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Cross Border Upstages Favorite Tawny Port In Cape Henlopen

Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border posted a mild upset in the $200,000 Cape Henlopen Stakes on Saturday at Delaware Park.

With Ruben Silvera aboard, the 9-year-old son of English Channel won by 2 1/2 lengths and returned $18 even as the fourth choice in the field of eight. The even-money favorite Tawny Port, with Trevor McCarthy, finished second. It was a 3 1/4-lengths farther back to Tough Tickets, with Dexter Haddock, in third. The final time was 2:33.31 for 1 1/2 miles over a firm turf course.

The last victory for Cross Border was over the hurdles at Aiken on March 25 and his last flat racing victory was in the Prairie Bayou at Turfway Park on December 18, 2021. The New York-bred trained by Michael Maker has been graded stakes-placed multiple times in his career, including a victory in the Bowling Green (G2) at Saratoga on July 31, 2021. The Cape Henlopen victory raised his career record to 12 wins from 52 starts with earnings of $1,333,258.

“He really ran his own race,” said winning rider Ruben Silvera. “I tried to save ground with him and when I saw the horses coming back to me, I put him into gear. He really responded and closed strong.”

Cross Border, bred by Berkshire Stud and D. B. Gibbs, was produced by the Empire Maker mare Empress Josephine.

The post Cross Border Upstages Favorite Tawny Port In Cape Henlopen appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Lael, DeVaux Sittin’ ‘Pretty’ For Breeders’ Cup Following Natalma

Lael Stables' She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) came with a stinging rally down the center of the E. P. Taylor turf course to punch her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with an impressive victory in Saturday's GI Johnnie Walker Natalma S. at Woodbine. It marks the first elite-level scorer for the barn of Cherie DeVaux.

Sent off at odds of 8-1 while stretching out to the mile off a first-up graduation sprinting over the Ellis Park turf course July 16, the $240,000 Keeneland September acquisition was bumped at the break from an outside barrier and settled just behind midfield and in the slipstream of the well-backed Ozara (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), from the Summer S.-winning barn of Christophe Clement. Always traveling sweetly with that cover as Golden Canary (Medaglia d'Oro) continued to show the way through a half in :47.01, She Feels Pretty was up into fifth and under a nice John Velazquez hold at the three-eighths. Pulled off heels in upper stretch, She Feels Pretty descended on the leaders with about a furlong to travel and shot clear to score by daylight. The maiden Simply in Front (Summer Front) ran on for second ahead of a slow-starting and favored Dazzling Star (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}) in third. The final time was some 0.36 seconds faster than the Summer S. two races prior.

“I was very confident, I got to say she was feeling very confident,” said Velazquez, winning his first Natalma. “I made sure I put her in a good position behind Dylan Davis [rider of Ozara], a horse that could take me a little way down. When we turned for home, I moved her to the clear and her ears went up and I said, 'Wow, look at this.' I went after her and she instantly responded. The way she did it was very impressive.”

Pedigree Notes:

She Feels Pretty is the 12th worldwide stakes winner, seventh graded winner and second top-level scorer for Karakontie, upset winner of the 2014 GI Breeders' Cup Mile whose lone starter on championship weekend, Spanish Loveaffair, was sixth in the 2020 Juvenile Fillies Turf. She Feels Pretty is the 161st worldwide SW, 74th GSW and 20th Grade I/Group 1 winner out of a daughter of the late, great More Than Ready, and the first by a sire descending from an immediate Storm Cat line.

Arthur Hancock's Stone Farm raised and sold She Feels Pretty to the second Book 4 session of last year's Keeneland September Sale, where she caught the eye of Roy and Gretchen Jackson's high-class operation. Payson Stud acquired dam Summer Sweet for $550,000 as an early 2-year-old from the partial dispersal of the Estate of Sarah Leigh at Keeneland January in 2016, the most expensive horse of racing age during the sale. Payson also gave a sales-topping $700,000 for Summer Sweet's Grade I-placed half-sister Summer Solo (Arch), whose daughter Solo Album (Curlin) won this year's GIII Selene S. over the local synthetic track.

The filly's second dam was a listed winner in France for the late Gerald Leigh and Jonathan Pease–who coincidentally trained Karakontie for the Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings–and her other winners included SW Summer Breezing (Langfuhr) and Adirondack Summer (Thunder Gulch). This is also the family of Gerald Leigh's dual French Group 1 winner Act One (GB) (In the Wings {GB}).

The yearling relation to She Feels Pretty, a colt by Good Magic, was purchased for $600,000 by Boardshorts from the Stone Farm draft at Keeneland September this past Thursday. Summer Sweet foaled an American Pharoah filly Apr. 19 and was bred back to Olympiad.

Saturday, Woodbine
JOHNNIE WALKER NATALMA S.-GI, C$503,500, Woodbine, 9-16, 2yo, f, 1mT, 1:35.34, gd.
1–SHE FEELS PRETTY, 121, f, 2, by Karakontie (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Summer Sweet, by More Than Ready
                2nd Dam: Summer Solstice (Ire), by Caerleon
                3rd Dam: Summer Sonnet (GB), by Baillamont
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
WIN. ($240,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Lael Stables; B-Payson Stud
Inc (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux; J-John R. Velazquez. C$300,000.
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $262,379. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
*Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Simply in Front, 121, f, 2, by Summer Front
                1st Dam: Complicated, by Blame
                2nd Dam: Consequence, by El Prado (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Educated Risk, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
TYPE. ($115,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Colebrook Farms;
B-William Harrigan & Mike Pietrangelo (KY); T-Patrick Dixon.
C$100,000.
3–Dazzling Star (GB), 121, f, 2, by Blue Point (Ire)
                1st Dam: Dancing Sands (Ire) (SW-Ger, GSP-Ity, GSP-Fr,
                                GSP-Tur, $128,976), by Dubawi (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Past the Post, by Danzig
                3rd Dam: Qui Royalty, by Native Royalty
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
TYPE. O/B-Godolphin (GB); T-Charles Appleby. C$50,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, 2HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 8.00, 29.65, 1.40.
Also Ran: Ozara (Ire), Golden Canary, Ready to Jam, Rhapsody, Bolt Enoree, Dea Matrona (Fr), She's Fire, Ms. Tart, Brocknardini, Dancing Duchess. Scratched: Airosa, Go With Gusto.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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1ST/Racing Will Request 2024 Racing Dates

The Stronach Group's 1/ST Racing, the owner/operator of Golden Gate Fields, will request racing dates for the northern California Thoroughbred facility for the first half of 2024, the organization announced Saturday. The request will extend the previously announced closing of the facility at the end of 2023 until June 30, 2024.

The decision to request dates falls on the heels of the passage of AB 1074, which authorizes the reallocation of purse and commission revenues generated in the Northern zone of California to support racing in the Southern and Central zones should there be unallocated weeks in future years. The bill will not be law until signed by Governor Newsom.

“We are pleased we could work out a solution with our industry stakeholders to be able to keep Golden Gate Fields open for an additional and final meet,” Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer of 1/ST Racing & Gaming, said.

The Thoroughbred Owners of California, the California Authority of Racing Fairs, California Thoroughbred Trainers and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association urged an extension in the interest of developing a statewide transition plan after 1/ST Racing in July announced their plan to shutter Golden Gate Fields and focus on Santa Anita Park and improving racing in Southern California.

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Golden Gate Fields Owner To Request Race Dates For First Half Of 2024

1/ST RACING announced Saturday that it expects to file a request with the California Horse Racing Board for an allocation of race dates at Golden Gate Fields for the first half of 2024. The request is tied to extending the announced closing date of the track located in the California cities of Albany and Berkeley to June 30, 2024.

The decision follows the passage of AB 1074 at the end of the 2023 legislative session in Sacramento, which authorizes the reallocation of purse and commission revenues generated in the Northern zone of California to support racing in the Southern and Central zones should there be unallocated weeks in future years. The bill will not be law until signed by Governor Newsom.

“We are pleased we could work out a solution with our industry stakeholders to be able to keep Golden Gate Fields open for an additional and final meet,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST RACING & GAMING.

The extension request follows extensive consultation with various industry constituents, including the Thoroughbred Owners of California, the California Authority of Racing Fairs, California Thoroughbred Trainers, and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, who urged an extension in the interest of developing a statewide transition plan based upon thoughtful consideration of the challenges facing racing in California and across the country.

1/ST RACING said in a press release that it is committed to a final race meet at Golden Gate Fields that reflects a proud commemoration of the sport of Thoroughbred racing in Northern California.

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