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Becerra Hoping To Score Big With Touchdown Brown After Sharp Debut Win

Veteran trainer Rafael Becerra was all smiles Saturday morning, as his talented California-bred juvenile Touchdown Brown ran lights-out in his debut in Friday's fourth race, demolishing seven Cal-bred rivals by 5 ¼ lengths while getting 4 ½ furlongs in 52.81 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

“He's really good this morning, he pulled up great,” said the popular Becerra, 65.  “The owners told me they're already getting a lot offers, but the good news is, they're not selling.  I got this horse in mid-March and from day one, he acted like a good horse.  We went to the track with him right away and he galloped perfect and he's got a very good mind.

“You could see he's got a nice way of moving and my exercise rider really liked him right from the start.  When we started breezing him, he did everything easy and outworked a good horse of mine in company.”

A homebred colt by Cairo Prince out of the Cherokee Run mare Chicalelee, Touchdown Brown, who is owned by Edward J. Brown, Jr., Alan Klein and Phillip Lebherz, was off as the 3-2 favorite and paid $5.00 to win.

Breaking alertly from post position seven, Touchdown Brown, who was ridden by Evin Roman, was on the move while third, about 1 ½ lengths off the lead approaching the quarter pole.  From there, he entered the stretch three-deep and when he switched to his left lead, forged to the front approaching the sixteenth pole winning under a hand ride in a tremendous effort.

Becerra, who started on the racetrack at age 16 in 1971 with the legendary Farrell Jones and his Hall of Fame son, Gary, has been training on his own since Gary Jones' retirement in 1996 and has long been regarded as a hard working, no-nonsense horseman who helped develop multiple graded stakes winner Kingdom Found, a California-bred gelding, foaled in 1990, who banked $810,863 in a career that spanned seven racing seasons.

What's next for Touchdown Brown?

“With all the money that's available, the owners agree that we're going to stay with Cal-breds for now,” said Becerra.  “We're going to run him in the Graduation Stakes (5 ½ furlongs, Aug. 2 at Del Mar) and we'll see where we go from there.”

If yesterday's result was any indication, Touchdown Brown figures to go a long, long way indeed.

The post Becerra Hoping To Score Big With Touchdown Brown After Sharp Debut Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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American Pharoah Filly Sweet Melania Leads Wonder Again Field Gate-To-Wire

Robert E. and Lawana L. Low's Sweet Melania made all the running with a sharp seasonal debut to capture Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Wonder Again, a one-mile event for sophomore fillies on the Widener turf course at Belmont Park.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, the American Pharoah chestnut made the grade in October with a similarly striking performance in the Grade 2 Jessamine at Keeneland ahead of a third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November.

With regular pilot Jose Ortiz up, Sweet Melania broke alertly and immediately took command through an opening quarter-mile in 24.15 seconds with Antoinette pinned to her flank.

Sweet Melania maintained her position as the half eclipsed in 47.62, with Antoinette continuing to pester and Selflessly beginning a three-wide move around rivals. Ortiz and Sweet Melania cut the corner turning for home and continued to open up on her competition through a swift three-quarters in 1:10.99 en route to a dominant 1 ½-length score. She covered the mile in 1:34.23 on the firm Widener turf.

Pletcher said he was confident in Ortiz finding the right way to utilize Sweet Melania's abundant speed.

“Analyzing the race beforehand, it looked as though she had a pace advantage,” said Pletcher. “We weren't going to put her on the lead, we felt that she would naturally get herself there. Jose did a nice job of hashing it out and she responded well.”

Ortiz said he was impressed by how Sweet Melania finished up the winning effort.

“She relaxed well and we started picking it up little-by-little. At the three-sixteenths pole, she gave me a nice kick. She's a nice filly,” said Ortiz, who captured this event last year with Cambier Parc.

Highland Glory, under Manny Franco, made a late run to earn place, a half-length in front of Antoinette. Speaktomeofsummer and Selflessly rounded out the order of finish.

“The pace was slower than I expected. I thought there was going to be more pace, but it is what it is,” said Franco. “She ran good. I like her going further. The longer, the better for her. If you saw the gallop out, she passed everybody.”

Bred in Kentucky by St. Elias Stables, the $600,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the stakes-winning Discreet Cat mare Sweet N Discreet.

Sweet Melania banked $82,500 in victory while improving her record to 3-1-3 from seven starts. Sent to post as the 6-5 mutuel favorite, she returned $4.60 for a $2 win bet.

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Decorated Invader Shows New Dimension Winning Pennine Ridge

The Christophe Clement-trained Decorated Invader continued his steady ascent to the top of the 3-year-old turf division with an authoritative 4 ¾-length victory over five rivals in the Grade 2, $150,000 Pennine Ridge on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The sixth running of the Pennine Ridge, contested at a mile on Belmont's Widener turf course, was carded as the second of six graded stakes on the loaded 12-race Belmont Stakes day program.

A son of Declaration of War, Decorated Invader showed a good deal of promise as a 2-year-old, including a Grade 1 win in the Summer Stakes at Woodbine and a fast-closing fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf to close out the year, but took noticeable steps forward as a sophomore. The bay colt came from far back to win the Cutler Bay by 1 ¼ lengths in his 2020 debut in May at Gulfstream Park and then showed a completely new dimension in the Pennine Ridge.

Breaking from the rail with Joel Rosario aboard, Decorated Invader put himself just off the early pace set by Proven Strategies. As the pacesetter ambled along through leisurely splits of 23.86 seconds for the opening quarter-mile, 47.50 for the half, and three-quarters 1:10.61 for three-quarters over firm turf, Decorated Invader tracked him intently in third while covered.

Proven Strategies angled out a bit around the far turn, allowing Rosario and Decorated Invader to quickly seize the opportunity, surging through the vacated inside path and vying for the lead as the field turned for home. The pair soon wrested control away from the frontrunner, and from there they opened up decisively, bounding down the stretch to complete the distance in a snappy 1:33.66.

“He's very classy,” Rosario said. “The pace was OK, but not too fast. He was there for me and so relaxed, so I just let him be there [closer up] because it looked like there was no pace up front. I made a move before the turn and I saw the horse inside [Proven Strategies] come off the rail a little bit, go in and out, and I wasn't sure what he was doing. I let him go inside and started working from there.”

Decorated Invader, owned in partnership by West Point Thoroughbreds, William Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, bumped his bankroll to $370,535 with the victory. As the odds-on favorite, he returned $3.20 on a $2 win wager.

Clement was content to bask in the victory and marvel at his talented 3-year-old.

“I've always liked him since Day 1 and I think he's been a tremendous horse since the beginning,” said Clement. “He's been a top-class horse even last year. He was very unlucky in the Breeders' Cup. He won a Grade 1 in Canada. He won at Gulfstream this year. He won one today and I think he's good enough to do a mile, a mile and a quarter. I could be wrong, but I think he'll stay.”

Proven Strategies held well for second, finishing 1 ¾ lengths in front of third-place finisher Mr. Kringle, who closed from the back of the compact field to nab blacktype. Vanzzy, Famished, and Venezuelan Hug completed the order of finish. Maroon Maniac was scratched.

Saturday's stakes action at Belmont Park will culminate with the 152nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes in Race 10 at 5:42 p.m. Eastern. The American Classic, contested as the first leg of the Triple Crown this year, will see a 10-horse field led by morning-line favorite Tiz the Law looking to become the first New York-bred to win the Belmont since 1882. NBC will have live coverage starting at 2:45 p.m.

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