Winchell Thoroughbreds' Gunite, winner of last year's GI Hopeful S., scored a determined victory in the Maxfield S. at Churchill Downs Sunday. The 4-5 favorite raced along the rail just off the pace as longshot Overtaxed (Fed Biz) took the field through fractions of :23.08 and :46.25. He had nowhere to run nearing the stretch, but the rail opened at the top of the lane and the favorite snuck through before grittily holding off both My Prankster and Hoist the Gold to get the best of a three-way photo finish on the wire.
Gunite was second in the GII Saratoga Special before his victory in last summer's Hopeful S. capped a remarkable Saratoga meet for his first-crop sire, Gun Runner, but the dark bay colt went to the sidelines following a fifth-place effort in the GI Champagne S. last October. He resurfaced with a runner-up effort over the Maxfield's track and seven-furlong distance in a June 3 optional claimer last time out.
Gunite's full-sister sold for $400,000 at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Stakes-winning Simple Surprise produced a filly by Copper Bullet in 2021 and she was bred to Tapiture last year. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
MAXFIELD OVERNIGHT S., $160,000, Churchill Downs, 7-3, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.08, ft.
1–GUNITE, 123, c, 3, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Simple Surprise (SW, $185,446), by Cowboy Cal
2nd Dam: Simplify, by Pulpit
3rd Dam: Classic Olympio, by Olympio
O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen;
J-Tyler Gaffalione. $97,311. Lifetime Record: GISW, 8-3-3-1,
$438,099.
2–My Prankster, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–My Wandy's Girl, by
Flower Alley. ($600,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Lawana & Robert
Low; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $31,810.
3–Hoist the Gold, 118, c, 3, Mineshaft–Tacit Approval, by Tapit.
($47,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Dream
Team One Racing Stable; B-Dream Team Racing (KY); T-Dallas
Stewart. $15,905.
Margins: HF, HD, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.90, 1.40, 30.70.
Also Ran: Tejano Twist, Burninhunkoflove, Overtaxed.
The post Gunite Returns to Winner’s Circle in Maxfield appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Team Valor International's Green Up romped to an effortless victory in the Boiling Springs S. at Monmouth Park Sunday. The 3-2 shot was under a snug hold while setting fractions of :24.77 and :49.26 in a compact field of four. She skipped clear down the lane to score under wraps.
“My thought was just to go to the lead since she looked like the only speed in the race,” said winning jockey Paco Lopez. “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 runner-up 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. This is a very nice filly.”
Purchased privately by Team Valor following a runner-up debut effort at Churchill last May, Green Up was transferred to the barn of Todd Pletcher and returned to the races with a 6 3/4-length graduation at Gulfstream Mar. 13. Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' for that maiden victory, she added a four-length victory in an Apr. 21 Hallandale allowance last time out.
“She just shipped in this morning from Saratoga,” said Pletcher assistant Anthony Sciametta. “That's where she has been working. 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 GIII Monmouth Oaks or not. She's very talented.”
Green Up is out of an unraced half-sister to the dam of GIII Philip H. Iselin S. winner Just Call Kenny (Jump Start). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
BOILING SPRINGS S., $95,000, Monmouth, 7-3, 3yo, f, 1m 70y, 1:40.93, ft.
1–GREEN UP, 116, f, 3, by Upstart
1st Dam: Green Punch, by Two Punch
2nd Dam: Green Jeans, by Green Dancer
3rd Dam: Duds, by Ack Ack
($10,000 Ylg '20 EASOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Team Valor
International, LLC; B-Althea Richards (VA); T-Todd A. Pletcher;
J-Paco Lopez. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $130,760.
2–Radio Days, 117, f, 3, Gun Runner–Remembered, by Sky
Mesa. ($750,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Joseph Allen LLC; B-Hinkle
Farms (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $20,000.
3–Captainsdaughter, 118, f, 3, Midshipman–Joan's Rose, by
Service Stripe. O/B-Ocean View Stable (NY); T-Russell J. Cash.
$10,000.
Margins: 5 3/4, 3, 2HF. Odds: 1.50, 0.40, 21.30.
Also Ran: Alittleloveandluck. Scratched: Gina Romantica, Love to Run, Morning Matcha.
The post Upstart’s Green Up Romps in Boiling Springs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher celebrated a four-win day on Saturday at Belmont Park, led by graded scores with Life Is Good in the John A. Nerud (G2) and Charge It in the Dwyer (G3). The $2 million yearling purchase Capensis and the New York-bred Liam's Map gelding Jerry the Nipper also visited the winner's circle in races 5 and 10, respectively.
“That was a nice day,” said Pletcher.
Life Is Good made a triumphant return in his first start since an even fourth-place finish in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup March 26.
His resounding five-length victory in the Nerud proved that the son of Into Mischief had not lost a step from his trip to Dubai, returning with the same gusto he showed throughout his sparkling sophomore campaign that was capped with a 5 3/4-length triumph in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in November at Del Mar.
Life Is Good was awarded a career-best 112 Beyer Speed Figure for his Nerud win.
“He came back excellent,” said Pletcher. “We felt confident that he had maintained his form based on the way he had trained, but it's nice to see him go over and live up to expectations.”
Now that Life Is Good has successfully vanquished one of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's heavyweights in Speaker's Corner, he'll likely face Mott's other top older male, Stephen Foster (G2) winner Olympiad, should they both make their next outing in the $1 million Whitney (G1) on August 6 at Saratoga.
Pletcher said Life Is Good is ready for a potential matchup with Olympiad, who garnered a 111 Beyer for his Stephen Foster coup.
“Olympiad is on quite a streak himself and you'd always expect the Whitney to be a difficult race, but we're very pleased with the way that he [Life Is Good] is doing,” said Pletcher.
Four races later, Whisper Hill Farm's homebred Charge It lived up to his 3-5 favoritism in the Dwyer (G3), winning the one-mile test for sophomores by a sublime 23 lengths in his first start since a 17th-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 7.
“That's pretty crazy,” Pletcher said of the win margin. “We thought he would run well, and you never think of one winning by that type of margin, but he's a colt that we've always been very high on and he's always trained like a horse that was capable of great things. He's starting to get a bit more maturity and seasoning now and I still think there's room for improvement.”
Pletcher experienced the highs and lows of horse racing yesterday when his four wins came on the heels of the announcement that Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Mo Donegal would miss the Runhappy Travers (G1) on August 27 at Saratoga and the Breeders' Cup in November at Keeneland due to bone bruising.
While Mo Donegal will not be representing the Pletcher barn in the Travers this year, Pletcher could still have a chance to capture the “Mid-Summer Derby” with Charge It.
“That's what we're thinking and that's the goal,” Pletcher said. “We're very pleased with the way he ran and I feel like as he matures, he's trained like a horse that a mile and a quarter is within his range.”
Along with his already-established sophomore string, Pletcher has plenty to look forward to with recent 3-year-old maiden winners Saint Tapit and Capensis, who both sons of Tapit that posted eye-catching debut maiden wins this week at Belmont. Saint Tapit, out of 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, graduated over dirt last Sunday while Capensis was a sharp winner of Saturday's fifth race at Belmont, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight over the inner turf course.
Capensis, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Robert LaPenta, Gainseway Stable, Winchell Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Thoroughbreds, was a $2 million purchase at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Unbridled's Song mare Tara's Tango.
Capensis broke from post 4 under Jose Ortiz and rated in sixth-of-7 as Breakwater set the tempo over the firm turf. Ortiz swung Capensis three-wide through the turn and gave steady urging as his mount picked off his rivals and took the lead at the top of the stretch. He powered home under right-handed urging from Ortiz to post a five-length victory in a final time of 1:39.94.
Pletcher said Capensis' bullet breeze going a half-mile in :49.99 over Belmont's inner turf on June 24 showed his proficiency for the lawn.
“He really took to the turf when we breezed him on it, so we were expecting a good debut, but I thought that was very impressive,” Pletcher said. “He'll probably go to an allowance race next. He's kind of behind some of the other [sophomores], but hopefully he can make up ground quickly and make his way into a 3-year-old stake at some point.”
In addition to his successes in the Empire State yesterday, Pletcher was represented at Churchill Downs by Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) winner Americanrevolution, who finished a game second to Olympiad in the Stephen Foster about an hour after Charge It took the Dwyer.
Pletcher praised Americanrevolution for his improvement from a fourth-place finish in the Blame Stakes in his 4-year-old debut on June 4 at Churchill.
“He ran hard and kept trying to the wire and was second-best on the day,” said Pletcher. “But I think now with two races under his belt that he can make another move forward. He's carrying the New York banner.”
Pletcher said it is possible that Americanrevolution could have a rematch against Olympiad in the Whitney even if Life Is Good is also in the mix.
“I'll have to talk to the connections and see,” Pletcher said. “Life Is Good is pointing in that direction, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of running him also.”
Owned by CHC and WinStar Farm, Americanrevolution put together a stellar sophomore campaign last year with stakes wins at all four New York racetracks, capped by his Cigar Mile triumph over stablemate Following Sea in December at Aqueduct.
The post ‘That Was A Nice Day’: Life Is Good, Charge It, $2-Million Colt Capensis Anchor Pletcher’s Four-Win Day At Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
