December, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fashionably Fab Extends Win Streak In La Prevoyante

Fashionably Fab secured her fourth straight score courtesy of an impressive performance in Saturday's $100,000 La Prevoyante Stakes, at Woodbine.

Trained by Kevin Attard, the Terra Racing Stable homebred arrived at the 1 1/16-mile main track event for Ontario-sired fillies and mares off three consecutive wins, all in stakes events.

Sent off as the 1-2 choice in the five-horse La Prevoyante, Fashionably Fab once again looked stylish in victory.

Patrick Husbands guided the daughter of Silent Name (JPN) out of the Curlin mare Flashy's Legacy to the lead a few steps after the gates opened, but stablemate Strega crossed over from the outside to take control and held a three-length advantage over Fashionably Fab through an opening quarter mile in :25.37.

The Attard duo continued to show the way through a half in :50.32, as Strega's lead narrowed to two lengths over her stablemate. Tito's Calling sat third, followed by My Girl Sky and Talk to Ya Later.

Husbands gave Fashionably Fab her cue heading into the turn for home and the dark bay filly glided up to engage Strega briefly before seizing control and skipping away from her rivals. Ahead by two lengths at the stretch call, Fashionably Fab crossed the wire 2½ lengths clear of Talk to Ya Later, who was a head in front of Tito's Calling. My Girl Sky and Strega rounded out the order of finish.

The final time was 1:45.60 on the all-weather main track.

“She's relaxing off the bat,” said Husbands. “She's the type of horse that likes to be in the race, no fooling around. She showed me by the three-quarter pole, 'I can relax'. She showed that she was the best today.”

It was the seventh win, to go along with two thirds, from 11 lifetime starts for Fashionably Fab. She launched her current win streak with a victory in the Rondeau Bay Stakes on Sept. 12, followed by wins in the Eternal Search Stakes on Oct. 22 and Ashbridges Bay Stakes on Nov. 10.

“We were hoping to see this earlier in the year, when we were heading into the [Woodbine] Oaks, but things didn't go quite so well back then,” said Attard, of the ninth-place result in the country's premier race for Canadian-foaled 3-year-old fillies. “It's just nice to see her turn the corner now and be the filly we had hoped she was going to be.

“It's been a good season,” Attard continued. “I need to thank my staff, the people behind me who do a tremendous job day in and day out. Without them, I wouldn't be here.”

Fashionably Fab finished third in her Sept 2022 debut and then won her next three starts, including the Shady Well Stakes last December.

She paid $3 for Saturday's win.

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Joseph-Trained Pegasus World Cup Candidates Skippylongstocking, O’Connor Breeze

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. supervised Saturday morning workouts at Palm Meadows for his two candidates for the $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).

Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking, who is coming off a third-place finish in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Santa Anita, breezed an easy three furlongs in :39.65. Michael Iavarone and partners' O'Connor, who captured the Fayette (G2) at Keeneland in his most recent start, was timed in :47.90 for a half-mile for a likely start in the Dec. 30 Harlan's Holiday (G3) at Gulfstream.

“That was Skippy's first work back, so he'll be on a weekly workout schedule from now on,” Joseph said. “It was O'Connor's second work. He'll probably run in the Harlan's Holiday. He didn't get a break like Skippy did.”

Skippylongstocking, who won last year's Harlan's Holiday and captured this year's $1-million Charles Town Classic (G2), is scheduled to train up to the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup, in which he finished seventh this year. O'Connor, who finished a fast-closing second behind Skippylongstocking in the Charles Town Classic, finished 11th in the 2023 Pegasus.

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Final Golden Gate Fields Meet Potentially Set For 25% Purse Cut

The overnight purses for Golden Gate Fields' final meet are potentially set for a 25% cut due to a longstanding overpayment of the purse account, according to Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) president and CEO, Bill Nader.

The Bay Area racetrack is scheduled to race from Dec. 26 through June 9, 2024, after which, the facility is set to close permanently.

The purse account, said Nader, is overpaid by some $3.1 million.

“There's a pretty big overpayment that's been building,” said Nader. “They're looking to claw some of it back, but not all of it.”

While the TOC is still in negotiations with 1/ST Racing and Gaming, which operates Golden Gate Fields, about the proposed cuts, such a decrease in overnight purses was a “distinct possibility,” said Nader. He added that further details should be available Tuesday or Wednesday, when the condition book would be issued.

“You can increase and decrease purses pending purse generation at any point in any year, so, they're within their rights,” said Nader, who added that, as an example, Maiden Special Weights would drop from $30,000 to $22,500 under the proposed structure.

“But this thing's blown out to a big number,” he said, of the purse overpayment. “Handle was down in 2023. They haven't really cut purses at all. Frankly, they wanted to cut purses last fall—we told them no, and they didn't.”

Dave Duggan, Golden Gate vice president and general manager, confirmed that the track had been in discussions with the TOC to cut purses there “for quite some time.”

Santa Anita's overnight purses are also scheduled to be cut around 5% for its upcoming Winter/Spring meet, underway Dec. 26, with $2 million cut from the track's stakes schedule, said Nader.

Ed Moger is currently leading trainer at Golden Gate, with around 40 horses stabled there. The anticipated cuts to Golden Gates' purses could lead to some Northern California trainers relocating elsewhere, he said.

Officials for Arizona's Turf Paradise recently announced they hoped to operate a meet there from Jan. 29 through May 4, pending approval from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

If the 25% purse cut is enacted at Golden Gate, “there would probably be some barns that move there,” Moger said, about Turf Paradise, adding that while he would not relocate to Arizona, such a purse decrease could see him shift a significant portion of his horses south to Santa Anita.

“But it's tougher to win a race at Santa Anita,” said Moger. “I'll have to play it by ear.”

When asked about the allure from other tracks to Golden Gate's current trainer colony, Nader suggested that even with a 25% cut, Golden Gate's purses would still compare favorably with Turf Paradise.

The Stronach Group (TSG) announced in July that it was closing Golden Gate Fields at the end of December with the goal of increasing field size and adding another day of racing a week at Santa Anita.

After pushback from industry stakeholders who argued that such an abrupt closure would pose an existential threat to the future of racing in Northern California, TSG officials left the door open to delaying the track's closure another six months. But they appeared to make such a deal incumbent upon a reshaping of the way simulcasting proceeds are allocated in the state.

The rule of thumb is that proceeds from wagers made in the “northern zone” stay in Northern California to pay for purses and operational expenses, while the proceeds from wagers made in the “southern zone” stay in Southern California for the same purposes.

Initially, various stakeholders in Northern California—including representatives of the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF)—voiced resistance to TSG's idea of moving these proceeds south.

In September, however, California lawmakers sought enough buy-in to pass legislation that meant if Golden Gate Fields is not licensed to operate beyond July 1 next year, proceeds from simulcast wagering in the north are funneled south when there is no live racing in the northern half of the state after that date.

When asked about recent turn of events involving Golden Gate Fields, Moger appeared resigned to the situation.

“I've been here for almost 50 years,” said Moger. “I'm not too happy about it.”

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Hot Fudge Makes Quick Turnaround For First Stakes Win In Garland Of Roses

KEM Stables' Hot Fudge notched her third consecutive victory and first stakes score with an off-the-pace rally in Saturday's $120,000 Garland of Roses, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Linda Rice, the 4-year-old daughter of Liam's Map wheeled back on eight days' rest after taking an optional claimer by 3 1/4 lengths first off a six-month layoff on Dec. 1 at Aqueduct, a move that has garnered success for Rice several times in the past year. She sent out last year's Garland of Roses victress Betsy Blue on the heels of a third-place finish in the Go for Wand (G3) just one week prior, and Mommasgottarun to a graded stakes triumph in the Distaff Handicap (G3) in April with five days between starts.

“I've done it before, right,” Rice said of the quick turnaround. “When we gave her the summer off, it wasn't that there was any specific reason other than I just thought she needed it. I gave her all summer and she's been ready to run for a while. She ran a big race and I thought that race would tighten her up. You're always a little apprehensive when you run them back on short rest, but I knew that this filly was doing well enough to do it.”

Ridden to victory by Kendrick Carmouche, Hot Fudge broke cleanly from the outermost post 5 as Headland showed early speed before being overtaken by Olga Isabel, who quickly ducked in from post 3 and established inside position to mark an opening quarter-mile in :21.94 over the fast main track.

Hot Fudge raced in third behind the top pair down the backstretch and was angled wide by Carmouche into the turn to set her sights on the lead as the Trevor McCarthy-piloted Kant Hurry Love came under a ride from fourth and followed the run of Hot Fudge. Olga Isabel gave way at the top of the lane after a half-mile in :45.19 and relinquished the advantage to a game Headland, but Hot Fudge gained ground with each stride down the center of the course and stuck her head in front near the sixteenth marker.

Kant Hurry Love was fully extended in late stretch and continued to inch closer within the final sixteenth, but Hot Fudge had enough left late to stave off her rival and cross the wire a neck in front in a final time of 1:10.45.

The New York-bred Kant Hurry Love held place by 2 1/4 lengths over Headland with You Look Cold and Olga Isabel completing the order of finish. Disco Ebo and Self Isolation were scratched.

Rice praised Carmouche for his tactical ride.

“She runs on the lead herself, but she's versatile enough to sit off of it which was key in this position,” Rice said. “Kendrick rode a beautiful race. They went fast in front of her and she managed to run them down.”

Carmouche, who rode Hot Fudge for the first time in the afternoon, said the filly re-engaged when pressured late by Kant Hurry Love.

“My filly was fighting. I went out to meet the other horse where she can fight a little more but once she got in front she could hear Trevor coming and you could see her pin her ears back,” said Carmouche. “I switched my stick and she gave me a little bit more just to make sure she got there. I take my hat off to Linda and the owner to come right back with this filly off the layoff when she ran a good number the first time.”

In victory, Rice improved her total win tally on the NYRA circuit this year to 157, moving her closer to the NYRA single-season record of 164 wins that was set by David Jacobson in 2013. Rice added that Hot Fudge's likely next target is the seven-furlong, $150,000 Interborough on Jan. 20.

Bred in Kentucky by Edwin Anthony from the Into Mischief mare Noelle's Mischief, Hot Fudge banked $66,000 in victory, improving her total purse earnings to $356,405 through a lifetime record of 11-6-1-1. She was at $235,000 purchase by Emerald Sales, agent, at the 2021 OBS Spring Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, where she was offered by Flying Fish.

Hot Fudge returned $8.20 for a $2 win ticket.

McCarthy, aboard the David Duggan-trained Kant Hurry Love, said the stakes-winning daughter of Kantharos gave her all in defeat.

“I thought she'd be a little bit closer. I tried to gun her and they outran her early, so I tipped her out down the backside and gave her a little breather,” McCarthy explained. “She's not one that truly loves a whole lot of kickback – she'll take it, but she's happier without it. Around the turn, I tucked inside with Kendrick and followed him. I tipped her out and she gave me every effort. The more I asked, the more she gave. I couldn't ask for more.”

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