Month: May 2023

Maple Leaf Mel Crowned ‘Miss Preakness’ in Baltimore

BALTIMORE, MD — Despite having done everything right in three prior career starts, Maple Leaf Mel was nonetheless sent off the 8-5 second betting choice in Friday's GIII Miss Preakness S. behind 4-5 choice Key of Life (Mo Town), victorious in the GII Beaumont S. Apr. 16. Unaware of the crowd's leanings, the grey daughter of Cross Traffic led for most of the way and never looked back, rolling home an easy 1 1/2-length winner over the late-closing Topsy.

The grey soon overtook the fast-starting Key of Life and maintained a measured advantage over the favorite through :22.26 and:45.21 splits. In control but drifting out in the stretch, Maple Leaf Mel gave Joel Rosario no anxious moments as she strolled way to an easy, albeit short, winning margin.

“She had a lot of speed,” said Rosario, who has been aboard all four of the grey's starts. “Her break wasn't really fast but she has so much speed. After she got to the lead, she looked around a little bit. And I just let her do her thing and hopefully she had something left turning for home.”

A five-length winner facing Empire-breds in her career debut at the Spa early last August, she followed up with another front-running victory there in the slop in the Seeking the Ante S. a bit more than two weeks later. Packed away for the rest of the season, she returned with another roping 7 3/4-length score in the Mar. 24 East View S. at Aqueduct.

The horse was named for trainer Jeremiah Englehart's assistant Melanie Giddings, who was diagnosed in 2020 with endocervical and ovarian cancer.

“[Owner] Bill [Parcells] named the horse for me…we had built up a friendship,” explained the Canadian native. “He is at the barn every day [in Saratoga during the summer]. He loves the sport. It's nice for him to get this win. He might have been a little nervous today because I did not hear from him. I think everyone can kind of feel a little relief. She is a New York-bred and the other filly [Key of Life] won in Lexington. This is a nice horse. This makes me feel proud because I think so highly of her.”

Pedigree Notes:
With Friday's Miss Preakness victory, Maple Leaf Mel becomes the fourth graded winner for her sire, Cross Traffic, who stands at Spendthrift Farm. Her dam City Gift, winner of a pair of claiming sprints during her abbreviated racing career, previously produced SP Eddie's Gift (El Corredor) and most recently dropped a colt by Brody's Cause in 2021.

Friday, Pimlico
MISS PREAKNESS S. PRESENTED BY CASE TRACTOR-GIII, $150,000, Pimlico, 5-19, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:09.56, ft.
1–MAPLE LEAF MEL, 122, f, 3, by Cross Traffic
1st Dam: City Gift, by City Place
2nd Dam: For My Wife, by Not For Love
3rd Dam: Heavens to Betsy, by Miswaki
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($18,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $150,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-August Dawn Farm; B-Joe Fafone (NY); T-Jeremiah C. Englehart; J-Joel Rosario. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 4-4-0-0, $303,400. *1/2 to Eddie's Gift (El Corredor), SP, $167,950. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Topsy, 118, f, 3, Bee Jersey–Secretariat Humor, by Distorted Humor. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($42,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $225,000 2yo '22 OBSMAR). O-L. William Heiligbrodt, Corinne Heiligbrodt and Jackpot Farm; B-Charles Fipke (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $30,000.
3–L Street Lady, 120, f, 3, Munnings–Lady Gayle, by Scat Daddy. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($125,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL). O-Madaket Stables LLC; B-T & G Farm of Kentucky, LLC (Benson Farm) (KY); T-Brittany T. Russell. $15,000.
Margins: 1HF, 3HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 1.70, 11.20, 48.40.
Also Ran: Afternoon Tea, Key of Life, Bound by Destiny. Scratched: Happy Clouds.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.
VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

 

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Rispoli Finding His Groove At Santa Anita’s Hollywood Meet

After a relatively quiet winter at Santa Anita, jockey Umberto Rispoli has been in a  groove since the start of the inaugural Hollywood Meet April 21 at the Arcadia, Calif., track.

Entering Friday's action, Rispoli has connected at a 30 percent clip (10-for-33) at the stand. Furthermore, Rispoli has bagged five stakes wins in California the past three weekends. On April 29, he won a trio of stakes at Golden Gate for trainer Phil D'Amato. He has since added wins at Santa Anita in the Singletary Stakes May 7 with Mi Hermano Ramon and the Grade 3 San Luis Rey last Saturday with Offlee Naughty.

Rispoli this week noted, “I'm the same person and rider I was Dec. 26,” when the Classic Meet opened, but the recent run of success has been largely due to having the right horses.

“I do the best I can. But like every jockey, you need the right horses and support from the big barns to get where you want to be,” he said.

Rispoli's run of success has largely coincided with the hiring of Matt Nakatani as his agent. They started their business relationship March 9.

“Matt is doing a great job,” Rispoli said. “It's always complicated to pick up the right horses. But he's doing it and I'm driving them to the wire.”

Nakatani is the son of retired jockey Corey Nakatani, who earlier this year was voted into the Racing Hall of Fame. Matt Nakatani described the 34-year-old Rispoli, who has ridden all across the globe, as a “world-class” rider.

“Umberto's a really smart jockey who knows the business inside and out,” Natakani said. “He was his own agent when he rode in Hong Kong. He knows how it works. So we're able to bounce ideas off each other.

“But at the end of the day, it's let me focus on the business and you ride in the afternoon,” Nakatani continued. “That's helped take his mind off what's going on in the morning and I think it's really paid off.”

Through 12 racing days at the Hollywood Meet, Rispoli trails leading rider Juan Hernandez 15-10.  He is booked on five mounts both Friday and Saturday and has three more mounts on Sunday. He'll ride in both stakes this weekend aboard Honey Pants (6-1) in Saturday's Mizdirection Stakes for trainer Phil D'Amato and Acquired Class (6-1) in Sunday's Desert Code for trainer Peter Miller. Both stakes will be run on the hillside turf course.

“Umberto is one of the most competitive people I've ever been around,” Nakatani said. “He reminds me of my father, who I represented for two years when I was starting out. They demand excellence and only want to win. So for Umberto and I, the goal is to compete for leading rider titles and win graded stakes. So far, it's been going as we hoped.”

The post Rispoli Finding His Groove At Santa Anita’s Hollywood Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Tattersalls Cheltenham Posts Gains

The 2023 Tattersalls Cheltenham May Sale, which returned this year to Cheltenham for the first time since 2019, produced a record-breaking turnover of £22,750,500, and an average price of £87,502 for the 260 horses listed as sold. Additionally, Friday's sale posted a strong clearance rate of 97%.

The 4-year-old gelding I See The Sea (Ire) (Affinsea {Ire}) (lot 33), sold by Donnacha Doyle of Monbeg Stables; and 5-year-old Binge Worthy (Ire) (Walk In The Park {Ire}) (lot 13), consigned by trainer Denis Murphy's Ballyboy Stables, each brought £160,000 to lead the sale as co-toppers. I See The Sea was bought by the new training combination of Philip Hobbs and Johnson White. Mouse O'Ryan and trainer Gordon Elliot, acting as agent, signed for Bing Worthy.

“The production of these top-class point-to-pointers and horses-in-training should never be underestimated,” Matt Prior, Tattersalls Head of Sales, said. “We thank all the vendors for their skills and ability at producing these horses to their very best and as hugely exciting ongoing prospects for new connections, who take the horses forward to their full potential.”

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Yuugiri Half-Brother Down To Debut at Niigata

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Kyoto, Niigata and Tokyo Racecourses. The 3-year-old Classics resume this Sunday with the running of the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) at headquarters, led by the very talented Liberty Island (Jpn). Click here for our race preview:

Saturday, May 20, 2023
2nd-KYO, ¥10,480,000 ($76k), Maiden, 3yo, 1400m
LA LA BELLEVIlLE (f, 3, Union Rags–Divine Praises, by Medaglia d'Oro), a $130,000 Keeneland September acquisition, is out of a daughter of the stakes-winning Grand Prayer (Grand Slam), whose six scorers from eight to race include GISW Malibu Prayer (Malibu Moon) and four-time GSW and GISP Valid (Medaglia d'Oro). The February foal is also a half-sister to the same owner's La La Chandon (Street Sense), a three-time winner of better than $262,000 in Japan. B-Three Chimneys Farm LLC (KY)

6th-TOK, ¥14,880,000 ($108k), Allowance, 3yo, 1400m
WORLDS COLLIDE (c, 3, War Front–Elizabeth Browning {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) was bet into 8-5 favoritism for his six-furlong debut at Nakayama Apr. 8 and got the job done by three-parts of a length (see below, SC 13). A $400,000 purchase out of the 2020 Keeneland November Sale, the bay is out of an Irish Group 2-winning full-sister to G1SW Johannes Vermeer (Ire), SW Sapa Inca (Ire), MG1SP Wembley (Ire) and SP Covent Garden (Ire). The champion third dam Miletrian (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) won the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot in 2000. B-Lynch Bages Ltd & MacQuarie Bloodstock (KY)

 

 

Sunday, May 21, 2023
3rd-NII, ¥10,480,000 ($76k), Maiden, 3yo, 1800m
MALEFICENT LOVE (f, 3, Arrogate–Highway Mary, by U S Ranger), a half-sister to GI F. E. Kilroe Mile S. winner Hit The Road (More Than Ready), is the latest to the races from a daughter of GII E. P. Taylor S. winner Wandering Star (Red Ransom), the dam of G1SW War Command (War Front) and GSW Naval Officer (Tale of the Cat). This is also the female family of Silver Hawk. B-Fred W Hertrich III (KY)

5th-NII, ¥10,480,000 ($76k), Maiden, 3yo, 2000mT
AIR GRIFFON (c, 3, Air Force Blue–Yuzuru, by Medaglia d'Oro) is the third foal to race out of his dam, a stakes winner for these breeders and trainer Michael Matz, who is also responsible for Yuugiri (Shackleford), last year's GIII Fantasy S. victress and successful in this year's Carousel S. at Oaklawn Park. Yuzuru is a half-sister to Nokaze (Empire Maker), herself the dam of Japanese Group 2 winner Air Almas (Majestic Warrior) and of Air Fanditha (Hat Trick {Jpn}), who doubled his Japanese stakes tally in listed company just last weekend. The female family includes Saint Ballado and the Japanese MGSW and Classic-placed Danon Ballade (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). B-Sekie & Tsunebumi Yoshihara (KY)

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