Month: September 2023

A strong performance from second-out maiden winner Private Desire on Saturday at Belmont at the Big A will likely warrant an effort at stakes level, with the bay Constitution colt being a potential candidate for either the $500,000 Champagne (G1) on October 7 or the listed $150,000 Nashua on November 5 – both going a one-turn mile for 2-year-olds over the Aqueduct main track. Owned by Stephen Brunetti Jr. – the son of Red Oak Stable owner Stephen Brunetti – and trained by Todd Pletcher, Private Desire was a 1 1/4-length winner of the 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Belmont at the Big A to kick off Saturday's program. There, he broke sharply from his outermost post 7 under Javier Castellano and engaged with post time favorite Hurricane Nelson on the front end. He took command midway down the backstretch with Hurricane Nelson switching to his outside in attempt to re-rally, but Private Desire kicked clear to victory and completed the distance in 1:16.68. The win produced a 94 Beyer Speed Figure. Private Desire, who was bred by Wilbert Tan, was a $350,000 acquisition at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Knockgriffin Farm offered him. He is out of graded stakes-placed Wildcat Heir mare Brahms Cat, who is out of the graded stakes-placed Wildcat Heir mare Brahms Cat. “We're pleased with his effort and with the colt. We've liked him all along,” said Rick Sacco – racing manager for the Brunetti family. “He's a beautiful horse with a beautiful pedigree. When we bought him at Keeneland as a yearling, we paid good money for the horse. I think his pedigree and the way he looks fit the bill.” Private Desire exited a key debut race on July 29 at Saratoga, where he finished fourth behind victorious Seize the Grey – a colt for D. Wayne Lukas who finished fourth in Saturday's Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs – as well as  Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage's half-brother Dornoch and the Chad Brown-trained next-out maiden winner Global Perspective. “His first race at Saratoga was a good race. Lukas' horse won and the second horse is the half to Mage, the third horse of Chad's came back and won. It was a very tough maiden heat at Saratoga,” Sacco said. “Javier got off the horse and said to Todd, 'I really want to ride this horse back.' So he got positive feedback from Javier and our camp always liked him. After his first race, he really put it all together. He put in some very solid breezes and we skipped a race at Saratoga to point for this race. When the form came out, we kind of knew that he was the lone speed of the race. There were some unknown soldiers in there with some high price tags, but this horse has shown all along that he has very good speed.” Sacco commented that Private Desire trained with some of Pletcher's promising 2-year-olds this summer. “It's like playing for the University of Alabama – one All-American after another,” Sacco said of Pletcher's loaded stable. “He put in a string of good breezes and we were very confident going into the race that he would run well based off his first race. What Javier did was pretty remarkable, he took it to that speed horse and dropped over on him. We expected he would engage him and kind of sit off that horse, but we didn't expect him to drop over in front of him and turn it into a sprint after he did that. The gallop out in his race yesterday was extraordinary. We're pleased with everything. It's always a fun time when you have a well-bred 2-year-old in the barn.” Sacco said he will discuss Private Desire's next start with Pletcher. “I'm going to talk to Todd. The Nashua is Breeders' Cup weekend and right now everyone is excited after the big win,” said Sacco. “The Champagne is a little quick back for our liking, but we're going to talk about it.” Sacco went on to talk about Brunetti– a recent graduate at the University of Kentucky, who is slated to carry on his family's legacy. “He's a young guy that's getting into the game. He loves the horse racing business. He's one of the younger generation guys that's getting involved and he wants to carry on the tradition of the Brunetti family in horseracing,” Sacco said. “It was a slight change in the silks. The sleeves have chevrons on them instead of hoops, and the son is going to carry the banner of Red Oak Farm, so the cap had 'ROF' instead of 'ROS' for Red Oak Stable.” The post ‘We’re Going To Talk About It’: Promising Maiden Winner Private Desire Possible For Champagne appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Remington Park Oaks (G3) drew a field of eight, with Merlazza pegged as the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the 1 1/8-mile contest Sunday, Sept. 24 at the Oklahoma City racetrack.

A Don Alberto Stable homebred, Merlazza is trained by Brad Cox and will be ridden by Flavien Prat, who teams with Cox-trained Hit Show in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby (G3) one race later on the track's 10-race card.

Merlazza, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, is seeking her first graded stakes win after finishing fifth in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico in May and then fourth in the Indiana Oaks (G3) at Horseshoe Indianapolis in July. She landed her first stakes victory April 22 in the Valley Of The Vapors at Oaklawn Park.

Cox has never won the Remington Park Oaks but Prat scored in 2021 with Lady Mistify.

Ancient Peace, from the barn of trainer Brian Lynch, is the second morning-line favorite at 5-2 odds. Ancient Peace was second in the Summer Oaks (G2) at Santa Anita in June and then finished 10th over the turf in the San Clemente (G2) at Del Mar in July.

The field for the Remington Park Oaks in post-position order, with (jockey, trainer) and morning-line odds:
1. Perfect Wish (Floyd Wethey Jr., Jayde Gelner) 10-1
2. Merlazza (Flavien Prat, Brad Cox) 2-1 (morning-line favorite)
3. Magic Bubbles (Joel Rosario, Steve Asmussen) 10-1
4. Honor D Lady (Tyler Conner, Saffie Joseph Jr.) 9-2
5. Nomadic Pride (Cristian Torres, Thomas Amoss) 6-1
6. Appropriated Funds (Iram Diego, Jaylan Clary) 8-1
7. Love Tank (David Cabrera, Ray Ashford) 20-1
8. Ancient Peace (Rafael Bejarano, Brian Lynch) 5-2

The post Cox-Trained Merlazza Seeks First Graded Win In Remington Park Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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