December, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Hot Rod Charlie Goes Without Blinkers In San Antonio

Hot Rod Charlie, who wore blinkers while finishing fourth in pursuit of victorious front-running favorite Knicks Go in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6, will race without them in Sunday's Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes, a major steppingstone to the G1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 5.

“He was a bit erratic down the lane in two races before the Classic so we figured the blinkers on would be beneficial in the Breeders' Cup, but we're removing them for the San Antonio and I think we'll know more after the race,” trainer Doug O'Neill said.

“His two races prior to the Breeders' Cup Classic resulted in wins with the blinkers off,” continued O'Neill, referring to the Haskell at Monmouth July 17 and the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Sept. 25, although he was disqualified to second in the Haskell.

A 3-year-old son of Oxbow owned by Boat Racing LLC, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing and William Strauss, the $110,000 purchase has earned more than 20 times that amount with $2,471,200, despite winning only three of his12 career starts.

“He's training well and we're excited about opening day,” said O'Neill, who has a busy Sunday with 11 scheduled starters.

“If that's not a one-day high for me, it's right up in there,” he said.

The field for the San Antonio, race six of 11 with an 11 a.m. first post time: Extra Hope, Tyler Baze, 20-1 ; Express Train, Victor Espinoza, 7-2; Go On, Mario Gutierrez, 20-1; Hot Rod Charlie, Flavien Prat, 6-5; Eight Rings, John Velazquez, 4-1; Kiss Today Goodbye, Kent Desormeaux, 5-1; and Azul Coast, Juan Hernandez, 5-1.

The post Hot Rod Charlie Goes Without Blinkers In San Antonio appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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New Jersey Veterinarian Gets Deferred Prosecution Deal In Federal Doping Case

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has agreed to defer the prosecution of New Jersey-based veterinarian Rebecca Linke for two years, pending her adherence to a number of conditions that includes not practicing on race horses and relinquishing all racing licenses during the term of the agreement.

Linke, who worked for Colts Neck Equine Associates in Manalapan Township, N.J., was one of more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians and drug suppliers indicted in March 2020 on drug misbranding and adulteration after a lengthy, multi-state FBI probe. A number of defendants have since pleaded guilty, including Thoroughbred trainer Jorge Navarro, who was sentenced to five years in prison. Others who pleaded not guilty are awaiting trial.

Linke primarily practiced on Standardbreds and is alleged to have assisted trainer Nicholas Surick by supplying misbranded and adulterated performance-enhancing drugs and falsifying medical and pharmaceutical records to conceal Surick's activities.

In the deferred prosecution agreement, the U.S. attorney said that “after a thorough investigation it has been determined that the interest of the United States and your (Linke's) interest will be best served by deferring prosecution. … Prosecution will be deferred during the term of your good behavior and satisfactory compliance with the terms of this agreement for the period of two years from the signing of this agreement.”

The agreement was signed by Linked on Dec. 18, 2021. Prosecutors said no further prosecution of Linke will be pursued and charges in the indictment dismissed if she complies with all the rules, regulations and special conditions of the agreement.

Among the conditions are: Linke shall refrain from violating any law and shall only associate with “law-abiding persons” and “avoid association with any member or employee of Colts Neck Equine.”

Linke also agreed to relinquish any state horse racing professional license and will not apply for any such licenses until the two-year period expires. She is also required to “refrain from the practice of veterinary medicine on horses involved, or intended to be involved, in pari-mutuel horse racing” for the period of compliance required.

She is also restricted from travel outside of certain areas without permission and is required to report to a U.S. Pretrial Services Officer as directed.

The special conditions to the agreement are:

“The U.S. attorney may at any time revoke or modify any condition of this provisional release or change the period of such supervision. The U.S. attorney may discharge you (Linke) from supervision at any time. The U.S. attorney may at any time proceed with the prosecution for this offense should the U.S. attorney, in his or her sole discretion, deem such action advisable.”

According to a Linked In page, Linke is a 2005 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania school of veterinary medicine after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science from Cornell University in 2000. She worked at Chino Valley Equine Hospital as an intern in 2005-'06 and was associate veterinarian at Colts Neck Equine from June 2006 until the time of the indictment in March 2020.

The post New Jersey Veterinarian Gets Deferred Prosecution Deal In Federal Doping Case appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Beholder’s First Foal, Q B One, to Debut Sunday

The long wait is just about over. Q B One (Uncle Mo), the first foal out of four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder (Henny Hughes), will make his debut in Sunday's fourth race at Santa Anita, six days shy of turning four years old.

Like Beholder, he was bred by and is owned by Spendthrift Farm and is trained by Richard Mandella. Kyle Frey has been named to ride.

For now, Mandella's expectations for Q B One are rather modest.

“I wish we'd see a little more from him to get excited about,” he said. “But his works have been pretty good. I don't think we've seen anything great yet. It's time to throw him in the deep water and see what happens. He shows he might be good enough, but I'm not sure.”
Mandella is hopeful that Q B One will benefit from his debut and improve.

“I leave him a little room to improve because when it comes to his mind he's not yet 100% serious about the game yet,” he said. “I think a race will probably do him a lot of good. I think his mind is such that a race might make a man out of him, and then we can see the real deal. That's what I am hoping.”

Q B One had a five-furlong work in January and Mandella said at the time that he was just a few weeks way from making his first start.

“He had some bone bruising and needed a little time off, ” he explained. “So we had to start over.”
Mandella also trains Beholder's second foal, the 2-year-old filly Karin With an I (Curlin). She has yet to have a published workout.

“She's been fighting a virus,” he said. “She's just starting to breeze. She's a nice-looking filly. She's not too far along yet, but she does everything pretty nice.”

Beholder also has a yearling filly by War Front and a weanling filly by Bolt d'Oro. She was bred back to Curlin for 2022.
Q B One won't be the only one garnering attention in Sunday's race, as it includes a pair of pricey first-time starters from the Bob Baffert barn. Hopkins (Quality Road) was a $900,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, while Shaaz (Uncle Mo) was a $1.1-million seller at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training sale. Yet the one they might all have to beat is the $5,000 Keeneland January purchase Soy Tapatio (Not This Time). Trained by Doug O'Neill, he was third in his most recent start.

The post Beholder’s First Foal, Q B One, to Debut Sunday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Piassek’s Plays: Sunday Stakes Action at Laurel

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).