March, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Beholder Among 11 Hall of Fame Finalists for 2022

Four-time Eclipse winner Beholder (Henny Hughes) is among six racehorses, four trainers and one jockey that make up the 11 finalists for the National Museum of Racing's 2022 Hall of Fame ballot, as chosen by the Museum's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. The finalists are racehorses Beholder (first year of eligibility), Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision), Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), Kona Gold (Java Gold), Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), and Tepin (Bernstein) (first year of eligibility); trainers Christophe Clement, Graham Motion, Doug O'Neill and John Shirreffs; and jockey Corey Nakatani.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many or as few candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50% plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.

Ballots will be mailed to the Hall of Fame voting panel this week. The results of the voting on the contemporary candidates will be announced Wednesday, May 11. That announcement will also include this year's selections by the Museum's Historic Review and Pillars of the Turf committees. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Friday, Aug. 5, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend.

Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is comprised of Bowen, Caton Bredar, Steven Crist, Tom Durkin, Bob Ehalt, Tracy Gantz, Teresa Genaro, Jane Goldstein, Steve Haskin, Jay Hovdey, Alicia Hughes, Tom Law, Jay Privman, Michael Veitch, and Charlotte Weber.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active within the past 25 years. The 20- and 25-year requirements for jockeys and trainers, respectively, may be waived at the discretion of the Museum's Executive Committee. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.

Bred by Clarkland Farm, Beholder won four Eclipse Awards during her career and is one of only two horses to win three Breeders' Cup races (along with Hall of Famer Goldikova): the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and the 2013 and 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Campaigned by Spendthrift Farm and trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, she won a total of 13 graded stakes, including 11 Grade Is. In 2015, she defeated males in the GI Pacific Classic to become the first female to win that race. Beholder defeated champion Songbird by a nose in a thrilling edition of the Distaff in 2016 to conclude her career with a record of 26-18-6-0 and earnings of $6,156,000. She won Grade I races each year from ages two through six.

Blind Luck won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2010. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by Hollendorfer in partnership with Mark DeDomenico LLC, John Carver, and Peter Abruzzo, Blind Luck posted a career record of 22-12-7-2 and earnings of $3,279,520 from 2009 through 2011. She won a total of 10 graded stakes in her career, including six Grade Is: the Kentucky Oaks, Oak Leaf S., Hollywood Starlet S., Las Virgenes S., Alabama S., and Vanity H.

Havre de Grace won the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion older female in 2011. Trained by Anthony Dutrow at ages 2 and 3 and by Larry Jones thereafter, Havre de Grace was campaigned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms throughout her career. After finishing second to champion Blind Luck in thrilling editions of the GII Delaware Oaks and Alabama in 2010, Havre de Grace earned her first graded stakes victory later that year in the GII Cotillion. In her 2011 Horse of the Year campaign, she beat Blind Luck in the GIII Azeri and went on to win Grade Is in the Apple Blossom, Woodward and Beldame. Havre de Grace made one start as a 5-year-old in 2012, winning the listed New Orleans Ladies' S. before being retired with a career record of 16-9-4-2 and earnings of $2,586,175.

Kona Gold won the Eclipse Award for champion sprinter in 2000, when he set a six-furlong track record at Churchill Downs in his GI Breeders' Cup Sprint victory. Campaigned by trainer Bruce Headley, Irwin and Andrew Molasky, Michael Singh, et al, Kona Gold raced from 1998 through 2003 with a record of 30-14-7-2 and earnings of $2,293,384. He set a track record for 5 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita and won a total of 10 graded stakes, including the Grade I San Carlos H.

Rags to Riches won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2007, a campaign highlighted by an historic victory in the GI Belmont S. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for owners Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, Rags to Riches broke her maiden in her second career start on Jan. 7, 2007, at Santa Anita. That six-length victory was the beginning of a five-race win streak. The next four wins were all Grade Is: the Las Virgenes S. and Santa Anita Oaks, the Kentucky Oaks and the Belmont, where she defeated two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. She retired with a record of 7-5-1-0 and earnings of $1,342,528. Tepin won the Eclipse Award for champion female turf horse in both 2015 and 2016. She won the GI Breeders' Cup Mile in 2015 as well. That year, Tepin began an eight-race win streak that included three wins against males in three different countries and stretched into 2016. During the streak, Tepin became the first horse based outside of Europe to win the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot and set a stakes record in the GI Jenny Wiley at Keeneland. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse for owner Robert Masterson, Tepin won a total of 11 graded/group stakes, including six Grade/Group 1s. Overall, she posted a record of 23-13-5-1 and earned $4,437,918.

A native of France, Clement, 56, has won 2,212 races to date with purse earnings of more than $149 million in a career that began in 1991. Clement trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, as well as 2014 GI Belmont S. winner Tonalist. Clement has won 256 graded stakes. Clement won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2021 when Pizza Bianca captured the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Motion, 57, who is making his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, has won 2,568 races to date with purse earnings of more than $136 million in a career that began in 1993. He won the Kentucky Derby and G1 Dubai World Cup with champion Animal Kingdom, trained two-time Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence and has won four Breeders' Cup races. Main Sequence accounted for one of those Breeders' Cup wins, as did Better Talk Now, Shared Account and her daughter Sharing. A native of Cambridge, England, Motion has won 181 graded stakes.

O'Neill, 53, has won 2,648 races to date with purse earnings of more than $146 million in a career that began in 1988. He won the Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness in 2012 with I'll Have Another and a second Derby in 2016 with Nyquist. O'Neill has trained five Eclipse Award winners–I'll Have Another, Maryfield, Nyquist, Stevie Wonderboy, and Thor's Echo–and has won five Breeders' Cup races. A native of Dearborn, Mich., O'Neill won nine graded stakes with Hall of Fame member Lava Man. O'Neill has won five training titles at Del Mar, where in 2015 he became the first trainer to win five races on a card there. He has also won four training titles at Santa Anita, including a record 56-win meet in the winter of 2006-2007, and ranks third all time there with 971 wins.

Shirreffs, 76, has won 550 races, including 102 graded events, with purse earnings of $51.9 million. He is best known for training Hall of Famer Zenyatta, a four-time Eclipse Award winner with 19 consecutive victories, including 13 Grade Is. Shirreffs won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1.

Nakatani, 51, won 3,909 races with purse earnings of $234,554,534 million in a career that spanned from 1988 to 2018. He ranks 13th all time in career earnings and won 341 graded stakes. Nakatani won 10 Breeders' Cup races (one of only 10 riders to do so), including four editions of the Sprint. He won three riding titles at Del Mar, two at Santa Anita and one at Hollywood Park, as well as four Oak Tree meetings. Nakatani won a record 19 stakes during the 2006-2007 Santa Anita meet, breaking the track's previous single-meet record held by Hall of Famer Laffit Pincay, Jr. He ranks eighth all time in stakes wins at Santa Anita with 134 and ninth in overall wins at there with 1,075. He also stands second all time at Del Mar with 108 stakes wins and sixth in overall wins with 705.

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Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Secret Oath Heads Up Arrogate’s Late Charge From Debut Crop

The loss of champion Arrogate (by Unbridled's Song) on June 2, 2020, rocked breeding and racing to its core. The sport had lost a star and potential leading sire far too early; the gallant gray was a source of excitement to those associated with him. He was a rock of hope for the future to the sport and its fans.

After the young stallion's death at age seven, we were left to wonder what might have been and what might yet be, because at the time of his death, Arrogate's oldest foals were yearlings.

When Arrogate's first crop came to the races last year, the result was mostly silence, as his former competitor Gun Runner (Candy Ride) took the victory lap and the laurels with a blowout performance as the 2021 leading freshman sire. The final results from last year had Gun Runner on top of all his contemporaries by more than $2 million with $4,278,641, nearly doubling the excellent results for second-place freshman sire Practical Joke (Into Mischief), whose earnings total of $2,184,295 would have won quite a few freshman sire titles in the last decade.

Where was Arrogate in all this?

He finished the freshman season in 12th place among the country's leading first-crop sires. From 100 foals in his first crop, the gray had 35 starters and 13 winners, with notably fewer starters than most of the higher-placed young sires. Most of Arrogate's winners of 2021 had come in the last 60 days of the season, and at the end of the year, none had advanced to earn black type.

“Would they,” was the question on the mind of every breeder with an Arrogate in the stable or in the paddock growing up.

On Jan. 1, Alittleloveandluck became Arrogate's first stakes winner with victory in the Ginger Brew Stakes at Gulfstream Park, and in the 60 days since, two more racers have earned black type.

On Jan. 29, Secret Oath won the Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park; on Feb. 21, Caragate was third in the Maddie May Stakes at Aqueduct; and on Feb. 26, Secret Oath came back and won the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn, becoming the sire's first graded stakes winner.

A winner in her last three starts by large margins: 8 1/4, 7 1/4, and 7 1/2 lengths in an allowance, and pair of stakes, Secret Oath is following a pattern similar to the development of her famous sire by taking some time to grow into her frame properly, then showing a high degree of athleticism.

The chestnut filly was bred in Kentucky by the Briland Farm of Stacy and Robert Mitchell, who also bred and raced her dam, the Quiet American mare Absinthe Minded. A three-time listed stakes winner Absinthe Minded was also second and third in the G1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn, as well as second in the G2 Shuvee at Belmont Park, earning $607,747.

Secret Oath is the fourth runner and third winner from her dam, who also produced the good winner Sara Sea (Tiznow), an earner of $262,378 who also is still owned by Briland Farm.

As a yearling, Secret Oath was pulled out of the 2020 September sale because “there wasn't any action on her,” Stacy Mitchell said. “That was the sale during the quarantine, and if you weren't getting looks and didn't have vet action, we didn't think she would sell for what we thought she was worth. So we pulled her out.

“As a yearling herself, Absinthe Minded looked like Real Quiet when he had been a yearling: big, tall, athletic. Kind of narrow. Secret Oath may have been taller, and Gabby Gaudet said over the weekend that she is nearly 17 hands. Absinthe is near that height, but the older half-sister Sara Sea is even taller.”

Robert Mitchell said, “The family is that type of horse, and Secret Oath didn't fit the bill for what a lot of buyers are looking for, being tall and narrow, which isn't the commercial type. She did look like her mom and like her half-sister Sara Sea, who could both run. So I thought she would be able to run too.”

Absinthe Minded has a 2-year-old filly by Medaglia d'Oro who is unnamed but doesn't have a foal of 2021 or 2022. The mare had been bred to Arrogate in 2020 before his death and scanned in foal, but when rescanned, the mare had resorbed the pregnancy. She will be bred to Liam's Map (Unbridled's Song) later this month.

Secret Oath is the first stakes winner for her dam, and to date, Secret Oath is the leading earner for her sire with four victories from six starts and a cash accumulation of $465,167.

And where does Arrogate rank now? Among the second-crop sires of 2022, he stands second, behind only Gun Runner.

With so much development yet to come and so many rich purses yet to be won, the competition between these two champions on the racetrack should be a lot of fun to watch in the coming months.

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Messier Tops 100 Nominees To 2022 Canadian Triple Crown

Woodbine Entertainment has released the nominations for the 2022 Canadian Triple Crown, consisting of The Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales and Breeders' Stakes.

A total of 100 3-year-old Thoroughbreds, foaled in Canada, have been nominated to this year's Canadian Triple Crown. The number of nominees is down from 125 last year, however up from 92 in 2020.

The 163^rd running of The Queen's Plate, for a purse of $1 million, will launch the 2022 Canadian Triple Crown on Sunday, Aug. 21 at Woodbine Racetrack. The Prince of Wales, scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Fort Erie Race Track, and the Breeders' Stakes, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 2 at Woodbine, complete the Triple Crown.

The Canadian Triple Crown is uniquely contested over three different racing surfaces, Tapeta (The Queen's Plate), Dirt (Prince of Wales) and Turf (Breeders' Stakes).

As always, the list of nominees includes horses with varying experience, including star performers at age two to those readying for anticipated debuts in the upcoming season. The top five nominees by earnings to date are listed below.

Messier – $285,600
Owners: SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Captial LLC, Catherine M. Donovan, Golconda Stable, Siena Farm LLC.

Notable Victories: Gr. 3 Bob Hope, Gr. 3 Robert B. Lewis

Ironstone – $238,104
Owners: Tequesta Racing Inc. and Jupiter Leasing Co.
Notable Victories: Simcoe Stakes, Clarendon Stakes

God of Love – $212,993
Owners: Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners
Notable Victories: Gr. 3 Grey Stakes, Cup and Saucer Stakes

The Minkster – $166,223
Owners: Sea Glass Stables LLC
Notable Victories: Coronation Futurity

Silent Runner – $166,177
Owners: C. Scott Abbott Racing Stable Ltd.
Notable Victories: Frost King Stakes

Woodbine will release its annual Queen's Plate Winterbook rankings later in March.

To view the full list of nominees to the 2022 Canadian Triple Crown see links below

Canadian Triple Crown – Nominations

Woodbine Oaks – Nominations

The nominations for the 67^th running of the Woodbine Oaks, presented by Budweiser, have also been released. A total of 65 three-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada, have been nominated to the prestigious event.

The $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, presented by Budweiser, will be run on Sunday, July 24 at Woodbine Racetrack. To view the list of nominees, click here.

For the latest news and updates on the Canadian Triple Crown and Woodbine racing, visit www.Woodbine.com or follow the Woodbine Racetrack social media channels @WoodbineTB.

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Equibase Analysis: In Due Time Capable Of Upsetting Gulfstream’s Derby Prep

The Grade 2, $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes is one of the first few races which are part of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series that award 50 points to the winner, which historically has been enough to give that horse a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

Leading the full field of 12, plus one also-eligible, is Rattle N Roll, who won the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity last October but who has not been seen since, although he has put in a pair of excellent workouts leading to this race.

Simplification and Mo Donegal finished second and third, respectively, in the G3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park last month. Both suffered from troubled starts in that race and either could certainly run well enough to win this race.

High Oak, like Rattle N Roll, hasn't been seen since last year, having finished fourth in the G1 Hopeful Stakes following victory in the G2 Saratoga Special Stakes.

Galt, the lone also-eligible in the race who may run if one of the 12 in the main body withdraws, finished fourth in the Holy Bull, with Giant Game eighth in the race following a third place effort in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November.

Dean Delivers runs in a two-turn race for the first time and appears to be on an improving pattern following a runner-up effort in the G3 Swale Stakes last month. Markhamian stretches out to two turns for the first time off a win in the Pasco Stakes last month and is another on an improving pattern. O Captain finished third in the Limehouse Stakes on New Year's Day and is another running this distance for the very first time in his career.

Howling Time won the non-graded Street Sense Stakes in October before a fifth place finish in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in November. He is making his 3-year-old debut in the Fountain of Youth.

Impressive recent winners A P's Secret, Emmanuel and In Due Time all run in a stakes for the first time and could have a strong say in the outcome.

Main win contenders:

In Due Time debuted last July in a 5 1/2-furlong sprint and even back then showed his physical and mental athleticism when battling head-and-head for the first half-mile before pulling away from the field in the late stages. Rested nearly seven months, In Due Time began his sophomore campaign in earnest with a third-place finish in a six furlong sprint, but it was his second start off the layoff which really showed his talent. In that race on Feb. 4, In Due Time was seventh of eight in the early stages before moving off the rail with about three-eighths of a mile to run, accelerating very professionally when asked by jockey Paco Lopez, and drawing off to win by nearly six lengths. In doing so, In Due Time earned a career-best 100 Equibase® Speed Figure which is also the highest figure earned by any of the 13 Fountain of Youth entrants this year.

I have little doubt about In Due Time handling the two-turn trip he's taking on for the first time as sire Not This Time has Simplification and Howling Time in this race and both have run well at the distance. In addition, recent Risen Star Stakes winner Epicenter is yet another son of Not This Time, who in just two crops has had six different horses (from 19 total sons and daughters) win dirt route stakes races. As such, and with logical improvement in his third start of 2022, it appears In Due Time can post the mild upset win in the Fountain of Youth and put his name squarely in the hat as a strong contender on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Simplification was expected to go to the lead at the start in last month's Holy Bull Stakes, based on his wire-to-wire win one month earlier in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes, and based on the statement by his trainer Antonio Sano. However, when the gate opened, the colt tossed his head and that strategy flew out the window. Still, showing composure when in an unusual position given he had been first or second in three straight races prior to that, Simplification rallied from seventh of nine in the early stages to get second although no match for the winner.

In the Mucho Macho Man, Simplification earned a career-best 98 figure that might have been improved upon if he had run on the lead as expected, but nevertheless the 95 figure earned was not bad in any way. With an inside post for the Fountain of Youth, if Simplification can get a length lead early as he did in the Mucho Macho Man, he could get very brave and win this race. However, having seen how he ran in the Holy Bull, it is conceivable if other horses want the early lead more in the Fountain of Youth¸ Simplification may still run well enough to win. Additionally, and quite possibly significantly, trainer Sano won the 2017 Fountain of Youth with Gunnevera, following a second place finish in the Holy Bull, the same as Simplification.

Emmanuel is one of two entrants in this race from the potent barn of Todd Pletcher, the other being Mo Donegal. Although Mo Donegal has stakes experience, having won the Remsen Stakes last December (93 figure) and having finished third in the Holy Bull last month (95 figure) in his 3-year-old debut, Emmanuel is much more interesting and probable to succeed in my opinion. Emmanuel debuted in December in a one-turn mile race at Gulfstream and demolished the 10 horse field by nearly seven lengths with a 92 figure. Pletcher then sent the colt across the state to run in an allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs on January 30 and in that race Emmanuel dominated once again, this time by four lengths. The distance of the race was one mile and forty yards, but Emmanuel likely ran the mile and one-sixteenth distance of the Fountain of Youth as he was in the three path for nearly the entire race. The pace was slow that day but in his debut he ran much faster and I am not concerned about the prospect of the colt having come from off the pace. Luis Saez, who rode Emmanuel in his debut win locally, gets back on and the 98 figure the colt earned in that last win certainly puts him right there with the best of the best in this field if repeated or improved upon.

Honorable mention:

Mo Donegal, as mentioned above, really hasn't done much wrong and should improve in his second start as a 3-year-old and off his 95 figure effort in the Holy Bull last month.

Rattle N Roll returns from nearly five months off and may need a race before his best as he's facing a field full of horses which have run once or twice already in 2022, but he was very impressive winning the Breeders' Futurity last fall with a 100 figure.

Galt is on an improving pattern of efforts and figures as he earned an 84 figure winning off the layoff in December then took another step forward with a 93 figure effort in the Holy Bull, a race in which he was not expected to be on the lead early but when Simplification tossed his head at the start, Galt found himself doing the dirty work on the front end before tiring to fourth. He should improve and with an outside post and is definitely a horse which would run better than his high odds suggest.

Similarly, Howling Time led from the start in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes which was unusual as he had relaxed in fourth early before winning the Street Sense Stakes one month prior with a strong 96 figure. The Kentucky Jockey Club has turned out to be one of the most productive races for 2-year-olds in 2021, with runner-up Classic Causeway winning the Sam F. Davis Stakes off a two month layoff in February, and White Abarrio winning the Holy Bull Stakes off a similar layoff last month as well as with Call Me Midnight winning the Lecomte Stakes off a similarly long layoff.

The rest of the field, most who have the ability to compete effectively in this race, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is A. P.'s Secret (98), Dean Delivers (95), Giant Game (90), High Oak (97), Markhamian (91) and O Captain (87).

Win Contenders, in preference order:
In Due Time
Simplification
Emmanuel

Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes – Grade 2
Race 12 at Gulfstream Park
Saturday, March 5 – Post Time 5:42 PM E.T.
One and One Sixteenth Miles
Three Year Olds
Purse: $400,000

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