The $750,000, Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa Saturday at Gulfstream Park brings together a field of 11 with 100 “Road to the Derby” points going to the winner and guaranteeing a start in the gate on the first Saturday in May for the
Month: March 2021
Jockey Adrian McCarthy regretful after ban for being 1,000 times over cocaine limit
Jockey Adrian McCarthy's licence is withdrawn for six months after a positive drugs test was 1,000 times above the cocaine limit.
Daughter Of Frankel A New Rising Star At Saint-Cloud
There were several unraced fillies in the line-up for Thursday's 10-furlong Prix Monade at Saint-Cloud with immense residual value and abundant racing promise, but at the end there was only one that mattered as Yeguada Centurion's Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) put them to the sword with an audacious front-running display of power. Showing impressive instant pace to arrive at the head of affairs soon after breaking from the widest stall, the April-foaled daughter of the high-class L'Ancresse (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}) was then able to switch off and cruise in an untroubled lead for Aurelien Lemaitre. While her rivals waited and stacked up behind, the 9-1 shot effectively killed the contest in early straight as she kicked approaching the final two furlongs. Having built a sizeable advantage by the time she reached the furlong pole, the bay allowed her rider a lingering look around and she was being eased from there with no conceivable threat. At the line, she had registered a resounding nine-length success from the Nicolas Clement-trained Play All Day (Kitten's Joy), who in turn had 3/4 of a length to spare over George Strawbridge's Vouchsafe (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). The latter is a half-sister to the multiple group 1 winner Moonlight Cloud (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and was one of the clutch of bluebloods cut adrift by the dynamic winner. Also in the backwash was the fourth-placed Urbania (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), the Wertheimers' daughter of the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Plumania (GB) (Anabaa), and Godolphin's eighth-placed Hidden Thought (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a daughter of the high-class Secret Gesture (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in what has to be the most intriguing European maiden so far in 2021.
Sibila Spain marks the first serious prospect and is the first winner in 2021 for the burgeoning Christopher Head stable and, as her name suggests, is owned by Spanish interests. Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals is a relatively new but significant presence on the bloodstock stage, with this €240,000 purchase at the Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale coming just weeks prior to his spending spree at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Sibila Spain was bought two days after La Venus Espagnola (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) sported the Yeguada Centurion silks in public for the first time at the Normandy track's racing festival.
“This horse was initially trained in Madrid and then sent to the training centre of Alban Chevalier du Fau in West France in November,” Head explained. “She came to me Feb. 2 and doesn't have too much work behind her, so she's certainly not 100% yet and has a lot to learn, so I will try to improve her with every run. It wasn't the plan to go to the front, but after she broke so well Aurelien said she was very comfortable with her ears pricked so it was best to go on. She proved clearly the best in the race and although I have an idea where she will run next, I will talk her to owner first.”
L'Ancresse raced in the Michael Tabor colours with distinction for Ballydoyle and was second in the 2003 G1 Irish Oaks before finishing in the same position in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita. Only a neck behind Islington (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), with the likes of Yesterday (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), Heat Haze (GB) (Green Desert), Megahertz (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Riskaverse (Dynaformer) in arrears in one of the strongest editions of that prize to be run, she was becoming the latest to fly the flag for Roger Baines' Somerset-based Britton House Stud. Her dam Solo de Lune (Ire) (Law Society) was an outstanding font of top-class runners, being responsible for the G1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Cerulean Sky (Ire) also by Darshaan and Moonstone (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}), who took the G1 Irish Oaks having been second in the Epsom Classic.
Moonstone produced five black-type winners headed by the G3 Chester Vase scorer US Army Ranger (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was runner-up in the G1 Epsom Derby, and Frankel's G3 Golden Fleece S. scorer Nelson (Ire). Cerulean Sky was responsible for the G2 Doncaster Cup winner and G1 St Leger third Honolulu (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and is the second dam of the trio of group winners Royal Bench (Ire) (Whipper), Memphis Tennessee (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ire}) and Mayhem (Ire) (Whipper). Another of Solo de Lune's eight black-type performers Bywayofthestars (GB) (Danehill) was the dam of Orchestra (Ire), another Galileo who like US Army Ranger captured the Chester Vase and made the frame in the Irish Derby.
L'Ancresse took time to emerge as a smart producer in her own right, but her first foal Minkova (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) did throw the G3 Henry II S. and G3 Ormonde S. winner Magic Circle (Ire) (Makfi {GB}). Her 2009 progeny was Chamonix (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who took the Listed Oyster S. and Listed Listowel S., but it was only in 2015 when she first visited Frankel that the magic began to occur. Master of Reality (Ire) was a slow-burner and ultimately a dour stayer, but a high-class one who captured the G3 Vintage Crop S. and was third in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and a head second before being demoted to fourth in the 2019 G1 Melbourne Cup, GSW-Ire, G1SP-Eng, SP-Fr, $485,468. A year later, the useful listed-placed Eminent Authority (Ire) was another son of the Juddmonte giant to boost his dam's profile while her 2017 filly Frankenstella (Ire) showed promise last term as a staying handicapper who could make her presence felt in black-type company. Sibila Spain is her last known foal, but her ability to inject pace into a middle-distance trip at the first time of asking is both surprising and highly encouraging given that the family stay much further and tend to need time. With that in mind, she could be some closing act.
5th-Saint-Cloud, €27,000, Debutantes, 3-25, 3yo, f, 10fT, 2:15.20, hy.
SIBILA SPAIN (IRE), f, 3, by Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: L'Ancresse (Ire) (Hwt. 3yo Filly-Ire at 9 1/2-10 1/2f, SW & G1SP-Ire, GISP-US, $398,490), by Darshaan (GB)
2nd Dam: Solo de Lune (Ire), by Law Society
3rd Dam: Truly Special (Ire), by Caerleon
(€240,000 Ylg '19 ARAUG). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, €13,500. O-Yeguada Centurion SL; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Christopher Head. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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Fort Erie Race Track Adds Two Days To 2021 Racing Calendar
Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium (FELRC) announced Thursday that they have applied to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to add two additional race days to Fort Erie's racing calendar. The additional days will be added at the end of the season on Oct. 25 and 26, increasing the total number of race days to 42, up from the approved 40 days.
Purses for the two added race dates will be in addition to those initially planned. FELRC's application to the AGCO has the support of Ontario Racing, Ontario Racing Management, the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, the Jockeys' Benefit Association of Canada, Racing Forensics, and the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation.
“Two more race days will greatly help Fort Erie's resident horse people and will also help to attract more trainers and horses to Fort Erie's backstretch,” said Claude Pilato, chair of FELRC's Board of Directors.
As spring approaches, Fort Erie Race Track is preparing for the upcoming racing season. Horse people will enjoy several improvements made since last fall, including a full-scale drainage system and new sprinkler system on the turf track. These systems will ensure better control over the turf surface, resulting in safer racing conditions. Improvements have also been made in the backstretch, including new eves troughs on many of the barns, and more fill in the stalls.
At this time, it is unknown if fans will be able to attend live racing as the season begins due to COVID-19, but Fort Erie has been preparing to welcome back fans this season when it is safe to do so. When COVID-19 direction allows for the return of fans, they will see a number of customer-oriented improvements to the venue, including a renovated Prince of Wales dining room, new air conditioning system and roof on the clubhouse, and new paddock fencing. Staff remain busy undertaking many more improvements to the facility, which will be completed throughout the summer. COVID-19 safety tools have also been put in place such as plexiglass dividers and hand sanitation stations to help protect staff and fans.
Fort Erie's season is scheduled to run primarily Mondays and Tuesdays beginning at 1 p.m. from June 1 through to October 26. Twilight racing will run Tuesdays throughout the summer, with a 4 p.m. first race post time.
For more information about the upcoming season, and updates regarding fan attendance on race days, visit www.forterieracing.com.
The post Fort Erie Race Track Adds Two Days To 2021 Racing Calendar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
