February, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pinehurst Takes Them Gate To Wire In Saudi Derby

The Saudi Derby had been won by horses based in Japan in each of its first two runnings and the island nation swept the first three races on Saturday's Saudi Cup undercard. Given a positive ride by Flavien Prat over a racing surface that seemed kind to front-runners, Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) had his full battling qualities on display and withstood a late charge from Sekifu (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) to register a half-length success in the $1.5-million test, upgraded to Group 3 level for the first time in 2022.

Off to a good start from a wide gate, last year's GI Del Mar Futurity hero found his way to the front after the opening 400 meters, as the locally trained I Am Magic (Ire) (Magician {Ire}) tried to keep pace inside, with Cattleya S. hero Consigliere (Jpn) (Drefong) close in tow. Maintaining a slender advantage on the turn as I Am Magic retreated, Pinehurst was narrowly in front turning for home as Sovereign Prince (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) chimed in three out, kept finding into the final eighth of a mile under a vigourous ride and boxed on gamely as Sekifu pulled back the winning margin to a half-length. Consigliere was rather one-paced in third, while the previously unbeaten Alnaader (KSA) (Teletext) fought on bravely to be a creditable fourth.

“I'm very proud of him and happy for my team,” winning trainer Bob Baffert said from afar. “It's exciting to win after coming up short a couple of times over there. I hate when they show that 100-meter line on the screen because I've lost so much money in that last 100 meters at that track the past two years, but we got it done today.”

Baffert suggested that Pinehurst, who was exiting a runner-up effort in the seven-furlong GII San Vicente S. Jan. 29. would run next in the G2 UAE Derby at Meydan Mar. 26 over a more-demanding 1900-meter journey around two turns.

Pedigree Notes:

One of his sire's seven top-level winners and 14 graded winners, Pinehurst hails from a talented and deep Sabine Stable family.

His dam, acquired by breeder Fred Hertrich III for $95,000 at Keeneland January in 2015, is a daughter of Sabine's dual stakes-winning Win's Fair Lady, whose Grade III-winning daughter First Passage (Giant's Causeway) produced GIII Molly Pitcher S. heroine Berned (Bernardini). The colt's third dam, the Grade III winner Win Crafty Lady, not only bred MGSW & GISP Graeme Hall (Dehere), but also $1.65-million Fasig-Tipton Calder grad and future GISW Harmony Lodge (Hennessy), whose Grade III-winning son Stratford Hill (A.P. Indy) coincidentally stands stud in Saudi Arabia.

Giant Win is the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Cairo Prince, a yearling colt by Liam's Map and is due to Twirling Candy this term.

Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia
SAUDI DERBY CUP PRESENTED BY AL RAJHI-G3, $1,500,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-26, NH/SH3yo, 1600m, 1:38.12, ft.
1–PINEHURST, 121, c, 3, by Twirling Candy
1st Dam: Giant Win, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Win's Fair Lady, by Dehere
3rd Dam: Win Crafty Lady, by Crafty Prospector
($180,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $385,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Donovan, Catherine, Golconda Stable, Siena Farm LLC; B-Fred W Hertrich III & John D Fielding (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat; $900,000. Lifetime Record: GISW-US, 5-3-1-0, $1,212,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sekifu (Jpn), 121, c, 3, Henny Hughes–Siyabona, by Kingmambo. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK-TYPE. O-Akira Nakatsuji; B-Bamboo Stud; T-Koshiro Take; J-Cristian Demuro; $300,000.
3–Consigliere (Jpn), 121, c, 3, Drefong–Tasha's Star, by Harlan's Holiday. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK-TYPE. O-Kazumi Yoshida; B-Northern Farm; T-Yukio Inagaki; J-Christophe Lemaire; $150,000.
Margins: HF, 3/4, 1.
Also Ran: Alnaader (KSA), Sovereign Prince (GB), Kiefer (Brz), The Wizard of Eye (Ire), Island Falcon (Ire), I Am Magic (Ire), Perfect Love (Arg), Almuthanna, Jacinda (GB), Noble Truth (Fr), Oscula (Ire). Click for the Racing Post chart. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.

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Study Shows Hosing Legs An Effective Cool-Down Strategy

A Polish study sought to determine the best method to cool down horses after exercise.

Horses are susceptible to heat-related stress when asked to exert themselves in warm weather. This stress can cause a plethora of health problems including weakness, trouble breathing and muscle issues. In extreme cases, overheating can cause death.

Dr. Iwona Janczarek and a team of scientists from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland, used 19 Warmbloods for their study. The horses were exercised moderately in temperatures around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

The researchers then employed three different cooling strategies using water at 62 degrees Fahrenheit; water was sponged or hosed (legs only) on each three times, 10 minutes apart, for 30 seconds. The areas tested included the legs only (water was hosed on the legs); over the hip and loin and behind the ears; over the hip and loin, behind the ears, and the legs.

Each horse was exercised and then cooled under the different protocols. The control horses were walked to cool down and were not hosed off at all. The temperature of each horse was taken before exercise, and then immediately after, as well as 10, 20 and 30 minutes after exertion.

The scientists discovered that sponging or hosing these specific areas did not decrease the rectal temperature post-exercise. The timing of the decrease in body surface temperature depended on which cooling method was used.

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They discovered that hosing the limbs with several water applications was most effective and most efficient at lowering surface body temperature. The team concluded that this method is sufficient for cooling out a leisure horse that has put forth medium or low-intensity effort in moderate temperatures.

The typical full-body shower after exercising does not affect thermoregulation, the scientists concluded.

Read the full study here.

Zedan Offers Passionate Defense of Baffert on Saudi Telecast

Amr Zedan, who sat down with Nick Luck on the world feed of the Saudi Cup Day races Saturday, offered a passionate defense of his trainer and friend Bob Baffert, pledging to take their Kentucky Derby title defense of Medina Spirit (Protonico) all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court if necessary, using his substantial means to do so.

“Myself, my means, my resources are at Bob Baffert's disposal,” Zedan told Luck. “We are going to see this 'til the end, and if it takes going to the Supreme Court, I will throw every single bit of me into this. That man is a good, decent family man and I will not stand for any more insults, any more criminal allegation to a man that has been nothing but great to this sport that we all love.”

The comments were made hours before their Country Grammer (Tonalist) posted a second-place finish in the G1 Saudi Cup.

“This sport is barely hanging on by a thread,” he continued. “The last thing we need is personal biases, jealousy to kick in. All we're asking for is an opportunity to present our case objectively.”

Eight days after Medina Spirit's win in the GI Kentucky Derby, Baffert told a gathering of media outside his Churchill Downs barn that he had tested positive for the presence of betamethasone in the race, and said he hadn't injected the colt with the substance. Two days later, he revealed that the horse had been treated with the ointment Otomax, which contains betamethasone, for a skin rash.

But Zedan told Luck he didn't understand–after they took a split sample of Medina Spirit's urine to the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory Director George Maylin, to prove that the betamethasone in the colt's system came from the Otomax used for his skin rash–why the distinction between betamethasone valerate from the topical ointment and betamethasone acetate, which was absent from the sample, wasn't considered by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) stewards, who disqualified Medina Spirit on Monday, Feb. 21, suspending Baffert for 90 days.

“Why did we go to Dr. George Maylin?” said Zedan. “To prove distinction. Why wasn't that distinction considered in the hearing? Was it just a waste of everyone's time? If you're really so adamant about avoiding the facts, why did you waste everyone's time and prolong the agony and suffering for all these months if you knew you weren't even going to consider what you were supposed to consider? That's a question mark. But, I firmly believe again, there are calm minds, there's a lot of wisdom that will come together.”

If, however, the final judgment is that he should be disqualified–which Zedan said he does not believe will happen–he said he was ready to accept it.

“If, at the end of the day for whatever reason, Medina will be disqualified, fine, if that's what the Supreme Court or whoever the highest court authority rules. But we all need to come together for this sport that we all love. I'm very objective, and I have clearly said that at the end of the day, if we get disqualified by the proper objective panel, whichever that may be, I will take it on the chin and I will be a big boy about it. But I think once this case is in the public domain and we've had an impartial objective judge within the court system, there is no doubt in my mind that we will win this.”

Zedan was equally passionate in his support for his friend, prompting Luck to ask him if he was able to be objective about the subject because of their friendship.

“I trust in the integrity of the whole process and I choose to stand by the greatest trainer the sport has ever witnessed. It's not my emotional friendship with Bob. I read all sorts of articles. I know the man, and I know the man's emotions. When Medina passed away, it was like one of his kids passed away. The man loves horses. He will never endanger his horses.

“Bob Baffert has been great to me,” Zedan continued. “He has been nothing but great to the sport and he does not deserve all this misinformation. He does not deserve to be compared to people whose names I don't even want to mention, because it's not even proper. This guy loves his job and he's been great at what he does, and nothing but great to everybody around him. Do you know how many people in his barn (for whom) he has saved loved ones and lives? There are stories that you guys don't even know. He doesn't talk about it. I know. I am his friend, and it hurts me so much to see a good man's reputation tarnished as such.”

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Sunday Insights: Fancy Colts Make 4-Year-Old Debuts on Both Coasts

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

10th-GP, $63K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 5:14 p.m. ET

'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) makes his 4-year-old debut against a relatively accomplished field here. The $1.5-million FTSAUG yearling kicked off his career three-for-three, annexing the one-turn-mile GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont in July. He has been off since finishing third as the favorite in Saratoga's restricted nine-panel Curlin S. later that month, and trainer Shug McGaughey told TDN's Steve Sherack recently that the son of MGSW and MGISP America (A.P. Indy) was given a freshening without a specific issue or injury.

“There really wasn't anything the matter with him, I just wasn't altogether pleased of where I stood with him, so I thought, 'Well, let's just give him some time,'” McGaughey said. “Time helped him a lot. He was at Barry Eisaman's and he did a great job with him. He got out here and had a really good bottom in him and he's been breezing ever since.”

First Captain will take on the likes of GSWs Trophy Chaser (Twirling Candy) and Dennis' Moment (Tiznow) and stakes winners Real Talk (Gemologist) and Hello Hot Rod (Mosler). TJCIS PPs

7th-SA, $72K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 6:47 p.m. ET

The Bob Baffert barn has a pair of talented if lightly raced 4-year-olds signed on here in 'TDN Rising Star' Triple Tap (Tapit) and sale topper Shaaz (Uncle Mo). The former, a Summer Wind Equine homebred, is a half to none other than Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and a full to GISW juvenile Chasing Yesterday. He took his track-and-trip debut almost a year ago, and resurfaced on Breeders' Cup weekend at Del Mar to clear another condition. The chestnut was last seen finishing a distant fourth to fellow Summer Wind-bred Tapit colt and brilliant 'Rising Star' Flightline in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. Dec. 26.

Michael Lund Petersen's Shaaz (Uncle Mo), meanwhile, fetched $1.1 million at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale off a :10 flat breeze. The half-brother to Grade II-winning grasser Azar (Scat Daddy) from a very deep female family earned a gaudy 105 Beyer Speed Figure when besting another stablemate narrowly in a maiden event on the Malibu undercard. He crossed the line second at 3-10 in a first-level optional claimer Feb. 5, only to be put up by the stewards in a decision that yielded plenty of chatter on twitter. TJCIS PPs

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