Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Monday, May 29
Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Monday's meetings at Redcar, Windsor, Leicester, and Huntingdon.
Month: May 2023
With The Moonlight Spearheads Newly Arrived Godolphin Trio Gearing Up Graded Stakes At Belmont
The Charlie Appleby-trained triad of Godolphin-owned group winners With The Moonlight, Silver Knott, and Siskany cleared quarantine on Sunday at Belmont Park and enjoyed a light gallop over the dirt training track as they prepare for upcoming starts at the Elmont, New York oval.
Chris Connett, Appleby's traveling assistant, reported all went well with the trio as they exercised around 10:30 a.m. (ET) under sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s. All three horses arrived in New York on Friday.
“I think they were happy to get out of quarantine and see a bit of daylight,” Connett said, with a laugh. “They had a little hack around the track just to stretch their legs and seemed to handle the track nicely. The riders came back with positive feedback and I'm very happy with it.”
The top earner of the three, With The Moonlight, already at graded stakes winner in the U.S., boasts $916,154 in earnings and is possible for either the New York (G1) at 10 furlongs or the Just a Game (G1) at one mile, both over the Belmont green on Friday, June 9. The 4-year-old daughter of Frankel began her season with a pair of Group 2 victories at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai when taking the Cape Verdi and the Balanchine.
She was a hard-trying second to In Italian in the Jenny Wiley (G1) on April 15 at Keeneland and was last seen finishing distant sixth in the Group 2 Howden Dahlia on May 7 over soft Newmarket turf.
“She's a phenomenal filly and has two wins this year,” said Connett. “She ran on the soft ground at Newmarket, which wasn't ideal. She shipped over really well and has filled out into her frame a bit from three to four. She ran some nice races in Dubai this winter and ran a great race down at Keeneland – In Italian is a very nice horse.”
With The Moonlight had a productive American campaign last summer when winning the Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3) in August at Saratoga Race Course, which came between runner-up efforts in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) and the Lake Placid (G2).
Siskany, a 5-year-old son of Dubawi, is targeting the $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup (G2) at two miles over the lawn on Friday, June 9. The bay gelding arrives from a close fifth-place finish in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup on May 19 traveling 1 3/4 miles at York. His lone start at the Belmont Gold Cup distance came two starts back when defeated a neck by multiple group winner Broome in the Dubai Gold Cup (G2) on March 25 at Meydan.
“He ran in Dubai and finished second to a very nice horse in Broome,” said Connett. “His last run wasn't quite as we hoped, but he comes here over a trip he really likes over ground he should really like as well. Fingers crossed. A lot of things can happen [in longer grass races], but he's pretty straightforward and hopefully he can back up to two miles and run a big race.”
The lightly raced Silver Knott will make his second North American start in the $200,000 Pennine Ridge (G2), a nine-furlong turf test for sophomores this Saturday.
The talented son of Lope de Vega made his sophomore debut last out in the 2000 Guineas (G1) on May 6 at Newmarket where he finished an uncharacteristic 11th after attending the pace early and weakening two furlongs from the wire.
He posted a strong juvenile campaign that saw him claim Group 3 victories in the Solario in August at Sandown Park and the Autumn in October at Newmarket before suffering a narrow nose defeat to Victoria Road in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) in November at Keeneland.
“He's taken to it here really well in his second trip to the states,” said Connett. “He wintered well and we'll hopefully see the horse we saw at the Breeders' Cup.”
Out of the multiple group-winning Nathaniel mare God Given, Silver Knott was purchased for 725,000 guineas [$1,035,915] at the 2021 Tattersalls October yearling sale and boasts a 3-1-1 record from seven career starts and $272,676 in total purse earnings.
The post With The Moonlight Spearheads Newly Arrived Godolphin Trio Gearing Up Graded Stakes At Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Pimlico: Six-Figure Carryovers Holiday Monday In Rainbow 6, Jackpot Super High Five
Historic Pimlico Race Course will serve up a special nine-race Memorial Day holiday program Monday featuring six-figure carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $1 Jackpot Super High Five wagers and a stakes-quality feature for 3-year-olds and up.
First race post time is 12:25 p.m. (ET).
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 went unsolved for the 11th straight racing day Sunday, pushing the carryover jackpot to $454,077.75 for Monday. A total of $66,893 was put into the popular multi-race wager Sunday, which began with a carryover of $432,683.12 from Saturday's program.
Multiple tickets with all six winners in Sunday's Rainbow 6 paid $1,395.30.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
Maryland's state-record Rainbow 6 carryover reached $1,435,080.75 over 27 consecutive racing programs before a mandatory payout of $31,028.08 to multiple ticketholders July 4, 2021.
Monday's Rainbow 6 covers Races 4-9, opening with a starter optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up scheduled to sprint five furlongs on the grass. Nine were entered including a pair from trainer Robert Wolfe Jr. – Bourbon Currency, who rallied to be second despite a troubled trip in a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint May 5 at Laurel Park; and Papal Law, a nine-time winner from 49 career starts making his 10-year-old debut off a runner-up finish, beaten a half-length, in a similar spot last October, also at Laurel.
Moshe Mark's stakes winner Honor the Fleet is entered to make his 53rd start in Race 5, a 1 1/16-mile claimer for 3-year-olds and up. The 9-year-old gelding , winner of the 2020 Fire Plug at Laurel and third in Monmouth's Pegasus (G3) in 2017, was claimed out of a 5 ½-length victory April 15 at Laurel and returns to trainer Kieron Magee after running eighth last out May 4. Forloveofcountry, two-for-two lifetime at Pimlico, will be racing first off the claim for trainer Jose Corrales following a front-running 3 ¼-length triumph May 12.
Race 6 is a maiden special weight for horses ages 3, 4 and 5 scheduled for one mile on the grass. The 9-5 program favorite is West Point Thoroughbreds and Maccabee Farm's 3-year-old Collected colt Royal Velvet, a $110,000 yearling purchase trained by Christophe Clement that went winless in two New York starts last year and will race on Lasix for the first time from Post 7 in a field of nine. Among the challengers is Kevin Joy's Occasional Moon, a 3-year-old Malibu Moon gelding making his turf debut after running second in back-to-back starts, beaten a nose in a one-mile maiden claimer May 5 at Laurel.
Seven 3-year-olds and up were entered in Race 7, a six-furlong starter optional claimer sprinting six furlongs on the main track. Top contenders include Air Token, winner of the 2020 Concern and 2021 Maryland Million Sprint at Laurel that has placed in four other stakes, and multiple stakes-placed 7-year-old gelding Youngest of Five.
Trainer Nick Dilodovico will run both Galerio and Grade 2 winner Double Crown, each owned by Built Wright Stables, in Monday's featured Race 8, a stakes-quality third-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles.
Winner of Laurel's 2022 John B. Campbell, 7-year-old gelding Galerio has been third or better in 33 of 39 career starts with 10 wins, finishing second in each of his last three races, beaten less than a length in each of the last two. Favored at 2-1 on the morning line, he will break from Post 1 under jockey Angel Cruz.
Double Crown, 6, drew Post 2 under Horacio Karamanos and stretches back out to two turns off a sixth in a seven-furlong optional claimer May 4 at Churchill Downs. Second to Nimitz Class in the one-mile Harrison Johnson March 18 at Laurel, he sprung a 42-1 upset in the 2022 Kelso (G2), also at one mile, won the 2020 Roar and Carry Back and was third in the Smile Sprint (G3) at Gulfstream Park, and second to Yaupon in the six-furlong Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico.
“Galerio has been knocking at the door for a long time. He's a stakes winner. He's solid. He is a really nice horse,” Dilodovico, the son of Laurel-based trainer Damon Dilodovico, said. “Double Crown is a very nice horse. The race he ran at Churchill was a little disappointing. He won the Kelso and you kind of expect a lot from him. I wonder if the race kind of fell apart. He came to the barn in Maryland maybe a week and a half ago and he's been doing well. I'm really happy with him.
“They're two different kind of horses. Galerio is a little bit more intense, kind of high strung, and Double Crown is way more relaxed. I would love to cut him back, actually. I think he'd be really solid. He's a two or three time stakes winner going short. I'd love to get him back to three-quarters. He's definitely class,” he added. “We also have a good starter [Air Token] in [Monday]. It could be a good weekend. I hope that it pans out.”
Monday's Race 9 finale is a five-furlong claimer for 3-year-olds and up that have never won two races scheduled for the grass. Star Shopping is seeking his first turf win after two seconds and three thirds in nine previous tries, beaten 1 ¼ lengths when third May 11 in his Pimlico debut. Bourbon Ready, a 10 ¼-length maiden optional claimer to open the year Jan. 8 at Gulfstream Park, will be racing first time for trainer Arnaud Delacour after going 1-for-8 for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.
Monday's $1 Jackpot Super High Five carryover stands at $444,608.21 after going unsolved for a sixth straight racing day Saturday. Multiple winning tickets were each worth $4,035.
A total of $46,817 was wagered into the Jackpot Super High Five on top of a $424,711.24 carryover from Saturday. The wager was last hit for a $10,383.50 payout May 14 at Pimlico.
Launched April 1, on opening day of Laurel Park's spring meet, the Jackpot Super High Five takes place in Race 6 every live race day. In the Jackpot Super High 5, the jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with each of the first five finishers in exact order. On days when there is no unique ticket, 50 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with all five finishers while 50 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
If there is no ticket with all five finishers in exact order, the entire pool will be carried over to the next day's Jackpot Super High Five.
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Spirit And Glory Rallies Up Rail To Land Monmouth’s Miss Liberty
After trying three graded stakes races to no avail with Irish-bred Spirit And Glory over the past two years, trainer Robert Falcone Jr., acknowledged it may be time to try again.
Spirit And Glory seemed to earn that opportunity on Sunday at Monmouth Park.
With jockey Nik Juarez sending her up the rail coming out of the final turn, eschewing the popular outside move, Spirit And Glory hooked up with front-running 2-5 favorite Scotish Star and then powered by late to win by three-quarters of a length in the $100,000 Miss Liberty Stakes at the Jersey Shore track.
Spirit And Glory, the 3-1 second choice in the field of six fillies and mares,, flashed under the wire in 1:41.63 for the 1 1/16-mile grass feature.
“I think we're definitely ready to try another graded stakes with her,” said Falcone. “We'll see what happens. I'll let her tell me. She seems to run well fresh so I want to give her a little time.”
With the victory, the fourth in 13 career starts for the 4-year-old daughter of Coatai Glory out of the Invincible Spirit mare Supreme Spirit, Spirit And Glory earned a free entry and start fees to the WinStar Matchmaker Stakes (G3) on the July 22 Haskell Day undercard.
“She's a tough filly and (jockey) Nik Juarez did a good job with her,” said Falcone, who has a string at Monmouth Park for the first time this year. He also keeps a division in New York. “She got a little rank early on and got squeezed a few times but he got her to relax after that and got her into a rhythm. Honestly, I don't think she got the best trip in the world. It looked to me like she got checked a few times and Nik had to stand up on her once and you could see her throw her head in the air. He got her to switch off and relax. Everything after that was good.
“The thing I was most concerned about, since she is a tricky filly, is exactly what happened – I didn't know how she would react if she had to go inside coming out of the final turn instead of going outside. But Nik did what he needed to do to win.”
Paco Lopez, riding the Todd Pletcher-rained Scotish Star, appeared to have things his own way on the front end for the first six furlongs, which he took the field to in 1:12.08. Kalifornia Queen loomed outside going into the final turn with Spirit And Glory beginning to gear up from her stalking trip.
Scotish Star held sway for second, 1½ lengths ahead of Kalifornia Queen.
“With the position I was sitting in down the backstretch (a looming fourth) I had all the confidence in the horse and all the confidence in Robert Falcone bringing the horse ready to the race,” said Juarez. “I was just waiting for a seam to open at the top of the stretch. She found the seam. It was hard-fought through the stretch but she was the best.
“I ended up going inside out of the turn into the stretch because I saw Paco Lopez's horse was having a little trouble staying straight down the backside. I thought if I came to his hip (outside of him) he would float me wide. There was daylight along the rail and she went right through and that was it. She was gritty. As soon as she got head to head with Paco's horse she showed she has a little more heart.”
Bred Dr. Noel Cogan and Patrick Williams, Spirit And Glory ($8.60) is owned by owned by Michael Nentwiq, Michael Dubb, Beast Mode Racing, John Rochfort, and Falcone. The Miss Liberty is the second stakes win for Spirit And Glory, who captured the 2022 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs. Overall, she has a 4-1-1 record from 13 career starts and $277,220 in purse earnings.
The post Spirit And Glory Rallies Up Rail To Land Monmouth’s Miss Liberty appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
