May, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Somelikeithotbrown Vindicated In Second Run At Dinner Party Stakes, Sets Course Record

The second time in the Grade 2 Dinner Party Stakes was the charm for Somelikeithotbrown, who vindicated last year's runner-up effort in the race on Saturday. Jockey Jose Ortiz tucked the 5-year-old horse in behind 25-1 early leader Flying Scotsman, stalking his pace just outside and poking a nose out in front on the final turn. Somelikeithotbrown faced down a stubborn Flying Scotsman in the stretch under a calculated ride by Ortiz and held off late charges from Talk or Listen and favored Sacred Life to prevail by one length.

The victory was trainer Mike Maker's fourth graded stakes win in the previous two days.

Talk or Listen was second, followed by Midnight Tea Time. Bye Bye Melvin and Flying Scotsman finished in a dead heat for fourth.

Somelikeithotbrown went off at odds of 3-1 and paid $7.60 to win.

The final time of 1:40.09 was a course record for the 1 1/16 miles on the Pimlico turf course. Fractions were :23.78, :47.33, 1:10.52, and 1:34.17.

Mike Maker trains Somelikeithotbrown for owners Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stables. The horse came to the race after a disappointing seventh in the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile earlier this year. He also has wins in the G2 Bernard Baruch and the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks to his credit.

Somelikeithotbrown was bred in New York by Sand Dollar Stables and Hot Pink Stables and is the son of Big Brown and Tapit mare Marilyn Monroan.

See the full chart here.

$250,000 Dinner Party (G2) Quotes, courtesy Pimlico press office

Winning trainer Mike Maker (Somelikeithotbrown): “Jose and I talked about it. Last time that horse [Flying Scotsman] broke a step slow, came to our outside and he never settled in the Maker's Mark and it cost him in the end. I told Jose, 'If the horse goes, let's see if we can't get to the outside of him and see you in the winner's circle.'”

“He just doesn't seem to fire his A game at Gulfstream. After [the Dec. 12 Fort Lauderdale], we decided just to give him the winter off and point to this year.”

(On thinking this might have clinched the $50K trainer's bonus) “Well, Steve Asmussen has a lot more starters and placings so it might be a lot closer than people think.”

“I did like most of our horses. We had a couple of others that ran up the track.”

“We have a lot of options. He's run well at Saratoga multiple times. He's a New York-bred, so we'll look at a couple of those races as well.”

Winning jockey Jose Ortiz (Somelikeithotbrown): “I have ridden this horse before in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf as a 2-year-old, and it has been a long time since I have ridden him. He's matured a lot. He showed me some speed early on, and I got him to relax on the first turn and that was the key. He relaxed nicely and from the half-mile pole to the 3/8ths pole I was just waiting and waiting and when I asked him to go he did.”

Trainer Arnaud Delacour (Talk Or Listen; 2^nd): “They were all bunched up together. I thought we had a great trip. Flavien [Prat] did a great job and the horse was there for him, so I'm delighted. I'll have to see how he comes back. I wouldn't mind to run him a little bit longer.”

Jockey Flavien Prat (Talk Or Listen; 2^nd): “We had a really good trip. No troubles at all. He made a good move around the turn. He ran a great race.”

Trainer Joe Sharp (Midnight Tea Time; 3^rd): “We were really happy. Obviously, this was a big step up from his last race, but he's just a horse that has continued to move forward as he's gotten older. [Owner] Frank [Corigliano] has been patient with him and given him the right amount to time and spacing and breaks when he needed them. He just keeps on taking us to fun places and showing up every time. That's all you can ask for.”

Jockey Javier Castellano (Sacred Life, beaten favorite, 4^th): “He tried really hard. Today just wasn't his day. He is developing himself. I tried hard to get him closer, but he is a European horse and you can't rush him too much. All his races, he comes from behind. They just didn't come back to me.”

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Another New Graded Winner for Into Mischief at Belmont

Bye Bye (Into Mischief) did it tough from her widest gate in a field of 11 for Saturday's GIII Soaring Softly S. at Belmont Park, but overcame a fair bit of ground loss to remain unbeaten in two turf starts while giving her all-conquering sire his second new graded winner on the afternoon.

Away alertly, the $140,000 Keeneland September yearling raced five or six off the inside as longshot Lexinator (Fed Biz) set the early pace from 'TDN Rising Star' Star Devine (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). Eric Cancel allowed Bye Bye to improve while deep around the sweeping turn, forcing the hand of Jose Lezcano, who allowed Star Devine to stride into the lead perhaps a bit sooner than he may have liked fully three furlongs from the wire. Bye Bye confronted Star Devine in upper stretch, and although the latter boxed on gamely, Bye Bye had her number and scraped home best of all. Invincible Gal (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) ran on for second ahead of Candace O (Declaration of War) in third.

“I was concerned [about the outside],” said winning trainer Christophe Clement. “I'm a firm believer in saving ground, but there's only so much we can do. She was wide all the way, but she was good enough to overcome it. Eric [Cancel] did the best he could.”

As for what the future may hold, the Frenchman added: “We might try to make her a miler but not too much further than that. I'll need to think about it a little bit. Let's enjoy the moment and go on from there.”

Bye Bye debut in a six-furlong maiden over the Gulfstream main track Feb. 7, weakening to finish sixth after showing some early pace. The word was out when switching to a five-furlong turf test in Hallandale Mar. 21, as the bay validated 19-10 favoritism with a widening 2 3/4-length graduation.

Pedigree Notes:

Bye Bye is the 42nd winner at graded level for Into Mischief and brings the 16-year-old stallion to within three black-type winners of 100. Mighty Mischief took out the GIII Chick Lang S. at Pimlico earlier Saturday. She is simultaneously the 123rd SW and 49th group/graded winner out of a daughter of the late Smart Strike.

The May 14 foal is out of a daughter of Kinsman Farm SW Crystal Current, the dam of $875,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling and SP Savoy Stomp (Medaglia d'Oro) and SP Mi Vida (Distorted Humor), the dam of Gold Standard (Medaglia d'Oro), who cost $1.2 million at FTFFEB in 2018 and earned a pair of graded stakes placings.

Bye Bye's third dam, also raced by George Steinbrenner, was a two-time Grade I winner over seven furlongs and produced GISW Majestic Warrior (A.P. Indy), SW & GSP Evolutionist (El Prado {Ire}) and two other stakes performers.

Garnet, who was acquired by Spendthrift Farm for $550,000 in foal to Uncle Mo at Keeneland November in 2016, was not covered in 2018 and produced a filly by Bolt d'Oro last year before being bred to Into Mischief's son Goldencents for this season.

Saturday, Belmont
SOARING SOFTLY S.-GIII, $100,000, Belmont, 5-15, 3yo, f, 7fT, 1:21.19, fm.
1–BYE BYE, 118, f, 3, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Garnet, by Smart Strike
                2nd Dam: Crystal Current, by A.P. Indy
                3rd Dam: Dream Supreme, by Seeking the Gold
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($140,000
Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Bach Stables LLC; B-Malibu Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Christophe Clement; J-Eric Cancel. $55,000. Lifetime Record:
3-2-0-0, $82,400. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Invincible Gal (GB), 118, f, 3, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Alsindi
(Ire), by Acclamation (GB). (200,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT).
O-Ryan, Michael J., Drown, Jeff and Team Hanley; B-Rabbah
Bloodstock Limited (GB); T-H. Graham Motion. $20,000.
3–Candace O, 118, f, 3, Declaration of War–That Voodoo
Youdo, by Speightstown. ($65,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP).
O-River Oak Farm, Medallion Racing and Olszewski, Michael
W.; B-Crosshaven Bloodstock (KY); T-H. Graham Motion.
$12,000.
Margins: NK, NK, HF. Odds: 8.50, 6.20, 10.00.
Also Ran: Star Devine (Ire), Tobys Heart, Can't Buy Love, Hit the Woah, La Libertee, Sleek Lynx (GB), Lexinator, No Ordinary Time.
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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The Chosen Vron Benefits From Pace Duel In Lazaro Barrera

With Laurel River and I'll Stand Taller duking it out on the front-end, trainer Eric Kruljac's The Chosen Vron flew off the turn for home and marched to an emphatic 3 ½-length win in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Ridden for the first time by Umberto Rispoli, the California-bred gelding by Vronsky got 6 ½ furlongs in 1:16.28.

In a field of four sophomores, it was readily apparent from the outset that I'll Stand Taller and Juan Hernandez were not going to allow impressive recent maiden winner Laurel River and Abel Cedillo to have their way on the front end as they blazed an opening quarter mile in 21.32.

With I'll Stand Taller shrinking noticeably a quarter mile out, The Chosen Vron was making an eye-catching move at the rail blew by Laurel River with a furlong to run.

“I could see they were going really fast, those two horses up front, and by the quarter pole my horse was right on top of them, he really kicked well in the stretch,” said Rispoli. “When I first came here, (J. Eric Kruljac) gave me so many winners, I'm happy to finally give him a stakes win.”

The Chosen Vron, fresh off a sparkling 6 ½-furlong win versus Cal-Breds in the Echo Eddie Stakes on April 3, was off as the 3-5 favorite and paid $3.20 and $2.10 with no show wagering.

“Short fields sometimes end up being like match races,” said breeder and part owner Kruljac. “I knew my horse could rate. … Doug (O'Neill) had a horse in there that looked like he would use as the rabbit, so that kind of eliminates the match race. He softened them up early and I don't know if it mattered, with the way the horse fired today. He's a pretty exciting horse, when you breed them yourself there's this extra pride that goes into it. I'm as excited as I can be.”

Owned J. Eric Kruljac, Robert Fetkin, John Sondereker and Richard Thornburgh. The Chosen Vron, who is out of the Tiz Wonderful mare Tiz Molly, picked up his first graded stakes win and has three wins from four starts. With the winner's share of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $210,600.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Laurel River dominated the early wagering but went off as the second choice at 6-5 and paid $2.20 to place while finishing 10-lengths in front of Wipe The Slate.

Trained by Doug O'Neill and ridden by Mario Gutierrez, Wipe The Slate finished 14 ½ lengths in front of his stablemate I'll Stand Taller.

Complete fractions on the race were 21.32, 44.29 and 1:09.61.

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Preakness Saturday Statement From Baffert: I Am ‘Truly Sorry’ For Handling Of Medina Spirit Scandal

The following statement was provided exclusively to NBC Sports by Bob Baffert. Baffert was asked to appear on Saturday's Preakness telecast, but declined on the advice of his legal team.

As Medina Spirit prepares to run in the Preakness Stakes today, I want to keep the focus on this amazing equine athlete and not me, which is the primary reason I will not personally be in attendance. I do not want to serve as a distraction to what has always been of paramount importance – the joy of this great sport and the horses that make it possible.

As I have stated from the beginning, there was never any attempt to game or cheat the system and Medina Spirit earned his Kentucky Derby win. While the presence of 21 picograms of an allowable therapeutic medication has yet to be confirmed by the split sample analysis, it would have nothing to do with Medina Spirit's hard earned and deserved win. That win was the result of the horse's tremendous heart and nothing else.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, I acknowledge that I am not perfect and I could have better handled the initial announcement of this news. Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win was so personally meaningful to me, and I had such a wonderful experience on May 1 at Churchill Downs, that when I got the news of the test results, it truly was the biggest gut punch I had ever received and I was devastated. That, coupled with the fact that I always try to be accommodating and transparent with the media, led to an emotional press conference on May 9 in which I said some things that have been perceived as hurtful to some in the industry. For that I am truly sorry. I have devoted my life's work to this great sport and I owe it, and those who make it possible, nothing but an eternal debt of gratitude.

For those who want an explanation for what transpired with Medina Spirit, I have tried to be open and transparent from the beginning. Our investigation is continuing and I don't have definitive answers at this point. What I do know is that neither my barn, nor my veterinarians, directly treated Medina Spirit with the anti-inflammatory medication betamethasone. Even though it is allowable, it is just not something we have ever used with this horse. The only possible explanation that we have uncovered to date – and I emphasize the word possible – is that betamethasone is an ingredient in a topical ointment that was being applied to Medina Spirit to treat a dermatitis skin condition he developed after the Santa Anita Derby.

I have been deeply saddened to see this case portrayed as a “doping” scandal or betamethasone labeled as a “banned” substance. Neither is remotely true. Betamethasone is an allowable and commonly used medication in horse racing. Further, 21 picograms would have zero pharmacology in a horse. All I ask is that everyone not rush to judgment and allow all of the facts, evidence and science to come to light.

Lastly, while this has been extremely hard and emotionally draining on me and my family, today is not about Bob Baffert. Instead it is about Medina Spirit and all of the other equine athletes in our tremendous sport. I hope that everyone will direct their attention to them and give them the love and respect they so richly deserve.

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