Month: July 2022

Winchell Thoroughbreds' homebred Gunite slipped through an opening along the inside rail at the top of the stretch and determinedly turned back late charges from My Prankster and Hoist the Gold to win Sunday's first running of the $160,000 Maxfield Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Gunite won by a half-length, with the victory providing jockey Tyler Gaffalione his ninth stakes win of the Spring Meet – the most since Robby Albarado won eight in 2005.

Gunite, the odds-on 4-5 favorite in the field of six 3-year-olds, clocked seven furlongs over fast track in 1:23.08 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. As a 2-year-old, Gunite won the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga.

Overtaxed dictated the pace through a first quarter mile in :23.08 and the half in :46.25 as Gunite tracked in third along the inside rail.

As the field turned for the homestretch run, a tiring Overtaxed fanned out wide on the lead and opened an inside seam for Gunite to slip through. He grabbed the lead with his rail run with three-sixteenths of a mile left and was resolute to hold off late runs from My Prankster, who rallied from last, and Hoist the Gold, who challenged with a four-wide move throughout the lane.

“He didn't break as sharply today so I was in a bit of a tight spot at the rail up the backside,” Gaffalione said. “Turning for home I just bided my time and stayed at the rail and he kicked on well.”

Gunite paid $3.80

My Prankster, the 7-5 second betting choice, finished a head in front of third-place finisher Hoist the Gold, a 30-1 longshot.

Tejano Twist, Burninhunkoflove, and Overtaxed rounded out the field.

Gunite, a Kentucky-bred son of Gun Runner out of the Cowboy Cal mare Simple Surprise, improved his record to 3-3-1 in eight starts. The $97,311 first prize boosted his career earnings to $438,099.

Guinite made his return from an eight-month layoff June 3 and ran second in an allowance optional claimer at Churchill Downs. The race marked his first start since finishing fifth in the Champagne Stakes (G1) October 2 at Belmont.

“We're really happy to get him back in the winner's circle,” Asmussen said. “He didn't break as sharp today as we expected. Tyler got him in a good rhythm up the backside and we're fortunate he was able to win today.”

In addition to the Maxfield, Gaffalione, who has already clinched his eighth Churchill Downs riding title, won the Grade 3 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (Santin); Mamzelle (Twilight Gleaming); Grade 3 Winning Colors (Sconsin); Aristides (Bango); Blame (Dynamic One); Leslie's Lady (Wicked Halo); Monomoy Girl (Society); and Tepin (Wicked Halo).

For Asmussen, it was his meet-leading fifth stakes win. The others were the Grade 1 La Troienne (Pauline's Pearl); Grade 1 Churchill Downs (Jackie's Warrior); Leslie's Lady (Wicked Halo); Monomoy's Girl (Society), and Tepin (Wicked Halo).

The Maxfield Stakes is named in honor of Godolphin's eight-time winner Maxfield, a two-time Grade 1 winner who won his career finale in last year's Clark Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs before launching his stallion career earlier this year at Darley in Lexington.

The post Grade 1 Winner Gunite Captures Churchill’s Maxfield Overnight Stakes In Second Start Off Long Layoff appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Ken McPeek will send out a pair of former Kentucky Derby (G1) starters in Tiz the Bomb and Classic Causeway for the $1 million Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational (G1), the 10-furlong first leg of the Caesars Turf Triple Series on Saturday.

The Belmont Derby will again launch the male division of the Caesars Turf Triple series that also includes the $1 million Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1) at 1 3/16 miles on August 6 and the $1 million Caesars Jockey Club Derby Invitational (G3) at 1 ½ miles during the Belmont fall meet.

“Both of these horses—if they run well—will come back in the Saratoga Derby,” McPeek said. “These are really important races in their own right. It's a chance for either colt to win a Grade 1 and we know for value as a stallion that's important.”

Owned by McPeek's Magdalena Racing, Tiz the Bomb is an omni-surface star, boasting wins on dirt, turf, and synthetic. The Hit It a Bomb colt graduated last July in an off-the-turf maiden special weight at Ellis Park to kick off a three-race win streak that included turf scores in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile in September and the Bourbon (G2) in October at Keeneland. He closed to finish second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) in November at Del Mar.

Tiz the Bomb returned with an off-the-board effort in the Holy Bull (G3) in February over the Gulfstream Park dirt before taking both the John Battaglia Memorial in March and Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) in April over the Turfway Park synthetic.

He finished ninth last out in the Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs.

“He's doing really well,” McPeek said. “He's been training here in Kentucky on the grass all spring since the Derby and we're excited to get him back on turf.

“I think he's definitely a better grass horse than a dirt horse,” McPeek added. “He's really intelligent. I think the sire line is a little more grass, but he handles about everything.”

Kentucky West Racing and Clarke Cooper's Classic Causeway, by Giant's Causeway and out of the Thunder Gulch mare Private World, will make his turf debut in the Belmont Derby.

The talented chestnut, previously trained by Brian Lynch, captured the Sam F. Davis (G3) in February and the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) one month later before faltering to last of 11 in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) in April at Gulfstream Park. He finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby and was then transferred to McPeek, posting a third-place effort last out in the Ohio Derby (G3) on June 25 at JACK Thistledown.

“We tried to rate him a little bit, but he's a really headstrong horse early in the race,” McPeek said. “I think he's got his mind set on go when he leaves the gate and we're trying to re-tool him a little bit and get him to turn off for a bit. He's a really smart horse. Tactics wise in the Ohio Derby, I would have liked to have seen him rated a little further back and then make a run. But he fought to the finish and ran a real respectable third.

“I hate running the two against each other, but I think it's the right spot for both of them,” he added.

Julien Leparoux will retain the mount on Classic Causeway, while Dylan Davis, leading rider at the Belmont spring/summer meet, picks up the mount on Tiz the Bomb.

Fern Circle Stables, Back Racing and Magdalena Racing's Creative Minister, a last-out fifth in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 11, will make his next start in the nine-furlong $135,000 Curlin on July 29 at Saratoga with an eye to a start in the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers (G1) on August 27.

Creative Minister, a game third in the Preakness (G1) in May at Pimlico, breezed a half-mile in :48.36 Saturday over the Oklahoma dirt training track.

“The Curlin is the spot for him and if he were to win it, we'd come back in the Travers,” McPeek said. “He's a colt that's done real well. He just had a little half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma training track yesterday and I think the Curlin is a real good spot for him.”

McPeek said Creative Minister may not have appreciated his first trip over Big Sandy in the Belmont Stakes.

“I don't think he handled the surface all that well at Belmont,” McPeek said. “He got really tired over it. It's a tricky track to race over and I believe that horses stabled at Belmont have a distinct advantage racing at Belmont, especially in a race of that distance that time of year.”

McPeek said Creative Minister is likely to breeze over the main track at Saratoga ahead of the Curlin.

“Most of my horses train over the Oklahoma training track and I think it's a little bit deeper than some other surfaces we work with. It takes a little time to acclimate,” McPeek said. “He'll probably get a work or two over the main track, too.”

The post ‘I Hate Running The Two Against Each Other’: McPeek Sets Sights On $1-MIllion Turf Race With Tiz The Bomb, Classic Causeway appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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With Paco Lopez riding the lone speed horse in a short field the outcome is fairly predictable.

That was the case in Sunday's $100,000 Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth Park, when Team Valor International's Green Up was able to coast on the front end through soft fractions and then spurted away when asked for a 5¾-length victory.

Sent off as the 3-2 second choice in the four-horse field, Green Up was able to easily rebuff any challenge from 2-5 favorite Radio Days because of the easy fractions in the one-mile and 70-yard feature.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Green Up earned a free entry and startinng fees to the Monmouth Oaks (G3) on July 31 as a result of the victory. It marked the first stakes win in the four-race career for the 3-year-old Virginia-bred daughter of Upstart out of Green Punch, by Two Punch.

“My thought was just to go to the lead since she looked like the only speed in the race,” said Lopez, seeking his ninth Monmouth Park riding title. “Todd Pletcher told me to do whatever I felt comfortable doing. She jumped a little at the break and didn't break well but I was able to get to the rail and make the lead pretty easily.

“I saw Joe Bravo (aboard Radio Days) pressing us at the three-eighths but my filly had too much left. She was very strong after we were able to get away with a slow opening half and she just took off when (Radio Days) came to us.”

Despite an awkward start, Green Up was able to make the lead without a challenge, with Lopez putting her on the rail. She carved out fractions of :24.77, :49.26, and 1:12.53 for six furlongs and was well in hand despite a compact field and mild pressure. The mile went in 1:37.79.

Green Up's winning time was 1:40.93 on a fast track. She returned $5.

“She just shipped in this morning from Saratoga,” said Anthony Sciametta, who oversees Pletcher's division at Monmouth Park. “That's where she has been working. Todd said when they scratched out a couple of horses if Paco Lopez wants the lead he should take it because there's no other speed in the race.

“She broke badly, seemed to stumble a little, but she still made the lead easily. She's a nice filly. Even if the field had stayed intact she would have been very tough to beat. Todd will make the decision on whether she goes to the Monmouth Oaks or not.”

Radio Days finished three lengths ahead of Capotainsdaughter in third.

Since being moved to the Pletcher barn (from Chris Melton) after finishing second in her career debut at Gulfstream Park on May 13, 2021, Green Up has won all three subsequent starts by a combined 16½ lengths, including a 6 3/4-length wire-to-wire romp in March at the Hallandale Beach, Florida, track to break her maiden. Stepping up to allowance/optional claiming company there, she won by four lengths April 21.

“Both of her Florida (wins) were impressive,” said Sciametta. “I'm sure Todd will look at the Monmouth Oaks, but he is the one who will make the decision.”

The post One For The Team: Green Up Goes Wire To Wire For First Stakes Win In Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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