responsible for the likes of top-level scorers Sebring (Aus), Prized Icon (Aus), Perfectly Ready (Aus), More Than Sacred (Aus) in Australia, to name only a few, and Uni (GB) in the United States.

Hit the Road is the first foal out of unraced Highway Mary (U S Ranger). The 8-year-old mare subsequently produced a filly by Quality Road, that died the following season, during which she
was barren. She had an Arrogate filly in 2020 and has a foal filly by American Pharoah. The winner's second dam is Grade II winner Wandering Star, dam of G1 Dewhurst S. hero War Command (War Front), Group 3 scorer Naval Officer (Tale of the Cat) and Wonder Woman (Storm Cat), responsible for a pair of black-type winners and four black-type performers.

Highway Mary brought €100,000 from agent Justin Casse at the 2015 ARQDEC sale.

Saturday, Santa Anita
FRANK E. KILROE MILE S.-GI, $402,500, Santa Anita, 3-6, 4yo/up, 1mT, 1:34.48, fm.
1–HIT THE ROAD, 122, c, 4, by More Than Ready
                1st Dam: Highway Mary, by U S Ranger
                2nd Dam: Wandering Star, by Red Ransom
                3rd Dam: Beautiful Bedouin, by His Majesty
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($200,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-D K
Racing, LLC, Radley Equine, Inc., Taste of Victory Stables, Gold,
Rick, Maslowski, Tony E. and Odmark, Dave; B-Fred Hertrich
(KY); T-Dan Blacker; J-Florent Geroux. $240,000. Lifetime
Record: 9-6-0-0, $494,751. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Smooth Like Strait, 122, c, 4, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy. $80,000.
3–Count Again, 122, g, 6, Awesome Again–Count to Three, by
Red Ransom. O-Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm;
B-Sam-Son Farm (ON); T-Philip D'Amato. $48,000.
Margins: NK, NK, HF. Odds: 4.20, 2.80, 16.30.
Also Ran: Flavius, Royal Ship (Brz), Casa Creed, Ride a Comet, Spirit Animal, Flying Scotsman, Social Paranoia. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Search Results Edges Miss Brazil In Busher, Earns 50 Kentucky Oaks Points

The $250,000 Busher Invitational kicked off the stakes action on Gotham Day at Aqueduct Racetrack in thrilling fashion as the two favorites, Search Results and Miss Brazil, sparred for the duration of the one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, with the Klaravich Stables-owned Search Results proving best by a half-length at the finish.

Sent off as the narrow second choice in the wagering at 2-1, Search Results was making just her second career start on the heels of an emphatic, four-length debut win on January 3 at Gulfstream Park for trainer Chad Brown.

Despite a far less imposing resume than Miss Brazil, who won the local prep for the Busher, the Ruthless, by 6 ¼ lengths as an encore to a dominant maiden score at Aqueduct, the betting public had the race pegged with near-laser precision as Miss Brazil was sent off the slightest of favorites at 9-5 — a margin that was almost transposed onto the racetrack given the way the race unfolded.

The field of six all broke well and formed a very tight pack down the backstretch of the Ozone Park, N.Y., track as Miss Brazil went out to show the way through splits of 24.53 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.64 for the half with Search Results in close attendance on her outside. The two continued to amble along on the front around the far turn, logging three-quarters in 1:15.14, and began to gain separation from the others as the field turned for home.

As jockey Eric Cancel finally let her loose, Miss Brazil tried to inch away from her rival down the lane, but Search Results proved an intractable foe and refused to concede any ground to the favorite. With a sixteenth to go it was still anyone's race, and it was only in the waning strides that Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano and Search Results were able to finally pass Miss Brazil, stopping the clock in 1:39.75 for the distance.

“She broke so well out of the gate. She put me in a good position to rate and I didn't want to take that away from her and take her back,” said winning rider Castellano. “I just let her do what she wanted to do. She was happy and she settled fine. They were just galloping along in the lead with the one horse [Miss Brazil], who was my target on paper.

“When I asked her, she didn't switch leads, but everything I asked for, she gave it to me. She responded,” he added. “I like the way she galloped out and I think she's going to be a good filly in the future. Two turns will be even better.”

The win made it two in a row for Search Results, a dark bay daughter of Flatter that was purchased for $310,000 as a yearling at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale, and in the process netted her 50 qualifying points toward a berth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs. Search Results returned $6.30 on a $2 win wager and received the winner's share of the purse of $137,500, bumping her bankroll to $161,500.

A game Miss Brazil finished second, 5 ¾ lengths in front of Search Results' stablemate The Grass Is Blue, who got caught up in a bit of traffic around the turn and was still able to muster a rally in the stretch behind the tepid early splits, while it was another half-length back to Laobanonaprayer in fourth. These three earned 20, 10, and 5 Oaks qualifying points, respectively, for their finishes. Make Mischief and Mo Desserts completed the order of finish.

Updated Kentucky Oaks leaderboard

“The plan going into this race was to go to the lead and make her comfortable, and I followed through with it,” said Cancel of runner-up Miss Brazil. “I just got caught the last sixteenth. The [final furlong] made a little bit of a difference with it being her first time going a mile. She fought hard almost to the wire. The last sixteenth she struggled just a bit, but they ran hard. I can't take anything away from her. She's a really decent filly.”

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OBS to Take Phone Bids for Horse Fever Statue

The OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, which will feature a Horse Fever statue called “Clockwork Fury” as the last hip to sell on Tuesday, Mar. 16, will now accept phone bids on the unusual offering. It had previously been announced that bidding must take place only in person or via agent/proxy. Potential bidders can now register for phone bidding and will be called just before Clockwork Fury enters the ring. Unlike with live hips, no pre-qualification is necessary.

Clockwork Fury has greeted visitors at Journeyman Stud in Ocala for the past decade and is being donated to raise funds for Florida Thoroughbred Charities (FTC) and Marion Cultural Alliance (MCA). The statue is expected to sell between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., with coverage starting at 4:00 p.m. on the Horse Fever event page.

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