Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Thursday, June 2
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Thursday's meetings at Leicester, Hamilton, Uttoxeter, Chelmsford City, Ffos Las and Redcar.
Month: June 2022
De Francis Dash Moves to Laurel Summer Meet
Laurel Park's summer meet stakes schedule–anchored by the repositioned $150,000 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash–features 14 stakes worth $1.3 million. The six-furlong DeFrancis has been moved from its traditional spot on Laurel's fall calendar and will be run July 16 this year.
Joining the De Francis on the July 16 program are the $100,000 Alma North S., the $100,000 Big Dreyfus S., and the $100,000 Prince George's County S. All four races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.
The 37-day summer meet opens Friday and continues through Aug. 21. Racing will be conducted Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the summer meet, with a post time of 12:40 p.m. There will be a special Independence Day holiday program Monday, July 4.
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Randy Moss Makes Case for More Triple Crown Spacing On Writers’ Room
The debate over whether to increase the amount of time between Triple Crown races has been a contentious one over the last few weeks, spurred by the decision of GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike's connections to pass on the GI Preakness S. and making a run at the Triple Crown. Randy Moss, the co-lead analyst for NBC Sports' coverage of the Triple Crown, has been out in front on the pro-spacing side, saying that expecting horses to race three times in five weeks is an anachronism in modern racing. Tuesday, Moss joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to engage with hosts Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green in a spirited debate about a topic so important to both the past and future of the sport.
“I think it's pretty basic,” Moss said. “The Triple Crown is undeniably the number one property, so to speak, in Thoroughbred racing, and I think it's incumbent upon the sport to take care of the Triple Crown. And when it sees some weaknesses beginning to develop in the Triple Crown, do something about it to fix it. Right now, it's clear that the Preakness has been weakened, demonstrably, and not every year, but most years, by the two-week gap and by trainers that believe that it's counterproductive to the best interest of their horses to come back in two weeks. It won't make the Triple Crown easier to win because the Preakness will be more difficult. I think that'll balance out the extra time between the races, and I think it just makes it for a better product.”
Moss later made a counterpoint to the idea that the Triple Crown spacing needs to be preserved for historical purposes.
“People say, 'It's always been that way,'” he said. “No, it's been that way since 1960, which was the year that it changed to the current two-week, three-week [break] format. But in the 1940s, when there were four Triple Crown winners, Whirlaway, Assault, Count Fleet and Citation, and all four of them had four weeks between the Preakness and Belmont. In the 1950s, there were three instances where there were three weeks between the Derby and Preakness and six in which there were four weeks between the Preakness and Belmont. It's not as if this current spacing that we've had for the last 62 years was handed down in stone tablets or anything like that. I've gone back and looked for articles in the past about Triple Crown spacing, and it was never an issue. No one ever talked about it. The Triple Crown as a concept was to pit the best horses of a generation against each other in three successive races. That makes the Triple Crown what it is, not the spacing necessarily.”
Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers pushed for the Met Mile to return to Belmont day and discussed the impending return of trainer Peter Miller. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The post Randy Moss Makes Case for More Triple Crown Spacing On Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Alexander Homebred Becca Taylor Tops Field Of Five For Desert Stormer
A nose shy of being unbeaten in eight starts, three of them stakes, Nick Alexander's homebred Becca Taylor tries graded stakes competition for the first time as she returns to Santa Anita to head Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Desert Stormer Stakes as five fillies and mares three and up go six furlongs.
Trained by Steve Miyadi, California-bred Becca Taylor, who was second, beaten a nose two starts back in the Irish O'Brien Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf course, ventured to Golden Gate Fields on May 7, where she pressed the pace and posted a one length allowance victory going six furlongs on synthetic Tapeta as the 1-5 favorite.
A 1 ¼ length winner of the statebred Spring Fever Stakes at six furlongs on dirt three starts back Feb. 21, Becca Taylor is unbeaten three tries on dirt, two of them in statebred stakes at Santa Anita.
A 4-year-old filly by Old Topper out of the General Meeting mare Lady Sax, Becca Taylor will get the first-time services of Santa Anita's leading rider Juan Hernandez. With seven wins and a second place finish, “Becca” has earnings of $319,160.
On a five-game winning streak, but overmatched in the G2 Zenyatta Stakes Oct. 3, trainer Ruben Alvarado's Samurai Charm returns to action on Saturday with regular rider Kyle Frey up. Quick from the blocks at any distance, Samurai Charm took the ungraded Dark Mirage going a flat mile at Los Alamitos two starts back on Sept. 19 and will sprint for the first time in four starts, dating back to a starter allowance score going 5 ½ furlongs at Los Al. on July 2.
Owned by Downstream Racing, LLC, Samurai Charm, a 5-year-old mare by First Samurai out of the Silver Charm mare Back Seat Charm, is 7-5-0-1 with earnings of $147,260.
In her first start in seven months, Mark Glatt's Dance to the Music served ample notice that she's back and is again ready for stakes competition. A $575,000 2-year-old in training sale purchase a year ago April, Dance to the Music was an impressive first-out winner going 5 ½ furlongs at Del Mar July 24 and came back to run a well beaten second at 3-1 in the G1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 5. Subsequently well beaten here in the G2 Chandelier Stakes Oct. 1, this 3-year-old filly by Maclean's Music went to the sidelines and came back running at even money May 7, pressing the early pace and posting a three quarter length allowance win under Abel Cedillo, who rides back on Saturday.
Owned by Red Baron's Barn, LLC and Rancho Temescal, LLC, Dance to the Music, who is out of the Congrats mare Beautified, registered a career-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure in her comeback race. With an overall mark of 4-2-1-0, she has earnings of $143,900.
A two-time stakes winner at age three, trainer Jonathan Wong's 5-year-old Dynasty of Her Own ran a close third in Golden Gate's five furlong turf Camilla Urso Stakes April 30 and was beaten 2 ½ lengths. Consequently third two starts back in Santa Anita's G3 Las Flores Stakes at six furlongs on dirt March 13 she was beaten 12 lengths.
Owned by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, Dynasty of Her Own is a Kentucky-bred mare by Shanghai Bobby out of the Richter Scale mare Lady Dynasty. Winless in two Santa Anita main track starts, she's 22-11-0-5 overall with earnings of $310,070 and will be ridden by Ricky Gonzalez.
THE GRADE 3 DESERT STORMER WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 2 of 9 Approximate post time 1:30 p.m. PT
- Dance to the Music—Abel Cedillo—116
- Dynasty of Her Own—Ricardo Gonzalez—124
- Annie Graham—Edwin Maldonado—122
- Samurai Charm—Kyle Frey—124
- Becca Taylor—Juan Hernandez—124
First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 1 p.m.
The post Alexander Homebred Becca Taylor Tops Field Of Five For Desert Stormer appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
