February, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Tampa Turf Stakes: Bleecker Street Remains Unbeaten, Shirl’s Speight Rallies Under Wilson

After being victimized by Bleecker Street's whirlwind rally in the Grade 3, $175,000 Endeavour Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf, Emma-Jayne Wilson – the jockey on beaten favorite Lady Speightspeare – was ready to turn the tables on someone at Tampa Bay Downs.

Two races later, in the Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for males on the turf, Wilson set Lady Speightspeare's stablemate Shirl's Speight loose in the stretch, and the 5-year-old horse responded by running down the race's defending champion, pace-setter Get Smokin, by a length-and-a-half.

“That's horse racing, in a nutshell,” Wilson said after 9-1 shot Shirl's Speight's victory for breeder-owner Charles Fipke and trainer Roger Attfield in 1:41.20 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth. “There are many ups and downs, and you've just got to ride the wave.

“When good horses come around, they'll show their stuff when the time is right.”

The two stakes races were the centerpiece of a spellbinding “Turf Champions Day” card under overcast skies that resulted in long-shots aplenty visiting the winner's circle (including Bleecker Street and Shirl's Speight, although their payoffs were minuscule in comparison to several others).

In the 23rd running of the Endeavour, the sixth race on the card, Wilson was sitting pretty on the lead on Lady Speightspeare at the eighth pole when unbeaten 4-year-old filly Bleecker Street – whose previous victory here on Jan. 8 came in a conditional allowance/optional claiming event – showed her stuff and then some, accelerating from mid-pack under jockey Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., for a convincing length-and-a-half triumph.

The victory was the first graded-stakes triumph for the 32-year-old Diaz, who might feel like he's uncovered the key to buried treasure after trainer Chad Brown stuck with him following his three previous victories aboard Bleecker Street.

“She never gave me that turn of foot before,” Diaz said of today's performance by the Peter M. Brant-owned filly, now 4-for-4. “Not like that. Today was her best race, by far. The effort she put in was great. I have to thank God and Chad and his entire crew for this opportunity. They've done an amazing job with this filly. I knew she had to prove herself today against these kind of horses, but I was confident she could do it.

“I saw that green light in the stretch and she just took off, and the rest is history.”

The victory was the fourth in the Endeavour's 23-year history for Brown, more than any other conditioner. Bleecker Street posted a time of 1:41.91 on the firm turf course.

“She has won all four times coming off the pace, and being able to work out a trip like that every time is very difficult to do,” Brown said via telephone. “He (Diaz) has ridden her all four times, and I'm very proud of him.

“She had a good post (No. 2), the trip worked out real well and she showed a super turn of foot through the stretch. This filly took time to come around, and my whole staff has done an unbelievable job with her. And Mr. Brant is so patient. We scratched In Italian from the race this morning because we thought bringing her back inside a month was a little soon for her, and we didn't want to run them against each other.

“She (Bleecker Street) stepped up and it turned out to be the right call,” added Brown, who later won the Grade III Withers for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct with Early Voting.

Wilson was disappointed to get beat, but offered no excuses. “Chad's horses have a tendency of doing that to you,” Wilson said. ”I wouldn't give (Lady Speightspeare) any excuses. She had everything go as well as it could. We had a good run at it – we were just second-best.”

Stunning Princess finished third and Jezebel's Kitten was fourth. Bleecker Street paid $16 to win.

The way Get Smokin was sailing along under jockey Antonio Gallardo in the Tampa Bay Stakes, it appeared everyone was running for second at the top of the lane. The 5-year-old gelding hadn't been asked much approaching the stretch in his first start since June 20, but Wilson sensed she was sitting on a powder keg.

“I was interested to see how the pace was going to set up,” Wilson said of Shirl's Speight's performance. “Last time (a Jan. 15 victory here under Gallardo in an allowance/optional claiming race), he was a little keen, but today he settled off the pace nice and the way they kind of ran away from him early, I just wanted to make sure he relaxed and got into position where he was comfortable.”

Reserved near mid-pack, Shirl's Speight was asked for his best when Wilson tipped him out wide and kept to his task to record his second lifetime Grade 3 victory. Floriform finished third and English Bee was fourth.

“I had to thread the needle a little down the lane, but good horses will overcome adversity and he shot through there like he was shot out of a cannon,” Wilson said. “Roger is a Hall of Famer, and he knows how to have them primed and ready.”

Attfield, in fact, is a member of both the U.S. and Canadian Horse Racing Halls of Fame, a status shared by Get Smokin's trainer, Mark Casse.

“We've lost a lot to Roger. He's a wonderful guy and a class act, and good for him,” Casse said.

Attfield had both of his horses ready for top efforts and was thrilled to come away with a victory and a second.

“It (the Tampa Bay Stakes) was a beautiful race, no question,” he said. “I liked the way he did it today – I don't really want him to be speed all the time, but he's got a lot of speed. (Wilson) rode him very well. I definitely thought (Get Smokin) was the horse to beat.

“And our filly (Lady Speightspeare) ran very well for everything she has been through, so it's been a good day.”

Shirl's Speight wins the Tampa Bay Stakes

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Maryland Commission Tosses Out Year-Old Bute Overages Due To Laboratory’s Loss Of Accreditation

On Feb. 1, nearly a year after the races were run, the Maryland Racing Commission ruled that John Salzman trainees Big Hambone (second at Laurel on Feb. 12, 2021) and Sick Pack Sara (winner at Laurel on March 13, 2021) would be allowed to retain their original placings despite testing positive for phenylbutazone, reports The Racing Biz.

The commission's reasoning? At the time each of the horses' samples were tested by Truesdail Laboratory, the lab had lost its accredited testing lab status for horse racing. The commission has since switched its testing to Industrial Laboratories.

“Through the testimony, it is determined that Truesdail Laboratory, at the time of this testing, was not appropriately or properly accredited,” Commission chairman Michael Algeo said. “Given that, it is the unanimous decision of this Commission that we cannot rely upon the test results that were provided by the Truesdail Laboratory since they were, in fact, not accredited.”

In Maryland, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory commonly known as “bute” is permitted on race day at “not more than 0.3 micrograms per milliliter of the blood plasma.” Big Hambone's test showed a level of .399, while Sick Pack Sara's was .513 mcg per milliliter. Salzman contended that the two horses had been treated by his veterinarian between 48 and 55 hours prior to the race, which was his standard practice that had not previously yielded positive tests.

According to thoroughbredrulings.com, Salzman's record includes previous positive tests for clenbuterol (Maryland, 3/20/2010), dexamethasone (West Virginia, 10/7/2017; Maryland, 2/22/2019; Maryland, 6/23/2019; and Maryland, 6/5/2021), and phenylbutazone (Maryland, 7/31/2020).

Opalina Makes The Grade In Sweetest Chant

Teneri Farm and J Stables' Opalina (Optimizer) came with a steady run around the far turn and powered through the stretch to reel in 25-1 long shot leader Myfavoritedaughter and win Saturday's $100,000 Sweetest Chant (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The 27th running of the 1 1/16-mile Sweetest Chant for fillies and mares on turf was the fourth of five graded-stakes for 3-year-olds on the program, immediately preceding the 33rd edition of the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3), the next step on the road to the $1 million Florida Derby (G1).

Opalina ($10.60) hit the wire in 1:41.56 over a firm turf course to give jockey Luis Saez his third graded-stakes win on the card, following My Prankster in the Claiborne Farm Swale (G3) and Girl With a Dream in the Forward Gal (G3), both on the main track.

“When she took the lead in the stretch she kind of waited for the other ones, but when she got on the left [lead] she gave me another gear,” Saez said. “Last time, she needed a race and she didn't want to be too close. Today, we wanted to race a little bit from behind and make one move with her. Everything turned out like we were expecting.”

Myfavoritedaughter, sent off at the longest odds in a field of nine at 25-1, sped through fractions of 23.16 and 46.88 seconds to lead the group by open lengths with Ocean Safari, runner-up in the one-mile Ginger Brew Jan. 1 at Gulfstream, a distant second. Saez, meanwhile, had Opalina – third as the favorite in the Ginger Brew – settled in fourth.

“She ran great, and that's the way she runs her best, coming off the pace a little bit,” winning trainer Roderick Rodriguez said. “The last time she was anxious in the receiving barn, but today she was perfect. She was relaxed. She broke alertly, but she settled back and just made one big run, and that's the way I want her to run.”

Saez gave Opalina her cue leaving the backstretch, swinging out three wide to launch their bid. They quickly passed Ocean Safari and straightened for home with their sights set on Myfavoritedaughter, who dug in determinedly but could not hold off the closers.

Opalina earned her first career stakes victory by three-quarters of a length over late-running Ambitieuse, making just her third career start and first in a stakes. Miss You Ella came on for third, another 1 ¼ lengths back. Myfavoritedaughter, Battle Charge, Ocean Safari, Roughly a Diamond, Hal's Dream and Nostalgic – narrowly favored over Opalina and Ocean Safari – completed the order of finish.

“I felt good, because I know Luis can get the horse going,” Rodriguez said. “She was coming on really nice. I felt really confident at the top of the stretch.”

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White Abarrio Pulls Off 6-1 Upset In Holy Bull

C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio took advantage of a favorable pace scenario to win Saturday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes by about five lengths, upsetting the nine-strong field as the fifth choice at odds of 6-1. Unraced since his third-place finish in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 27, White Abarrio reiterated his preference for the Gulfstream surface over which the colt won his first two races.

The 3-year-old son of Race Day pressed the early pace and took command turning for home, pulling away under Tyler Gaffalione to complete 1 1/16 miles over Gulfstream's fast main track in 1:42.80. Trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., White Abarrio's victory earned him 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

After missing the break, Mucho Macho Man Stakes winner Simplification (7-2) rallied in the lane to hold the place over late-running 8-5 favorite Mo Donegal in third. Galt, the full brother to champion Songbird, finished fourth, while Cajun's Magic was fifth.

“It was a big performance,” Joseph said of his winner. “We were ahead of schedule all the time and then he got sick and we missed two works. We ended up going from being ahead of schedule to being behind. Quality horses overcome those things.

“He trains like a horse that will handle a distance, but until they do, you never know for sure. I thought the [Kentucky] Jockey Club was a great education. He showed he could get two turns and today he answered it emphatically.”

Breaking near the outside of the field, White Abarrio was very sharp out of the gate and was able to make it over to the two-path to stalk unexpected pacesetter Galt. Simplification, the speed of the race on paper, was forced to make his run from seventh after missing the start.

White Abarrio kept up the pressure on Galt through fractions of :23.93 and :47.31, drawing even with that rival around the far turn. In the short run to the first wire, Gaffalione kept White Abarrio busy as the colt easily pulled away from the field to win by about five lengths. Simplification made his way up to second, and while never threatening the winner he was game to hold off the very late run from favorite Mo Donegal and secure the place. Galt faded to finish fourth.

“It was an ideal trip,” Gaffalione said. “The horse broke sharply and put me where I wanted to be. He settled nicely on the backside and when I called on him, he gave me another gear and finished the job well.

“I don't think distance is going to be a problem. He was just hitting his best stride down the lane and, galloping out, I had a really difficult time pulling him up. I was calling for the outrider.”

Bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm, White Abarrio is out of the unplaced Into Mischief mare Catching Diamonds, who is a half-sister to multiple Group 3 winner Cool Cowboy. Purchased for $7,500 as a yearling at the OBS Winter sale, the colt returned to the OBS ring in March to command a final bid of $40,000. Now a three-time winner from four starts, White Abarrio boasts earnings of over $240,000.

“I would say off this, the ball is in our court, why not go straight to the [G1] Florida Derby [April 2]?” Joseph suggested. “It gives him good spacing, and …if he makes the Kentucky Derby it will be his third race [this year]. That would be ideal right now, but we'll talk it over whether to go to the [G2] Fountain of Youth [March 5] or not.”

Additional Quotes from Placed Connections:

Jockey Javier Castellano (Simplification, 2^nd): “I'm not disappointed at all. I'm very satisfied the way he did it. I know we expected to be on the lead, but we learned something. He's starting to develop himself, and the good thing it seems to me that he doesn't have to be on the lead. He proved that he can come from behind, also. The first time going two turns, he did it and he did it really well. He finished up really good. The other horse, he got the jump and unfortunately we had the bad break.”

“He didn't break sharp out of the gate. There was so much noise and everybody screaming 'no' and he backed up a little bit. When he backed up they opened the gate. It was the wrong time when they opened the door and he didn't break sharp. But I don't have anything negative with the horse. I'm very positive on the horse. I think he's going to move forward. He was running at the end and he was galloping out good. I think he's a really nice horse. He put himself right behind horses and I let him feel the dirt in the face and then angled out a little bit to give him a little break and keep track of the horses. He did it really well.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher (Mo Donegal, 3^rd): “I thought he finished really well, it just took him a little while to get out in the clear and get going. The last hundred yards he was making up a lot of ground. He just kind of ran out real estate at the end. I was happy with the way he closed. It actually kind of hurt us that [Simplification] didn't break well because it kind of altered the fractions of the race and there wasn't a whole lot of pace on and that's always a disadvantage at Gulfstream. I was pleased with the horse's performance. He ran well and finished up good.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Mo Donegal, 3^rd): “I had a little stumble out of there. It was the last thing I wanted to happen, but it happened. I went to Plan B after that. I tried to save some ground and try not to be too far and I had to keep on him to help him to improve my position the whole time. He still finished good. He was in some position by the second turn. I didn't want to be waiting by the three-eighths pole because I know my horse. I know he needs to go start going a little earlier but I had nowhere to go, so I had to wait and go around them into the clear and he was flying at the end, honestly. He ran a good race.”

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