September, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pocket Square’s Athenia Win Gives Brown 100th Graded Stakes Victory At Belmont Park

Juddmonte homebred Pocket Square, expertly handled by Irad Ortiz, Jr., rallied to a fashionable victory over stablemate Miss Teheran in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 3 Athenia, a nine-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The victory provided four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown with his 100th graded stakes win at Belmont Park, according to records provided by Equibase.

“What an achievement for my team, my owners, and my horses throughout the years that have run so hard,” Brown said. “A big thank you to NYRA for providing me and my horses such great facilities to train and race on through the years. They have been instrumental in developing my business.”

A 4-year-old Night of Thunder chestnut, Pocket Square entered from a 4 1/4-length optional-claiming win traveling nine furlongs on the Saratoga Race Course turf on August 25.

Pocket Square rated comfortably outside rivals in fourth as Stand for the Flag set splits of :25.30, :51.41, and 1:16.71 on the good turf.

Lake Lucerne pressed the pacesetter through the final turn with Made In Italy advancing up the rail and Pocket Square angling outside for the stretch run. But Pocket Square, always moving like a winner, took over the lead from Lake Lucerne at the stretch call and secured a 2 1/2-length win in a final time of 1:51.19.

Pocket Square, sixth in her lone sophomore start in the Group 3 Musidora at York Racecourse in England, was a Group 3 winner as a juvenile in France for her former conditioner Roger Charlton. She notched a debut win for Brown in a 1 1/16-mile allowance tilt at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., in April and followed with back-to-back fifth-place finishes in Grade 1 company in the one-mile Longines Just a Game in June at Belmont and the nine-furlong Diana in August at Saratoga.

Brown said he may have moved Pocket Square into Grade 1 company too quickly.

“She had that explosive run at Keeneland and I've done that before, where I run them in a race like the Just a Game off an effort like that and won,” Brown said. “When it works out well, you feel like a hero. When it doesn't work out, you have to go back to the drawing board, which I had to do. I probably should have brought her along just a little bit slower after that Keeneland race and not throw her in the deep end of the pool, but that's past us now and we have her back on track with a couple of really nice wins.”

The victory provided Ortiz, Jr. with his fourth win on the card following a trio of scores for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher with Life Is Good in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap in Race 4; impressive 2-year-old filly maiden winner Nest in Race 1; and a romping maiden win in Race 6 aboard juvenile New York-bred colt Overstep in Race 6.

“She did everything right,” Ortiz, Jr. said of Pocket Square. “She broke and relaxed. She waited on me to call on her to run and when I asked her, she took off. She looked like much the best.

“I only used the stick a couple of times and that was it,” he added. “She was moving comfortably so I didn't need to do much.”

Miss Teheran, with Manny Franco up, rallied outside rivals to secure the exacta by one length over Lake Lucerne. Made In Italy, and Stand for the Flag completed the order of finish. Main-track-only entrant Spice Is Nice was scratched and will instead target the $250,000 Grade 2 Beldame here on October 10.

“She was moving well and I had a good trip,” said Franco of Miss Teheran, who was pulled up in the gallop out and provided a precautionary ride home in the equine ambulance. “She bled [past the wire], which is the only excuse I can give. She ran a good race.”

Brown, a 14-time leading trainer at Belmont, posted his first graded win at Belmont in the 2008 Miss Grillo [a Grade 3 in that year] with Karen Woods' Maram. Nearly a third of Brown's graded stakes coups at Belmont have come at Grade 1 level, including six victories in the Manhattan, five Flower Bowl wins, and four straight Just a Game triumphs [2017-20].

Bred in Great Britain by her owner, Pocket Square banked $110.000 in victory while improving her record to 9-5-0-1. She returned $2.90 for a $2 win wager.

Live racing returns Sunday at Belmont Park with a 10-race card featuring the $150,000 Bertram F. Bongard for New York-bred juvenile fillies at seven furlongs [Race 4, 2:36] and the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom for fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs [Race 9, 5:16]. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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Octane Overpowers In Reality Stakes Field At Gulfstream

Arindel's Octane overpowered his opposition at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., Saturday with a gutsy front-running victory in the $400,000 In Reality, the open-division finale of the 2021 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes.

The In Reality, a 1 1/16-mile route for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida stallions, co-headlined Saturday's 12-race program with the $400,000 My Dear Girl, the 1 1/16-mile finale for Florida-sired 2-year-old fillies.

Coming off a front-running score in the $200,000 Affirmed, the seven-furlong second leg of the lucrative series for Florida-sired juveniles, Octane offered a repeat performance while carrying his natural speed around two turns for the first time.

The homebred son of Brethren broke alertly from his No. 7 post position to take the lead on the first turn and show the way along the backstretch, where he came under strong pressure to his outside by Cattin. Octane put away Cattin on the far turn, where Cajun's Magic, the Affirmed runner-up, launched his bid after saving ground behind the pacesetters. The winner of the first leg of the FSS Series, the $100,000 Dr. Fager, kicked in through the stretch but was no match for Octane, the even-money favorite who scored by 1 ¾ lengths to win his third straight race since finishing second in his career debut.

The Carlos David-trained Octane ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.97 under Emisael Jaramillo. Cajun's Magic, who was ridden by Jesus Rios, finished 6 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Cattin.

“I have plenty of confidence in Jaramillo. He's a great rider. He's one of the top jocks here in the summer and in the winter, as well. The plan was, obviously, he's got speed, so we don't want to take that away from him. Just break good, sit outside a little bit and whenever he wants to make the lead, let him do it and see where he goes,” David said. “He's got that speed and every time you have a horse that goes to the lead [distance] is always a question. I'm just glad he was able to do it. He's got a lot of talent.”

Octane exceeded the early expectations of Arindel stable manager Brian Cohen with his impressive two-turn debut.

“It's great. Carlos has done a great job. Back before we sent him to Carlos, he worked one time on the farm super-fast. I wanted to send him a good one. He's a little horse and Carlos does great with these speed horses,” Cohen said. “I never thought that he'd be doing the mile and a sixteenth. He just gets out there and doesn't stop. We're so happy. We have the perfect rider for him. It was just a great effort and a great effort by those guys.”

By passing the two-turn test in the In Reality, his connections have reason to at least take a look at the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., Nov. 5.

“We'll see how the numbers come back and we'll talk to Carlos and see how we fit,” Cohen said. “No rush, but we'll make a decision in the next week or so.”

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Making Money As A Poker Player

When a common person that never entered the world of true poker thinks of it, the last thoughts that will pass through his mind will be strategies and discipline. Common persons see poker as a game for the rich, cigars smoking and pool sitting men, that have nothing else to do with their money. The concept couldn’t be more misunderstood than it usually is. The truth is that when talking of poker, online or offline, people think of it as a common casino game, like the roulette or blackjack. They believe that luck is the key, when in fact it isn’t. If they knew a thing or two about poker, they would realize that above all, hold’em is a way to win some money, and if any good at it even a steady income.

Many people make their living this way and they have learned over time how to be moderate and how to manage their money properly in order to treat them as an investment that brings income steadily. It doesn’t mean it is for anyone no matter their skills. The truth is that in order to play poker and make money online you have to study and improve yourself permanently. The competitive level is high, and this is a good thing because it can keep you connected at all times. First you must understand that hold’em is not a game of luck. It doesn’t matter that you find it in casinos alongside with roulette and other purely luck games. It matters that it depends on your skills and the skills of the others paying with you. If you continue to consider it a game of luck, then you will hold a great disadvantage when playing with others that don’t. If, on the contrary, you don’t and you stumble across players that still do, then the disadvantage is their and you can use it to win more hands.

As in every life aspect, luck has a role in poker too. But, just as we can predict through statistic and calculus everything else, so can poker be predicted. Mathematics can help you understand strategies and odds and if you are skilled you can even develop your own strategies with its help.

So, the money making issue when it come to hold’em is not a fantasy it is a fact. Yes, you can make money playing poker. You can get rich over time or you can just provide steady income for your needs, whatever your intentions are, just as long as you understand the game completely. This means read as much as you can about it, practice as often as you can, diversify opponents s you can combine strategies learnt and in time you will be able to rank yourself higher and higher and see for yourself that money making and poker really do go hand in hand.

Gulfstream Rainbow 6 Pool Guaranteed At $300,000 On Final Day Of Spring/Summer Meet

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 will have a guaranteed pool of $300,000 when racing resumes Sunday with a 12:50 p.m. first race post at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Rainbow 6 will begin with the fifth race, a maiden claiming event for 3-year-olds and up over a 1 1/8th mile turf course. There are three turf races in the sequence.

Sunday's program signals the end of the Spring/Summer Meet. While Saffie Joseph Jr. has the training title wrapped up and Arindel will be leading owner, the Spring/Summer riding title will come down to Sunday between Edgard Zayas and Emisael Jaramillo.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

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