August, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Eleven Juveniles Set To Tussle In Sunday’s Best Pal Stakes

Del Mar's Best Pal Stakes – named after one of the best California-bred horses of all time – has annually shown itself to be a proving grounds for bigger and better things to come. This year's edition, which will happen Sunday as the featured attraction on a 10-race card, should be no different.

Eleven 2-year-old males – 10 of them colts, one a gelding – will run for a $200,000 prize in the Grade 3, six-furlong presentation that serves as a key prep for the track's foremost juvenile offering, the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity, which is scheduled for closing day, Sunday, Sept. 11.

None of the youngsters have been to the post more than twice, so getting a line on them has got to be difficult at best.

Morning line maker Jon White stepped out and stepped up to declare he sees two of them doing better than most – the Bob Baffert-trained colt Havnameltdown – who he hung at 9/5 – and the Simon Callaghan-conditioned colt Arman – listed at 5/2.

The former is owned by three of Baffert's clients of longstanding – Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. The owners and the Hall of Fame trainer have teamed up on dozens of really good horses in the past and, of course, they're hoping they've got another in the bay by the Lion Heart sire Uncaptured whom they paid $200,000 for at sale earlier this year. In his lone start July 24 at Del Mar, the Florida-bred went to the front and never looked back, winning by better than two lengths in fast time at five furlongs.

It's noteworthy that Baffert has won the Best Pal eight times, once with a Pegram-Watson-Whitman colt named Lookin At Lucky, who went on to be 2-year-old champion in 2009.

Arman is a son of Bolt d'Oro, who won the Del Mar Futurity in 2017. The bay colt, also a Florida-bred, cost $600,000 at sale earlier this year for owner Kaleem Shah, and made his debut at Churchill Downs on June 23 where he came running late to draw clear in a field of 10 juveniles at five panels. He's trained well since being brought to California and looms a solid factor in Sunday's dash.

Here's the complete lineup for the Best Pal from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

The Quarter Company's King Adrock (Edwin Maldonado up, 6-1)
Arman (Martin Garcia)
Peter O. Johnson's Fleet Feet (Umberto Rispoli, 15-1)
Calumet Farm's Jin Tong (Armando Ayuso, 20-1)
Muir Hut Stables' Agency (Tyler Baze, 8-1)
Royalty Stable or Castrellon's Pop d'Oro (Victor Espinoza, 20-1)
California Racing Partners, Ciaglia Racing or Pearson, et al's Man Child (Ramon Vazquez, 10-1)
Raymond Weijland's Quagmire Magic (Florent Geroux, 12-1)
Crossley, Preiss or Province's Mardukas (Joe Bravo, 20-1)
Havnameltdown (Juan Hernandez)
George Sharp's Kangaroo Court (Abel Cedillo, 6-1)

Kangaroo Court is the lone gelding in the field. He's by the Discreet Cat sire Dads Caps and is a California-bred. The chestnut showed good speed in his debut at Del Mar on July 23 and led until the very end when he fell behind by half a length to the promising juvenile The Big Wam.

King Adrock has run twice, both in Kentucky. The Uncaptured colt won his debut at Keeneland in April handily, then came back in the Kentucky Juvenile on May 5 at Churchill Downs with a troubled race that saw him finish far behind. The bay has been training smartly in California since for conditioner Luis Mendez.

The Best Pal will be the Race 9 on the Sunday card with a post time of approximately 6:10 p.m. First post on the afternoon will be the usual 2 p.m.

The post Eleven Juveniles Set To Tussle In Sunday’s Best Pal Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Nyquist Firster Strolls Home to Big Margin at Ellis Park

6th-Ellis, $60,000, Msw, 8-12, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:04.30, ft, 7 3/4 lengths.
STUD LOVIN (c, 2, Nyquist–Livin Lovin {GSW-USA, GSP-Can, $162,153}, by Birdstone) never gave his backers and connections a moment's doubt here, debuting with a stylish 7 3/4-length victory as the 5-2 second choice. Leading from the two path right from the jump, Stud Lovin came into the stretch off the back of a :46.09 half and cruised home from there. Meraj (Army Mule) out kicked a rival home for second. Last Cookie (Bernardini), Frosted's half-brother and 'Insights' runner, was slow into stride from the blocks, trailed early and came home seventh after floating six wide into the stretch. A $220,000 OBS June (:10 1/5) purchase this summer after selling for $160,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale, Stud Lovin is the most recent winner for his graded-stakes winning dam. Livin Lovin has a 2022 McKinzie filly and was bred to Game Winner for 2023. Sales history: $160,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL; $220,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $36,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart.
O-Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher, Angelo Carlesimo, Below The Rim Stables LLC and Gata Racing Stable LLC; B-David Soblick (KY); T-Michael J. Maker.

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Del Mar Summer: Sadler’s Life In The Fast Lane With Flightline

John Sadler has had some very good horses throughout his 45-year training career, going back to the speedy roan filly, Melair, who upset Preakness winner Snow Chief in the 1986 Silver Screen Handicap at Hollywood Park. He's saddled the winners of 44 Grade 1 races and his runners have earned in excess of $139 million. Champions Stellar Wind and Accelerate have called his shedrow home.

But none has generated the excitement surrounding the undefeated Flightline.

“I've never had one like this,” Sadler said. “A lot of horses in my career I've had to train them up. This one, we just drive him in the speed lane. He's got tremendous ability.”

A 4-year-old son of Tapit who because of a freak barn accident didn't begin his racing career until April of his sophomore season, Flightline has won his four starts by a combined 43 ½ lengths – all under jockey Flavien Prat. First came a maiden win at Santa Anita in April 2021 that he won by 13 ¼ lengths. That was followed in September by a 12 ¾-length allowance score. He ran away to an 11 ½-length win in the G1 Runhappy Malibu Dec. 26, then was a six-length winner of the G1 Hill'n' Dale Met Mile on Belmont Stakes day at Belmont Park June 11. His Beyer Speed Figures for those races were 105, 114, 118, and 112, respectively.

Next up is the G1 TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar going a mile and a quarter on Sept. 3. The San Diego county seaside track's premier race – which Sadler has won three of the last four years – will be Flightline's first try around two turns and what his trainer hopes will be a stepping-stone to the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic, to be run Nov. 5 at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Sadler won the 2018 Classic at Churchill Downs with Accelerate.

Flightline has been working steadily since July 9, with two half-mile drills followed by five furlongs from the gate in :59.40 on July 30 and a best-of-morning five furlongs in :59.00 on Aug. 6. He'll be on the track at 6:30 PT Saturday morning, Aug. 13, for his next breeze.

“The next two works are the distance works,” said Sadler. “He'll go six, out a mile on Saturday and then he'll work again next Saturday. Then he'll have one easy work before the Pacific Classic.

“The training has been centered on getting him to relax to go the big distance,” he continued. “Flavien was pretty adamant after the Met Mile. I didn't ask him, but he said, 'John, distance will be this horse's friend.' So it's just about getting him to relax. The one work we did from the gate we just wanted to get him to shut off and sit behind another horse a little bit. We don't want to work him in company too much because it can get him a little excited.”

Unlike his first three wins, Flightline had to overcome some obstacles in the Met Mile.

“He didn't break, he had trouble, and they were race riding him pretty good, which is their job,” said Sadler. “To overcome that so easily in his fourth start shows you how talented he is.”

Flightline was bred in Kentucky by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, which stayed in as a partner after West Point Thoroughbreds bought the colt for $1 million at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale on the recommendation of bloodstock agent David Ingordo. The other partners are Sadler's longtime client, Hronis Racing LLC, along with Siena Farm LLC, and Woodford Racing, the latter a partnership founded by Bill Farish Jr. of Lane's End, which consigned Flightline to the Saratoga sale.

Based on his eye-catching racing performances and a pedigree whose female family traces back to the Phipps Stable's blue-hen mare, Blitey, Flightline is worth $50 million or more as a stallion prospect, sources have estimated. Sadler said no decision has yet been made about whether Flightline will race in 2023 as a 5-year-old.

“A lot of people may presume, because of his value, that it's a done deal,” said Sadler. “Everybody I've talked to in the partnership said we'll evaluate it at the end of the year.”

Sadler indicated Lane's End, which stands several of his former trainees (Accelerate, Catalina Cruiser, Gift Box, and Twirling Candy), has the inside track for when Flightline does go to stud. He said offers from other stallion farms to buy Flightline have been “through the roof.”

Flightline “never hid his talent,” Sadler said, recalling a phone call he received from April Mayberry, who taught the colt his early lessons in Ocala, Fla. “She called the first time she breezed him and said, 'John, I got goosebumps.'”

Horses like Flightline can put considerable pressure on trainers, but Sadler calls it “a good kind of pressure, the kind that makes you want to get up early and get to the barn each morning.”

He describes Flightline as a horse that can be tough to gallop in the morning. “He's a handful to ride, but Juan Leyva, my assistant, rides him and does a beautiful job,” said Sadler.

Winning a fourth Pacific Classic in five years would be a remarkable accomplishment for Sadler, who ranks second all-time in Del Mar stakes victories and second by overall wins at the seaside track. Bob Baffert leads both categories. Sadler has won training titles at Del Mar, Santa Anita, and Hollywood Park. His first Del Mar stakes win came with Olympic Prospect in the 1988 Bing Crosby Handicap.

Sadler's previous Pacific Classic wins came with Accelerate in 2018, Higher Power in 2019, and Tripoli in 2021. Yet when asked about his recent success in the race, he lamented about the “one that got away,” when Twirling Candy lost by a head to Acclamation in the 2011 Pacific Classic.

If Sadler is feeling extra pressure from having a horse like Flightline in his barn, he isn't showing it.

“I'm in a good stage of my career,” said Sadler, who turned 66 years old on July 30. “I'm a veteran now, been through a lot of campaigns and think I'm well equipped to handle the pressure. My stock has gotten better as I've gotten older. I've got some high-powered 2-year-olds this year, some nice horses.”

And then there's Flightline.

“It will be fun to see what happens these next two races,” said Sadler. “Then we'll see about next year.”

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‘This Is What I Love To Do’: Andie Biancone Pulling Double Duty At Del Mar

Most people will recognize her from her work as a reporter and race analyst on TVG but if Andie Biancone has her way, more will soon get to know her as a trainer of winning race horses at Del Mar.

The 24-year-old daughter of accomplished horse trainer Patrick Biancone is overseeing a small string of her father's horses at Del Mar this summer. Small in numbers, big in names. It includes Diamond Oops, a 7-year-old multiple-graded stakes winner with earnings exceeding $1.4 million.

“He was a little disappointing in the Bing Crosby,” Andie says. “I think he was just a little tired after the traveling and the prep race. We'll probably have to switch him back to the turf which is kinder for him.”

Diamond Oops' resume includes wins in the 2019 G3 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park, the 2020 G2 Turf Sprint on Derby Day at Churchill Downs and the 2020 G2 Phoenix at Keeneland. But he hasn't been back to the winner's circle since June of last year.

Biancone tends to her horses in the morning, which generally requires a wake-up call before the sun rises. Then she shifts over to her reporter role in the afternoon. It's a tough schedule, one that fellow trainer, Ron Ellis, can empathize with. He did the same thing with TVG for several years until 2020.

“It's a little bit of grueling schedule because there's homework to do for the TV,” Ellis says. “You don't just go straight from working in the morning to the afternoon. It was a hectic schedule but I enjoyed it so it didn't seem like work.“

Andie feels the same way. She says while her long-term goal has always been to become a horse trainer, she hopes to continue doing both. Her father couldn't be more proud.

“My wife was a TV broadcaster for many years,” Biancone says, “and I'm a trainer. So she (Andie) took half and half of us. It's great and we're very happy with her.”

Like many out-of-town trainers, Andie Biancone is here in part because of the “Ship & Win” program that rewards trainers who bring horses from other states. Her job at TVG is another reason and then there's dad.

“My dad always likes to keep the old ball and chain on me,” she jokes. “But I wouldn't want it any other way; this is what I love to do.”

She also loves being at Del Mar.

“It's great here, the barns are awesome, the horses are happy, the track's very bouncy. Yeah, very happy to be here.”

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