Robin Goodfellow’s Racing Tips: Best bets for Monday, October 5
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow dishes out his tips for Monday's meetings at Pontefract, Wolverhampton and Stratford.
Category: Horse Racing News
Wet Your Whistle Avoids Loose Horse, Wins Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational
David Palmer's Wet Your Whistle had already registered a Grade 1 win on the grass in addition to a stakes win on a synthetic surface. On Sunday, the versatile 5-year-old again produced a professional effort, powering home a 3 1/4-length winner in the Grade 3, $150,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
Out of the gate, Backtohisroots stumbled and unseated rider Jose Lezcano running loose at the front of the pack. Under jockey Jose Ortiz, Wet Your Whistle was still forwardly placed, staying in second position behind Battle Station before taking command with the opening quarter-mile in 22.47 seconds on the firm outer turf. Ortiz kept pressing his charge, with the half-mile going in 45.15.
The Michael Trombetta trainee maintained the edge out of the turn, with five furlongs going in 56.03, before outkicking Chewing Gum to complete the six-furlong course in a 1:07.87 final time.
“The loose horse broke and kind of kept the two speed horses, Big Wonder and Battle Station, way out on the track,” Ortiz said. “My horse broke very sharp out of the gate, so I just played it by ear. I'm just really glad it worked out.
“He was doing it very nicely the first half-mile, he was just on the beat,” he added. “Past the quarter pole, I asked him to go and had the loose horse right next to me and he just engaged with him. He started running. I think 1:07 and 4 is pretty fast for this kind of track. It's been a little heavy all day.”
Wet Your Whistle did not make his first graded stakes start until his 4-year-old campaign, when he won in his first attempt in the 2019 Grade 1 Highlander at Woodbine. Off an 11-month break, the gelded son of Stroll won the Karl Boyes over the synthetic track at Presque Isle Downs in August in his seasonal bow.
After an off-the-board finish in the Laurel Dash last month, he won his first race at Belmont in three tries.
“He had been training well. When I ran him last time the turf was soft, and he just didn't enjoy it at all,” Trombetta said. “He jumped on the bridle and had a little bit of a target. Jose took advantage of the situation. A lot of times in these races, you want to try to get the best trip possible. One thing about putting them up there, is your either good enough or you aren't.”
Off at 8-1, Wet Your Whistle returned $19 on a $2 win bet and increased his career earnings to $420,653.
“When Mike Trombetta ships here, he doesn't come here to play games,” Ortiz said. “His horses are 100 percent ready.”
Wet Your Whistle could potentially target the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on November 7 at Keeneland, though Trombetta did not commit to that spot yet.
“I'll have to talk to the owner and see what's involved. In these kinds of races, especially the turf sprinters, it's a select group that all run against each other and all beat each other here and there,” Trombetta said. “If you're going to take a chance, these are the kind of horses to do it with.”
Chewing Gum, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, edged Archidust by a nose in his first start since running off the board in the Grade 1 Fourstardave on August 22 at Saratoga Race Course.
Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who rode Chewing Gum, was second in all three of Belmont's graded stakes races, with Caldee the runner-up in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo in Race 7 and Point of Honor in the Grade 2 Beldame in Race 8.
“I had a beautiful trip,” Castellano said. “I have no complaints. I felt like they didn't go that fast because everyone was screaming 'Loose horse' and everyone had to control their race and take a hold. I wish there could've been more pace, but it is what it is. We still finished up strong and well.”
Fog of War, Holiday Stone, Battle Station and Big Wonder completed the order of finish. Pulsate was scratched, as was main-track only entrant Chateau. Lezcano, aboard Backtohisroots, said he was in good order following evaluation by EMS after the race. Backtohisroots was apprehended by the outrider and walked home under his own power.
Live racing will resume Thursday at Belmont with a 10-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
The post Wet Your Whistle Avoids Loose Horse, Wins Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Vancouver Filly a Perfect Three-for-Three with Surfer Girl Win
Kaleem Shah’s Madone made it a perfect three-for-three with a late-charging victory in the Surfer Girl S. at Santa Anita Sunday. Made the even-money favorite off of two wins going a mile over the Del Mar lawn, the dark bay filly settled well off a quick pace. She made rapid progress nearing the lane and pounced to the lead at midstretch before gamely holding off Tetragonal, who came from last to just miss. Purchased for $125,000 at this year’s OBS March sale off a :10 1/5 breeze, Madone opened her career with a one-length victory over the Del Mar lawn July 31 and she closed late to add the Sept. 6 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf S. last time out.
“I liked where we were after the first quarter, it seemed like they were going fast enough up front,” said winning rider Flavien Prat. “The fractions don’t say it, but down the backside, it seemed like they slowed it down a little so I moved and I think I moved a little too soon. When she makes the lead, she pulls herself up a little. In all of her races, she doesn’t win by much, but she’s got a lot of talent.”
Conditioner Simon Callaghan added, “They went fast, which we thought could happen, so Flavien just let her settle back early and let her get comfortable. He made a big move with her and thankfully she had enough to hold off the filly that was running at us.”
Callaghan confirmed that Madone would now point for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Nov. 6.
“She is professional, she has really grown up a lot,” he said. “She took a little bit of time to come around, but she’s really developing into a real professional.”
The winner hails from the extended female family of Grade I winners Gold Fever and Boisterous. She has a yearling half-sister by Astern (Aus) who was purchased by agent Ben McElroy, who also purchased Madone. Indian Love Call produced a Cairo Prince colt this term before being bred back to Gormley.
SURFER GIRL S., $102,000, Santa Anita, 10-4, 2yo, f, 1mT, 1:34.83, fm.
1–MADONE, 122, f, 2, by Vancouver (Aus)
1st Dam: Indian Love Call, by Cherokee Run
2nd Dam: Mood Music, by Kingmambo
3rd Dam: Lead Kindly Light, by Majestic Light
($70,000 Wlg ’18 KEENOV; $50,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP; $125,000
2yo ’20 OBSMAR). O-Kaleem Shah, Inc.; B-Glendalough LLC
(KY); T-Simon Callaghan; J-Flavien Prat. $60,000. Lifetime
Record: 3-3-0-0, $141,300.
2–Tetragonal (Ire), 118, f, 2, Mehmas (Ire)–Crystal Snowflake
(Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). (€22,000 Ylg ’19 TIRSEP).
O-Slam Dunk Racing & Joey Platts; B-Mrs Mary Gallagher (IRE);
T-Richard Baltas. $20,000.
3–Pizzazz, 118, f, 2, War Front–A Little Bit Sassy, by More Than
Ready. O-Perry R. II & Ramona S. Bass, Ramona S.; B-Bass
Stables, LLC (KY); T-Richard E. Mandella. $12,000.
Margins: NK, 3HF, NO. Odds: 1.10, 25.50, 8.20.
Also Ran: Closing Remarks, Canoodling, Maxim Strider, Consternation (Ire), Nimbostratus (Fr), Reign of Fire.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
The post Vancouver Filly a Perfect Three-for-Three with Surfer Girl Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Mutasaabeq Leads 1-2 Finish For Leading Sire Into Mischief In Bourbon Stakes
Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq, last at the top of the stretch in the field of 11, rocketed to the front at the sixteenth pole and cruised to a 21/4-length victory in the 30th running of the $200,000 Bourbon (G2) for 2-year-olds at Keeneland and earn a spot in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) to be run at a mile at the Lexington, Ky., track on Nov. 6.
Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Luis Saez, Mutasaabeq covered the 1 1/16 miles on a firm turf course in 1:43.13 in his grass debut. It is the fifth victory in the Bourbon for Pletcher, whose other winners are Twilight Meteor (2006), Bittel Road (2008), Interactif (2009) and Current (2018).
Into the Sunrise emerged with the lead in the run to the first turn and set fractions of :22.62, :47.09 and 1:12.24 while Saez waited at the back.
Mutasaabeq shifted to the outside on the far turn, entered the stretch eight wide and quickly picked off rivals before overtaking Into the Sunrise inside the sixteenth pole and drawing off.
“We broke a little slow,” said Saez. “Last time he did the same thing, but I knew I had a lot of horse. The distance was great for him. He was working so good on the turf. We knew what we had. When we came to the half-mile I was trying to (decide) where we were going to go – inside or out – but inside we had so many horses. I felt like I had the horse to go out and let him roll. When he came to the straight, he just took off. He did it easy.”
“He didn't break well and that has historically been him,” said Pletcher. “He's a horse that has speed and he has a tremendous turn of foot as you saw today, but he's notoriously not been great the first jump or two away from the gate. So I wasn't surprised when he didn't get away well and then he kind of got shuffled back and then a horse kind of came over and he had to steady a bit.
“The first 100 yards didn't go very well, but he was able to save a little bit of ground around the first turn and it looked like Luis (Saez) was biding his time and trying to figure out whether he should find a seam to go through or ultimately he just decided to circle the field and kind of sling-shotted them. He delivered an explosive turn of foot. Great to see and great for the Shadwell team.
“His maiden win was very impressive and his gate work prior to his maiden win was as good as any 2-year-old we've had at Saratoga ever. We felt that the Hopeful (G1), they kind of ran away from him and he couldn't really close the way we hoped he would. Kind of looking into his pedigree, the Into Mischief's run on anything.”
A Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale graduate, Mutasaabeq is a Kentucky-bred son of Into Mischief out of the Scat Daddy mare Downside Scenario. The victory was worth $120,000 and increased his earnings to $189,600 with a record of 3-2-0-1.
Sent off as the favorite, Mutasaabeq paid $6, $3.80 and $3.60. Abarta, also by the Spendthrift Farm stallion Into Mischief, rallied for second under Umberto Rispoli to return $10.60 and $7.60. Nathan Detroit finished another three-quarters of a length back in third under Julien Leparoux and paid $7.60 to show.
It was another head back to Into the Sunrise, who was followed in order by Arrest Me Red, Private Island, Spyglass, Barrister Tom, Blame the Booze, Indy Tourist and Really Slow.
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