Author: News

Buchu Sweeps Late To Take Jessamine Stakes, Secure Breeders’ Cup Berth

With a powerful outside move, Buchu secured a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday in the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.

The daughter of Justify was unhurried out of gate by jockey Martin Garcia, settling in near the back of the pack while Bella Haze and Asternia set the early pace in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, leading through the first turn and setting an opening quarter-mile in :22.84 seconds.

Bella Haze and jockey Joel Rosario maintained a half-length advantage over 51-1 longshot Asternia and Julien Leparoux coming out of the turn, and that advantage remained about the same as they went across the backstretch, tracked a length behind by Time to Dazzle, and another length back to post time favorite Toupie. Meanwhile, Buchu remained in third-to-last, as the leaders passed the half-mile point in :47.37 seconds.

Little changed through the next quarter-mile up front, with Bella Haze holding the advantage on the rail through six furlongs in 1:12.12. Challenger Asternia was no longer able to keep up and faded into the pack, while Abeyance attempted to move up the rail and challenge the leader.

Buchu was still third-to-last when the field turned for home, but Garcia swung his mount widest of all and started making up lots of ground between the quarter pole and the three-sixteenths pole. While Bella Haze staved off the challengers in her immediate vicinity, Buchu came rolling down the stretch several paths out from the pacesetter, and they reached equal terms just past the eighth pole. Buchu carried on the momentum on the outside and rolled on to a 3 3/4-length victory.

Bella Haze was swallowed up by the cavalry charge in the final furlong, as Pharoah's Wind made a middle move to finish second, a nose ahead of Crown Imperial. Bella Haze finished fourth,

Buchu completed the Jessamine in 1:42.48 over a turf course labeled as good. She paid $13.30 to win.

Trainer Philip Bauer saddled Buchu to victory for owner Rigney Racing, who also bred the filly.

The Jessamine was Buchu's second career victory after breaking her maiden in her previous start on Sept. 23 at Churchill Downs. Friday's race was her first try at stakes competition, after beginning her career with a pair of third-place efforts on the dirt at Ellis Park and Saratoga Race Course. She was moved to the turf for her next Saratoga start on Aug. 20, but she finished sixth after a troubled trip, prior to her race at Churchill Downs, also on the grass.

“The last time (maiden win at Churchill) she was a little fresh and she was inside,” Garcia said. “Today I had a really good position. I knew it was going to be big speed so I just let her break and relax. In the first turn I just took it easy and took her back and she relaxed on the backside. At the five-sixteenths (pole) I just took her out and then I asked her to go, and all I could see was just going by horses. I'm like, 'I'm going to win!' She's a phenomenal filly. We won again. Thanks to the trainer (Phil Bauer) and the owner (Rigney Racing) for the opportunity. She's a superstar.”

With the victory on Friday, Buchu guaranteed herself a spot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday, Nov. 3 at Santa Anita Park.

If she is successful, she would be the first Jessamine winner to prevail in the Juvenile Fillies Turf since Aunt Pearl parlayed the race into a Breeders' Cup score in 2020. Rushing Fall also turned the Jessamine/Juvenile Fillies Turf double in 2017.

The post Buchu Sweeps Late To Take Jessamine Stakes, Secure Breeders’ Cup Berth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Horseshoe Indianapolis Donates $10,000 to Echo Effect Arts Campus

Horseshoe Indianapolis has partnered with Echo Effect Arts Campus on a few projects in 2023. The casino and racetrack, in a joint effort, took another step this week to elevate their support for the organization with a $10,000 donation to the overall operations of the multi-faceted property.

“We strive to link our donations with organizations that do so much for the local community and Echo Effect fits that mold perfectly,” said Trent McIntosh, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “Not only does Thurman (Adams) and his team provide valuable workspace, they bring a unique business to Shelby County with state-of-the-art recording equipment. Plus, their investment in a well-traveled corner of Shelbyville shows their commitment to the community. They have become part of the vast expansion movement going on in downtown Shelbyville.”

The post Horseshoe Indianapolis Donates $10,000 to Echo Effect Arts Campus appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Justify Picks Up Another Graded-Stakes Winner With Buchu In ‘WAYI’ Jessamine

Already a proven winner over the 1 1/16-mile trip, Buchu (Justify) made the jump from maiden winner to graded-stakes winner Friday with an eye-catching come-from-behind performance in the GII Jessamine S. on Keeneland's opening day.

Facing her fifth track in as many starts, the dark bay debuted with a pair of thirds on the dirt–first at Ellis Park June 16 and then to Saratoga in a rained-off event July 30. Sixth once she finally got on the turf in upstate New York Aug. 20, Buchu broke through at 4-1 by a clear 4 3/4 lengths when shipped back to Kentucky under the Twinspires not even two weeks ago Sept. 23.

Showcasing her preferred off-the-pace style again Friday, Buchu, who broke from the middle of the gate, let the majority of the field pass her in the opening furlong and wound up contesting ninth outside of Smooth Waves (English Channel) with only 41-1 shot Moonlight Gambler (Malibu Moon) behind her. Paced upfront by Bella Haze (Flameaway) and Asternia (Astern {Aus}), the field spaced themselves out through an opening quarter in :22.84. Buchu, now in a solo ninth, dropped all the way back to last as she was initially outsprinted into the far turn. Angled out widest of all with a quarter-mile to run, the 5-1 shot unleashed a furious rally inside the final furlong to pass the entire field and win going away by open lengths, crossing the wire with no one even within closing distance of her.

“I think sometimes horses for courses, so maybe riders for horses,” said winning trainer Phil Bauer on his filly's relationship with jockey Martin Garcia. “He really gets a lot of credit for developing this filly. He got her from three-eighths all the way forward and he decided to keep his tack in Kentucky, so when we went to New York, [jockey] Tyler [Gaffalione] jumped aboard. Mother Nature got in our way with the first start and then a troubled trip in the second one up there with Tyler. He didn't do anything wrong, but he was out of town when she ran back and we knew Martin loved her, so he hopped back aboard for her last breeze before her maiden win [at Churchill Downs Sept. 23], and we were confident going into that, as we were a few others, but in racing you need some luck to go with you. I'm just overwhelmed and really happy for Mr. Rigney, now with one that he bred. Cue the Mamas and the Papas, we're 'California Dreamin' .”

Pedigree Note:

A $275,000 RNA out of Keeneland September last year, Buchu was retained by her breeder and became the 19th graded/group winner worldwide for her Triple Crown-winning sire. She is the first foal out of a winning Galileo mare who is herself a daughter of MGSW Naples Bay (Giant's Causeway) and a full-sister to GSW First Minister (Ire). Third dam Cappucino Bay is seen in most pedigrees as the dam of MGISW and perennial leading sire Medaglia d'Oro (El Prado {Ire}). Flowering Peach reported an Uncle Mo filly this Spring and was covered by Golden Pal for 2024.

Friday, Keeneland
JESSAMINE S. PRESENTED BY KEENELAND NOVEMBER-GII, $350,000, Keeneland, 10-6, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:42.48, gd.
1–BUCHU, 118, f, 2, by Justify
         1st Dam: Flowering Peach (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
         2nd Dam: Naples Bay, by Giant's Causeway
         3rd Dam: Cappucino Bay, by Bailjumper
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($275,000 RNA Ylg '22 KEESEP). O/B-Rigney Racing, LLC (KY); T-Philip A. Bauer; J-Martin Garcia. $200,725. Lifetime Record: 5-2-0-2, $294,955. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Pharoah's Wine, 118, f, 2, American Pharoah–Sweeping Paddy, by Paddy O'Prado. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-William Pacella, Nancy Delony, and Frank Shoop; B-Pacella Racing, Frank L. Jones, Nancy Delony & Frank Shoop (KY); T-Dale L. Romans. $64,750.
3–Crown Imperial, 118, f, 2, Classic Empire–Mi Fiori, by Congrats. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-4 G Racing (KY); T-John Alexander Ortiz. $32,375.
Margins: 3 3/4, NO, NK. Odds: 5.65, 13.87, 8.92.
Also Ran: Bella Haze, Moonlight Gambler, Smooth Waves, Appellate, Abeyance, Time to Dazzle, Toupie, Asternia.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Hoist The Gold Breeders’ Cup Bound After Earning Initial Stakes Victory In Keeneland’s Phoenix

Hoist the Gold soon will be making his fourth trip from Kentucky to California in the past year, but for the first time it will be as a graded stakes winner. Dream Team One Racing Stable's 4-year-old homebred son of Mineshaft earned his way to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint with a three-quarter length victory in the Grade 2, $350,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes on Friday's opening day of the Keeneland fall meet in Lexington, Ky.

Ridden by John Velazquez for trainer Dallas Stewart, Hoist the Gold broke smoothly from the rail post, then tracked early leaders Sibelius and Doctor Oscar in third before swinging off the fence at the three-eighths pole. He rallied past those two on the turn for home, then held off 5-2 favorite Nakatomi to score his first career stakes victory in the “Win and You're In” Challenge Series race for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

The win earned him a fees-paid slot in the Sprint and a travel allowance for the world championships to be held at Santa Anita Nov. 3-4. Hoist the Gold tries to become the first Phoenix Stakes winner to also win the Breeders' Cup Sprint in the same year since champion Runhappy in 2015, when Keeneland hosted the Breeders' Cup.

Hoist the Gold, winning for the fourth time in his 24th career start, covered the six furlongs on a fast track under sunny skies in 1:09.13 after chasing fractions of :21.79, :44.83, and :56.75. He paid $14.04 to win. Nakatomi finished a neck in front of 3-1 second  choice Bango. Necker Island was fourth in the field of 11, followed by Sibelius, Gulfstream Way, Manny Wah, Doctor Oscar, Top Gunner, Voodoo Zip, and Baytown Bear.

“(Trainer) Dallas Stewart and I talked in the Paddock and I watched his (Hoist the Gold's) races – seems like when he's close to the pace he's much better,” said Velazquez. “So I told him I'm going to come out of there and get him third at least and we'll have a really good chance. Once I got him back and got behind those two horses I was in a great position where I thought I wanted to be. But I almost messed up a little bit when I asked him a little too much the first sixteenth of a mile.”

Stewart hasn't been shy in pitching Hoist the Gold against some of the country's top horses.

Last December, Hoist the Gold made his first trip to California where he finished third to Taiba in the G1 Malibu. On Kentucky Derby day at Churchill Downs, he finished second to G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish in the G1 Churchill Downs Stakes, then tired to be eighth behind Cody's Wish again when stretched out an extra furlong for the G1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap.

Over the summer, Stewart sent Hoist the Gold to Del Mar twice, finishing eighth to The Chosen Vron in the G1 Bing Crosby and sixth behind Anarchist in the G2 Pat O'Brien. He's  hoping for bigger things in the Breeders' Cup.

“When you show up with a nice horse and a jock (John Velazquez) that's won five Grade 1s for you, you got a lot of confidence,” Stewart said. “I didn't worry about a thing down the backside. It played out perfect. He got him out. The horse loves this track. He came home good, so we know where we're going November 4: back west (for the Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint-G1). It's great to be here. It's a great day. We got a great thing going with horse racing; we just gotta keep rolling.”

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