In his regular gambling blog, John Piassek presents his top picks for the upcoming weekend in horse racing, offering betting options at different budget levels. Piassek’s Plays is brought to you by Horseplayers.com, the official online qualifying site of the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) and National Horseplayers Championship (NHC).
Month: August 2021
Betting on Speed in 2021 Sword Dancer Stakes
Just how important is Saturday’s $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga Race Course?
Saffron Beach Will Stay Close to Home For Sun Chariot
Saturday's G3 Atalanta S. heroine Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), runner-up in the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas in Newmarket in May, will make her next start at that course in the Oct. 2 G1 Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot S., trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam announced on Thursday. Originally, the Oct. 17 GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine in Canada had been under consideration, too, for the 2020 G3 Oh So Sharp S. victress.
“The plan going forward will be to head to the Sun Chariot. It is her backyard and she has done extremely well there before having won there twice and finishing second there twice in four starts so she knows the track really well,” said Chapple-Hyam of the G1 Cazoo Oaks eighth and G1 Falmouth S. 11th. “She had excuses in the Oaks as it came up really heavy and she had a dirty lung after finishing down the field in the Falmouth S.
“She finished second in the 1000 Guineas so we knew she had the ability to win more group races and it was important getting more black type on Saturday. She was dominant in that last furlong and when Hollie [Doyle] asked her to go two out she shot clear which was nice to see.
Chapple-Hyam added, “I think a race like the [GI] E.P. Taylor S. is really a race for 4-year-olds. We feel she can travel next year for a race like that when she is that bit older.”
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Invincible Spirit’s Pearls Galore Rules In The Fairy Bridge
Continuing her upward trajectory on Thursday, Haras de Saint Pair's Pearls Galore (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) defied a three-pound penalty for her July 11 G3 Brownstown S. success in style in Tipperary's G3 Coolmore Stud No Nay Never Fairy Bridge S. Always travelling strongly racing behind the pace, the 5-2 second favourite was angled off the fence by Billy Lee straightening for home and after delivering her potent turn of acceleration recorded a comprehensive 1 3/4-length defeat of Roca Roma (Ire) (Australia {GB}). “She was in great form when she won the Brownstown and I said we'd go straight for the Matron,” trainer Paddy Twomey said. “She was in great form at home and I felt it would be unwise to bypass this one on our doorstep. I thought if she could do what she did there then we could have a crack at a group 1. I felt it might be a bit fanciful if we hadn't done something like that. She's earned her shot wherever it might be.”
Runner-up to Champers Elysees (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) when this was staged at Gowran Park in September, Pearls Galore had finished fifth in the Listed Cooley Fillies & Mares S. at a mile on Dundalk's Polytrack in November before returning to be third in the G3 Ballycorus S. over seven at Leopardstown June 10. Building on her Brownstown success at Fairyhouse, the diminutive granddaughter of Haras de Saint Pair's foundation mare Pearly Shells (GB) (Efisio {GB}) looked every bit ready to attempt to emulate Champers Elysees in the highest category. Twomey revealed that she has three top-level alternatives. “The [Sept. 11] Matron [at Leopardstown], the [Oct. 3 Prix de la] Foret [at ParisLongchamp] and the First Lady in Keeneland on the 8th of October are all options and Keeneland would suit her. It's a quick, tight mile but we'll leave the dust settle and come up with a plan. She's bred by Andreas Putsch who races her and raced all her family. I think we're obliged to go for a group 1 now. She won't run next year, so I'd say another run and that will be it.”
Pearls Galore's dam is the German group 3 winner Pearl Banks (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), whose prior black-type performers are Lucky Lycra (Ire) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), who scored at the same level in the same country, and the Listed Prix des Lilas winner Pearly Steph (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The aforementioned second dam, the G1 Prix Vermeille heroine Pearly Shells, was also responsible for the Listed Prix Panacee winner Pearls Or Passion (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) who is in turn the dam of the G3 Prix de Royaumont scorer Pelligrina (Ire) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) and the listed-placed Podemos (Ger) (Shamardal). Pearl Banks is also a half-sister to two other black-type performers including this year's G2 Prix Greffulhe runner-up Smile Makers (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) and to Propaganda (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who in turn produced the G3 May Hill S. third Shagah (Ire) from a mating with Pearls Galore's sire Invincible Spirit. Pearl Banks has an as-yet unnamed 2-year-old filly by Dark Angel (Ire) and a yearling colt by Shalaa (Ire).
Thursday, Tipperary, Ireland
COOLMORE STUD NO NAY NEVER FAIRY BRIDGE S.-G3, €55,000, Tipperary, 8-26, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f 110yT, 1:36.61, g/y.
1–PEARLS GALORE (FR), 136, f, 4, by Invincible Spirit (Ire)
1st Dam: Pearl Banks (GB) (GSW-Ger, SW-Fr, $127,537), by Pivotal (GB)
2nd Dam: Pearly Shells (GB), by Efisio (GB)
3rd Dam: Piffle (GB), by Shirley Heights (GB)
O/B-SCEA Haras de Saint Pair (FR); T-Paddy Twomey; J-Billy Lee. €33,000. Lifetime Record: 9-4-1-1, $125,089. *1/2 to Lucky Lycra (Ire) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), GSW-Ger, SW-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Roca Roma (Ire), 133, f, 4, Australia (GB)–Lucy Diamonds (Ire), by Orpen. (75,000gns RNA Wlg '17 TATFOA). O-Roca Partnership; B-Tommy Murphy (IRE); T-Ger Lyons. €11,000.
3–Loch Lein (Ire), 128, f, 3, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Ashley Hall, by Maria's Mon. (350,000gns RNA Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Joan Brosnan; B-Epona Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington. €5,500.
Margins: 1 3/4, HF, HF. Odds: 2.50, 7.00, 8.00.
Also Ran: Rocket Science (Ire), Surrounding (Ire), Sziget (Ire), Let's (Ire), Pretty Gorgeous (Fr), Miramis (Ire), Thinking of You, Friendly (Ire), Pale Iris (Ire), Elizabethan, Sweet Gardenia (GB), Parent's Prayer (Ire). Scratched: Acquiescent (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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