May, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Vault Wins Ruffian With Powerful Stretch Rally

Vault capitalized on a patient ride by jockey Joel Rosario, rallying from last of six older fillies and mares to overtake Water White from the outside in deep stretch before powering home a 1 3/4-length winner in Sunday's Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Vault, a Pennsylvania bred trained by Brad Cox making just her second career graded stakes start, was unhurried breaking from the inside post, content to let Gibberish lead the field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.57 seconds and the half in 47.24 over the fast main track.

Taking back under Rosario, Vault saved ground entering the turn as 6-5 favorite Lake Avenue temporarily took command over Water White. Nearing the top of the stretch, Rosario tipped out his charge, as Gibberish and Water White were kept to the inside and Lake Avenue pressed on from the outside.

Vault found a seam between Lake Avenue and Water White, splitting the contenders in surging to the front. Water White, encouraged by jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., gamely pursued Vault, but the 5-year-old Jump Start mare pulled away in a final time of 1:35.81 to notch her second consecutive win.

“She was a little slow out of there,” Rosario said. “Brad said to let her be comfortable where she was and come with a run and she did. She was pretty amazing.

“I was trying to stay inside, keep away from the dirt [kick back] and save some ground,” he added. “It looked like maybe I could go through inside, but then maybe not. So, I looked to go in between or maybe outside. When they split, I just went right in the middle [inside of Lake Avenue]. It was perfect.”

Owned by Kueber Racing, Barlar, Madaket Stables and Little Red Feather Racing, Vault entered off her first win of her campaign with a 1 3/4-length score against allowance company going 1 1/16 miles on March 27 at Oaklawn Park.

Her first foray over Belmont's Big Sandy was just her second career stakes appearance and first since a sixth-place effort in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher in July at Monmouth Park. She shipped in from her base at Churchill Downs and impressed her connections in her New York debut.

“They had her down in Kentucky and it took us a while to figure her out, but now it looks like we got the wheels spinning finally and she showed it today,” said Dustin Dugas, assistant to Cox. “The guys in Kentucky had her ready to roll. I'll talk to Brad and let him decide where we go next. He'll sit down with the partners and figure out a game plan from there.”

Vault improved to 7-6-2 in 21 career starts. She returned $8.80 on a $2 win wager.

EV Racing Stable's Water White, trained by Rudy Rodriguez, bested Our Super Freak by a length for second.

“I got a perfect trip,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “She got through on the inside and did everything right. We just got beat today. I was happy with it.”

Lake Avenue, Saguaro Row and Gibberish completed the order of finish that saw a finish of 1-thorugh-6 in program numerical order.

The 45th running of the Ruffian is named for the five-time Grade 1-winner and 1976 Hall of Fame inductee who was trained by Frank Whiteley, Jr. Ruffian, the 1974 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly and 1975 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, broke down in a match race against Kentucky Derby-winner Foolish Pleasure in 1975. She is buried in the Belmont infield.

Live racing at Belmont resumes Thursday with a nine-race card that features a 3:05 p.m. Eastern first post.

Starting on May 1, Belmont Park re-opened to a limited number of spectators. All admission must be purchased in advance at nyra.com/belmont/tickets/.

For comprehensive information on health and safety protocols in effect for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/visit/plan-your-visit.

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Medina Spirit 20th Santa Anita Derby Runner To Win the Roses At Churchill Downs

Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, upset winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby with John Velazquez aboard, not only provided Baffert with his record seventh Derby win and Velazquez with his fourth, he also became the 20th horse to exit the G1 Santa Anita Derby and go on to win the Run for the Roses.

Second, beaten 4 ¼ lengths by Rock Your World as the 4-5 favorite going 1 1/8 miles in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby April 3, Medina Spirit, a Florida-bred colt by Protonico, out of the Brilliant Speed mare Mongolian Changa, was purchased for just $35,000 out of the 2020 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s July Two-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale on the recommendation of Santa Anita-based private clocker and bloodstock agent Gary Young.

A gate to wire winner of the Derby by a half length, Medina Spirit, off at 12-1, returned $26.20 to win while covering a mile and one quarter in 2:01.02.

A first-out maiden winner going 5 ½ furlongs at Los Alamitos Dec. 11, Medina Spirit, who is owned by Zedan Racing Stables, demonstrated the gameness that has now enabled him to become a Kentucky Derby winner when running a close second to stablemate and early Derby favorite Life Is Good in the G3 Sham Stakes at one mile at Santa Anita on Jan. 2.

A subsequent neck winner of the G3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 30, Baffert stayed home with Medina Spirit in the G2 San Felipe Stakes March 6 and he finished a well beaten second to Life Is Good.

Although Baffert downplayed Medina's Spirit's chances leading into Saturday's Derby, he and Velazquez made the decision to let the colt roll on the front-end, instead of trying to ration his speed as was done when he was beaten 4 ½ lengths by Rock Your World in the Santa Anita Derby.

“I was counting on his heart,” said Baffert early Sunday morning from Louisville. “He shipped well. He had to run his A-game and he brought it. He sort of ran the same race he ran in the Robert Lewis. He fought everybody off in the Lewis and did the same thing yesterday. It was unbelievable, a great feeling, because I'm used to going in there with the heavyweights, the favorites and all that.”

Young, who was also reached early Sunday in Louisville, touched upon the Derby-winning strategy.

“There wasn't much speed inside of him,” Young said. “Plan A was to go to the lead, and the horse I feared most in the race (Rock Your World), got eliminated at the start…Medina has a lot of ability, but what takes him to the next level is his heart. He never let a horse get in front of him yesterday, not even on the gallop-out.”

Private clocker and bloodstock agent Gary Young

Although John Sadler-trained Rock Your World finished a disappointing 17th after a rough start, Doug O'Neill-conditioned Hot Rod Charlie finished third, beaten one length under the Santa Anita meet's leading rider Flavien Prat, making for a 1-3 finish for Santa Anita-based runners.

Dating back to O'Neill's I'll Have Another in 2012, an amazing seven out of the last 10 Kentucky Derbies have now been won by Southern California-based horses and Baffert, who has now won four out of the last seven runnings, added Medina Spirit to a Kentucky Derby trophy case that already included Silver Charm (1997); Real Quiet (1998); War Emblem (2002); American Pharoah (2015); Justify (2018) and Authentic (2020).

In becoming the 20th horse to use the Santa Anita Derby as a prelude to glory at Churchill Downs, Medina Spirit joins an illustrious roster of local Derby alumni: Gallahadion (13^th, 1940); Hill Gail (1^st, 1952); Determine (1^st, 1954); Swaps (1^st, 1955); Lucky Debonair (1^st, 1965); Majestic Prince (1^st, 1969); Affirmed (1^st, Triple Crown winner 1978); Gato Del Sol (4^th, 1982); Ferdinand (3^rd, 1986); Winning Colors (1^st, 1988); Sunday Silence (1^st, 1989); Silver Charm (2^nd, 1997); Real Quiet (2^nd, 1998); Charismatic (4^th, 1999); Giacomo (4^th, 2005); I'll Have Another (1^st, 2012); California Chrome (1^st, 2014); Justify (1^st, Triple Crown winner 2018); Authentic (2^nd, 2020) and Medina Spirit, second in this year's Santa Anita Derby.

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Derby Diary: It’s a Wrap

“That's it, time to go home.” – Unnamed Churchill Downs usher, at approximately 7:15 pm EST.

I let those words pass through me after watching our horse Helium run his eyeballs out for over nine of the 10 furlongs, in arguably the most important races of his (and my) career.

A few minutes prior I felt like I was living in an alternate universe. I was so excited when Julien Leparoux guided Helium out of the starting gate to sit a mere 2-3 lengths off the eventual winner, Medina Spirit, cruising the first four furlongs in about 47 seconds. Helium sat chilly for another three furlongs until Two-Year-Old Champion Essential Quality loomed outside of him, when Julien had to ask for more from our colt. To my amazement, Helium initially surged forwardly with that rival and heading into the top of the stretch, it looked as if our boy was in real striking distance of the leaders. At that point I was so laser focused on our maroon and white silks that it seemed as if time was slowing down, even if I could feel the adrenaline in my veins surging. For a few more moments, I honestly thought that Helium was going to hit the board in the Kentucky Derby.

And just like that, all the weeks of planning, strategizing, organizing, corresponding, talking, interviewing, packing, traveling, and handicapping washed away as Helium faded to an eighth-place finish.

Of course, there are many silver linings to this story–first and foremost is that we actually ran a horse in the Kentucky Derby. Helium improved as a racehorse and showed that he can compete with some of the most talented three-year-olds in the country.

So, despite not hitting the board in Saturday's race, I am pleased to report that I did manage to cross some bucket-list Items off my list.

Successfully managed a horse into the Kentucky Derby.
Spent quality time with my family and friends.
Received countless emails, texts and direct messages from well-wishers. I cannot thank you all enough for that.
Inspected and evaluated our 2020 and 2021 foal crops.
Made the fabled pre-Derby pilgrimage from the barn area to the paddock with my father and best friend.

On the flight home from the Kentucky Derby, I couldn't help thinking that emotional hangovers are worse than physical ones. When you consume a bit too much alcohol, you can drink tons of water, throw down a few Advil and even make yourself regurgitate in order to rid yourself of any toxins. But it will take a longer period of time to purge myself of the internal questions about how we could have given Helium a better chance to place in the Derby. This certainly was a great learning experience, and one that I will never forget.

Final thought: I realize how special it is to have one of this year's Kentucky Derby entrants and really tried to embrace every moment of it. I want to thank Sue Finley and everyone at the TDN for providing me with the opportunity to share my inner thoughts with you. And as the Churchill Downs usher so eloquently put it: “That's it, time to go home.”

The post Derby Diary: It’s a Wrap appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Preakness Weekend Stakes Nominations At Pimlico Close Tuesday

Stakes nominations are due Tuesday, May 4, for Preakness weekend at Pimlico Race Course, featuring 16 stakes, 10 graded, worth $3.25 million in purses May 14-15 led by the 146^th running of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Other graded events on Preakness Day, May 15, are the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) and $150,000 Gallorette (G3) on turf and the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3), $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) and $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabian horses on the main track.

Preakness eve, May 14, will be highlighted by the 97th running of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies. Among the supporting graded stakes are the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) and $150,000 Miss Preakness on dirt and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) on turf.

The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series returns following a one-year hiatus amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 with four races Preakness weekend – the Pimlico Special and Allaire du Pont May 14 and the Maryland Sprint and $100,000 Runhappy Skipat May 15.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Sunday, May 9 for the Black-Eyed Susan Day program and Monday, May 10 for Preakness Day.

For the fifth straight year, the Maryland Jockey Club is offering bonus money totaling $100,000 to trainers who run a minimum of five horses in the 15 Thoroughbred stakes races during Preakness weekend. The trainer with the most points will receive $50,000, second $25,000, third $12,000, fourth $7,000, fifth $4,000 and sixth $2,000.

Points are accumulated for finishing first (10 points), second (seven), third (five), fourth (three) and having a starter (one) in the Skipat, Miss Preakness, Allaire du Pont, Black-Eyed Susan, Pimlico Special, Hilltop, Jim McKay Turf Sprint, Maryland Sprint, Chick Lang, Preakness, Gallorette, James W. Murphy, Dinner Party, The Very One and Sir Barton.

There will also be bonus money totaling $50,000 for trainers with the most points in non-stakes races during Preakness weekend. The points are accumulated in similar fashion with $25,000 going to the leader, $10,000 to second, $7,000 to third, $4,000 to fourth, $2,500 to fifth and $1,000 to sixth.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen was the leading Preakness weekend stakes trainer in 2018 and 2019, followed by Brad Cox in 2019 and Mike Maker in 2020.

Races & Post Times for Black-Eyed Susan, Preakness
The Maryland Jockey Club will feature 14-race programs on Black-Eyed Susan Day and Preakness Day.

On Friday, May 15, first race post will be 11:30 a.m. ET with the Black-Eyed Susan scheduled to go off at approximately 5:44 p.m. On Saturday, May 16, the live program begins at 10:30 a.m. with the Preakness scheduled to go off at approximately 6:47 p.m.

There will be a Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness daily double offered Friday. The Preakness will be the 13^th race Saturday, followed by the UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabians at 7:33 p.m.

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