February, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Really Special’ Charge It Continues Comeback In Gulfstream Park Mile

Whisper Hill Farm LLC's Charge It, who has produced flashes of brilliance during his six-race career, is scheduled to make a highly anticipated return to action Saturday in the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile.

The one-turn mile for 4-year-olds and up will be one of nine stakes (eight graded) contested on Saturday's 14-race program that will be headlined by the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2).

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Charge It returned from a seven-month layoff to an optional claiming allowance Feb. 5 at Gulfstream, covering 1 1/16 miles in an impressive 1:41.96.

“It was great to get him back. He had been training super into that, and I thought it was a big effort,” Pletcher said.

The 4-year-old son Tapit had been idle since capturing the July 2 Dwyer at Belmont Park by a dazzling 23 lengths.

“We're trying to figure out a program. We considered some out-of-town options, but we figured he has run well at Gulfstream. and it would make an easy ship from Palm Beach [Downs],” Pletcher said. “We're thinking maybe down the road a race like the Oaklawn Handicap [April 22] could fit his schedule. We felt like this would be a good segue.”

Charge It graduated by 8 ½ lengths at Gulfstream in his second career start last February before overcoming a starting gate issue to finish second behind White Abarrio in the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) in April. The Pletcher trainee finished off the board in the Kentucky Derby (G1), in which he encountered some traffic, before rebounding with his spectacular showing in the Dwyer.”

Charge It is scheduled to meet eight rivals in the Gulfstream Park Mile with Luis Saez back aboard.

“I think he's a really special horse on any surface, but he does like Gulfstream, so it's good to know that,” Pletcher said.

Trainer Michael Maker has signed up Mark Breen's Endorsed for a start in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2).

Endorsed enters the race off a pair of solid victories, including 2 ¾-length score in the one-turn mile Fred Hooper (G3) on the undercard of the Jan. 28 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream.

Endorsed finished fourth in the 2022 Pegasus World Cup before checking in third behind next-out Speaker's Corner and Fearless in the Gulfstream Park Mile.

Tyler Gaffalione has the call aboard the 7-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro.

Tami Bobo and Tristan De Meric's Simplification, who ran the race of his career a year ago at Gulfstream while capturing the Fountain of Youth, is scheduled to make his first start since finishing off the board in the Jan. 28 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1). The Antonio Sano-trained son of Not This Time, who finished a troubled fourth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), is winless in his eight starts since his Fountain of Youth score.

Jose Ortiz, who was aboard for the Fountain of Youth, returns to the saddle.

Arindel's Octane and Stonehedge LLC's Dean Delivers, a pair of gritty Florida-breds who have enjoyed success in open company, are scheduled to seek graded-stakes credentials in the Gulfstream Park Mile.

Octane, a 4-year-old son of Brethren, enters Saturday's race off a second-place finish behind Endorsed in the Fred Hooper. The Carlos David trainee, who won two legs of the 2021 Florida Sire Stakes series, has been in the money in nine of 10 career starts.

Edgard Zayas has the call on Octane.

Dean Delivers, who has been in the money in 10 of 12 career starts, finished made a six-wide sweep to enter contention in the stretch run of the Fred Hooper before settling for third. In his previous start, the son off Cajun Breeze finished second behind Dubai-bound Sibelius in the Mr. Prospector (G3).

The 4-year-old gelding, who finished a close second in last season's Swale (G3) before finishing fifth after setting the pace in the Fountain of Youth, will be ridden by Miguel Vasquez Saturday.

OGMA Investments LLC and Michael Iavarone's O Captain, the third-place finisher in last year's Fountain of Youth who has been on the sidelines for ninth months; Carrie Brogden's Steal Sunshine, who finished third in the Mr. Prospector (G3) last time out, David Fawkes Racing Inc.'s Noble Drama, a durable multiple-stakes winner with more than $800,0000 in earnings, and R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Nitrous Channel, a lightly raced son of Nyquist who hasn't finished worse than second in four starts, round out the field.

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Dale Saunders To Be Presented With E. P. Taylor Award Of Merit; Outstanding Groom Award Winners, Media Sovereign Awards Finalists Announced

The Jockey Club of Canada is pleased to announce that Dale Saunders will be presented with the E. P. Taylor Award of Merit during the 48th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony on the evening of Thursday, April 13, 2023 in Vaughan, Ontario. Selected unanimously by the Jockey Club of Canada's Stewards, the E. P. Taylor Award is a lifetime achievement award honouring those who have made significant contributions to the Thoroughbred Industry in Canada and accomplished outstanding individual achievements in Canadian thoroughbred racing and breeding.

Dale Saunders has been dedicated to the sport of Thoroughbred racing for over 50 years. With 2,177 wins from 12,915 starts and $17.4 million in earnings, “Colonel” Saunders has achieved as much as any other trainer in Alberta. His passion for Thoroughbred racing was bred into him, with his father and his cousins all keen horsemen and avid Thoroughbred breeders and owners. Dale has won countless stakes races and was Alberta Trainer of the Year in 1983, 1985, 1987 – 1989, 1996 – 1999 and 2013. He was also honored in 2012 as the Horseperson of the Year at the Alberta Thoroughbred Awards.

The Jockey Club of Canada is proud to present Amber Hutchinson and Ricardo Nicholson with the 2022 Outstanding Groom Award sponsored by OLG. Both Amber and Ricardo are spoken of very highly by their nominators, trainers Mike Doyle and Ian Black, respectively.

This year marks Amber's 16th season with Mike Doyle who describes her as dependable, diligent, cheerful, unfailingly kind, and having earned the respect of her coworkers.

Ian Black began his training career 19 years ago, and Ricardo has been with him the entire time. Known for his race day outfits which are catered to match each owners' silks and the saddlecloth colour, “Ricky” has groomed such horses as multiple graded stakes winners Seductively and Southdale.

The Jockey Club of Canada is also pleased to announce the finalists for the 2022 Media Sovereign Awards categories. Judging for the Media Awards is performed by media professionals within the industry selected from across North America.

Listed in alphabetical order, the Media finalists are:

Digital Audio/Visual and Broadcast Category

Peter Gross – Down the Stretch Podcast 146

Horse Racing Alberta – The Canadian Derby Feature – Above and Beyond

Woodbine Entertainment Group – The Queen's Plate

Photograph Category

Allan de la Plante – The Catch

Lisa Thompson – Belcarra Park

Julie Wright – On Cloud Nine – 2022 EP Taylor Champions

Writing Category

Ivan Bigg – Brandon Greer's Quiet Success

Dave Briggs – Why Can't Horse Racing Partake in Ontario's Sports Betting Boom

Ron Gierkink – Queen's Plate Feature Sunday Aug. 7

Chris Lomon – Mike Keogh: Canada's Gentleman Horseman Calls it a Career

George Williams – Derby Winner has a Manitoba Mother

The winner in each of the three Media Award categories will be announced, along with the other Sovereign Award winners and Canada's Horse of the Year during the 48th Annual Sovereign Awards Ceremony on the evening of Thursday, April 13, 2023 at Universal Eventspace in Vaughan, Ontario.

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After 10-Year Suspension, Rick Dutrow Granted Trainer’s License By New York State Gaming Commission

Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup-winning trainer Rick Dutrow has been granted a trainer's license by the New York State Gaming Commission, the Daily Racing Form's David Grening confirmed via Twitter on Monday.

Dutrow, 58, was suspended 10 years and fined $50,000 by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board – which was replaced by the New York State Gaming Commission – for a string of suspensions and rules violations, the last being a positive drug test in one of his horses for butorphanol and the discovery of loaded syringes in a desk drawer in his barn office at Aqueduct. Regulators at the time called Dutrow's conduct “obnoxious” and “unbecoming.”

Dutrow lost his appeals of the penalties and eventually ran out of legal options. His last starter, Colossal Gift, was victorious at Aqueduct on Jan. 16, 2013.

Dutrow has been a divisive figure in racing ever since. In 2019, the Paulick Report's Natalie Voss wrote about the trainer's career, legal case, and each side of the argument for allowing the trainer to return to racing: 'Bring Rick Back'? Years Later, Dutrow's Ban Still Divides

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Dutrow Relicensed In New York

Richard E. Dutrow, Jr., the GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer whose history of racing infractions resulted in a 10-year license revocation in New York for a period that recently concluded last month, on Monday was granted a trainer's license by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC).

The announcement was read into the record during the regularly scheduled Feb. 27 NYSGC meeting without commentary by commissioners.

“The former New York State Racing and Wagering Board revoked the Thoroughbred trainer's license of Richard E. Dutrow, Jr., on Oct. 12, 2011, imposing ineligibility to apply for any license for 10 years and [fining] him $50,000,” said NYSGC executive director Robert Williams.

“Mr. Dutrow administratively and judicially contested the penalties [that commenced] Jan. 17, 2013. Having already satisfied his fine, Mr. Dutrow's term of revocation ended on Jan. 17, 2023,” Williams said.

“Mr. Dutrow recently applied for a Thoroughbred trainer's license, which was reviewed by the Bureau of Licensing in consultation with the division of racing,” Williams said.

“Review found that Mr. Dutrow satisfied the penalty imposed by the Racing and Wagering Board, and his record is bereft of transgressions during his period of revocation. Accordingly, the bureau has determined to issue a license to Mr. Dutrow to participate in New York horse racing,” Williams said.

Dutrow spent the better part of several decades appealing medication-related penalties in several jurisdictions, and in 2013 he filed a failed federal lawsuit seeking monetary damages and a reinstatement of his licensure.

According to Equibase, Dutrow's trainees earned more than $87 million between 1979 and 2013. His trainees won multiple graded stakes, including the 2008 Kentucky Derby (Big Brown) and two Breeders' Cup races, and he often topped the trainer standings at New York tracks during the 2000s decade.

Dutrow's rap sheet of racing offenses totals at least 75 infractions spread out over multiple jurisdictions. In addition to his troubles with equine medication violations, his sanctions over the decades include multiple penalties for personal drug use, check forgery, falsified applications, failing to report a criminal conviction, plus various license refusals for “moral turpitude,” “evidence of unfitness,” and attempts to “deceive state racing officials.”

This story will be updated.

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