Month: December 2022

Pierre and Leslie Amestoy and Roger K. Beasley's Practical Move shook off rivals at the eighth pole and cruised clear to win the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) Saturday at Los Alamitos Race Course.

The Kentucky-bred Practical Joke colt, ridden by Ramon Vazquez for trainer Tim Yakteen, scored by 3 1/4 lengths while earning his first stakes victory.

Yakteen got the best of his former boss, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who saddled 60% of the field while seeking his eighth Futurity win in the nine years it has been run at Los Alamitos. Baffert had to settle for second, third, and fifth with his trio of Carmel Road, Fort Bragg and Arabian Lion, who disappointed in his first try around two turns, trailing as the 2-5 favorite.

Practical Move finished the 1 1/16-mile test in 1:41.65 on a fast track while notching the second win of his career. He came into Saturday's race off a third-place finish in the seven-furlong Bob Hope (G3) Nov. 20 at Del Mar.

The colt tracked pacesetter and runner-up Carmel Road and Arabian Lion from third down the backstretch and was guided inside Carmel Road near the five-sixteenths pole. He eagerly took charge at the quarter pole and raced clear of rivals with a furlong to run for the easy win.

Vazquez, who quadrupled Saturday to all but cement a sweep of the three local riding titles – he also led the Los Angeles County Fair and September meets earlier in the year – thinks the Futurity winner has a bright future.

“This is the first time I've ever been on this horse and he really impressed me,” Vazquez said of Practical Move. “He relaxed perfectly and then I had to make a decision turning for home whether to go inside or outside. When the leader (Carmel Road) drifted out a bit there was an opening. He came right through and gave me a very nice finish.''

After laying down fractions of :23.61 and :46.66 for a half-mile, Carmel Road held for second, 4 1/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher Fort Bragg. Tall Boy was fourth, and  Arabian Lion faded to last in the five-horse field.

“He's been steadily improving race after race,” Yakteen said of Practical Move. “I'm definitely hoping that he's going to continue to get better as a 3-year-old and that's the impression he has been giving me.

“I'm surprised because we were going up against the king (Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who had won this race seven of the first eight times it was run at Los Alamitos), but I'm not surprised because my horse was doing really well. That it all worked out is just fantastic. We had a great trip and I'm just thrilled to death with the horse and his effort today.

“This one's really special because Bob is a good friend, and we have a great relationship. I hate to take him down, but it ended up that I got the better of him today and he usually gets the better of me. We're just going to give the horse a breather now right now and regroup and then go from there.''

Practical Move returned $23.20. His career line stands at 2-1-2 from five lifetime starts. The $120,000 winner's share of the Lo Alamitos Futurity purse increased his career purse earnings to $194,200.

Bred by Chad Brown and Head of Plains Partners, Practical Move is out of the Afleet Alex mare Ack Naughty. He was a $230,000 purchase from consignor Eisaman Equine at the Ocala Breeders' Sale Co. Spring Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

The post Practical Move Makes Move To Inside En Route To Los Alamitos Futurity Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Seacoast Thoroughbreds of New England's New York homebred General Banker rallied impressively down the lane to break his maiden in Saturday's $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a seven-furlong sprint for eligible New York-sired juveniles, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by James Ferraro and piloted by Eric Cancel, the Central Banker colt was making his eighth career start as the most experienced horse in the 11-horse field. He proved to be much the best en route to an 8 1/2-length score over a muddy and sealed main track.

The victory capped a special afternoon for McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, which stands Central Banker and also Redesdale, who sired runner-up Ramblin' Wreck as well as filly Midtown Lights, who finished second in the $500,000 NYSSS Fifth Avenue earlier on the card.

“Central Banker has been so much fun,” said Joseph McMahon, owner of McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds. “He just keeps coming up with nice horses. It's a real credit to our syndicate, our help, and everybody. We're having a great run.

“This is really nice for this owner, John Forma [of Seacoast Thoroughbreds of New England],” added McMahon. “He's been with us for about 40 years now. He's a great guy and this is a big win for him, the biggest win he's ever had. We're really glad for Jimmy [Ferraro], who has been one of our guys forever.”

General Banker settled in fifth position as maiden-winner Playingwithmatches set fractions of :22.91 and :46.67 with the favored Vacation Dance, last-out winner of the Atlantic Beach over the Big A turf, tracking in second position in his main-track debut.

Vacation Dance challenged into the turn with Ramblin' Wreck launching his wide bid under Manny Franco and General Banker angling wider still, roaring into contention with big strides. Ramblin' Wreck held a precarious lead at the stretch call as Vacation Dance faded, but a rampant General Banker could not be contained, sprinting through the wire an emphatic winner in a final time of 1:25.49.

Ramblin' Wreck stayed on to complete the exacta by one length over Lifetime of Chance with Playingwithmatches, Bustino Santino, Zapruder, Jackson Heights, Vacation Dance, Incantation, Tater and Tot, and Laurel Valley completing the order of finish.

Cancel, aboard for a last-out runner-up effort from off-the-pace here on November 26, said General Banker was a stronger horse today.

“To be honest, when I rode him last time, I kind of felt he was weak in behind,” Cancel said. “I spoke to the trainer and he agreed with me and said he was going to work on him, which he did, and here are the results. He's a pretty decent horse and we had very high hopes with him.

“Today, he broke much better and didn't have any problems. That really helped a lot and I'm just glad we were able to get it,” Cancel added. “I felt I had a lot of horse underneath me still [down the stretch] and I was just trying to time everything right. He was just waiting on horses at the end to try and keep on going.”

General Banker began his career with a pair of starts on turf at Saratoga Race Course before finishing fourth in the Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital over a muddy and sealed Spa main track in August. He posted a pair of fifth-place efforts in September at Belmont at the Big A, finishing behind victorious Great White Way rivals Ramblin' Wreck in a turf maiden and Jackson Heights in the Bertram F. Bongard on the main track for state-breds.

He added blinkers for his most recent two starts here, finishing second in state-bred company traveling 1 1/16 miles over the turf in October and in a main-track sprint last out on November 26.

Ferraro said the addition of blinkers and an off track benefitted General Banker.

“There wasn't much time to do much, but we did very little things here and there. He's improving,” Ferraro said. “I think [the blinkers] helped him to focus. He's very intuitive and looking all over the place.

“I thought he was in a great spot,” Ferraro added. “Those Central Bankers love the mud. In Saratoga, he was still really green. He's still learning things.”

Ferraro said General Banker could return in the $100,000 Gander, a one-turn mile for state-bred sophomores on February 25 at Aqueduct.

General Banker, produced by the Johannesburg mare Elusive Joy, earned $275,000 in victory while improving his record 8-1-3-0. He returned $23 for a $2 win bet.

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