Anthony Sciametta | Horse Racing Free Tips

Shahama Dominates Monmouth Oaks

Shahama stalked pacesetting favorite Juji's Map before exploding to the lead off the turn and sailing clear to her first U.S. victory in the GIII Monmouth Oaks Sunday on the Jersey Shore. Sent off at 8-5, the bay shadowed Juji's Map, the 4-5 favorite, through fractions of :24.67 and :48.71. Nudged at into the far turn, Shahama surged to the lead after three-quarters in 1:11.88 and bound away to an easy win.

“We thought Brad Cox's horse [Juju's Map] would be on the lead and we would be sitting second and that's just how it played out,” said Anthony Sciametta, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “She's been training in New York and shipped down for this Saturday afternoon and did well and was well behaved. I know everyone who is around her likes her. She has a lot of class, as you can tell. I thought it was a two-horse race. You don't like to say that, but we thought it was between Juju's Map and us. Shahama was really good today.”

Winning jockey Jorge Vargas agreed the two favorites were the obvious class of the field.

“No disrespect to the others, but Shahama and Juju's Map were the classiest horses going in,” Vargas said. “I put my horse right on Juju's Map early. I was travelling good the whole time and I kept her just outside because Todd told me she doesn't like kickback from the dirt–she has a pretty face, she doesn't want to get that dirty. At the half-mile pole I picked it up with her. Paco Lopez tried to do the same, but didn't have as much horse as I did. By the three-eighths pole I was in front and it was over.”

Shahama had a productive winter in Dubai, where she won the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial and UAE 1000 Guineas in January and earned a spot in the GI Kentucky Oaks field with a win in the G3 UAE Oaks Feb. 18 for trainer Fawzi Nass. Transferred stateside to Pletcher's barn, she suffered her first loss when sixth in the Oaks and was coming off a runner-up effort in the June 25 GII Mother Goose S.

Pedigree Notes:

Shahama is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Kensei (Mr. Greeley) and to champion Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike). The filly has a weanling half-brother by Catalina Cruiser who was purchased by Tami Bobo's First Finds for $200,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. Her dam, Private Feeling, who was purchased by SF Bloodstock with the winner in utero for $40,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale, was bred back to Tom's d'Etat.

Under the winner's second dam, Regal Feeling, is champion Wait a While.

Sunday, Monmouth
MONMOUTH OAKS-GIII, $245,000, Monmouth, 7-31, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:41.54, ft.
1–SHAHAMA, 121, f, 3, by Munnings
                1st Dam: Private Feeling, by Belong to Me
                2nd Dam: Regal Feeling, by Clever Trick
                3rd Dam: Sharp Belle, by Native Charger
'TDN Rising Star'. ($425,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-KHK Racing;
B-SF Bloodstock LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Jorge A. Vargas,
Jr. $150,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-UAE, 7-5-1-0, $435,984.
*1/2 to Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike), Ch. 3-year-old Colt, Ch.
2-year-old Colt, MGISW, $3,307,278; 1/2 to Kensei
(Mr. Greeley), MGSW, $751,364. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
   *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Shotgun Hottie, 119, f, 3, Gun Runner–Re Entry, by Malibu
Moon. ($45,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Omar Aldabbagh & Jeff
Ganje; B-Vincent Colbert (KY); T-William E. Morey. $50,000.
3–Juju's Map, 117, f, 3, Liam's Map–Nagambie, by Flatter.
($190,000 Ylg '20 KEEJAN; $300,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Albaugh Family Stables LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich (KY); T-Brad
Cox. $25,000.
Margins: 2HF, 3/4, 6 1/4. Odds: 1.70, 4.00, 0.90.
Also Ran: Runaway Wife, Office Etiquette. Scratched: Silverleaf.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Munnys Gold Carries Big Dreams Into Saratoga

While her connections were hoping for a good showing on debut, no one really quite foresaw the performance 'Hagyard TDN Rising Star' Munnys Gold (Munnings) put on when she ran off the screen June 17 against Monmouth Park maidens, stopping the clock in a scorching :56.60 for five furlongs. Jacob West, advisor to the filly's owners, Robert and Lawana Low, was watching the race from his phone in the midst of a round of golf and admits he initially lost her in the shuffle after the break. By the time she found her way to the front, the first quarter was put up in :22.41 and she'd rolled through a 'touch crazy' second split of :45.22, but was doing it easily. Not long after she coasted in and the final time went up, the congratulatory text messages began flooding in.

“We didn't expect that from her first race–you never do–but we were pleasantly surprised,” West said in a phone interview Monday. “We always believed in her.”

A few days after the fact, and West reports that no news is good news, the filly having come out of the eye-catching effort in great shape. The current plan is to ship Munnys Gold up to Saratoga, get her settled in and on a routine, before deciding which race is next on her radar; the $175,000 GIII Schuylerville S. July 14 and the $200,000 GIII Adirondack S. Aug. 7 are the most likely targets. Where she goes will solely depend on how she's doing when it comes time to make the decision.

When he purchased her for $300,000 from the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling sale in July of 2021, it was the filly's physical which stuck with West the most vividly.

“The July sale produces many athletic and precocious horses, and they had this filly in a great spot. She was a well-made, beautiful horse,” West replied, when asked what encouraged him to spend the fourth highest amount paid for a filly at the auction last year. “Her pedigree was a little light at the time, but I prefer an athletic conformation over pedigree.”

He did add that, while her page wasn't heavy with black-type, it wasn't lacking, either. Champion 2-year-old Anees makes an appearance under the fourth dam and the filly's sole older half-sibling was placed in his two starts. Four broodmare sires in her female line all impart a heavy influence of stamina: Medaglia d'Oro, Distorted Humor, Unbridled, and Alydar. Combined with the speed on top from her sire Munnings, and it bears very advantageous fruit when it works out. Early reports from the farm provided their first inkling of budding talent, and by the time they were loading the filly onto a truck bound for the track, the anticipation was clear.

West gives Todd Pletcher and his crew a lot of the credit when it comes to providing seamless transitions from the training farm to racing careers. It's an operation known for its ability to get the best out of young horses and the results tend to speak for themselves. When Munnys Gold shipped up to Monmouth Park, a move with no external meaning beyond stall availability and being able to race in her own backyard, assistant trainer Anthony Sciametta was quick to get hands on her and the filly is thriving. The move north to New York is anticipated to be just as smooth.

Of course, the process is always made easier with enthusiastic owners, and Lawana and Robert Low are the epitome of the word. The former is rumored to be an eagle-eyed handicapper and a trip to the races is always a family affair. West was generous in praise he maintains the owners richly deserve after decades of patience and faith in the sport. He described them as two of the most humble and 'down to earth' people in the room.

“The Lows don't take anything for granted, so when a special horse comes along, they get very excited. For them, it's love the animal, first, and a career, second. Hopefully, Munnys Gold will be another exciting runner for them.”

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Double Thunder Rallies Late To Take Sapling At Monmouth

In a field of 2-year-olds going a mile for the first time, favorite Double Thunder grabbed his third win in four starts with a late rally to win the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Super Saver colt had to go three-wide on the far turn to find running room, giving Monmouth's leading jockey Paco Lopez another win at the track's summer meet.

Breaking from post one, Lopez took Double Thunder back early, sitting fifth on the rail behind leaders Under the Gun and Midnight Worker. After fractions of :23.87 for the first quarter and :47.54 for the half mile, Double Thunder was boxed in on the rail and shuffled back to sixth entering the far turn as Midnight Worker caught Under the Gun and moved to the lead, Chancellor Bay tracking him.

On the turn, Lopez moved his colt to the outside, going three-wide to find racing room as the field entered the stretch. Into the Monmouth straight, Chancellor Bay took over the lead from Midnight Worker as both American Sanctuary and Double Thunder rallied to his outside, both catching Chancellor Bay in the last sixteenth of a mile. Double Thunder was fastest to the wire, sprinting by American Sanctuary to win the Sapling by a half-length.

The race's final time for the mile over a fast track was 1:38.76. Find this race's chart here.

Double Thunder paid $4.20, $2.60, and $2.40. American Sanctuary paid $4.80 and $3.40. Midnight Worker paid $3.60.

“In the mornings it took him a little while to figure things out but his gate works showed he was probably going to be okay. I don't think there was any concern about going two turns for the first time. If you look at all of his races it seems like he breaks a little slow, a step slow, but he always seems to come running. So I didn't think that would be an issue. We were actually waiting for him to go longer. I'm pleased with the way he ran. He took dirt, he got in trouble by coming in and going out, so it wasn't the best of trips and he still won,” Anthony Sciametta, assistant to Todd Pletcher, said after the Sapling.

“It was a tough trip for sure. They didn't make it easy for him. The horse broke well today. I was surprised he broke that well – maybe because he was on the rail. I don't know. I didn't want him that close early so I tried to get him to settle but it was a very rough trip,” Paco Lopez told the Monmouth Press Office after the race. “For a while a had nowhere to go. (American Sanctuary) had me pinned in. Finally, he made his move at the eighth pole and I was able to get some room to get my horse running. I think (American Sanctuary) moved a little too early, which was good for me. I had nowhere to go for a while. I was waiting on that horse and he finally went and that helped me.”

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm and out of the Tapit mare Rattataptap, Double Thunder is owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III. He was purchased by agent Gerard Butler from Taylor Made Sales Agency for $60,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase

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