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Nest Tunes Up for Shuvee, Pretty Mischievous on Track for Test

Nest (Curlin), last year's Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly, tuned up for her expected seasonal debut in the July 23 GII Shuvee S. with a four-furlong work in :50.00 (13/38) in company with unraced stablemate Onlooker (Street Sense) over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Sunday.

“It was a good work and a nice, strong gallop out. She seemed to keep going,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Owned by Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, Nest has been off since finishing fourth in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. During her championship campaign, she won the GI Alabama S., GI Ashland S. and GI Coaching Club American Oaks. She was also second in the GI Belmont S.

Nest was initially targeting the GI Ogden Phipps S. at Belmont Park in June for her 4-year-old debut, but Pletcher said he is confident the filly is ready to run off the long layoff.

“We expect big things from her always,” Pletcher said. “It's a lot to ask of her, but she ran well in her debut going a mile and a sixteenth and she's basically run well pretty much every start of her career. Hopefully, we have her fit enough to perform well and this is the first step towards big goals.”

Also working at Saratoga Sunday, GI Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) went four furlongs in :49.00 (11/91) over the Oklahoma training track for trainer Brendan Walsh and owner/breeder Godolphin.

“She worked great and I'm very happy with her,” said Walsh. “It was just a half and we'll do more with her next week–she doesn't need to overdo it. She's doing good.”

Following her win in the nine-furlong Oaks, Pretty Mischievous cut back to 1 1/16 miles to win the GI Acorn S. last time out June 9. She will shorten up even further for her next start, the seven-furlong GI Test S. Aug. 5.

“She's got bags of natural speed, so I think the timing is very good,” Walsh said of the cut-back. “We were able to give her a little more time between races and we've always kicked around the idea of shortening her up, so this seems like a good opportunity. She's a good horse, and most of them when they're that good can go two turns or shorten up. She's just got that natural speed, so why not try to utilize it? We can always go back to two turns if it doesn't work.”

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Maiden Winner Freudmein In With Big Shot In New York Derby

The past performance lines, as well as the morning line, make it very clear that Maker's Candy is the horse to beat in Monday's $150,000 New York Derby, the 50th running at Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack.

Take into consideration the colt's connections of trainer Mike Maker and jockey Jose Ortiz and there's little doubt the stakes-winning Maker's Candy will be the prohibitive favorite in the seven-horse field of state-bred 3-year-olds.

A $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year-olds in training sale purchase last year, the Twirling Candy colt won the Mike Lee Stakes, ridden by Ortiz, on May 29 at Belmont Park and finished first, but was disqualified for interference, in the Gander Stakes on Feb. 25 at Aqueduct.

And Maker won the 2022 edition of the New York Derby with Barese.

What's not to like about Maker's Candy?

Locally based trainer Chris Englehart isn't handing the winner's trophy to Maker's Candy just yet. Englehart, the perennial leading trainer at Finger Lakes, believes Freudmein may be up to the challenge when in the annual 1 1/16 mile New York Derby is run as the eighth race on Monday's nine-race
program. First-race post time is 1:15 p.m. (ET).

Freudmein scored on the sealed slop at Belmont on May 20, breaking his maiden by 11¾ lengths as the favorite to earn an 83 Beyer Speed Figure. It was his first victory after second and fourth in his first two starts.

While it took three starts before Freudmein made his first visit to the winner's circle, Englehart always has been high on the homebred son of Freud out of the dam Colormein, by Mr. Greeley.

“Right from the start of his breezing we could see Freudmein had a lot of potential,” Englehart said. “It didn't matter who we breezed him against he would beat them. I was extremely impressed with his maiden win; he just glided over the slop.”

Having trained almost 4,700 winners in a 40-year career, Englehart knows quality when he sees it. And having trained horses for My Purple Haze Stables for more than 20 years, he'd like nothing more than to win the New York Derby for owner Wanda Polisseni who resides in the Rochester
suburb of Fairport, New York.

Polisseni, through her My Purple Haze Stables, has enjoyed success in Thoroughbred and harness racing. The New York Derby would be a crowning achievement with Thoroughbreds.

“It would certainly mean a lot; Wanda has won a lot of stakes with her trotters and we have won a few minor stakes together, but nothing like this,” Englehart said, whose best finish in the New York Derby came in 2021, when Purple Hearted finished second.

Another key component in the team is jockey John Davila Jr. Recently inducted into the Finger Lakes Hall of Fame, Davila is a three-time winner of the New York Derby, with one per decade. He won the 1996 edition with Carr Tech, the 2003 running with Traffic Chief, and 2015 edition with
Force.

While Freudmein does hail from a family of sprinters, Englehart believes the colt can stretch out.

“He trains like he wants to run farther,” said Englehart, a 2017 inductee into the Finger Lakes Hall of Fame. “He has missed some time training, but the New York Derby only comes around once so we're taking a shot.”

Freudmein's siblings enjoyed significant success. Colormepazzi (by Mission Impazible) earned $240,562 and Colormepompom (by Pomeroy) bankrolled $256,805.

The field for the $150,000 New York Derby with (morning-line odds, trainer, jockey):

1 Tacony Road (15-1, Tim Murphy, Nazario Alvarado)
2 Allure of Money (4-1, Michael Ferraro, Luis Perez)
3 Mo Trump (12-1, Michael A. Ferraro, Jacky Davis)
4 Freudmein (3-1, Chris Englehart, John Davila Jr.)
5 Tiz Lucky (15-1, Beth Miller-Saul, Keiber Coa)
6 Maker's Candy (1-1, Michael Maker, Jose Ortiz)
7 Wynn Giant (10-1, Jeffrey Englehart, Heman Harkie)

The post Maiden Winner Freudmein In With Big Shot In New York Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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4,000th Win for Jamie Ness

Trainer Jamie Ness earned the 4,000th win of his career when Sing Scat (Irish War Cry), a 3-year-old filly he co-owns, captured the first race at Laurel Park Sunday. The victory was the 27th in the month of July for Ness and extended his win streak to 17 calendar days between Laurel, Delaware Park and Parx that dates back to June 30. It was also the second career milestone Ness has reached at Laurel where he earned his 2,000th win with Caylee's Song on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 2013.

“Luckily, we weren't [waiting] for very long. It came pretty fast,” Ness said. “It's kind of a longevity milestone, I guess you'd call it. We've been doing this a long time. I remember being right here for 2,000. Seems like it was yesterday.”

Ness is the 16th trainer to reach 4,000 wins in North America and ranks 13th among active trainers behind Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen's record 10,199 and counting. The 48-year-old Ness recorded win number 1,000 at Presque Isle Downs Sept. 23, 2010 and hit the 3,000-win milestone at Parx Feb. 18, 2020.

“The last thousand went pretty quick,” Ness said. “The first win was tough. I went like oh-for-30 or 40 and was like, 'This is hard.' I just wanted to win one race when I first started. I had bad horses and didn't do a good job with the ones I had, so it took a while before I won a race.”

Heading into Sunday Ness was the leading trainer at both Delaware Park and Parx and tied 16-16 with Brittany Russell in Laurel's summer meet standings after Starship Laoban gave Ness win number 4,001 in Sunday's third race.

“I'm fortunate. [This] is something I would do even if I didn't get paid,” Ness said. “It's my hobby, it's my passion and it's my job. Very few get to do that, so I feel blessed to be able in that position.”

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Never Ending Story’s Brother Debuts at Killarney

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Monday's Insights feature a full-brother to high-class racehorse Never Ending Story (Ire), going two furlongs farther than that sibling did on debut last term.

17.20 Killarney, Mdn, €15,000, 2yo, 8f 20yT
NAVY SEAL (IRE) (Dubawi {Ire}) is introduced by Aidan O'Brien over the longest trip for a maiden in Britain and Ireland so far in 2023, going two furlongs further than his high-class full-sister Never Ending Story (Ire) did as she debuted last term. That first foal out of the GI Belmont Oaks heroine Athena (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) turned into a dual group 3 winner and G1 Prix de Diane runner-up, so this February-foaled bay has a hard act to follow. Descended from Urban Sea (Miswaki) and also connected to the G1 Irish Oaks heroine Bracelet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), his mettle will be tested against fellow Derrick Smith colour-bearer Bremen (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the Donnacha O'Brien-trained son of the triple Australian group 1 heroine Sea Siren (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and full-brother to last month's G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Warm Heart (Ire) who created such a strong impression when narrowly failing on debut at Tipperary earlier this month.

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