January, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Two Graded Stakes Wins Net Junior Alvarado Jockey Of The Week Title

Jockey Junior Alvarado ended 2022 on a high note with two Grade 3 stakes wins at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, Dec. 31, earning Jockey of the Week for Dec. 27 through Jan. 1 by the panel of racing experts. The award honors jockeys for riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Gulfstream Park presented a New Year's Eve card with 11 races, five of which were graded stakes. Trainer Shug McGaughey gave Alvarado a leg up on Stolen Holiday in the G3 Suwannee River, a one mile turf test for fillies and mares three-years-old and up. Stolen Holiday raced well back in the field of nine, encountering traffic trouble before unleashing a determined stretch run to overtake Lady Rockstar to win by a length in 1:34.32.

“She broke good,” said Alvarado. “I was getting in there behind the speed horses and somebody on the rail squeezed through, pushed me out, make me clip heels and after that it was Plan C or D to come from behind. Turning for home, she just gave me a beautiful kick and I knew at the eighth pole that I was going to get there.”

In the next race, Alvarado was aboard Sibelius for trainer Jeremiah O'Dwyer in the G3 Mr. Prospector for three-year-olds and up. Sibelius stalked the early pace from the inside and drew away in the stretch to win by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:23.04 for seven furlongs on the turf.

The win moved Alvarado to within five of career win 2,000.

“I know it's there because they remind me every time I win a race now,” said Alvarado about the career milestone. “I just try to do my job. I don't try to worry about it, eventually it will come. I just go race by race and try to do my best and it will eventually come.”

Alvarado, 36, won his first Breeders' Cup race, the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, in 2022 aboard fan favorite Cody's Wish trained by Bill Mott. Alvarado was also the regular rider of the Mott-trained Olympiad who won five graded stakes in 2022.

Alvarado out-polled Jose Ortiz who won a stakes race at Gulfstream Park, Irad Ortiz, Jr. with a graded stakes win at Gulfstream and registered his 50th graded stakes of 2022, DeShawn Parker who won two stakes races at Fair Grounds, and Maryland-based Jevian Toledo who was the leading rider for the week in wins with eight.

The post Two Graded Stakes Wins Net Junior Alvarado Jockey Of The Week Title appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Hamilton Retires As Jockey Club Information Systems President

The Jockey Club Information Systems (TJCIS) today announced that Carl Hamilton retired on Dec. 31, 2022. Hamilton will maintain his role as chairman of BloodHorse and continue to represent The Jockey Club on various national and international committees related to the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers.

Matt Iuliano will be nominated for election as president of TJCIS and continue as executive director and executive vice president of The Jockey Club.

“Carl's leadership of TJCIS has been exceptional,” said James L. Gagliano, president and COO of The Jockey Club. “The advancements to our information services and evolution of technology systems to meet the demands of a global marketplace are a tribute to Carl's deep understanding of the industry. Carl will continue to be available as a consultant to the many important initiatives of TJCIS in 2023.”

Hamilton was appointed president of TJCIS in 1994 after joining the company in 1990 as vice president of the consulting division. He previously owned Hamilton Software, a software consulting firm that developed industry-leading farm management software packages and provided consulting services to Thoroughbred-related organizations.

In 2015 TJCIS purchased a majority interest in Blood-Horse, at which time Hamilton was appointed chairman.

Tim Leith was promoted to senior vice president of TJCIS in January 2023. Leith will execute short- and long-term plans for the company and continue to oversee product development efforts of the company's growth initiatives.

The Jockey Club Information Systems Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Jockey Club, is an industry leader in the areas of technology and information services for industry professionals, including owners, breeders, trainers, veterinarians and farm personnel. TJCIS utilizes state-of-the-art technology to enhance the services it provides through equineline.com as well as its cataloguing and software sales and consulting divisions.

The post Hamilton Retires As Jockey Club Information Systems President appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘We Like To Set Targets’ – Charlie Johnston Eyes 200 Winners This Season

Charlie Johnston has revealed that he has ambitions of training at least 200 winners in his own name in 2023 after taking over fully from his record-breaking father Mark at the turn of the year.

After a year sharing the licence with his son, Mark Johnston confirmed that Charlie would take the reins this season, and it didn't take the new master of Middleham long to get off the mark with just his second runner Asdaa (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}) scoring at Kempton on Wednesday.

That tally was quickly doubled on Thursday when Demillion (Ire) (Roaring Lion) won cosily at Wolverhampton.

Speaking about plans for the season, Johnston said, “As we've said all along, we're not treating it as a huge change, but at the same time there was always going to be more eyes on those early runners than there would be ordinarily at this time of year, so it was good to get off the mark at just the second time of asking.

“With the change will come a greater scrutiny of results for the season ahead, so in that sense there is a bit of added pressure. Any dip in form or standards and people will attribute that to the change in control.”

Mark Johnston is the most successful trainer in the history of British racing in terms of numbers, having blasted through the 5,000-winner mark last summer. He also became the first trainer to saddle 200 winners in a calendar year in 2009, a feat repeated on a further nine occasions, with his tally of 249 victories in 2019 his best.

With a joint-licence, the Johnstons enjoyed 176 winners in Britain last year, as well as three on foreign soil, and Charlie is keen to ensure there is no slipping of standards.

He said, “As I jokingly said yesterday, one down, 4,999 to go-at least he hasn't set the bar too high!

“We'll be setting out to better last year if at all possible. As people probably know, we like to set targets. We set targets for each of our individual yard managers and then a target overall for the yard as a whole.

“It's ambitious to beat the 179 winners from last year, but we'll be targeting 200 winners again this year. That is the standard that we like to set ourselves and that's what we'll be aiming towards.”

Johnston added, “We're not all doing vastly different roles this week to what we were last week. A lot of the day-to-day management of things here at Kingsley Park in terms of what the horses are doing and what horses are galloping and such like, I've been planning the majority of that for a few years now, so in that sense no one's role has really changed.

“No one is taking any feet off the pedal, that's for sure-we're all still full gas to achieve as much as we can in 2023.”

Johnston also had a positive report on his Group 1-winning stayer Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), who is back in full work and is pointing to the G1 Saudi Cup undercard at the end of February.

“Entries closed yesterday morning for the Saudi Cup meeting and Subjectivist has been entered in the [G3] Red Sea Turf H.–[the] 1 mile and 7-furlong race,” Johnston said.

Winner of the 2021 G1 Gold Cup June 17, the now-6-year-old was previously victorious in the 2020 G1 Prix Royal-Oak at ParisLongchamp on Oct. 25 and the 2021 G2 Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan in March of 2021. During his win at the Royal Meeting, he sustained a potentially career-threatening leg injury. While there were initially hopes he would return to defend his Gold Cup crown, it did not happen by the summer.

Johnston is taking a day-to-day approach, and he is pleased with what he has seen so far.

Reporting on Subjectivist's progress, “He's been back in work since early October and has been cantering all the way through December and into January now. There's still a long way to go–we haven't started to turn the screw just yet with any faster work.

“Every day the fingers are crossed watching him, but so far so good.”

The post ‘We Like To Set Targets’ – Charlie Johnston Eyes 200 Winners This Season appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Eclipse Finalists To Be Unveiled on FDTV Jan. 7

The finalists in 11 equine and five human divisions for the 2022 Eclipse Awards will be announced live on FanDuel TV Saturday, Jan. 7 at 11:30 a.m. ET, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB), and Daily Racing Form announced Thursday.

Eclipse Awards are voted on by members of the NTRA, represented by member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, and are produced by the NTRA. The announcement of the Eclipse Awards finalists on FanDuel TV is sponsored by Keeneland and John Deere.

The Eclipse Awards ceremonies are scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26, at The Breakers in Palm Beach, FL, and will also be televised by FDTV. The evening will begin with the Keeneland Red Carpet show at 6:30 p.m. ET, hosted by Todd Schrupp and Christina Blacker, followed by the awards ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET. The ceremony, which will be streamed on additional outlets, will culminate with the announcement of the 2022 Horse of the Year. Finalists in the Horse of the Year category also will be announced earlier that evening.

The post Eclipse Finalists To Be Unveiled on FDTV Jan. 7 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post