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Prince Of Monaco Leads 1-2 Baffert Finish In Runhappy Del Mar Futurity

The undefeated colt Prince of Monaco walked his beat smartly in the Grade 1 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity as the 84th Del Mar summer season came to a positive close Sunday at the shore.

With Flavien Prat at the controls and the odds board saying the son of champion Speightstown was no more than five cents to the dollar, Prince of Monaco always looked like a winner in the $300,500 seven-furlong headliner and in the end his three-quarter length triumph proved plenty enough to his backers.

The victory gave Del Mar's leading trainer Bob Baffert his 17th score in the championship race and his 165th stakes victory overall at Del Mar.

The racy dark bay or brown youngster, who fetched $950,000 at a yearling sale, is owned by a multiple partnership headed by SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables. His victory was worth $180,000, pushing his bankroll to $327,000. In his prior start he captured the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 13.

Finishing second in the stakes was the same ownership group's Mirahmadi. He wound up 3 3/4 lengths better than Don't Tell My Wife Stables' Next Level.

Prince of Monaco ran the seven furlongs in 1:22.65 and paid $2.10 for $2.

In the track's mandatory Pick 6 payout, there were 482 winning tickets, each worth $4,102. The total pool for the race amounted to $2,522,443.

Racing will return to Del Mar on Nov. 10 for the Bing Crosby Season.

FLAVIEN PRAT (Prince of Monaco, winner) – “He broke well and I thought I was going to go to the lead. But other horses went for it, so we waited. On the turn, he made his move and we made the lead. His teammate (stablemate Mirahmadi) was trying hard. But I think my horse was just waiting for something to come up to him. That didn't happen. Can he run on? We won't know until it happens, but he's done everything right so far.”

JIMMY BARNES (Assistant to Bob Baffert) (Prince of Monaco, winner) – “It was the right kind of trip we were looking for. We weren't sure about Mirahmadi, where he was going to be placed in the race, but he left there running. (Flavien) Prat just got comfortable on the inside and when he needed to get to the outside he did and he accelerated. He's pretty push button, pretty straightforward. I'm very proud of both of them.”

FRACTIONS: :22.18 :44.75 1:09.33 1:22.65

The stakes win was the fourth of the session for rider Prat and the ninth for trainer Baffert.

Rider Prat was winning his second Futurity (Dr. Schivel, 2020) and his 90th stakes overall at Del Mar, ninth best among al riders.

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Lam Captures Kentucky Downs’ King Of The Turf Handicapping Challenge

By Jennie Rees

Phil Lam got the belt.

The 64-year-old from Queens, N.Y., is your 2023 National Turf Handicapping Champion by virtue of having the highest cumulative score after competing in all three stand-alone online tournaments that comprise Kentucky Downs' live-money King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge.

Lam bolted to the lead in the first contest on Aug. 31 with a bankroll of $6,518.35. That proved enough to hold on to win after he finished the second contest on Sept. 3 with 38 cents and then was blanked on the finale Saturday.

Anthony Spinazzola finished second at $5,831.81 and Robert Gianquitti, the second contest winner, was third at $5,231.67. Players had to compete in all three contests to be eligible for the overall prize, with Lam winning a seat in the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC), a $10,000 buy-in, and the instantly iconic Global Tote King of the Turf WWE-style belt trophy. Lam also earned $10,530 in cash plus a seat in the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) for winning the first contest.

“I've won quite a bit of contests, but this particular one, I've gotten a lot of fanfare from a lot of my constituents,” Lam said by phone Sunday. “It's been a lot of fun. Everybody was texting me from all over, 'Get that belt.' 'Get that belt.' Nobody said, 'Oh, get the BCBC.' 'Get the NHC.' They kept texting, 'Get the belt.'”

Lam said his big play in the first contest was FanDuel Tapit Stakes winner Harlan Estate, who went off at 37-1.

“I liked that horse, and I keyed him in exactas and doubles,” he said. “The funny thing was, when I saw the odds at 30-something to 1, I scaled my bet back. Otherwise I wouldn't have had to sweat (Saturday). I'd have had a bigger lead. But that's what made it fun. The week in between the two other contests, it makes it exciting because you have to sweat it out.

“The second contest I had $300 of my bankroll pretty intact, and I went for it. I decided to go big on a race instead of betting to show or just trying to pad my lead. You really have to try to win these things. But I got blanked. Now I was going to sweat it a full week, and hoped to do well (in the finale). It didn't go well. But I was able to hold on.

“It was really exciting because the guy who won the second contest needed a little over $1,200 to pass me. I saw with three races to go he had (picked up) $1,100. He only needed to get another $100 to his bankroll. He could have just sat on it, because I was done. He played several horses to win, like two horses in each race, and missed on all of them. I actually thought I had lost at that point, when he was only $100 behind.”

Lam said he tapped out with four races to go. “I think it was tough for everyone,” he said. “It was tough for anybody to make any traction the last few races. That's why Kentucky Downs is such a great track — very tough to handicap.”

The last three of six graded stakes were won by Gear Jockey ($48.60), Bay Storm ($7.74), and Get Smokin ($41.14).

Lam lives midway between Aqueduct and Belmont Park and is a longtime racing fan. He said he got into playing handicapping contests when he was at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. “I thought, I'm going to play anyway. Let me play that.' And I wind up winning the contest.”

He got a seat to the World Series of Handicapping. Later that week he saw an online contest, finishing second to win a berth in the NHC. “I was hooked,” he said. “That was about 15 years ago. The people who play are fantastic. You meet a lot of interesting people, a lot of professionals. It's a lot of fun.”

Lam describes himself as a “retired IT guy.”

“So I try to automate things and create models, and that kind of keeps things fun,” he said. “I just retired in June. Through my time off, I said, 'The Kentucky Downs thing, I can never do well. Let me see what this is all about.' I did some studying, looked at past results. It paid off Day 1 anyway.”

Of having only 38 cents to show for the final two contests, he said, “It's just the nature of the game. Even in the NHC, which is a three-day contest, people can do very well or poorly and it turns around quickly. I expected that. I really wasn't disappointed. It's like a relief pitcher. You learn to just forget the bad inning, bad pitches and move on.”

Lam said he played the first two contests at home but on Saturday drove to Delaware Park, which was having a handicapping contest.

“I decided to multi-task,” he said. “A lot of fellow horsemen were there rooting me on. 'Go Phil, go get the belt.' In hindsight, that was a mistake. It was a distraction. I didn't do well in either contest.”

Paul Kirnos easily won Saturday's final tournament with a bankroll of $8,720.68. However, he was not eligible for King of the Turf honors because he did not play in all three tournaments. A total of 129 people played in all three contests.

“The fourth year of the Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge proved yet another success with a total of 637 entries in the three contests,” said Tournament Director Brian Skirka. “We saw three incredibly deserving contest winners in Phil Lam, Robert Gianquitti and Paul Kirnos – and it was Phil Lam who was able to hang on to take the overall championship. I've known Phil a long time from our Monmouth Park contests, and I can't think of a more fitting King of the Turf. I look forward to presenting him with his championship belt at the NHC in Las Vegas.

“Thanks goes out first and foremost to all the players who supported these three handicapping contests. I'd also like to thank Ted Nicholson and his team for having me as part of one of the most unique contests of the year. Congrats to all the winners and I'm already looking forward to Year 5 of King of the Turf in 2024.”

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‘Rising Star’ Prince Of Monaco Game In Futurity Victory

If the last 24 hours have given us anything to judge by, the future of racing on the West Coast seems to be in safe hands.

Just one day after 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) asserted herself atop her division in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S., fellow 'Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) followed suit with a game performance to give trainer Bob Baffert his 17th win in the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity.

The colt's victory Sunday came as absolutely no surprise. An eight-length debut winner at Los Alamitos, the $950,000 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select grad parlayed that right into an equally impressive route when defeating another 'Rising Star' in Muth (Good Magic) to take the GIII Best Pal S. Aug. 13.

“He broke well and I thought I was going to go to the lead,” said winning jockey Flavien Prat. “But other horses went for it, so we waited. On the turn, he made his move and we made the lead. His teammate (Mirahmadi) was trying hard. But I think my horse was just waiting for something to come up to him. That didn't happen. Can he run on? We won't know until it happens, but he's done everything right so far.”

“It was the right kind of trip we were looking for,” added Jimmy Barnes, assistant to Bob Baffert. “We weren't sure about Mirahmadi, where he was going to be placed in the race, but he left there running. (Flavien) Prat just got comfortable on the inside and when he needed to get to the outside he did and he accelerated. He's pretty push button, pretty straight forward. I'm very proud of both of them.”

Pedigree Note:

Picked up out of the aforementioned Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, Prince of Monaco is the first winner out of two to race from the dam. Out of unraced Rainier, the Mar. 26 foal is a grandson of MSW Clay's Rocket (American Chance), a half-sister to GI Frizette winner Adieu (El Corredor). His 7-year-old dam is also responsible for a Munnings filly from last year who sells at Keeneland September next week (hip 1026), followed by a Constitution filly this term. She was bred back to Speightstown for a full-sibling next year.

Sunday, Del Mar
RUNHAPPY DEL MAR FUTURITY-GI, $300,500, Del Mar, 9-10, 2yo, 7f, 1:22.65, ft.
1–PRINCE OF MONACO, 123, c, 2, by Speightstown
                1st Dam: Rainier, by Medaglia d'Oro
                2nd Dam: Clay's Rocket, by American Chance
                3rd Dam: Irene's Talkin, by At the Threshold
1ST GRADE I WIN. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($950,000 Ylg '22
FTSAUG). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables
LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E.
Masterson, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and
Tom Ryan; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY);
T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat. $180,000. Lifetime Record:
3-3-0-0, $327,000. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Mirahmadi, 118, c, 2, Into Mischief–More Chocolate, by
Malibu Moon. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
($1,050,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing,
Madaket Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E. Masterson,
Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and Tom Ryan;
B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Next Level, 118, c, 2, Vino Rosso–Devious d'Oro, by Medaglia
d'Oro. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1
BLACK TYPE. ($20,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Don't Tell My Wife
Stables; B-White Fox Farm (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux.
$36,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3 3/4, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.05, 15.60, 28.50.
Also Ran: Raging Torrent, Mary's Boy Bolt, Rothschild. Scratched: Valiant Knight.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Austere Stays Perfect With Juvenile Fillies Victory At Kentucky Downs, Possible For Breeders’ Cup

By Mike Kane

In their first time together, Austere and jockey Tyler Gaffalione turned out to be ideally matched Sunday as they won the $500,000 Global Tote Juvenile Fillies Stakes by three lengths at Kentucky Downs.

Gaffalione gave the daughter of Mendelssohn a clever ride, guiding her toward the inside into a stalking position in third, a couple of lengths behind Bella Haze and favorite Cynane. The pace was sharp :22.51 for the first quarter mile and :45.88 for the half-mile.

When Gaffalione asked, Austere moved closer to the leaders as they were passing the half-mile pole. By the top of the stretch, Gaffalione had decided to go to the outside and she quickly passed Cynane and then Bella Haze to take control.

Running alone in the stretch, Austere reached the wire in the one-mile race in 1:35.48, much faster than the final time of 1:38.17 in the Juvenile Mile one race earlier. Bella Haze continued on to finish second, a neck in front of Latte Lizzie, who edged Kodiac Wintergreen by a head.

Austere, the third choice in the field of eight, paid $10.40 to win.

Trainer Brendan Walsh said he was expecting a big performance for the filly co-owned by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Gary Finder, Tucci Stables, Cambron Equine LLC, and Belmar Racing and Breeding.

“It was not a surprise at all,” Walsh said by phone. “She'd been working great. We think she has lots of talent. It was great to go there and win. It looks like she's going to be a nice filly going forward.”

Walsh said with the Kentucky Downs win Austere might be considered for the Breeder' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.

“You'd have to after today,” he said. “She's 2 for 2 now. We'll see how she comes out of it and go from there. But she's done nothing wrong so far.”

Gaffalione said that Austere did everything right for him.

“I took her off the pony and she warmed up great,” he said. “She stood perfect in the gate, got a great start and we were able to establish good position.”

After she started smartly from post 6, Gaffalione had options and decided to take a ground-saving route behind the leaders.

“Everybody was wanting to stay off the rail yesterday, especially,” he said, “but it dried out quite a bit today and there's actually a real slim path down on the fence that hasn't really been used up. It's pretty good footing in there.”

Gaffalione said Austere felt good under him the whole trip.

“I was very confident,” he said. “She put me in a great spot. She traveled well within herself and showed a really nice turn of foot today.”

Austere was bred in Kentucky by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm. Produced by the British-bred Observatory mare Argumentative, she sold to Bradley Thoroughbreds for $150,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Lane's End consigned her.

On August 5, Bella Haze provided trainer Carlos Santamaria with his first win as a trainer after working as an assistant for many years in California. She produced another big performance for him under Joel Rosario in her first try in stakes company.

“She just broke her maiden a few of weeks ago at Ellis Park (on dirt),” he said. “But we know she's got a little bit of pedigree for the grass, so we decided to come here. She ran a huge race. We're just grateful to Joel the way he rode her. We're going to see how she looks in the next few days and make another plan for her. But we're super happy with her.”

Kodiac Wintergreen was the second choice in the wagering at 5-2. The daughter of Kodiac is owned by Houston Astros star third baseman Alex Bregman and came into the race off an impressive maiden victory at Saratoga. She was not able to replicate her late run at Saratoga under regular rider Jose Ortiz.

“First time in a stake. First time at a mile,” said trainer Rusty Arnold. “We're a little disappointed. (Ortiz ) said that she never quit running, she kept kicking on and the winner was really good. What did we get beat? A head, a neck for second? So it wasn't a horrible race, but we're a little disappointed. We thought we were going to run a little bit better, but back to the drawing board and get ready for the next one.”

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