Month: July 2023

Tom Marquand believes Dubai Honour has what it takes to trouble market principals Paddington and Emily Upjohn in Saturday's Coral-Eclipse, with a field reduced to four following the news that Owen Burrows' rising star Anmaat will miss the race with a foot abscess.

Marquand bid farewell to a much-loved ally when his 2021 Coral-Eclipse runner-up Addeybb was retired at the end of last season with three Australian Group 1 wins under his belt, but Dubai Honour is shaping up to be the perfect replacement and has possibly been underestimated in betting for Saturday's Sandown Park Group 1, which is part of the 35-race QIPCO British Champions Series.

The William Haggas-trained 5-year-old had his stable-mate Addeybb four places behind him when runner-up to Sealiway in the 2021 QIPCO Champion Stakes but failed to win last year. Fortunately, Haggas and the team at Somerville Lodge kept faith with him and it has been rewarded already this year by wins in two of the Australian Group 1s which Addeybb won.

Marquand missed the first of those wins while recovering from a shoulder injury he incurred in a hideous fall at Randwick in February, but he was back on board for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes defeat of Australian legend Anamoe, as well as a subsequent third in Hong Kong, and he IS riding at the top of his form, as two recent Royal Ascot wins confirm.

He said: “Dubai Honour never got a clean run at anything last year, whether it was the way the race was run, the ground, or whatever, but he went down to Australia with a very similar profile to Addeybb as he was already on the cusp of being a Group 1 horse. He got his head in front in a Group 1 for the first time in the Ranvet, and then he won easily in the Queen Elizabeth.

“It really hurt missing the Ranvet, especially as the fall was caused by factors that had nothing to do with me. It's one thing when a fall is your own fault, but when it's taken out of your hands like that and it was tough. Proper tough.

“Normally if you get injured in February you wouldn't miss anything, but I missed the Ranvet by only a few days, getting back in five weeks when they had told me to expect eight weeks as an optimistic estimate. I missed another Group 1 as well as I'd also been booked to ride Artorius.”

He added: “Dubai Honour was exceptional in the Queen Elizabeth. We stuck a target on Anamoe, who had won nine Group 1s and looked the one to beat, and everything went to plan the whole way. Anamoe is a beast, and a champion in his own right, so it was no mean feat swinging by a horse like that at the furlong pole.

“Australia was Dubai Honour's new beginning as a Group 1 horse and we are looking forward to his first run back in a Group 1 on home turf. The stiff finish will suit him and it looks as if he might be better going right-handed. It's a tough race, but hopefully he can finish off with a bit of a rattle. And if he can't win this one, he's got nice options through the rest of the year.”

Jamie Spencer, partner of outsider in the field of four, West Wind Blows, has already won a Coral-Eclipse on David Junior in 2006. He appreciates that the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained 4-year-old needs to improve again, but he certainly won't be disgraced judged on his win in the Group 3 win in La Coupe at Longchamp on his first start since being gelded and a subsequent second to Pyledriver in a Hardwicke Stakes which was a Group 1 in all but name.

Spencer, who didn't ride him in La Coupe, said: “He won well in France and it was a good run last time. He's got a bit to find on the ratings in what looks a strong field, but he gets the trip well.

“I didn't intend to make the running at Ascot, and he was better in France when he got a lead, but he was drawn out wide and the pace went out of the race before Swinley Bottom so I let him coast to the front. We have the option of leading, but it would be ideal if somebody else wanted to go on.”

Reflecting on his win on David Junior, who beat a field which included Ouija Board and Notnowcato, he said: “I was very lucky to get on him as we'd already won the Champion Stakes and the Dubai Duty Free when we went for the Eclipse, which was a very good day.

“David Junior needed a fast pace and the tactics worked out well as Brian (Meehan) had bought a pacemaker for him. He took a bit of warming up in his races and he wasn't easy to train, so I don't think people appreciated at the time what a great job Brian did in getting it right in those top races.”

Paddington bids to give Aidan O'Brien a record seventh win in the Coral-Eclipse just six days after his landmark 100th European Classic win with Auguste Rodin in the Irish Derby. O'Brien, who currently shares the Eclipse record with Alec Taylor junior and Sir Michael Stoute, keeps pushing the frontiers and Paddington has strong claims if he stays the longer trip, despite having started the season in a handicap.

He looked good in the Irish 2000 Guineas and even better when beating the QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean impressively at Royal Ascot. In Siyouni, he has the same sire as O'Brien's 2021 Coral-Eclipse winner St Mark's Basilica.

Emily Upjohn, on whom William Buick takes the place of the suspended Frankie Dettori, has not raced over this sort of trip since her runaway win in last year's Musidora Stakes, but she is not short of speed, as she showed when displaying a smart change of gear to beat last year's Irish Derby winner Westover in last month's Coronation Cup.

Interestingly she has been declared to run without the hood she wore when impressing on QIPCO British Champions Day and again at Epsom last time.

Her trainer John Gosden, now in partnership with his son Thady, teamed up with Buick to win his first Coral-Eclipse with Nathaniel in 2012 and has since won the race with Golden Horn, Roaring Lion and Enable.

The post Returning Home After Two Group 1 Wins In Australia, Dubai Honour Could Post Upset In Coral-Eclipse appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Skinner, who has been scratched twice since finishing a close third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby April 8, tops a field of six in the $125,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos Derby.

Restricted to 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles, the Derby – which was known as the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park (1974-2013) – will be run for the 10th time at Los Alamitos Saturday. It will be the last of nine races. Post time is 1 p.m. and approximate post time for the Derby is 5:05 p.m.

Owned by C R K Stable LLC and trained by John Shirreffs, Skinner, a son of Curlin and the Malibu Moon mare Winding Way, was scratched a day before the May 6 Kentucky Derby due to an elevated temperature, then missed the June 4 Affirmed at Santa Anita because Shirreffs reportedly didn't like the way he galloped preparing for the race.

A $510,000 purchase the Ocala Breeders Sale in April of last year, Skinner was defeated by a half-length by Practical Move in the Santa Anita after finishing third in the G2 San Felipe five weeks prior. He's 1-for-6 with earnings of $216,300.

Shirreffs and C R K Stable LLC also entered Smart Mo, a first out winner going one mile May 26. A Mo Town colt out of the Smart Strike mare Vendita, Smart Mo, a 9-1 shot, defeated favored Worcester by a head. The victory was worth $36,600.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Los Alamitos Derby six consecutive years and seven of the last eight, will be represented by Reincarnate.

A gray son of Good Magic and the Scat Daddy mare Allanah owned by a large partnership that includes SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan, Reincarnate has been idle since finishing 13th in the Kentucky Derby.

That's the only time the $775,000 yearling buy has been worse than third in eight career outings. He's won twice – including a 16-1 upset in the Grade III Sham Jan. 8 – and banked $345,650.

Prince Abu Dhabi will ship to Southern California after five starts at Golden Gate Fields for owners Lance and Steve Kimross and trainer Blaine Wright.

A Palace Malice gelding out of the High Chaparral mare American Girl, Prince Abu Dhabi has won four of five and earned $124,200.

All four of his wins came over the Tapeta surface and his lone loss was on turf in the Alcatraz May 28.

Owned by Peter Redekop B.C. Ltd and trained by Peter Miller, Abeliefinthislivin returns to California after a pair of starts at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs.

An Arrogate colt out of the Pulpit mare Half A.P., Abeliefinthislivin has one win in six attempts and a bankroll of $87,950. His win came going six furlongs as the 3-5 favorite March 27 at Santa Anita.

Yellow Brick is a six-start maiden for owner-breeders Ramona and Perry R. Bass II and Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella.

A Quality Road colt out of the More Than Ready mare A Little Bit Sassy, Yellow Brick has four seconds and two thirds and has earned $67,280. He's been the beaten favorite in his last pair, most recently when missing by a head to Act Three May 29.

From inside out, the field for the Los Alamitos Derby: Yellow Brick, Hector Berrios rides, 122 pounds; Reincarnate, Juan Hernandez, 122; Skinner, Mike Smith, 122; Prince Abu Dhabi, Alexander Chavez, 122; Smart Mo, Joe Bravo, 122 and Abeliefinthislivin, Ramon Vazquez, 122.

There will also be a handicapping contest Saturday and the Los Alamitos Racing Association will offer a cash prize and a pair of berths in the 2024 National Thoroughbred Racing Association Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

Cost to enter is $500. Of that amount, $100 will be placed in the contest prize pool with the remaining $400 going towards a live money wagering card.

Tournament races will include the entire card at Los Alamitos with permitted wagers including win, place, show, exactas, trifectas and daily doubles. Each entry must bet at least $50 on a minimum of five races that day, but there is no wagering limit.

The player with the highest bankroll at the end of the day will be declared the winner and the player with the second highest bankroll will be the runner-up.

The winner will receive 50% of the prize pool. The remaining payoffs: 20% (2nd place), 15% (3rd place), 7.5 % (4th place) and 7.5% (Most Money Wagered).

The post Skinner Returns To Action In Saturday’s Los Alamitos Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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