Tag: Agate Road

Jose Ortiz to Ride in Kentucky this Spring

Edited Press Release 

Jockey Jose Ortiz is named to ride eight races Saturday at Turfway Park and, after Jeff Ruby Steaks Day, fans in Kentucky will begin to see his name regularly in the program as he's slated to ride full-time this spring at Keeneland and Churchill Downs.

For many years the 2017 Eclipse Award-winning jockey has been a regular rider on the New York circuit during the spring and summer, but this will be the first time he'll remain in Kentucky. Agent Steve Rushing, who also take the calls for his Eclipse Award-winning brother Irad Ortiz, Jr., will continue to have his book in Kentucky. (In a text, Rushing said Jose Ortiz is moving permanently to Kentucky, but will ride at Saratoga in the summer before returning for Kentucky Downs, where he won the 2018 and 2019 titles.)

Among his many mounts Saturday is GIII Sam F. Davis S. runner-up Agate Road (Quality Road) in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Listed at 4-1 on the morning line odds, Agate Road was cross-entered in Saturday's GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds but Pletcher said that he's, “leaning towards” running the bay at Turfway. Other notable mounts for Ortiz Saturday at Turfway include Wolfie's Dynaghost (Ghostzapper) in the GIII TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic and Blue Eyed George (Flameaway) in the Rushaway S.

Ortiz will make a brief return to Florida following Jeff Ruby Steaks Day, but will be back to Kentucky when Keeneland's Spring Meet begins Friday, Apr. 5.

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Fierceness Likely to Return in GI Florida Derby

Champion Fierceness (City of Light) continued his preparations for a likely start in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 30 with a half-mile breeze Friday at Palm Beach Downs in company with fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road). The pair clocked in at :48.89, leaving conditioner Todd Pletcher satisfied with the progress he'd seen since the GIII Holy Bull S.

“Fierceness and Agate Road breezed a half together and both did really well, especially Fierceness. [He had] a strong gallop-out, looked good. He's continued to train really good since the Holy Bull,” Pletcher said.

He also added that, while Fierceness had also been training well up to his seasonal debut, the race dynamics may've done more against him than they'd initially thought. “[…] I don't think he needed a race. I think our expectations were so high for him that maybe we're not looking at it realistically. If you watch the start of the race, he got slammed pretty hard from both sides. Johnny [Velazquez], in order to execute the game plan, had to use him pretty hard to get to the first turn in the position we wanted to.”

“He could have been a little rusty off the layoff, even though he was training great. He was top weight. [There are] a lot of subtle excuses that, for an ordinary horse, you would try to justify it. In his case, he trained so well and we expected so much of him, sometimes you think he can overcome everything.”

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No More Time Sharp in Front-Running Sam F. Davis Victory

Sent away as the somewhat surprising 33-10 favorite in Saturday's $250,000 GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs, Morplay Racing's No More Time (Not This Time) won the pace battle and ultimately the war, as he had enough in the tank late to hold off 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road) and earn 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. West Saratoga (Exaggerator), winner of last year's GIII Iroquois S. and a distant second to the G3 Saudi Derby-bound Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in Tampa's Pasco S. Jan. 13, also attended the fast fractions and stayed on bravely for third.

With Jose Ortiz opting for Agate Road, it was Paco Lopez at the controls astride No More Time and he bounced the colt aggressively away from gate five to lead early from second choice Change of Command (Into Mischief). West Saratoga was hung out four deep into the backstretch, while Agate Road–returning to the dirt since debuting over the surface at Saratoga last summer–was void of any speed and dropped out to be a detached last.

Though he was forced through splits of :23.52 for the quarter and a testing :46.61 for the half, No More Time was still going nicely and met a three-wide bid from West Saratoga midway on the turn as the blinkered Change of Command began to back out of it. In the meantime, Agate Road commenced a rally at the 3 1/2-furlong marker and was weaving his way into contention nearing the stretch. Firmly in front passing the three-sixteenths pole, No More Time was asked for his best as Lopez took his trademark look back at the competition over his right shoulder and he gutted it out as Agate Road, wide into the stretch, took good ground off of him in the final yards. West Saratoga just lasted for third over Elysian Meadows (City of Light).

There was some drama at the break, as Everdoit (Gary D) dropped his rider Huber Villa-Gomez after hitting the gate and ran through the outside rail at about the five-furlong marker. Track announcer Jason Beem tweeted later that the gelding had been caught by the outriders. After reviewing the start, stewards ruled that no changes would be made.

A wide second sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream on debut Sept. 9, No More Time shot away to graduate by 6 3/4 lengths going the one-turn mile Oct. 22 and did not see action again until the Mucho Macho Man S. over that same track and trip on New Year's Day. Slowly away as the 21-10 second choice, he took the overland route around the turn, but nevertheless traveled into the race looking a threat at the quarter pole. He wasn't able to sustain that bid, finishing fifth, but the gamblers took a forgiving approach Saturday afternoon after No More Time was scratched out of the GIII Holy Bull S. last weekend.

Pedigree Notes:

No More Time is the 31st stakes winner and 14th graded winner for his newly turned 10-year-old sire and is bred on the same cross responsible for GI Madison S. heroine Just One Time. The late Speightstown is now the broodmare sire of 65 stakes winners, 25 at the graded level.

Baroness Juliette was purchased by trainer Clinton Stuart for $12,000 as a 2-year-old at Keeneland November in 2017 and was a maiden winner for a $10,000 tag at Prairie Meadows in nine starts at three in 2018. No More Time is her second foal and her third, the now-juvenile West Virginia-bred colt Mor d'Oro (Mor Spirit), was sold in utero for $7,000 at KEENOV in 2021. She is the dam of a yearling filly by Golden Years, also bred in the Mountaineer State.

Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
SAM F. DAVIS S.-GIII, $200,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 2-10, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.26, ft.
1–NO MORE TIME, 120, c, 3, by Not This Time
                1st Dam: Baroness Juliette, by Speightstown
                2nd Dam: Juliette Ava, by Medaglia d'Oro
                3rd Dam: Cherokee Crossing, by Cherokee Colony
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($40,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Morplay Racing LLC; B-MAMAS Thoroughbreds, LLC (IA); T-Jose Francisco D'Angelo; J-Paco Lopez. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $156,780. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Agate Road, 124, c, 3, Quality Road–Yellow Agate, by Gemologist. ($650,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC; B-Chc Inc. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $40,000.
3–West Saratoga, 122, c, 3, Exaggerator–Mo Wicked, by Uncle Mo. ($11,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Harry L. Veruchi; B-Two Hearts Farm II LLC (KY); T-Larry W. Demeritte. $20,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 5 1/4, HD. Odds: 3.30, 4.30, 31.00.
Also Ran: Elysian Meadows, Fulmineo, Crazy Mason, Tireless, El Principito, Patriot Spirit, Copper Tax, Change of Command, Everdoit.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

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Agate Road Back To The Dirt For Sam F. Davis

The Tampa Road to the Kentucky Derby heats up Saturday afternoon, as a full field of 12 sophomore males is set to face the starter for the $250,000 GIII Sam F. Davis S., with 42 Kentucky Derby qualifying points (20-10-6-4-2) up for grabs.

When Litigate (Blame) took out the 2023 renewal, he was giving trainer Todd Pletcher a seventh victory in the Davis, having won the race for the first time in 2006 with Bluegrass Cat (Storm Cat). 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road) will be the more-fancied of Pletcher's two runners as he returns to the dirt for the first time since missing by a nose in a rained-off maiden at Saratoga last August. A had-to-see-it-to-believe-it winner of his turf debut at the Spa the following month, the $650,000 Keeneland September purchase found his best stride late to take out the GIII Pilgrim S., but he was done no favors by the one-mile trip of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, running on belatedly to finish fifth. Agate Road's seasonal debut is best taken with a grain of salt, as Tocayo (Always Dreaming) set a leisurely tempo in the Jan. 6 Dania Beach S. and was never threatened, with Agate Road chipping away late to be second. He certainly fits on class and figs, but he would be dodgy at a skinny number with Jose Ortiz in the irons. Pletcher also sends out Tireless (Not This Time), a local maiden winner over an extended mile Jan. 14.

Iowa-bred No More Time (Not This Time) broke his maiden impressively going a mile at Gulfstream in October, but was off slowly from the inside gate in the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man and loomed a wide threat at the head of the lane before fading into fifth. The dark bay tries the two-turn game for the first time, with Paco Lopez taking over from Ortiz for trainer Jose D'Angelo.

Courtlandt Farms' Change of Command (Into Mischief) blew the doors off a field of Gulfstream maidens going seven furlongs Dec. 17 and gutted out a neck victory trying a route of ground for the first time in Hallandale Jan. 5. Shug McGaughey elects to puts blinkers on the $1.05-million KEESEP acqusition.

Elysian Meadows (City of Light) is perfect in two starts to date, both over three-quarters of a mile at Aqueduct, and the form of his first-level state-bred allowance victory Dec. 15 was franked when the runner-up Mischief Joke (Practical Joke) returned to win the Rego Park S. It'll be up to Junior Alvarado to work out a trip from the 12 hole for trainer Bill Mott. That combination teamed to win the 2021 Davis with Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}).

Small, But Select Field For Rescheduled Las Virgenes

Saturday's GIII Las Virgenes S., postponed due to impending rains last Sunday, has lured a field of five, but what the race may lack in numbers, it appears to make up for in terms of quality.

Michael Lund Petersen's 'TDN Rising Star' Kinza (Not This Time) steps up in class and up in trip for this second go after earning a towering 96 Beyer Speed Figure in annexing her racecourse debut by 7 1/2 lengths going six furlongs Dec. 29. The $17,000 FTNOCT weanling, $30,000 OBSOCT yearling and $350,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic breezer will try to give trainer Bob Baffert an eighth Las Virgenes and third straight for Petersen following Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) in 2022 and Faiza (Girvin) last year.

Kopion (Omaha Beach) holds an experience edge over Kinza and exits a front-running, 5 3/4-length success in the seven-furlong GIII Santa Ynez S. Jan. 7. The $270,000 KEESEP graduate had previously defeated She's a Tempest (Connect) into second to open her account at first asking at Del Mar in late November, and She's a Tempest did her part to validate the effort with a tenacious victory over next-out maiden winner Ultimate Authority (Practical Joke) over this track and distance Jan. 5.

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