Month: March 2023

Abreu Readying Turf Stakes Contenders For Keeneland, Aqueduct

Trainer Jorge Abreu is enjoying a solid start to his 2023 campaign with a record of 10-3-4 from 34 starts, including an impressive score by John Gunther's Kentucky homebred Howe Street in an 11-furlong optional-claimer on March 5 at Gulfstream Park.

The 4-year-old Honor Code colt closed to finish second in his April debut here before a successful return off the layoff in January traveling one-mile under Jose Ortiz at Gulfstream.

Abreu said Howe Street will make his stakes debut in the 12-furlong Elkhorn (G2) on April 22 at Keeneland.

“I think he's a really nice horse. He ran really well,” Abreu said. “He always looked like a horse that wanted to go farther, but the first time we ran him a mile and he had a tough trip and got beat right on the wire. In his first race back, the only race for him was at a mile and Jose told me after that this horse really wants to go long, he was just starting to get warmed up.”

A number of Abreu runners breezed over the Belmont Park dirt training track this weekend, including Lawrence Goichman's multiple graded-stakes placed New York homebred Runaway Rumour.

The 4-year-old Flintshire mare breezed twice this month at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida before heading north and covering a half-mile in :49.04 Saturday at Belmont.

Runaway Rumour, who was last seen posting a head score over fellow state-breds in the Ticonderoga at Aqueduct, will target the $100,000 Plenty of Grace on April 16 at the Big A spring meet.

“I gave her a little break for the winter. She's had three breezes and I'm going to point her to the Plenty of Grace,” Abreu said.

NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds' multiple graded stakes placed New York-bred Venti Valentine breezed a half-mile in 49.65 Sunday at Belmont in her second work back since winning the one-mile Bay Ridge in December at Aqueduct.

Abreu said Venti Valentine benefitted from some time off at Brandon Rice's RiceHorse Stables Thoroughbred Training Center in Florida.

“We sent her to Brandon Rice for 60 days and she just came back. She put on a little weight and grew. Hopefully, she has a good year,” Abreu said. “She came back and had her second half-mile, so she's a little ways from running, but she's doing really well.”

A long-term target for Venti Valentine, bred by Final Furlong Racing Stable and Maspeth Stable, is the $200,000 Critical Eye Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile test for state-bred fillies and mares on May 29 at Belmont Park.

Lawrence Goichman's multiple graded stakes-placed Irish-bred Star Devine, a 5-year-old Fastnet Rock mare, worked five-eighths in 1:01.90 Saturday in preparation for the Giant's Causeway, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint on April 15 at Keeneland.

“She had a good breeze. She's doing really well right now,” said Abreu.

Star Devine posted a record of 6-1-2-1 last year, completing the campaign with a 1 1/4-length score in the six-furlong Autumn Days here in November. She entered the Autumn Days from a close third in the Franklin (G3) at Keeneland won by Caravel, who exited that effort to win the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1).

Farone Stables' New York-homebred Awesome Native, a 4-year-old Practical Joke colt, won his first two starts here against fellow state-breds, graduating in December ahead of a 6 1/4-length allowance score in a seven-furlong sprint on January 14 over a good main track.

Last out, on February 19 in a one-mile state-bred optional-claimer, he contested the pace from the inside post before fading to fifth in a race won by the stakes-placed Overstep with Ouster, who garnered a 100 Beyer here in an optional-claiming win Saturday, finishing second.

“I think being on the inside, stretching out and being close to the pace got him beat. He got tired at the eighth pole,” Abreu said.

Awesome Native breezed back a half-mile in 49.25 on March 10 and put in a sharp half-mile in 48.11 this morning.

“Last week, he worked just OK and got a little tired in the gallop out. But today he breezed really well. He went out in 1:01 with a strong gallop out,” Abreu said.

While Awesome Native is likely to target an allowance event, another option could be the $100,000 Affirmed Success, a six-furlong state-bred sprint on April 30 at Aqueduct.

“I'll work him next week again and if he worked like he did today, I'll probably point him for that,” Abreu said. “If not, I'll keep him in an allowance race. He's a young horse and he's lightly raced.”

The post Abreu Readying Turf Stakes Contenders For Keeneland, Aqueduct appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Cox-Trained Instant Coffee Morning-Line Favorite Among Dozen For Louisiana Derby

Gold Square LLC's Instant Coffee was tabbed the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the  $1-million Twinspires Louisiana Derby (G2) Saturday at Fair Grounds.

One of three entrants trained by Brad Cox, the Bolt d'Oro colt won the 1 1/16 mile Lecomte (G3) Jan. 12 at the New Orleans track in his 3-year-old bow and only start this year. He capped his juvenile campaign with victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs. Luis Saez has the call and will ride Instant Coffee from post 2 in the 12-horse field.

The 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby is a qualifying event of the Kentucky Derby (G1), with the top five finishers receiving points on a 100-40-30-20-10 scale toward eligibility for the Louisville classic May 6.

Cox will also send out Risen Star (G2) fourth-place finisher Tapit's Conquest, 10-1, who will break from post 9 with Manny Franco, and Gunner Runner winner Jace's Road, 20-1, who will start from post 11 with Florent Geroux.

Cox and Geroux teamed to win the 2020 edition of the Louisiana Derby with Wells Bayou. Geroux took the 2016 edition with Gun Runner.

Among the chief rivals for Instant Coffee is the Todd Pletcher-trained Kingsbarns, who is undefeated in two starts for Spendthrift Farm and will be making his stakes debut. The Uncle Mo colt won a maiden special weight Jan. 14 at Gulfstream Park and an allowance-optional claiming event Feb. 12 at Tampa Bay Downs. At 6-1 on the morning line, he will start from post 6 with Flavien Prat.

Pletcher has won the Louisiana Derby four times: Noble Indy in 2015, Revolutionary in 2013, Mission Impazible in 2010, and Circular Quay in 2007.

Trainer Ken McPeek's Risen Star runner-up Sun Thunder, a son of leading sire Into Mischief owned by R.T Racing Stable and Cypress Creek Equine, was fourth in the Southwest (G3) Jan. 28 at Oaklawn where he broke his maiden Dec. 31, his lone win from four outings. Tabbed at 5-1, he will start from post 4 with Brian Hernandez Jr., who won the Louisiana Derby in 2017 with Girvin. McPeek, who captured the 2002 edition with Repent, will also send out Lecomte fourth-place finisher Denington, 12-1.

Trainer Steve Asmussen also has four Louisiana Derby wins and has two entrants this year, both maiden winners: Disarm, 10-1, and Shopper's Revenge, 12-1. Disarm will be ridden by Joel Rosario, who has won the last two editions of the Louisiana Derby, including last year for Asmussen on eventual champion 3-year-old male Epicenter. Asmussen also sent out Louisiana Derby winners Gun Runner in 2017, Pyro in 2008, and Fifty Stars in 2001.

The field for the Louisiana Derby, in post-position order with jockey and morning-line odds:

  1. Shopper's Revenger, Ricardo Santana Jr., 12-1
  2. Instant Coffee, Luis Saez, 2-1
  3. Curly Jack, Edgar Morales, 12-1
  4. Sun Thunder, Brian Hernandez Jr., 5-1
  5. Disarm, Joel Rosario, 10-1
  6. Kingsbarns, Flavien Prat, 6-1
  7. Cagliostro, Cristian Torres, 12-1
  8. Single Ruler, David Cohen, 15-1
  9. Tapit's Conquest, Manny Franco, 10-1
  10. Denington, Junior Alvarado, 12-1
  11. Jace's Road, Florent Geroux 12-1
  12. Baseline Beater, Corey Laneire, 20-1

The post Cox-Trained Instant Coffee Morning-Line Favorite Among Dozen For Louisiana Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Week In Review: A Wayne Lukas Renaissance

As Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas entered his mid-eighties, his longevity and his persistence became one of racing's best feel-good stories. A trainer who belongs in the conversation as one of the best of all time, he was still out there every day, physically active, mentally sharp. There didn't seem to be anything stopping him.

But there was a missing ingredient. Lukas, now 87, simply wasn't winning many races, especially important ones. Lukas won the 2018 GII Risen Star S. with Bravazo (Awesome Again) on Feb. 17, 2018. He didn't win another graded stakes until Secret Oath (Arrogate) won the GIII Honeybee S. on Feb. 16, 2022, nearly four years after Bravazo's win. From 2018 through 2021, he won just 69 races and his winning percentage was just 10.8%. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. There just weren't many owners willing to trust their horses to a trainer in his mid-eighties. The days of having Eugene Klein, William T. Young. Bob and Beverly Lewis and so many other top owners were long gone.

At his age, Lukas appeared destined to spend the rest of his days with a relatively small stable with the kind of horses that might give him an allowance win here or there. Counting him out seemed like a safe bet. Only it wasn't.

When Last Samurai (Malibu Moon) won Saturday's GIII Essex H. at Oaklawn Lukas picked up his third graded stakes win on the year. He also won the GIII Razorback H. with Last Samurai and the GII Azeri S. with Secret Oath. It's early but both look like Eclipse Award candidates. He has not had an Eclipse Award winner since Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) was named champion 2-year-old filly in 2014.

He may not be the Wayne Lukas of the mid-eighties when he dominated the sport. What he is is relevant again.

A lot of this has to do with Secret Oath, who put Lukas back in the spotlight last year and proved that he could still get the job done at the highest level. Her win in the GI Kentucky Oaks was arguably Lukas' biggest win since Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) won the GI Travers S. in 2013. It's not that Lukas remembered how to train. It was that someone-the filly's owners and breeders, Rob and Stacy Mitchell–were willing to give Lukas a chance with a talented horse.

“We've been with him, gosh, 15 or 17 years,” Stacy Mitchell told the TDN's Chris McGrath last year. “He's fair, he's honest, a true gentleman, someone everyone should have the opportunity to sit down and have a coffee with. As he has said, times have changed. Some of his big clients got out of the business, some passed on. Again, he said it himself, people used to love the old guys, now they love the new guys. But a lot of those are people he trained himself. You don't forget how to ride a bicycle, and I don't think you forget how to train a horse. People can say Wayne is back, but in my mind, I don't think he ever went away.”

In mid-summer last year, Willis Horton, who had had several top horses with Lukas over the years, also showed some faith in the Hall of Famer. He made a switch, sending the then 4-year-old Last Samurai from Dallas Stewart to Lukas. (Horton has since passed away and Last Samurai now races for his family). Initially, it looked like Lukas wasn't going to get much out of the horse who lost seven straight after the change in trainers. But Lukas figured something out and Last Samurai is now one of the hottest horses in the sport.

Ask Lukas and he will tell you he's lost nothing off of his fastball.

“Our game is an experience based game,” he said. “There are no how-to books. If you've been at it as long as I have been it becomes a little bit easier. You see things that you can correct. l see things I can do with a horse now that I wouldn't have been aware of when I was in my forties or fifties. The game gets a little easier. Believe it or not, I think it's easier for me now to develop a nice horse than when I was 50 and I had some nice years in that era.”

After all these years, is he still learning?

“If you're in the horse business you are always learning,” Lukas said. “The whole secret to this game is to read the horse. You need to read the horse and figure out what its capabilities are without over doing it. That's where you get in trouble. You think you can develop a horse to a certain level in a certain time frame and when you fail at it you're not going to get the maximum out of the horse. If you can read them and know when to push them and when not to the game can be pretty good.”

Secret Oath is heading to the GI Apple Blossom H., where she'll likely be the favorite. Up next for Last Samurai will likely be the GII Oaklawn H., a race he won last year for Stewart. They're both $1 million races. Lukas also has Caddo River (Hard Spun), who was second in the 2021 GI Arkansas Derby and won a Feb. 25 allowance at Oaklawn, and Major Blue (Flatter), a recent maiden winner at Oaklawn. He's on track to have his best year since 2013.

He'll turn 88 in September. Yes, he's a survivor but this year he's showing that he's something a lot more than just that.

Secretariat | Coglianese

Fifty Years Ago, Secretariat Won His 3-Year-Old Debut

On March 17, 1973, Secretariat made his 3-year-old debut in the GIII Bay Shore S. at Aqueduct. Click here for the replay of the race.

How things have changed. The purse was just $27,750 and the attendance was 32,906. It was the first of his three preps for the GI Kentucky Derby and they would come within a span five weeks, culminating in his defeat in the GI Wood Memorial.

The Bay Shore was not without a dose of controversy. Riding Impecunious, jockey James Moseley claimed foul against Secretariat and rider Ron Turcotte. Secretariat was blocked for much of the race and Turcotte did have to bull his way through horses in the stretch. Trainer Lucien Laurin was not pleased.

“That Moseley,” he said. “He claimed against me in the Garden State, but it turned out that his horse was at fault in that race.”

According to the report in the New York Times, some fans booed when the stewards declared there would be no change in the order of the finish.

“Let them boo,” Penny Tweedy said. “We've won the race.”

But Laurin was pleased with the end result.

“He was wonderful,” he said. “He did everything I expected him to.”

Fifty years after what was the most memorable season in the history of horse racing, it would have been a perfect time for NYRA to announce it had named a stakes races in honor of Big Red. The GI Hopeful S., a race Secretariat won, would have been a perfect candidate. But it was not to be.

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