Welcome to 2023 Kentucky Derby Prospect Snapshots, where we’ll take a look each week at a recent winner on the Triple Crown trail, usually from the Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule from which the racehorses earn points toward qualifying. The 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve will be held May 6, 2023, at Churchill Downs.
Month: November 2022
Surgery, Infection, Laminitis: Jesus’ Team Will Make His Unlikely Return To Racing Saturday At Gulfstream
Jesus's Team has made more than a million dollars the hard way, outgrowing his claiming roots to knock heads with the best horses in training and more than holding his own.
The 5-year-old son of Tapiture will make his unlikely and long-awaited return to action Saturday at Gulfstream Park after a 15-month absence, having called upon the deep reserve of the grit and resilience that had fueled his racing career to overcome serious physical obstacles.
The multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed campaigner will start his comeback in a stakes-quality optional claiming allowance at a mile in Gulfstream's Race 10.
“I'm very happy run him again after all the problems that he had. It's been a long, long trip for him,” trainer Jose D'Angelo said. “He's a warrior. I'm very happy with the way he's training. I always said, 'If he's training good, we'll go forward.'”
After undergoing surgery to repair a small chip in his left front ankle following a subpar showing in the Alydar Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 6, 2021, Jesus' Team was afflicted with a nasty case of Salmonella, a bacterial infection from which he recovered, only to subsequently develop laminitis in his two front feet. Through expert care at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., the overachieving Kentucky-bred returned to good health, but his racing career clearly remained in jeopardy.
D'Angelo was just happy that Jesus' Team had survived such an ordeal when he sent him to trainer Kenny McPeek's Magdalena Farm in Lexington, Ky. to convalesce. After regularly shuttling between South Florida and Magdalena to check up on his prized stable star, D'Angelo brought Jesus' Team back to his base at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, Jan. 29 to resume light training. After impressing his trainer, he was put back into more serious training and continued to flourish during the series of seven workouts leading up to Saturday's return.
Jesus' Team broke his maiden at Gulfstream for a $30,000 claiming tag on March 18, 2020, before being transferred to D'Angelo, for whom he scored at first asking in a $25,000 claiming race. Two starts later, Jesus's Team finished a solid fourth behind Authentic, who would go on to be named 2020 Horse of the Year, in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth. The D'Angelo trainee would go on to finish third in the Jim Dandy (G2) and third in the Preakness (G1) before outrunning his 62-1 odds to finish a late-rallying second behind Knicks Go in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). After tuning up with a victory in the Claiming Crown Jewel, Jesus's Team would once again finish second behind Knicks Go in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream.
“For me, this horse means everything. He put me on the map in this country. He let me show my ability as a trainer. He brought me to all the big races and always gave all of his heart in each race,” said D'Angelo, who was the leading trainer in Venezuela before venturing to the U.S. in 2019. “I owe a lot to him.”
Jesus' Team finished sixth in the $12 million Dubai World Cup Invitational (G1) and finished off-the-board in two subsequent starts before being sidelined and winning his health battles against long odds.
Jesus' Team will break from the rail post position while making his first start for Sonata Stable in the one-turn mile race, which attracted Super Corinto, an Argentine-bred son of Super Saver who will be making his first U.S. start after capturing the Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile (G1) in his most recent start; Noble Drama, an enduring multiple-stakes winner; as well as stakes winners Sole Volante, Wind of Change and Clapton.
Although Jesus' Team will have to contend with a strong field, an inside post, and a return from a 15-month layoff, D'Angelo is just happy to have him back at peak health and at the races.
“I think the post position 'one' is not good for his first race off the layoff. He doesn't need the lead. He comes from behind, so we'll hope for a good start and let him run,” D'Angelo said.
Miguel Vasquez, fresh off his riding title for the spring and summer's Royal Palm Meet at Gulfstream, is named to ride Jesus' Team for the first time.
The post Surgery, Infection, Laminitis: Jesus’ Team Will Make His Unlikely Return To Racing Saturday At Gulfstream appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘I Like The Competition’: Juan Hernandez Eyes Third Straight Jockey Title At Del Mar
Juan Hernandez returns to Del Mar this week in search of a hat trick. Should he capture the riding title at the Bing Crosby meet it would be his third consecutive riding title at the seaside track. He ran away with the jockey's race this past summer and captured his first local riding title last fall.
Hernandez also won the Santa Anita winter/spring meet title earlier this year and was in the mix until the final day of Santa Anita's fall meet so he's been riding a hot streak for the past 12 months and brings plenty of momentum into the Bing Crosby meet, which begins its ninth season this Friday.
“I'm really happy,” Hernandez says. “My agent and I have got some really good horses to ride in the past couple meets. Just working hard that's the key to winning. Checking the barns and the trainers, see if they need any help. They may not need help in the morning but sometimes they will give you a mount in the afternoon.”
Similar to the Del Mar summer meet, Hernandez will have a new influx of top jockeys to deal with this fall. Flavien Prat and John Velasquez have both said they plan to ride during the Bing Crosby meet. That is in addition to the usual top riders returning to Del Mar: Umberto Rispoli, Abel Cedillo, Santa Anita fall meet riding champion Ramon Vasquez, Hector Berrios, and a resurgent Edwin Maldonado. Not to mention Mike Smith, Joe Bravo, Victor Espinoza, Mario Gutierrez and Kyle Frey.
“I don't mind,” Hernandez says. “I like the competition. I like to ride with those guys because you can learn a lot from them and it's a good experience to ride with them. That's why I'm here. Since I was a bug boy in Mexico I wanted to come here and ride with the best jockeys in the world.”
Hernandez defeated Prat by three victories in the 2021 Del Mar fall meet jockeys race, compiling over $1.1 million in earnings, without the aid of a Breeders' Cup purse which tended to inflate the earnings of several jockeys at last fall's meet. He finished third on Mackinnon in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but otherwise all his winnings came from the races he rode during the regular portion of the meet. He finished with 17 victories from 79 starts, with 13 seconds and 11 thirds.
“Craig (O'Bryan, his agent) tells me we have some good horses to ride at Del Mar,” Hernandez explains, adding that he likes riding the fall meet.
“I like Del Mar,” Hernandez says. “The track is beautiful. I like both surfaces, turf and dirt. The only thing is the drive back and forth.”
Unlike in the summer, when the jockeys and trainers live in the San Diego area during the meet, most of them commute from L.A. during the fall meet. Hernandez says he will drive down to Del Mar on Fridays and return on Sunday to Los Angeles where he works horses at Santa Anita during the week. It's this dedication that has endeared Hernandez to many top trainers in Southern California and earned him several mounts at this year's Breeders' Cup.
“It was really good,” Hernandez says. “We got a second and my horses ran good.”
Hernandez finished second aboard Cave Rock in the Juvenile, his best effort in the Breeders' Cup since his runner-up finish aboard Anneau d'Or to Storm the Court in the 2019 Juvenile. He had three other mounts in this year's Breeders' Cup. He also rode Edgeway in the Filly & Mare Sprint (7th); Gaslight Dancer in the Juvenile Turf (6th) and Artemus Citylimits in the Turf Sprint (5th).
“We've done really good there at Del Mar the past couple of meets,” Hernandez notes, “and hopefully we can keep it going.”
The post ‘I Like The Competition’: Juan Hernandez Eyes Third Straight Jockey Title At Del Mar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Multiple Group 1 Winner Mishriff Will Stand for 20k Under Sumbe Banner
Globetrotting multiple Group 1 winner Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) will stand for €20,000 under Nurlan Bizakov's Sumbe banner at Haras de Montfort et Preaux next year.
The Classic winner, who won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Dubai Sheema Classic and G1 International S. in France, Dubai and England, respectively, ran a good fourth in his career finale, the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Turf. His record stands at seven wins and seven placings from 21 starts with earnings of $16,034,853.
Mishriff will be well-supported by his owner-breeder Prince Faisal, trainers John and Thady Gosden and racing manager Ted Voute. The 2021 Saudi Cup hero's third dam is G1 Prix de Diane heroine Rafha (GB) (Kris {GB}), herself the dam of standout sires Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB).
Meanwhile, Group 1 winner Golden Horde (Ire) will stand his third season at an unchanged fee of €8,000. De Treville (GB), an Oasis Dream (GB) half-brother to Too Darn Hot (GB), will command €5,000, double his 2022 fee. The rise comes after the positive results for his progeny, and the 10-year-old is responsible for one stakes winner and two black-type horses from limited opportunities. Rounding out the quartet is Recorder (GB) at €3,000. The sire of a pair of stakes winners, he was €4,000 in 2022.
The post Multiple Group 1 Winner Mishriff Will Stand for 20k Under Sumbe Banner appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
