Month: November 2022

Bal Mar Equine's Beverly D. (G1) winner Dalika will return to Churchill Downs and headline a contentious field of 10 fillies and mares entered in the $300,000 Cardinal Stakes (G3) on Thanksgiving Day at Churchill Downs.

The 47th running of the Cardinal will be run at 1 1/8 miles on turf and go as Race 11 of 12 at 4:22 p.m. (ET). First post is 11:30 a.m. The card also will feature the $500,000 Falls City (G3), which will go as Race 10 at 3:53 p.m.

Trained by Al Stall Jr., Dalika was the half-length winner in the Aug. 13 Beverly D., which was contested for the first time at Churchill Downs. The striking gray 5-year-old mare primarily trains at the Skylight Training Center, located about 40 minutes from Churchill Downs in Goshen, Ky.

Overall, Dalika, a German-bred daughter of Pastorius, has won nine of her 30 starts, including the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3) Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs, and tabbed $1,292,786 in purse earnings. Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. will be in the saddle for the Cardinal and break from post No. 5.

The competitive Cardinal field also includes Godolphin's homebred Adventuring, winner of the AGS Ladies Marathon Stakes (G3) Sept. 13 at Kentucky Downs and fourth in the E. P. Taylor (G1) Oct. 8 at Woodbine last time out. Grade 3- placed Lake Lucerne and Silverton Hill's multiple stakes winner Pass the Plate are also entered.

The complete field for the Cardinal from the rail out (with jockey, trainer): Pass the Plate (Joe Talamo, Paul McGee); Disappearing Act (Corey Lanerie, Carlos Santamaria); Perseverancia (Julien Leparoux, Cherie DeVaux); Lake Lucerne (Tyler Gaffalione, Brendan Walsh); Dalika (Hernandez, Stall); Adventuring (Joel Rosario, Brad Cox); Sunny One (Vince Cheminaud, Conor Murphy); Flippant (Rafael Bejarano, Vicki Oliver); Curly Ruth (Luis Saez, Eddie Kenneally); and Wave of Goodness (Mitchell Murrill, Armando Hernandez).

The post Beverly D. Winner Dalika Among Competitive Field Set For Cardinal At Churchill Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Rigney Racing's Played Hard, winner of the Locust Grove (G3), headlines a field of six fillies and mares entered in Thanksgiving Day's 107th running of the $500,000 Falls City (G3) at Churchill Downs.

The 1 1/8-mile Falls City has been run on Thanksgiving Day since 1987. This year's event will go as Race 10 of 12 with a post time of 3:53 p.m. (ET). First post is 11:30 a.m. and the card also features the $300,000 Cardinal Stakes (G3) in Race 11

Trained by Phil Bauer, Played Hard drew off to a 5 ¾-length victory in the Sept. 17 Locust Grove at Churchill Downs. In her next start, the improving 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief finished third to eventual Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Malathaat in the Juddmonte Spinster (G1) Oct. 9 at Keeneland. Overall, Played Hard sports a record of  4-5-2 from 13 career starts and has banked $672,870 in purse earnings.

The versatile filly has yet to finish off the board in her 2022 campaign with three wins, one second, and one third-place effort.

Played Hard will be ridden in the Locust Grove by Joel Rosario from post No. 4.

Chief among her competition for the Falls City is S.M.D. Ltd.'s multiple stakes-winning Pennsylvania-bred filly Leader of the Band.

Trained by John Servis and ridden by Luis Saez, Leader of the Band was victorious as a 3-year-old in the 2021 Monmouth Oaks (G3). Along with that score, Leader of the Band's résumé includes wins in the Summer Colony this summer at Saratoga and Lady's Secret this spring at Monmouth Park. In her mist recent start, the 4-year-old Bandbox filly finished second as the heavy 2-5 favorite to Love in the Air in the Plum Pretty at Parx Racing.

Leader of the Band drew the rail in the Falls City.

Other accomplished horses that entered the Falls City include Cypress Creek Equine's Grade 1-placed Ava's Grace, Kaleem Shah's three-time winning California invader Bellamore, Farfellow Farms' stakes winner Moon Swag, and Robert Zoellner's stakes winner She's All Wolfe.

The complete field for the Falls City from the rail out (with jockey,trainer): Leader of the Band (Saez, Servis); Bellamore (Martin Garcia, Simon Callaghan); Moon Swag (Tyler Gaffalione, Brendan Walsh); Played Hard (Rosario, Bauer); Ava's Grace (David Cohen, Ricky Courville); and She's All Wolfe (Joe Rocco Jr., Donnie K. Von Hemel).

The Falls City was first run in 1875 and was restricted to 3-year-olds. Camargo won the first running, which was a match race worth a purse of $1,125. The favorites have only won the Falls City twice in the last 10 years: Mylady Curlin (2019) and Afleeting Lady (2012).

The post Locust Grove Victress Played Hard Set For Return In Churchill Downs’ Falls City appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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With stable star Ova Charged showing the way and Spirited Beauty chasing her home in second, Brittlyn Stable's Star Guitar fillies filled out the exacta in the first running of the $75,000 Happy Ticket Stakes for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares on the opening-day Friday program at Fair Grounds.

“She ran to our expectations of just breezing today,” trainer Jose Camejo said of Ova Star. “We've been taking our time with her, giving her all summer. She went through a couple things and only worked her a couple times, and she showed off today that she is the best Louisiana-bred.”

Not racing since her win last March in the Page Cortez at Fair Grounds, Ova Charged proved she is still the top Louisiana-bred sprinter. The only fraction she didn't lead was the first as Drop Dead Sexy shot out to the front from the outside post, stopping the quarter-mile timer in :21.78 seconds.

Shuffled back after the break, Ova Charged's rider Jose Rodriguez waited for a lane then prompted her through, quickly making the lead at :45.28, and opening up in the homestretch. Following the entire way, stablemate Spirited Beauty cruised along in second through the stretch, showing energy and shrinking the final gap to two lengths. Snowball came late for third. Ova Charged cruised under the wire, stopping the clock at 1:11.04.

“I was thinking that if she was able to get in one race over the summer, we would enter her in the Breeders' Cup (Filly & Mare Sprint [G1]), but we decided to just let her be a horse,” Camejo said. “But that's something we are targeting for next year. Hopefully we keep her sound and she gets in.”

Ova Charged, who notched a fourth consecutive win, has a 6-1-0 record from seven career starts and $264,600 in earnings. The only stain on her near-perfect record is a runner-up finish to Souper Sensational in the 2021 Victory Ride Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park.

A homebred of Brittlyn Stable, Ova Charged was produced by the Dehere mare Charged Cotton. She returned $2.60.

The post ‘She Showed Today That She Is The Best Louisiana-Bred’: Speedster Ova Charged Tops Brittlyn Stable Exacta In Happy Ticket At Fair Grounds appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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