Month: October 2023

Into Mischief’s Timberlake Puts Shows Out in Champagne

Siena Farm and WinStar Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (c, 2, Into Mischief–Pin Up {Ire}, by Lookin At Lucky), a bit of an unlucky second as the favorite in the GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga Sept. 4, got back, ahem, in sync with a stylish score in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Champagne S. at the Big A.

“He ran good,” winning trainer Brad Cox said. “I was very proud of him. He got a good, clean trip today. [Jockey] Florent [Geroux] did a great job. He got away well. We had a bit of a rough trip in the Hopeful. I thought with a little bit of a cleaner run he maybe would have got to the wire first, but that's the way it goes. I'm very proud of the effort today. It was a huge win.”

Cox continued, “You obviously turn your attention to the Breeders' Cup [Juvenile] as it comes up first. We'll get him back to Kentucky and see how he comes out of it and let him tell us if we take a march towards Santa Anita. We'll enjoy this victory and go from there.”

Taking blinkers off for this after getting very eager while racing in tight quarters in the early stages of the Hopeful, the 9-2 chance traveled kindly in an inside fifth this time around as sharp second-out General Partner (Speightstown) sped through an opening quarter in :22.49 over the sloppy going. He set his sights on the pacesetter approaching the quarter pole and rolled down the center in the stretch to win going away by 4 1/4 lengths. General Partner was second; Dancing Groom (Vino Rosso) finished third.

'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), hammered down to 1-2 favoritism off a sensational debut score in the mud at the Spa Aug. 25, lunged at the start, and, after making a bold run at the leader on the far turn, tired in the stretch to finish a well-beaten seventh.

Favored in all three of his previous starts, Timberlake was a well-beaten sixth on debut behind subsequent runaway GII Saratoga Special S. winner Rhyme Schemes (Ghostzapper) at Ellis Park June 15. He romped by 9 1/4 lengths over future GIII Iroquois S. winner West Saratoga (Exaggerator) for 'Rising Star' status at Ellis July 21 prior to his aforementioned runner-up finish at the Spa on Labor Day. Timberlake was scratched out of Saturday's two-turn GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland in favor of this spot going a one-turn mile.

“We talked about it and thought this was a good spot,” WinStar's Elliott Walden said. “The Champagne is a great race, a stallion-making race. We're excited to win it, it's the first time we've ever won it.”

Walden added, “He's accomplished a lot in a short period of time. I think [two turns] will be good, but we'll see. He's a big strong horse with a beautiful pedigree, a two-turn type of pedigree.”

Pedigree Notes:

Timberlake becomes the 18th Grade I winner worldwide for his all-conquering sire. Into Mischief's Practical Joke won this same race in 2016. Lookin At Lucky is now the broodmare sire of six graded/group winners worldwide.

Timberlake's stakes-placed Irish-bred dam is a half-sister to G2 Hardwicke S. and G2 King Edward VII S. hero Thomas Chippendale (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). Timberlake's second dam MG1SP All My Loving (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) is a full-sister to G1 Irish One Thousand Guineas victress and GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf third-place finisher Yesterday (Ire). The winner's dam is also responsible for a yearling colt by Army Mule and a colt by Known Agenda of this year.

Saturday, Belmont The Big A
CHAMPAGNE S.-GI, $500,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-7, 2yo, 1m, 1:35.90, sy.
1–TIMBERLAKE, 122, c, 2, by Into Mischief
           1st Dam: Pin Up (Ire) (SP-Eng), by Lookin At Lucky
           2nd Dam: All My Loving (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
           3rd Dam: Jude (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($350,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Siena Farm LLC and WinStar Farm LLC; B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $375,600. Click for the http://www.werkhorse.com/free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–General Partner, 122, c, 2, Speightstown–Fleeting Humor, by Distorted Humor. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($250,000 Wlg '21 FTKNOV). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey & Speightstown Syndicate (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $100,000.
3–Dancing Groom, 122, c, 2, Vino Rosso–Snow Dancer, by Bernardini. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($37,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $60,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Eduardo Soto; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Antonio Sano. $60,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, 6 1/4, 2HF. Odds: 4.90, 4.50, 37.25.
Also Ran: Gold Sweep, Air Cav, El Grande O, Fierceness, Sweet Soddy J.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Into Mischief’s Timberlake Puts Shows Out in Champagne appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Sizzling Pace Sets Up Arzak’s Stretch Run In Woodford

Sonata Stable's Arzak, ridden by Joel Rosario, benefited from a hot pace in Saturday's Grade 2, $350,000 Woodford Stakes presented by FanDuel, roaring down the stretch to pass European invader Live In The Dream inside the furlong pole to win going away by two lengths.

The 5-year-old son of Not This Time, trained by Michael Trombetta out of the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, covered five furlongs on firm turf in :55.59. He paid $25.66 to win.

Our Shot, co-favorite at 7-2 with Live In The Dream, won a photo for second over Beer Can Man, the two racing as a team through the stretch. Live In The Dream held fourth  – another 1 1/4 lengths back – after setting sizzling fractions of :20.97 for the opening quarter mile and :43.67 for the half. The Irish-bred Live In The Dream came to Keeneland off a one-length win in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York in England on Aug. 25 and has won six of 18 career starts.

Live In the Dream finished a nose ahead of Bad Beat Brian, who was a nose in front of Let My People Go, who nosed out Olympic Runner for sixth. Coppola, Kaufymaker, Kavod, Eye Witness, and Foxtrotanna completed the order of finish.

The win was similar to Arzak's most recent start, an Aug. 23 allowance/optional claimer at Saratoga, in which he got up to win by a head over Coppola. In that race and in the Woodford, Arzak settled into fifth while chasing fast fractions and kicked into gear in the stretch.

In Saturday's Woodford, Rosario saved ground while in fifth – several lengths behind Live In The Dream, who was under some pressure from Foxtrotanna in the run down the backstretch. Rosario swung Arzak wide into the stretch and took dead aim on Live In The Dream, who still had a clear lead with a furlong to run.

Arzak drifted in, engaged Live In The Dream, and put that rival away in the final sixteenth.

“It looked like (they were going very fast up front),” said Rosario. “(Arzak) also has a little speed. On the backside I was farther back than I wanted to be, but it looked like they were really putting a good pace in front of him so I just stayed there and then kicked him on to finish. It was very easy for him (after he kicked into high gear coming down the stretch). I rode him before, and he always tries really, really hard. He's a good horse.”

The Woodford was Arzak's seventh win from 23 career starts and second graded stakes win, the other coming in the G3 Jacques Cartier Stakes over the all-weather track at Woodbine.

Bred in Kentucky by John C. Oxley, Arzak was produced from the Tapit mare, Delightful Melody. He was purchased by Marc Tacher, who races in the name of Sonata Stable, for $575,000 at the 2020 OBS April Sale of 2-year-olds in training.

Adam West, trainer of Live In The Dream, wasn't deterred by his horse's defeat. “Incredibly fast. Very strong headwind today,” West said. “For me anyway, that (performance) would paint the target on him. When we get to Santa Anita (for the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint), (he's) going to be hard to catch. We trained at Keeneland, and I'm very appreciative of (the experience). Everyone's been fantastic, and that's (race from Live In The Dream is) kind of exactly what I wanted to see.”

The post Sizzling Pace Sets Up Arzak’s Stretch Run In Woodford appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Practical Move Doing Well After Friday’s Comeback Win

Trainer Tim Yakteen reported GI Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move (Practical Joke) was in good order the day after winning his return from a nearly six-month layoff on Friday.

“He's in great shape,” Yakteen said Saturday morning.

Returning in an allowance going a mile on dirt, Practical Move stalked a lively pace and then drew off in the stretch to notch a comfortable four-length victory under Ramon Vazquez. The winning time was 1:35.14, which earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form.

Yakteen and Practical Move's owners will now decide whether to move on to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. Practical Move is a candidate for either the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile or the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

The post Practical Move Doing Well After Friday’s Comeback Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Classic Hopeful Arabian Knight Leads Saturday Work Tab

Clairiere (Curlin) and stablemate Gunite (Gun Runner) each had their first works at Santa Anita Saturday for trainer Steve Asmussen while Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) fired a bullet towards the GI Breeders' Cup Classic for trainer Bob Baffert.

 

Also on Saturday, GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hopefuls Anarchist (Distorted Humor) and The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) each worked and Arcangelo (Arrogate), another contender for the Breeders' Cup Classic, returned to the track after working Thursday. Fellow Classic hopeful White Abarrio (Race Day) galloped for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.

Arabian Knight, last-out winner of the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar Sept. 2, blitzed six furlongs in 1:12.60.

Clairiere, bound for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, worked an easy half mile in 51.0 seconds. Gunite, possible for either the Breeders' Cup Sprint or Dirt Mile, went the same distance in 50.2 seconds.

As for Clairiere and Gunite's works, Blasi noted “it was the same thing as we did yesterday. Just giving them a feel for the track. We'll start to pick things up next week.”

The Chosen Vron, winner of the GI Bing Crosby at Del Mar July 29, worked five furlongs on the training track in 1:02.40 for trainer Eric Kruljac.

Anarchist, second to The Chosen Vron in the Bing Crosby, worked five furlongs on the main track in 1:00.00.

Back East, Godolphin's Proxy (Tapit) began the Kentucky phase of his preparation for an expected start in the Classic by working five furlongs in 1:01 for trainer Mike Stidham.

The post Classic Hopeful Arabian Knight Leads Saturday Work Tab appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights