Month: April 2023

Practical Move, Mandarin Hero and Skinner, the top three finishers in a thrilling edition of the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) Saturday, were all reported to be doing well Sunday morning by their respective trainers.

Practical Move, the even-money favorite for trainer Tim Yakteen, edged Japanese import Mandarin Hero by a nose in a nail-biting finish to the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby. Both colts earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Yakteen said Practical Move “came out of his race in great shape” Sunday morning. It will now be on to Churchill Downs for Practical Joke colt, where he figures to be among the betting favorites for the 149th Kentucky Derby on May 6.

The Santa Anita Derby was Practical Move's third-straight graded stakes win following previous tallies in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) and  San Felipe (G2) April 8 at Santa Anita. All were with jockey Ramon Vazquez in the irons. For Yakteen, he became the eighth trainer to win consecutive runnings of the Santa Anita Derby. Last year, he won his first with Taiba.

Yakteen said he celebrated the victory Saturday night with dinner at a Pasadena steakhouse.

“Winning one is special. Obviously winning two is even twice as nice,” Yakteen said.

The plan now is for Practical Move to complete his major training at Santa Anita before shipping to Kentucky the week of the race.

“If everything works out, we'd like to stay here and get all our foundation then go in later,” said Yakteen, who also plans to run Reincarnate in the Kentucky Derby.

Practical Move is owned by Leslie A. Amestoy, Jean Pierre Amestoy Jr., and Roger K. Beasley.

As for the immediate future of Mandarin Hero and Skinner, things are a bit more cloudy. Both are currently short on points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, which is limited to 20 starters. Mandarin Hero earned 40 points for the Kentucky Derby with the runner-up finish. That currently ranks 24th on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard. Skinner earned 30 additional points to give him 45 in all, which ranks 21st.

History says there will likely be a defection or two from the top 20 between now and the first Saturday in May. Given that, Skinner's trainer John Shirreffs and a representative from Mandarin Hero's camp both said their colts will be trained as if they're running in the Kentucky Derby.

“Everyone with Mandarin Hero is still very interested in the Kentucky Derby,” said Sean Toriumi of U.S. Equine, who has served as a liaison for the Mandarin Hero camp. “If we don't get in, we'll look at the Preakness. We're not sure what our schedule will be yet as far as how long he'll stay at Santa Anita. But we had a flight booked back to Japan for Tuesday. That's been canceled.”

Saturday's Santa Anita Derby card attracted an on-track crowd 31,289. Total handle was $21,674,564.

The post On To Kentucky Derby For Santa Anita Derby Winner Practical Move; Connections Of Runner-Up Mandarin Hero ‘Still Very Interested’, Cancel Flight Back To Japan appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gary and Mary West's Hit Show came up just shy of victory in the Wood Memorial (G2) for trainer Brad Cox, but ran admirably according to Cox's Belmont Park-based assistant Dustin Dugas.

“He came back great this morning. He had some jostling in the first turn and down the stretch, but he battled on well and it was a good race,” said Dugas. “He ran really well, so I'm happy with him.”

Hit Show, who won the Grade 3 Withers in February at the Big A, rallied from fifth-of-12 under Manny Franco to make up ground with every stride into the stretch of the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial and was set down for the drive to the wire between Dreamlike and the victorious longshot Lord Miles. Hit Show was squeezed and bumped by his two rivals and came up a nose shy of Lord Miles, prompting Franco to lodge an objection against Paco Lopez, the pilot of Lord Miles. An additional stewards' inquiry into the stretch run resulted in no change to the order of finish.

Dugas said Hit Show is scheduled to leave for Churchill Downs on Monday. The son of Candy Ride currently boasts 60 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, good enough to ensure him a place in the starting gate for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6 at the Louisville oval.

Dugas also reported Gold Square's graded stakes-placed Slip Mahoney emerged from the Wood Memorial in good order after he finished a troubled sixth, 7 1/4 lengths behind Lord Miles. The Arrogate colt brushed with rivals into the first turn and steadied sharply heading into the backstretch, tracking along the rail before swinging four-wide in the far turn and putting in a mild bid. He entered the Wood from a game runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Gotham on March 4 at Aqueduct.

“Slip tried to make a mild rally after all that, but he's tiny and that incident in the turn took a lot of wind out of his sails,” said Dugas. “He came back in good shape this morning, but he's pretty tired. We'll regroup and fight another day.”

The post Game Wood Memorial Runner-Up Hit Show To Leave For Churchill Downs Monday To Prepare For Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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