December, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Speedy Anacapa Steps Up To Stakes Company In Saturday’s Las Flores

In what will be her initial stakes engagement, Spendthrift Farm's up and coming Anacopa merits serious consideration among a field of eight fillies and mares going six furlongs in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita.

Trained by Carla Gaines, Anacapa, a 3-year-old daughter of two-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow, will shorten up out of a big gate to wire allowance score at a flat mile on Dec. 2 at Del Mar. Off at 4-5, she won by 2 ¼ lengths in a field of seven.

Although ridden by Flavien Prat on Dec. 2, Anacapa will be reunited with Joe Bravo in the Las Flores, with Prat possibly opting for recent multiple stakes winner Samurai Charm.

A gate to wire maiden winner at six furlongs in her second start (first on dirt) four starts back on July 22, Anacapa, who earned a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure on Dec. 2, has proven one-turn ability and should be plenty tough in what will be her seventh career start.

With Prat climbing aboard for the first time, trainer Peter Miller is looking to win his third consecutive stakes with Samurai Charm, who comes off a pair of six furlong wins in ungraded events at Zia Park on Oct. 31 and Nov. 22.

A 5-year-old mare by First Samurai, Samurai Charm, who is owned by Downstream Racing, LLC, will be looking for her first graded stakes victory in what will be her 14th career start. With a Las Flores-best last out Beyer of 92, Samurai Charm is 7-2-2 overall with earnings of $312,660.

Lady T, who rallied from off the pace and just missed by a nose in a six furlong allowance Nov. 27 at Del Mar, will hope to be rolling late for John Shirreffs as she seeks her first graded stakes win. Owned by Jerry and Tina Moss, Lady T, a 3-year-old filly by Into Mischief, was second, beaten 1 ¼ lengths going a mile and one sixteenth four starts back in the G2 Summertime Oaks, a race in which she posted a career-top 89 Beyer.

With regular rider Victor Espinoza back aboard, Lady T brings an overall mark of 10-1-6-0 and earnings of $169,700.

THE GRADE 3 LAS FLORES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

Classical Romance—Ryan Curatolo—119
Samurai Charm—Flavien Prat—123
Lexington Humor—Kyle Frey—119
Manorelli—Edwin Maldonado—119
Anacapa—Joe Bravo—119
Violent Runner—Emily Ellingwood—121
Lady T—Victor Espinoza—119
Doris Mae—Juan Hernandez—119

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 12 noon, with admission gates opening at 10 a.m.

The post Speedy Anacapa Steps Up To Stakes Company In Saturday’s Las Flores appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Whatmakessammyrun Returns To Downhill Turf In Saturday’s Joe Hernandez

Santa Anita will honor the memory of the man who so artfully presented racing at The Great Race Place from its inception on Dec. 25, 1934 until shortly before his passing in February of 1972 on Saturday as a wide-open field of 11 3-year-olds and up will go about 6 ½ furlongs down the Camino Real Turf Course in the Grade 2, $250,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes.

Rating top billing is the Mark Glatt-trained Whatmakessammyrun, who in his only try down the one-of-a-king hillside course, was a three-quarter length winner of the G2 Eddie D Stakes two starts back on Oct. 1. Most recently second going five furlongs on turf at Del Mar in the ungraded Stormy Liberal, Whatmakessammyrun is better suited to the longer distance of the Hernandez and should be plenty tough with Joe Bravo riding back.

A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by We Miss Artie, Whatmakessammyrun was unbeaten in a pair of six furlong turf sprints out of Santa Anita's turf chute at age three, highlighted by a 3 ¾ length romp in the ungraded Desert Code Stakes nine starts back on June 6, 2021.

Owned by Sterling Racing, LLC, Whatmakessammyrun is 16-4-3-2 overall, with all of his placings coming on grass. Campaigned three seasons in New York, Florida, Kentucky and Southern California, he has earnings of $324,570.

Second, beaten three quarters of a length by the top selection in the G2 Eddie D two starts back, Richard Mandella's Lane Way comes off a solid neck win in a hillside allowance Nov. 6 and is thus one for two over the course.

Owned by MyRacehorse, Lane Way, a 5-year-old gelding by Into Mischief, has two wins and three second place finishes from his last five starts, all turf sprints. With Mike Smith back aboard in the Hernandez, Lane Way can press or stalk the early pace as he's shown ample versatility in 11 turf starts.

With an overall mark of 15-3-5-5, Lane Way has earnings of $257,560.

Trainer Leonard Powell's Air Force Red looms very dangerous as well, as he enters the Hernandez as a fresh commodity, having posted a 1 ¾ length win going one mile on turf here in the restricted Lure Stakes on Oct. 29 with Juan Hernandez, who will be back aboard on Saturday.

Fifth, beaten 2 ¾ lengths in the G2 Eddie D by Whatmakessammyrun, Air Force Red, a bay ridgling by Air Force Blue, has two wins from three tries down the hillside turf. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Janet Golightly, Air Force Red has four wins from nine starts and has earnings of $204,140.

With Frankie Dettori engaged to ride, classy comebacker Hit the Road will no doubt command a good deal of attention as he tries the hillside layout for the first time. A game neck winner of the G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (turf) here five starts back on March 26, 2021, Hit the Road, a 5-year-old full horse by More Than Ready, has been idle since finishing eighth in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Turf going a mile and one eighth at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29.

Owned by D K Racing, LLC, Radley Equine, Inc., Taste of Victory Stables, Tony Maslowski and Dave Odmark, Hit the Road, who has four stakes victories and an overall mark of 13-6-0-2, will hope to be rolling late in what could be a short rehearsal for a return to Gulfstream on Jan. 28.

THE GRADE 2 JOE HERNANDEZ WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 1 of 9 Post time 12 noon PT

Lane Way—Mike Smith—121
Irideo—Ramon Vazquez—121
Super Ocho—Juan Lopez—121
Gregorian Chant—Flavien Prat—121
Whatmakessammyrun—Joe Bravo—125
Air Force Red—Juan Hernandez—121
Front Run the Fed—Umberto Rispoli—121
Hit the Road—Lanfranco Dettori—121
Kiss Today Goodbye—Kyle Frey—121
Smooth Like Straight—John Velazquez—121
Sigiloso—Hector Berrios—121

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 12 noon, with admission gates opening at 10 a.m.

The post Whatmakessammyrun Returns To Downhill Turf In Saturday’s Joe Hernandez appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Dec. 28: Despite Significant Lead by Bolt d’Oro, Rivals Not Going Down Without a Fight

Thanks to Winter Storm Elliott and numerous cancellations of racing cards in the East late last week, the tight battle between Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), Good Magic (Curlin) and Justify (Scat Daddy) to claim the title of 2022's leading first-crop sire went from a boil to a chill over the Christmas holiday weekend. However, with three days remaining on the calendar this year, both the temperatures and the competition are heating back up, none of the top three willing to claim victory or concede defeat just yet.

Bolt d'Oro kicked off the last week of the year in winning fashion as his son Corona Bolt captured the Sugar Bowl S. at Fair Grounds on Monday by 6 3/4 lengths, picking up a $60,000 check in the process. The $220,000 KEENOV weanling boosted his sire's progeny earnings total to $2,712,616, which is now $184,443 more than Good Magic's second-place figure of $2,528,173.

Bolt d'Oro has three set to run in Turfway Park's fifth race on Thursday night, a race originally carded for last Friday before the track was forced to cancel due to sub-zero temperatures. St. Elmo, Itzos, and Fast Forward are all back to take a stab at the 6 1/2-furlong Msw test, which carries a purse of $70,000. On Friday, Bolt d'Oro will have a pair–Mahina and Bolt's Broad–race a mile on the turf in a $67,000 Msw at Santa Anita, which has been carded as the day's first race. He has four runners entered for New Year's Eve at various tracks.

Repole Stables' homebred Rule It is first for the day on Thursday for Good Magic. The colt, who is trained by Todd Pletcher, is out of the Bernardini mare Enthrall and seeks a first career win in the fifth race at Gulfstream Park, a 7 1/2-furlong Moc turf test. Up North at Aqueduct, Moonflyer will wear a $40,000 price tag when he races 6 1/2 furlongs looking for an initial career win for trainer Rudy Rodriguez, who also co-owns the colt in partnership with Gabrielle Farm, Vincent Scuderi, Michael Imperio, and Theresa Cotrone. Good Magic's final runner heading into the weekend will be Belle Elena in a 6 1/2-furlong Msw worth $34,000 at Delta Downs om Friday.

Not willing to simply settle for third, Justify was represented by two runners in Japan at Hanshin Racecourse on Wednesday. Dona Sweat, a $425,000 KEESEP graduate, finished fourth in a six-furlong maiden race and earned $6,025. Later on the card, Yuttitham was victorious in a $106,284 allowance event, earning $55,498 in the process. With the earnings boost and his runners' current total of $2,477,539, Justify trails Good Magic by just $50,634and has one entered for Saturday at Santa Anita.

Note that Japanese earnings are added every Sunday night, and there may be delayed reporting from other countries, which could postpone the final results in a very tight race into early January.

Current Earnings Standings through racing of Dec. 27:
1st—Bolt d'Oro, $2,712,616
2nd—Good Magic, $2,528173
3rd—Justify, $2,477,539

The TDN sire lists contain full-dollar earnings of Northern Hemisphere foals winning anywhere in the world. To view the current standings updated overnight, click here.

The post Dec. 28: Despite Significant Lead by Bolt d’Oro, Rivals Not Going Down Without a Fight appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Trakus to Cease Operations

Trakus, the timing and tracking system introduced to the racing industry at Keeneland in 2006, will cease domestic operations Dec. 31, the company's chairman Barry Weisbord confirmed Wednesday.

“Trakus is closing its domestic operations on 12-31, the tracks have all been informed,” Weisbord said. “We have some international contracts and some of those are going to continue for a period of time, but not a significant amount of time.”

Several tracks which had been utilizing Trakus, including the New York Racing Association tracks, are expected to switch to the Equibase's lower-cost global positioning satellite system.

“It's winding down because it loses too much money,” Weisbord said of Trakus's end. “We lost a lot of money over a long period of time. We finally got to a break-even point and Equibase took some business away from us with their GPS system. We tried to get them to take a good look at our GPS system, but that didn't happen and they went with another company. It put us in a situation that it was untenable to operate.”

When it debuted 16 years ago, Trakus provided racing fans with, not only data which had been unavailable previously, but also graphics which allowed horse players to have a better vision of how races were being run.

“Trakus gave people sophisticated information–like actual feet covered–which many tracks put up on their simulcast shows and simulcast presenters talked about it,” Weisbord said. “It was talked about by fans in the big races–you get beat a head and you travelled 28 feet farther than the winner. People have come to understand those four lengths are meaningful. And we introduced that.”

Through its chicklets, which provided a real-time graphic for every horse in the field, Trakus also introduced a new way to watch racing.

“Having worked in broadcast television where we put up four numbers from a guy with binoculars, we always thought if you ever could have a full-field leader board that was right, that would be the be all and end all,” Weisbord said. “What the chicklets were able to deliver was clarity to that picture. The graphics can tell the story of the race and it doesn't matter how tight the director made the field or if he's scrolling through the field. No matter what he is showing, you know who is second or third in your multiple horse bet. They are showing Flightline drawing off, without the chicklets there, you have no idea who is second or third. That clarity to fans and bettors is critical to making racing more fun to watch. We had no idea how important that was going to be 16 years ago–we didn't know back then that people would be able to watch video on their phones.”

Looking to the future for the technology he helped launch in the industry nearly two decades ago, Weisbord said, “Now, my wish for the industry is that the companies that are continuing to operate continue to provide better data and continue to make better graphics. Because that is what the industry needs to compete with other sports and other forms of entertainment.”

The post Trakus to Cease Operations appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post