May, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Grade 1 Winner Last Call Launches 3-Year-Old Season In Woodbine’s Ruling Angel Stakes

Trainer Kevin Attard sends out Grade 1 winner Last Call in Saturday's $100,000 Ruling Angel Stakes Presented by Ketel One, at Woodbine.

Set for seven furlongs on the Toronto oval Tapeta, the Ruling Angel, for 3-year-old fillies, has attracted eight starters, including last year's Grade 1 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (a Breeders' Cup a “Win and You're In” race) winner Last Call.

A daughter of English Channel-Over Served, the chestnut will make her first start of the season after closing out her rookie campaign with a sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland.

The X-Men Racing 2 LLC and SF Racing LLC sophomore debuted last July at Woodbine finishing second behind eventual Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Cairo Consort in a 6 ½-furlong race over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

After a fourth next time out at seven panels on the same surface, Last Call turned the tables on Cairo Consort and recorded a one-length triumph in the Natalma at 21-1.

A slow start in the Breeders' Cup ended with a solid rally that left her just over a half-length out of third spot.

“Obviously, we were very happy with how she raced last year. She really progressed throughout the season and was impressive in the Natalma. She got off slowly in the Breeders', but I thought she put in a nice run down the lane, and she galloped out well.”

Bred in Kentucky by English Channel Co-Owners & Jodi Cantwell, Last Call will get her first shot at racing on the Tapeta.

“She had a good winter and now we'll get things rolling in the Ruling Angel. I don't think she'll have any problem going from the turf to Tapeta. She's always been a horse that adapts well to any new challenge. Hopefully, she puts in another honest effort.”

Attard, who set several career-best marks in 2022 and finished a close second in the voting as Canada's champion trainer, is pleased with how the filly is heading into Saturday's race.

“We'll see how this race goes and then go from there. We know she loves the turf, and we'll find out how she takes to the Tapeta. Definitely one you love to have in your barn.”

Other starters include U.S. invader Bulsara, multiple stakes winner Collecting Flatter, last year's Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes winner Renegade Rebel, and runner-up Ryder Ryder Ryder (both trained by Mark Casse).

The Ruling Angel is listed as race seven on the 10-race card, with a first post of 1:10 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action through HPIbet.com and the Dark Horse Bets app. Live racing resumes Sunday at 1:10 p.m., highlighted by the running of the King Corrie Stakes.

FIELD FOR THE RULING ANGEL

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Collecting Flatter – Kazushi Kimura – Josie Carroll

2 – Renegade Rebel – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

3 – Dolce Sopresa – Justin Stein – Josie Carroll

4 – Ticker Tape Home (S) – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

5 – Ryder Ryder Ryder – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

6 – Bulsara – Antonio Gallardo – Michael Trombetta

7 – Last Call – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard

8 – Attabe – Sahin Civaci – Josie Carroll

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Justify Colt Claims Fastest Quarter-Mile Work in Timonium Wednesday

TIMONIUM, MD – Four juveniles shared the fastest furlong time of :10 flat, while a colt by Triple Crown winner Justify (hip 322) zipped a bullet quarter-mile in :21 2/5 during the second session of the under-tack show for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds Wednesday.

The first of seven sets opened around 8 a.m. with a brisk tailwind–which prevailed throughout the day–and a bevy of :10 1/5 works before a colt by Bolt d'Oro (hip 287) became the first of the session to hit the :10 flat mark. The dark bay is out of stakes-placed Masasi (More Than Ready), a full-sister to multiple graded winner Custom for Carlos. He is consigned by Raul Reyes's Kings Equine, as agent for his breeder, Spendthrift Farm.

“We expected a professional work,” Reyes said. “We didn't know it was going to be :10 flat, but we knew he would work well.”

The colt RNA'd for $160,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The very next horse to work, a filly by Take Charge Indy (hip 361), equaled the :10 flat time for De Meric Sales, agent. The bay, a full-sister to graded winner Take Charge Paula, was purchased by Tami Bobo and Fernando De Jesus's First Finds for $100,000 as a weanling at the 2021 Keeneland November sale.

The bullet furlong time was equaled again by back-to-back workers in the day's second set. First up, Golden Rock Thoroughbreds sent out a filly by Into Mischief (hip 328, video).

“She's a filly who has shown her quality throughout the whole process,” said Golden Rock's Keiber Rengifo. “From breaking her and seeing her every morning, we expected that she was going to be a really fast filly.”

The juvenile is out of Nefertiti (Speightstown) and is a full-sister to graded stakes winner Engage, who stood his first season at stud at nearby Northview Stallion Station in 2022. She was purchased by Marc Tacher's Elusive Thoroughbreds for $250,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Wednesday's work was the filly's second appearance at an under-tack show this spring. She also worked in :10 flat when consigned by Top Line Sales at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, but did not go through the ring at that auction.

“She had a high hip number and was really late in the sale,” Rengifo said of the decision to scratch from the March sale. “She did a :10 flat with Top Line Sales, but we decided to scratch her and aim her for this dirt track. We expected way more from her on the synthetic, but she just didn't show a lot of speed. We thought we would bring her here to Maryland because it's a completely different surface. As a rider, I have a good opinion of this dirt track and I am a big fan of the Maryland sale. I was working for Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo for five years and we always had a good horse to bring over here and show up on the dirt track like she did this morning.”

Rengifo was aboard for the filly's bullet drill Wednesday.

“I think the track was a little tighter today,” he said. “Yesterday, it was kind of soft. But you still have to have a quality horse to go that fast. I didn't have to use my whip with this filly. She is a medium-sized filly with a big heart. She has galloped out well all through the winter. And today, she did :10 flat and she was rolling all the way out. For me, as a rider, that impressed me even more than the :10 flat.”

A colt by Twirling Candy (hip 249) consigned by Grassroots Training and Sales had the final :10 flat of the day. The bay is out of Lady Mamba (War Front), a half-sister to Grade I-placed Luminance (Tale of the Cat) and multiple graded-placed Stellar Sound (Tapit). His third dam is multiple Grade I winner Versailles Treaty (Danzig), dam of George Vancouver and Saarland. He was a $65,000 purchase by Grassroots at the Keeneland September sale last year.

Wednesday's third set got a jolt when Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds sent out a long-striding son of Justify to work the week's fastest quarter-mile of :21 2/5.

“He's been able to run all year long,” said Randy Hartley. “We don't usually prep very fast, we kind of just show them where to go. But when we prepped him here, I had to catch my kid–and he's a big guy. I don't usually do quarters, but he is a big, tall, two-turn looking horse. The farther he goes, the better he gets.”

Out of the appropriately named My Fast One (Elusive Quality), the bay colt was purchased by Hartley/DeRenzo for $155,000 as a weanling at the 2021 Keeneland November sale. He RNA'd for $185,000 at Keeneland the following September and was sent through the ring again at Fasig-Tipton October where he sold for $175,000.

“We bought him as a baby and we buy all of our weanlings to re-sell as yearlings,” Hartley said. “[At the September sale], Justify hadn't quite hit yet. And he was a tall, gangly horse.”

Of the return to the sales ring in October, Hartley explained, “One of our clients bought into our package. Sonny Stokes, who has passed away now, he owned a piece and he was selling everything. So one of my other clients bought in.”

The under-tack show concludes with a final session beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday. The Midlantic May sale will be held next Monday and Tuesday. Bidding begins each day at 11 a.m.

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Four Tie For Fastest Furlong During Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May’s Second Under-Tack Show

A quartet of juveniles tied for the overall fastest time for an eighth of a mile at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale on Wednesday, each stopping the clock in :10 flat.

Hip 249 is a Twirling Candy colt who is the first foal out of the winning War Front mare Lady Mamba. Consigned by Grassroots Training and Sales, the colt's extended family features Grade 1 winners Versailles Treaty, George Vancouver, Mongolian Groom, General Assembly, Gold Fever, and Boisterous.

Hip 287 is a Bolt d'Oro colt out of the stakes-placed More Than Ready mare Masasi, who is the dam of two winners from three foals to race. Masasi is a full-sister to Grade 3 winner Custom for Carlos. Kings Equine consigns the colt as agent for Spendthrift Farm.

Hip 328 is an Into Mischief filly out of the stakes-placed Speightstown mare Nefertiti, making her a full-sister to Grade 2 winner Engage. Her second dam is the Grade 3 winner Clearly a Queen. Golden Rock Thoroughbreds consigns the filly, as agent.

Hip 361 is a Take Charge Indy filly out of the stakes-placed Songandaprayer mare Perfect Paula, whose eight winners from nine starters includes Grade 3 winner Take Charge Paula and stakes-placed Senna. De Meric Sales consigns the filly, as agent.

Wednesday's under-tack show also saw a new overall fastest time at a quarter-mile, with a Justify colt stopping the clock in :21 2/5 seconds.

Hip 322 is out of the winning Elusive Quality mare My Fast One, who is the dam of three winners from four foals to race. Grade 1 winner Wekiva Springs can be found further down the page of the colt, who is consigned by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, agent.

The under-tack show concludes Thursday, beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern. The auction will take place May 22-23, beginning each day at 11 a.m.

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Remi And Pierre (Peb) Bellocq Join The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

It's not hyperbole to call cartoonist Pierre Bellocq a legend. Since he arrived in the U.S. from his native France in the mid-fifties he spent the next 50-plus years making readers of the old Morning Telegraph and the Daily Racing Form laugh. His cartoons were always creative, witty, thought-provoking and, most importantly, fun. Now 96, Peb lives in Princeton, New Jersey and, if you ask him to do so, he'll crank out a cartoon that is every bit as good as anything he's ever done. We brought in Peb and his son, Remi, who does a weekly cartoon for the TDN to join us this week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. They were this week's Green Group Guests of the Week.

Peb explained how it all began for him, back when he was a young boy in France.

“I always tried to copy from the newspapers,” he said. “When I was a kid I was copying cartoons and it was my ambition to draw. I made albums of a caricature of politicians. I have albums full of those things. I had a great passion for that.”

Because his father was a head lad for a French stable, Bellocq was also interested in racing and capturing the sport through his cartoons. In 1954, John D. Schapiro became aware of Peb's work and brought him in from France to do the art work for the inaugural running of the Washington D.C. International, which would lead to a job with the Morning Telegraph. His accommodations on that first trip over weren't necessarily first class.

“They invited me to come to America, but they were wondering how they could bring me here,” he said. “I found that a friend of mine was putting together a plane in Chicago with four horses that were coming for the Washington, DC International. So, they said, if you want, you can take advantage of that. So I went on as cargo. I was sitting on the hay in cargo with the horses. This is how I came to America. It was absolutely wonderful. And as you know, I ended up here for good.”

At one point in his career, Peb was also doing political cartoons for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Walter Annenberg owned both the Inquirer and the Form. But he sold the Inquirer and the new owners told Peb he had to make a choice, racing cartoons or political cartoons. He chose racing.

“The paper soon got sold from Annenberg to Knight Ridder,” Remi Bellocq said. “He had to make a decision to go for one or the other. I want to point out that had my father decided to stay with the Philadelphia Inquirer, with Knight Ridder, he'd probably have a wall full of Pulitzers at this point. A lot of other cartoonists have said so. That might have been the loss of the political world, but our gain certainly in horse racing.”

The segment also included a contest between the two Bellocqs. Each was asked to draw a cartoon about the 50th anniversary of Secretariat winning the Triple Crown. The two cartoons are shown during the podcast and viewers were invited to vote for their favorite. A random drawing will be held among those voting for the winning cartoon and that person will win the original cartoon. To do so, friend Remi Bellocq on Twitter at @BellocqRemi. On his Twitter page, you can then cast your vote.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, 1/ST Racing, WinStar Farm, XBTV, Lane's End, Three Chimneys and West Point Thoroughbreds, podcast regulars Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley took a look at the GI Preakness S. The consensus was that Mage (Good Magic) will be tough to beat but that he's no lock. With Mage being the only Derby starter to return for the Preakness, the subject of changing the spacing of the Triple Crown races produced a lively debate, with all three arguing that the time has come to make some necessary adjustments and improvements. The reports that Forte (Violence) tested positive following his win in last year's GI Hopeful S. brought about strong condemnation of the New York Times for sensationalizing the story and using the word “doping” in the headline. And everybody was left scratching their heads over the fact that it took more than eight months before the matter was made public.

Click for the video of the latest podcast or the audio-only version.

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