Bet to win.
Lingfield 7.0 Miss SLigo – win bet.
Month: April 2022
In Due Time Seeks to Land on Derby Bubble in Lexington
It's last call for many in Keeneland's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. as the race to solidify, or sneak into, the GI Kentucky Derby starting gate enters the final furlong. In Due Time (Not This Time) heads this field with an ever-improving resume in both distance and class. A debut winner in the mud at Monmouth last summer, the chestnut was shelved for six months, resurfacing with a third in a Gulfstream optional claimer Jan. 8. A dominant optional claimer winner next out when extended to a mile in Hallandale Feb. 4, good for a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, he was a strong second behind Simplification (Not This Time) in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. last out Mar. 5. In Due Time currently sits in 29th on the Derby leaderboard with 20 points and he could secure 20 more with a win here, which would put him right on the bubble for a spot in the Derby starting gate.
One who races to keep his spot as number 20 on the leaderboard is the hard-trying Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile), who is one of five runners with 40 points. A win here will jump the colt into 12th with 60. Opening his account with a pair of wins on the Turfway synthetic, Tawny Port closed to be fifth in his first try on dirt in the GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds Feb. 19, which was one by Derby points leader Epicenter (Not This Time). Second to Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) last out Apr. 2 in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S. back on the synthetic at Turfway Park, Tawny Port will try to overcome a two-week turnaround as the 5-2 morning line favorite.
The formidable WinStar and Siena Farm partnership will send out two in hopes of landing points and a spot on the bubble: Major General (Constitution) and Strava (Into Mischief), who is also owner in partnership with Denny Crum. A $420,000 KEESEP buy, Major General followed a first-out score with a win in the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill in September. He adds blinkers for this event after a non-factor 10th in the GII Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 12. Also adding blinkers here, $825,000 KEENOV purchase Strava captured his debut sprinting at Keeneland in October and was second next out in the slop at Fair Grounds Jan. 15. Extended to two turns in NOLA a month later, the bay checked in third behind recent GI Arkansas Derby victor Cyberknife (Gun Runner).
D. Wayne Lukas saddles Ethereal Road (Quality Road), who is back in just a week after a tired seventh-place effort Apr. 9 in the local GI Toyota Blue Grass S.
The post In Due Time Seeks to Land on Derby Bubble in Lexington appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Weekend Lineup: Keeneland Turf Takes Center Stage
A pair of Grade 1 races on the Keeneland turf course highlight this weekend's graded stakes action in North America, with the boys running Friday in the Maker's Mark Mile and fillies and mares running Saturday in the Jenny Wiley.
Also on Saturday at Keeneland is the Road to the Kentucky Derby points race, the G3 Lexington, which offers 3-year-olds a final chance to make it into the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.
Oaklawn's Saturday feature is the G3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, featuring the return of champion Jackie's Warrior for trainer Steve Asmussen. He faces off against the streaking Bob's Edge, trained by Larry Jones.
Laurel Park features a quartet of stakes races on Saturday as well, highlighted by the Federico Tesio, a “Win and You're In” for the 2022 Preakness Stakes.
Friday
5:16 PM – G1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland
Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait, runner-up in the 2021 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) Presented by PDJF, headlines a field of 11 horses entered Sunday for Friday's 34th running of the $600,000 Maker's Mark Mile (G1) for 4-year-olds and up to run on the turf course.
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Smooth Like Strait will be making his 2022 debut in the Maker's Mark Mile and will have regular rider Umberto Rispoli aboard when he exits post position six. An earner of more than $1.4 million, Smooth Like Strait compiled a 7-1-5-1 record in 2021 with his losses coming by less than a half-length. His victory came in the Shoemaker Mile (G1).
Smooth Like Strait is not the only Grade 1 winner in the field.
Trainer Paulo Lobo will send Keeneland stakes winners for Bonne Chance Farm and Stud R D I: In Love (BRZ) and Ivar (BRZ). The former won the Keeneland Turf Mile (G1) last fall; the latter took the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) in 2020. Alex Achard will be aboard In Love from post one, and Joe Talamo is on Ivar from post five.
The other Grade 1 winner in the field is Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm's Count Again, who is coming off a win in the Frank Kilroe Mile in March at Santa Anita for trainer Phil D'Amato. Joel Rosario has the mount from post seven.
Saturday
5:16 PM – G3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland
Peachtree Stable's Tawny Port, runner-up in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) in his most recent start, heads a field of 11 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for Saturday's 40th running of the $400,000 Stonestreet Lexington (G3) going 1 1/16 miles on the main track.
The race serves as the final points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1) with 34 points up for grabs on a 20-8-4-2 scale to the first- through fourth-place finishers. The Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners that pass the entry box.
Trained by Brad Cox, Tawny Port picked up 40 points for his Jeff Ruby finish, a figure that is good for 20th place on the Road to the Derby leaderboard. Florent Geroux has the mount Saturday and will exit post nine.
Two other entrants, Julie Gilbert and Aaron Sones' Ethereal Road and Edge Racing, Medallion Racing and Parkland Thoroughbreds' In Due Time, have accumulated 20 points and could enhance their Derby prospects with a victory Saturday.
Ethereal Road wheels back seven days after finishing seventh in the Toyota Blue Grass (G1). Second in the Rebel (G2) to pick up his 20 points, Ethereal Road is trained by D. Wayne Lukas and will break from post four under Victor Espinoza.
In Due Time picked up his 20 Derby points with the runner-up finish in the Fountain of Youth (G2) for trainer Kelly Breen. Paco Lopez retains the mount and will break from post two.
5:48 PM – G1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland
Peter Brant's Regal Glory and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Robert LaPenta's Shantisara (IRE) top a field of six fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday's 34th running of the $500,000 Jenny Wiley (G1) going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Trained by four-time Jenny Wiley winner Chad Brown, Regal Glory and Shantisara bring multiple race win streaks into Saturday's race.
Regal Glory closed 2021 with a victory in the Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar and opened 2022 two months later by taking the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational (G3) at Gulfstream Park. Regular rider Jose Ortiz has the mount and will depart post position four.
Shantisara brings a three-race win streak into her 2022 debut highlighted by a 5-length victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana here last fall. Flavien Prat, who has been aboard for all three of those victories, has the call Saturday and will break from post position three.
The post Weekend Lineup: Keeneland Turf Takes Center Stage appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Powerful Pair Likely to Give Brown Record Fifth Jenny Wiley
Looking for his fourth GI Jenny Wiley S. triumph in the last five years and fifth overall, Chad Brown will saddle two imposing favorites in Saturday's renewal of Keeneland's annual 1 1/16-mile turf test for older fillies and mares. Brown is tied with Bill Mott and former boss and mentor Bobby Frankel for the most victories in the race, which has been run since 1989.
Given the slightest of nods on the morning line at 6-5 is Shantisara (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}), who starts as a 4-year-old for the first time after a smashing finale to her sophomore season. Transferred from Frederic Rossi's barn last winter after going two-for-five in France, the bay was a distant runner-up trying to close into a slow pace making her Stateside debut in the Boiling Springs S. June 26 at Monmouth. Rallying to a three-length score in the GIII Pucker Up S. at Arlington Aug. 14, she repeated with a game tally in the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational S. Sept. 18 at Belmont before a devastating five-length romp in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. over yielding turf here Oct. 16. The Madaket Stables colorbearer tuned up with a five-furlong bullet around dogs on the local lawn in 1:02 4/5 (1/8) in company with her uncoupled stablemate Sunday.
The narrow second choice at 7-5 is that barnmate, nine-time stakes winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom). The chestnut scored five times in seven outings to open her career before finishing off the board for the first time when sixth in the QEII here in October of 2019. Finding the mark once in three starts in an abbreviated 2020 campaign, she went three-for-five in 2021 and closed the year with her first top-level success in the GI Matriarch S. at Del Mar. Her 6-year-old bow was a winning one, as she ran away to an easy 2 1/2-length success in the first running of the GIII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational S. Jan. 29 at Gulfstream.
Waliyak (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) adds some international intrigue in her second North American outing. Picking up her first stakes victory in the British Stallion Studs EBF Dick Hern S. last August at Haydock, the dark bay was second in the G3 Betway Atalanta S. two weeks later at Sandown Park before punching her ticket to the U.S. with a conquest of the G3 Prix Bertrand de Tarragon Sept. 17 at Chantilly. She was then fourth in the GI E. P. Taylor S. when last seen Oct. 17 at Woodbine.
Rounding out the field are Scarabea (American Pharoah), fifth in Gulfstream's 12-furlong GIII Orchid S. last out after making an early move to the lead, Navratilova (Medaglia d'Oro), who upset the local GIII Rubicon Valley View S. at 25-1 in October, and 'Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown), victress of the GI Natalma S. as a juvenile in 2020.
The post Powerful Pair Likely to Give Brown Record Fifth Jenny Wiley appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
