May, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Nobals Springs Front-Running Upset In Twin Spires Turf Sprint

Just hours before saddling Two Phil's in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Larry Rivelli and owner Patricia's Hope established some serious momentum on Saturday afternoon when Nobals led every step of the way to win the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs as the longest shot on the board.

The 4-year-old Noble Mission gelding was hustled out of the gate from the inside post under jockey Gerardo Corrales, and after briefly doing battle with Bad Beat Brian, Noble Reflection established himself as Nobals' primary challenger on the outside. Those two ran past the opening quarter in :22.03 seconds with Nobals carrying the advantage by a head.

Nobals and Noble Reflection continued to battle through the turn, and Corrales took advantage of his inside position to put distance on his foe as they passed the quarter pole, and eventually set a half-mile time of :44.48 seconds.

Under right-handed urging from Corrales, Nobals pulled away from the field in the stretch, stretching out as far as 2 1/2 lengths from the rest, but Motorious unraveled a ground-saving move through traffic under jockey Flavien Prat that saw him emerge from the other contenders with momentum to challenge the leader. Motorious made up most of the ground as Nobals approached the wire, but he ultimately finished three-quarters of a length behind the winner. Go Bears Go was the best of the rest in third, 1 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up.

Nobals completed the 5 1/2-furlong race in 1:02.45 over a firm turf course. He paid $78.42 to win with the field's highest odds.

The Twin Spires Turf Sprint was the seventh win in 14 career starts for the well-traveled Nobals, who has competed at eight different tracks over the course of his career. Saturday's race was the first graded victory for the gelding, who had previously won stakes races over the all-weather main tracks at Arlington Park, Turfway Park, and Woodbine.

Nobals' upset score was the first graded win of the year for Corrales, and the second for the owners and trainer, with the first being Two Phil's Derby-securing triumph in the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks in March at Turfway Park.

Nobals was bred in Kentucky by Dr. John A. Chandler, out of the winning Empire Maker mare Pearly Blue. He was purchased for a bargain $3,500 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. His earnings now stand at $725,074.

Quotes supplied by Churchill Downs notes team:

Gerardo Corrales (jockey, Nobals, winner) – “This is a nice horse. He was a runner all the way. Mr. Rivelli (trainer Larry Rivelli) told me that I could do it and he wished me good luck. For me, this is the biggest purse ($500,000) that I've ever won. It's exciting.”

Larry Rivelli (trainer, Nobals, winner) – “We were all coming down, and figured that we would throw him into a race, and see how he'd do. I thought he was going to run good, I wasn't sure if he was going to win. His last race (at Keeneland) was a throwout. He was acting up in the gate and got off to a bad start. I schooled him all week, he didn't act up in the gate all, so I told the kid (Corrales), 'Let's go.' That's the way the horse likes to run. I knew he was going to show up, but I wasn't sure if he could beat this quality. I told the jockey, go no matter what. You go out there and make the lead, and he said, 'Yes, sir'.”

Flavien Prat (jockey, Motorious, second) – “We had a good trip. He broke OK and was traveling well. He made a good kick and for a second I thought I was going to be the winner.”

John Velazquez (jockey, Go Bears Go, third) – “I got a good trip. He broke well and got a good position. I had to wait a little bit at the 3/8th pole with a horse in front of me but when I got through, he ran well to the finish.”

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‘It Was A Little Bittersweet’: Von Hemel Gets First Win Of Oaklawn Meet On Eve Of Father’s Retirement

On the eve of his father's retirement, trainer Kelly Von Hemel notched his first victory of the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting with Ain't Life Grand in Friday's inaugural $150,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes for older horses at 1 1/16 miles.

Ain't Life Grand's victory came one day before trainer Don Von Hemel of Hot Springs retired (Saturday was the final day of the meeting), ending a 67-year career that saw him become a legend in Nebraska and Oaklawn's leading trainer in 1981. Von Hemel, 88, was credited with 2,568 career victories, 57th-highest total in North American history, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization, and captured 10 training titles at the now-defunct Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha, Neb.

“It was a little bittersweet,” Kelly Von Hemel, the youngest of Von Hemel's two training sons, said moments after Ain't Life Grand's victory. “Like I said, the only reason we're here is become of him. He's taught us everything.”

Unleashing a powerful late kick under Martin Garcia, Ain't Life Grand ($22.40) won the Lake Ouachita by two lengths over Frosted Grace. Odds-on favorite Mr. Wireless was a half-length farther back in third. The winning time over a fast track was 1:42.76, just off Last Samurai's meet-best 1:42.19.

Ain't Life Grand was exiting a seventh-place finish in a March 18 allowance race at Oaklawn, which marked the 4-year-old debut for the Iowa-bred son of Not This Time. Von Hemel said he entered Ain't Life Grand in “three or four” subsequent allowance races, but they didn't go, adding the colt needs to stay busy to find his best form.

“Last year, it took three races and this year maybe two, obviously, but there was a long time between the last race,” Von Hemel said. “We got a lot of works in him. He was a little sharper and he was working better.”

A homebred for RPM Thoroughbreds (Ray Shattuck), Ain't Life Grand won for the seventh time in 12 starts to raise his lifetime earnings to $585,624. Ain't Life Grand is a six-time stakes winner. His first five stakes victories were at Prairie Meadows, including the $300,000 Iowa Derby at 1 1/16 miles last summer. Ain't Life Grand will be based again this summer at Prairie Meadows, with the $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) for older horses his major objective, Von Hemel said. The 1 1/8-mile Cornhusker is July 8.

“There's a prep in a month up there,” Von Hemel said. “It will be about $70,000 for an Iowa-bred and about a month later is the Cornhusker. Ray, along with myself, cut his teeth going to Ak-Sar-Ben every day, or every weekend. That would mean a lot if we could both win the Cornhusker.”

Don Von Hemel won the 1983 Cornhusker – the race was run at Ak-Sar-Ben – with Win Stat and again in 2016 at Prairie Meadows with Smack Smack. Kelly Von Hemel's older brother, trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel, won the 1994 Cornhusker at Ak-Sar-Ben with Zeeruler. Ak-Sar-Ben closed in 1995.

Don Von Hemel (444) is the fifth-winningest trainer in Oaklawn history. His final career starter was April 28 at Oaklawn.

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Torres Clinches First Oaklawn Leading Rider Title

Jockey Cristian Torres clinched his first Oaklawn riding title when favored Unifying won Friday's ninth race, a $104,000 allowance sprint for 3-year-old fillies, for trainer Riley Mott.

Unifying ($5) was Torres' third victory on the card and 98th at the 2022-2023 meeting that began Dec. 9.

Francisco Arrieta had 83 victories following the ninth race, but only 14 remaining scheduled mounts at the meeting. The triple also helped Torres ($6,015,200) become the first jockey in Oaklawn history to surpass $6 million in purse earnings at a meet. Torres reached the milestone in the 10th race when Frosted Grace finished second in the inaugural $150,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes for older horses at 1 1/16 miles.

“I feel blessed now,” Torres said Saturday morning. “Since I got here three years ago, I looked at the jockey colony and I thought I could be leading rider. It took time, but finally we got it.”

Named on 13 horses Saturday – 68th day of the meeting – Torres was trying to join Hall of Famer Pat Day as the only riders in Oaklawn history to reach 100 victories in a single season. Day won an Oaklawn-record 137 races in 1986 and reached 100 victories in 1990 and 1991.

Torres, on April 29, set a single-season Oaklawn record for purse earnings ($5,675,541) when Tape to Tape won a $104,000 allowance sprint for older horses. Ricardo Santana Jr. set the previous record ($5,643,023) in 2021. In addition to Unifying, Torres won Friday's fifth race aboard favored Aux Arcs ($5) for trainer Ernie Witt II and the sixth race aboard favored Albizu ($4.20) for trainer Robertino Diodoro and owner Jerry Caroom of Hot Springs. Torres is Diodoro's go-to rider.

“Very bright future,” Diodoro said Saturday morning. “We're not talking about a veteran. If a veteran did this, this is great. But we're not talking about a veteran. We're talking about a 25-year-old. He hasn't been riding for that long. Got all the tools to keep moving up the ladder.”

Torres' career has been ascending since hiring retired-trainer-turned agent Cody Autrey last summer. Torres captured his first career riding title in December at Remington Park and said his “original goal” for the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting was 60 victories, noting David Cabrera and Arrieta shared the 2021-2022 title with 62 victories. Torres reached 60 victories March 16 – Day 43 – and continued to pile up victories and purse earnings. In addition to victories and purse earnings, Torres entered Saturday with meet highs for mounts (476) and stakes victories (six).

“It surpassed more than what I thought,” Torres said. “I'm just going to be honest with you. As I've said before, we were hoping for a good meet. Man, we've been blessed. It's just been a great, great, great meet. I have no words to describe about how I feel because it's been an unbelievable meet.”

A native of Puerto Rico, Torres made his Oaklawn debut in 2021, riding 22 winners, and won 19 races during an injury-shortened 2021-2022 meeting.

Torres recorded her first career victory April 21, 2019, at Gulfstream Park and entered Friday with 517 overall, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Torres will be based at Churchill Downs for the first time this spring and summer.

Diodoro, with Albizu's victory, became just the third trainer in Oaklawn history to reach 60 in a single season, following the late Cole Norman and Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. Diodoro entered Saturday with a 60-54 cushion over Asmussen in the race for leading trainer. Diodoro was seeking his second Oaklawn trainer's title after topping the standings in 2020.

“It's been a good meet,” Diodoro said. “Like I've said, it's a team effort, with the help, assistant and owners. Got a good group of owners.”

Heath and Sheena Campbell of Benton, Ark., entered the final day of the meeting with a 17-16 lead over Caroom in the chase for leading owner. The Campbells had four horses entered Saturday; Caroom had one horse entered. Both owners were seeking their first Oaklawn title. Ten Strike (founding partners Marshall Gramm and Arkansas native Clay Sanders) entered Saturday with 14 victories at the meeting to rank third. Ten Strike had three closing-day entrants.

Diodoro trains for the Campbells and Caroom.

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Zozos Powers To Knicks Go Overnight Victory On Front End

Barry and Joni Butzow's homebred Zozos took the lead out of the gate and held off Kupuna by three-quarters of a length to win the second running of the $175,000 Knicks Go Overnight Stakes for 4-year-olds and up Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, Zozos covered the mile on a fast main track in a stakes-record 1:34.42.

Zozos was fastest out of the gate in the field of 11 and put up fractions of :22.66 and :45.15 with Kneedeepinsnow and Kupuna applying only token pressure.

On the far turn, Kupuna ranged up alongside Zozos, but entering the stretch, Geroux cut the corner and re-established a clear advantage that he carred to the finish.

Zozos is a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Munnings out of the Forestry mare Papa's Forest. The victory was worth $90,500 and increased Zozos' earnings to $412,900 with a record of 5-1-0 from eight career starts.

Zozos returned $9.42, to his backers. Kupuna, ridden by Rey Gutierrez, finished 4 ¾ lengths in front of last year's winner Three Technique, under Rafael Bejarano.

It was another 2 ¾ lengths back to Baby Yoda, who was followed in order by Kneedeepinsnow, Masqueparade, Promise Keeper, Noble Drama, Gulfstream Way, Caddo River and Surly Furious.

KNICKS GO QUOTES

Florent Geroux, jockey, Zozos, winner: “He broke sharp and went right to the lead. And, was able to hold off all the other horses. Pretty simple. Not much technique there.”

Brad Cox, trainer, Zozos, winner: “This has been one of the better races he has run. I was a little concerned about cutting him back in distance to the one turn mile. He's a great horse but I did tell Florent (Geroux) before the race 'break very aggressive with intent' because there were a lot of horses that looked like they wanted to do the same thing. Fortunately he showed up and ran a great race.”

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