Churchill Sires First Winner in Rome

3rd-Rome, €13,200, Mdn., 6-2, 2yo, 1400m (AWT).
IL GRANDE GATSBY (IRE), (c, 2, Churchill {Ire}–Irene Watts {GB} {GSP-Ity, $133,610}, by Miswaki Tern), who ran second when unveiled over 1200 metres on the local synthetic on May 9, was the second choice on the board at 2-1 in this step up in trip. Noticeably warm in the preliminaries, he perched in fourth while glued to the fence through the opening furlongs. Shifted out on the bend, he was asked for his bid 400 metres from home and, began to make inroads toward the front. Unleashing a sparkling turn of foot, he dashed past all comers in the closing stages to win going away and defeat pacesetter Raimark (Ire) (Markaz {Ire}) by 1 ½ lengths. He is the first winner of 146 foals for his dual Guineas-winning first-season sire (by Galileo {Ire}) who stands at Coolmore Stud in Ireland for €30,000. One of seven foals, six to race, and the fifth winner out of his Italian Group 3-placed dam, Il Grande Gatsby is followed by a yearling filly by Rock of Gibraltar (Ire). His winning second dam was a half-sister to Italian Champion Older Mare Russian Lady (Ire) (Stanford {Ire}), who saluted three times at the group level in Italy. Sales history: 18,000gns RNA Ylg '20 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, €7,740.
O-TBA SRLS. B-Folco S.A.S. (Ire). T-Mario Giorgi.

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NBC Sports Plans Live Coverage Of 153rd Belmont Stakes

NBC Sports' Triple Crown horse racing concludes this weekend with live coverage of the 153rd Belmont Stakes this Saturday, June 5 at 5 p.m. ET on NBC featuring Preakness winner Rombauer (3-1) and 2-1 morning line favorite Essential Quality.

Game 4 of the Second Round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs between the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins will air on NBC immediately following the Belmont Stakes. The Islanders will host the Bruins at Nassau Coliseum, which is less than eight miles away from Belmont Park.

The Belmont Stakes is referred to as the “Test of the Champion” for its 1.5-mile distance, the longest of the three Triple Crown races. Essential Quality is one of five horses who competed in the Kentucky Derby that will run in Saturday's Belmont Stakes: Hot Rod Charlie (7-2), Known Agenda (6-1), Bourbonic (15-1) and Rock Your World (9-2).

Coverage from Belmont Park begins this Friday, June 4, at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN and continues Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN with two “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series – Win and You're In” races. Over the two days, NBC Sports will cover seven races live.

Highlights of NBC Sports' Belmont Stakes coverage include:

  • Seven live races on Friday and Saturday (two in the NBC Belmont Stakes show)
  • A feature on Rombauer jockey John Velazquez, who won this year's Kentucky Derby atop Medina Spirit and has won two career Belmont Stakes (2007, 2012)
  • A feature on Rombauer trainer Michael McCarthy, who won his first career Triple Crown race at this year's Preakness Stakes
  • On Saturday, NBC Sports presents two races in the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series – Win and You're In,” including the Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap and the Ogden Phipps Handicap.
  • COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports' coverage of the Belmont Stakes features host Mike Tirico; analysts Randy Moss and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, a two-time Belmont Stakes winner; insights analyst Steve Kornacki, who correctly picked Media Spirit as this year's Kentucky Derby winner; host/reporter Ahmed Fareed; reporters Donna Brothers, Britney Eurton, Laffit Pincay III, and Kenny Rice; and race caller Larry Collmus. Reporter/handicapper Eddie Olczyk will join coverage from Las Vegas, where he's calling the Colorado Avalanche-Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup Playoff series.

The Belmont Stakes is produced by Lindsay Schanzer and is directed by Sunday Night Football and NBC Sports' horse racing director Drew Esocoff. The coordinating producer of NBC's horse racing coverage is Rob Hyland. Executive producer and president, production, NBC Sports and NBCSN is Sam Flood.

BELMONT STAKES
Date Time Event Network
Fri., June 4 5 p.m. Belmont Stakes Access NBCSN
Sat., June 5 3 p.m. Belmont Stakes Prep NBCSN
Sat., June 5 5 p.m. Belmont Stakes NBC

BELMONT STAKES COVERAGE ON NBCSPORTS.COM & THE NBC SPORTS APP

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream live coverage to desktops, mobile, tablets, and connected TVs via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC's broadcasts. NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox, and Chromecast. NBC Sports.com and the NBC Sports app will provide a full race replay of the Belmont Stakes.

NBC SPORTS AUDIO BELMONT STAKES COVERAGE

In partnership with Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN), NBC Sports Audio will present live Belmont Stakes coverage beginning Saturday, June 5 at 5 p.m. ET featuring host Mike Penna and analysts Kurt Becker, Tom Leach, and Anthony Stabile. The broadcast will include a simulcast of the live race call by NBC Sports' Larry Collmus. This is the seventh consecutive year HRRN and NBC Sports have teamed to produce radio coverage of the Triple Crown, which will be available throughout North America on NBC Sports Audio channel on SiriusXM channel 211 along with terrestrial affiliates throughout the United States. Live streaming and a listing of affiliates can also be accessed via the HRRN website, www.horseracingradio.net. HRRN is available on SiriusXM channels 209 and 201.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.

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Midnight Storm Filly Zips Bullet at OBS

A filly by Midnight Storm turned in the fastest furlong work of the day and a pair of juveniles shared the day's fastest-quarter mile breeze during Wednesday's first session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds.

Consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales on behalf of breeder Alex Venneri, the Midnight Storm filly (hip 107) zipped her furlong in :9 4/5 shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.

“She's a pretty nice filly, but you never know until they actually get out there,” Venneri said. “We were optimistic, but we thought she probably needed another two or three weeks to get to be where they thought she needed to be. So it was a little surprising that she did it for us before that time. She is a late-bloomer, which is kind of typical with that family.”

Venneri has plenty of experience with the family. He co-bred and raced the filly's first-crop sire Midnight Storm, who has gotten off to a hot start in the juvenile sales ring this spring.

“He was just such a sound horse, which is just unheard of, and he was correct,” Venneri said of Midnight Storm. “I've always been high on him and I always thought his offspring were going to do well. I didn't think they would come out as 2-year-olds the first two months and be extremely precocious, but I am expecting pretty big things from him.”

Midnight Storm hit the board in 17 of 27 starts and earned $1,233,250. He won seven graded races over four seasons, including the 2016 GI Shoemaker Mile and he was third in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Mile and second in the 2017 GI Awesome Again S. and GI Santa Anita H.

In the sales ring, Midnight Storm has been represented by four juveniles to sell for over $300,000, topped by a $550,000 colt at the OBS April sale.

Venneri and partners claimed hip 107's dam, Ava G (Afternoon Deelites), for $25,000 in 2007. The mare produced Miss My Rose (Magician {Ire}), whose career was cut short by injury after she won a 2019 stakes race in just her second start.

“Her half-sister ended up getting hurt and we thought she was a Grade I horse,” Venneri said. “So we were high on this one.”

Venneri has another filly by Midnight Storm (hip 595) in the June sale with Scanlon Training & Sales and, looking further ahead, the breeder is excited about a yearling by the stallion out of Skittle Bomb (Giant's Causeway) he will offer at the Keeneland September sale.

“I have a Midnight Storm yearling that we are selling in September and that horse is pretty awesome,” Venneri said. “From the reports that we've heard, we expect him to do some really good things.”

A filly by Uncaptured (hip 5) worked the co-fastest quarter-mile of :21 1/5 during Wednesday's under-tack show. Bred and consigned by Ocala Stud, the chestnut is out of Valid Concorde (Concorde's Tune) and is a half-sister to stakes winner Seismic Jolt (Kantharos).

A colt by Candy Ride (Arg) (hip 18) also worked the quarter-mile in :21 1/5. Consigned by Wavertree Stables on behalf of breeder Joe Minor's JSM Equine, the bay is out of Viva Malala (Malibu Moon), a half-sister to multiple stakes winner and Grade I placed Icabad Crane (Jump Start).

Minor purchased Viva Malala, with this colt in utero, for $100,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale. The juvenile worked a furlong in :10 3/5 before RNA'ing for $30,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale in March.

The OBS June under-tack show continues through Sunday with sessions beginning daily at 7:30 a.m. The June sale will be held next Wednesday through Friday with bidding starting at 10:30 a.m. each day.

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NYRA To Host Job Fair For 2021 Summer Meet At Saratoga

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a two-day job fair on Friday, June 11 and Saturday, June 12 to recruit workers for the 2021 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, which begins on Thursday, July 15 and continues through Monday, September 6.

As announced by NYRA and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on May 27, the 2021 summer meet will re-open to fans at near full capacity following a season without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The job fair will take place at Saratoga Race Course within the open-air Events Pavilion. Interviews will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, June 11 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 12.

Prospective summer employees should enter through the main gate at Union and East Avenues and park in the main lot. Unvaccinated individuals are required to complete a temperature check prior to entry, wear facial coverings while at Saratoga Race Course and adhere to social distancing guidelines to mitigate the risk of COVID-19.

The summer meet at Saratoga Race Course generates nearly $240 million in annual economic impact throughout the Capital Region and supports the employment of approximately 2,350 full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers.

Opportunities at this year's job fair will include: hospitality ambassadors; guest services; cashiers; admissions attendants; parking attendants; Bets Squad representatives; white caps/ushers; box office; betting clerks; general labor; security; porters; cooks; waitstaff; bussers; concessions supervisors and cashiers; cleaners; TV production; and technology support.

Positions are available with NYRA, Integrated Staffing, Levy Restaurants, AllPro and Union Square Events.

Applicants must be at least 15 years of age with New York State Certified Working Papers; prospective security guards, cashiers and betting clerks must be at least 18 years of age to apply. Security guards must have a high school degree or GED to apply. All applicants must bring a photo ID and social security card or I-9 alternative.

The 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course, which will feature 76 stakes worth $21.5 million in total purses, will open on Thursday, July 15 and conclude on Monday, September 6.

For additional information, visit NYRA.com/Saratoga.

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