The only Grade 1 winner in an eight-horse field for the $350,000 Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational Stakes July 3 at Gulfstream Park, Bo Hirsch's homebred Ce Ce returned to the form that saw her win twice at the highest level last year.
Month: July 2021
Honor Code’s Max Player Upends Suburban
The betting public had Saturday's GII Suburban S. down to a battle between a pair of 'TDN Rising Stars': in one corner, Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), whose victory in the G1 Dubai World Cup made him favored at 85 cents on the dollar, and in the other, Happy Saver (Super Saver), who got the better of Mystic Guide when first they eyeballed one another in last year's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and the clear second choice at 8-5. Max Player (Honor Code) had yet to beat a horse of the quality of either of those and was duly sent off a distant fourth choice at what some would deem underlaid odds of 11-1. He was clearly overmatched on paper, but as the old saying goes, they don't run races on paper, and the persevering 4-year-old outslugged the odds-on choice to cause the upset in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for this year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Happy Saver was no real menace in third.
Drawn five of six, with Mystic Guide to his inside and Happy Saver to his outer, Max Player wasn't the quickest out of the stalls but was soon clicked up by Ricardo Santana, Jr. and improved to be the pace-chaser as Moretti (Medaglia d'Oro)–a stakes winner at 11 and 14 furlongs–called the shots up front. Santana was content to lie second and wait for Moretti to play his hand, but Mystic Guide–perhaps a touch eager in his first start in 98 days–tugged for his head beneath Luis Saez, and Happy Saver was committed to an overland journey by Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Racing one off the fence, Moretti took the Suburban field into the final four furlongs, but Saez immediately seized upon the opening at the inside and allowed Mystic Guide to advance into what appeared to be a pretty tight spot, causing him a moment's hesitation that may have briefly stopped any momentum he'd built up. Max Player kept pace three wide, but Mystic Guide looked to be doing the better work has he struck to the front right at the quarter pole. Shaken up at the three-sixteenths, Mystic Guide looked to have the race at his mercy, but he was tardy in switching his leads, drifted to his right despite right-handed urging and could not resist the persistent rally of Max Player in the run to the wire. Happy Saver, four wide off the home corner, stayed on at one pace while never a danger to the top two and just lasted for third over Moretti.
“He was training really well,” said the winning jockey. “He always runs well on this track. He always tries hard. Today, he broke well and put me right there. I took the spot and no one wanted to go. As soon as he felt [Mystic Guide] inside, he kept on fighting until the end.”
Mike Stidham, trainer of the beaten favorite, was not unduly dismayed, and said: “It's not that surprising that a horse coming off three months might get tired off this kind of a racetrack. Certainly no disgrace in defeat. He ran hard and ran well. We're going onward and rolling toward the Breeders' Cup. We'll see how he comes out of it and then start talking about what's next.”
Winner of the GIII Withers S. while under the care of Linda Rice last February, Max Player was caught up in the uncertainty surrounding the numerous COVID-19 cancellations and ended up–less than ideally–racing first off a 4 1/2-month absence in the GI Belmont S. in June. A creditable third to Tiz the Law (Constitution), he repeated the effort in the GI Runhappy Travers S. in early August, but when Rice expressed some doubt about a possible run in the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby, was moved to the Steve Asmussen barn. Fifth in the Run for the Roses and again in the GI Preakness S. a month later, Max Player had been soundly defeated in his two starts this term–an 11th-place effort in the Saudi Cup in February and a distant sixth in the GIII Pimlico Special S. when last seen May 15.
Pedigree Notes:
Kelly Breen signed the ticket on Fools In Love, going to $80,000 on behalf of K&G Stables at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic yearling sale. A debut winner and multiple stakes placed at two, Fools In Love won her only black-type race in the 2009 Orleans S. at Delta Downs a few races before Hall's Truth and Justice (Yes It's True) was unfortunately pulled up when favored in the GIII Delta Princess S.
Fools In Love has gone on to be an integral part of Hall's broodmare operation and has bred five winners from five to race, including GSW & G1SP Seahenge (Scat Daddy), GSP Urban Bourbon (City Zip) and SP Frank's Folly (Mineshaft) prior to Max Player. The half-sister to MGSW International Star (Fusaichi Pegasus) was sold to Cheveley Park Stud for an even $1 million (offered not pregnant to Speightstown) at Keeneland November in 2017. Her first foal for that operation, the 2-year-old colt Homeric (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}), fetched €175,000 from Jamie Railton Sales Agency as a foal at Goffs in 2019 and she has since produced a filly by Frankel (GB) and another Ulysses colt.
Saturday, Belmont
SUBURBAN S.-GII, $400,000, Belmont, 7-3, 4yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:01.95, sy.
1–MAX PLAYER, 120, c, 4, by Honor Code
1st Dam: Fools in Love (SW, $240,746), by Not For Love
2nd Dam: Parlez, by French Deputy
3rd Dam: Speak Halory, by Verbatim
($150,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-George E Hall & SportBLX
Thoroughbreds Corp; B-K & G Stables (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen; J-Ricardo Santana Jr. $220,000. Lifetime Record:
MGISP, 10-3-1-2, $717,500. *1/2 to Seahenge (Scat Daddy),
GSW & G1SP-Eng, SP-Ire, $228,295; and to Urban Bourbon
(City Zip), GSP, $113,381. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mystic Guide, 124, c, 4, Ghostzapper–Music Note, by A.P.
Indy. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael
Stidham. $80,000.
3–Happy Saver, 124, c, 4, Super Saver–Happy Week, by
Distorted Humor. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Wertheimer Et Frere
(KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $48,000.
Margins: NK, 2HF, NK. Odds: 11.80, 0.85, 1.60.
Also Ran: Moretti, Informative, Prioritize. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
The post Honor Code’s Max Player Upends Suburban appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Yes This Time Quickens Best in Kent
Heavily favored to score a fifth consecutive victory and his sixth from eight starts overall, Edge Racing's Yes This Time (Not This Time) had some work to turning into the stretch of Saturday's GIII Kent S. over rain-affected turf at Delaware Park, but he rallied through an opening at the rail and outfinished pacesetting Like the King (Palace Malice) for an ultimately comfortable success.
Allowed to amble along as the pacesetter had things very much his own way on the engine, Yes This Time was shuffled back to last and was off the bridle for a stride or two with about three furlongs to race. Busily ridden by Joe Bravo approaching the quarter pole, the chestnut showed a quick turn of foot, confronted the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner to his inside with a bit less than an eighth of a mile
Claimed for $30,000 from his breeder and trainer Mike Stidham out of a victorious effort when trying the grass for the first time at the Fair Grounds Dec. 5, Yes This Time was fourth in a starter/optional event at Gulfstream Jan. 21 before scooping similar events Feb. 20 and Mar. 20. A 2 1/2-length winner when facing allowance/optional rivals in Hallandale Apr. 11, he overcame a very wide trip and rallied from last to earn his first black-type success in the May 8 English Channel S. at the South Florida oval.
Pedigree Notes:
Yes This Time becomes the second graded winner for Taylor Made's Not This Time and is simultaneously the 50th graded winner produced by a daughter of the outstanding Smart Strike. The colt's second dam made a name for herself on the Midlantic circuit, winning four black-type events at Delaware Park, including the grassy Beautiful Day S. As a broodmare, Shad was responsible for Strike A Deal (Smart Strike), a two-time graded winner on turf, as well as Pacific Wind (Curlin), victorious in the GII Ruffian S. and third in the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. on the main, while earning graded placings in the GII Honeymoon S. and GIII Senorita S. on the grass. The unraced Smart Jilly is the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Street Sense and a yearling filly by Blame.
Saturday, Delaware Park
KENT S.-GIII, $150,125, Delaware, 7-3, 3yo, 1 1/8mT, 1:52.39, sf.
1–YES THIS TIME, 117, c, 3, by Not This Time
1st Dam: Smart Jilly, by Smart Strike
2nd Dam: Shag, by Dixieland Band
3rd Dam: Ismelda, by Wavering Monarch
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Edge Racing; B-Barry S. Golden
(KY); T-Kelly J. Breen; J-Joe Bravo. $90,000. Lifetime Record:
8-6-0-0, $215,025. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Like the King, 117, c, 3, Palace Malice–Like a Queen, by
Corinthian. ($28,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV; $170,000 Ylg '19
OBSOCT). O-M Racing Group, LLC; B-Horseshoe Racing, LLC
(KY); T-Wesley A. Ward. $30,000.
3–Wootton Asset (Fr), 117, c, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Love Liu
(Fr), by Librettist. (€37,000 Ylg '19 AROYRG). O-Madaket
Stables LLC; B-Ecurie Haras Du Cadran & Mme. Patrick
Ades-Hazan (FR); T-H. Graham Motion. $16,500.
Margins: 1, 1, 1HF. Odds: 1.10, 3.50, 5.00.
Also Ran: Doubleoseven, Eamonn, Be Here. Scratched: Gershwin, Shackled Love, Vikram. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
The post Yes This Time Quickens Best in Kent appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Crazy Beautiful Sails Through Mud To Easy Win In Delaware Oaks
The day might have been seen its share of rain, but a muddy track and the field of eight others were no trouble for Kenny McPeek's Crazy Beautiful. At Delaware Park in Wilmington, De., the daughter of Liam's Map bided her time behind the early leaders, made her move for the lead coming out of the final turn, and then pulled away from the rest of the horses to win the Delaware Oaks going away.
At the start, Orbs Baby Girl took command, with Hybrid Eclipse and Crazy Beautiful running a short length behind her. The longshot held the lead through the backstretch, with Mike Smith and Crazy Beautiful hovering on the outside, waiting for the right moment to make their move. On the final turn, as Hybrid Eclipse started to challenge Orbs Baby Girl, Crazy Beautiful went with her, drawing even with both fillies as they entered the stretch. On the straightaway, Crazy Beautiful took an easy lead, stretching her advantage out to six lengths, winning the 1 1/16-mile Delaware Oaks in 1:46.33.
Midnight Obsession, Leader of the Band, Hybrid Eclipse, She's a Hot Mess, Orbs Baby Girl, Baby Gundin, Juror Number Four, and Exogen rounded out the field of nine.
“She jumped better than she ever has leaving the gate,” said winning rider Mike Smith. “It has always been a little bit of a problem with her. I was really happy with that just because of the track being good and because there was not a lot of speed in the race, I wanted to be somewhat closer. We had one tiny anxious moment just past the 3/8ths pole when they picked it up and she kind of lost focus briefly. I barely touched her and she threw me into the rumble seat. That is when I knew we would be fine. After that, it was just all her. I took a peek at the big screen and I felt like I was watching Sunday night football.”
Crazy Beautiful paid $2.60, $2.10, and $2.10. Second place Midnight Obsession paid $3.60 and $2.80. Leader of the Band paid $3.40 to show.
Crazy Beautiful follows up her win in the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita in her last start, for a record of three wins in five starts in 2021. She was sired by Liam's Map out of Indian Burn, by Indian Charlie. Bred by Carolyn Vogel, Crazy Beautiful is owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III. She was purchased for Phoenix Thoroughbred by McPeek at the Fasig-Tipton 2019 Fall Yearling Sale for $250,000 from consigner Little's Bloodstock.
The post Crazy Beautiful Sails Through Mud To Easy Win In Delaware Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
