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Jose Ortiz And Linda Rice Top Belmont Spring/Summer Standings

After a close battle with his brother through the final days of the 40-day spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, jockey Jose Ortiz secured the leading riding title on Sunday at the Belmont oval, finishing the meet just one win ahead with 59 total victories.

Ortiz celebrated his 12th overall meet riding title. He was also the leading rider on the NYRA circuit in 2016, 2020 and 2021.

Ortiz closed out the meet with a record of 246-59-44-38 and total purse earnings of $4,921,926, putting him at a win rate of 23.98 percent and in-the-money percentage of 57.32.

“It was very fun–it's great,” said Ortiz, who also won the 2021 Belmont spring/summer title with 59 wins. “I work very hard in the mornings and I receive good opportunities from the owners and trainers and I'm very thankful for that.”

Ortiz added he is looking forward to carrying his good form into the upcoming 40-day Saratoga Race Course summer meet.

“I think it's great to have momentum to go up there. He [Irad Ortiz, Jr.] is going to head there as the favorite, we all know.” “But I'm going to try to beat him again,” Ortiz said, with a laugh.

Trainer Linda Rice paced all other trainers at the meet to land her fourth consecutive training title at a NYRA track and the second of her career at Belmont. She secured the title with 34 wins.

“It's exciting–it's a lot of fun to win a Belmont title,” said Rice. “We had a good winter at Aqueduct and usually the spring meet gets a little stronger, and we managed to win that. We had no thoughts we would win the spring meet here, so I'm delighted.”

Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables won their 22nd owners' title at a NYRA track for a meet that saw them earn 11 victories.

The post Jose Ortiz And Linda Rice Top Belmont Spring/Summer Standings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Dorothy Crowfoot First Winner For WinStar Farm’s Audible

Dorothy Crowfoot made an auspicious career debut with a dominating 6½-length victory over maiden special weight foes at Hawthorne on Sunday, becoming the first winner for WinStar Farm's Florida Derby (G1) winner Audible.

Trained by Larry Rivelli and ridden by Julio Felix, Dorothy Crowfoot, the prohibitive favorite, took command at the break and won the 4½-furlong race under a hand ride in the fast time of :51.39, not far off the track record of :50.54 set in 2009. Owned by Carolyn Wilson and bred in Kentucky by Farfellow Farms, Dorothy Crowfoot was a $500,000 acquisition out of the Top Line Sales consignment at this year's OBS March Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale where she breezed an eighth in :10 at the sale's under-tack preview.

Consigned by her breeder to the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Dorothy Crowfoot sold originally as a yearling to Rosalie Bloodstock for $220,000. The bay filly is produced from the Midnight Lute mare Enjoy This Moment, a half sister to multiple graded stakes winner Sum of the Parts and graded stakes winner Rocket Heat out of the multiple graded stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Enjoy the Moment.

Audible, a son of perennial leading sire Into Mischief, was one of the most consistent 3-year-olds of his generation. With his undeniable talent and versatility, Audible emerged as a formidable contender on the 2018 Kentucky Derby (G1) trail for owners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing, and Head of Plains Partners and trainer Todd Pletcher.

In his seasonal and stakes debut at 3, following a pair of wins at two, Audible recorded an emphatic victory in the $350,000 Holy Bull (G2) at Gulfstream Park. Facing Grade 1 winner Free Drop Billy, Audible powered home to win by an impressive 5 ½ lengths, clocking the fastest time in the race since 2013, completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.92.

Building on his Holy Bull success, Audible continued his winning ways in the $1-million Florida Derby (G1), registering an eye-catching three-length victory over subsequent multiple Grade 1 winners Catholic Boy and Promises Fulfilled. In demonstrating his versatility in winning the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby—his fourth consecutive win—Audible rallied from far back after winning the Holy Bull with a pace-stalking trip.

Audible headed into Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May ranked third on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 110 points. After being repeatedly blocked and altering course in the stretch of the Derby, he bravely rallied along the rail and finished a determined third to eventual undefeated Triple Crown winner Justify. Audible returned in November and won the inaugural running of the seven-furlong Cherokee Run Stakes at Churchill Downs by a comfortable two lengths with a bold five-wide move. An earner of $2,130,520, Audible retired having won or placed in eight of 10 lifetime starts.

A $500,000 Fasig-Tipton March sale graduate, Audible was bred by Oak Bluff Stables and hails from a deep female family that traces directly to multiple Grade 1 winner and graded stakes producer Classy Cathy, who won the Alabama (G1), Ashland (G1), and Gazelle Handicap (G1) during her outstanding racing career.

Audible saw first yearlings in 2022 command up to $725,000, $675,000, $575,000, etc., and his first 2-year-olds this year sold for up to $535,000, $500,000, $425,000, etc.

For more information on Audible, contact Liam O'Rourke, Olivia Desch, or Ben Hanley at (859) 873-1717, or visit WinStarFarm.com.

The post Dorothy Crowfoot First Winner For WinStar Farm’s Audible appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Giddings Has Grade 1 Test In Mind For Undefeated Maple Leaf Mel

Trainer Melanie Giddings celebrated the first stakes win of her career Saturday with August Dawn Farm's Maple Leaf Mel, who was named for her trainer during her tenure as an assistant trainer to the filly's original conditioner Jeremiah Englehart.

The New York-bred daughter of Cross Traffic notched the second graded coup of her career in Saturday's Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont, landing a facile 2 1/2-length victory to keep her record unblemished through five lifetime outings.

Giddings said Maple Leaf Mel returned to Saratoga Race Course Sunday morning where she will make her preparations towards an intended start in the $500,000 Test (G1) on August 5 at the Spa.

“She is here and happy to be eating and to be back,” said Giddings. “The Test is the plan. She'll have a few days off like everybody after their race and we'll see how she comes out of it. We'll make sure she's happy and good and her energy is good and go from there. She's a high-energy horse, so it takes quite a bit to knock her down. She looks pretty bright-eyed this morning.”

Maple Leaf Mel, who also won Pimlico's Miss Preakness (G3) on May 19, has won all five of her starts in gate-to-wire fashion, including her effort Saturday when guided by regular pilot Joel Rosario through splits of :22.54, :45.52, and 1:09.48 over the fast main track. She faced a brief challenge from Dazzling Blue into the stretch, but turned back her foe with ease to coast home the winner in a final time of 1:15.74. She earned a career-best 99 Beyer.

“It's really special. When you have a horse like that and she's already won four, you just want perfection for her all the time,” said Giddings. “I expected her to run the way she did. She just thrives on running. She's the kind of horse anyone loves to have and when you're taking her over, she's going to give 110 percent.”

Maple Leaf Mel, bred by Joe Fafone, made her first three outings against fellow state-breds, including a 7 3/4-length score in the East View in March for her sophomore debut. The gray filly has made an impressive jump from 2 to 3 and covered the Victory Ride's 6 1/2 furlongs more than two seconds faster than she ran that same distance in the state-bred Seeking the Ante in August at the Spa.

“I think she's just learning and she just does things naturally and so easy,” said Giddings. “Her turn of foot and speed is really incredible and she doesn't even know what she's doing. I think the more she runs, she's kind of just enjoying herself. She probably could have run even faster yesterday if she wanted to.”

The Victory Ride was just the 29th lifetime start for Giddings, who went out on her own in January after working for Englehart for several years. Giddings said she is grateful to have a filly like Maple Leaf Mel so early on in her career.

“I'm just really blessed, and not a lot of people get an opportunity with a horse like this,” said Giddings. “I appreciate having the chance. I've never missed a day since getting her in the barn when she was 2 with Jeremiah. Even when I'm having a bad day myself, she's here and I suit up and go whether I feel like I can or can't. It's good for me. I just never want to miss a day with her.”

The post Giddings Has Grade 1 Test In Mind For Undefeated Maple Leaf Mel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Chew On This: Hay Cubes And Long-Stem Hay Affect Chewing Activity

High costs or limited availability of hay may have horse owners considering alternative forage options including hay cubes. Hay cubes are a good nutritive substitute for long-stem hay, but little research has looked at the potential impact on feeding behavior. Researchers in Austria evaluated the effect of forage type (hay cube vs long-stem hay) on dust production and chewing activity when fed to horses.

Six horses between the ages of 4 and 16 were pastured together during the day and individually housed overnight. During the trial periods, the horses were fed one of two treatments overnight: 11 pounds as-fed of long-stem hay or hay cubes. Each horse was subjected to each treatment with a 14-day washout period in between. The long-stem hay consisted mainly of meadow fescue, timothy, tall oat grass and cocksfoot. The hay cubes were a 50 percent mix of meadow grass and alfalfa. The horses readily consumed both forage types. Chewing activity was recorded using halter sensors and a dust measuring instrument was placed to measure dust particles near the mouth and nose areas of the horse.

The horses spent a shorter time (67 minutes less) eating hay cubes compared to long-stem hay. Additionally, fewer total chews were observed with hay cubes (15,110) compared to long-stem hay (20,299). However, the number of chews per minute were similar between hay cubes (70.6) and long-stem hay (72.6). While the concentration of inhalable dust particles was higher for the hay cubes, dust concentrations were generally low and considered safe for both forage types.

Maximizing the amount of time a horse spends eating supports their digestive health and helps fulfill their instinct to forage. When long-stem hay is scarce, hay cubes can serve as an appropriate forage alternative. Using hay cubes as a partial replacement for long-stem hay can help you stretch your hay supply, while encouraging more foraging and chewing activity than hay cubes alone.

The post Chew On This: Hay Cubes And Long-Stem Hay Affect Chewing Activity appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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