Month: September 2022

After watching horses such as Sharing and Consumer Spending use the race as a path to the Breeders' Cup and become graded-stakes winners, trainer Jonathan Thomas is hoping the same will prove true for either or both of Dapper and Born Delight in Saturday's $150,000 Selima at Laurel Park.

The 93rd running of the Selima for 2-year-old fillies and 96th renewal of the $150,000 Laurel Futurity for 2-year-olds, both scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass, co-headline a 10-race program featuring five stakes worth $575,000 on opening weekend of the calendar year-ending fall meet.

Also on the card are the $100,000 Japan Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up going 1 ½ miles and a pair of dirt stakes, the $100,000 Twixt for fillies and mares 3 and older at about 1 1/16 miles and $75,000 Challedon for 3-year-olds and up which have not won an open sweepstakes sprinting seven furlongs.

First race post time is 12:40 p.m.

Sharing used a popular victory in the 2019 Selima as a springboard to a 13-1 upset of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) that fall. Two years later Consumer Spending won the Selima prior to a sixth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, where she was beaten less than two lengths, before going on to win two stakes this year including the Wonder Again (G2).

“There's no doubt that this race is a good stepping stone,” said Thomas, who trains both Delight and Born Dapper for Augustin Stable. “If you happen to be competitive in this race, the timing to the Breeders' Cup is very, very good. And when it's good, Laurel's turf course is as good as anywhere.”

Delight, by Mendelssohn, has raced three times having run third in each of her first two tries starting with a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight April 29 at Keeneland. She was given plenty of time before being stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for her Aug. 7 return at Saratoga, and was freshened again exiting a 2 ¼-length triumph Aug. 27 at Delaware Park.

“She's shown us that she's got some above average ability,” Thomas said. “I really like the timing from that maiden race to the Selima. We kind of went into that maiden with the thought process that if she were able to run well that it would set her up really well for a race like the Selima. Fortunately, she took care of business and she seems to have come out of it well.”

Delight found herself trailing all but one horse in the early stages of her debut before making a late run behind Love Reigns, who would go on to be fourth in the Queen Mary (G2) at Royal Ascot and win the Aug. 21 Bolton Landing at Saratoga. Unhurried but closer to the front in her second start, Delight pressed the pace last out until taking over at the top of the stretch and drawing away, sent away in both races as a favorite.

“When we ran her at Keeneland we ran her knowing that it was going to be too short for her. But, she was doing well and we thought we might as well go ahead and get her started. We were happy with her that day. She ran into a superstar,” Thomas said. “Then we thought she made a really good account of herself at Saratoga off a big break. We had a really wide trip all the way around there and we thought it was a really good effort.”

Thomas also entered Born Dapper, a homebred daughter of Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Union Rags that also exits a maiden special weight victory, hers coming by one length going a mile Aug. 13 at Monmouth Park. She was second in debut May 28 on the all-weather surface at Woodbine prior to running third over its turf course July 2, and was also involved in a 1 1/16-mile race July 24 at Saratoga that was ultimately declared a no contest following a tractor malfunction.

“She's just been a real solid filly,” Thomas said. “She's shown in her three starts and she's bred and has the look of a filly that will appreciate the stretch out. They both have been kind of preparing for this race together and, honestly, Born Dapper has been training every bit as good as Delight.

“She's been dead honest about everything,” he added. “She's a little slower on numbers than Delight but as far as how she's doing, and that's as important with these 2-year-olds as anything, she really seems to be thriving right now.”

Trainer Chad Brown will be chasing a third straight Selima win with Klaravich Stables, Inc.'s Private Credit, an Into Mischief filly that ran third in her Aug. 4 unveiling at Saratoga and came back with a front-running 4 ¼-length score going a mile Sept. 2 at Monmouth Park. Brown won the Selima with Consumer Spending and in 2020 with Fluffy Socks, who went on to win a pair of graded-stakes and place in two Grade 1 races in 2021.

Also supplemented into the Selima field was Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds' What an Honor, a homebred daughter of Honor Code trained by Mike Maker, who is keeping a string of 15 horses at Laurel this fall. What an Honor ran second in a pair of maiden special weights this summer at Ellis Park and most recently graduated by two lengths as the narrow favorite in a field of 12 Sept. 3 at Kentucky Downs, where Maker is the all-time leading trainer.

The Elkstone Group's Maryland homebred Lifelovenlaughter steps up to stakes company out of a three-quarter-length maiden special weight triumph Sept. 9 at Pimlico Race Course going the Selima distance. Trained by Michael Trombetta, she closed to be third in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight Aug. 16 at Colonial Downs.

“She surprised us a little bit about how well she ran last time. I think she even surprised Mike. He tells me she continues to train well and move forward,” Elkstone's Stuart Grant said. “We knew when he ran her the first time that short was not her thing and that she didn't have that kind of speed. But if you noticed that very first race, she closed about 10 lengths down the stretch, so we sort of smiled and said that wasn't bad.

“We were looking to stretch her out and when she went long on the turf, she flew. We're hoping to see her continue to step forward,” he added. “It was sort of a nice surprise. She was unproven going long … but we were really happy with what we saw. I guess we'll learn a little more each race.”

Most experienced in the Selima field is Gerald Brooks and Carl Hess Jr.'s Anotherdaygoneby, entered to make her eighth career start. The daughter of V.E. Day graduated in her sixth try, a 1 ¾-length maiden claiming victory sprinting 6 ½ furlongs on the main track at Timonium, and came back to be third in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance Sept. 15 over the all-weather surface at Presque Isle Downs.

Completing the field are Sept. 7 Jamestown runner-up Bee Mountain; Cha Cha Tap and Lady Azteca, both coming off maiden claiming victories going one mile on the turf at Colonial Downs; Laurel-based Majesty's Freedom, yet to run on grass after winning a five-furlong maiden special weight sprint July 8 at Laurel and running third in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance Sept. 2 at Delaware Park; and The Classy One, winner of a six-furlong maiden special weight against fellow New Jersey-breds on dirt Sept. 11 at Monmouth Park.

First run in 1926, the Selima is named for the great English race mare who was imported to the U.S. in the 1750s by Benjamin Tasker Jr., manager of the famed Belair Farm in Prince George's County. The daughter of the Godolphin Arabian, considered 'Queen of the Turf,' also gained fame as a broodmare.

The post Eleven Juvenile Fillies Entered In Laurel’s Selima; Winner Likely To Go On To Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Given his breeding, Yurie Pascarella, Carl Pascarella and Herringswell Racing Club II's Hendrickson arrived at the races this year with great expectations. A son of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist and grandson of Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Birdstone, he is out of the stakes-winning mare Thank You Marylou, named in honor of Marylou Whitney, the late horsewoman and philanthropist who campaigned Birdstone.

Hendrickson takes the association one step further. The 2-year-old chestnut colt is named for John Hendrickson, Marylou Whitney's widower who has maintained her philanthropy and continued to breed and race horses in her name following her death at age 93 in 2019.

“The name is cool,” said trainer and co-owner Graham Motion, who launched HRC in 2021 and had its first runners this year. “It would be nice if he turned out to be a good one with that name. I can't remember who, but somebody in our operation came up with it. I think [John] was quite happy to have it. It's in Marylou's honor. The last race really worked out well, and we're hoping he continues to go on and do well.”

Nearly six weeks after graduating in his second start, Hendrickson will make the step up into stakes company for the 96th running of the $150,000 Laurel Futurity Saturday at Laurel Park.

The Futurity for 2-year-olds and 93rd edition of the $150,000 Selima for 2-year-old fillies, both scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass, co-headline a 10-race program featuring five stakes worth $575,000 in purses on opening weekend of the calendar year-ending fall meet.

Also on the card are the $100,000 Japan Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up going 1 ½ miles and a pair of dirt stakes, the $100,000 Twixt for fillies and mares 3 and older at about 1 1/16 miles and $75,000 Challedon for 3-year-olds and up which have not won an open sweepstakes sprinting seven furlongs.

First race post time is 12:40 p.m.

Hendrickson returns to the turf after breaking his maiden by 2 ½ lengths going a mile on the all-weather surface Aug. 22 at Presque Isle Downs. Each of the next two horses behind him, Dawgmentality and Deceitful, came back to win their next start.

The effort was a marked improvement from his debut, when Hendrickson got outrun early and finished last of eight in a July 15 maiden special weight sprinting five furlongs on the Monmouth Park turf.

“I thought he was really professional the night he won,” Motion said. “I think numbers-wise he actually ran the best numbers of all the maidens I won with that week although it was at Presque Isle, and the horse he beat came back and won. I couldn't believe how poorly he ran the first time out because I always thought he was better than that. He's had a very smooth couple of weeks since then.”

HRC II purchased Hendrickson for $150,000 as a 2-year-old in training in March after he fetched $70,000 as a Keeneland yearling last September. He has done most of his work at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., where Motion is headquartered.

“He was one that we picked out at OBS for our partnership, which is kind of a new venture for us. He really didn't miss a beat since the sale. He was probably one of the first 2-year-olds that I had ready to run,” Motion said. “At that sale they breeze on the synthetic, so [turf] is always in the back of your mind. I just thought he handled the synthetic here better than the dirt, which kind of leans toward grass.”

Motion also entered Wertheimer and Frere's Dataman, a homebred son of Tapit that ran fifth in debut sprinting 5 ½ furlongs over the Saratoga turf July 22 before coming back to graduate by 1 ¼ lengths Aug. 22 going a mile on the grass at Colonial Downs.

“He's a little less straightforward in the morning, but otherwise has done well,” Motion said. “He won last time very nicely. I thought Saratoga was a little quick for him. He's a little tricky in the morning being by Tapit. I think this was the logical spot for both horses.”

Also coming off an impressive maiden triumph is Maram homebred Dandy Handyman, a gelded son of 2016 Wood Memorial (G1) winner Outwork that came flying from far back to win at first asking going a mile Sept. 7 at Colonial Downs. Trailing by as many as 11 lengths after a half-mile, he got up in the final jump to beat heavily favored Take Me to Jimmy at odds of 22-1.

“I'm not going to sit here and tell you I thought he was going to win. I was surprised, but I've always liked him,” trainer Keri Brion said. “He's taken some time to come around and obviously he didn't run until this last start. He's always done everything just very easily and unassuming here at home. He'll outwork a good horse but is just very classy and does his job. He's not very flashy or anything.

“We knew he'd run well. I have a few horses for Sol Kumin, who actually is a partner in the horse that he beat,” she added. “He actually had said after the race how much they liked that horse. I hope he beat quite a good horse. I was not expecting to probably win. He paid crazy money. I was just hoping that he'd give a good show of himself, and he did that.”

Like Motion, Brion is based at Fair Hill where Dandy Handyman breezed five furlongs in 1:01 over the all-weather surface Tuesday, fifth-fastest of 13 horses. Though also nominated to Sunday's Pilgrim (G2) at Aqueduct, Brion preferred the Futurity.

“He's great. He ran a huge number when he won. He belongs in New York, as well, but I kind of just want to get him to evolve as a racehorse the best I can, so I think the next logical spot is the race on Saturday,” she said. “I wouldn't mind running him back at a flat mile, but I knew anything longer was going to suit him even more. He'll appreciate the distance.”

KEM Racing Stable's Quincy Cafe will be trying turf for the first time after three maiden special weight sprints on dirt for trainer Lacey Gaudet. The Mendelssohn colt ran third in each of his first two races, the second over a sloppy track, and was beaten a nose going seven furlongs last out July 31, but placed first following the disqualification of Alottacents for interference.

“He needs to go longer and we would like to try him on the turf now before turf season is over to see if he is any better on it,” Gaudet said. “I think he's coming along and learning more. He's just a typical 2-year-old colt. Sometimes he doesn't have his mind on business. The further he goes I think the better he'll get, to an extent.”

Respect the Valleys, Karmac Stable and Designated Hitters Racing's Roan Burgundy is entered two weeks following a professional 1 ¾-length debut victory going six furlongs Sept. 16 on the main track at historic Pimlico Race Course. By multiple Grade 1-winning dirt sprinter The Factor, he fetched $70,000 as a 2-year-old in training in May.

“He ran so big the other day. He's still such a big kid. He still really doesn't know what he's doing, this horse. I think racing can only help him,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “It's worth a shot to look, anyway.”

Free Soul, third in the 1 1/16-mile Kitten's Joy on the Colonial Downs turf Sept. 6; Otago, a 4 ½-length winner going the distance in an off-the-turf maiden special weight Sept. 11 at Pimlico; Congruent, an Aug. 13 maiden special weight winner at Gulfstream Park; and maiden Fire Baron round out the field. Freedom Road, Fun Lovin Criminal, Splendor Beauty and We Don't Need Roads are entered for main track only.

The Futurity has a rich history dating back to 1921 inaugural winner Morvich, who would go on to win the 1922 Kentucky Derby. The Futurity has also been won by Triple Crown champions Affirmed, Citation and Secretariat along with Barbaro, In Reality, Honest Pleasure, Quadrangle, Riva Ridge, Spectacular Bid and Tapit.

The post Hendrickson Carries Family Legacy Into $150,000 Laurel Futurity appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike is back at Churchill Downs and trainer Eric Reed is hoping his prized colt will notch a third-career victory beneath the historic Twin Spires in Saturday's $500,000 Lukas Classic (Grade 2).

“Every time he comes to Churchill he's ready for game time,” said Reed, who regularly ships the Kentucky Derby winner 85 miles west from his home base at the Mercury Equine Center in Lexington, Ky. to Churchill Downs. “It seems like every time we've run him things are always difficult. In the Derby, which is a hard enough race itself, he had to break from the far outside post. Now, we're in the Lukas Classic and there are some really top, hard-knocking older horses in the field. I just feel like he dropped out of college a year early and now is going to the NFL and he's (playing the part of) Tom Brady who's not playing a team like the Falcons. He's going to find out what it's all about and I do think he's up for it. He's going to show up and run really good. If he runs really good that will give us a lot more options. I don't think he'll disappoint at all.”

Rich Strike will become only the second horse in this year's Derby field to face older horses and the first to do so in a stakes event. Happy Jack, who finished 14th in the Derby, was third in an allowance event in late July at Ellis Park.

A victory by RED-TR Racing's Rich Strike in the Lukas Classic would make him the first Kentucky Derby winner to return to Churchill Downs and win since Silver Charm. The 1997 Derby winner took the 1998 Clark Handicap (G2) beneath the Twin Spires after runner-up finishes to Awesome Again in that year's renewals of both the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).

“(Owner) Rick (Dawson) has always been like me and we do whatever is best for this horse. We're not about the fame or glory or money – we just want to do what's best for him,” Reed said. “That makes my job really easy. There's been times after the Derby we've been recruited to different races or had pressure from the media and even friends to run in different spots. I think Rick has handled it tremendously well for an owner who's never been in this type of situation. He calls me and asks, 'Do you think this could work for the horse?' And we both decide together. Rick is a big part of why this horse is where he is.”

Rich Strike will be reunited with his regular rider Sonny Leon in the Lukas Classic and break from post No. 4 at odds of 6-1.

The Kentucky Derby winner will school in the Churchill Downs paddock Thursday evening during the races. He'll walkover with the horses for Race 2 and be in the paddock from approximately 5:10-5:30 p.m.

The 8-5 morning line favorite in the Lukas Classic is Hot Rod Charlie. Campaigned by Roadrunner Racing (Greg Helm), Boat Racing (Patrick O'Neill), William Strass and Gainesway Thoroughbreds (Anthony Beck) and trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie has earned a stout $5,251,200 with four victories from 17 starts. The 4-year-old son of Oxbow finished third behind Life is Good and Happy Saver in the $1 million Whitney (G1). Previously, Hot Rod Charlie finished second by 1 ¾ lengths to Country Grammer in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1).

As a 3-year-old, Hot Rod Charlie was one of the country's top sophomores. He finished second in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) and won the Pennsylvania Derby (G1). In the Breeders' Cup Classic, Hot Rod Charlie was defeated just 4 ½ lengths by last year's Lukas Classic winner Knicks Go. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione has the call in the Lukas Classic and will break from post 5.

Named in honor of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, the 1 1/8-mile Lukas Classic will go as Race 10 of 11 with a post time of 5:26 p.m. (all times Eastern). The Lukas Classic co-headlines Saturday's program along with the $300,000 Ack Ack (G3), a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In Dirt Mile Division” race that will go as Race 9 at 4:55 p.m. The first race of the day is 12:45 p.m.

Overall, the six entrants in this year's Lukas Classic have amassed 30 wins with combined purse earnings of more than $12.4 million. The race annually serves as a steppingstone to the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) to be held this year Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

Here is the complete field for the Lukas Classic from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

1. King Fury (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek, 15-1);
2. Art Collector (Luis Saez, Bill Mott, 2-1);
3. Happy Saver (John Velazquez, Todd Pletcher, 5-2);
4. Rich Strike (Leon, Reed, 6-1);
5. Hot Rod Charlie (Gaffalione, O'Neill, 8-5); and
6. Chess Chief (Rey Gutierrez, Dallas Stewart, 20-1).

The post ‘I Don’t Think He’ll Disappoint’: Reed Bullish On Rich Strike’s Chances In Lukas Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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