Monday was officially WinStar Day at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. To bettors across the country, it was Joel Rosario Day. The jockey won on five of his eight mounts, including the featured $1 million, Grade 3 WinStar Mint Million as Godolphin's late-running Pixelate blew past Somelikeithotbrown for a 2 1/2-length victory.
On Sunday's opening card, Rosario went 5-for-11, including winning the $500,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks aboard Godolphin's 3-year-old filly Adventuring. He would appear to have the Kentucky Downs riding title sewn up, with four days remaining (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).
Rafael Bejarano holds the record for victories on a single card at Kentucky Downs when he went 6-for-8 on Sept. 21, 2004, while en route to the riding title with 12 wins, still the most by a rider at a meet. While quite the feat back then, Rosario is competing against arguably the strongest jockey colony in the country as riders from all over migrate to the track in pursuit of some of the largest purses in the world.
No rider has dominated the meet for two days since Florent Geroux won five races twice in 2015 en route to taking the riding title with a record-tying 12 victories that he matched in 2016.
Rosario rode eight races on Labor Day, taking the second aboard Heaven Street ($7.20) for Steve Asmussen, the fourth on Super Divine ($11) for Wesley Ward, the seventh on Honor Hop ($5.80) for Brian Lynch, the eighth for Ward on Gypsy King ($5.60) and then the 10th on Pixelate. After Rosario's quintet Sunday, horseplayers were pounding his mounts. Pixelate was 10-1 in the morning line and bet down to about 9-2, paying $11.20. For the two days, Rosario has gone 10 for 19, with his horses earning $1,683,731.
“When you got a rider who's won 10 races in two days on a track, he's the guy you want,” said Mint Million winning trainer Michael Stidham. “This has got to be some kind of record.”
Jimmy Bell, president and racing manager of owner-breeder Godolphin, said he felt “all the confidence in the world” with Rosario aboard.
“We were joking in the paddock, any one of your previous (nine) ways of winning would work here,” Bell said. “He just rides with confidence. In our case, he just said the horse fit the course very well. Pixelate continued to find more, find more and just that slow momentum he built up to the rising ground and the long stretch. He said (Pixelate) relished the going. So that was fantastic.
“What a great weekend it's been for Sheikh Mohammed and the breeding program, obviously with Adventuring winning and to come back today with another homebred today in Pixelate,” he added of Godolphin's owner and the Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum. “It's just been magical.”
Bizzee Channel set a sizzling pace of 21.83 seconds for the first quarter mile and 44.95 for the half, with Somelikeithotbrown in closest pursuit and taking command turning for home. But Flavius, last year's winner and the 7-5 favorite, kicked into gear to go after Somelikeithotbrown before giving way to fifth.
Meanwhile, Pixelate came seven-wide down the late, swooping to the lead in the final sixteenth-mile while covering the mile in 1:34.04. Somelikeithotbrown and jockey Jose Ortiz held off his Mike Maker-trained stablemate Monarchs Glen, who closed from last of 10 older horses to finish another two lengths back in third under 2020 meet-leader Tyler Gaffalione.
“With the speed in front of me, it looked like they were going good,” Rosario said. “The key for me was trying to find a way through the track. He kept building, building, building, and with the long stretch, that helped get him there.
“He was in a nice gallop, he kept going and getting better, and I could see it when we caught up to the horses on the lead. I started thinking that we're going to get it.”
“It was a fast pace, I was aware of it,” said Ortiz, Kentucky Downs' 2018 and 2019 riding champion. “I was trying to wait as long as I could. But at the eighth pole, the favorite came up outside of me, so I had to go with him. I was able to beat him, but I wasn't able to hold on. Pixelate got by me. I set up a good trip for him.”
Pixelate won for the sixth time, with another six seconds and four thirds, in 20 starts, earning $1,098,850 with the $509,850 payday. It was his second graded-stakes victory, having won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby exactly a year ago.
“He deserves it because he finally got his day in the sun and got to make up for some of those times when we reached out and ran in some of the big races and he was only beaten 2-3 lengths,” Stidham said. “And today was his day. It was a beautiful thing. I'm so proud of the horse and what he's accomplished.
“Certainly when I looked up at the time and saw 21-and-change and 44-and-change and we were sitting back about nine or 10 off of it, I thought, 'Well, that's the perfect spot to be in.' And I think that helped us. But this horse, if you look at his form, he goes out and runs his heart out every time we run him, no matter what type of spot we pick. He's always trying. Today things set up nicely for him. And he tried like he always does and it put him in the winner's circle.”
As a New York-bred, Somelikeithotbrown was racing for the base purse of $550,000 with the Mint Million's remaining $450,000 paid out only to Kentucky-bred horses. He still picked up $104,500 for second, enough to put him over $1 million in earnings.
“He ran his butt off, didn't he?” said Dr. Harvey Diamond, co-founder of the Skychai Racing partnership that is majority owner in Somelikeithotbrown. “It looked like in mid-stretch that he was going to make it, and I saw this horse moving on the outside. We ran a good race. I think the pace was a little too quick for us.”
Agreed Rosario: “It was a fast pace, I was aware of it. I was trying to wait as long as I could. But at the eighth pole, the favorite (2020 winner Flavius) came up outside of me, so I had to go with him. I was able to beat him, but I wasn't able to hold on. Pixelate got by me. I set up a good trip for him.”
The post Red-Hot Rosario Teams With Pixelate To Win Mint Million At Kentucky Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Let’s learn some different type of poker other than Texas holdem, 7 card stud, 5 card draw and Omaha. Yes, pai gow poker. Now you must be wondering that pai gow sounds little Chinese; yes you are right this game is a mixture of the Chinese game pai gow and our very own American poker. Definitely this is not one of the most popular forms of poker but still widely played. It can be played by up to seven players.
It is played with one deck of 52 cards, plus a joker. Interestingly, joker can be used only as an ace, or to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush, or a royal flush. The important thing here to remember is other than the usual ranking of hands we have one more winning hand that is “Five Aces” (five aces including the joker). Surprisingly, five aces beat all other hands including royal flush.
Each player is dealt seven cards. The cards are arranged to make two hands; a two card hand and a five card hand. The five card hand must rank higher or be equal to the two card hand. Finally both of your hands must rank higher than both of your opponents hands (both five and two card hands). Further the two card hand can only have two combinations; one pair and high card.
After the cards are arranged in to two hands, they are placed on the table face down. Once you put them down, you can no longer touch them. The dealer will turn over his cards and make his hands. Each players hand is compared to the dealer’s hands. If the player wins one hand and loses the other, this is known as “push” and no money is exchanged. If dealer wins both hands then he/she wins the players stake and vice versa. Now what if there is a tie, the only advantage with the dealer here is he/she wins all ties.
After the hand is played, the next person clock-wise becomes the dealer and the next hand is played. The major disadvantage to this game is that there is no skill involved and you rely too much on luck. Also the odds are poor compared to playing with a pot.
With the kind of results Joel Rosario was producing at Kentucky Downs on the second day of the short meet in Franklin, Ky., victory in The Aristocrat Gaming Juvenile Fillies came down to either his 2-year-old, Yin Yang, or her stablemate in the Brad Cox barn, Turnerloose, with Florent Geroux aboard.
Rosario finished the day by winning 5 of the 11 races, but he rode in just eight of them. Fortune did not smile on him in the $500,000 filly co-feature, as Turnerloose turned it on down the long stretch to cross the wire five lengths ahead of Yin Yang.
“Look at that, I beat Joel Rosario today,” said a joyful Geroux as he brought Turnerloose back to the winner's circle.
Closing out Monday's holiday program was another $500,000 stakes for 2-year-olds, The Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile, with 6-1 Tiz the Bomb also using the stretch to his advantage to score a three-quarters-length victory with Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard.
The filly race was more spread out. Behind the top two, sent off at very identical 2-1 odds in the field of nine, it was another 7 1/4 lengths until early pacesetter Verylittlecents and Joe Talamo finished.
“The break, she was very excited there, and didn't get out of there real quickly,” Rosario said. “But she did everything good, and she came running. She's nice, the other horse just got a jump on her. I'm very excited with the way she ran.”
Both of the Cox fillies had broken their maidens at Ellis Park in July. The victory pulled Cox into a tie with Joe Sharp atop the trainer standings, with three apiece.
“Both are very good fillies. I said last week that I liked both fillies, that I thought I'd go 1-2 in the race,” said Jorje Abrego, assistant trainer to Cox, about the pair who are part of the band he was supervising at Ellis this summer. “Turnerloose looked like 'turn her loose' today. She ran well. Yin Yang ran a very good second, so it was very good day for the team.”
Even more excited was Geroux after his first win at the meet, after missing Sunday's opener while riding at Saratoga.
“She was pulling on me pretty much all of the race, she wanted to go,” he said. “So, by the turn, she just kept on going. She was on a mission: she just wanted to take it to them, which was great.”
Turnerloose paid $6, $3 and $2.80, while Yin Yang returned $3.60 and $3. Verylittlecents paid $4 for show in a race timed in 1:36.19 for the mile on a turf course rated as firm.
It was a big win for Turnerloose, owned by Ike and Dawn Thrash, and now Team Cox has to look to her future – and to that of Yin Yang. Turnerloose was a $950,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September sale, while Selective LLC's Yin Yang sold for $160,000 at the Fasig Tipton sale in October.
“This was big for her, now she's a stakes-winner,” Abrego said. “Now is the time to look for a graded stakes. We'll see how she is tomorrow, and if everything is good, maybe get her ready for Keeneland. Yin Yang just got beat by what, today, was a better horse.”
Not to be outdone, Phoenix Thoroughbred Ltd.'s Tiz the Bomb took a major step forward with his victory in 1:35.83 on the firm turf course.
Tiz the Bomb wins the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile
“He's got a license to be a good one,” said trainer Kenny McPeek about the colt, who sold for $330,000 at last year's Fasig Tipton yearling sale. “We're thrilled with the way he ran.”
While Play Action Pass and Edgard J. Zayas were setting the early fractions in the field of 10, Tiz the Bomb was in the middle of the pack.
“He ran well today, the first time on the grass,” said Hernandez. “He put us in the spot and traveled the whole way around there looking like a winner, and got the job done.”
Kiss the Sky, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Jose Ortiz, was just behind Tiz the Bomb, and both colts took a wide path into the stretch for their rallying efforts. But Kiss the Sky, who won a maiden race at Saratoga for trainer Mike Maker in his second start, came up short.
“He ran well, second best,” said Maker, who was leading the Saratoga trainer standings for a good portion of the New York track's summer meeting.
Tiz the Bomb paid $14.20, $5.40 and $4, while Kiss the Sky paid $3.60 and $2.80. Play Action, the 12-1 early leader, was another half-length back in third and returned $6.40.
“They've been bragging on him over at the barn about how well he's been working,” Hernandez said of Tiz the Bomb. “And they were kinda tipping their hand about this performance. Robby Albarado has been working this horse in the mornings. He said that all of a sudden he turned the corner going the right way, and he showed it today.”
McPeek said Tiz the Bomb, who has won two of his three initial starts, might return to dirt in Keeneland's Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity.
The post Turnerloose, Tiz The Bomb Capture Juvenile Turf Stakes At Kentucky Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
