Month: June 2023

Arnmore Thoroughbreds' Poppy Flower remained persistent into the stretch, overtaking five rivals in total and gaining the edge on pacesetter Bubble Rock in the shadow of the wire for a thrilling win by a nose in Friday's Grade 3, $200,000 Intercontinental at six furlongs on the inner turf for older fillies and mares in Friday's concluding race at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Megan Jones, general manager and owner of Arnmore Farms, expressed delight in seeing the Kentucky homebred daughter of Lea and the Excellent Art mare Nisharora make the grade.

“We bred her, and raced the mare so this is very exciting, and this is her first foal so it's really thrilling,” Jones said. “Down the stretch we were cheering for her, but I didn't think she got there. [After they crossed the wire] we stayed sitting and then they showed the replay, and obviously, that was a nice surprise. That was amazing. When Poppy kicks, it's always unbelievable but it just didn't look like she got there, so we are thrilled.”

Poppy Flower, whose lone previous graded stakes appearance was a fifth-place effort in the 2021 Grade 3 Futurity at Belmont, saw Jose Ortiz give her a patient ride, tracking in fifth position as Bubble Rock, under Joel Rosario, led the eight-horse field through the opening quarter mile in 22.29 seconds and the half in 45.61 over firm going.

Out of the turn, Ortiz tipped out Poppy Flower, finding an open lane to the outside in picking off Bay Storm, Amy C and Goin' Good with a strong late surge. Zeroing in on Bubble Rock, Poppy Flower completed the comeback by stopping the clock in 1:08.53.

It marked the first win in three attempts in Poppy Flower's 4-year-old campaign following a third-place effort against optional-claiming company in April at Aqueduct Racetrack and a last-out runner-up finish in the License Fee last month at Belmont for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Bubble Rock finished three-quarters of a length ahead of the Flavien Prat-piloted Amy C for second. The favorite Bay Storm was fourth, with Goin' Good, Clitheroe, Messidor and Sarah Harper completing the order of finish.

“She tried hard and got a great trip,” said Mott, who notched his first career Intercontinental win. “He tipped her out in time, and she got there. I mean, she was rolling. She was going to be a half-length in front a couple of jumps past the wire but I wasn't sure she got there in time. That's a close finish. I wasn't sure she got there. She's one of those fillies that shows up every time, but today was an exceptionally good race.”

Poppy Flower, off at 6-1, returned $15 on a $2 win wager. She improved her career earnings to $505,030 and moved to 4-5-2 in 14 career starts.

“She broke great. I felt like we had a good position,” Ortiz said. “I was following Flavien. When he made his move, I made mine outside of him and luckily we got the bob in the end. You see the form of this mare – she's there every time. There's not a day that she hasn't shown up. I think she'd run on anything. She's just a trier and she gives me confidence. I knew she was going to run great and it's nice to ride a horse you know is going to give you 100 percent. Bill got her doing great and the owner is just great. I'm just so happy for everyone.”

Bubble Rock, trained by Brad Cox, was coming off a win in the License Fee and has finished first or second in each of her last four starts dating to a win in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere in November at Churchill Downs that concluded her 2022 ledger.

“She broke in front nicely with no speed today,” Rosario said. “I was just cruising. I had time to get her inside and she got beat right there on the wire. She ran her race.”

Live racing resumes Saturday at Belmont for the lucrative 13-race Belmont Stakes Day card, featuring nine graded stakes races led by the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets in Race 12. First post is 11:20 a.m. Eastern.

The FOX Sports family of networks will present expansive coverage and analysis of Belmont Stakes Day beginning with America's Day at the Races on FS1 at 11 a.m. Coverage then shifts to FOX, where America's Day at the Belmont and Belmont Day on FOX will air from 3-7:30 p.m. America's Day at the Belmont Stakes will complement the FOX broadcast with parallel coverage geared to the avid and experienced horseplayer from 4-7:30 p.m. on FS1. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

The post Poppy Flower Blooms Late To Win Intercontinental In Final Strides appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Godolphin's British homebred Siskany lived up to his heavy favoritism when pouncing to a two-length victory in Friday's Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup, a two-mile Widener turf test for older horses, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by Charlie Appleby and expertly piloted by William Buick, the bay son of Dubawi made his first trip to America well worth the while in scoring the winner's share of $137,500 and providing Appleby with his second win at Belmont Park in the past month, adding to a triumph with Ottoman Fleet in the Grade 2 Fort Marcy in early May.

“It worked out really well. He's a horse who hasn't had all the luck in the world in his past races,” said Liam O'Rourke, director of studs, stallions & breeding for Darley Europe. “He had a lovely sit today and a lovely ride from William. They went slow early and I think that helped him. He's got a big finishing kick and nothing got in his way. He was resolute to the line. A deserving winner. There's no doubt he improves when he travels.”

Siskany emerged from post 2 and was settled in the middle of the 13-horse field as Tide of the Sea bounded to the front under Katie Davis, racing four lengths ahead of Channel Maker and marking an opening quarter-mile in 24.81 seconds and a half-mile in 51.11 over the firm footing. Buick patiently held Siskany in his mid-pack stalking position passing the stands for the first time and into the second turn before the Trevor McCarthy-piloted L'Imperator, who had broken slowest of all, made a bold move from ninth on the far outside of the field to challenge Tide of the Sea for the lead after one-mile in 1:45.48.

Buick angled Siskany a couple paths from his inside stalking position to ensure racing room mid-way down the backstretch while L'Imperator quickly fizzled out after his ambitious bid. Tide of the Sea was once again in command through the latter part of the stretch and entering the final turn, but clung to a precarious lead as Channel Maker was asked for more from Luis Saez through 1 1/4 miles in 2:11.26.

“I thought getting him into the clear [on the backside] was a sensible thing to do,” Buick said. “He was the best horse in the race and it was an opportunity that arose. Channel Maker took me into the race and to get on the back of him was an obvious move at that point.”

A loaded Siskany loomed large on the outside as Amazing Grace rushed up the inside and took the lead at the top of the lane, but Siskany gained with every stride down the center of the course and came to even terms with his rival just past the eighth pole before kicking clear when shown a right-handed crop by Buick. An inside-rushing British Royalty passed a game Amazing Grace and The Grey Wizard made an impressive late run on the far outside from 11th, but was left with too much to do as Siskany prevailed in a final time of 3:23.94.

The Grey Wizard got up for place honors by a neck over British Royalty with Amazing Grace rounding out the superfecta another half-length back. Cibolian, High Definition, Tide of the Sea, Barbados, Strong Tide, Channel Maker, Tartini, L'Imperator and Cross Border completed the order of finish.

Buick, who rode the Appleby-trained Yibir to a third-place finish in last year's Grade 1 Man o' War here, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to return to Belmont this year.

“It's great to win at Belmont,” Buick said. “We came here with Yibir last year and that was a bit frustrating. Like I've said, to be able to come over here and get these rides and opportunities is a real privilege. There are a lot of good riders here who could ride these horses, so I'm very happy I get the call to ride when they come over, especially because we are in the middle of a European season, as well.”

Appleby said Siskany's next start is likely to come back home in the U.K.

“Delighted with him,” said Appleby by phone from Newmarket. “He's a good mile-and-six [furlong] horse [in the U.K.], two-miler [in the U.S.A.]. He's done that well today. Unfortunately, there's nothing left for him there on the other side of the water, so we will likely bring him back here and then look to Dubai again and hopefully work our way back from a Belmont Gold Cup, again.”

Siskany, who also won the Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy in February at Meydan Racecourse, improved his lifetime record to 18-7-3-3. He returned $3.70 on a $2 win ticket.

Graham Motion, trainer of runner-up The Grey Wizard, expressed pride in the son of Caravaggio when making the step up from a last-out allowance win in April at Keeneland.

“He ran super. I was very pleased with his race,” Motion said. “This was a big step up from his last race, absolutely. It was a good effort. He's very honest this horse. He hasn't done much wrong. I was very pleased with him. The winner is legit.”

Motion added the $135,000 John's Call, a 1 5/8-mile marathon restricted to horses who have not won a Grade 1 or Grade 2 race this year on August 23 at Saratoga Race Course, could be a viable next start.

“Where do we run now? It's possible we may run him at Saratoga, maybe the John's Call or one of the mile-and-a-half races, definitely,” he said.

Live racing resumes Saturday at Belmont for the lucrative 13-race Belmont Stakes Day card, featuring nine graded stakes races led by the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets in Race 12. First post is 11:20 a.m. Eastern.

The FOX Sports family of networks will present expansive coverage and analysis of Belmont Stakes Day beginning with America's Day at the Races on FS1 at 11 a.m. Coverage then shifts to FOX, where America's Day at the Belmont and Belmont Day on FOX will air from 3-7:30 p.m. America's Day at the Belmont Stakes will complement the FOX broadcast with parallel coverage geared to the avid and experienced horseplayer from 4-7:30 p.m. on FS1. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

The post Appleby Strikes Again! Siskany Takes Belmont Gold Cup As Heavy Favorite appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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