Ebor Festival: Snowfall storms to victory in Yorkshire Oaks
Snowfall storms to a comfortable victory in the Yorkshire Oaks at the Ebor Festival at York
Month: August 2021
Saratoga, Del Mar Team Up For All-Graded Stakes Cross Country Pick 5
The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 featuring all graded stakes action from Saratoga and Del Mar. The sequence will include three Grade 1s and a pair of Grade 2 contests.
Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.
Saratoga will host the first two legs of the sequence, starting with the Grade 2, $200,000 Lake Placid for 3-year-old fillies competing at 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon turf course in Race 9 at 5:39 p.m. Eastern. The Chad Brown-trained Technical Analysis will look to duplicate her effort from when she won the Grade 3 Lake George on July 23 over the Saratoga inner turf. Spanish Loveaffair, who faced top-flight competition last out in running eighth in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in the opening leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series on July 10, will be sent out by Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. New York-bred Runaway Rumour won her first three starts for trainer Jorge Abreu, including an off-the-pace half-length victory in the Wild Applause in June at Belmont Park going one mile. After running fourth in the Lake George in her first run over the Saratoga grass, the Flintshire filly will return to the Spa.
The featured race at Saratoga, the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama, will see Malathaat out for revenge against Maracuja after the latter's last-out win in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24 at Saratoga. Malathaat was a hard-fought winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs and captured the Grade 1 Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland. A victory in the Alabama would make Malathaat the fifth filly in the past decade to capture the Kentucky Oaks-Alabama double. For Maracuja, a win in the Alabama would make her the fifth horse in the last decade to score the CCA Oaks-Alabama double. Crazy Beautiful, the winner of the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27, ran 10th in the Kentucky Oaks. But the Kenneth McPeek trainee rebounded to win the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks on May 30 at Santa Anita ahead of a six-length romp in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 3 at Delaware Park.
Del Mar will host the concluding three legs, starting with the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf in Race 9 at 9 p.m. Eastern. The Brown-trained Fluffy Socks, the Lake George runner-up last month, will be returning to the track where she won the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante in November. Madone, a winner of 5-of-7 starts for trainer Simon Callaghan, enters from a rallying win in the Grade 2 San Clemente on July 24 at Del Mar. The Irish-bred Feathers, trained by Peter Miller, will make her graded stakes debut, while fellow Irish-bred Soaring Sky will make her North American debut for conditioner Jessica Harrington.
The Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic for 3-year-olds and up will be contested in Race 10 at 9:30 p.m. as a nine-horse field competes at 1 1/4 miles on the main track. Express Train, winner of the San Diego Handicap, was installed the 3-1 morning line favorite. The Union Rags colt, trained by John Shirreffs, has posted a 4-4-2 record in 12 career starts as he enters the “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Breeders' Cup Classic in November, also held at Del Mar. Royal Ship, trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, has won six of his 14 starts with earnings of $293,305 and will have the services of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. Dr Post, the 2020 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes runner-up who last out won the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, will also look to make an impact shipping to the West Coast.
Concluding the Cross Country Pick 5 will be the Grade 2, $300,000 Del Mar Handicap in Race 11 at 10 p.m. The 11-horse field for 3-year-olds and up running at 1 3/8 miles on the turf will see Shirreffs send out Astronaut, second in the Grade 3 San Jan Capistrano, square off with the Brad Cox-trained Arklow, who won the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup in November in his previous start at Del Mar.
The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.
The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.
Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, August 21:
Leg A: Saratoga – Race 9, G2 Lake Placid (5:39 p.m.)
Leg B: Saratoga – Race 10, G1 Alabama (6:13 p.m.)
Leg C: Del Mar – Race 9, G1 Del Mar Oaks (9:00 p.m.)
Leg D: Del Mar – Race 10, G1 Pacific Classic (9:30 p.m.)
Leg E: Del Mar– Race 11, G2 Del Mar Handicap (10:00 p.m.)
The post Saratoga, Del Mar Team Up For All-Graded Stakes Cross Country Pick 5 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Code Of Honor ‘All Caught Up,’ Returns From Seven-Month Layoff In Saturday’s Iselin
It's not so much a new and improved version of Code of Honor who will make his return to the races in Saturday's Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes, trainer Shug McGaughey said, as it is a more mature one.
Idle since a fifth-place finish on Jan. 23 in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, Code of Honor heads a field of seven for the $250,000 Iselin Stakes, the feature on Monmouth Park's 14-race card that day.
With those seven months off, McGaughey said the 2019 Kentucky Derby runner-up and Travers Stakes winner is now all grown up.
“We gave him a good amount of time off and he has come back strong and he has been training really well at Saratoga,” he said. “I'm looking forward to running him on Saturday.
“He has grown up quite a bit physically with the time off. He was a late foal (May 23) so we were always kind of playing catch up with him. I think he is all caught up now.”
The Kentucky-bred Code of Honor, now 5, looms large over his six rivals for the mile and a sixteenth Iselin Stakes. He has won two Grade 1 races (the 2019 Travers and the 2019 Jockey Club Gold Cup) and five of his six career wins have been in graded stakes. Overall, the W. S. Farish homebred is 6-for-16 lifetime with four seconds and two thirds. His career earnings stand at $2,731,320.
“It wasn't a body maturity thing with him,” said McGaughey. “He was always doing fine. Being a late foal it just took him a little time to catch up. That's the best way I can explain it.”
Code of Honor's 2020 campaign started with a victory in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes but failed to produce another win in four races after that. But he was third in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, second in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap and second in Grade 1 Clark Stakes.
“It wasn't a frustrating year but it wasn't exactly what we hoped for after it started out with a win,” said McGaughey. “That's why I'm looking forward to running him again with the time off we gave him.
“He was so close last year. Maybe this year will be the year for him.”
A son of Noble Mission-Reunited by Dixie Union, Code of Honor has proven he can run well fresh, so McGaughey doesn't have any concerns about the lengthy layoff.
“He won his first start. And when he was a 3-year-old he ran in the Dwyer on July 6 at Belmont and then didn't run again until the Travers on Aug. 24,” McGaughey said. “So I think fresh is good for him.”
Code of Honor finished third in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was elevated to second with the disqualification of Maximum Security. He was also second but placed first due to interference in 2019 Jockey Cup Gold Cup after finishing a nose behind Vino Rosso.
Paco Lopez, well on his way to an eighth Monmouth Park riding title, has the mount.
The rest of the Iselin field consists of West Will Power, Croatian, I'm a G Six, Magic Michael, Phat Man and Brice.
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CHRB’s Dr. Gregory Ferraro Named Laffit Pincay Award Recipient
Dr. Gregory Ferraro, the current chairman of the California Horse Racing Board and a veterinarian for over half a century who has made an enduring impact on California racing as a practicing veterinarian, an equine surgeon and a medical executive, has been named the 17th recipient of the Laffit Pincay, Jr. Award. He'll be honored in that role at Del Mar with ceremonies during this Saturday's TVG Pacific Classic Day program.
The Pincay Award, named for and presented by the Hall of Fame rider, goes to those who have served the sport “with integrity, extraordinary dedication, determination and distinction.”
“I can think of few people who fit the requirements for this award better than Dr. Ferraro,” stated Pincay. “He has been a champion for horses and horse people throughout his life and his mark on our game will go on and on. He most certainly deserves this award and it will be my honor to salute him with it.”
Dr. Ferraro, 75, a native of San Francisco and a graduate of University of California, Davis and the renowned UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, was a working veterinarian and surgeon on the tracks of Southern California for 27 years. Subsequently, he accepted the position of Director of the Center for Equine Health at UC Davis where for 17 years he led efforts to promote research and education in equine medicine to the advantage and health of all breeds of horses.
His list of accomplishments across his stellar career is exceptional. It was Dr. Ferraro who designed and developed the horse ambulances that are used on North American tracks. Working in partnership, he also developed a splint that can be applied to stabilize lower leg injuries in horses.
Among his other innovations and insights, Dr. Ferraro was among the first to adapt human arthroscopic surgical techniques to horses. He also co-founded the Southern California Equine Foundation, a humane society whose goal was to stop animal suffering. Among other things, that group established equine hospitals on the backstretches of Hollywood Park and Santa Anita Park, the latter of which continues to provide diagnostic, surgical and medical services to injured horses.
One of his colleagues at the University of Davis' Center for Equine Health, Dr. Carrio Finno, DVM, PhD, spoke highly of Dr. Ferraro's leadership in that role:
“Dr. Ferraro's application of scientific studies to support critical decisions has revolutionized the industry's approach to Thoroughbred racing, health and safety,” she said. “Through advocating and facilitating collaborations between equine clinicians and basic science researchers, (he) set the stage for bringing the brightest minds together to advance equine health.”
Dr. Ferraro has lent his expertise to many industry organizations and boards and has held numerous leadership positions including those of the Racing Board Medication Committee, the Southern California Equine Foundation, the International Animal Welfare Training Institute and the Dolly Green Research Foundation. He is currently a member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Pincay was at one point the world's winningest jockey with 9,530 victories. He rode for 39 seasons, including 27 summers at Del Mar, where he is still the leading rider with 1,011 firsts. The Panamanian native was voted five Eclipse Awards as the nation's foremost rider and led the country in earnings seven times. Now 74-years-old, he lives in Arcadia near Santa Anita Park and maintains a close connection to the game.
The list of previous Pincay Award winners follows:
2019 – Julie Krone
2018 – Martine Bellocq
2017 – Mike Smith
2016 – Chris McCarron
2015 – Victor Espinoza
2014 – Art Sherman
2013 – Eddie Delahoussaye
2012 – John Harris
2011 – Jerry/Ann Moss
2010 – Oak Tree Racing Assn.
2009 – Merlin Volzke
2008 – Pete Pedersen
2007 – Elwood (Bud) Johnston
2006 – Mel/Warren Stute
2005 – Noble Threewitt
2004 – Bob Benoit
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