Month: December 2022

Just one month ago, trainer Norman “Lynn” Cash scored the first graded victory of his career with Double Crown in the Grade 2 Kelso on October 29 at Belmont at the Big A.

The Maryland-bred son of Bourbon Courage will return to the scene of his 42-1 upset triumph to take on the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack, entering the starting gate with stablemate Outlier in hopes of providing Cash with his first Grade 1 victory.

“We're longshots of course, but five weeks ago Double Crown was 42-1 and we probably won't be again, so I think we're ahead,” said Cash. “It's pretty exciting.”

Double Crown, co-owned by Cash with his wife Lola Cash, has proven well worth the $40,000 Cash paid for the 5-year-old gelding when haltering him out of a close second-place effort in June at Churchill Downs. In addition to the Kelso, Double Crown has also posted an optional claiming victory at Colonial Downs and a runner-up finish in the Polynesian at Pimlico.

“There was nobody more surprised with the Kelso win than I,” Cash said, with a laugh. “He is a completely honest horse and has the talent to run his race. Even if the race is above his talent level, he gives you a solid effort. He runs on short or long rest. He always runs his race. I'm hopeful the Kelso wasn't a fluke and that he's moved ahead.”

Cash began training horses last year after spending nearly a decade dabbling in racehorse ownership. The Maryland and Kentucky-based conditioner trains around 50 horses, all of which were claimed and owned by him and his wife. Cash said he claims most of his horses based on back class, as he did with Double Crown.

“I was in the roofing business and turned it over to my sons and got into this. I never thought a year and a half later we'd run in eight or 10 stakes races a month,” said Cash. “These are all claimed horses that we've picked up and made happy. Sometimes a change in scenery puts them in a better mood and if they're happier, they run better. Double Crown is a Maryland-bred, and that was a factor in claiming him. I lean towards back class because there's been a few maidens I've claimed and it didn't work out. I look for horses who maybe aren't running as good as they once did.”

Double Crown's back class includes two stakes wins as a sophomore in Gulfstream Park's Roar and Carry Back, as well as a pair of graded placings when third in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint and a close second in the Grade 3 Chick Lang, all for former conditioner Kathy Ritvo.

Cash said bringing Double Crown to a mile this year has helped him regain old form.

“I think the one-turn mile has helped him,” said Cash. “He does run on the front end but we like a little pace to close into.”

Cash's other entrant, Outlier, figures to give Double Crown an honest pace to run at. The son of Not This Time recently posted back-to-back runner-up efforts by slim margins in a one-mile allowance on November 12 at Aqueduct and a 6 1/2-furlong sprint just five days later at Charles Town where he lost by a head after stalking the pace.

“He has probably been ran over his head to keep the pace honest in several allowance races, but the race here two back was an amazing race,” said Cash. “He almost went by the winner in the last 200 yards and he just didn't give up. If he gets on the lead by himself, his heart grows immensely. He's running better and better.”

The 4-year-old gelding will be making both his 20th start of the year and his stakes debut, but Cash is confident Outlier is up for the challenge.

“He's as healthy as can be. He's up, he's peppy and he's a smaller horse who's up and at it,” said Cash. “He gets out of the gate good and almost won his Charles Town race. He's a runner.”

Outlier, who boasts a lifetime record of 40-8-4-5, has amassed $256,066 earnings and has won 3-of-22 starts for Cash since being haltered for $50,000 out of a win last November at Churchill Downs.

Cash started the week at Aqueduct on a high note, scoring a $35,000 claiming event with Money Mike in Race 3 on Thursday. While the son of Into Mischief was claimed, Cash said the win gives him confidence going into the Cigar Mile.

“We've been having a good meet here,” said Cash. “I've got a barn in Kentucky and at Laurel and I've decided I'm shipping east with a lot of my Kentucky horses this winter. We step up to the plate more often than we should, but it's fun.”

The post ‘Hopeful The Kelso Wasn’t A Fluke’: Cash Hoping For Another Upset With Double Crown In Cigar Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gary Barber's Get Her Number brings winning form into Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Peter Miller, the 4-year-old Dialed In bay returned from a nearly three-month layoff last out to capture a six-furlong optional-claiming sprint by a head over graded-stakes winning stablemate Ginobili on November 20 at Del Mar. The swiftly-run effort garnered a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in a stacked field that saw multiple graded-stakes winner Forbidden Kingdom run third, while recent Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship victor Howbeit checked in fourth.

“It was a real salty group. We had thought about using that race as a prep for the Cigar Mile. It's not like we ran him and then decided. We knew if he ran well enough it would be our key work going into this race,” said Miller, who has enjoyed past success at the Big A with Comma to the Top in the 2013 Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap and Spiced Perfection in the 2019 Grade 3 Go for Wand Handicap. “It was a really good effort and he's doing great out of the race.”

Get Her Number made his first two starts on the Del Mar turf, graduating on debut in August 2020 ahead of a close pacesetting fourth in the one-mile Del Mar Juvenile Turf. He made his dirt debut a winning one with a prominent effort in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 American Pharoah, besting eventual Grade 1 Preakness-winner Rombauer by three-quarters of a length.

Get Her Number was winless in four starts last season, but returned victorious in his 4-year-old debut in an optional-claiming sprint in March over the Santa Anita turf. He captured an optional-claimer on the Churchill Downs main track in June ahead of a rallying runner-up effort in the six-furlong Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 30 at Del Mar.

Miller decided to give Get Her Number a break after an uncharacteristic seventh in the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien on August 27 at Del Mar.

“He just tailed off on me a little bit. He didn't go the farm or anything,” Miller said. “We just backed up on him and let him get back to himself. He's really come back well. It's a very tough race, but I expect him to run well.”

The versatile Get Her Number boasts wins sprinting as well as around two-turns on the main track, along with a pair of wins on turf, leaving Miller to wonder what the colt's best race truly is as he prepares to take on multiple Grade 1-winner Mind Control and the talented Grade 1-winning sophomores Zandon and White Abarrio.

“It's a good question. I'm hoping it's a one-turn mile,” said Miller, with a laugh. “He'll need to be at his best to beat Mind Control and Zandon, but I think anywhere from seven-eighths to a mile and sixteenth – although he did just win at three-quarters, but that's a little short for him.”

Bred in Kentucky by Philip Robertson and Brenda Robertson, Get Her Number boasts a record of 14-5-1-1 for purse earnings of $550,661 – more than 10 times his $45,000 purchase price at the 2020 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training where he breezed under tack in 21 flat.

“He's a very good-looking horse and he previewed really well at the 2-year-old sale,” recalled Miller. “I've had some luck with Dialed In horses and that led me to buy him.”

Get Her Number, who arrived in New York on Wednesday, will exit post 4 Saturday under Luis Saez, who won this event last year with Americanrevolution.

“I'm real comfortable with Luis riding,” said Miller of Saez, who was leading rider at the recently concluded Churchill Downs fall meet. “It looks like there's a couple of speeds in there, so we'll likely be sitting third or fourth.”

The Cigar Mile is carded as Race 9 and headlines a lucrative program which also features the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle in Race 6, offering 10-4-3-2-1 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points; the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen in Race 7, providing 10-4-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points; and the Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand in Race 8. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

Saturday will also feature the annual “Toys for Tots” day of giving at Aqueduct Racetrack. The longtime holiday tradition at the Big A is offered in partnership with the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation.

Now in its 75th year, Toys for Tots collects and distributes new, unwrapped toys to local children in need each holiday season. There will be several ways to contribute during the weekend of giving – at donation boxes at the Turf and Field entrance and the Clubhouse lobby by the escalator at Aqueduct, and online as well.

Fans can donate online at https://www.toysfortots.org/donate/ – using a credit card with a secure one-step process; or by selecting and donating toys through the organization's virtual toy box. You can also give with a check made out to the “Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation” and mailed to: U.S. Marine Corps; Attention: GySgt, John Sardine; 605 Stewart Avenue; Garden City, N.Y. 11530.

The post After ‘Real Salty’ Win At Six Furlongs, Miller Confident As Get Her Number Stretches Out For Cigar Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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