February, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Prince Abama Upstages Favored Stablemate In San Marcos As Prat Signals Slump Is Over

Although his stablemate Masteroffoxhounds appeared to have Sunday's $200,000 San Marcos Stakes (G3) wrapped up, Irish-bred Prince Abama burst upon the scene in the shadow of the wire to prevail by a neck as Flavien Prat hoped to serve notice that his horrendous personal slump this winter at Santa Anita is history.

Trained by Phil D'Amato, Prince Abama, a 5-year-old Tamayuz gelding, got 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.42 on firm turf.

Midpack while under restraint and about three lengths off pacesetter Evan Harlan three furlongs from home, Prince Abama rallied five-deep through the lane and was up just in time as Prat notched his second stakes win and his eighth overall victory of the 18-day meet, with his first stakes win coming in Saturday's 10th and final race, the Thunder Road Stakes (G3).

“It is always great to get some winners,” said Prat. “I can't thank Phil enough for his support. He has been a great supporter of mine and I really appreciate it. I had a good trip, turning for home I had all my chances. I thought Masteroffoxhounds was going to be opening up and I was not going to be able to catch him, but my horse was really brave and (he) laid it down and did the job.”

Most recently fourth in the opening day San Gabriel Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles on turf Dec. 26, Prince Abama was off at 5-1 in a field of 10 older horses and paid $12.60 for the win.

Owned by Michael House, Prince Abama registered his second graded stakes win, and with the winner's share of $120,000, his earnings increased to $459,553 while he improved his overall race record to 4-4-1 from 12 starts.

“He's a very consistent horse, he fires,” D'Amato said of Prince Abama, who was produced by the Mr. Greeley mare Abama Lady. “Last time he kind of got stuck on the inside and Flavien jumped off of him and said, 'I didn't give him my ideal trip.' This time he made it a point to get him in the clear. I thought Masteroffoxhounds was home free, but Flavien laid it down and Prince Abama got the job done.

“He was slowly making up ground late, but Masteroffoxhounds was in full flight, I thought it was going to be really close and he just got the job done late.”

Masteroffoxhounds, who tracked the leader in second position to the quarter pole, took charge straightening for home, opened up a two-length advantage with a sixteenth of a mile to run and just missed in a huge effort.

Ridden by Umberto Rispoli, Masteroffoxhounds was the 3-1 favorite and finished a half length in front of Opry.

Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Opry finished a neck better than D'Amato's Say the Word. D'Amato's fourth runner, French-bred Cash Equity, checked in last in the field of 1-.

Fractions on the race were :23.62, ;48.49, 1:14, and 1:37.61.

The post Prince Abama Upstages Favored Stablemate In San Marcos As Prat Signals Slump Is Over appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Santa Anita To Race Feb. 24 As Makeup Day

Santa Anita will conduct live racing on Friday, Feb. 24, which was originally scheduled to be a dark day.

First post time will be at 12:30 p.m. (PT).

The card has been added as a makeup for weather-related cancellations earlier in the Classic Meet.

The post Santa Anita To Race Feb. 24 As Makeup Day appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Hopkins Leaves Rivals ‘Green’ With Envy in Palos Verdes

Hopkins (Quality Road) gave his outstanding Lane's End-based stallion a sixth 'quality' winner over the course of the last five days, kicking clear late to easily prevail in Sunday's GIII Palos Verdes S. at the Great Race Place.

Nicely away from gate two beneath Juan Hernandez, the $900,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was content to lay second as Straight No Chaser (Speightster)–favored by about $900– drilled the opening couple of furlongs in :21.80. Asked to claim the front-runner as the half went up in a slick :44.10, Hopkins hit the front leaving the three-sixteenths pole and, though unwilling to swap over to his correct lead, kept on well to score in smart time.

“I just played the break and I just watched the other horses,” said Hernandez. “I saw the one [Straight No Chaser] broke really fast, he broke way better than me, and I broke better than the outside horses. So, I just let him go and sat behind him and waited for the quarter pole to ask my horse to go…When I asked him…he picked it up really well and he got the job done.”

Having run a 104 Beyer in defeat on opening day 2021, Hopkins graduated in his second start off a nine-month absence last October and ran back to that effort with a hard-fought allowance win at Del Mar the following month. Sixth to stablemate Country Grammer (Tonalist) when trying a route of ground for the first time in the Dec. 26 GII San Antonio S., he cut back to this trip and was tagged late to drop a head decision when last seen Jan. 15. Hopkins has been given an entry for the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Mar. 25.

Pedigree Notes:

Hopkins is the 68th stakes winner and 33th graded winner for Quality Road and is bred on the same cross over mares by Deputy Minister or Deputy Minister-line mares as Grade I winners Abel Tasman, City of Light and Spring Quality and other graded winners Guest Suite and Long Haul Bay.

John Mayer's Nursery Place purchased Hopkins's stakes-placed dam for $85,000 in foal to Morning Line at the 2015 Keeneland January Sale about four months after the mare's son Saratoga Heater (Temple City) became a stakes winner in New York-bred company. Madaket Stables, a part-owner of Hopkins, is also involved with Hot Spell's 4-year-old son Of a Revolution, a narrowly beaten runner-up in last year's GIII Gallant Bob S. at Parx Racing.

After not producing a live foal for two seasons, Hot Spell dropped a Daredevil filly in 2022 and was put in foal to American Pharoah.

Sunday, Santa Anita Park
PALOS VERDES S.-GIII, $200,500, Santa Anita, 2-5, 4yo/up, 6f, 1:08.80, ft.
1–HOPKINS, 120, h, 5, by Quality Road
          1st Dam: Hot Spell (SP), by Salt Lake
          2nd Dam: Sizzlin' Sara, by Saratoga Six
          3rd Dam: Relasure, by Relaunch
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($900,000
Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket
Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Golconda Stable, Siena
Farm LLC and Robert E. Masterson; B-Nursery Place (KY);
T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez. $120,000. Lifetime Record:
7-3-3-0, $244,700. *1/2 to Of a Revolution (Maclean's Music),
MGSP, $218,280; 1/2 to Saratoga Heater (Temple City), SW,
$396,078. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report &
5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style
pedigree.
2–Radical Right, 120, g, 4, First Samurai–Emily, by Sky Mesa.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($42,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP;
$260,000 3yo '22 FTIDEC). O-Tom Kagele; B-Richard Shultz (KY);
T-Peter Miller. $40,000.
3–Straight No Chaser, 120, c, 4, Speightster–Margarita Friday,
by Johannesburg. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($110,000 2yo '21 EASMAY). O-MyRacehorse; B-John Eaton &
Steve Laymon (KY); T-Dan Blacker. $24,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1HF, 1. Odds: 2.10, 6.00, 2.10.
Also Ran: Howbeit, McLaren Vale, Escape Route.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO,
sponsored by TVG.

The post Hopkins Leaves Rivals ‘Green’ With Envy in Palos Verdes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Camacho Might Be Hard To Catch In Tampa Bay Jockeys’ Race

Samy Camacho doesn't want to look too far ahead. For now, his sights are set on staying strong and healthy and winning the Tampa Bay Downs jockeys title for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

But with a substantial lead from Pablo Morales in the standings approaching the midway point of the meet (51-32 through Sunday's action), the 34-year-old Venezuelan is already thinking about adding more hardware to his trophy case in the summer.

“I went to Monmouth Park for the first time last year and finished (tied for) third, but I didn't win for anybody from New Jersey,” Camacho said. “The Jersey-bred program is very important up there, so I'm trying to open my lead here as much as I can because Gulfstream starts their (spring-summer meet) in April, and I'd like to try to win a title there this year.

“But if (Morales) gets closer, I'll stay here and go to Monmouth, because I don't want to let him beat me.”

Camacho failed to win Sunday, a day after riding three winners and finishing third in both stakes races: on Marketsegmentation for trainer Chad Brown in the Endeavour (G3) and on Golden Alchemist for Brown in the Tampa Bay Stakes (G3).

Under the direction of his agent, Mike Moran, Camacho has ridden the most horses at the meet – 218 – and his fitness and ability, along with Moran's knack for finding quality mounts, has him well ahead of the rest of the Oldsmar colony with a 23.4 win percentage.

“I keep learning something new every day, and I think that is why I'm doing better and winning more races,” Camacho said.

Morales, meanwhile, continues to close in on 2,500 career victories, moving within four Sunday by winning two races on the turf. He captured the fourth race aboard Original for owner Eric Fein and trainer John P. Terranova II and added the ninth and final race on Slime Queen, a 6-year-old mare owned by Charles D. Nielson and trained by Jon Arnett.

The post Camacho Might Be Hard To Catch In Tampa Bay Jockeys’ Race appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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