Month: May 2021

Rock Your World Connections Hoping To ‘Right The Ship’ In Belmont Stakes

Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World worked five furlongs Friday in a bullet 58.40 at Santa Anita, fastest of 32 drills at the distance and quicker by almost three seconds than the average time of 1:01.28 at the Arcadia, Calif., track.

“It was a good work,” said John Sadler, who trains the son of Candy Ride. “He ships to New York tomorrow.”

Rock Your World won his first two races on turf, then made his main track debut in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby April 3, leading throughout the 1 1/8 miles and earning a spot in the G1 Kentucky Derby on May 1.

Unfortunately, he was sandwiched at the start of the Run for Roses, never got untracked and finished 17th of 19.

“We hope to right the ship in the Belmont,” Sadler said.

Bred by Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and his wife, Deborah, Rock Your World was produced from the Empire Maker mare, Charm the Maker. Racing for Hronis Racing LLC and Talla Racing, Rock Your World was a $650.000 purchase from the Winter Quarter Farm consignment at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes

PROBABLE (10): Bourbonic (Todd Pletcher / Kendrick Carmouche), Brooklyn Strong (Danny Velazquez / Jose Ortiz), Essential Quality (Brad Cox / Luis Saez), France Go de Ina (Hideyuki Mori / Ricardo Santana, Jr.), Hot Rod Charlie (Doug O'Neill / Flavien Prat), Known Agenda (Pletcher / Irad Ortiz Jr.), Overtook (Pletcher / Manny Franco), Rebel's Romance (Charlie Appleby / Mike Smith), Rock Your World (John Sadler / Joel Rosario), Rombauer (Michael McCarthy / John Velazquez)

POSSIBLE (1): Keepmeinmind (Robertino Diodoro / David Cohen)

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Friday’s Belmont Stakes Update

• John and Diane Fradkin's GI Preakness S. winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy) worked a half-mile in company Friday on the Belmont Park main track in preparation for the GI Belmont S. Rombauer, trained by Michael McCarthy, was clocked in :50.01 (53/86) beneath John Velazquez over the fast main track.

“I was very happy with the work,” McCarthy said. “I just wanted him to go ahead and get familiar with Johnny. It seemed like he was well in hand at all times. Johnny asked him to gallop out a little bit going underneath the wire and the horse seemed to respond nicely. I'm very happy with what I saw today.”

• Friday morning was a busy one for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher as he worked GI Curlin Florida Derby winner and GI Kentucky Derby ninth Known Agenda (Curlin), GII Wood Memorial winner and Derby 13th Bourbonic (Bernardini) and GIII Peter Pan S. third Overtook (Curlin) in their final moves for the Belmont.

Known Agenda, with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, breezed in tandem with stablemate and fellow St. Elias Stable colorbearer, the GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H.-bound Dr Post (Quality Road), covering five furlongs in a bullet 1:01.12 (1/10).

“We got caught in behind a couple of horses and they were kind of off the rail and spread out a bit which made it a little tricky,” Pletcher said. “In the end, Irad thought it was good. He said that Known Agenda had more of a target, jumped into the bridle and was on the muscle. He finished up and galloped out well.”

About 10 minutes later, Bourbonic and Overtook worked a half mile in company in :48.49 (5/86). The pair galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.80.

“He's a horse that at times will work like he's capable of stepping up,” Pletcher said of Bourbonic. “The one thing he does is gallop out strongly. He's always given indications that the distance would suit him.”

Pletcher added, “Overtook is historically not an overly ambitious work horse, but I thought he went well this morning. I was looking for him and Bourbonic to just show they have some decent energy. I think his two breezes since the Peter Pan have been better than what we were seeing beforehand, so I'm happy with that.”

• Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby and 17th in the Derby after getting roughed up at the start, worked five furlongs in a bullet :58.40 (1/34) at Santa Anita Friday. “It was a good work,” trainer John Sadler said. “He ships to New York tomorrow. We hope to right the ship in the Belmont.”

• Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), winner of the GII Louisiana Derby and third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, drilled five furlongs before Friday's first race at Santa Anita in 1:00.48 (5/34). Jockey Flavien Prat was aboard for the move. “Very happy with his breeze today,” trainer Doug O'Neill said. “Flavien was happy with the way he did it and that makes me happy. He had a good strong gallop going into this work and now he's got a strong work and gallop-out going into the race. We just want to stay injury-free and we're pumped up and optimistic about a week from tomorrow. This horse is getting more and more confident and he's starting to separate himself from the others.”

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Irish Derby Meeting First to Welcome Racegoers

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby meeting on June 26 is expected to be the first racing fixture in the country to welcome up to 1,000 fans, the Taoiseach Micheal Martin confirmed Friday evening. Horse owners are expected to be allowed on course beginning June 7. The Irish Field was first to report the news.

“We expect to be in a position to welcome owners back on track with effect from June 7,” HRI Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh told the publication. “This would be a brilliant outcome as owners have been incredibly patient during the last 12 months, keeping the industry going and continuing to support racing despite not being able to attend in person.”

The Irish Field reported that HRI has submitted proposals to the government laying out how owners, sponsors and a limited number of racegoers might be accommodated. The Irish Field said that it had been confirmed that horse racing will be part of the government's trials for the return of crowds to sporting events.

Irish Field reports that no indoor facilities will be accessible to owners or fans.

“Initially, everything will be outdoors. But as indoor dining returns more generally then hopefully those type of options will become available,” Kavanagh told the paper.

Peter Burke, Fine Gael TD for Longford-Westmeath and Minister for State, has been a proponent of the racing industry in Government since the onset of COVID-19 and told Irish Field: “As our economy continues to reopen, it is crucial we build up capacity at racecourses to build in viability and to acknowledge the huge impact and spin-off racing has to our local economy, in terms of jobs and investment. I have worked to ensure racing is prioritised by Government over the months ahead.”

Earlier this week, it was announced that up to 12,000 fans will be admitted to each of the five days of the Royal Ascot meeting next month.

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Hall Of Fame Jockey Calvin Borel Arrested For Driving While Intoxicated In Hot Springs

Three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel was arrested Wednesday night in Hot Springs, Ark., for driving while intoxicated, according to the Daily Racing Form.

The 54-year-old was booked early Wednesday evening and later released on a $1,000 bond.

This is Borel's second DWI incident in the past three years, having been charged for same in Southern Indiana in 2019. In Arkansas, reports DRF, “a second-offense DWI within five years of the first results in at least seven days or up to a year in jail, though a judge can waive jail time for 'good cause' and order community service instead.”

Ensconced in the Hall of Fame in 2013, Borel last rode at Churchill Downs on May 21, riding two trainees for his wife, Renay Borel. He won the third race aboard Jack Van Berg, and finished second in the sixth with Bebop Shoes. Thus far this year, Borel has ridden four winners from 31 starters, primarily at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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