February, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘We Were A Little Surprised He Won’: Cox Contemplating Next Moves For Risen Star Winner Angel Of Empire

One of three runners for trainer Brad Cox in the Risen Star's field of 14 3-year-olds, Angel of Empire – a Pennsylvania-bred colt from the second crop of the Pioneerof the Nile stallion Classic Empire – was sent off at odds of 13-1 and paid $29.40 to win after covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.47. Angel of Empire moved to the top of the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 54 points after the victory.

“He came out of it in good order,” Cox told Fair Grounds publicity on Monday. “He'll stay here (at Fair Grounds) and we will look at either the Louisiana Derby, Arkansas Derby or Blue Grass with him. We were a little surprised he won. We always thought he would get better with more ground and he did. He should get the 1 /4 miles (of the Kentucky Derby) for sure. We will give him one more opportunity at either 1 1/8 miles or 1 3/16ths (Louisiana Derby). Hopefully that's a positive race as well and then it's on to the Derby (leading points earner with 54).”

Cox's other two Risen Star entrants were fourth-place finisher Tapit's Conquest and beaten 9-5 favorite Victory Formation, who checked in ninth.

On Victory Formation, Cox said: “I don't know what to make of it. He might be a Pat Day Mile type horse, or maybe he just needs the lead. The post the other day (didn't help). We wanted to give him an opportunity to sit off a horse. I don't know if Flavien (jockey Prat) could have even have gotten to the lead. The horses to the inside were pretty intent on getting there. He had to sit off a few and never really traveled up the backside like he was taking him anywhere. He just kind of run even. He came out of it good. He's always been a sound horse. We will come up with a plan in the near future.”

Cox wasn't disappointed with the run by Tapit's Conquest: “I thought he was a winner at the eighth pole, he just kind of leveled off a little bit late. I think he got a good bit out of it. He's still a young horse. He's a Tapit and then usually get better the more they go out there and do it. We will look at the Louisiana Derby with him.”

There are a number of other Triple Crown contenders in Cox's barn, as well. Previous Triple Crown prep races won by Cox include the G3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds with Instant Coffee, the G3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct with Hit Show, and the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds with Jace's Road. Other promising 3-year-olds in the Cox barn are Verifying, Giant Mischief, and Eyeing Clover.

Instant Coffee will make his next start in the Louisiana Derby, Cox confirmed.

“He worked by himself the other day (49.80 on Feb. 18),” the trainer said. “Just wanted to get him back in the swing of things. We weren't looking for much. Went good, galloped out well.”

Hit Show may be poised to target the Wood Memorial, while plans have not been confirmed for the other aforementioned 3-year-olds.

The post ‘We Were A Little Surprised He Won’: Cox Contemplating Next Moves For Risen Star Winner Angel Of Empire appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Steve Asmussen Becomes First Trainer To 10,000 Wins; Milestone Achieved Monday At Oaklawn

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen became North America's all-time winningest trainer on Aug. 7, 2021, passing the late Dale Baird's record of 9,445 with a win at Aqueduct. Just over 18 months later, Asmussen became the first trainer to achieve 10,000 North American victories.

The latest milestone was achieved on Monday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., when Bet He's Ready and jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. scored a 3 3/4-length victory in the day's fifth race.

Asmussen, 57, entered Monday with 832 career victories at Oaklawn (No. 2 all time). The late Bob Holthus (867) is Oaklawn's all-time winningest trainer. Asmussen has collected a record 12 Oaklawn training titles (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2021-2022).

The son of trainers Keith and Marilyn Asmussen, the Hall of Famer started his career as a jockey at age 16, switching to training after growing too large for riding professionally. As a trainer, he won his first race with Victory's Halo at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico in 1986, getting his first stakes race victory with Scout Command in the Bessemer Stakes at the Birmingham Race Course in Birmingham, Ala., the following year. Asmussen's first Grade 1 win came in 1999 with Dreams Gallore in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The trainer steadily grew his stable over the first decade of his career, logging his first 100-win season in 1995. In 2009, Asmussen posted the single-season win record of 650, also winning the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer that year. With a stable that spans multiple racetracks, the Texas native has won races at all levels, from Saratoga to Lone Star Park to Ellis Park and beyond.

In addition to the record as North America's all-time winningest trainer, Asmussen has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer twice (2008, 2009); two of the three Triple Crown classics, the Preakness Stakes (Curlin, 2007, and Rachel Alexandra, 2009) and the Belmont Stakes (Creator, 2016); and eight Breeders' Cup races, including two wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic (Curlin, 2007, and Gun Runner, 2017). He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2016.

The post Steve Asmussen Becomes First Trainer To 10,000 Wins; Milestone Achieved Monday At Oaklawn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘He Could Do Just About Anything’: Belmont Stakes Winner Sir Winston Enters A New Frontier At Stud

Ever since he first set foot on the racetrack, Sir Winston's modus operandi has centered around defying expectations.

He was an unorthodox pick for the 2019 Belmont Stakes after his highest career achievement up to that point came over the all-weather Tapeta surface at Woodbine. Then, he won the biggest race of his life.

Owner and breeder Tracy Farmer elected to keep the horse in training long after others in the fraternity of Belmont Stakes winners tend to stick around, and he maintained his form admirably, including a victory in the Grade 3 Valedictory Stakes at Woodbine at age five.

Now that he's entered his first season at stud at Crestwood Farm in Lexington, Ky., Sir Winston's next hurdle isn't one he can outrun, but one he best conquers standing still.

Sir Winston is a son of Awesome Again, out of the Grade 3-winning Afleet Alex mare La Gran Bailadora. Awesome Again and Afleet Alex both stood about 16 hands tall, and for all the tales a person can spin about how Northern Dancer revolutionized the breed at a diminutive 15.2 hands tall, the modern commercial market can struggle to wrap its mind around a stallion prospect that lacks scope.

Crestwood's Marc McLean had the same reservations when Farmer approached the stallion operation about standing Sir Winston, putting two and two together with his pedigree. Then, he got a look at the horse in the flesh, and those concerns disappeared.

“That was going to be our first question – is he a squatty horse?” McLean said. “Because you see Afleet Alex and you see Awesome Again, and he's not that. He's 16.2 (hands tall) with size and scope, and he's got a lot of leg.”

McLean said it was common for breeders to have the same preconceived notions of what they thought Sir Winston would look like before they booked their visits, then need to change their playbook once the horse exited his stall. Sir Winston is about as leggy as they come for a son of Awesome Again, and he's got a solid foot under him. McLean said he could work with that.

“In this market, that's what people want,” McLean said. “That's nice that you get that ahead of time. You can breed a decent-sized mare to him, and not get a shrimp.”

The deal to stand Sir Winston came together rather quickly, with Farmer contacting Crestwood around the time of last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Farmer, who keeps about 15 mares at his Shadowlawn Farm in Midway, Ky., in addition to his successful racing stable, had sent mares to be bred to Crestwood stallions in the past, but McLean said that was about as far as their professional relationship went before standing Sir Winston.

“He just asked if we'd be interested, and we said, 'absolutely,'” McLean said. “Then, we went and sat down and hammered it out. We were thrilled that he came to us.”

Sir Winston won six of 20 starts during his on-track career with trainer Mark Casse, and he earned $1,277,623.

The Belmont Stakes is obviously Sir Winston's biggest triumph, but the remainder of his resume helps give depth to his resume. Each of his six wins, and all five of his additional career placings, came at a mile or longer. He won the Display Stakes at Woodbine as a 2-year-old after finishing third in the G3 Grey Stakes, and he added to his dirt credentials with a runner-up effort behind Global Campaign prior to his classic score, and another second-place finish in the Flat Out Stakes at the same track a year later.

Sir Winston continued to run at a high level at age four, highlighted by a hard-fought half-length score in the G3 Valedictory Stakes at Woodbine in what would be his penultimate start.

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As one of the final racetrack stars sired by the late Awesome Again, Sir Winston joins a shrinking fraternity of his sons at stud in Kentucky. Calumet Farm has a pair of them in Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow and Bravazo, WinStar Farm stands Paynter, and Hill 'n' Dale Farms has Horse of the Year Ghostzapper.

Ghostzapper is the obvious standout among that group, but Paynter sired 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go, Oxbow sired Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie, and Bravazo will see his first 2-year-olds hit the track in 2024.

Despite those accomplishments, McLean said there was still plenty of room for Sir Winston to add to the legacy of the Awesome Again sire line.

“I don't know that [Awesome Again] gets the respect that he should still be getting,” he said. “You look at Ghostzapper, and he's still got top horses, and he's a great broodmare sire. Hopefully [Sir Winston's] the next one that will carry it on, and he's got the female family to do it.”

That female family includes Grade 3-placed stakes-winning second dam Affirmed Dancer and Canadian champion third dam Woolloomooloo. Italian 2,000 Guineas winner Southern Arrow can be found further down the page.

McLean said Crestwood had purchased mares during the November mixed sales to support Sir Winston, and Farmer would be backing up the stallion with his own mares.

As for what might work best with the Belmont winner, McLean suggested Sir Winston has the makings of a multi-tool stallion.

“You could put a nice speedy type into him, as far as a body type, a short coupled, muscular type, and he's going to stretch it out and make it taller,” he said. “I think you could go in pretty much any direction since he's a medium-sized horse. With the mares we're picking out of our own, we thought he could do about anything.

“We'll go with a middle-aged mare that's been a good producer that we know gets good-looking babies, and some younger mares that are just joining the broodmare program,” McLean continued. “We like mares with deep families. We like to see sisters producing, so that's something that we like keying in on.”

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‘Getting Closer To Where He Needs To Be’: Repo Rocks Brings Three-Race Win Streak Into Stymie

Double B Racing Stables' Repo Rocks brings a three-race win streak into Saturday's $125,000 Stymie, a one-turn mile for older horses at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Repo Rocks is undefeated in three starts since joining the barn of trainer Jamie Ness, posting increasing Beyer Speed Figures for scores at Parx Racing in the Let's Give Thanks [96] in November and Blitzen [97] on January 4 ahead of a lofty 111 when making the grade in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Toboggan on January 28.

Repo Rocks, piloted by Andrew Wolfsont throughout the streak, settled in third position in the Toboggan as Pirate Rick led Little Vic through splits of 22.86 seconds and 45.76 over the fast main track. Wolfsont angled his charge three-wide at the quarter-pole and took command at the three-sixteenths en route to a dominant 8 1/2-length score at odds of 10-1 in a final time of 1:23.42.

“It was a great effort. Did I think he'd run that good – no,” said Ness. “But I really liked him in that race. I have a lot of good horses here and he'd been working like a horse that could run that number, and he did. He backed up his training. Yes, I was surprised at the margin of victory, but I wasn't surprised by the win. That's what he showed me in the morning and he's shown no indication since that it will drop off.”

The 5-year-old Tapiture gelding enjoyed a productive 2022 campaign with a record of 11-2-2-2 that included a second in the Grade 3 Toboggan and a third in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap, both at the Big A, while in the care of trainer Juan Vazquez. He made seven starts for conditioner Gregory DiPrima from April through October before joining Ness.

Repo Rocks worked a bullet half-mile solo under Wolfsont in 47.46 on February 11 over the Parx main track in his first breeze back. He followed up this morning at Parx with a half-mile effort in 47.31.

Ness said he is hopeful that Repo Rocks can match up his career-best Beyer.

“Andrew got off him and said that's the fastest horse he ever worked, and I said to him that a 111 Beyer is the fastest horse I've ever ran, so I know what you mean,” Ness said of the penultimate work. “That's a big number and a lot of times you bounce off of that, but we gave him plenty of time and he's doing great. I expect a similar effort on Saturday if everything goes right.”

Ness said Repo Rocks should appreciate added ground with a good result in the Stymie potentially setting up bigger races down the road.

“We pushed to seven-eighths last time and a mile this time. We're getting closer to where he needs to be. Let's do it once and then we'll see if he can do it again,” Ness said.

Repo Rocks, assigned a field-high 124 pounds, will exit post 3 under Wolfsont, who has won with 3-of-6 stakes mounts at Aqueduct, including Sunday's Maddie May aboard Cairo Sugar [$57.50] and the 2021 Artie Schiller with Mandate [$91.50.]

Bred in Virginia by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, III, Repo Rocks is out of the Not For Love mare Hawaiian Love. He boasts a 32-7-6-6 record and $570,871 in earnings.

Calumet Farm's Kentucky homebred Bourbonic [post 1, Dylan Davis] will hope a pace battle develops for his trademark closing kick.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 5-year-old son of Bernardini rose to prominence with a last-to-first head score at odds of 72-1 in the 2021 Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at the Big A.

He went on to finish 13th in that year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, making the final start of his sophomore season with a distant seventh in the Queens County on December 19, 2021 at Aqueduct in his first start without blinkers since early in his 2-year-old campaign.

Bourbonic was off for nearly one full calendar year, returning to action on December 3 at the Big A with a closing fourth in an optional-claimer here ahead of another fourth in the Queens County – both outings with Kendrick Carmouche up.

He added blinkers for a rallying optional-claiming score under Dylan Davis in a one-mile optional-claimer on February 5 at the Big A that garnered a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure, besting an in-form Sheriff Bianco by a half-length.

Byron Hughes, Pletcher's New York-based assistant, said Carmouche – who is out injured and slated to return on March 3 – suggested the team put blinkers back on Bourbonic.

“We thought that first race back would set him up for the stakes, but he didn't have the blinkers on then,” Hughes said. “Kendrick thought he might benefit from putting the blinkers back on and he was right.”

Bourbonic, out of the graded-stakes winning Afleet Alex mare Dancing Afleet, breezed back a half-mile in 49.77 Friday over the Belmont dirt training track.

“He came out of it good and breezed sharp,” Hughes said. “We're really happy with the way he's doing right now and we're hoping for a big performance from him.”

Pletcher shares the record for most Stymie wins [3] with fellow conditioners Bruce Levine, Gary Contessa and Gasper Moschera. Pletcher's past Stymie winners include Manchurian [2006], Understatement [2010] and Vino Rosso [2019].

Peter Brant and Robert V. LaPenta's multiple graded-stakes placed Miles D [post 6, Manny Franco] has made just two starts since ending his 2021 campaign with a half-length score over Speaker's Corner in the nine-furlong Discovery that November at the Big A. Speaker's Corner exited the Discovery to win three consecutive graded events in 2022, culminating in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, Miles D returned to action last February with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Mineshaft at Fair Grounds and resurfaced on January 28 at Gulfstream Park with a distant seventh in the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper.

Named after the late influential jazz musician Miles Davis, the 5-year-old Curlin bay is out of the unraced Bernardini broodmare Sound the Trumpets. His second dam is multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire My Flag and his third dam is undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign. Miles D was purchased for $470,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Manny Franco, who won this event with Turco Bravo [2016], Sunny Ridge [2017] and Mr. Buff [2021], is one win shy of the Stymie record held by Hall of Famer Jorge Velasquez.

Joseph E. Sutton's multiple stakes-placed Far Mo Power [post 2, Dexter Haddock] crossed the wire first in the Parx Dirt Mile in September, besting multiple Grade 1-winner Mind Control by a neck only to be disqualified and placed second for interference late in the lane.

Trained by Louis Linder, Jr., the 5-year-old Pennsylvania-bred son of Uncle Lino boasts a record of 12-6-3-1 and enters from an open-company allowance win on January 30 at Parx in which last year's Grade 2 Kelso Handicap-winner, Double Crown, finished third.

Rounding out a competitive field are the multiple stakes-placed Tough Tickets [post 5, Ruben Silvera] for conditioner Harold Wyner; and five-time winner Black Belt [post 4, Eric Cancel] for trainer Peter Walder.

The Stymie is slated as Race 8 on Saturday's nine-race card, which also features the $100,000 Gander in Race 3. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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