Month: July 2022

Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features All-Graded Sequence From Saratoga, Woodbine, Monmouth

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host an all-graded stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday, featuring action from Saratoga Race Course, Woodbine and Grade 1 Haskell Invitational Day at Monmouth Park.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

The sequence begins at 3:29 p.m. Eastern in Race 8 at Monmouth, the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup for 3-year-olds and upward travelling nine furlongs on the main track. The field of seven is headlined by a pair of runners from the barn of four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. Klaravich Stables' Highly Motivated will look to build on a second-level allowance victory last out on May 28 at Belmont Park where he outdueled stablemate Stage Raider, a half-brother to Triple Crown champ Justify, by a neck in the one-mile contest. Last year, he picked up graded placings when third in the Grade 3 Gotham and second in the Grade 2 Blue Grass behind eventual Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Essential Quality.

Pipeline, who was last seen romping to an allowance victory by nine lengths on April 22 at Aqueduct, picked up a stakes placing with a third-place finish to He'smyhoneybadger in the Perryville last year at Keeneland. Also featured are recent Monmouth allowance winner Rough Sea, who was awarded a 96 Beyer Speed Figure for his 10-length victory on July 9 for trainer Bruno Tessore, and last year's Grade 3 Salvator Mile winner Informative for conditioner Uriah St. Lewis.

The second leg will see action move north to Woodbine for the Grade 2 Connaught Cup [Race 8, 4:51 p.m.], a seven-furlong sprint over the turf for 3-year-olds and up. 7-year-old veteran Chewing Gum returns for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott for the first time since posting a narrow victory in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez in January at Santa Anita. The field also features two Grade 1 winners in Shirl's Speight, the Maker's Mark Mile winner who enters from a try on dirt that saw him finish third in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile for trainer Roger Attfield; and Silent Poet, who won the Connaught Cup in 2020 and the Grade 1 Highlander last August over the Woodbine turf for trainer Nick Gonzalez.

The field also features a trio of competitors for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse in Grade 1-placed Tap It to Win, Brazilian Group 2-winner Filo Di Arianna, and 2020 Grade 1 Woodbine Mile runner-up March to the Arch.

The middle leg features 10 turf specialists in search of Grade 1 glory in Monmouth's United Nations for 3-year-olds and older going 11 furlongs over the turf. Slated as Race 11 at 5:09 p.m., the United Nations will be a rematch between the top three finishers from the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan on June 11 at Belmont Park. Chad Brown brings the top two finishers back in Tribhuvan and Adhamo. Tribhuvan stunned the field at odds of 19-1 and will look for a repeat victory in this event after taking last year's edition over Imperador. Adhamo is still in search of his first American victory, but has finished on-the-board in all three of his outings with each of them being at the graded level.

The Christophe Clement-trained Gufo, a dual Grade 1-winner, is in search of his first top-level victory of the year after finishing third last-out to Tribhuvan and Adhamo in the Manhattan where he stalked in eighth-of-10 and showed a good turn of foot to come up 4 1/2-lengths shy of the victory as the 2-1 favorite.

The Grade 1 Haskell Invitational [Race 12, 5:45 p.m.] features in the penultimate leg with the undefeated Chad Brown trainee Jack Christopher putting his perfect record on the line against Grade 1 winners White Abarrio for conditioner Saffie Joseph, Jr., the Brad Cox-trained Cyberknife and Taiba for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Jack Christopher's sparkling resume includes a last-out romp by 10 lengths in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun on June 11 at Belmont, and a 2 3/4-length score in the Grade 1 Champagne last year.

Jack Christopher's Grade 1-winning opponents each scored their top victories on the Road to the Kentucky Derby with White Abarrio capturing the Florida Derby, Cyberknife coming from off the pace to take the Arkansas Derby and Taiba rallying from third-of-6 to take the Santa Anita Derby. Graded stakes-placed Howling Time will look to spring an upset for trainer Dale Romans after losing the Grade 3 Matt Winn to Cyberknife by a nose last out.

Closing out the sequence is the Grade 3 Caress [Race 10, 6:13 p.m.] from Saratoga with 10 older fillies and mares sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs over the Mellon turf course. Brad Cox trainee Caravel will attempt to defend her title after taking last year's edition en route to a Grade 1 placing in Woodbine's Highlander. Steep opposition will be provided by graded stakes-winner Souper Sensational, who makes her second outing over the turf for trainer Mark Casse after finishing a close second in the Grade 2 Royal North last out. The speedy Bout Time for trainer Cherie DeVaux and the duo of Miss J McKay and Lady Edith for Christophe Clement provide interest as they each look for their first graded stakes coup.

Saratoga Live will present daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, July 23:
Leg A: Monmouth Park-Race 8, G3 Monmouth Cup (3:29 p.m. Eastern)
Leg B: Woodbine-Race 8, G2 Connaught Cup (4:51 p.m.)
Leg C: Monmouth Park-Race 11, G1 United Nations (5:09 p.m.)
Leg D: Monmouth Park-Race 12, G1 Haskell Invitational (5:45 p.m.)
Leg E: Saratoga Race Course-Race 10, G3 Caress (6:13 p.m.)

The post Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features All-Graded Sequence From Saratoga, Woodbine, Monmouth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kingman Colt A New Rising Star At Sandown

Juddmonte's hitherto unraced 2-year-old colt Nostrum (GB) (Kingman {GB}–Mirror Lake (GB) (MSW & GSP-Eng, $113,061), by Dubai Destination) was let go at odds of 13-2 for Thursday's Martin Densham Memorial EBF Maiden S. at Sandown and came home with a 'TDN Rising Star' after producing a taking display in a contest won last year by subsequent G2 Queen's Vase second Zechariah (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}). The homebred bay was bustled along from the gates to occupy a forward pitch in second after the initial strides of the seven-furlong test. Making eyecatching headway from the three-furlong pole, he powered to the front passing the quarter-mile marker and was pushed out inside the final furlong to easily defeat Golden Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) by an impressive three lengths.

“He's a big horse and had been doing well at home,” said Ryan Moore. “I thought he might be a little raw and if he started slowly he might not get organised at all, but I was able to get him into a good position and get a lead. He was left in front a long way out, which I didn't want to be, and every time I asked him he kept lengthening. There's plenty of improvement in him and I'd say he's more of a 3-year-old than a 2-year-old. He'll have no problem going a mile and may get a little further. He's a nice colt.”

Nostrum is the seventh foal and scorer produced by the dual stakes-winning G3 Prestige S. runner-up Mirror Lake (GB) (Dubai Destination), herself a half-sister to the dam of Listed Lanwades Stud S. victrix Hateya (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}). The March-foaled homebred bay is a half-brother to dual Group-winning G1 C F Orr S. runner-up Imaging (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Listed Heatherlie S. victor Titus (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Descendants of his third dam Roupala (Vaguely Noble {Ire}) include this term's G1 Saudi Cup hero Emblem Road (Quality Road), multiple Grade I-winning distaffer Ventura (Chester House) and dual elite-level winners Queen Supreme (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and Harlem (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}).

2nd-Sandown, £9,900, Mdn, 7-21, 2yo, 7fT, 1:31.46, g/f.
NOSTRUM (GB), c, 2, by Kingman (GB)
1st Dam: Mirror Lake (GB) (MSW & GSP-Eng, $113,061), by Dubai Destination
2nd Dam: Reflections (GB), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: Roupala, by Vaguely Noble (Ire)
1ST TIME STARTER. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, £5,346. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Apricot Twist Rewards Barouche Stud’s ‘Two-Pronged Attack’

There's an old proverb that reads, 'All the flowers of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today,' which came to mind when Apricot Twist (Ire) (Expert Eye {GB}) ran out a comfortable winner of the opening six-furlong maiden at Naas on Wednesday. 

In the case of Apricot Twist, who earned herself a TDN Rising Star in pulling over seven lengths clear of her rivals on debut, those seeds were set a long time ago by Rory Mathews at Barouche Stud Ireland. 

Apricot Twist is named after the notoriously sweet-scented flower and Wednesday's victory at Naas for Ger Lyons and Colin Keane was sugar-coated by the fact that Barouche Stud have nurtured this family for years. 

It was in 2012 when Barouche Stud purchased the grand-dam Mathool (Ire) (Alhaarth {Ire}) for 48,000gns at the December Mares Sale at Tattersalls. Her daughter Erysimum (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) carried the stud's familiar navy and yellow silks with distinction, coming into full bloom when winning the Ruby S. at Killarney in 2016, and her full-sister Escallonia (Ire) is also in the broodmare band at the farm. 

Mathews said, “It's extra special because Apricot Twist is out of our homebred mare Erysimum. We bought her grand-dam Mathool ourselves and we got Erysimum and her full-sister Escallonia (Ire) out of her before letting her go. Hopefully this girl [Apricot Twist] will go on now to fly the flag for the family.

“When we bought Mathool, we were trying to get into that black-type, as it was a stout pedigree underneath her. So, when Erysimum got her black-type, we decided to keep her and her full-sister and to move Mathool on [to Brian Grassick Bloodstock at the Tattersalls December Sale for 45,000gns]. We've a two-pronged attack with the family.”

He added, “We went to Acclamation (GB) the first year with Erysimum but unfortunately she didn't take, so that's why we went to Camelot (GB). But we stayed with it and obviously went to Expert Eye, who is a son of Acclamation. 

“He was a very good 2-year-old and Sir Michael Stoute was always complimentary of him. He went on and won the Jersey S. at Royal Ascot at three and was obviously successful at the Breeders' Cup as well. 

“For us, we have horses on either side of the pond, which is why a stallion like Expert Eye made loads of appeal to us. The speed that he has, and also the stamina to be able to get to a mile, that was important.”

Juddmonte don't buy a lot of yearlings every year but Apricot Twist, a daughter of their own stallion Expert Eye, was knocked down to the stud for 140,000gns at Book 1 at Tattersalls in October.

Mathews said, “I put a video up on Twitter this [Thursday] morning of her at the sales last year and she really was a nice filly. She was athletic and strong so, for Juddmonte to come back and buy her, it means that hopefully we are doing the right thing. 

“Her dam was a tough cookie and I was actually talking to Willie [McCreery, Erysimum's trainer] at the races last night. I remember him coming to me and telling me that he had to train her on her own, that he couldn't have other horses around her. 

“She was quirky but she'd so much ability. She was tough and hardy and, looking at the race last night, she passed a lot of it on to Apricot Twist.”

Mathews added, “What I liked most about the performance was what she did going past the post–she was going further and further clear. She took a little bit of a wobble three furlongs down at the elbow but, as soon as she got herself balanced up, she galloped on well for Colin. 

“Talking to Ger last night, he told me that he'd only been hard on her for the past six weeks so it's exciting times. It will be down to Juddmonte what they do next. She has a Ballyhane entry and I know they won it last year with Sacred Bridge (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) so that could be a possibility.”

Mathews admits that the type of horse Barouche Stud strives to produce has changed dramatically in recent times, driven by the commercial market, and that they have adapted to what buyers want. 

On future plans for the family, and commenting on the modus operandi of the stud, Mathews said, “Erysimum has a Blue Point (Ire) filly going to Book 1 at Newmarket and she was covered by Mehmas (Ire). Escallonia has a 2-year-old filly by Gleneagles (Ire) and a lovely Profitable (Ire) yearling colt who is going to Goffs this year. She's in foal to Inns Of Court (Ire) and has a Belardo (Ire) filly at foot. 

“In America, we still have a daughter of Tap Your Heels (Unbridled) called Brusquer (Elusive Quality) and she has a very good 2-year-old colt in training with Wesley Ward called Go On Mo (Uncle Mo). He hasn't run yet but will start off at Saratoga. 

“We've had a change of plan to try to buy these younger mares with the good pedigrees and, when they get to a certain age, we start moving them on because you can't keep hanging on in this day and age.”

He added, “It's different now to when we started off 30 years ago when you were dreaming of the Derby and the Oaks. Now, things are being driven by the commercial market and the horse we are trying to produce on the farm is completely different. 

“You need a 2-year-old who is going to get a mile as well and that's the kind of physicality you need to be showing at the yearling sales. Obviously this lady had that.”

Barouche Stud are reaping everything that they have sown.

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