The Road to the Kentucky Derby Championship Series will continue Saturday at Oaklawn Park with the $1 million Rebel (Grade 2) where 10 horses in the 1 1/16-mile event are currently eligible to gain a maximum of 85 points toward qualifying to the $3 million Kentucky Derby (G1) on the first Saturday in May.
A total of 11 horses passed the entry box at Oaklawn on Monday for the Rebel including undefeated colt Newgrange, who was made the 9-5 morning line favorite. The son of Violence, owned by SF Racing (Gavin Murphy), Starlight Racing (Jack Wolf, et al.), Madaket Stables (Sol Kumin), Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables (Barbara Banke), Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital (Gregg Slager), Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable (Ben Goldberg) and Siena Farm (Anthony Manganaro), is ineligible to garner points in the Rebel because his trainer Bob Baffert is suspended by Churchill Downs Incorporated.
The Rebel will go as Race 11 of 12 with a post time of 6:22 p.m. (all times Eastern). Racing at Oaklawn will be featured on America's Day at the Races on Fox Sports 2 from 1-7 p.m.
In his last start, Newgrange gamely dug deep in the late stages of the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G2) to hold off fast-charging rival Barber Road. The duo are set to have a rematch in the Rebel. Trained by John Ortiz, Barber Road finished fourth on debut at Colonial Downs but, after adding blinkers, has not crossed the wire worse than second in his next five starts. The gray son of Race Day will be ridden by Reylu Gutierrez from post No. 9 at morning line odds of 9-2.
“I'm not really too concerned,” said Ortiz, who trains Barber Road for former Walmart executive William Simon. “I'm worried about my horse running his best race. We've competed against the top horses in here already. We're just going along for the ride. The speed is on the inside. I think Reylu, he'll have the right plan. It's all in his hands.”
Newgrange and Barber Road were the one-two finishers of the Southwest but the three horses that finished directly behind them are also entered in the Rebel: Ben Diesel (post 6, 6-1); Kavod (post 1, 12-1); and Dash Attack (post 11, 8-1).
One of the newcomers in the field is maiden winner Ethereal Road for owner Aaron Sones and four-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Ethereal Road, who will break under Luis Contreras from post 10 at odds of 12-1, garnered his first win in memorable fashion after he trailed by 16 lengths in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight contest. Into the far turn, the son of Quality Road began a swift charge around rivals and finished in front by four lengths.
“It takes them three-eighths of a mile to get that momentum going again,” Lukas said about Ethereal Road, who stands at 16.3 hands and weighs approximately 1,300 pounds. “But when they get going, if they've got the ability, again, I emphasize that – they've got to have the ability – when they get going, they pass horses if they've got the ability. What he did on the turn, if you just took the video and ran it up the half-mile and said, 'Oh, here, let's watch this' – from the half-mile (pole) to the wire, that was spectacular. Every jump he passed a horse.”
Lukas won the Rebel in 1989 with Manatash Ridge and 2013 with Will Take Charge.
A variable that horses may have to deal with Saturday is the weather. The National Weather Service forecast reported that a quarter to a half-inch of ice is possible through Thursday night in Hot Springs, Ark. Conditions are slated to improve Friday with mostly sunny skies and highs near 45 degrees.
The projected 11-horse Rebel field from the rail out:
The post Newgrange, Barber Road Ready For Rematch In Saturday’s Rebel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
The federal trial of trainer Jason Servis has been postponed until the first quarter of 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil revealed during a status conference on Jan. 24, 2022.
According to bloodhorse.com, the delay is due to both coronavirus-related restrictions in scheduling and a scheduling conflict for Servis' attorney, Rita Glavin, who this summer will represent former President Donald Trump's former chief financial officer against fraud charges in New York State court.
Servis was among 27 people indicted on federal charges on March 9, 2020, in connection with the use of performance-enhancing drugs on racehorses. He was charged with one count of drug adulteration and misbranding by using a network of veterinarians, assistant trainers, and other trainers (including Navarro) to acquire and use PEDs on his horses, including multiple graded stakes winner Maximum Security.
Servis was also named in a superseding indictment released on Nov. 6, 2020. Along with veterinarians Dr. Kristian Rhein and Alexander Chan, Servis was charged with mail and wire fraud conspiracy for using the U.S. mail to distribute and receive misbranded or adulterated drugs.
The former trainer, currently free on bond, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Meanwhile, Judge Vyskocil ordered defendant Lisa Gianelli, a sales representative for convicted veterinarian Seth Fishman, to trial in May or June of this year. She had been on trial in January, but a mistrial was declared when her attorney tested positive COVID.
Judge Vyskocil also ordered that both veterinarian Dr. Erica Garcia and former Jorge Navarro employee Michael Tannuzzo stand trial in December.
Read more at bloodhorse.com.
The post Scheduling Conflicts, COVID Restrictions Delay Trial Of Trainer Jason Servis Until 2023 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
They say that some poker players have a “tell,” a change in their behavior that can give away how they feel about their chances of winning a particular hand. Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza says that the 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner, Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) is no different.
“Most of the times I ride her, I know before I get to the gate what kind of a race she's going to run,” he said.
“So, did you know in the Breeders' Cup?” I asked eagerly.
“Oh yes, most definitely,” he replied. “The minute she walked onto the track I was like, 'oh yes,' and I looked at the rest of the horses and thought, `oh, I feel sorry for you guys!'”
The rest, of course is history. Ce Ce took down the Breeders' Cup and was crowned champion female sprinter at Santa Anita's Eclipse Award ceremony Feb. 10, but not before tasting defeat at the hands of Merneith (American Pharoah) in the GII Santa Monica S. just days before she was crowned.
I had interviewed CeCe's owner-breeder Bo Hirsch prior to the Santa Monica and asked him, “win lose or draw, what has she left to prove in her 6-year-old year?”
Hirsch was effusive and simply said, “She has nothing to prove and she owes us nothing. I'm getting old and I love to watch my horses run. You know, I may not live long enough to watch her foals run so why not enjoy her another year now?”
This is something the 72-year-old Hirsch echoed in his Eclipse Award speech, where he said, “I love this business. This is the greatest sport in the world.”
So, to find the key to Ce Ce's longevity, I set off to the Mike McCarthy barn.
Horses love routine, and in that, champion Ce Ce is no different. Training every morning with the sunrise at 6:30, she sets out not to Santa Anita's main track, but to the six-furlong training track nestled inside the turf course.
It's something McCarthy started a couple of years ago and it has stuck.
“It's a good walk to and fro, from the training track. It's something she enjoys and we let her take her time.”
So, off we went with her. I followed Ce Ce down into the tunnel, walking as fast as my oh-too-short legs could to try and keep up.
Once on the training track, Ce Ce took up her customary position next to the outrider Camacho and his pony Justin, enjoying cuddles from her rider Lydio as the early morning sun cast a long shadow across the track.
I'm pretty sure she would have stood there all day!
“Jog one, gallop two.” These were the instructions handed out by McCarthy.
Off she went–nothing flashy, just doing her job, three times around before pulling up with a pat. “She's a trainer's dream,” explained McCarthy, later that morning. It has been a huge deal to train a mare like her. She shows up every time, she's all business, she's all racehorse, from breaking her maiden first time out, something the stats say shouldn't happen,” said a deadpan McCarthy, “to winning the GI Beholder.”
“We got a little sidetracked later in the year,” he added. “We had a hard time finding racetracks she likes. She seems to like it a little harder and faster. We've kind of gotten away from that a little bit out here in California, so she's struggled with that a little bit.”
McCarthy went on to elaborate that Ce Ce has got a little picky in her old age, preferring the more glib race tracks of times gone by. When pressed about her Breeders' Cup performance, the ever-reserved trainer perked up.
“Got a perfect set up with Gamine and Bella Sofia in there. Victor asked the question and she responded. I believe that was probably as good a Breeders' Cup performance as you would see on Breeders' Cup day,” he said, with just a bit of pride.
As for what happened in the Santa Monica, McCarthy conceded Baffert led a very good horse over that ran her eyeballs out. Plus, Ce Ce was coming off a brief layoff, with the track against her.
“But I saw what I needed to see and we will go from there,” he added.
But where?
McCarthy did his best dodge-the-question dance, with the usual `keep our options open,' followed by a list of logical choices befitting a champion. “Oaklawn. Keeneland. Could show up in another country. Could stay here.”
“Hold on,” I said. “Another country?”
“Well, we are not the only place that holds racing,” quipped a now-smiling McCarthy. “There are races like the Golden Shaheen in Dubai, or she could even try the grass. We know her likes and dislikes and will try to play to those for the rest of the year.”
Is there added pressure training a six-year-old with seemingly nothing left to prove, I asked?
“There is a little bit of pressure because we want to do right by her, always. I feel like we are responsible for the effort, not the outcome. Sometimes, that's beyond our control.”
The post Ce Ce: A Princess, Years in the Making appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
