January, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Havnameltdown Romps Gate To Wire For San Vicente Triumph

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman's Havnameltdown notched his second consecutive graded stakes win as he powered off the turn en route to an impressive 1 ½-length score in Sunday's $200,000 San Vicente (G2) for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez and trained by Bob Baffert, Havnameltdown got seven furlongs in 1:22.29.

Breaking sharply from his rail post, Havnameltdown, in his third consecutive try at seven panels, assumed control out of the chute and dictated the pace with 25-1 longshot Man Child at his hip to the three-furlong pole. From there, he opened up a three-length advantage turning for home over stablemate Faustin and won under a hand ride from Hernandez, who chalked up his meet-leading eighth stakes victory.

“I felt out of the gate, with the first jump, he broke really fast and strong and then after that, I felt like I was just cruising,” said Hernandez. “He was kind of waiting for horses, I was doing the same thing. I was waiting for him and waiting for the competition to get close to me so I could start making my horse run.

“At the three-eighths, I felt the pressure a little bit and I asked him and he responded really well. Turning for home, he switched leads and he picked it up by himself.”

A handy winner of the Bob Hope Stakes (G3) with Hernandez up Nov. 20 at Del Mar, Havnameltdown was the actual even money-favorite in the San Vicente's field of four and paid $4 for the win.

“A lot of horses that get the rail hate drawing it,” said Baffert, who chalked up his record 12th win in the San Vicente. “This horse is built for this distance, that's him, one turn. He will stay one turn.”

A $200,000 purchase by his connections last April at the OBS spring 2-year-olds in training sale, where Blas Perez Stables was the consignor, Havnameltdown, a Florida-bred colt by Uncaptured out of the Put it Back mare Ashely's Babe, notched his third graded stakes win as he took the Best Pal Stakes (G3) at Del Mar three starts back on Aug. 14.

With four wins and a second from five starts, Havnameltdown picked up $120,000 for the win, increasing his earnings to $408,000.

Ridden by Ramon Vazquez, second wagering choice Faustin, who kept to his task through the lane, finished 8 ¾ lengths in front of stablemate Fort Warren, giving Baffert the San Vicente trifecta.

Fractions on the race were :22.46, :45.46, and 1:09.67.

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Art Collector in Fine Shape After Pegasus Win

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini) exited his win in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational in fine shape, according to trainer Bill Mott.

“He's happy. He was bright and alert and seemed to be feeling pretty good about himself,” Mott reported from Payson Park Sunday morning.

Art Collector, winner of the 2021 GI Woodward S., had been a solid stakes performer before his emphatic 4 1/2-length victory in the Pegasus Saturday.

“It's strange. I knew he was doing well going into the race. I felt like he was training well, but you can't really predict the outcome in a race like that,” Mott said. “There's some nice horses in there and you don't know much about the rest of them. I knew our horse was doing well. Did he exceed expectations? I wouldn't say that because I didn't know what to expect.”

Plans for the 6-year-old remain up in the air.

“Anytime you've got a well-bred horse that's a Grade I-stakes winner, I think going to stud is always an option, and it's just a matter of timing when you do it. I can't say what was going on in [Lunsford's] head. I don't think that was the first thing that was on his mind though,” Mott said. “I think Bruce kind of entered the new year thinking he enjoys seeing him on the racetrack and I think he was prepared to continue on that route for the rest of the year if things got going well.”

Trainer Mike Maker reported Sunday that Three Diamonds Farm's Atone (Into Mischief) was also doing well following his breakthrough victory in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational.

“He came out of it in good order,” Maker said. “It's impossible not to be impressed by the way he ran.”

Maker mentioned the Mar. 25 GII Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds and May 6 GI Turf Classic at Churchill Downs as possible upcoming targets for Atone.

Atone capped a huge day at Gulfstream for Maker, who also ran sixth in the Pegasus Turf with 74-1 long shot King Cause (Creative Cause). Earlier in the day, Maker won the GIII Fred W. Hooper with Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) and finished first, second, third and fifth in the GIII William L. McKnight led by winner Red Knight (Pure Prize).

On the day, Maker had three wins, one second and two thirds and earned $846,300 in purses. Prior to that he had a record of 29-4-3-4 with $154,615 in purses earned at the Championship Meet, which opened Dec. 26.

“It was a great day,” Maker said. “We were kind of in a slump there and to break out of it in that fashion felt great.”

The post Art Collector in Fine Shape After Pegasus Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Havnameltdown Wires the San Vicente

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's Havnameltdown set all the fractions and held stablemate and co-favorite Faustin at bay to the wire to win the GII San Vicente S. by 1 1 /2 lengths at Santa Anita Sunday. Off a tad awkwardly from his inside post, Havnameltdown recovered quickly to pull himself to the early lead and was in control after a quarter in :22.46, with longshot Man Child (Creative Cause), the lone non-Baffert runner in the four-horse field, in close attendance. The bay colt inched further clear entering the far turn as the half went up in :45.46. Faustin, making his first start since a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut at Santa Anita Dec. 26, loomed a threat nearing the stretch, but Havnameltdown scampered clear into the lane and maintained his advantage to the wire as his stablemate tried in vain to reel him in down the length of the stretch.

“I felt out of the gate with the first jump, he broke really fast and strong then after that I felt like I was just cruising,” said winning jockey Juan Hernandez. “He was having fun out there. He was kind of waiting for horses, I was doing the same thing, I was just waiting for him and waiting for the competition to get close to me so I could start making my horse run. At the three-eighths, I felt the pressure a little bit and I asked him and he responded really well. Turning for home he switched leads and he picked it up by himself.”

Havnameltdown will likely stay at one-turn distances, while Baffert is looking forward to stretching Faustin out.

“This horse is built for this distance that's him, one turn,” Baffert said of the winner. “He will stay one turn. Faustin, he was kind of a grinding slow, he wants to go longer, the other horse [Fort Warren] wants to go longer. You try to get outs into them so they'll learn and you'll figure [them out]. The other two are ready to go long.

“The problem is that if you break your maiden first time out, you have to run in stakes. It is that way all over the country. Just getting these races into them is important. Faustin, you can tell he is not there yet, once he goes two turns, you'll see a big difference in him. He wat trying to get there but he was running against a top-class sprinter.”

Havnameltdown was a $16,000 OBSOCT purchase by pinhooker Blas Perez, who resold the colt for $200,000 following a :9 4/5 work at last year's OBS April sale. The colt graduated on debut at Del Mar last July and added a win in the Aug. 14 GIII Best Pal S. in his second outing. He suffered his first loss when second behind stablemate Cave Rock (Arrogate) in the Sept. 11 GI Del Mar Futurity, but returned to the winner's circle with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Nov. 20 GIII Bob Hope S. last time out.

Pedigree Notes:

Havnameltdown is one of six graded winners for his sire Uncaptured. The Canadian champion 2-year-old, who began his stud career at Ocala Stud, relocated to South Korea for the 2020 breeding season.

The winner's dam, Ashley's Babe, in foal to Maximus Mischief, RNA'd for $170,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. She has a 2-year-old Tapiture colt who RNA'd for $4,500 earlier this month at the Keeneland January sale.

Sunday, Santa Anita
SAN VICENTE S.-GII, $196,000, Santa Anita, 1-29, 3yo, 7f, 1:22.29, ft.
1–HAVNAMELTDOWN, 124, c, 3, by Uncaptured
                1st Dam: Ashley's Babe, by Put It Back
                2nd Dam: Charms Way, by Salt Lake
                3rd Dam: Remember Midnight, by Cure the Blues
($16,000 Ylg '21 OBSOCT; $200,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR).
O-Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman;
B-Katherine S Devall (FL); T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez.
$120,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 5-4-1-0, $408,000. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Faustin, 120, c, 3, Curlin–Hard Not to Like, by Hard Spun.
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($285,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $800,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR).
O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Dattt Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $40,000.
3–Fort Warren, 120, c, 3, Curlin–La Appassionata,
by Bernardini. 'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE,
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($550,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP).
O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert
Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber,
Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine Donovan; B-Stonestreet
Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $24,000.
Margins: 1HF, 8 3/4, 4 3/4. Odds: 1.00, 1.00, 4.90.
Also Ran: Man Child. Scratched: Gilmore.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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‘I Love How He Ran’: Asmussen Mulls Plans For Regally Bred 3YO Shopper’s Revenge

Next-out plans are pending for powerful Jan. 14 Oaklawn maiden special weights graduate Shopper's Revenge, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said.

Regally bred Shopper's Revenge, who is by Tapit out of millionaire 2015 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Stopchargingmaria, received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 85 for his front-running 5 ¼-length victory under Ricardo Santana Jr. The 1 1/16-mile race marked the two-turn and 3-year-old debut of Shopper's Revenge, who was exiting a runner-up finish on the “Stars of Tomorrow 2 program” Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs. It was his first career start.

“It'll be interesting,” Asmussen said of the colt, who is a homebred of Three Chimneys Farm and Whisper Hill Farm. “I'm as high on him as you can be on something that's run twice. Do you want to feed him to Arabian Knight or something of the likes next time? But I love how he ran over the racetrack here in his first two-turn race and I love how he's training right now.”

Asmussen-trained stablemate Red Route One finished second to Arabian Knight in the Southwest Stakes (G3) Saturday at Oaklawn. The 1 1/16-mile race is Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby points races.

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