October, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Safe Conduct Targets Gio Ponti At Aqueduct For Next Start

Safe Conduct wrote his name into the history books in August with a game head score in the $1 million Queen's Plate, first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown at 10 furlongs over Tapeta at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

Trained by Phil Serpe, the Bodemeister sophomore followed with a fading eighth in the 1 1/2-mile Breeders' Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown contested over a yielding E. P. Taylor Turf Course.

“He just doesn't want any part of soft ground,” Serpe said. “It had rained a lot up there and he just wasn't getting a hold of the track.”

Safe Conduct has kept good company through his sophomore season, winning a 1 1/16-mile optional-claimer over firm Belmont turf in May by 2 1/2-lengths over Public Sector, who has won his last three starts in graded company including Saturday's Grade 2 Hill Prince at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Safe Conduct exited that effort to finish fourth in the off-the-turf Grade 3 Pennine Ridge in May and faded to eighth in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational in July over good going.

Serpe said he is hopeful Safe Conduct will find firm footing in the $150,000 Gio Ponti, a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomores on November 26 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

“If you look back at his last race on a firm turf, it was an impressive race. He flew home. That's the type of race we're looking forward to seeing him running on the grass,” Serpe said. “We were very happy to win Canada's biggest race. There's a lot of prestige behind it. I'd love to see him come back now and get his turf races sorted out.”

Safe Conduct worked a half-mile in :51.69 Sunday over the Belmont inner turf.

“He went a nice easy half, but he did it well,” Serpe said.

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Shifty She Earns 94 Beyer Speed Figure For Noble Damsel Win

Chris Pallas and Harvey Rothenberg's Shifty She paired up a career-best 94 Beyer for her impressive gate-to-wire score in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 3 Noble Damsel, a one-mile Widener turf test for fillies and mares at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The 5-year-old Gone Astray mare missed her 4-year-old campaign with a tendon issue but has enjoyed a productive season after joining the barn of trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., winning 3-of-6 starts.

“She was very gutsy,” said Joseph, Jr. of the Noble Damsel effort. “She always shows up and her numbers were trending in the right direction. It was a competitive race also and you could finish second or third and still run your race, but I'm glad she got the job done and is a Grade 3 winner.”

Shifty She was reunited Saturday with jockey Edwin Gonzalez, who had piloted the hard-trying bay to victories in the open-company Powder Break in May and the Ginger Punch against Florida-breds in June, both at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

“He's 3-for-3 on her now. He gave her a very good ride,” Joseph, Jr. said.

Joseph, Jr. said he knew he'd landed a talented mare when she battled gamely on the lead in her seasonal debut traveling one-mile over firm Gulfstream turf in April to finish a close fourth off a 16-month layoff.

“I gained so much respect for her that day. There was a wicked speed duel but she never gave in off the layoff,” Joseph, Jr. said. “She gives you her all each and every time.”

Joseph, Jr. said Shifty She's long-term target is the $500,000 Grade 3 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf on January 29 at Gulfstream.

“That's the dream goal. The Pegasus is at home at Gulfstream so it makes sense to backtrack from that and maybe get one more race in before,” Joseph, Jr. said.

Joseph, Jr. said Shifty She bounced out of the race in good order and will ship back to his care at Gulfstream this afternoon.

John Fanelli, Cash is King, LC Racing, Paul Braverman, and Team Hanley's New York-bred Ny Traffic breezed a half-mile in :48.27 Sunday over the Gulfstream main track.

The 4-year-old Cross Traffic gray, bred by Brian Culnan, enjoyed a productive sophomore season through a record of 7-1-3-1, including a game runner-up effort to Authentic in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Ny Traffic opened his current campaign with a dominant 6 3/4-length score in a seven-furlong state-bred optional claiming sprint, garnering a career-best 103 Beyer. He returned with a good second to Informative in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile ahead of off-the-board efforts traveling nine furlongs in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup in July and the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic on August 27.

Joseph, Jr. said he is hoping that Ny Traffic will return to winning form in Saturday's 6 1/2-furlong $150,000 Hudson on Empire Showcase Day with an eye towards a start in the $750,000 Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap on December 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

“His comeback at seven [furlongs] at Belmont was in a New York-bred race and he ran well. After that, we ran him long at Monmouth and it was OK,” Joseph, Jr. said. “I've always wanted to bring him back to one turn because that seven-eighths race was so impressive. If he runs well our target would be the Cigar Mile in December, but we'll go one race at a time.”

Joseph, Jr. said Ny Traffic has worked consistently well at Gulfstream dating back to late September.

“He's coming into good form,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He worked very good this morning. All being well he should run a good race.”

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Sportscaster Bob Neumeier Passes Away

Bob Neumeier, whose career as a sportscaster included a long stint with NBC's horse racing team, died Saturday. He was 70.
In 2014, Neumeier, known as “Neumy,” suffered a stroke and had battled health ailments ever since. Boston radio host Tony Massarotti reported that Neumeier died from heart disease/congestive heart failure.

A graduate of Syracuse University, Neumeier broke into broadcasting 1975 as the radio play-by-play man for the Hartford Whalers. In 1981, he was hired by WBZ-TV in Boston, where his duties included working as the weekend sports anchor. He was there for 20 years.

“We are saddened to offer our condolences to the friends and family of Bob Neumeier, who passed away last night,” an NBC spokesperson said in a statement. “In the midst of a prominent career in Boston, Neumy joined NBC Sports and for more than two decades was a beloved member of our family working on horse racing, football and Olympics, among other events. Our thoughts are with Bob's wife Michele, and the many sports fans to whom he meant so much.”

While at WBZ, he also served as the play-by-play commentator for the Boston Bruins.

After leaving WBZ, Neumeier went to work at WEEI, an all-sports radio station in Boston. From 2002-2005, Neumeier served as co-host with Dale Arnold on the station's midday “Dale & Neumy” show. After leaving WEEI, Neumeier covered such events as the Tour de France and the Turin Olympics, as well as racing's biggest events. He also hosted a show on Comcast SportsNet New England.

“It saddens me to report that my friend and former partner, Bob Neumeier, passed away yesterday,” Arnold tweeted Sunday. “Neumy was one of a kind, and all who knew him were better for it.”

“The Boston Bruins are saddened by the passing of our former radio play-by-play voice and longtime Boston sports media personality Bob Neumeier,” read a tweet from the Bruins. “We send our thoughts and condolences to Bob's family, friends, and colleagues.”

“We were very saddened to learn today of the passing of Bob Neumeier,” said the Breeders' Cup in a statement. “Bob was a big part of the NBC Breeders' Cup World Championships broadcasts for many years as a handicapper, reporter and analyst. Bob brought his expertise of Thoroughbred racing and a great sense of humor to every show. We extend our sincere condolences to Bob's wife Michele and to his extended family.”

In 2009, he collapsed while covering the GI Kentucky Oaks for NBC and was briefly hospitalized.

The 2014 stroke, which occurred shortly before he was to leave to California to cover the Breeders' Cup, required 5 1/2 hours of surgery and involved a stay in an intensive care unit. He went back to work seven months later.

“I was really nervous,” Neumeier told the Boston Globe about his return to the airwaves. “I didn't think there would be [butterflies], but there were. There's a lot of people involved here, colleagues and cohorts. They have an eye out, to see how I'm doing. Viewers have an eye out. People are saying, 'What is he doing? What does he sound like? What does he look like?' I didn't want it to be a freak show, not that it would have been. I just wanted it to be seamless. Maybe they missed me, maybe they didn't, but I wanted [viewers to think] my work would be the same. Maybe even better. That was how I thought about it.”

Just three months after the stroke, Neumeier won the inaugural NTRA National Handicapping Championship Charity Challenge.

An enthusiastic racing fan, handicapper and horseplayer, Neumeier was a staple of NBC's horse racing coverage for several years as he covered the Triple Crown, the Breeders' Cup and other major events. Along with Mike Battaglia, he was one of the network's go-to analysts for handicapping insights and betting advice. He had a smooth but dry delivery and an ability to relate to the $2 bettor.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Boston and New England Chapter honored Neumeier with its Silver Circle Award in 2017.

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First Stakes Winner For Highland Reel, as Atamisque Takes G2 Premio Dormello

Atamisque (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}), who was a course-and-distance winner when unveiled on Oct. 3, gave her sire his first black-type winner and group scorer in one fell swoop with a 3 1/2-length success in the G2 Premio Dormello in Rome on Sunday.

The 6-5 crowd's pick tracked the pace in sixth through the early going as Terra Del Sole (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) showed the way. That rival hugged the rail into the home straight as the rest of the field shifted away from the inside and was still clinging to the lead with 400 metres remaining. Asked for her bid out in the centre of the course, the bay drew level with new leader Jacinda at the furlong grounds, dismissed that rival handily and quickened well to win going away. Jacinda was 1 3/4 lengths to the good of a stubborn Terra Del Sole in third.

Pedigree Notes

Atamisque is the first foal out of Aury Touch, who won a pair of Italian listed stakes and was second in another six. After foaling the winner, the daughter of Pounced has since produced a yearling filly named French Fries (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and a weaning colt by Gleneagles (Ire). The dam is a half-sister to the group-placed Amyntas (Ity) (Desert Prince {Ire}), while Atamisque's third dam is three-time U.S. graded winner Nasty Storm (Gulch), who was also second in the GI Spinaway S. The last-named is the dam of dual Group 3 winner and G1 Phoenix S. third Actress (Ire) (Declaration of War).

Sunday, Rome, Italy
PREMIO DORMELLO-G2, €244,200, Rome, 10-24, 2yo, f, 1600mT, 1:38.30, sf.
1–ATAMISQUE (IRE), 123, f, 2, by Highland Reel (Ire)
                1st Dam: Aury Touch (Ity) (MSW-Ity, $206,398),
                                by Pounced
                2nd Dam: A Touch Wild, by Touch Gold
                3rd Dam: Nasty Storm, by Gulch
O-Scuderia Ste Ma SRL. B-Stefano Botti (Ire). T-A. Botti. J-Mario
Sanna. €94,350. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, €100,350. *1st
SW & Group Winner for her sire (by Galileo {Ire}). Werk Nick
   Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Jacinda (GB), 123, f, 2, Aclaim (Ire)–Beraymi (Ire), by
Manduro (Ger). O/B-Jocelyn Targett (GB). T-Jerome Reynier.
€41,514.
3–Terra Del Sole (Ire), 123, f, 2, Footstepsinthesand (GB)–Valen
(Ire), by Acclamation (GB). (£9,000 Ylg '20 TATSEP). O-Scuderia
Milano SNC. B-Cloneymore Farm Ltd. (Ire). T-A. Botti. €22,644.
Margins: 3HF, 1 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 1.38, 5.49, 8.09.
Also Ran: Queen Rouge (Ity), Spring Love (Ire), Calithea (GB), Tower of Silence (Ity), Terry de l'Alguer (Ire), Star of Carina (Ire).
Click for the Racing Post chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video.

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