Month: July 2021

‘Matured’ Hot Rod Charlie Could Run Without Blinkers In Haskell

Third in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont Stakes, Hot Rod Charlie has been confirmed for the G1 Haskell Invitational on July 17 after a six-furlong work in 1:11.60 this Friday, reports bloodhorse.com. The 3-year-old son of Oxbow will breeze at Santa Anita again on July 9, then fly east the following day.

Trainer Doug O'Neill was extremely pleased with the colt's penultimate breeze, for which jockey Flavien Prat was aboard. Hot Rod Charlie went without blinkers, as he has several times this year, and O'Neill is strongly considering removing the equipment for the Haskell.

“It's one of those deals where the blinkers helped him focus and become the racehorse he's become, but as he has matured, Flavien says he seems very happy without them,” O'Neill told bloodhorse.com. “We're hoping that obviously with some of these stretch duels that racing without them will tip us over onto the winning end of a stretch duel. We just wanted to try it in the mornings. So far, it's been a good experience. As it stands right now, more than likely 'Charlie' will run without blinkers in the Haskell.”

The Haskell is a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Classic this fall at Del Mar. Other top 3-year-olds under consideration for the nine-furlong contest include Mandaloun and Rombauer.

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

The post ‘Matured’ Hot Rod Charlie Could Run Without Blinkers In Haskell appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

How To Play Seven Card Stud Poker

One of the most popular variations of Poker, the 7 Card Stud Poker game is played at every Vegas casino and in all internet casinos. The popularity of 7 Card Stud Poker is eclipsed only by a variant of the game called Texas Hold ‘Em, which is the main format of the World Series of Poker, the largest professional tournament in the world. Once you know how to play 7 Card Stud Poker, it is an easy step to learn Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha, or other popular variants.

The hand ranking order is the same for 7 Card Stud as it is for just about every one of the hundreds of Poker variations played around the world. The highest possible hand is a Royal Flush, and after that in descending order are the Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, and Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card. The odds of being dealt a high hand in 7 Card Stud are lower than those in Texas Hold ‘Em because you must construct the hand using only the cards you receive. There are no community cards in traditional 7 Card Stud.

As with every Poker game, play in 7 Card Stud begins with the ante: each player pays a small amount to the pot in order to participate in the game. There are six stages in 7 Card Stud Poker; known as third street, fourth street, fifth street, sixth street, the river, and the showdown. After the ante, each player is dealt two face-down cards (called hole cards) and one face-up card. This initial deal is third street. The player with the highest card showing initiates the betting, and will either check (not raise the pot), or bet. Then, each subsequent player can either call (match the first player’s bet), raise (increase the bet amount), or fold (withdraw from the hand). Three more face-up cards are dealt to each player, one at a time, with a round of betting after each deal pass–these stages are fourth, fifth and sixth street.

The seventh card is known as “the river,” and is dealt face-down. One final round of betting ensues, after which those players who have not folded enter the last stage, called “the showdown.” At this point, beginning with the last player to call the bet, each player shows their respective cards and names the best five-card hand they can make with their cards (full house, two pair, etc.). The pot is given to the player with the highest ranking hand, and then the next hand begins. Now you know how to play 7 Card Stud Poker!

Gamine Tops Field Of Eight For Monday’s Great Lady M Stakes

Multiple Grade 1 winner Gamine heads a field of eight in the $200,000-guaranteed Great Lady M Stakes Monday at Los Alamitos.

A Grade 2, the Great Lady M is for fillies & mares (3-year-olds) and up at 6 ½ furlongs. It is the eighth of nine races on closing day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival. Scheduled post time for the main event is 4:28 p.m.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for Michael Lund Petersen, Gamine has won seven of eight and earned $1,286,500.

A 4-year-old Into Mischief filly out of the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane, Gamine has four Grade 1 successes in three different states on her resume. She has earned those victories – the Acorn at Belmont Park, the Test at Saratoga, the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland in 2020 and the Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs earlier this year – by a combined 33 ½ lengths.

Baffert, who has won the Great Lady M. previously with Fantastic Style (2015) and Marley's Freedom (2018-2019), also entered Qahira.

Idle since finishing a distant second behind Gamine in the Grade 3 Las Flores April 4, the 5-year-old Cairo Prince mare has won half of her 10 races for Baoma Corporation and banked $249,400.

Out of the Bates Motel mare Motel Lass, Qahira is 1-for-1 at Los Alamitos. She won an optional claimer as the 3-5 choice during the 2019 Summer Thoroughbred Festival.

Edgeway will be aiming for her third consecutive victory for Hronis Racing LLC and trainer John Sadler.

The 4-year-old Competitive Edge filly out of the Stormin Fever mare Magical Solution followed a win in an optional claimer Feb. 7 at Santa Anita with a stakes success in the Carousel April 10 at Oaklawn Park.

Edgeway has won four of six and earned $307,200. She was runner-up in the Grade 3 Dogwood as a 3-year-old in her only prior start in a graded race.

Hronis Racing and Sadler also entered Candura, a lightly-raced 5-year-old Into Mischief mare. The gray, who is out of the Candy Ride mare Halloween Candy, has won three of four and banked $162,945. She is 2-for-2 in 2021 with both victories coming at Oaklawn Park, the most recent April 25.

Her win in California came in her career debut Aug. 22, 2018 going five furlongs on the Del Mar turf.

A 4-year-old Shanghai Bobby filly out of the Richter Scale mare Lady Dynasty, Dynasty of Her Own will seek her first graded victory for Tommy Town Thoroughbreds LLC and trainer Jonathan Wong.

The Kentucky bred has won seven of 11 and earned $194,148. She has been away since capturing a $34,980 allowance over the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields May 20.

Her only win in four tries on dirt came in the Borderplex Stakes at Sunland Park in New Mexico Jan. 26, 2020. In her lone graded stakes try, she finished fifth of six in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at 1 1/16 miles last year at Prairie Meadows.

Trained by Simon Callaghan for Kaleem Shah Inc., Bella Vita will be making her graded debut. A daughter of Bayern and the Storm Cat mare Queenie Cat, the 4-year-old is 2-for-8 with earnings of $181,790. The California bred has been worse than third only once in her career.

Owned D K Racing LLC, Radley Equine Inc., breeder Helen Alexander and Ramona and Perry Bass II and trained by Dan Blacker, Eyes Open broke her maiden in her seventh career start May 23. The 4-year-old Street Sense filly out of the Bernardini mare Delightful mare has banked $56,920.

Road Rager will be making her first start in nearly 10 months for Samantha Siegel's Jay Em Ess Stable and trainer Brian Koriner.

The 5-year-old Quality Road mare was last seen finishing third in an optional claimer last Sept. 6 at Del Mar. Out of the Aggressive Chief mare She Is Raging, Road Rager has won twice in 13 attempts and banked $128,162.

From inside out, the field for the Great Lady M Stakes:

  1. Candura, Tyler Baze rides, 119 pounds
  2. Dynasty of Her Own, Ricardo Gonzalez, 119
  3. Qahira, Abel Cedillo, 119
  4. Edgeway, Flavien Prat, 119
  5. Gamine, John Velazquez, 119
  6. Bella Vita, Juan Hernandez, 119
  7. Eyes Open, Edwin Maldonado, 119
  8. Road Rager, Jessica Pyfer, 119

The post Gamine Tops Field Of Eight For Monday’s Great Lady M Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mystic Guide Returns in Suburban

Godolphin homebred Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), off since winning the G1 Dubai World Cup in March, makes his stateside return in the GII Suburban S. at Belmont Park Saturday. The Suburban, a 'Win and You're In' race for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, will feature a rematch between the handsome chestnut and Happy Saver (Super Saver), who bested him by 3/4 lengths in last year's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup.

In addition to his runner-up effort in the Gold Cup last October, Mystic Guide's 3-year-old campaign also included a win in the GII Jim Dandy S. He prepped for his trip to Dubai with a six-length romp over a sloppy track in the Feb. 27 GIII Razorback H., for which he earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure.

“Obviously, we don't really know how much the sloppy track played into that number,” said trainer Mike Stidham. “He came back in the Dubai World Cup and made the number look like it was real, which was good. We've given him plenty of time and he's had three months since that race to bounce back. Looking at him train and his weight and his coat, he's an absolute picture right now.”

Wertheimer and Frere's Happy Saver is now unbeaten in five career starts after returning from his Gold Cup win last fall with a one-mile allowance tally at Belmont May 28. The 4-year-old debuted a winner last June at Belmont and added a Saratoga allowance victory July 26 before winning the Sept. 7 Federico Tesio S.

“I think as an older horse he's a little more laid back in some of his works,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of Happy Saver. “He always performs well and he's really filled out and matured. For the way he ran in the Jockey Club Gold Cup last year, he's proven he likes that distance and that race looks even stronger now with what Mystic Guide has done.”

Of Mystic Guide's rematch with Happy Saver, Stidham said, “The bottom line is that they're both very good horses. I'm not taking anything for granted. I know Happy Saver has never been beaten and it won't be an easy race for us. I just hope we have the best horse.”

Pletcher also saddles Repole Stable and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Moretti (Medaglia d'Oro), who was second behind Tacitus (Tapit) in last year's Suburban. The 5-year-old was a front-running victor of the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone S. last August in his final 2020 outing. He resurfaced with a third-place effort in the 1 1/2-mile GII Brooklyn S. at Belmont June 5.

“The farther the better for him,” said Pletcher. “He ran OK in here last year and this would be a nice bridge to the Birdstone to try and defend his title there.”

The post Mystic Guide Returns in Suburban appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights