July, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pipit Vanquishes Males In Victoria Stakes At Woodbine

Pipit and jockey Patrick Husbands took the $125,000 Victoria Stakes for 2-year-olds on Sunday at Woodbine in impressive fashion.

A late vet scratch of Got's Got It left this field with only four runners for the 5 1/2-furlong contest, and Pipit was the only filly in the field.

After an even start, favorite Mattingly had the inside lead with Yacht Boy close behind. Ron Potts trained Going Up trailed five lengths behind in the third, and Pipit rated in fourth under Patrick Husbands.

At the quarter, Going Up and Pipit closed the gap, as Pipit moved into third from the outside. It was then a battle between Mattingly, Pipit, and Going Up, with Yacht Boy a length behind in fourth. Down the stretch Pipit surged to the front from the outside, taking the win by four lengths. Mattingly held on for second, a half-length in front of Going Up in third. Yacht Boy was fourth to complete the order of finish.

The final time was 1:03:60 on the Tapeta.

Trainer Kevin Attard is familiar with having a filly beat the boys in a stakes race, with 2022 Horse of the Year Moira having accomplished the feat in last year's Queen's Plate. Pipit and Moira also share the ownership group of X Men Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, and SF Racing LLC.

“I was a little disappointed with her first start. I thought she was good enough to win her first time out. She kind of opened up a good lead and got loafing,” Attard said. “We came back and experimented with the blinkers. I thought she breezed well, so I thought we would give it a go today.”

Pipit paid $5.60 to win. She entered Sunday's contest off a runner-up finish in her debut in a five-furlong maiden special weight race June 3 at Woodbine but made amends with aplomb in the Victoria with Patrick Husbands aboard for the first time..

Husbands let the Quality Road filly get comfortable in the early going.

“She was a little bit confused with the blinkers, she was like, 'What is this on my face', so it took about 10 strides to get her going,” Husbands said. “She got in the race, then I had to give her a breather so she could get a second wind and she just exploded.”

Pipit, who is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Browse, was bred in Kentucky by Gage Hill Stables and W. S. Farish. Offered by Farish's Lane's End, she sold to X-Men Racing for $75,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The post Pipit Vanquishes Males In Victoria Stakes At Woodbine appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Daring Do Zips Past Favorite To Earn First Stakes Victory In Ellis Park’s Pea Patch

Lael Stables' homebred Daring Do recorded the first stakes win of her young career when she powered past favored American Apple in midstretch to win Sunday's $100,000 Pea Patch Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Ellis Park.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Daring Do completed 5½ furlongs on the firm turf in 1:01.82 under jockey Walter Rodriguez.

Daring Do broke well but was then relegated to fourth when American Apple made a bold rush at the rail to lead the field through a sharp opening quarter-mile in :21.15. Around the far turn, Rodriguez remained patient at the rail saving ground while American Apple boldly completed a half-mile in :44.17. Just outside the eighth pole, Daring Do was positioned to the outside of American Apple and easily powered past for a one-length victory.

Twice as Sweet closed from seventh to complete the exacta while a tiring American Apple held third.

A daughter of Into Mischief, Daring Do tallied $59,140 for her victory in the Pea Patch. The win was her third from five career starts. Daring Do's overall earnings stand at $184,275.

Daring Do was produced by the Blame mare More'n Likely.

The post Daring Do Zips Past Favorite To Earn First Stakes Victory In Ellis Park’s Pea Patch appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Former KY Derby Starter Long Range Toddy Scores For New Connections, Halts 29-Race Winless Skid

Long Range Toddy, a prominent contender on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in 2019, exerted his back class to capture Sunday's Race 8 feature at Gulfstream Park, visiting a winner's circle for the first time since he won the 2019 Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park.

Making his first start for Zenith Stable and trainer Victor Barboza Jr., the 7-year-old son of Take Charge Indy stalked the early pace before drawing clear by 2¼ lengths under Emisael Jaramillo. Long Range Toddy boosted his career earnings over $1.2 million while running seven furlongs in 1:22.47 in his first start since finishing off the board in the April 8 Commonwealth (G2) at Keeneland for owner/breeder Willis Horton Racing LLC and trainer Dallas Stewart.

“The horse came into my barn three months ago, but I waited to give confidence to the horse. It was a good race for the horse,” Barboza said. “I was impressed. The next time, he'll run in a stake. I don't know if it will be at Gulfstream or somewhere else.”

Long Range Toddy ($6.80), who finished 16th in the 2019 Kentucky Derby (G1), has been graded-placed multiple times since his Rebel score but had been unable to break through with a win in 29 subsequent starts.

The post Former KY Derby Starter Long Range Toddy Scores For New Connections, Halts 29-Race Winless Skid appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Long Range Toddy, Footnote from Controversial ’19 Derby, Wins for First Time in Four Years

When Long Range Toddy (Take Charge Indy) won the eighth race at Gulfstream Park Sunday, the 7-year-old put to rest a losing streak that dated back to before the controversial 2019 GI Kentucky Derby, a race in which he earned historical footnote status by being the horse who was fouled in the only disqualification of a Derby winner for an in-race incident.

Long Range Toddy's 2 1/4-length score in a seven-furlong allowance/optional claimer July 16 was his first victory since Mar. 16, 2019, when he took a division of that year's split GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn Park, two prep races prior to his brush with infamy in the Kentucky Derby.

Despite his win drought being ended, another remarkable aspect of Long Range Toddy's career remains intact: Although he flirted with favoritism before Sunday's race went off, he closed as the 2.4-1 second choice. Amazingly, this means that despite bankrolling more than $1.2 million in earnings in a career that now spans 37 starts all up and down the class structure, the betting public has never once sent off Long Range Toddy as the favorite in the wagering.

How many other equine millionaires can claim that feat? TDN is not sure, because such esoteric stats aren't easy to verify (although we'd welcome input from readers with better memories or access to a more robust database).

For a large chunk of his career Long Range Toddy was campaigned by his breeder, Willis Horton. Owner Zenith Racing acquired him in the spring of 2022. In a trainer switch on Sunday, he started for the first time for conditioner Victor Barboza, Jr. The winning rider was Emisael Jaramillo. It was lifetime win number five Long Range Toddy.

In the 2019 Kentucky Derby, Long Range Toddy was a 54-1 long shot already beginning to fade on the far turn when he was forced to check sharply as part of chain-reaction crowding that the Churchill Downs stewards deemed to have been caused by first-across-the-wire Maximum Security.

After 22 agonizing minutes of examining replays, the stewards took the win away from Maximum Security, placing him behind Long Range Toddy, who ended up 17th under the wire. Country House was declared the official winner of the Derby via DQ. The connections of Maximum Security sued in federal court to get the result overturned, but the DQ stood.

As fate would have it, this past week actually turned out to be newsworthy for the only three remaining active alums of that bizarre 2019 Derby.

On July 12, Gray Magician (Graydar), who finished 19th and last in the 2019 Derby, won a $20,000 claiming sprint at Canterbury Park by 3 1/2 lengths as the 9-10 favorite. He's been claimed five times and has had six different trainers while racing at 15 different tracks globally, from Meydan to Arizona Downs. His lifetime record now stands at 5-for-41 with $921,460 in earnings for current owner Kirk Sutherland and trainer Jose Silva, Jr.

Also on Sunday, just hours before Long Range Toddy's win, the connections of Tax (Arch), who crossed the wire 15th in the 2019 Derby, announced the retirement of the 7-year-old, who most recently ran second in the Mar. 11 GIII Challenger S. at Tampa Bay Downs. Tax retires at 5-for-19 and with $1,102,190 in earnings. He was owned in partnership by R.A. Hill Stable and trainer Danny Gargan.

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