April, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gold Rush Weekend: Guaranteed Pools In Late Pick 4, Pick 5 Wagers At Golden Gate This Weekend

Guaranteed pools in the Late Pick 4 and Late Pick 5 bets will be in play at Golden Gate Fields next Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1. The Late Pick 5 features the last five races on any given race day while the Late Pick 4 is comprised of the final four races on a race card.

On Friday afternoon, there will be a guaranteed Late Pick 5 pool of $50,000. The Late Pick 4 on Friday is guaranteed at $100,000. On Saturday and Sunday, The Late Pick 5 is guaranteed at $100,000, and the Late Pick 4 guarantee is set at $200,000.

Saturday and Sunday will be especially intriguing for horseplayers. Saturday afternoon is Day 1 of Gold Rush Weekend, an annual event that is considered the marquee race weekend of the year at Golden Gate. Among six stakes races on Saturday is the signature race of the Winter/Spring meet, the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and upward at eight furlongs on projected firm turf.

Sunday afternoon, Day 2 of Gold Rush Weekend 2022, features a pair of California-bred or sired stakes races-The Campanile for 3-year-old fillies and the Silky Sullivan for 3-year-olds-as part of the Golden State Stakes Series.

Entries for Friday will be published later this afternoon. Entries for next Saturday's races will be taken, drawn, and published on Wednesday, and Thursday's races will be available to handicap after the draw on Thursday.

For more information on Gold Rush Weekend or all other things Golden Gate, visit Goldengatefields.com.

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Opening Day At Finger Lakes: Eight Races Carded For Monday, April 25

The 2022 live Thoroughbred racing season at Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack (FLGR) in Farmington, N.Y., is set to get underway on Monday, April 25. The historic Western New York track's 98-day meet will begin with the eight-race Opening Day card.

The 2022 FLGR Opening Day card will conclude with the feature event, an allowance race for fillies and mares. Tellaperfectale is the expected favorite after scoring victories in two of her last three starts at Aqueduct. The 7-5 program choice will be under the guidance of Christian Navarro.

The final race will include a total of eight rivals. The sprint will be contested at a distance of four and one-half furlongs.

Also on Monday, last year's top performers will be presented with an award after the conclusion of the third race.

Luis Perez finished the 2021 meet with 93 victories to claim the top ranking in the FLGR standings. Perez earned his second consecutive FLGR jockey title. He is listed to ride in the third and fifth race on Monday.

Chris Englehart continued his dominance at his home track. The veteran conditioner finished the 2021 meet with 65 victories and currently has a record total of 19 FLGR trainer titles.

The 2022 season will begin with two new faces leading the FLGR racing program: Jerry Richards is the new Racing Secretary and Todd Haight is the Director of Racing.

Richards had held the position at Sunland Park in New Mexico. He has an extensive 30-year background in the industry, including work as a horse trainer until 2014.

Haight recently retired after 20 years in multiple prominent positions in the racing industry. He has had past experience as a General Manager and Director of Racing.

“I'm thrilled to be here at Finger Lakes,” Haight said. “I'm really looking forward to an exciting season.”

Keiber Coa is a new face in the local jockey colony. Keiber is the son of Eibar Coa who won over 4,000 races including multiple graded stakes during his competitive riding career.

Keiber Coa recently rode at Delaware Park and has made over $6 million in earnings during his young career. He has two mounts on Opening Day.

The 2022 meet will feature 14 notable races on the stakes schedule. The most significant annual event, the $150,000 New York Derby, will be run on July 18. The richest stake of the year, the $200,000 (est.) New York Breeders' Futurity, is slated to take place on Oct. 17.

FLGR will offer live thoroughbred action Monday and Tuesday for the first two weeks. Wednesday will be added as a race day on May 11. First race post time is set at 1:10 pm.

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Frankie Dettori, Dancing Brave Inducted Into British Champions Series Hall Of Fame

World famous jockey Frankie Dettori and legendary racehorse Dancing Brave have become the latest members to be inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame – the official Hall of Fame for British Flat racing.

Launched in 2021, the Hall of Fame sets out to immortalize the Modern Greats of the sport, both human and equine, from 1970 onwards. Dettori and Dancing Brave are the first to be inducted in 2022, both having been chosen by an independent panel of industry experts in recognition of their outstanding achievements within the sport.

Both inductions will be officially recognized through a special presentation moment at Newmarket Racecourse on Saturday, April 30, ahead of the first British Classic of the year, the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, which also marks the start of the QIPCO British Champions Series.

Further enhancing the Hall of Fame, the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket has also established an official display, providing visitors with an opportunity to find out more about some of the most adored and important stars of British Flat racing in person. The display is open to all visitors to the museum, with plans to grow and develop the Hall of Fame's presence within the museum over time.

Dettori, 51, becomes the third jockey – and the first current jockey – to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, following other greats in Lester Piggott and Pat Eddery. Meanwhile Dancing Brave, trained by Guy Harwood and owned by the late Prince Khalid Abdullah, is the sixth horse to join the Hall of Fame, 36 years after winning the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Speaking of his induction, Dettori said: “Joining the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame gives me an immense feeling of pride and I'm honored for my career to be recognized in this way, placing me alongside others who I have looked up to my whole life. Lester (Piggott) was my idol when I came over from Italy and I was lucky to ride against him on a few occasions, while Pat (Eddery) was the most gifted horseman I have ever seen.

“When I first started out, my ambition was to be a mid-division jockey. This spiraled out of control early on; I quickly became Champion Jockey, I got an awesome job with Luca (Cumani), and the dream came alive. When I first set out on this path, I didn't quite believe in myself but, as things snowballed, I realized I could make it to become the jockey I am today.”

Dettori has been thrilling racing fans for 35 years and is a sporting superstar recognized by a global audience, known as much for his vibrancy out of the saddle as he is for his excellence in it. He has ridden almost 3,300 British winners (a number exceeded only by Lester Piggott and Willie Carson) and has also enjoyed vast success all around the world, winning major races in no fewer than 24 countries. His six victories in France's most coveted race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, remains a record.

A day racing fans will never forget was when a young Dettori rode all seven winners on a card at Ascot on September 28, 1996. With cumulative odds of 25,051-1, the 'Magnificent Seven' earned one punter £500,000 and made the Italian a household name.

Dettori said of the infamous day: “Winning every race on a card was something that I didn't think was possible, not in my lifetime anyway. It's the biggest achievement of my career, without question.”

That racecard currently makes up part of the Hall of Fame display at the National Horseracing Museum.

No fewer than 270 of his victories have been in Group One/Grade One races, the highest level, and his 21 Classic victories in Britain have included two triumphs in The Derby aboard Authorized (2008) and Golden Horn (2015). He has enjoyed 76 winners at Royal Ascot, a tally only bettered by Piggott, and he has been top jockey at the prestigious meeting on eight occasions, including in 2019 and 2020.

Dancing Brave carried almost all before him during his captivating career and his brilliance is recognized through his induction into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame.

The bay colt dazzled in 1986 when his six victories included the 2000 Guineas, Eclipse, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and an epic renewal of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was also an unlucky loser in The Derby, although the manner of his defeat only added to his legend.

Following The Derby, Dancing Brave bounced back and went on to win four races that year, including the Arc at Longchamp. From an unfavorably wide draw and with Hall of Fame jockey Eddery on board, Dancing Brave defeated a remarkably tough field of 14 opponents, including the likes of Derby winner Shahrastani, Acatenango (German Derby winner) and Bering (French Derby winner). Despite having 11 rivals in front of him with just a furlong and a half left, Dancing Brave showed astonishing pace to surge to the front and win comfortably in a record time.

The only horse rated superior to him since the International Classifications were first published, in 1977, has been the mighty Frankel, who was also owned by Prince Khalid under his Juddmonte Farms banner and who became the first horse to be inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame last year.

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Straight Fire Making Waves in California

With just 26 named foals in his first crop, 'TDN Rising Star' Straight Fire (Dominus – Tricky Indy, by A.P. Indy) is reeling off some impressive statistics as his young stock are making waves in California.

Last year, the son of Dominus based at Legacy Ranch produced 10 winners from 13 runners with his first crop of 2-year-olds. So far in 2022, he has had six winners from 10 runners including dual stakes winner Straight Up G and also a pair of sophomores that swept the California-bred stakes on the Santa Anita Derby undercard earlier this month. Power Surge won the Evening Jewel S. and Smuggler's Run took the Echo Eddie S. while another son of Straight Fire, What in Blazes, finished third in the Echo Eddie.

Straight Fire's three stakes winners already this year rank the sire first among North American second-crop sires by stakes winners from named foals. Among the same group of sires, he also ranks first by stakes winners from runners at 30% and is second only to Gun Runner with his average earnings of over $50,000 per starter.

Bred by Spendthrift Farm, Straight Fire was a $250,000 yearling purchase by Solis and Litt Bloodstock at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton July Sale. He was sent to Eddie Woods and showed promise from the start.

“We thought he was special,” Jason Litt recalled. “The horse always had a great attitude. He loved to train and was easy to be around. When we got him to the track, he was tremendously fast and naturally precocious.”

As a juvenile, the colt broke his maiden second time out at Del Mar by 10 ½ lengths to earn his 'Rising Star' badge. He was then second to MGSW Klimt (Quality Road) in the GI Del Mar Futurity and ran third in the GI FrontRunner S. While he suffered a career-ending injury and was unable to return to the starting gate as a 3-year-old, his connections were so impressed by his juvenile campaign that they pursued a stallion career for their precocious bay.

Straight Fire began his stallion career at Legacy Ranch in 2018 for a group of shareholders that included Legacy Ranch, Jim Rome's Jungle Racing, LNJ Foxwoods, Kim and Kevin Nish's KMN Racing, Andrew Molasky, Rigney Racing, Equine Analysis and Solis/Litt Bloodstock. In his first two years at stud, the stallion was solely supported by his shareholders and bred a total of 66 mares.

This year will look quite different for the stallion. After the success of his juveniles, Straight Fire's stud fee was increased from $3,500 to $7,500, but he already has 60 mares on his book this year coming in from an array of outside breeders.

Straight Fire's first crop did not see the sales ring as they were yearlings in 2020 so the owners opted to race them themselves to avoid the uncertain market during COVID. From Straight Fire's second crop of 20 foals, five yearlings saw the sales ring last year to average nearly $50,000. This year he was represented by a 2-year-old colt that delivered the fastest one-furlong breeze of the Texas 2-Year-Old in Training Sale and later sold for $80,000.

Litt explained that when they first launched Straight Fire's stud career, their goal was to produce quality runners for the lucrative 2-year-olds races at Del Mar. Now that the first crop has surpassed shareholders' original expectations as 2-year-olds, Litt said he believes there could be more to come this year for the stallion as his first crop continues to develop and his second crop hits the racetrack.

Power Surge claims the 2022 Evening Jewel S. | Benoit

“His offspring are like him in that they have great minds, they love to train and they have tremendous natural speed,” he said. “If you watch their races, they instantly break on top naturally. It's one thing to get one good runner, but when there are five or six from a small crop that you're happy with, that's fun.”

Power Surge, winner of the Evening Jewel S., was part of the first crop that was sent to the racetrack rather than the sales ring. She was started by Susan Montanye of SBM Training, who broke several Straight Fire progeny for LNJ Foxwoods and their partners.

“She was very cool,” Montanye recalled. “She was very easy and always had a lot of game. That's how all of the Straight Fires have been for me. Every time you ask them to do something, they always said yes and they are wanting to do more. They seem to be forward, early horses.”

The filly was sent to trainer Blaine Wright in California along with several other Straight Fire progeny.

“From early on we thought Power Surge was one of the best ones I had in my possession,” Wright recalled. “She was very precocious and has never done a thing wrong. I've pretty much had Straight Fire fillies up to this point, but the horse throws good bone and they're good-minded and tenacious.”

Power Surge broke her maiden at second asking as a juvenile last year. Since then, she has placed in all but one of her five career starts.

“As she has gotten more races into her, she has leveled out as a racehorse,” Wright explained. “Now she can turn it off pretty easy when you ask her in the morning and turn it back on when you want her to. She has ran well on synthetic, but she showed a different level on dirt in the stakes race. After watching her gallop out after that race, it looks like she might get up to a mile. She posted good fractions and did everything the right way.”

Power Surge will be the first horse of racing age by Straight Fire offered at auction when she sells as Hip 22 this week at the Fasig-Tipton April Digital Selected Sale, which closes Tuesday, April 26 at 2 p.m. Litt explained that because the original intention was to sell Straight Fire's first crop, Power Surge's connections believe that now is the prime time to offer the filly after her stakes victory.

Wright believes the possibilities are endless with Power Surge for the remainder of her sophomore campaign and beyond.

“A filly like her, I think you could probably run her on any surface,” he said. “One thing you can't put into them is a racehorse, and she's got it.”

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