April, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gulfstream’s Juvenile Racing Season Kicks Off Friday

The racing season for 2-year-olds at Gulfstream Park will kick off Friday, when a field of four colts and three fillies are scheduled to debut in a $65,000 maiden special weight event.

Carded as Race 2, the 4 ½-furlong dash has attracted several entrants with stakes pedigrees, including Noble Present, a half-sister to Ceci Valentina, a multiple-stakes winner who has earned more than $277,000. Noble Present's owner/breeder Amalio Ruiz-Lozano and trainer Angel Rodriguez campaigned Ceci Valentina, who captured the $200,000 Florida Sire Stakes Susan's Girl at Gulfstream, as well as Gulfstream Park West's Juvenile Filly Sprint, in 2019.

Noble Present was sired by Noble Bird, a Grade 1 winner who earned more than $1.3 million. Rodriguez is also scheduled to saddle Ruiz-Lozano's Rayo, a Florida-bred son of Long Island Sound. Leonel Reyes has the mount aboard Noble Present, while Jesus Rios has the call on Rayo.

Arindel's Quinoa Tifah kicked off the 2020 juvenile racing season at Gulfstream will an upset victory last April. Arindel will be represented in Friday's race by Merlin, a homebred son of Brethren who is a full brother to multiple stakes-placed Genghis. Edgard Zayas has the call aboard the Arindel homebred.

Super Super Stable's Wow Tapit will bring a solid pedigree into Friday's race. The Amador Sanchez-trained daughter of Cairo Prince is out of a Tapit mare whose second dam is Saoirse, a multiple-graded stakes winner in Canada and the U.S. who won the 2000 Sovereign Award as Canada's champion older filly or mare. Hector Berrios has been named to ride the filly who was bred in Kentucky by Calumet.

Joker Racing LLC's Kitodan, a son of Point of Entry out of an Unbridled's Song mare, is set to debut for trainer Jorge Delgado. Kitodan is a half-brother to graded stakes-placed Market King, who ran without success in the 2019 Preakness (G1). Paco Lopez, who celebrated reaching the 3000-win milestone Saturday, has the mount.

Owner/trainer Daniel Pita enjoyed success last year with juvenile filly Princess Secret, who won her debut before going on to win the $200,000 FSS Susan's Girl and $400,000 FSS My Dear Girl. Pita's Broadway Belle, a daughter of Khozan whose dam was stakes-placed five times, is set to debut in Friday's race. Miguel Vasquez has the call on the Florida-bred filly.

Bella Inizio Farm's LLC's Laki Lio, a Jenna Antonucci-trained son of Ride on Curlin, rounds out the field. Angel Arroyo has been named to ride the homebred colt.

Several entrants are eligible for the 2021 Florida Sire Stakes series that will get underway in August.

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Indiana Grand: Apron Strings Leads Trio Of Wins For Randy Klopp In Season Opener

The 19th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Ind. got underway Tuesday, April 13, with Apron Strings and Tommy Pompell winning the season opener. The Indiana-bred mare was one of three winners on the card for Trainer Randy Klopp, longtime Indiana horseman and Rushville, Ind. Resident.

Apron Strings got out of the gate well and tracked Long Legged Linda and Sant Sanjur through the early stages of the five furlong sprint before pressing forward and getting the lead midway through the stretch, holding on gamely through the wire. Archie's Girl and Manny Esquivel closed well for second followed by Bold Concept and Joe Ramos, who moved up the inside through traffic to finish third.

Owned by Spiess Stable and Klopp, Apron Strings was making her first start of 2021 since taking the winter off from racing in Indiana. The Kodiak Kowboy six-year-old mare now has five wins in 12 starts.

Klopp also greeted Tale of Fame and Jockey Joe Ramos in the winner's circle for the third race and Tapit's Spirit, also ridden by Ramos, for the eighth race, giving Ramos a riding double on the card.

Newcomer Jose Batista also scored two wins on the season opener. The Panamanian native recently finished 10th in the jockey standings at Tampa Bay Downs and moved his tack to Indiana for the 2021 racing season. Batista connected with Gran Rojo in the second race followed by Day in the Country in the fifth race.

One Quarter Horse race was carded on the first program of 2021 with L.D. Martinez and Anthony Cunningham winning with Beach Shakin. The Indiana bred son of Escondido Beach scored his first career win in the race, his first of 2021.

A sizeable crowd was trackside for the season opener. Wagering for the nine-race card topped $1.7 million, outperforming opening day in April 2019 by nearly $400,000.

Live racing extends through Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Racing will be conducted at 2:25 p.m. Monday through Wednesday with first post on Thursday set at 3:25 p.m. In addition, six all-Quarter Horse racing dates are set on select Saturdays starting June 5 at 10 a.m. A special Indiana Champions Day highlighting the state's top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses will be held Saturday, Oct. 30 beginning at 12 p.m. More information about the 2021 racing season is available at www.indianagrand.com.

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Ricardo Santana Voted Jockey Of The Week After Arkansas Derby Victory

Ricardo Santana, Jr. not only won the G1 Arkansas Derby but set three milestones at Oaklawn Park, earning Jockey of the Week honors for April 5 through April 11. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

Riding for his main client, trainer Steve Asmussen, Ricardo Santana, Jr. was aboard Super Stock in the G1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Parkon April 10. Off at odds of 12-1 in the field of six, Santana, Jr. and Super Stock took advantage of a speed duel set by favorite Concert Tour and Caddo River to win by 2-1/2 lengths in the 1-1/8th mile race in 1:50.92 to earn 100 points and a spot in the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 1.

“We got a beautiful trip. I was talking to Mr. Steve (Asmussen) for about two weeks before the race,” said Santana, Jr. “The post was perfect. We both liked breaking from #1. We knew there was some speed and everything came out perfect. It was a really important win for Steve and his family. I'm really blessed to be the one they chose to ride this race.”

Santana, Jr., a seven-time Oaklawn riding champion, reached three more milestones Saturday. He became the ninth rider in Oaklawn history to reach 600 career victories after winning the tenth race aboard Mighty Mischief for Asmussen and recorded 601 with his victory in the G1 Arkansas Derby.

He broke his single-season Oaklawn record for purse earnings with $4,404,778 after the Arkansas Derby victory. He set the previous record in 2019. While he became the first rider in Oaklawn history to reach $30 million in career purse earnings on April 3, he surpassed that record with Super Stock's victory.

Santana, Jr.'s stats for the week were 36-8-3-5 with a 22.2 win percentage and 44.4 in-the-money percentage. Total purse earnings for the week were $1,071,963 to lead all jockeys. He currently sits at the top of Oaklawn's jockey standings with 57 victories, 18 more than David Cabrera.

Santana, Jr. out-polled Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr. with an in-the-money percentage of 76.4, Tyler Gaffalione who won the G1 Jenny Wiley, Florent Geroux who captured the G3 Count Fleet, and Jose L. Ortiz who won a stakes race at Aqueduct and recorded five winners on a single card.

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Tampa Bay Downs Announces Fourth Purse Increase Of Meet

Fueled by continued gains in simulcast revenue, Tampa Bay Downs has increased purses by 10 percent for the fourth time during the 2020-2021 meeting. The boost takes effect with today's card and extends through the season finale on May 2.

Peter Berube, the track's Vice President-General Manager, said purses for each race will be increased by $3,000 from their previous levels. Purses for maiden special weight races have been hiked to $29,000, which includes $1,000 per race from the Florida Owners' Awards program.

Tampa Bay Downs has raised purses by 40 percent since the Nov. 25 Opening Day card.

“The latest increase is a tribute to our horsemen who strive to deliver a quality product, the racing office for its efforts to provide competitive racing with full fields and fans around the country who continue to flock to our signal,” Berube said.

Tampa Bay Downs previously boosted purses on Dec. 16, Feb. 3 and Feb. 20.

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