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‘That Sort Of Swing, The Glide, The Stride’: Shirreffs Says Honor A. P. Should Go The Distance

Honor A. P., the likely second choice for Saturday's rescheduled edition of the Kentucky Derby, has made quite an impression galloping over the Churchill Downs surface in the mornings. The son of Honor Code has the look of his grandsire, A.P. Indy, and should relish the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Run for the Roses, according to trainer John Shirreffs.

“Obviously he's named after his grandsire, so what he really has is a really big stride,” Shirreffs explained. “He has a long underline, and he has a very big stride, and it's an effortless stride. Like, when you watch sprinters run, they kind of run hard, like they're turning the stride over, turning the stride over, turning the stride over. You're not seeing that swing, that little rhythm to their stride, usually.

“With Honor A. P., that's what you see, that sort of swing, the glide, the stride; swing, glide, stride. That shows or indicates that he's not putting a lot of effort into it, so that helps horses go farther.”

Though he was particularly impressive winning the Santa Anita Derby on June 6, racing pundits may be hesitant to back Honor A. P. after his loss last out in the Shared Belief Stakes. Shirreffs explained that he didn't have the colt completely focused on running ahead of that 1 1/16-mile contest at Del Mar.

“Going into the Shared Belief, we were working on other things than cranking him up for the race,” the trainer said. “We were working on his attitude a little bit, trying to get him to behave a little bit better. He was starting to feel really good, and he was starting to be a little difficult to handle. So we wanted to do everything we could to quiet him, calm him down, get him to relax, and not crank him up and get him stressing.

“The only way you can do that with a big strong animal is to quiet them, and the best way to quiet them is to give them lots of exercise. Wet saddle blankets is the best thing for a high-strung horse.”

Honor A. P. has been on his best behavior at Churchill this week, and while Shirreffs believes he's ready for the challenge, the trainer said he'd just as soon have run the Derby in May.

“It would have been nice to run then, because the sequence would have been perfect,” he said. “I don't think the four months have helped him or hurt him, he was pretty precocious early on.”

Shirreffs knows what a Kentucky Derby winner looks like, after all. He saddled Giacomo to an upset victory in 2005, and told reporters he still hasn't watch the replay from that first Saturday in May.

“The feeling I had after the race was so special, I want to keep that feeling,” Shirreffs said. “I don't want to analyze the race, and go, 'oh, look at this and look at that.' I just want to think of the whole thing and the feeling I got from it.”

He'll miss the fans at this year's September Derby, of course, but Shirreffs is hoping for a big effort from Honor A. P. on Saturday.

“(Listening to the fans is) sort of an electric feeling, but winning the Derby is always special,” said Shirreffs. “But Honor A. P. is a completely different horse, and it's his opportunity, so we want to make the best of that.”

Thanks to the National Turfwriters and Broadcasters Association (NTWAB), which has assembled a group of pool reporters providing independent reporting to members unable to be on the Churchill Downs grounds this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The post ‘That Sort Of Swing, The Glide, The Stride’: Shirreffs Says Honor A. P. Should Go The Distance appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Sharing Leaves No Doubt With Decisive Edgewood Victory Under Franco

Sharing came ready to run in the Grade 2 Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Friday, holding off a late challenge from rival Hendy Woods at the wire of the mile-long turf contest. Under the guidance of Manny Franco, Sharing broke sharply and was keen for the lead in the early going of the race before agreeing to settle for Franco behind pacesetter In Good Spirits, tracking a pedestrian early pace. The filly, who was 3-5 by race time, kicked into gear enthusiastically at the top of the stretch and took command, drawing clear for her fifth lifetime victory.

Sharing paid $3.20 to win.

Lucky Betty was fourth behind Hendy Woods. The final time for the mile was 1:36.87.

The win for the Graham Motion trainee comes after some difficulty with foot issues following her trip to Royal Ascot, where she was second in the G1 Coronation. She had originally been slated to ship to California after her return from England, but instead required the summer off. Previous wins include the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Tepin Stakes.

Sharing is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway Stable. She was bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm and is the daughter of Speightstown and Pleasantly Perfect mare Shared Account.

No doubt Franco is hopeful Sharing's victory is a sign of good things to come for him this weekend, as he will be aboard odds-on Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law on Saturday.

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EDGEWOOD QUOTES, courtesy of the Churchill Downs media office

Manny Franco (winning rider, Sharing) — “She has tactical speed. She broke out of there good and put me in a position where I wanted to go. After that, she knows how to get it done. She is so nice and has a really good turn of foot. She is very professional.”

Graham Motion (winning trainer, Sharing) — “I can't lie, I was pretty anxious about it because she was coming off a long trip and a long break. But she's so classy, she makes us all look good I think. She had a great work last weekend and Manny (Franco) gave her a perfect ride. It couldn't have set up any better quite honestly.

“I figured she probably would be (a little fresh). The last thing I said was just tell Manny to keep her settled. She hasn't run for a while so it's not surprising but she's never overly anxious. She's such a pro.

“The only question I have in my mind is how far she wants to go. She obviously loves this distance. The next race would be 1 1/8 miles if we go to the QE2 at Keeneland. I don't know if she wants to go that far, I don't know why she wouldn't, but she seems awfully good going a mile. I think the QE2 is a race anyone with a good 3-year-old filly wants to go. I'm so tickled to get a race under her now because this makes it easier going forward now we've got this level of fitness. And I can't say enough about working with Aron (Wellman) and Antony (Beck). I feel like we've called the right shots and it's because of them, they've never put any pressure on me.”

John Velazquez (rider, Hendy Woods, second) – “She ran really well. She's looking at the infield and everything. She's not kind of settled behind the horses there. But finally she got settled on the second turn. I made a run with her. A good horse beat her today.”

Mark Casse (trainer, Hendy Woods, second) – “Very pleased. I want to talk to (jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) because twice he checked her and fell back in the saddle. I don't know if that cost us anything but definitely when you run against a filly like that (Sharing) and run second, there is no shame.”

Declan Cannon (rider, Lucky Betty, third) — “She kind of was not liking the soft ground, but I got in behind Sharing down the back and she made one run. She tried hard. I wish it was harder ground because she may have gotten a lot closer to Sharing, but my hat's off to the winner. She's the best in the country right now.”

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Newspaperofrecord a Headliner on Derby Undercard

‘TDN Rising Star’ Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) returns to the site of her biggest career victory in Saturday’s GII Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S.

The 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine beneath the Twin Spires has begun to make up for a winless season at three for trainer Chad Brown with a pair of jaw-dropping wins at Belmont this June-the GIII Intercontinental S. and the GI Just a Game S.

The 4-5 morning-line favorite will be piloted for the first time by Javier Castellano.

Brad Cox will saddle the co-second choices, Beau Recall (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) and Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

Beau Recall, a last-to-first upset winner of this race last year, completed the exacta behind Newspaperofrecord in the Just a Game. She enters off a fifth-place finish as the favorite while attempting to defend her title in the GII Yellow Ribbon H. at Del Mar Aug. 8.

Juliet Foxtrot has lost five in a row since capturing last summer’s GIII Modesty H. at Arlington while placing in a trio of Grade I events. She was third last time in Keeneland’s GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. July 11.

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Brown Packs Triple-Punch in Churchill’s Turf Classic

A fixture in the highest level grass events on racing’s biggest days, Chad Brown offers a three-pronged attack in Saturday’s GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. Listed at 7-2 on the morningline is Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), a close-up second in Santa Anita’s GII Charles Whittingham S. May 23, but subsequently demoted to third, followed by another runner-up finish in Belmont’s GI Manhattan S. July 4. Sacred Life (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) has proven consistent if not sparkling since his arrival in the U.S. last season. Second in the Lure S. and GII Bernard Baruch H. at Saratoga last summer, the French bred recorded his first American win in a Keeneland allowance last October before rounding out the year with a narrow second to Next Shares (Archarcharch) in Del Mar’s GII Seabiscuit H. in November. Fourth in his seasonal return in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Jan. 25, he returned from a six-month respite to win Monmouth’s Aug. 9 Oceanport S. Paco Lopez, who was aboard for his latest win, gets the return call. Brown also saddles last year’s GII American Turf S. scorer Digital Age (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). In his most recent start, the 4-year-old was a 1 1/2-length winner in a Saratoga optional claimer July 18.

Known for his serious turn of foot is Gaining Ground Racing’s Factor This (The Factor), who holds a four-race winning skein heading into this. Third in his seasonal bow in the Colonel E.R. Bradley S. at the Fair Grounds Jan. 18, the 5-year-old won his next two at that venue-the Feb. 15 GIII Fair Grounds S. and GII Muniz Memorial Classic S. Mar. 21-before making it three straight with a neck score over English Bee (Enlish Channel) in Churchill’s GII Wise Dan S. June 20. The well-supported favorite for the 10-furlong Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup S. Aug. 2, he prompted the early pace and proved best late to score by a 1/2 length.

Bowies Hero (Artie Schiller) won last summer’s nine-furlong GII Eddie Read S. and the GI Shadwell Turf Mile S. at Keeneland later that October before finishing fifth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. Given plenty of R&R after that effort, he returned with a second on the June 21 GIII American S. before having to settle for fourth in his title defense in the July 26 Eddie Read.

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