June, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jonathan Thomas To Judge 2022 Maryland Yearling Show

Jonathan Thomas, trainer of the versatile Grade 1 winner Catholic Boy, will judge the 88th annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show. Open to all yearlings eligible for Maryland-bred registration, the show will be held Sunday, July 24 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds' Horse Show Ring in Timonium. Entries are due by June 24.

Thomas was born in Virginia and raised at Paul Mellon's famed Rokeby Farm, where his grandfather, father and mother all worked. Growing up around quality horses, Thomas was 13 when Mellon's homebred Sea Hero won the Kentucky Derby. Twenty-five years later as a trainer, he was sending out Catholic Boy to win Grade 1s on the turf and dirt, the latter in Saratoga's Travers Stakes. It was only the third time in history that an American 3-year-old accomplished the Grade 1 dirt/turf double, following in the footsteps of Secretariat and California Chrome.

Before going out on his own, Thomas was an assistant for leading trainers Christophe Clement, Dale Romans and Todd Pletcher, and spent a year training in Saudi Arabia. He also worked in sales and breaking with J.J. Pletcher in Ocala, Fla., and over the years built up a business buying, breaking and training Thoroughbreds at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala.

Since saddling his first runners in 2005, he has a win percentage of 24 percent, and more than half his starters finish in the top three.

The list of judges in the MHBA Yearling Show's long history is a “who's who” of renowned horsemen. The celebrated group includes 26 Hall of Famers, and Triple Crown-winning trainers James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, Max Hirsch, Lucien Laurin and Billy Turner. Among Maryland-bred yearlings to have competed in the show are Eclipse Award-winning Hall of Famer Safely Kept, Eclipse Award-winning juveniles Smart Angle and Declan's Moon, 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing, and millionaires Cathryn Sophia, Urbane, Eighttofasttocatch and Cherokee's Boy.

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Report: Howling Time Will Skip Belmont, Target Matt Winn

Dale Romans trainee Howling Time will bypass this weekend's Belmont Stakes and will instead take aim at the Grade 3 Matt Winn, according to a tweet by the Daily Racing Form's Marty McGee.

Howling Time had been on the list of probable Belmont starters prior to his June 4 work at Churchill Downs. There, he covered four furlongs in :48.80, finishing 43 of 124 at the distance.

Howling Time most recently won an allowance optional claiming race at Churchill Downs impressively, drawing away by five lengths at the wire of the race over 1 1/16 miles.

Previously, he won the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill in his 2-year-old season, and finished off the board in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club, G2 Fountain of Youth and G3 Lexington.

Romans trains Howling Time for longtime client Albaugh Family Stables. He is the son of Not This Time and Arch mare Werewolf and was bred in Kentucky by Springhouse Farm.

Post positions will be drawn for the Belmont on June 7.

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California Stallion Coach Bob Dies At Age 13

California stallion Coach Bob passed away on Thursday at Daehling Ranch from complications of kidney disease. He was 13.

The son of Bertrando, out of the Yankee Gentlemen mare Gentlemen's Hope, was bred in California by Pam and Martin Wygod and sold at the 2010 Northern California Yearling Sale for $5,000.

Owned by Tom Gerstel, Reina Gonzalez, Keith Hembree, Jean Hembree and Jeff Kitchen and trained by Gonzalez, Coach Bob earned $211,367 on the track, with stakes placings at ages three, four and five. That included a second-place finish behind Big Macher in the Donald Valpredo California Cup Sprint.

“It's a very sad day for all of us here at the farm,” said Julia Daehling Oldfield. “He was a super easy stallion to work with and he enjoyed human interaction and loved peppermints. He would run up the gate if he heard the wrappers. We will miss him.”

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Breeders’ Cup Challenge Races Highlight Santa Anita Fall Stakes

The 18-day Autumn meet at Santa Anita will feature a total of 26 stakes races, including five 'Win and You're In' qualifying races for the 2022 Breeders' Cup to be held at Keeneland Nov. 4 and 5. Fifteen of the stakes are contested at the graded level.

The meet begins Friday, Sept. 30 and the opening weekend is set to be highlighted by 11 of the stakes races, seven of which are graded. The Saturday, Oct. 1 program includes the GI Awesome Again S. (WAYI) for older handicappers headed towards the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, as well as the GII Eddie D. S. down the hillside turf course, the GII John Henry S. at 10 furlongs on the grass, the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship, the GII City of Hope S. at a mile on the grass and the Unzip Me S.

A total of five added-money events are on offer Sunday, Oct. 2, including the GII Zenyatta S. for GI Breeders' Cup Distaff-bound horses, the GIII Chillingworth S. for female sprinters, the Speakeasy S. (WAYI) for juvenile turf sprinters, the Tokyo City Cup for dirt marathoners and the Senator Ken Maddy S., a downhill turf sprint for fillies and mares.

The second weekend of live racing features three 'Win and You're In' challenge tests–the GI American Pharoah S. for juvenile males; the filly counterpart, the GII Chandelier S.; and the GI Rodeo Drive S. for distaff turfers.

Four California-bred restricted races for total purse money of $600,000 are also programmed. The Golden State Juvenile and Golden State Juvenile Fillies have had their purses increased from $150,000 to $175,000, while a pair of restricted stakes–the Swingtime S. and the Lure S.–carry purse money of $80,000, up from $70,000 last year.

The entire stakes schedule will be available soon at santaanita.com/horsemen.

The post Breeders’ Cup Challenge Races Highlight Santa Anita Fall Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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