April, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Haiku Handicapper Presented By Form2Win: 2021 Kentucky Derby

Time to analyze the 2021 Kentucky Derby field, in post position order, in the form of Haiku; a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.

To read previous editions of The Haiku Handicapper, click here.

#1 – Known Agenda
A nightmare post draw
Torpedoes a true win threat
Still play underneath

#2 – Like the King
His road to Churchill
Traversed over Tapeta
Hard to envision

#3 – Brooklyn Strong
A last-minute call
When does that idea work?
Won't be on tickets

#4 – Keepmeinmind
Soph slump in effect
Likes the track, but that feels like
A lifetime ago

#5 – Sainthood
Recovered nicely
After Turfway donnybrook
He'll pass a few late

#6 – O Besos
Won't be knocked around
He'll earn his graded stakes due
In the months to come

#7 – Mandaloun
Early momentum
Was doused by a Fair Grounds dud
Rebounds don't win here

#8 – Medina Spirit
Couldn't seal the deal
Once he got the starting gig
On Baffert's depth chart

#9 – Hot Rod Charlie
The parts appear there
Just not sure how much I trust
The Fair Grounds prep route

#10 – Midnight Bourbon
Last two running lines
Have the same end: Outfinished
Leave him on the shelf

#11 – Dynamic One
Rapid improvement
Might not take home the roses
But wait for the Spa

#12 – Helium
Has seen Thanksgiving
As much as he's seen a race
Since mid-October

#13 – Hidden Stash
A late-stage grinder
Can't hang with mid-tier hopefuls
Not a potent blend

#14 – Essential Quality
The unbeaten champ
Does little else but ace tests
Why would he stop now?

#15 – Rock Your World
Turf-to-dirt success
We'll know all we need to know
After the first turn

#17 – Highly Motivated
Nearly nipped the champ
A breakout win's imminent
Worth a small “win” share

#18 – Super Stock
Surprised at Oaklawn
Breaking his “check-getter” cred
Can't get too enthused

#19 – Soup and Sandwich
An uncommon sight
An Into Mischief that's gray
Might grab a mouthful

#20 – Bourbonic
Long-priced Wood winner
Needs the home stretch seas to part
Tough “win” strategy

Prediction
Champion retains
“Quality” resume grows
Then nine, seventeen

The post The Haiku Handicapper Presented By Form2Win: 2021 Kentucky Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gift List Shows Stretch Wallop To Win Edgewood Stakes; Aunt Pearl Fifth At 1-5 Odds

Making her second start in the U.S. for trainer Brian Lynch, Amerman Racing Stables LLC's Gift List trounced previously unbeaten Aunt Pearl by 4 1/4 lengths in Friday's Grade 2 Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., accelerating past the 1-5 favorite with an explosive turn of foot to win going away under Javier Castellano.

Barista finished second by 2 1/2 lengths, with Line Dancing edging Queen of the Green in a photo finish for third. Aunt Pearl, whose three victories culminated with a front-running score last Nov. 6 in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, checked in fifth in the field of seven 3-year-old fillies after setting the fractions.

Gift List, a Bated Breath filly bred in England by James Ortega Bloodstock Ltd., covered 1 1/16 miles on a good turf course in 1:41.94. She paid $10.80 as the second choice in the wagering off a second-place finish April 3 in the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland.

Aunt Pearl went to the front as expected under Florent Geroux (she won all three of her races as a juvenile going wire to wire), but the Todd Pletcher-trained Zaajel,a Street Sense filly making her fourth career start and first on turf, put some pressure on the Irish-bred Lope de Vega filly from the outset. Aunt Pearl went the opening quarter mile in :24.32 and the half in :49.03, but the third quarter was run in a shade under 24 seconds for a six-furlong split of 1:13.00.

Rounding the far turn, jockey Luis Saez stepped up the pressure with Zaajel, while Castellano sat chilly just behind the two front-runners. saving ground throughout their journey.

When the field tipped into the stretch, Aunt Pearl still clung to the lead, but Castellano swung Gift List to the front-runners outside and quickly accelerated past that one, passing the mile marker in 1:36.61 and was under light encouragement to the wire.

Castellano said he learned some things about Gift List in the Appalachian. “She needs to be covered up a little bit,” the Hall of Fame jockey said, a reference to keeping her behind other horses. “And we saved all the ground.

“I didn't have any special instructions today; just play the break and go from there,” Castellano added. “She broke fine and I got a very good spot. Then when I asked her she gave me some amazing acceleration. She was a special winner today.”

Lynch said the pressure that Zaajel put on Aunt Pearl approaching the stretch played to his filly's advantage. “It looked like a bit of a tussle at the three-sixteenths pole (between Zaajel and Aunt Pearl) and she put herself in the race,” Lynch said of Gift List. “She looks like she'll run on … like she'll get a mile and a quarter and beyond. I'm very fortunate to have her in the barn. It looks like she's got a very bright future.”

“Off the last race, in her first U.S. debut, she gave a great run that day Appalachian Stakes), in a race that had no pace,” Lynch said. “She's really trained so well from her last start to this, even though we had to work her on the dirt, which was a new thing to her. She was very comfortable getting over it, and was getting plenty out of her works. I had a good feeling going into this race, that if Aunt Pearl were to stub her toe, we'd have a good shot. She (Aunt Pearl) was a big obstacle, no doubt. Undefeated filly. Breeders' Cup winner. But we all know, and I've run into it myself with Oscar Performance, some of them take to this course and some just don't. It had a little bit of give in it today, and my filly had some good races on soft and heavy turf. Maybe that had something to do with it.”

Trained in the UK by Karl Richard Burke as a 2-year-old, Gift List won two of five starts, with three seconds, none of the races longer than seven furlongs.

As for the beaten favorite, Geroux said of Aunt Pearl: “She was traveling great, going to the back side, she was relaxing, I just had no horse down the lane. She's a very small filly. In my opinion, she did not move forward as much as some of those other horses.”

Trainer Brian Lynch congratulates Javier Castellano after Gift List's Edgewood Stakes win

The post Gift List Shows Stretch Wallop To Win Edgewood Stakes; Aunt Pearl Fifth At 1-5 Odds appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kentucky Derby Live!: May 1 Beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET

Join America's Best Racing for the first jewel of the 2021 Triple Crown: the $3 million Kentucky Derby by Woodford Reserve May 1. Hosts Dan Tordjman (ABR), Bram Weinstein (ESPN Radio), and Ren Carothers (Breeders' Cup Future Stars Forecast) take viewers right up to post time for the run for the roses in an immersive second-screen Kentucky Derby Live! experience that allows fans and bettors to interact in real-time.

Gift List Dominates the Edgewood, Aunt Pearl Fifth

Gift List scored her first Stateside victory in style with a dominant score in Churchill's GII Edgewood S. Friday. Previously undefeated favorite Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), last seen winning the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, faded to fifth.

Sent off at 4-1, Gift List tracked from a ground-saving third as the chalk dictated terms, clocking early splits of :24.32 and :49.03. Biding her time on the backstretch run, Gift List dove between horses to overtake Aunt Pearl at the top of the stretch and powered clear instantly, roaring home to a dazzling score. Barista filled the place spot. Aunt Pearl was one-paced in the lane, swallowed up by the field to be fifth at the line.

“Off the last race, in her first U.S. debut, she gave a great run that day, in a race that had no pace,” said trainer Brian Lynch. “She's really trained so well from her last start to this, even though we had to work her on the dirt, which was a new thing to her. She was very comfortable getting over it, and was getting plenty out of her works. I had a good feeling going into this race, that if Aunt Pearl were to stub her toe, we'd have a good shot. She was a big obstacle, no doubt. Undefeated filly. Breeders' Cup winner. But we all know, and I've run into it myself with Oscar Performance, some of them take to this course and some just don't. It had a little bit of give in it today, and my filly had some good races on soft and heavy turf. Maybe that had something to do with it.”

“I didn't have any special instructions today; just play the break and go from there,” said winning rider Javier Castellano. “She broke fine and I got a very good spot. Then when I asked her she gave me some amazing acceleration. She was a special winner today.”

A second-out graduate at Newcastle Aug. 2, Gift List won again at Redcar 27 days later. Runner-up next out at Newmarket Oct. 3, she was second again in the Radley S. at Newbury Oct. 24. Privately purchased by the Amermans and sent to Brian Lynch, she was second in Keeneland's GII Appalachian S. when making her U.S. debut Apr. 3.

As for the beaten favorite, BSW/Crow Bloodstock tweeted: “Aunt Pearl came out of the race sound. Unfortunately she bled 3/5, her first time bleeding. She ran her entire 2yo year without Lasix, and we are hopeful we will be able to get her back to top form this season. When she is at her best, she has devastating speed that carries.”

Pedigree Notes:

Gift List is the 11th graded winner and 17th black-type scorer for her sire Bated Breath. Her GSW dam Birthstone is a daughter of GSW & G1SP Baya (Nureyev) and a half-sister to SW & MGSP Songcraft (Ire) (Singspiel {Ire}). Birthstone has only produced one foal since the winner, a now juvenile filly by Havana Gold (Ire).

Friday, Churchill Downs
EDGEWOOD S. PRESENTED BY NEWPORT RACING & GAMING-GII, $300,000, Churchill Downs, 4-30, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:42.52, gd.
1–GIFT LIST (GB), 118, f, 3, by Bated Breath (GB)
1st Dam: Birthstone (GB) (GSW-Fr), by Machiavellian
2nd Dam: Baya, by Nureyev
3rd Dam: Barger, by Riverman
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. (23,000gns Ylg '19 TAOCT). O-Amerman Racing LLC; B-James Ortega Bloodstock Ltd (GB); T-Brian A Lynch; J-Javier Castellano. $182,280. Lifetime Record: SP-Eng, 7-3-4-0, $281,814. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Barista, 118, f, 3, Medaglia d'Oro–Callista, by Tapit. ($100,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Miacomet Farm & Michael A Pietrangelo; B-Courtlandt Farm (KY); T-James E Baker. $58,800.
3–Line Dancing, 118, f, 3, Speightstown–Choreograph, by Dynaformer. O/B-Bass Stables LLC (KY); T-Michael R Matz. $29,400.
Margins: 4 1/4, 2HF, NO. Odds: 4.40, 23.10, 21.40.
Also Ran: Queen of the Green, Aunt Pearl (Ire), Postnup, Zaajel.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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