January, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

NY Chaplaincy To Honor Andy Serling For Devotion To Backstretch Community

The New York Race Track Chaplaincy announced today that it will honor Andy Serling, New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) television analyst and handicapper, for his generous and continued devotion to the backstretch community at its 15th annual fund-raising brunch scheduled to be held on August 17, 2022, at Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs, NY.

“At every opportunity, Andy goes out of his way to recognize and advocate for the members of the backstretch community and he richly deserves this honor,” said Humberto Chavez, the lead chaplain and executive director for the NY Chaplaincy.

Serling has been offering his handicapping insights on the NYRA circuit as a member of the broadcast team since 2008. The Manhattan resident is a Sr. Racing Analyst on America's Day at the Races, which presents coverage of NYRA racing on the networks of FOX Sports, and as the host of NYRA's daily handicapping show Talking Horses. Serling also hosts the Across the Board podcast, launched in April 2017.

Prior to working in the racing industry, Serling traded options on the floor of the American Stock Exchange when he wasn't spending his days at the track.

“I love this sport and with each passing day, I have a deeper appreciation for the commitment and dedication of backstretch workers,” Serling said. “The New York Race Track Chaplaincy does incredible work for our community and I'm humbled to be honored in this way.”

Previous honorees of the NY Chaplaincy have included Anne Campbell, Edgar Prado, Michael Dubb, Fay and David Donk, Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson, Letty and Kiaran McLaughlin, Lisa and Kenny Troutt, Debbie and Terry Finley, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and, last year, Irad Ortiz Jr.

The honoree is presented with a print by equine artist Tom Chapman at the brunch, which typically draws approximately 200 supporters of the NY Race Track Chaplaincy.

The NY Race Track Chaplaincy serves the NY backstretch and farming community with children's enrichment, social service, recreational, and educational programming as well as non-denominational religious services.

Additional information may be found at www.rtcany.org.

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TVG Plans Live Coverage Of Derby Points Race, Mandaloun’s Seasonal Debut At Fair Grounds

The road to the Kentucky Derby will run through Louisiana on Saturday and TVG will be live on site at Fair Grounds with full coverage of the stakes-packed card featuring the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3) as well as the seasonal debut of Grade 1 winning sophomore Mandaloun in the $150,000 Louisiana Stakes (G3).

TVG's Joaquin Jaime and Scott Hazelton will be reporting live from Fair Grounds with exclusive interviews and expert analysis throughout the fourteen-race card. Mandaloun, trained by Brad Cox, will face six rivals in the $150,000 Louisiana Stakes (G3) including the 2021 Lecomte winner, Midnight Bourbon for trainer Steve Asmussen. Mandaloun, the runner-up finisher in the 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1) also won the Haskell Invitational (G1) during his 3-year-old campaign and will have Florent Geroux aboard.

The $200,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3) offers 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers and has drawn a field of nine Triple Crown hopefuls. Pappacap, a homebred son of Gun Runner for Rustlewood Farm, will be making his 3-year-old debut for Mark Casse and was last seen finishing second in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Joe Bravo will be in the irons. His rivals include Epicenter, one of two contenders for trainer Steve Asmussen. The son of Not This Time earned his first black type victory last time out in the Gun Runner Stakes in December and will have Joel Rosario aboard.

TVG's Todd Schrupp, Simon Bray, Christina Blacker, Mike Joyce and Kurt Hoover will be reporting live from Santa Anita throughout the day on Saturday. The featured race is the $70,000 Clocker's Corner Stakes, a six-furlong turf sprint featuring a field of eight.

Points for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) will be up for grabs at Aqueduct on Sunday in the $100,000 Busanda Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The mile and a sixteenth contest has drawn a field of six including Gamestonks who will be making her stakes debut for Brittany Russell after winning her last two races.

In addition to racing from Fair Grounds and Santa Anita, TVG will be featuring racing from Oaklawn, Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

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Millionaires Mandaloun, Midnight Bourbon Square Off In Louisiana

Juddmonte's 'TDN Rising Star' Mandaloun (Into Mischief) and Winchell Thoroughbreds' hard-knocking Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) face each other for the fifth time in their career, each using Saturday's GIII Louisiana S. at a possible steppingstone to the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup in Riyadh Feb. 26.

Mandaloun makes his first start since a late-season injury derailed any hopes of making the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Winner of half of his six starts at three, the bay was upset by Midnight Bourbon in the GIII Lecomte S. on this program last year before turning the tables in the GII Risen Star S. the following month. A dull sixth behind Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) and Midnight Bourbon in the GII Louisiana Derby, the strapping bay ran Medina Spirit (Protonico) to a half-length at odds of 26-1 in the GI Kentucky Derby and may yet be declared that race's official winner. Having passed on the rest of the Triple Crown, Mandaloun was the narrow winner of the June 13 Pegasus S. at Monmouth and was the chief beneficiary when Midnight Bourbon was interfered with in the GI TVG.com Haskell S., crossing the line a nose behind Hot Rod Charlie before being put up.

“Listen, I'm not going to tell you that he's working better than ever because he's always a very, very good work horse to begin with,” said trainer Brad Cox. “I think anybody that watched him train up to the Kentucky Derby could believe the way he ran the way he was training. He's definitely working as well as he was leading up to the Derby, or the Haskell, so we're in a good spot with him. I think this is a race that makes a lot of sense as far as getting back racing and seeing how it goes.”

Midnight Bourbon failed to recover from a slow start in the Run for the Roses, but finished a creditable sixth ahead of a runner-up effort in the GI Preakness S. Nailed by Essential Quality (Tapit) in the final strides of the GI Runhappy Travers S. in August, the bay was second to Hot Rod Charlie in the GI Pennsylvania Derby after some more stretch shenanigans and closed the season with a third as the favorite behind Maxfield (Street Sense) in the GI Clark S. back in Louisville Nov. 26. Blinkers go on for the first time this weekend.

“As good as he's been, I think there is more there,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “It doesn't look like he's finishing [his races] off. He's not exhausted when he comes back. I think we can get a little more out of him. There is the possibility that it makes him more aggressive and that he gets in too big of a hurry. The Louisiana S. is the perfect time to try it.”

Brad Cox also sends out the progressive Warrant (Constitution), last-start winner of the GIII Oklahoma Derby Sept. 26, while Chess Chief (Into Mischief) will be scratched in favor of a start in next weekend's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

The post Millionaires Mandaloun, Midnight Bourbon Square Off In Louisiana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Pappacap Brings Strongest Juvenile Form Into Lecomte

Much to the delight of owner/breeder Rustlewood Farm and trainer Mark Casse, Pappacap (Gun Runner) will face nothing of the quality of the likes of 'TDN Rising Star' and likely Eclipse Award winner Corniche (Quality Road) when he makes his sophomore debut in Saturday's GIII Lecomte S. at the Fair Grounds.

The homebred was off the board just once from five runs in 2021, winning the GII Best Pal S. by open lengths at second asking before completing the exacta underneath the OBS April topper when beaten 3 1/4 lengths in the GI American Pharoah S. Oct. 1 and again in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Nov. 5, where he sat a perfect trip, but could not quite match strides late and was 1 3/4 lengths adrift at the wire.

Casse is a two-time Lecomte winner, having unsaddled future Classic winner War of Will (War Front) in 2019 and Enforceable (Tapit) the following January.

“I never questioned where I wanted to go after the Breeders' Cup,” Casse said. “I feel really comfortable at Fair Grounds. We had a lot of success over that track. I think it's a great atmosphere and I have a lot of confidence in [assistant trainer] David Carroll. I think the track there suits him. He's a horse that wants to settle a little bit and not have to hustle a whole lot. He gets over the ground really well there.”

Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), who runs one race prior to the Lecomte this weekend (see below), won last year's event for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Steve Asmussen and that formidable duo will be represented here by Epicenter (Not This Time). A speed-and-fade sixth in his seven-furlong debut at Churchill Sept. 18, he overcame the widest gate in a field of 10 to graduate by 3 1/2 lengths going the one-turn mile Nov. 13. The second choice to the dramatically overbet Rocket Dawg (Classic Empire) in the first running of the Gun Runner S. Dec. 26, the bay prompted the pace of Surfer Dude (Curlin) to the outside and powered home to take it by 6 1/2 lengths. Joel Rosario, who broke the colt's maiden, is back aboard this weekend.

Trafalgar (Lord Nelson) is an interesting new shooter for trainer Al Stall, Jr. and Andrea Pollack's Columbine Stable. The $100,000 FTKSEL yearling turned $310,000 OBS April breezer was a distant runner-up to the impressive and subsequently GISP Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) sprinting on Saratoga debut Sept. 4, then rallied stoutly–albeit with a strong pace to chase–to don cap and gown by 2 1/4 lengths in a one-mile test at Churchill Oct. 2. Conservatively spotted in a first-level allowance over course and distance Dec. 2, Trafalgar attended a much softer pace, looked in all sorts of trouble as first-out winner Naval Aviator (Tapit) rolled up to him late, but turned back that bid to score by a hard-fought head.

“He clearly waited on horses from the three-sixteenths to the sixteenth [pole],” Stall, Jr. said. “Here comes a Brad Cox horse [Naval Aviator] with a full head of steam, and I'm thinking, 'well there goes a 3-5 shot down the drain,' but he just re-engaged when he saw him and had to run hard the last part. I like the fact that he went from lollygagging around straight to fighting.”

Cyberknife (Gun Runner) is another with a two-turn victory to his credit, having idled in the final stages before clinging on for a half-length maiden breaker over track and trip on Dec. 26. Trainer Brad Cox adds blinkers to try to sharpen to colt's focus.

The post Pappacap Brings Strongest Juvenile Form Into Lecomte appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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