After a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the run for the roses and eliminated fans from attending the classic race, the 2021 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve returned to its traditional spot on the racing calendar on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs with a limited number of fans permitted on track.
Month: May 2021
Jackie’s Warrior Outlasts Dream Shake In Pat Day Mile
The return to one-turn races wasn't a cake walk for Jackie's Warrior in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on Saturday at Churchill Downs, but the colt showed plenty of tenacity to survive a sustained challenge from a game Dream Shake down the stretch and pick up his first win of the year.
The 3-year-old son of Maclean's Music was put on the lead early by regular rider Joel Rosario, challenged on his immediate outside by Dream Shake, and further out by a group including Dreamer's Disease and Noble Reflection. That lead quartet bobbed for the lead as the field left the chute and entered the main course, with Jackie's Warrior soon giving himself a bit of space from the rest of the front pack.
No stranger to setting hot fractions, Jackie's Warrior blazed through an opening quarter in :21.75 seconds, with the remaining three lead contenders remaining within striking distance.
The pace remained fast through the half-mile point, with Jackie's Warrior passing the post in :43.68 seconds; the fastest opening half he's set in seven career starts. Dream Shake and Dreamer's Disease remained in hot pursuit on the outside, while Joe Fraizer advanced up the rail to pose a threat directly behind the leader.
Rosario kept his mount under a hand ride through the turn, and swung Jackie's Warrior further off the rail as he entered the home stretch. The only challengers that remained after such electric opening fractions were Dream Shake and Defunded, who was moving up on the far outside.
Dream Shake, under Flavien Prat fully engaged Jackie's Warrior at the quarter pole, completing three-quarters in 1:07.97. Though Dream Shake was unrelenting in his challenge all the way to the wire, he could never get his nose in front. Jackie's Warrior kept the challenger at bay under an aggressive – but not desperate – ride by Rosario, to prevail by a head.
Four and a half lengths behind the runner-up, Whiskey Double advanced from the back of the field to win a three-way photo over Defunded and Sittin On Go.
Jackie's Warrior stopped the clock in 1:34.39 in the one-mile race, paying $6.60 to win as the 2-1 favorite.
With the victory, Jackie's Warrior improved his career record to five wins in seven career starts for earnings of $868,964.
After starting his career with four straight wins, all at a mile or shorter including two in Grade 1 competition, Jackie's Warrior had been on a two-race losing streak, finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and third in the G3 Southwest Stakes. The Pat Day Mile marked a successful return to his element.
Steve Asmussen trains Jackie's Warrior for owners J. Kirk and Judy Robison. He was bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables, out of the A. P. Five Hundred mare Unicorn Girl.
To view the full Equibase chart, click here.
PAT DAY MILE QUOTES
Joel Rosario (Jockey, Jackie's Warrior, winner) – “I was pretty confident that he was going to hang in down the stretch. He likes when a horse comes up to him and he really digs in. I was not worried about the fast early pace because he fights very hard down the stretch.”
Steve Asmussen (Trainer, Jackie's Warrior, winner) – “I'm proud of who Jackie's Warrior is, under these circumstances, only validates of the beliefs we had in him. It's quite obvious that he's a special horse and there are plenty of opportunities for him out there that will serve his assets best.”
Flavien Prat (Jockey, Dream Shake, runner-up) – “He showed speed out of the gate and I got terrific position. He was running well all the way around and I moved right up outside the winner. I thought I was going to catch him through the length of the stretch. I really thought I was going to get there. My horse ran too good to get beat.”
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Jackie’s Warrior All Heart In Pat Day Mile
Jackie's Warrior showed his appreciation for the cutback to one-turn with a gutsy score in the Pat Day Mile Saturday beneath the Twin Spires. Breaking sharply, the favorite took up his preferred position at the head of affairs, zipping through an opening quarter in :21.75 with a trio of rivals hot on his heels. Traveling comfortably as he registered a :43.68 half-mile, the chestnut turned for home in front out in the three path. Confronted by 'TDN Rising Star' Dream Shake in the lane, Jackie's Warrior refused to be denied and kept on finding to fend off that foe and return to the winner's circle. It was 4 1/2 lengths back to Whiskey Double in third.
“I'm proud of who Jackie's Warrior is, under these circumstances, only validates of the beliefs we had in him,” said winning conditioner Steve Asmussen. “It's quite obvious that he's a special horse and there are plenty of opportunities for him out there that will serve his assets best.”
“I was pretty confident that he was going to hang in down the stretch,” said Joel Rosario, who was also in the irons for the colt's three prior graded scores in New York. “He likes when a horse comes up to him and he really digs in. I was not worried about the fast early pace because he fights very hard down the stretch.”
A debut winner going five furlongs over this strip last June, Jackie's Warrior wired the GII Saratoga Special S. next out in August and repeated in that venue's GI Runhappy Hopeful S. a month later. Dominating the GI Champagne S. going a one-turn mile at Belmont Oct. 10, he could only manage fourth as the favorite when trying two turns for the first time in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile S. at Keeneland Nov. 6 and was third when given another try routing in Oaklawn's GIII Southwest S. Feb. 27, both of which were won by champion Essential Quality (Tapit).
Pedigree Notes:
Jackie's Warrior is one of three Grade I victors, five graded winners and 21 black-type scorers by Maclean's Music. His dam Unicorn Girl RNA'd for $110,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November Sale and came back to sell to Arthur Hoyeau for $850,000 at the 2020 renewal of that auction thanks to her son's accomplishments and the Into Mischief in her belly. She had a Candy Ride (Arg) filly in 2019 and an American Pharoah colt in 2020, who brought $600,000 from Coolmore's M. V. Magnier at KEENOV. Unicorn Girl has yet to produce that Into Mischief foal.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
PAT DAY MILE S. PRESENTED BY LG&E AND KU-GII, $500,000, Churchill Downs, 5-1, 3yo, 1m, 1:34.39, ft.
1–JACKIE'S WARRIOR, 122, c, 3, by Maclean's Music
1st Dam: Unicorn Girl, by A. P. Five Hundred
2nd Dam: Horah for Bailey, by Doneraile Court
3rd Dam: Horah for the Lady, by Rahy
($95,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-J. Kirk and Judy Robison; B-J & J
Stables (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Joel Rosario. $291,400.
Lifetime Record: MGISW, 7-5-0-1, $868,964. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dream Shake, 118, c, 3, Twirling Candy–Even Song, by Street
Cry (Ire). ($32,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $75,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR).
Rising Star O-Exline-Border Racing LLC, SAF Racing, Richard Hausman and
Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Dunwoody Farm (KY); T-Peter
Eurton. $94,000.
3–Whiskey Double, 118, c, 3, Into Mischief–Lake Sebago, by
Munnings. ($875,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Winchell
Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Buck Pond Farm, Inc. & Richard M. Seale
(KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $47,000.
Margins: HD, 4HF, HD. Odds: 2.30, 3.80, 11.60.
Also Ran: Defunded, Sittin On Go, Dreamer's Disease, Starrininmydreams, Prevalence, Joe Frazier, Three Two Zone, Noble Reflection. Scratched: Ultimate Badger.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
The post Jackie’s Warrior All Heart In Pat Day Mile appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Belmont Stakes Runner-Up Dr Post Rallies For G3 Westchester Victory
The previous time St. Elias Stable's Dr Post raced at Belmont Park, he finished second to Tiz the Law in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. Eleven months later, the now 4-year-old Quality Road colt registered another strong effort over Big Sandy, running down Mr. Buff in the final furlong and fending off a charging Wicked Trick before pulling away for a 1 1/2-length victory in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester for 4-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile.
The 93rd running of the Westchester, the first graded stakes of the 48-day Belmont spring/summer meet, saw 11-time stakes-winner Mr. Buff, in search a long-awaited first graded stakes score, sent to the front under jockey Edgard Zayas after breaking sharp from post five. The Chester and Mary Broman New York homebred led the six-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 24.53 second, the half in 48.05 and three-quarters in 1:11.62 over the fast main track.
Dr Post, making his first start off an eight-month layoff for trainer Todd Pletcher, broke alert from the outermost post and tracked closely in second position under jockey Manny Franco.
Out of the turn, Franco asked his charge for more and Dr Post willingly responded, overtaking Mr. Buff from the outside. Wicked Trick came on strong for second, but Dr Post completed the course in a final time of 1:35.14 for his first graded stakes win.
“The fractions helped,” said Franco, who coincidently defeated Dr Post aboard Tiz the Law in last year's Triple Crown race going 1 1/8 miles at Belmont. “Mr. Buff slowed down a little bit and I was right there. I didn't have to rush my horse off his feet. He just took me around the right way. I think that helped me get the victory.”
Dr Post, who followed last year's Belmont Stakes by running third in the G1 Haskell in July at Monmouth Park, last raced when fourth in the G2 Jim Dandy in September at Saratoga Race Course. Still the slight 7-5 favorite over Mr. Buff, Dr Post returned $4.80 on a $2 win bet and improved his career earnings to $450,635.
“Todd and the team got him ready down in Florida over the winter and he had been training really well coming into this race and ran to his training,” said Byron Hughes, assistant to Pletcher. “I think this was a good starting point for him and hopefully he can continue to progress from here.”
Wicked Trick, under jockey Jose Lezcano, edged Mr. Buff by a neck for second. A stewards' inquiry and a jockey objection from Top Seed rider Trevor McCarthy looking into Wicked Trick potentially interfering with fourth-place finisher Top Seed at the half-mile pole and in the stretch run resulted in no change.
Wicked Trick, trained and co-owned by Linda Rice, was making his first stakes appearance in five starts and earned stakes black type for the first time in his career.
“I got the position that I wanted the whole way around,” Lezcano said. “I never crossed hands. I was forward the whole way around.”
The 7-year-old Mr. Buff, making his 45th career start, was 8 3/4-lengths clear of Top Seed. He has finished in the money in five of his last six starts.
Limonite and Backsideofthemoon completed the order of finish.
Byron Hughes, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher of Dr Post (No. 6, $4.80*): “Todd and the team got him ready down in Florida over the winter and he had been training really well coming into this race and ran to his training. I think this was a good starting point for him and hopefully he can continue to progress from here.”
Manny Franco, winning jockey aboard Dr Post (No. 6): “The fractions helped. Mr. Buff slowed down a little bit and I was right there. I didn't have to rush my horse off his feet. He just took me around the right way. I think that helped me get the victory.”
Jose Lezcano, jockey aboard runner-up Wicked Trick (No. 1): “I got the position that I wanted the whole way around. I never crossed hands. I was forward the whole way around.”
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