Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Thursday, June 15
Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Thursday's meetings at Newbury, Nottingham, Kempton, Yarmouth, Haydock and Worcester
Month: June 2023
Jena Antonucci Joins the TDN Writers’ Room
Prior to the running of the GI Belmont S., Jena Antonucci was hardly a household name, even within racing circles. Not anymore. The win she pulled off with Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the Belmont and the story it involved, a female trainer with a small stable and her $35,000 yearling creating history at Belmont Park, has energized an industry that was desperate for some good news.
How did she do it and what did the win mean to her? Those were among the questions we asked her when Antonucci joined the team for this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Antonucci was the Green Group Guest of the Week.
So far as why her story has been such a popular one, Antonucci believes people relate to someone who keeps going in the face of adversity.
“There have been opportunities that I have wanted or that I have been asking for and the answers were no. And no is two letters,” she said. “It doesn't define where you're going and what you're doing. It's a no right now, but it may be a yes later. So handle yourself appropriately. But if you're not happy with what's happening in your space, don't be a victim to that. It's up to you to take ownership of that and to pivot.”
It remains to be seen if the Belmont win will change the course of Antonucci's career and improve the type of horses she gets to train. Whether it does or not, the trainer said she will keep doing things the way she has always done them, focusing on surrounding herself with quality people and doing her best by the horses.
“My focus is to deal with good people,” she said. “When you deal with good people, good things will happen and our focus will never change with that. As for the horses, we're going to do our best to steward the best possible outcomes for the horses that come into our hands. That's always been a core foundation of who I am as a person. I've said it from day one–I'll never train a million horses, but any horse that comes through our hands, we're going to do our absolute best to make responsible decisions and steward the best possible outcomes we can no matter what those outcomes are.”
Antonucci has been on a whirlwind media tour since the Belmont and has been an ambassador for the sport. What is the message she wants to convey about racing?
“That it's amazing and it's full of amazing people,” she said. “I'll talk about the taboo topic and I don't have a problem talking about it. It's breakdowns and fatalities. I very clearly understand that the general public views our industry as [if] we're profiting from horses and we're killing them. That's the thread that we are all trying to navigate and do better with. So if we aren't telling our story and if we aren't sharing with people how we're doing better, whether you want to lean into HISA or not, we have to. We have to and we are. We are doing better and we will continue to do better. It's about setting realistic expectations and educating people on what amazing things happen and what amazing lives these horses have and how much they enrich life for so many people.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, 1/st Racing, WinStar Farm, XBTV, Lane's End and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman reviewed the Belmont and the races on the Belmont undercard and delved into the recent developments involving Linda Rice and Kent Desormeaux.
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Haskell Preview Day: Kingsbarns Leads Field Of Eight In Pegasus Stakes
Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns and recent Long Branch Stakes winner Howgreatisnate head a field of eight 3-year-olds for Saturday's Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park – one of four stakes races on Haskell Preview Day.
The 14-race card features the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes, the Grade 3 Salvator Mile and the Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes, with multiple Grade 1-winner Tribhuvan headlining that field.
The $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, at a mile and a sixteenth, serves as the local prep for the Grade 1, $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes on July 22.
The field from the rail out for the Pegasus Stakes (with trainer and jockey): Classic Catch (Todd Pletcher, Paco Lopez); Moreau (Andrew McKeever, Florent Geroux); No Confession (John McAllen, Pedro Cotto, Jr.); Salute the Stars (Brad Cox, Joel Rosario); Alternate Reality (Chris Englehart, Jacqueline Davis); Subrogate (Jorge Duarte, Jevian Toledo); Howgreatisnate (Elizabeth Dobles, Jairo Rendon) and Kingsbarns (Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez).
The 52nd running of the Eatontown Stakes, at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf for fillies and mares, 3 and up, drew a field of eight as well. The Eatontown Stakes, which carries a purse of $150,000, serves as the prep for the Grade 3, $300,000 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes on the Haskell undercard.
That Eatontown Stakes field from the rail out is as follows: Surprisingly (Shug McGaughey, Paco Lopez); Vergara (Graham Motion, Jorge Ruiz); Consumer Spending (Chad Brown, Samy Camacho); Scotish Star (Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez); Spirit and Glory (Robert Falcone, Jr., Nik Juarez); Malavath (Christophe Clement, Joel Rosario); Katies a Lady (Darien Rodriguez, Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.) and Gina Romantic (Chad Brown, Florent Geroux).
The 76th running of the Salvator Mile, with a purse of $150,000, attracted a field of 10. The Salvator Mile is the prep for the Grade 3 $400,000 Monmouth Cup on the Haskell day undercard.
The field for the Salvator Mile for 3 year olds and up from the rail out: Petulante (Victor Barboza, Jr., Luis Saez); Ridin With Biden (Butch Reid, Paco Lopez); Empty Tomb (Robert Falcone, Jr., Samy Camacho); Far Mo Power (Louis Linder, Dexter Haddock); Bourbon Calling (Antonio Arriaga, Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.); Octane (Carlos David, Jairo Rendon); Trademark (Vicki Oliver, Joel Rosario); Nimitz Class (Bruce Kravets, Jevian Toledo); Artorius (Chad Brown, Florent Geroux) and Bourbonic (Todd Pletcher, Jose Ferrer).
Tribhuvan, who won the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park in 2021, will likely try to repeat in that race as a 7-year-old, making his seasonal debut in the $150,000 Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes at a mile and an eighth on the turf. The Monmouth Stakes is the prep for the United Nations.
Tribhuvan, who also won the Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park in 2022, has not raced since Aug. 27. He was fourth in the United Nations a year ago.
The six-horse field for the Monmouth Stakes from the rail out: Tribhuvan (Chad Brown, Florent Geroux); Never Explain (Shug McGaughey, Luis Saez); Speaking Scout (Graham Motion, Jorge Ruiz); Dynadrive (Thomas Morley, Nik Juarez); Commandeer (James Toner, Paco Lopez) and Catnip (Michael Stidham, Joel Rosario).
First race post time is 12:40 p.m. The four stakes races on the card will go as races 10 through 13, starting with the Pegasus Stakes.
The post Haskell Preview Day: Kingsbarns Leads Field Of Eight In Pegasus Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Blame Colt on Top as Numbers Dip at OBS June
OCALA, FL – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training continued its measured pace Wednesday with figures falling off the auction's record-setting 2022 renewal, while a colt by Blame brought the day's highest bid of $485,000 when selling to bloodstock agent Clay Scherer. The session-topping colt, who was consigned by Wavertree Stables, was one of four to sell for $200,000 or more during the day, bringing the total to reach that mark so far at the sale to seven. Eleven had reached that mark at the same point in the 2022 auction.
Through two sessions of the three-day sale, 410 juveniles have sold for $14,922,600. The average of $36,397 is down 5.1% from the 2022 figure of $38,358–which includes post-sale transactions–and is down 8.9% from the $39,961 close-of-day average from a year ago. The median of $20,000 dipped 13% from last year's final figure and 20% from the end-of-day figure.
The cumulative buy-back rate stood at 21.9% after the fall of the last hammer Wednesday.
At this same point a year ago, with 125 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 22.9%. With 32 additional post-sales transactions, 452 horses had sold for $17,337,600 and the two-day final buy-back rate was 17.1%.
Wavertree Stables, which sold two of Wednesday's top five lots, was the session's leading consignor.
Following a season of polarized results at the 2-year-old sales, the June figures were no surprise to Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne.
“It's not anything we didn't expect,” Dunne said. “For what are perceived to be the top-end horses, there are plenty of people there. For everything else, we are just fighting over scraps. The attendance is probably a little disappointing, but I think that is reflective of small fields and super trainers. It's harder for the smaller trainers to drum up clients, so it makes it even harder for them to come here and buy. A thousand horses is a lot of horses in the June sale. I think they are doing very well to have the clearance rate they have.”
The OBS June sale concludes with a final session beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Scherer Takes the Blame
A colt by Blame (hip 430), who worked a co-bullet quarter-mile in :20 3/5 during last week's under-tack show, will be joining the barn of trainer Brad Cox after bloodstock agent Clay Scherer signed the $485,000 ticket to acquire the youngster on behalf of an undisclosed client Wednesday at OBS.
“He was a big, strong colt who worked fast, did everything like you want to see here and he acted fresh every day,” Scherer said of the juvenile's appeal.
The dark bay colt is out of Soul Spirit (Quality Road), a daughter of multiple Grade I-placed Soul Search and a half-sister to graded winner Journey Home (War Front). He was purchased by Ciaran Dunne for $210,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale and was making his first trip through the sales ring this year with Dunne's Wavertree Stables consignment.
“He's big, tall and long legged,” Dunne said following the colt's bullet breeze last week. “He looks like a horse who will go two turns easily. So the fact that he has that speed makes you think he's going to be very dangerous going long.”
Of the colt's yearling price tag, Dunne admitted, “It did seem like a lot, but he was a beautiful yearling. The trend at the 2-year-old market is that they want big, two-turn horses and if you can get a horse like him who looks like he'll go long to show the kind of speed he showed, then you're going to get paid, more so than with the ready-made spring 2-year-old types. So it was a lot of money for him, but he was a beautiful horse.”
Scherer said the June sale has become an increasingly reliable source of good horses, pointing to 2021 graduate and multiple graded winner Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) who won Saturday's GII Santa Margarita S. at Santa Anita.
“Every year, people have been putting good horses in June and good horses have come out of June every year,” he said. “Adare Manor just ran off the screen. There is always a good one here.”
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