July, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Weekend Lineup: International Challengers Take On Belmont Turf

There will be seven graded stakes races this weekend at Woodbine, Delaware Park, and at Belmont Park, which closes out its spring/summer meeting with two Grade 1 turf races as European and American 3-year-olds compete in the Belmont Oaks and Belmont Derby Invitationals. Races are listed in chronological order (all times Eastern).

TVG will be broadcasting racing throughout the weekend from Delaware Park, Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, Woodbine and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app, which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

“America's Day at the Races” will be broadcasting live on Saturday, July 10 on FS1 from 1-3 p.m., and on FS2 from 3-5:30 p.m. from Belmont. On Sunday, July 11, “America's Day at the Races” will be live on FS2 from 12:30-4 p.m., and on FS1 from 4-5 p.m.

Saturday, July 10

3:15 p.m. ― $150,000 Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park on TVG

Godolphin's Micheline looks to return to her winning ways leading a field of nine fillies and mares at Delaware Park in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial on turf. Trained by Mike Stidham and ridden from post 4 by Joe Bravo, Micheline won the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs in March, but finished sixth in the Grade 1 Coolmore Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April, and 10th last out in Monmouth's Grade 3 Eatontown on June 20, failing to launch a serious bid. Pocket Aces Racing's 5-year-old Temple City Terror defeated Bal Mar Equine's Dalika (GER) by three-quarters of a length in the black type Keertana Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 22, reversing the order of finish from the listed Albert M. Stall Memorial at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 13 when Dalika prevailed by 1 length. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Temple City Terror, a 5-year-old daughter of Temple City, will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post 5. Dalika, a six-time winner, is trained by Al Stall Jr., and will be ridden by Miguel Mena from post 8.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DEL071021USA5-EQB.html

4:06 p.m. ― $700,000 Grade 1 Belmont Oaks at Belmont Park on FS2

Trainer Aidan O'Brien has sent over Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg's Santa Barbara (IRE) from his base in Ireland, leading a European challenge of Nazuna (IRE) from England, and Cirona (GB) from France, among eight 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes at 1 ¼ miles on turf. The even-money morning line favorite, Santa Barbara, ridden by Ryan Moore from post 5, just missed winning the Group 1 Al Wasmiyah Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh on June 27, losing a furious stretch-drive battle to 4-year-old Thundering Nights (IRE) by a neck. Hanako Varian's Nazuna, trained by Roger Varian, returns to the U.S. where she finished 10th in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. In her lone start this year, Nazuna, a daughter of Kodiak (GB), finished second in the Grade 2 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom on June 5. John Velazquez will ride from post 6. Bradley Thoroughbreds, Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron, Kent Starr, Sara Starr and Gary Finder's Cirona won the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte Stakes at ParisLongchamp on April 18. She lost a heartbreaker in the Group 1 Saxon Warrior Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp, headed in the final yards. Cirona is trained in by Christophe Ferland, but will be turned over to Chad Brown following this race. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Joseph F. Graffeo, Del Toro, Eric Nikolaus, and Troy Johnson's Con Lima, and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Michael Caruso's Plum Ali, the 1-2 finishers in the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont on June 3, are back again. Texas-bred Con Lima, trained by Todd Pletcher, is four of six this year, while the Christophe Clement-trained Plum Ali is seeking her first win of 2021. She captured the Grade 2 Miss Grillo at Belmont in 2020.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL071021USA-EQB.html#RACE7

4:21 p.m. ―$150,000 Grade 3 Selene Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Three-year-old fillies are in the spotlight on Woodbine's all-weather surface Saturday in the Grade 3, 1 1/16-mile Selene Stakes. Trainer Mark Casse, a Hall of Famer in both Canada and the U.S., has entered three of the seven starters: Gary Barber's California Lily, Live Oak Plantation's Florida-bred Our Flash Drive and D.J. Stable's Danger. California Lily, ridden by Rafael Hernandez from post 2, finished third by less than a length in Woodbine's Grade 3 Star Shoot Stakes on June 19. Our Flash Drive (Patrick Husbands, post 3) was a 3 ¾-length maiden winner earlier on the June 19 Woodbine card. Danger (Emma-Jayne Wilson, post 6) is making her first start since breaking her maiden at Turfway Park last December. William T. Harrigan's Gote Go is the 2-1 morning line favorite off a solid 2-length score in a 1 1/16-mile allowance turf race at Churchill Downs on June 5 for trainer Roger Attfield. Steven Bahen has the mount from post 1.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO071021CAN7-EQB.html

4:38 p.m. ―$150,000 Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont Park on FS2

Magnifico Stable and Hubert Guy's Louisiana-bred Australasia, unbeaten in six starts, leads a field of 3-year-old fillies going 6 ½ furlongs in the Grade 3 Victory Ride. Trained by Brad Cox, Australasia faces seven runners in her first graded stakes try. After four wins against state breds, Australasia won an allowance optional claimer at Churchill Downs by two lengths on April 30, and the listed 6-furlong Jersey Girl Stakes by 1 length over Bella Sofia at Belmont on June 6. Joel Rosario has the mount from post 7. Michael Imperio, Vincent Scuderi, Sofia Soares, Gabrielle Farm, Mazel Stable Partners, and Matthew Mercurio's Bella Sofia will be making just her third start. Trained by Rudy Rodriguez, Bella Sofia blew away the field when breaking her maiden at 6 furlongs by 11 ¼ lengths at Belmont on May 6 prior to the Jersey Girl. Manny Franco has the mount from post 1. Team D and Madaket Stables' Miss Brazil, third in the Jersey Girl, has won three of six starts for trainer Anthony Dutrow. Jose Ortiz will ride Miss Brazil from post 3.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL071021USA8-EQB.html

5:12 p.m. ―$1 million Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park on FS2

Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg's Bolshoi Ballet leads nine runners in Saturday's 1 ¼-mile Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes on the turf for 3-year-olds. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Bolshoi Ballet, a son of Galileo (IRE), has won two of three starts this year, including the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes on April 11 at Leopardstown. However, he followed up that performance with a disappointing seventh-place finish, with no surge in the final furlong, as the 7-5 favorite in the Group? 1 Kazoo Derby at Epsom on June 5. Ryan Moore will ride from post 2. From France comes Teruya Yoshida's Tokyo Gold (FR), a winner of three of six starts, including a four-length score in the Group 2 Derby Italiano Universita' Campus Bio-Medico di Roma (Italian Derby) at Capannelle in Rome on May 23. Trained by Satoshi Kobayashi, Tokyo Gold will be ridden by John Velazquez from post 7. The Bill Mott-trained Du Jour won the Grade 2, 1 1/16-mile American Turf presented by Derby City Gaming on May 1 at Churchill Downs for his third straight win this year. Owned by Natalie Baffert and Debbie Lanni, Du Jour will break from post 5 under Flavien Prat. Robert LaPenta, Augustin Stable and Madaket Stables' Hard Love is two for two this year, including a 1 1/8-mile allowance optional claiming win on June 5 at Belmont for trainer Jonathan Thomas. Manny Franco has the mount from post 6.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL071021USA9-EQB.html

5:15 p.m. ―$400,000 Grade 2 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park on TVG

A field of seven is set for Saturday's Grade 2 Delaware Handicap for older fillies and mares going 1 ¼ miles. Juddmonte's 4-year-old Bonny South, trained by Brad Cox, has been first or second in her last five starts, which includes a victory in Keeneland's Grade 3 Doubledogdare Stakes on April 16, and a second-place finish to Letruska, the No. 1 rated horse in the weekly NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll, in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont on June 5. Florent Geroux has the mount from post 5. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has entered the 5-year-old Queen Nekia (Sheldon Russell, post 2) and the 4-year-old Gibberish (Trevor McCarthy, post 1). Florida-bred Queen Nekia has won 10 races, including the Grade 3 Royal Delta at Gulfstream Park in February. Queen Nekia finished fourth in the Ogden Phipps. e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Gibberish, a four-time winner, finished second in the listed Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park last time out on June 6. Miracle International Trading's Dream Marie, trained by Matthew Wiliams and ridden by Joe Bravo from post 3, won the listed 1 1/16-mile Obeah Stakes at Delaware by 1 ¾-lengths over Cammarota Racing's Miss Marissa by 1 ¾ lengths. Miss Marissa, trained by Jim Ryerson, will be ridden from post 6 by Daniel Centano.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DEL071021USA9-EQB.html

Sunday, July 11

4:24 p.m. ― $150,000 Grade 3 Marine Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

San-Som Farm's Canadian homebred Tidal Forces is two for two this year leading six runners in a wide-open field of 3-year-olds in the 1 1/16-mile Marine Stakes on the all-weather surface at Woodbine. Trained by Gail Cox and ridden from post 1 by Emma-Jayne Wilson, Tidal Forces came from off the pace to score by a half-length in a 1 1/16-mile optional allowance claiming race at Woodbine on June 19. Breeze Easy Stable's Easy Time is making his first start since Feb. 12, when he finishing second in an optional allowance claiming race at Gulfstream Park by a neck for trainer Mark Casse. Rafael Hernandez has the mount from post 3. Casse is also starting Gary Barber's Frosted Over, who broke his maiden at 7 furlongs at Woodbine on June 20. Kazushi Kimura rides from post 2.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO071121CAN7-EQB.html

The post Weekend Lineup: International Challengers Take On Belmont Turf appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Thoroughbred Idea Foundation Preparing To Launch Third Annual Summer Prop Contest

The Thoroughbred Idea Foundation will launch next week its third annual BetMakers Summer Prop Contest to benefit racing charities. At least $25,000 will be distributed overall across three, 501 (c)(3) charities – the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

Free for all to enter, the 2021 edition of the contest is sponsored by BetMakers Technology Group, the Australian-based wagering solutions provider best known in America as the contracted facilitator of fixed odds betting for New Jersey customers. BetMakers signed a 10-year deal with the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and Monmouth Park operator Darby Development to manage and distribute fixed odds.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is expected to sign the legislation permitting fixed odds betting on racing shortly. Fixed odds betting will be available on select American and international races.

The contest will begin with props fashioned around next week's Haskell card and the big races opening weekend at Saratoga.

Each week of the eight-week contest, participants face 12 questions and a tiebreaker which are presented in the form of prop-style bets. A participant's best four scores over the course of the contest will accumulate towards the overall standings. The top three finishers in each week of the contest will direct $2,000 across the three charities ($1,000 – first, $600 – second, $400 – third) while the contestants with the top three highest accumulated scores at the end of the contest will direct an additional $9,000 ($5,000 – first, $3,000 – second, $1,000 – third).

Last year, Matt Miller of Northbrook, Illinois won the 2nd Summer Prop Contest on a tiebreaker after a weeks-long battle with Doug Slayton. In 2019, long-time racing official and horseplayer Rick Hammerle won the inaugural contest.

TIF believes that wagering on American racing must evolve to include fixed odds wagers, presenting customers with modern wagering options to complement pari-mutuel betting.

“The recent legalization of fixed odds betting for New Jersey customers is a great first step to help present existing customers with more options and to reach new customers to racing through New Jersey's popular sports betting platforms,” said TIF Executive Director Patrick Cummings.

“The BetMakers Summer Prop Contest seeks to introduce existing racing fans to the potential of a future with more wagering options while raising awareness to incredibly important industry charities. American racing's obligations are greater than ever while the sport's business has waned. We must seek every possible measure to grow racing's proverbial pie and meet these obligations.”

Contest players can enter each week at RacingThinkTank.com or through links posted by TIF's Twitter account @RacingIdeas.

Contest Dates (Key Races)

Week 1 – July 17 (Haskell – Monmouth Park, Diana – Saratoga)
Week 2 – July 24 (Coaching Club American Oaks – Saratoga)
Week 3 – July 31 (Vanderbilt / Jim Dandy – Saratoga, Bing Crosby – Del Mar)
Week 4 – August 7 (Whitney – Saratoga)
Week 5 – August 14 (Mister D – Arlington, Fourstardave – Saratoga)
Week 6 – August 21 (Pacific Classic – Del Mar, Alabama – Saratoga)
Week 7 – August 28 (Travers – Saratoga)
Week 8 – September 4 (Jockey Club Gold Cup / Flower Bowl – Saratoga)

The post Thoroughbred Idea Foundation Preparing To Launch Third Annual Summer Prop Contest appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Sacco Believes Longshot Basso Will ‘Step Up’ In Haskell

Gregg Sacco knows exactly what he's up against in the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes on July 17: Three, maybe four, of the top 3-year-olds in training, all of them sharp, while he sends out a horse that tired in the slop in an allowance optional claimer on June 26 in his first start of the year.

But the veteran trainer, whose family traces its roots to the earliest days of the modern Monmouth Park, isn't deterred and will take a big swing in the Grade 1 Haskell with Basso, who quite possibly will be the longest shot in the field.

In fact, Sacco seems genuinely enthused about the opportunity, especially since this will mark his first Haskell starter in a training career that began in 1989.

“We know he is going to have to step up,” said Sacco, whose father William was Monmouth Park's leading trainer in 1962. “We're anticipating he will in his second start as a 3-year-old. We're in our backyard. We're confident he will run a respectable race.

“We'll be walking out of our barn onto the track and we'll see what happens.”

A son of Cairo Prince, Basso has just one win from five career starts, four of them at Monmouth. He broke his maiden first asking by eight lengths last Aug. 23 but has yet to produce a signature moment.

That's something many of the other expected contenders for the Haskell have had already. Mandaloun was the Kentucky Derby runner-up; Midnight Bourbon was the Preakness Stakes runner-up and Hot Rod Charlie was the Belmont Stakes runner-up. Still on the fence about the Haskell is Preakness winner Rombauer.

“All of them popped up at some point to be where they are now,” said Sacco. “They can pop up any time as a 3-year-old. We're looking for a big improvement off his first race back. He was only 70 percent that day (when he finished sixth). We knew that going in.

“He made a bold move up to the lead at the quarter pole and he just got tired. It was nasty that day with the rain and the heat, he was in post nine, and we knew going in he was in desperate need of a race. So we're taking a shot. We'll see how it goes. But we feel he will run a respectable race.”

Owned by Michael Fazio and Monmouth Stud (which is Sacco), Basso's appearance in the starting gate will make up for some of the disappointment for both men from 2019, when Joevia was scratched the day of the Haskell due to a foot injury.

Sacco said Basso will work five-eighths of a mile either Saturday or Sunday at Monmouth Park, depending on the condition of the track following heavy rain Thursday.

The post Sacco Believes Longshot Basso Will ‘Step Up’ In Haskell appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Baffert Reveals Names of Owners Allegedly on Verge of Leaving Him

In response to an order from a federal judge for trainer Bob Baffert to reveal specifically which of his existing clients have told him they may pull horses from his care if his banishment by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is allowed to continue, Baffert's legal team on Friday provided the court with a list of five Thoroughbred owners who are allegedly considering splitting with the Hall of Fame conditioner.

According to a one-page letter filed electronically by attorney W. Craig Robertson just minutes before the judge's mandated noon (Eastern) deadline July 9, those on-the-verge owners are “Gavin Murphy of SF Bloodstock; Jack Wolf of Starlight Racing; Peter Fluor of Speedway Stable; Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables; and George Bolton.”

That disclosure comes on the heels of Baffert's publicly documented breakup with WinStar Farm, which has already pulled such elite-level Thoroughbreds as 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Country Grammer (Tonalist) from his California-based stable.

In a July 7 affidavit, Baffert stated that WinStar's reassigning of those horses was a “harm” that has “already occurred as a result of NYRA's ban,” and that “WinStar's move has and will continue to have the added effect of possibly encouraging other notable owners to do the same.”

Baffert's inability to pursue his chosen livelihood at New York's major Thoroughbred tracks is likely to be a key deciding factor in his lawsuit against NYRA in United States District Court (Eastern District of New York).

In a civil complaint filed by Baffert June 14, the seven-time

GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer is alleging that NYRA's banishment of him since May 17 violates his Fourteenth Amendment constitutional right to due process, and Baffert wants the court to overturn that ban.

NYRA's exclusion of Baffert from Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack was mandated the association in the wake of five positive drug tests in horses Baffert has trained over the last 12 months.

Three of those violations occurred in Grade I stakes. The most recent drug positive, for betamethasone in Medina Spirit (Protonico) after that Baffert trainee won the May 1 Kentucky Derby, has yet to be adjudicated by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Churchill Downs Inc., however, has already barred Baffert from participating at any of the gaming corporation's five Thoroughbred tracks for a period of two years.

Judge Carol Bagley Amon's mandate for Baffert to assign specific names to his written claim that “I have recently had conversations with other owners who have stated that they may move their horses to other trainers if the New York suspension continues,” arose out of a back-and-forth verbal dispute between parties in a July 8 court conference call.

On Thursday, counsel for NYRA had argued that the plaintiff's 434-page “memorandum in further support of a preliminary injunction,” which was filed with the court only five days prior to a July 12 hearing for the case, violated established legal procedure because it included new information that the NYRA did not have time to investigate.

NYRA had already filed its own memo in opposition to overturning its ban on June 30, and on Thursday wanted the plaintiff's entire July 7 reply filing (or at least Baffert's affidavit included within) to be stricken or disregarded.

The judge denied NYRA's oral motion to strike Baffert's reply affidavit, but Amon did order Baffert to divulge the identities of the clients who were allegedly ready to break with him because their horses were being denied access to New York's premier tracks.

Amon had also recommended on Thursday that Baffert be in her New York courtroom for Monday's 11 a.m. hearing in case he is needed to testify under oath.

The post Baffert Reveals Names of Owners Allegedly on Verge of Leaving Him appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post