April, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fearless Tabbed Morning-Line Favorite In $1 Million Oaklawn Handicap

After narrowly missing in last year's edition, Fearless has been installed the 5-2 program favorite for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap, which goes as the 11th of 12 races, is 5:41 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:10 p.m. The infield will be open because of expected pleasant weather. Saturday's card also features the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles and the $150,000 Oaklawn Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles.

The projected eight-horse Oaklawn Handicap field from the rail out: Beau Luminarie, Florent Geroux to ride, 117 pounds, 12-1 on the morning line; Thomas Shelby, David Cohen, 117, 8-1; Last Samurai, Jon Court, 117, 8-1; Idol, Ramon Vazquez, 119, 6-1; Rated R Superstar, Ricardo Santana Jr., 120, 5-1; Plainsman, Joel Rosario, 121, 5-2; Super Stock, Isaac Castillo, 118, 10-1; and Fearless, Jose Ortiz, 121, 9-5.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Fearless exits a six-length victory in the $100,000 Ghostzapper Stakes (G3) at 1 1/8 miles April 2 at Gulfstream Park. Fearless finished second, beaten a half-length by future Grade 1 winner Silver State, in last year's Oaklawn Handicap.

Pletcher is seeking his third Oaklawn victory after winning in 2007 with future Eclipse Award winner Lawyer Ron and 2015 with Race Day.

The local contingent includes millionaire multiple Grade 3 winner Plainsman for two-time reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox and owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs (Shortleaf Stable). The Oaklawn Handicap could be the final career Oaklawn start for Plainsman, who is scheduled to begin a stallion career in 2023 in Kentucky.

Plainsman, a 7-year-old son of Flatter, has overcome physical ailments, specifically, feet, to bankroll $1,303,207 in his 29-race career. His resume includes a neck victory over Thomas Shelby in the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 12 and a runner-up finish behind Rated R Superstar in the $500,000 Essex Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles March 19. Both races were major local preps for the Oaklawn Handicap.

“He's a tough horse,” Cox said. “He's a very tough horse. But he's also been a very high-maintenance horse and took a very long time, obviously, to get him back to graded-stake level. I think people forget this horse won the (Grade 3) Discovery at 3, which is now three-plus years ago. For him to return to graded-stake company last year and this year just tells you how good of a horse he really is and his quality and class and determination. He's a good horse, he really is. Classy horse.”

Late-running Rated R Superstar also is a millionaire multiple Grade 3 winner for trainer Federico Villafranco and four-time Oaklawn leading owner Danny Caldwell.

A 9-year-old gelding, Rated R Superstar is in the best form of his career after capturing the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes Jan. 15 and rolling to a 2 ¼-length victory in the Essex in his last start. Santana, an eight-time Oaklawn riding champion, inherits the mount Saturday because of an injury to David Cabrera.

“I think there's going to be plenty of pace in the race and he needs that,” Villafranco said. “I know he's been closing really nice at a mile and a sixteenth. A mile and an eighth is completely different.”

Thomas Shelby's quest for his first career stakes victory continues after finishing second in the $200,000 Tinsel at 1 1/8 miles Dec. 18, third in the Fifth Season at 1 mile, second in the Razorback and fourth in the Essex earlier in the meeting for 2020 Oaklawn training champion Robertino Diodoro.

Like Plainsman, Thomas Shelby has speed and figures to again be a forward factor early Saturday.

“I keep saying he deserves to win one of these,” Diodoro said. “I really do like a mile and an eighth a lot better. I just think it's better for him because they're not going to go quite as quick. He's doing great. You're always worried that the horse is getting tired, but he's training like a frigging monster.”

Super Stock recorded his biggest career victory to date in last year's $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Another Grade 1 winner, Idol, will be making his first start since finishing a well-beaten sixth in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at 1 1/8 miles Oct. 2 at Santa Anita for Southern California-based trainer Richard Baltas.

A hind-end problem has limited Idol to just seven lifetime starts. But the 5-year-old son of Curlin won the $400,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) at 1 ¼ miles in March 2021 at Santa Anita and set a 1 3/16-mile track record (1:55.97) in a November 2020 allowance race at Churchill Downs.

Baltas said he considered several other races for Idol's comeback, notably the $300,000 Ben Ali Stakes (G3) at 1 1/8 miles Saturday at Keeneland, $200,000 Californian Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles April 30 at Santa Anita and the $500,000 Alysheba Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles May 6 at Churchill Downs, before opting for the Oaklawn Handicap.

“I thought this race would probably be better,” Baltas said. “It's a lot of money and he's ready. I think he's ready to run.”

Idol, who adds Lasix, figures to be tracking Thomas Shelby and Plainsman under Vazquez, the horse's new rider.

“They can go duke it out,” Baltas said. “We're going to be running late. He takes a little more time to get going. He's got such a big, long stride. He's very smooth and covers a lot of ground.”

The consistent Beau Luminarie – first, second or third in 18 of 20 lifetime starts – exits a third behind Rated R Superstar and Plainsman in the Essex for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. Beau Luminarie was making his first start since finishing third in the Tinsel.

“We were anxious to see how he would run, just because when you give the older horses the layoff like this, you never know how they are going to perform,” Brisset said. “I think he showed us what we wanted to see. He was a close third. He came flying.”

Last Samurai cuts back to 1 1/8 miles after finishing second, beaten a neck by millionaire multiple Grade 2 winner Lone Rock, in the $150,000 Temperence Hill Stakes at 1 ½ miles April 3 for trainer Dallas Stewart.

Lone Rock, also trained by Diodoro, edged Thomas Shelby by three-quarters of a length in the Tinsel.

The post Fearless Tabbed Morning-Line Favorite In $1 Million Oaklawn Handicap appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Oregon HBPA Will Seek Grants Pass Racing License After Boersma Cancelled 2022 Meet

Owner Travis Boersma announced the cancellation of the 2022 race meet at Grants Pass Downs earlier this month after the racetrack lost its “economic engine,” which was intended to be the historical racing machines at The Flying Lark entertainment venue.

Now, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News, the Oregon Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (OHBPA) has informed the state racing board that it will attempt to keep Grants Pass open as a training center and possibly a brief fair-style meet this summer.

“When it became apparent that [Grants Pass Downs] was not going to renew their commercial license, we decided that the best thing was for the HBPA to seek that license for itself for the continuation of the commercial meet as well as the obvious benefits of the off-track betting (OTB) network,” executive director Randy Boden said during the Apr. 21 Oregon Racing Commission (ORC) meeting.

Grants Pass will require horsemen to exit the backstretch on April 30, and run the OTB network through June 30, when the racing license expires. The OHBPA would ideally be able to step in at that point, though the short notice will make that difficult.

At the very least, the OHBPA wants to be able to offer the horsemen a place to continue training so that horses will be ready to race at the state's fair meets.

“We are further looking into the possibility of working with Southern Oregon Horse Racing Association (SOHRA) to see if there's a possibility of running a short race meet in between the end of Union and the start of Prineville,” Boden added. “Currently, since we have no racing license until June, we have no standing to run a race meet as the HBPA, but SOHRA has many years of experience running race meets at Grants Pass [prior to Boersma taking over].”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The post Oregon HBPA Will Seek Grants Pass Racing License After Boersma Cancelled 2022 Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Classic Winner Set for Navan Return

Moyglare Stud Farm's 2020 G1 Irish St Leger heroine Search For A Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who won last term's G3 Loughbrown S. in one of six starts since that Classic highlight, makes an early seasonal debut in Saturday's 14-furlong Listed Vintage Crop S. at Navan. Not seen before May in three prior campaign openings, she faces nine rivals for her debut at the Co. Meath venue, headed by 2020 G1 Prix du Cadran heroine Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}). Earlier on the seven-race card, nine 3-year-old fillies will head postward for the 10-furlong Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Salsabil S., a Classic trial won in 2019 by subsequent G1 Epsom Oaks runner-up Pink Dogwood (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). Contenders include Aidan O'Brien nominee G3 Weld Park S. victrix Concert Hall (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), one of three representing Ballydoyle, who ran fourth in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. and sixth in the G1 Fillies' Mile last term. Stakes action commences with the Listed Committed S. for the 3-year-old speedsters. Top of the pile in this straight dash is Juddmonte's Listed Blenheim S. winner Straight Answer (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), who makes his seasonal return coming off a last-of-eight finish in October's G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket.

The post Classic Winner Set for Navan Return appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

New Jersey Racing Commission Rescinds Whip Ban

Monmouth Park jockeys will once again be allowed to use their whips to encourage their mounts when the meet kicks off May 7.

The change was made during a special hearing held Friday by the New Jersey Racing Commission, which voted to rescind rules that were put in place prior to the 2021 Monmouth meeting that allowed whipping only in cases where it was needed for safety reasons. New Jersey was the only state in the country where whipping was banned.

Monmouth's whipping rules were set to change July 1, when the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) goes into effect. At that time, HISA rules will replace state racing commission rules throughout the country and the HISA whip rules allow for six overhand strikes. In addition, jockeys may tap the horse on the shoulder unlimited times if both their hands are on the reins.

Monmouth management went to the racing commission and asked it to overturn the whipping ban, arguing that it did not make sense to have the rules change in the middle of the meet.

The commission agreed, voting by a 5-1 margin to go with the HISA rules starting with opening day. Lawrence DeMarzo was the only commissioner not to vote to end the whipping ban.

“This is better than it was,” said Terry Meyocks, the president of the Jockeys' Guild, which had been staunchly against the whip ban, arguing that it raised safety concerns for the riders. “It's a safety issue. It's not subjective. They have to take into consideration what the jocks have been saying.”

As part of its argument, Monmouth cited handle figures for the 2021 meet in which daily average handle fell by 17.13%, which raised concern that some bettors stayed away from Monmouth because they weren't comfortable with the new rules.

To enforce the HISA whipping rules, Monmouth will establish a three-person committee of racing officials who will review races to make sure the jockeys are in compliance. If they are not, the penalties will be severe. First-time violators will forfeit their share of the purse, will be fined $500 and receive a three-day suspension. Second-time offenders will lose the purse money, be fined $2,500 and suspended for seven days. Anyone violating the rule a third time will lose the purse money, be fined $5,000 and banned for the remainder of the meet.

It was revealed during the hearing that the racing commission received more than 80 telephone calls asking it to keep the whip ban in place. Many of the callers told the commission they received texts or emails from PETA asking them to call the commission.

The post New Jersey Racing Commission Rescinds Whip Ban appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post