Month: July 2023

It was a big day at Ellis Park for trainer Greg Foley on Saturday. He won the $225,000 Kelly's Landing Stakes with million-dollar-earner Bango, an 11-10 favorite owned by Tamaroak Partners. That horse was expected to win. Foley capped off the day at the Henderson, Ky., track with a 46-1 upset of the Grade 2, $400,000 Wise Dan Stakes with Stitched. Not many people saw that one coming, despite the late addition of Flavien Prat in the saddle.

Stitched, a 4-year-old Mizzen Mast colt bred in Kentucky by Nathan McCauley and owned by McCauley in partnership with Michael Olszewski and William J. Minton, rallied wide around the final turn and into the stretch to win the 1 1/16-mile Wise Dan in a shocker by a neck. Get Smokin, who set all the fractions, gave way stubbornly down the stretch and held second by one length as the 4-1 second choice ahead of even-money Set Piece, who was last early and made a belated rally to be third. Completing the order of finish were Hozier, Camp Hope, Harlan Estate, Kittansett, Play Action Pass, Tut's Revenge, and Cowboy Justice.

Stitched, winning for the sixth time in 13 starts, paid a whopping $94.50 after completing the 1 1/16 miles on good turf in 1:40.97

Ten older horses lined up for the Wise Dan, one of six stakes on the program that was originally scheduled to be staged at Churchill Downs but moved to Ellis Park over safety concerns at the Louisville oval.

“It was a big day for sure,” Foley said. “Those are two nice horses.”

Stitched, who broke his maiden carrying a $30,000 claiming tag in January 2022, won a pair of non-graded stakes later in the year before finishing off the board in his graded stakes debut Sept. 10 in the G2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Stitched finished seventh behind crack sprinter Caravel in his 2023 debut in the G2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland, then was fifth in the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 4, beaten three lengths. He then threw in a clunker, getting beaten nearly 15 lengths in an allowance/optional claiming race on June 1 that was meant to be a confidence builder.

“His first two races (in 2023) were good races,” Foley said. “His last race was not. We were disappointed.”

Foley secured the services of Prat earlier in the day.

“The horse went into the race great,” said Foley. “He looked like a million bucks, and we were lucky to get Flavien.”

He added that Stitched “shouldn't have been those kind of odds.”

Prat put Stitched in fourth position early, just a few lengths behind the free-running Get Smokin, who set fractions of :24.44, :48.10, 1:11.76 and 1:34.95 for the first mile. He made a four-wide move into the stretch, had a length to make up at the furlong pole, but was up in time for the win.

 

 

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Highly regarded Fort Bragg secured his breakthrough graded stakes victory Saturday, outdueling a game Saudi Crown in the stretch drive to win the 105th running of the $200,000 Dwyer (G3) for 3-year-olds going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

Fort Bragg was initially targeting the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on the June 10 Belmont Stakes (G1)undercard, but was scratched from the seven-furlong test when he developed a fever. The bay son of Tapit was immediately rerouted to Saturday's test and he did not disappoint as the 3-5 favorite, staving off a resurgent Saudi Crown, the 8-5 second choice, to win by a nose for trainer Bob Baffert.

Breaking from post 5 under John Velazquez, Fort Bragg was in the clear in third down the backstretch, sitting 2 1/2 lengths off the early foot of Saudi Crown, who led the six-horse field through an opening quarter mile in :22.47 over the fast main track with Harrodsburg tracking a close second.

Fort Bragg advanced into second position around the far turn through a half-mile in :44.63 and matched strides with Saudi Crown in upper stretch as the well-backed pair separated themselves from the rest. Fort Bragg garnered a head advantage at the stretch call, while Saudi Crown put up one last fight in the final furlong. But Fort Bragg had enough to keep his foe at bay, winning in a final time of 1:35.37.

It was 11 lengths back to third-place finisher Harrodsburg, followed by Joey Freshwater, Alternate Reality and Prove Right.

Fort Bragg added blinkers for the Dwyer, which Velazquez said made a noticeable difference.

“He was pretty professional today,” Velazquez said. “I talked to Bob and he's been a horse that gets to kind of looking around and not really paying attention. With the blinkers today, he was pretty professional. I've got to say that he was pretty easy to handle. When I put half a length in front of the other horse, I'm thinking I was going to win easy, and all of a sudden the horse stayed there and I can't put him away. But I did. It was a good effort.”

Velazquez admitted that the stretch run was harder than he anticipated.

“I thought at the quarter pole I was going to win pretty easy,” Velazquez said. “I put a half-length in front of him [Saudi Crown] and the other horse kept fighting. I kind of hung a little bit, but the other horse kept running. I was like, 'Hey! Don't let him come back at you, pay attention!'”

Fort Bragg entered the Dwyer from a close second in the one-turn Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on Churchill Downs' May 6 Kentucky Derby undercard. He remained at Belmont after being withdrawn from the Woody Stephens and breezed twice over Big Sandy under the watchful eyes of trainer John Terranova and his wife and assistant, Tonja.

“A big shout out to the Terranovas who looked after the horse for me and saddled him today,” Baffert said.

Baffert said Fort Bragg demonstrated marked improvement in the Dwyer.

“He's just figuring it out,” said Baffert, who captured previous editions of the Dwyer with Roman Ruler [2005] and Forestry [1999]. “His last race was huge at Churchill. He just got away bad that day or he probably would have won the race. I think he's getting it all together. They went fast today. He went against a really nice horse and they just laid it down, but class always prevails. It was a good race with two good horses.”

A third-out maiden winner in November going two turns at Santa Anita, Fort Bragg was a distant third in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity the following month before finishing fifth in a pair of two-turn preps on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail. But Baffert has not ruled out another future two-turn engagement in a race like the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course.

“I'll leave that door open. We have some other ones, too,” Baffert said. “We still have the Preakness (G1) winner [National Treasure], don't forget about him. But certainly, we'll have some good horses in all those stakes races up there.”

Fort Bragg is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.

Bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock and Henry Field Bloodstock, Fort Bragg is out of the stakes-winning New York-bred Shanghai Bobby mare March X Press. He was purchased for $700,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, where Bedouin Bloodstock consigned him.

Javier Castellano, aboard Saudi Crown, was gallant in defeat but said the outcome could have been different had the Brad Cox trainee drawn an outside post.

“He broke so well and I suspected the other horse outside [Harrodsburg] could go to the lead as well. But he didn't and my horse broke so well out of the gate and he dictated the pace,” Castellano said. “I just took over the flow – I think the track is a little fast, but these are really good horses. The way he did it was very easy, nice and comfortable. Johnny was right there every single step of the way and I tried to open by one, two [lengths] and let him feel comfortable. But he chased me every single step and I think the two best horses showed up and put on a good show. I'm not disappointed and I'm looking forward to more in the future.”

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Eight fillies and mares were entered, but only three faced the starter after a series of scratches before Saturday's Grade 2 Fleur De Lis Stakes at Ellis Park. Stonestreet Stables' homebred Tapit mare Pauline's Pearl was victorious in the 1 1/8-mile race – one of six stakes on the day that were originally scheduled to be run at Churchill Downs but moved to the Henderson, Ky., track when Churchill Downs officials opted to end their summer meet early after a dozen fatalities raised safety concerns.

Ridden by Joel Rosario for trainer Steve Asmussen, Pauline's Pearl sat just behind her two rivals, Bellamore and A Mo Reay, who battled on the front end for much of the way. Rosario swung Pauline's Pearl to the outside and she wore down the two front-runners in the final furlong to win comfortably by three-quarters of a length in 1:49.59 on a fast track. Bellamore held second by a neck, but stewards lit the inquiry sign and disqualified the Empire Maker mare for interfering with A Mo Reay down the stretch.

Heartyconstitution, Moon Swag, Music Street, Royal Take Charge and Sou of an Angel were scratched by their trainers.

Pauline's Pearl paid $6.52 as the second choice in the wagering behind 2-5 favorite A Mo Reay. It was the eighth career win from 19 starts for Pauline's Pearl, who won the G1 La Troienne as a 4-year-old in 2022.

The Fleur De Lis winner was produced from the Dixie Union mare, Hot Dixie Chick, winner of the G1 Schuylerville Stakes as a 2-year-old. Hot Dixie Chick was produced by another graded stakes winner, the California-bred Above Perfection.

Pauline's Pearl has done a lot of traveling during her career, which began at Fair Grounds as a 2-year-old. At 3, she raced at Oaklawn, Churchill Downs, Prairie Meadows, Charles Town, Remington Park and Zia Park. She began her 4-year-old campaign at Sam Houston, then raced at Oaklawn and Churchill Downs, then returned to Sam Houston in January of this year to kick off her 5-year-old season, which included a trip to Santa Anita in March for the G1 Beholder. Pauline's Pearl was coming off a sixth-place finish in defense of her title in the La Troienne at Churchill Downs.

 

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After recently celebrating his 75th birthday, trainer Chuck Spina could not be faulted for wanting to slow down a bit. The reality is nothing could be further from the truth.

My Beautiful Belle, overlooked in the wagering despite carrying a two-race winning streak, used a perfect set-up trip to score a 1½-length victory in Saturday's $98,000 Regret Stakes at Monmouth Park, giving Spina his second stakes victory of the meet.

When Mia's Crusade won the Spruce Fir at Monmouth Park on May 20 it marked Spina's first stakes win since 2020.

My Beautiful Belle, sitting fourth off an early three-horse speed duel in the five-horse race for fillies and mare, looped four-wide around the final turn for jockey Jomar Torres and sailed past Oxana for her sixth career win.

The winning time for the six furlongs was 1:09.89.

“She's in excellent form right now,” said Spina, a fixture at Monmouth Park since 1971. “We're going to breed her soon, in January or February, so it was good to get her a stakes win.

“She got the perfect set-up laying fourth behind the speed. She won here last year by 6¾ lengths in 1:09.2 and got an 87 Beyer Speed Figure for that and I thought if she could run back to that she would have a shot here. I thought she would run well so I'm not surprised by this.”

Bred in Pennsylvania by co-owner Joe Ioia, Spina's long-time business partner, My Beautiful Belle return $25.00 to win.

Torres had the 5-year-old Munnings mare watching the duel up front between 3-2 favorite Olivia Darling, 17-10 shot Self Isolation and 2-1 Oxana through an opening quarter in :22.10 and a half in :44.70. Coming off the turn, Torres wheeled her four-wide and she raced past the early front-runners. Oxana held for second, one length ahead of Sweet Willemina.

“She tried hard today,” Torres said of My Beautiful Belle, who is out of the Lawyer Ron m are Winiliscious. “She broke good and we were able to work out a good trip behind the speed dueling in front of us. She is much better off the pace. She broke sharply and we settled in and when I asked her for that one big move around the turn she gave it to me.

“I knew she would run big today. I don't think she has even been better than she is now.”

Spina, who turned 75 on June 28, is coming off a 2022 season that saw him win 16 races – his highest total since 1990 – while setting a personal best with $660,215 in earnings. With partners with Joe and Gayle Ioia, the trio tied for the owner's title a year ago.

Spina has seven wins this year, scoring an upset with 18-1 Raw Power on Monmouth Park's Friday card.

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