Category: Horse Racing News

Salute With Honor Complete Weekend Stakes Sweep For Husbands, Casse At Woodbine

Jockey Patrick Husbands and trainer Mark Casse completed a sweep of the Thanksgiving weekend stakes events at Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario, as Salute With Honor won the Grade 3, $125,000 Durham Cup in front-end fashion on Sunday.

Salute With Honor was followed by a hard-closing Skywire and Rafael Hernandez to complete a Casse exacta in the 1-1/16-mile main track test for horses three years old and up.

The Husbands-Casse duo also clicked in Saturday's $250,000 Cup and Saucer Stakes with Canadian-bred 2-year-old Master Spy.

In Sunday's graded stakes feature, Salute With Honor took command from the quick-leaving Inventing Blame into the first turn approaching the :23.43 quarter mark and clocked a half-mile in :47.36 and three-quarters in 1:11.78 en route to victory.

Skywire, who raced inside near the back of the seven-horse field, maneuvered outside on the final turn and came tearing home to finish second, one length behind his triumphant stablemate. Timeskip closed from last to nab the show honours for conditioner Rene Kierans ahead of another Casse trainee, Pioneer Man. Roaring Forties, Armistice Day and Inventing Blame completed the order of finish.

Salute With Honor was not far off Freitag's track record (1:42.16) as he posted a final time of 1:42.35.

First-time stakes winner Salute With Honor ($6, $3.20, $2.90) was the slight 2-1 favorite over Skywire ($3.10, $2.50), who won the Grade 2 Eclipse on July 4 over the same course and distance, and they combined here for a 3-1 exacta worth $19.10.

“He's a horse that likes to be forwardly-placed,” noted Husbands of the six-year-old chestnut son of To Honor and Serve. “I don't touch him, he just does what he's gotta do. I just be the pilot and relax on his back, and when I asked him, he gave me all he can give me.”

The Live Oak Plantation homebred gelding earned his seventh career win and has banked nearly $360,000 from 19 starts. Salute With Honor has now won two races in a row at Woodbine and sports a five-for-seven record here lifetime.

Husbands has won back-to-back editions of the Durham Cup on two occasions. He first accomplished the feat with the Casse pupil Delegation and the Josie Carroll-conditioned James Street in 2012-2013. Last year, he guided The Great Day to victory for trainer Arnaud Delacour. The veteran jockey and four-time winner Casse earned their first Durham Cup titles together in 2009 courtesy of Pool Play.

Live Thoroughbred racing continues on Thursday at Woodbine, with post time for the nine-race program set for 2:15 p.m. A reminder that the new Friday post time of 4:35 p.m. goes into effect this week and Racing Night Live returns on TSN with coverage from Woodbine Racetrack and Woodbine Mohawk Park from 7-9 p.m. ET.

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Ward Thinking Breeders’ Cup For Royal Approval Following Sharp Matron Victory

Three Chimneys Farm's Royal Approval overtook pacesetter Union Gables in the final furlong and closed strongly to register a three-quarter length victory for her first stakes score in Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Matron for juvenile fillies on the  inner turf course at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Royal Approval broke sharply from post 7 under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and tracked Union Gables as she led the seven-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.53 seconds and the half in 46.28 on the firm course. Out of the turn, the 1-2 favorite pressed on and bypassed Union Gables from the outside once inside the eighth pole. Magisterium, who was at the back at the pack a quarter mile in, made a strong bid from the rail, and Union Gables continued to dig in, but Royal Approval completed the six-furlong sprint in 1:09.10.

“I rode her like the best horse in the race,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “With this one I got the perfect trip. She broke well, she put me right there and when I asked her to go, she was there.

“She [Union Gables] was game,” he added regarding the stubborn pace setter. “She was fighting and she tried to come back. My filly responded really well. She has a nice turn of foot.”

Trainer Wesley Ward said before the race that Royal Approval much preferred firm turf, which the daughter of Tiznow thrived on in her previous start with a 6 1/4-length romp on September 9 at Kentucky Downs in a maiden special weight.

Following a second-place effort upon debut to stablemate Campanelle on May 31 going five furlongs on Gulfstream Park's firm grass, Ward shipped Royal Approval to England to run at Royal Ascot in the Group 2 Queen Mary in June, where a wet surface proved problematic in a 17th place finish. Campanell, victorious in the Queen Mary, exited that effort to win the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville.

Under dryer conditions, Royal Approval has now won two in a row and improved to 2-for-2 since Ward took the blinkers off.

“I try to take [the blinkers] off at the end of the year,” said Ward, who won the 2017 Matron with Happy Like a Fool. “At the beginning of the year, I just want to keep them focused and looking straight ahead and not looking at whatever is beside them. As we get to the fall, they get to different tracks and so many different countries, that it helps to stretch their speed when you take the blinkers off.

“When I took the blinkers off her last time, she ran very well and if you analyze the race at Kentucky Downs, it almost looked like you had to get worried and then the rider went to the stick and she opened up five or six lengths,” he continued. “Irad said that he was just riding, and she was just kind of right there, but when he hit her, she took off. I think this filly may stretch out.”

Royal Approval returned $3.10 for winning the 113th edition of the Matron. Ward said the effort gave him confidence to pursue a spot in the Breeders' Cup next month at Keeneland, with either the Grade 2, $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint against males going 5 ½ furlongs or the Grade 1, $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf going one mile in play and a possible rematch with Campanell, who is targeting that race.

“We definitely will go to the Breeders' Cup with her. I'll sit down with [Three Chimneys Farm vice chairman] Doug Cauthen and [chairman] Mr. [Gonçalo Borges] Torrealba and see just which direction they want to go,” Ward said. “Just after talking to Irad, the mile [Juvenile Fillies Turf] might be the better option for her, but again, we'll sit down and see how she is. As we get a little closer, we'll have to really watch the weather, as this filly doesn't handle the soft turf. At Keeneland in the fall, sometimes you'll get that.”

Union Gables, conditioned by Todd Pletcher, held off Magisterium by three-quarters of a length for second.

“She was pretty comfortable, she broke pretty well,” said Union Gables' jockey Luis Saez. “She's going to be all right next time. She fought until the end, the winner was just too tough. She's going to be OK.”

Amalfi Princess, Fabricate and Rossa Veloce completed the order of finish. Niente was pulled up in the stretch run and vanned off.

Bravo Regina was scratched.

Originally contested on dirt, the Matron – along with its male counterpart the Grade 3, $100,000 Futurity – was moved to the grass in 2018 upon introduction of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint to give 2-year-old turf sprinting fillies an opportunity to garner black type. The historic race has seen some of racing's finest fillies notch a victory early on in their storied careers including Maskette (1908), Top Flight (1938), Busher (1944), Bed o' Roses (1949), Cicada (1961), Numbered Account (1971) and La Prevoyante (1972).

Live racing resumes with a special nine-race Monday holiday card at Belmont with a first post of 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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After Futurity Upset, Second Of July Likely Heading To Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint

After springing a 68-1 upset in his career debut, Bryan Hilliard's homebred Second of July again outran his odds displaying off-the-pace tactics to score a 15-1 victory in Sunday's 130th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Futurity going six furlongs over the Widener turf at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

In taking the Futurity, Second of July earned an all-fees paid entry into the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on November 6 at Keeneland.

Trained by Phillip Gleaves, Second of July was further off the pace in the Futurity than he was in his September 20 maiden special weight victory over Belmont's inner turf, where he was 1 1/2 lengths off the lead before surging to win by three-quarters of a length. On Sunday, the chestnut son of Jack Milton settled in sixth under jockey Dylan Davis while Momos and Gypsy King wrestled for control of the pace through opening fractions of 22.10 and 45.45 over the firm turf.

The field was tightly packed as they made their way around the far turn, where Second of July was trying to find real estate. Just past the quarter pole, Davis tipped one path to the outside and in the clear and began asking more from his charge. On the front end, Momos and Gypsy King were still duking it out with County Final to their outside with a chance as Second of July bid five-wide in the stretch.

After Five unleashed a late bid to the far outside, but Second of July made his way to the front just inside the sixteenth pole and came home a half-length winner in a time of 1:09.33. After Five, who was last at the top of the stretch in search of racing room, took second as the beaten favorite over Momos, who ran third against graded stakes company for a second straight time.

Davis, who piloted Second of July to both of his victories, said he felt a difference in the horse's maturity level from his first start.

“The first time out, he was pretty green about everything,” Davis said. “Today, he was very professional and I hope he will be third time out. He was a lot better with the gate and the pony and the whole race scenario. He was a lot better for me. First time out, there were some heavy hitters and that's why he was a longshot. He ran great that day and he ran well again today. He was moving up in class and we were asking a lot of him. Phil did a great job getting him here.”

Second of July rewarded his backers with $2 win payouts of $33 as the highest price in the seven-horse field. Banking $55,000 in victory, he increased his earnings to $89,650 being unbeaten in two starts.

Gleaves said he was cautiously optimistic in his horse's chances.

“I knew he was very fit and sharp and doing good, so I knew he would run his race, but I just wasn't sure if it was going to be good enough, but it turned out to be,” Gleaves said. “I was happy to see he had so much horse coming around the turn and at that point I knew we were going to run well. He just wore them down. Dylan does such a great job. There would be no reason to change things at the Breeders' Cup.”

Gleaves said a trip to the Breeders' Cup is likely in play.

“All being well and if the horse is OK, we will head to the Breeders' Cup,” Gleaves said.

Completing the order of finish were County Final, Gypsy King, Trade Deal and Bright Devil. Sky's Not Falling, Newbomb, Kentucky Knight and Nutsie were scratched.

A Kentucky homebred, Second of July is named after owner Bryan Hilliard's son Reed's date of birth and is the third offspring out of the Curlin mare Wichita.

Live racing resumes on Monday with a nine-race program. First post is 12:50 p.m.

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