August, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Going Global To Face Six Rivals In Del Mar’s Yellow Ribbon

The top 3-year old filly on the grounds at Del Mar's 2021 summer meet returns to the seaside oval Saturday when she faces six rivals in the G2 Yellow Ribbon on Saturday.

Last year, Going Global finished second to Madone in the G2 San Clemente before running off with a popular win in the G1 Del Mar Oaks and earning end of the meet honors. The Irish-bred daughter of Mehmas, out of the Invasor mare, Wrood, is owned by a partnership headed by Michael Dubb and, according to trainer Phil D'Amato, doing very well leading up to the race.

“She likes Del Mar,” D'Amato said. “She's been training very well here on the turf course and I'm excited to run her.”

Going Global has run twice this year, winning the G2 Royal Heroine at Santa Anita in her 4-year old debut in April then finishing third behind Ocean Road and new stablemate Going to Vegas in the G1 Gamely on Memorial Day.

“She was in tight in certain spots and I think it compromised her chance late,” D'Amato says of her race in the Gamely. “She still had free run at them but was in between horses. She fought valiantly but it wasn't her day.”

Flavien Prat rode Going Global in the Gamely but trainer Phil D'Amato will stick with his hot hand in the Yellow Ribbon, jockey Umberto Rispoli.

“Prat's done nothing wrong on her,” D'Amato notes. “The only reason he's not back up is that he's at Saratoga. Umberto has won on her and he knows her well enough and Umberto and I are doing real well here so far.”

Rispoli was on D'Amato's pair of stakes winners earlier in the summer meet, Balnikhov in the Oceanside on opening day and Bellabel in the G2 San Clemente.

Last year, Going Global skipped the Breeders' Cup, the connections choosing instead to run her in the G2 Goldikova at Del Mar on the Breeders' Cup undercard. It proved a wise choice as she won handily. They brought her back for the G1 American Oaks on Santa Anita's opening day but she ran sixth.

“We'll take it race by race,” D'Amato says. “That's (the Breeders' Cup) probably our goal at the end of the year but she's gotta get us there and earn her way into the race.”

Hronis Racing's Park Avenue is back from Texas to contend in the Yellow Ribbon. The daughter of Quality Road won the Ouija Board Distaff at Lone Star Park at the end of May. This will be her first race since returning to California.

The horse Park Avenue beat that day, Benowitz Family Trust et al's Avenue de France, is also entered in the Yellow Ribbon. She's already won at the summer meet, capturing the $100,000 Osunitas opening weekend and encouraging trainer Leonard Powell to take the step up. She'll be ridden by leading jockey Juan Hernandez.

Shipping in for the Yellow Ribbon will be G. Watts Humphrey Jr's Flippant, winner of the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff at Horseshoe Indiana last month.

The Yellow Ribbon, a longtime staple of Southern California stakes racing dating back to 1976, will be run as the sixth race on the 10-race Saturday card at Del Mar.

The field from the rail with jockeys:

Avenue de France (Hernandez)
Going Global (Rispoli)
Javanica (Drayden Van Dyke)
Rocking Redhead (Hector Berrios)
Park Avenue (Victor Espinoza)
Burgoo Alley (Ramon Vasquez)
Flippant (Joe Bravo)

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Maple Leaf Mel A Sentimental Debut Winner For Englehart

When two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells was mulling over names for a 2-year-old New York-bred Cross Traffic filly that he had just purchased for $150,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in May, he suggested to trainer Jeremiah Englehart that the filly be named for his longtime assistant Melanie Giddings. Three months later, Maple Leaf Mel, named for Giddings' Canadian roots, graduated on debut in Race 6, a six-furlong maiden special weight for state-bred fillies, on Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course.

“Mel and I have been together a long time up here and in Florida,” said Englehart. “When we bought [the filly], on the drive back Coach said, 'What if we named her after Mel?' And he came up with Maple Leaf Mel. When he mentioned it, it just sounded right. Mel is such a big part of our operation here and I thought it was a pretty good way to honor her. I'm so glad she ran the way she did.”

Ridden to victory by Joel Rosario, Maple Leaf Mel was sent to the lead from post 7 and opened up a two-length lead on her nine rivals through the first quarter-mile. She continued to lead throughout, opening her margins at the top of the lane and crossing the wire five-lengths the best in a final time of 1:11.48. The sharp score garnered an 81 Beyer Speed Figure.

“It seemed like she came out well,” said Englehart. “We're really happy with the way she ran and we were kind of hoping that's what she would do. She was one that always kind of gave off an impression that she likes to race.”

Bred in the Empire State by Joe Fafone, Maple Leaf Mel is out of the City Place mare City Gift, and is a half-sister to stakes-placed New York-bred Eddie's Gift.

Englehart said the filly mirrors her namesake's strong work ethic and professionalism.

“With Mel, you know where you stand,” said Englehart. “What she puts into it, she expects it from the team. She's my safety blanket.”

Giddings said it is both an honor and a relief to see Maple Leaf Mel give such a strong performance.

“It's definitely different,” Giddings said, with a laugh. “Coach picked her out himself and I've known him for a few years. I don't know if he named her after me because I kept telling him how much I love her. It means a lot.”

As for what's next for Maple Leaf Mel, Englehart said she may be pointed to the $200,000 Seeking the Ante on August 26 at the Spa for juvenile state-bred fillies sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs.

“We want to make sure she came out of the race OK, and I might look to the New York-bred race back in 16 days,” Englehart said. “I'll give her a nice little easy work nine days from now and see how she comes out of it and maybe plan for that race.”

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Summer Breezes: Aug. 12, 2022

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attracts its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. Already this year at Saratoga, City Man (Mucho Macho Man), Mo Strike (Uncle Mo) and Empress Tigress (Classic Empire)–each a graduate of the 2-year-old sales–have already struck at stakes level, while the likes of juvenile purchases and 'TDN Rising Stars' Taiba (Gun Runner), We The People (Constitution) and Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) have also left their mark on graded/group competition this season. To follow are the horses entered for Friday:

Friday, August 12, 2022
Saratoga 1, 1:05 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price, Breeze
Nice 'n Spicy (Sharp Azteca), FTMMAY, $75,000, see below
C-Top Line Sales LLC, agent; B-Three Diamonds Farm LLC
Three Unions (Unified), FTMMAY, $65,000, click
C-Sequel B'stock, agent; B-Clear Stars Stable & Mitre Box Stable

Ellis 5, 3:42 p.m. ET
Traffic Master (Cross Traffic), OBSAPR, $200,000, click
C-Eddie Woods, agent; B-Fawn Leap

Ellis 6, 4:10 p.m ET
Barry's Music (Maclean's Music), FTMMAY, $65,000, click
C-Kings Equine, agent; B-Chris Davis, agent
Hardy Choice (Hard Spun), OBSAPR, $160,000, click
C-Parrish Farms, agent; B-Jim & Susan Hill
Stud Lovin (Nyquist), OBSJUN, $220,000, click
C-Top Line Sales LLC, agent; B-Mike Maker

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Queen’s Plate Breeder Profile: Hall Of Dreams’ Plate Bid A Hands-On Project For Guerrieri

Joe Guerrieri has dabbled in a bit of everything in the horse racing business. He has a band of broodmares, stands a stallion in Ontario, and is an active owner. So, it is fitting that Queen's Plate entrant Hall of Dreams, bred by Joey Gee Thoroughbreds, features connections from all three areas.

A retired business owner in the software field, Guerrieri became involved in horse racing several years ago when he sold off his businesses and entered the industry as a mixture of a hobby and work.

He started by claiming a few horses and enjoyed being an owner so much that he wanted to try his hand at breeding.

“I enjoy the analysis of breeding and racing. I enjoy the analytics of it,” said Guerrieri. “I try and apply logic to whatever I do. It's something I can have control over, and either succeed or fail based on my ability.”

As of July 31, Joey Gee Thoroughbreds is second on Ontario Racing's Thoroughbred Improvement Program Breeders Awards Leaderboard, with $106,645 in rewards. This is because Guerrieri focusses solely on supporting the Ontario breeding industry and racing at Woodbine Racetrack.

“I understood the Ontario Sired program, and the Ontario Bred program, so I thought if I was going to be in the community, I want to support it,” said Guerrieri. “The breeders rewards are a big help. They are dividends on (breedings) you did three years ago. When you think of a breeding program with 25 horses a year, and you get to the fourth year, that is where the revenue starts coming back.”

Notable horses that Joey Gee Thoroughbreds have bred or owned include Speedy Soul, Line of Vision, Hampstead Heath, and Warp Ride. Speedy Soul is a homebred filly by Ontario Sire Souper Speedy. She won the Bison City Stakes, was third in the Woodbine Oaks, and earned $369,249 in her racing career.

Hall of Dreams' story began when Guerrieri wanted to stand a stallion in Ontario, after getting started in the broodmare business. He purchased a stallion prospect, Seattle Serenade, and a 'pile' of mares to breed back to him in his first year at stud, in 2019.

One of those mares was Hallnor, a lightly raced Ontario bred who was in-foal to Lemon Drop Kid. That foal was Hall of Dreams. After racing Hall of Dreams as a 2-year-old, Guerrieri sold him to his current owners Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Peter Deutsch, and Leonard Schleifer.

Guerrieri had a relationship with Barber and Watchel Stable's Adam Watchel, because he had been ownership partners with them on Channel Maker, a Breeders Stakes winner, five-time Breeders' Cup participant, and one of the highest earning Ontario Breds of all-time.

Hall of Dreams enters the first jewel of Canada's Triple Crown off a second-place finish in the Plate Trial, where he showed a strong closing kick, moving from seventh at the half-mile to finish a game second. As the field stretches out to the classic distance of 10 furlongs, he will be one to watch in the stretch drive.

“It's very exciting, and it would be fantastic if he could win it,” said Guerrieri. “But for me it's not just the Queen's Plate, its where does he stand in his breeding year as an Ontario Bred. The Queen's Plate is nice, but it's only one ingredient in the fulfillment. Winning Queen's Plate would be a milestone I someday hope to achieve. That's everybody's wish. I wouldn't call it a dream; I would call it a hope.”

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