April, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Cross Country Pick 5 Features Opening Weekend At Belmont Park, Action From Oaklawn

The New York Racing Association Inc. [NYRA] will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring racing from the first weekend of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, along with action from Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

A full field of 12 maidens 3-years-old and up competing at 1 1/16 miles on the Widener turf course will start the sequence in Belmont's Race 6 at 3:34 p.m. Eastern. Mandatory has finished in the money in four of his five career starts, posting a 0-2-2 record, including earning a field-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure for a runner-up last out on March 14 at Aqueduct Racetrack for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The Todd Pletcher-trained Shaftesbury, a $675,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale, has finished second in three consecutive starts, all at Gulfstream Park, and is 7-2 on the morning line.

Oaklawn will get in on the fun with a six-furlong starter allowance race for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs in Race 5 at 3:54 p.m. Sevier, 3-1 for trainer Coty Rosin, won his last two races at Oaklawn and will look for a third consecutive win. Greeley and Ben, trained by Karl Broberg, and I Belong to Becky both are listed at 7-2.

The sequence alternates back to Belmont with a seven-furlong allowance optional claimer contest for 4-year-olds and up in Race 7 at 4:08 p.m. The Chad Brown trained Looking At Bikinis will be making his first start of 2021, returning off a five-month break. Looking At Bikinis, who ran 11th in the 2019 Grade 1 Travers and fourth in that year's Grade 1 Cigar Mile, will be racing for just the third time since 2020 but is 2-1 on the morning line. The New York-bred T Loves a Fight will be making his 50th career start, listed at 15-1 for trainer Orlando Noda.

A full field of a dozen 3-year-olds and up will contest Oaklawn's sixth race, a six-furlong claiming contest, at 4:29 p.m. Balandeen, at 3-1 on the morning line, has finished in third in his last three races for trainer Juan Cano. Unscathed, listed at 9-2 for conditioner Genaro Garcia, also ran third last out in a claiming contest, finishing in the money in April at Oaklawn going the same distance as Saturday's race.

Belmont will wrap up the Cross County Pick 5 with the sequence's only stakes, as eight 4-year-olds and up will square off in the $100,000 Elusive Quality going seven furlongs on the Widener turf course. Eight-time stakes winner Therapist will look to win his seasonal debut for the third consecutive year and is listed at 7-2 for trainer Christophe Clement. Brown will send out three contenders in the eight-horse field, including 2-1 favorite Front Run the Fed, along with 4-1 Value Proposition and 12-1 selection Seismic Wave.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available 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.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, April 22:
Leg A: Belmont– Race 6 (3:34 p.m.)
Leg B: Oaklawn – Race 5 (3:54 p.m.)
Leg C: Belmont – Race 7 (4:08 p.m.)
Leg D: Oaklawn – Race 6 (4:29 p.m.)
Leg E: Belmont – Race 8 Elusive Quality (4:40 p.m.)

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Ry’s The Guy Will Try To Defend His Title In Tuesday’s Isaac Murphy Marathon At Churchill

Lothenbach Stables' Ry's the Guy, a front-running 4 ¾-length winner of last year's Champions Day feature, headlines a field eight older runners entered for next Tuesday's third running of the $130,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance at Churchill Downs.

The 1 ½-mile main track test will go as the eighth race on Tuesday afternoon's nine-race program with a 4:22 p.m. (all times Eastern) post time. First post is 12:45 p.m.

Trained by Ian Wilkes, Ry's the Guy will be making his 2021 debut in Tuesday's race. Regular rider Chris Landeros will be aboard and break from post five.

The field for the Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Burning Bright (Ricardo Santana Jr., 118 pounds), Lone Rock (Ramon Vazquez, 120), Dack Janiel's (Kendrick Carmouche, 118), Portos (Tyler Gaffalione, 118), Ry's the Guy (Landeros, 118), You're to Blame (Luis Saez, 118), Plus Que Parfait (James Graham, 118) and Jumper (Corey Lanerie, 118).

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Aidan Green Celebrates Her First Stakes Winner At Oaklawn Park

Aidan Green has made a name for herself this year at Oaklawn. Emphasis on “her.”

In what has become a running joke, Green noted that some people have praised the trainer for “his” snowballing success during the 51-day meeting that ends May 1. Perhaps, the confusion abated somewhat last Friday when Green saddled her first career stakes winner (Blame J D) in the $150,000 Rainbow for 3-year-old Arkansas-bred sprinters.

“I hope so,” Green, 33, said with a laugh. “That might have been the win to do it.”

The Rainbow marked the eighth career winner for Green – all this year at Oaklawn – and placed her in a tie for 11th in the local standings through Sunday. She also had five seconds and seven thirds from just 31 starters.

Green began the meeting with four horses, but her stable has grown to approximately 10 through claims. Green saddled her first career winner recognized by Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization, Feb. 11 with one-time Triple Crown hopeful Kristo. It was the 21st recognized starter for Green, who saddled her first horse in 2020, according to Equibase.

Green's unquestioned star is Blame J D, a gelded son of champion Blame for local breeder/owner James W. Matheney Jr. Blame J D has a 2-0-1 record in four career starts at the meeting and bankrolled $155,050.

“He's as good as I've had so far,” Green said. “As an Arkie-bred, he hasn't shown any weaknesses, really.”

Blame J D was broken by Green's husband/assistant, Ike Green, who has 98 career training victories, the last coming in 2014, according to Equibase. Green also unearthed and broke multiple Grade 1 winner and 2018 Triple Crown hopeful Bolt d'Oro when working for former business associate Mick Ruis.

Green assisted trainer Robertino Diodoro the last two years at Oaklawn, helping him capture his first local title in 2020 and Diodoro's major client, M and M Racing (Mike and Mickala Sisk), set a single-season Oaklawn record for victories by an owner with 61 in 2019. Green, among other things, also breaks horses for a local pinhooking group and hauls horses for M and M.

Aidan Green's high winning percentage coincides with having three young children, handling administrative issues for Diodoro (licensing, reservations, etc.) and dabbling in professional photography (she's booked four weddings this year).

“Kids and horses, that's all we do,” Ike Green said. “That's it.”

Aidan Green grew up in Canada around Quarter-Horses and draft horses her family owned and was a star volleyball player. She signed with Texas Tech before transferring to Texas-El Paso, where she was a four-year letterman (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009). Green said she met her future husband in 2010 when he was training at Sunland Park in suburban El Paso. They married in 2013 and have three children – Olivia, 5; Owen, 4; and Oakley, 6 months.

As many races as Aidan Green has won this year at Oaklawn, it might seem like she's raising her kids in the Larry Snyder Winner's Circle. Normally after each victory, Green has her picture taken holding Oakley, with Olivia and Owen standing directly behind her on a platform.

“Our kids are pretty infamous back here, but anybody outside of the backside probably doesn't know or think that I have three,” Green said. “The other day, Olivia and Owen were standing on the edge of the paddock rail and this lady walked up and said, 'Where is your guys' mom?' And they're like, 'In there.' She thought they were on their own.”

If she's not saddling a horse or visiting the winner's circle, you might see Aidan Green, between races, carrying Oakley or pushing him in a stroller. The spirited Olivia and Owen could be racing or playing on the first floor of the grandstand or grandstand apron, often interacting with Diodoro and some of his employees.

“Don't get wrong, they're good kids,” Diodoro said. “But they're wild suckers. They're not the typical kids, get them up early and make them play and then they'll get a nap. They've got energized batteries in them. I've never seen kids like this. They might get a little cranky, but they don't stop. It's just, 'Go. Go. Go.' It's nuts.”

Diodoro calls Ike Green, 41, “a very good horseman” and said his wife possesses the organizational skills of a “computer.” The Greens, in the past few years, have overseen divisions for Diodoro at Churchill Downs and Saratoga before opting to focus more on developing their own stock.

Aidan Green said Team Green is a Team effort.

“It wouldn't really matter either way, if they ran in Ike's name,” Aidan Green said. “He was going to do more the baby side of things on the farm and we didn't want any conflict of interest, Diodoro and Ike, since he was his assistant. We just went this way and I'm loving it. I really am. We always laugh that when I first started dating Ike, I said: 'I hire, I fire and I pay' because you're up at the track all morning and I'm at the barn and they don't listen to me if you pay them. That was our rule. We've come a long way since then.”

Except that part about Aidan being a “she” and not a “he.” Green pointed to a well-known national horse racing podcast as a recent comical example.

“My nephew was laughing at one video because he said they talked like they know you, but then they still call you a guy,” Green said. “One guy said, 'A lot of you don't know this about Aidan Green, but he is young and he is striving.' Somebody commented: 'You know, that's a girl, right?' ”

The Greens keep broodmares on their eight-acre farm about 15 minutes southwest of Oaklawn. Ike Green said they'll likely remain in the Hot Springs area this summer and send a handful of horses to his brother, trainer Greg Green, at Lone Star Park.

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New Strain Of Hendra Virus Discovered In Australia

Australian researchers have determined a new strain of Hendra virus was responsible for the unexplained death of a horse in 2015. Hendra virus has a mortality rate of nearly 80 percent in horses. It's also lethal to humans, with a 60 percent mortality rate. Since its discovery in 1994, Hendra virus has killed over 100 horses and four humans in Australia.

The new strain of Hendra virus had not been seen in routine equine biosecurity testing, but has been detected in grey-headed flying fox samples from 2013. The samples collected in Adelaide share 99 percent of their sequence identity with the virus infecting the 2015 horse sample.

Prior to this discovery, Hendra virus was only known to occur in areas where black flying foxes and spectacled flying foxes live. The research team has developed diagnostic lab techniques to identify the new strain. They expect the currently available Hendra virus vaccine will be effective against the newly discovered strain.

The research team, led by Dr. Peter Reid, suggests that unwell horses living in areas where flying foxes are present should be treated with the same precautions as horses that have had a positive Hendra diagnosis, even if their initial Hendra test comes back negative.

The scientists suggest that preventative measures to curtail the spread of Hendra virus be put in place, including vaccination, good hygiene, the use of personal protective equipment and putting biosecurity measures in place.