August, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jack Christopher Back To His Best In H. Allen Jerkens Memorial

Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud, and Peter Brant's Jack Christopher tracked the pace from second early, then moved to the lead nearing the stretch and captured his third win at the elite level in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) Saturday at Saratoga.

The 3-year-old Munnings colt suffered his first loss last time out when third in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell Invitational (G1) on July 23 at Monmouth Park but returned with aplomb Saturday when cutting back to seven furlongs.

Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Jack Christopher won by 1 1/4 lengths and finished the distance in 1:21.15 on a fast track.

Gunite, off the pace early, went five wide in early stretch and was up for second; Runninsonofagun, off at 41-1 odds, was third, 2 3/4 lengths back. Conagher faded to fourth in the field of eight.

Jack Christopher rated in second behind Conagher through the early stages as that rival set quick fractions of :22.18 for the first quarter and : 44.53 for a half mile. He willingly responded when called on by Ortiz, took charge nearing the quarter pole, and sprinted clear through the stretch.

Jack Christopher returned $3.10 as the favorite.

After closing last year with a win in the Champagne (G1) at Belmont, Jack Christopher began the year with a 3 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on the May 7 Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs before delivering his best performance yet in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on June 11 at Belmont Park. The Haskell was his first loss, but he was back to his best Saturday. He has lifetime earnings of $1,216,400.

Bred in Kentucky by Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate, Jack Christopher is out of the Half Ours mare Rushin no Blushin.

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It’s ‘Jack’ on the Cutback in Jerkens

While he lost nothing in defeat when trying two turns for the first time in the GI Haskell Invitational S. the Jack Christopher (Munnings) everyone is accustom to was back at Saratoga, charging home a decisive winner of the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S.

Hammered down to 1-2 favoritism getting back around one turn, the flashy chestnut tracked Conagher (Jimmy Creed) from second through a :22.18 first quarter. Drawing alongside as the half went in :44.53, Jack Christopher skipped to the front when Jose Ortiz shook the reins at him and strode clear to win by X over last year's GI Hopeful S. winner Gunite (Gun Runner).

“Exiting the Haskell, that was going to be our plan if he didn't win and cut him back to this prestigious race here,” winning trainer Chad Brown said. “I'm just so proud of the horse. He's been a very consistent horse. He's never disappointed us in a workout or a race. Jose [Ortiz] rode another fantastic race on him. He broke sharp and used good judgment to rate him just a touch. Every pole, he was in control of the race. I'm so proud of both Jose and the horse.”

“Four weeks [rest] and he ran huge,” said winning pilot Jose Ortiz. “He gave me everything he had and a very good race. Honestly, though he was a little offbeat down the backside but at the three-eighths pole he picked up little by little and I knew when I got next to the one-horse [Conagher], I knew I got him. From then on he just kept going the same pace. I knew if he didn't stop, he was going to run them off their feet because he was running the whole way. Seven [furlongs] is a tricky distance. I'd rather go a mile but seven-eighths is tricky. The pace is a little bit faster and you have to run the whole way there and he did.”

Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' off an ultra-impressive debut romp at this oval exactly 364 days ago, Jack Christopher followed suit with a good-looking score in Belmont's GI Champagne S. in October. The early favorite going into the Breeders' Cup, he was a late scratch by the Del Mar vets with a minor left shin issue. The $135,000 FTKOCT buy reemerged on the First Saturday in May with a facile victory in the GII Pat Day Mile and blew away the field with a 10-length demolition of Belmont's GI Wood Stephens S. June 11. Stretched to a route for the first time at Monmouth in the Haskell July 23, he gave a valiant effort and ultimately finished third.

Pedigree Notes:

Jack Christopher is one of five Grade I winners for Coolmore's Munnings. His dam is also represented by an

unnamed Mo Town 2-year-old filly and a Complexity filly of this year. She was bred back to Munnings. Rushin No Blushin, a maiden of eight career starts, was claimed for $50,000 out of her career finale by owner/trainer Neil Pessin at Keeneland in 2013. The half-sister to MGISW and useful sire Street Boss (Street Cry (Ire)) subsequently brought $70,000 from Castleton Lyons, in foal to Congrats, at the 2014 KEENOV sale.

Saturday, Saratoga
ALLEN JERKENS MEMORIAL S.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-27, 3yo, 7f, 1:21.15, ft.
1–JACK CHRISTOPHER, 124, c, 3, by Munnings
1st Dam: Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours
2nd Dam: Blushing Ogygian, by Ogygian
3rd Dam: Fruhlingshochzeit, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
($145,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $135,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT).
O-Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter M.
Brant; B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $275,000. 'TDN Rising Star' Lifetime
Record: 6-5-0-1, $1,216,400. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Gunite, 122, c, 3, Gun Runner–Simple Surprise, by Cowboy
Cal. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $100,000.
3–Runninsonofagun, 119, g, 3, Gun Runner–Golden Artemis,
by Malibu Moon. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($16,000 2yo '21
KEEJAN). O-The Estate of Scott Zimmerman; B-Dattt Farm
LLC (KY); T-John T. Toscano, Jr. $60,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 2 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.55, 7.00, 41.00.
Also Ran: Conagher, Accretive, Happy Jack, Totalizer, Actuator. Scratched: Howling Time.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Flightline Puts in Final Work Ahead of Pac Classic

Unbeaten sensation Flightline (Tapit) set fractions of :12.80, :24.60, :36.40, and stopped the clock at :59.60 for the five furlongs in his final work at Del Mar Saturday ahead of next week's GI TVG Pacific Classic.

“Last work today, it was very nice,” trainer John Sadler said afterward. “The idea today was not go very hard a week out. So what we try to do is just maintain his rhythm, keep him in the same place he's been in. We were thrilled. He did a minute effortlessly and he's essentially ready.”

He continued, “That's what's so exciting. You look at the works and think Oh, he's working fast,' but in reality he's well within himself.”

Country Grammar (Tonalist), who is being pointed to the TVG Pacific Classic, also put in his final work Saturday morning, going five furlongs in 1:00.

“I like the way he went,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “He went nice for him. He's not going to really light it up in the morning but he runs in the afternoon.”

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‘He’s Well Within Himself’: Flightline Breezes In Final Drill For Pacific Classic

The horse everyone will be watching and quite possibly betting next Saturday put in another eye-catching work Saturday morning at Del Mar, not so much for the speed at which he glided around the track, but at how effortless it appeared.

Flightline set fractions of :12.80, :24.60, :36.40, and stopped the clock at :59.60 for the five furlongs. Not bad for a work that trainer John Sadler termed “soft.”

“Last work today, it was very nice,” Sadler said afterward. “The idea today was not go very hard a week out. So what we try to do is just maintain his rhythm, keep him in the same place he's been in. We were thrilled. He did a minute effortlessly and he's essentially ready.”

His time was the fifth best of 73 other five-furlong works Saturday morning, which bodes the question, if today was 'soft' what's going to happen when he's really asked to run?

“That's what's so exciting,” Sadler said. “You look at the works and think 'Oh, he's working fast,' but in reality he's well within himself.”

Flightline's stablemate, Heywoods Beach, will not run in the Pacific Classic. Sadler nominated last month's Cougar II (G3) winner for the race, but is opting instead to run him in the Del Mar Handicap (G2) on the Pacific Classic undercard.

Country Grammer, who is being pointed to the Pacific Classic, also put in his final work Saturday morning, going five furlongs in 1:00.

“I like the way he went,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “He went nice for him. He's not going to really light it up in the morning but he runs in the afternoon.”

Baffert also said Taiba, a surprise nomination for the Pacific Classic, will probably not go in the race.

“This time of year you just nominate them everywhere to give you options,” Baffert says. “I nominated him just in case. Things happen and you never say never but the complexion of the race would have to change.”

Taiba, the Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner, is also nominated for the Shared Belief on the Pacific Classic undercard.

Among other TVG Pacific Classic nominees who worked Saturday was Express Train from the John Shirreffs barn. The Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner worked six furlongs in 1:12.80. Additionally, trainer Richard Mandella worked Extra Hope six furlongs in a bullet 1:12.00 and Ed Moger sent out Stilleto Boy on a five-furlong work in 1:00

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