Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Friday, July 1
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Friday's meetings Newton Abbott, Sandown, Doncaster, Beverley and Haydock.
Month: June 2022
NBC Sports Goes Live From Churchill Downs For ‘Win And You’re In’ Stephen Foster
2021 Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun headlines NBC Sports' live coverage of the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In – presented by America's Best Racing” $750,000 Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The winner of the Stephen Foster Stakes will earn the first automatic berth into this year's $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
The Stephen Foster Stakes headlines the second program this year in the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In – presented by America's Best Racing” on NBC, Peacock, and CNBC from some of North America's most iconic racetracks. The series leads to the 39th Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 4-5. The complete series TV schedule can be accessed here and the NBC Sports programming schedule can be found here.
Saturday's two-hour broadcast will also include coverage of the 1 1/8-mile, $350,000 Fleur de Lis (G2), for fillies and mares, and the 6 ½-furlong, $160,000 Kelly's Landing Overnight Stakes for 3-year-olds and up. The $300,000 Princess Rooney Invitational (G2) from Gulfstream Park, a Win and You're In for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), will also be featured during race coverage. Last year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Ce Ce is expected to start in the Princess Rooney Invitational.
Also among the highlights, the connections of historic 80-1 longshot Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will take part in a special trophy presentation at Churchill Downs.
NBC Sports' coverage will feature commentary and discussion on-site at Churchill Downs led by host Britney Eurton, analysts Randy Moss and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, winner of 15 Breeders' Cup races including five victories in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, and reporters/handicappers Matt Bernier and Eddie Olczyk.
The Stephen Foster Stakes, first run in 1982, has had a significant impact on the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, as five of its winners have gone on to win the Classic in the same year: Black Tie Affair (IRE) (1991), Awesome Again (1998), Saint Liam (2005), Blame (2010) and Gun Runner (2017).
Leading this year's Stephen Foster, Mandaloun has won 6 races in 10 starts for trainer Brad Cox. A 4-year-old son of Into Mischief, Mandaloun won the Louisiana Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds in New Orleans in January but finished ninth in the Saudi Cup (G1) at King Abdulaziz Racetrack on Feb. 26. Earlier this year, Mandaloun was declared the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby following the disqualification of Medina Spirit. Cox, a two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, saddled Knicks Go to victory in last year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Mandaloun will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post six.
Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, LLC, and LNJ Foxwoods' Olympiad is unbeaten in four starts this year. Trained by Bill Mott, who saddled Breeders' Cup Classic winners Cigar (1995) and Drosselmeyer (2011), Olympiad captured the Mineshaft Stakes (G3) and the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds before scoring a 2 ½-length win over the Churchill strip in the Alysheba Stakes (G2) on May 6. Junior Alvarado will ride Olympiad from post three.
Willis Horton Racing's 4-year-old Last Samurai comes into the race off a 4-length victory in the Oaklawn Handicap (G1) on April 23. Last Samurai, who was transferred to the barn of trainer D. Wayne Lukas from previous trainer Dallas Stewart following the Oaklawn Handicap, will be ridden by Jon Court from post seven. Another graded stakes winner in the field is CHC, Inc. and WinStar Farm's Americanrevolution. Winner of last year's Cigar Mile (G1) in New York for trainer Todd Pletcher, Americanrevolution finished fourth at Churchill in the listed Blame Stakes on June 4 in his 2022 debut. Luis Saez has the mount on Americanrevolution, breaking from post two.
As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the Stephen Foster winner to start in the World Championships. Breeders' Cup will also provide a $10,000 travel allowance for all starters based outside of Kentucky to compete in the World Championships.
In the Fleur de Lis, Flurry Racing Stables LLC, Qatar Racing Limited, and Whisper Hill Farm, LLC's 5-year-old mare Shedaresthedevil had won all five of her starts at Churchill Downs — including Grade 1 wins in the Longines Kentucky Oaks and the La Troienne — before suffering her first defeat under the Twin Spires when she finished second by a half-length to Pauline's Pearl in defending her La Troienne title on May 6. Trained by Brad Cox, Shedaresthedevil has won nine of 19 starts. She will be ridden by Florent Geroux.
Stonestreet Stables LLC's Pauline's Pearl, trained by Steve Asmussen, has won two of four starts this year. In addition to the La Troienne, the 4-year-old daughter of Tapit won the Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park in January. Joel Rosario will ride Pauline's Pearl from post four.
The Fleur de Lis is a part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen program. The first three finishers in the race will earn bonus credits applied toward entry fee costs into $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
Nine horses have been entered in the Kelly's Landing Overnight Stakes, including last year's $2 million Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Aloha West. Trained by Wayne Catalano for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Aloha West will try to get back to the winner's circle following two defeats this year, which includes a third-place finish in the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) on May 7.
The post NBC Sports Goes Live From Churchill Downs For ‘Win And You’re In’ Stephen Foster appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
NYRA, Nat’l Museum of Racing To Honor ‘Peb’
Edited Press Release
The New York Racing Association (NYRA) and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will highlight the career and accomplishments of the renowned cartoonist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq during a ceremony at Belmont Park Saturday, July 9, as part of the Stars and Stripes Racing Festival.
In 2020, Bellocq was selected to be a member of the National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, NYRA and the Racing Museum have yet to hold a public event to commemorate this honor.
NYRA and the National Museum of Racing will honor Peb's contributions in a variety of ways including a race named in his honor followed by a winner's circle ceremony featuring Bellocq alongside family and friends.
“The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame would like to thank NYRA for generously offering to host this wonderful day in honor of Peb, whose art and humor have captured the unique and vibrant characters and scenes of thoroughbred racing for generations,” said Brien Bouyea, Communications Director at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. “The racing world owes Peb a great deal of gratitude for his lifetime of distinguished work that has brought so much joy to the sport.”
Bellocq, 95, was born in France in 1926. At age 19, the French racing journal France Courses gave him national exposure by publishing one of his cartoons of a jockey. Bellocq signed the drawing as “Peb,” a signature that became his lifelong moniker.
Bellocq decided to relocate to the United States and in 1955 accepted an offer to work as the staff cartoonist for the Morning Telegraph and its sister paper, Daily Racing Form, a job he held until December 2008. Early in this career, Bellocq also produced political cartoons for the Philadelphia Inquirer while simultaneously working for the Form. Bellocq eventually transitioned his primary focus to thoroughbred racing.
Along with his work for the Form, Bellocq has been commissioned by numerous racetracks to produce vibrant murals capturing the flavor of the sport. At Belmont Park, he created a mural which is featured prominently on the second floor of the clubhouse featuring a wide variety of racing personalities. His large-scale cartoon collages have become fixtures at Churchill Downs, Del Mar, Arlington, Oaklawn, Aqueduct, and The Meadowlands.
Peb's work has also featured from time to time in this publication and his son Remi's work appears every Friday on page 2 of the TDN.
The post NYRA, Nat’l Museum of Racing To Honor ‘Peb’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Gulfstream: Rainbow 6 Mandatory Payout Yields Multiple $2,617 Payoffs
A mandatory payoff off the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool yielded multiple $2,617 payoffs at Gulfstream Park Thursday.
The popular multi-race wager had gone unsolved for seven racing days following a June 11 mandatory payout, producing a jackpot pool of $131,154 going into Thursday's program. wagering. A total of $1,357,430 was wagered on the Rainbow 6 Thursday, the final day of the fiscal year.
The Rainbow 6 sequence spanned Races 3-8,
The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is usually only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool usually goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. However, on mandatory-payout days, the entire pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the six-race sequence.
The Rainbow 6 will start anew on Friday's Happy Hour program with a $50,000 gross jackpot pool guarantee. Friday's first-race post time is set for 2:55 p.m.
Comebacking Edgard Zayas Doubles Thursday at Gulfstream
Comebacking jockey Edgard Zayas rode back-to-back winners on Thursday's program at Gulfstream Park.
On the sidelines for more than six months following surgery on his left shoulder, the 28-year-old rider returned to action last week.
“I feel way better this week. It's not where I want to be. It's only the second week, but I'm feeling way better and comfortable. It's not like any other injury. The longest I've been out was three months. I was out almost seven months,” Zayas said. “I knew it was going to take at least a week to find that rhythm and timing back.”
Zayas guided Sonicus ($6) to a front-running victory in Race 5, a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint, before rallying just off the pace under Boss Lady Kim ($7.80) in Race 6, a 5 ½-furlong claiming race on Tapeta. Both winners are trained by Saffie Joseph Jr.
Zayas has ridden 1932 winners since venturing to South Florida to launch his career in late 2012. He was an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey in 2013 after riding more than 200 winners and notching a Grade 1 victory aboard Starship Truffles in the Princess Rooney at Calder. He has ridden more than 200 winners in six of the first nine complete years of his career while winning numerous South Florida riding titles.
Zayas wasn't the only rider having a good day. Miguel Vasquez rode three winners Thursday. Vasquez won aboard It's Nora Now ($6) in race 1, Celestial Gaze ($6.20) in Race 3, and ended the afternoon riding Sun Viking ($21.40) to victory in Race 8.
The post Gulfstream: Rainbow 6 Mandatory Payout Yields Multiple $2,617 Payoffs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
