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Rocketry Enjoying Downtime Before Tackling Another Campaign

Centennial Farms' Rocketry, a last-out winner of the 1 5/8-mile Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on Nov. 6 at Keeneland, is enjoying some downtime at the farm in Middleburg, Va.

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said the now 7-year-old Hard Spun horse will return for another campaign.

“He had a good season,” said Jerkens. “There's not much for him in the winter time, so we're giving him a couple months off at the farm.”

Centennial Farms' Mihos, a 5-year-old Cairo Prince horse, worked a half-mile in 49.77 for Jerkens on the Belmont dirt training track on December 27.

With a record of 14-3-1-3, Mihos finished fourth in the seven-furlong G3 Bold Ruler Handicap on Oct. 31 on a muddy track at Belmont and was second last out on Dec. 11 in a seven-furlong optional-claiming sprint at Aqueduct.

“There's a mile allowance race next week that we're aiming for. We're hoping for some improvement with him,” said Jerkens.

Jerkens said Shortleaf Stable's Rift Valley will look for additional ground after earning a 69 Beyer when rallying from ninth to score by 1 ½-lengths at second asking in a seven furlong state-bred maiden sprint on Dec. 20 at the Big A.

“He wants to go further. We're looking to stretch him out and then we'll probably try turf when that opens up, too,” said Jerkens.

Bred by Jonathan Thorne, the 4-year-old Pioneerof the Nile colt was a $400,000 purchase at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-Bred Yearling Sale.

Chiefswood Stables' homebred Weyburn, a 3-year-old Ontario-bred son of Pioneerof the Nile, garnered a 67 Beyer when graduating at third asking over a sloppy Aqueduct main track on Dec. 5 when sprinting seven furlongs.

Jerkens said he had considered the Jerome for Weyburn but had to change course.

“We were thinking about the Jerome, but he got sick and that was the end of that,” said Jerkens. “We'll look for the next 'a other than' for him.”

Out of the A.P. Indy mare Sunday Affair, Weyburn is a half-brother to the versatile multiple graded stakes winner Yorkton.

The unraced King James, a sophomore son of Nyquist of the multiple stakes winning Unbridled's Song mare Inspired, worked a half-mile in 49.79 on Dec. 29 on the Belmont dirt training track.

While Inspired was a turf sprint specialist, Jerkens said King James will get his shot on both surfaces.

“He's out of a filly that did all her best running sprinting on the turf,” said Jerkens. “He's doing good but he's still a ways off. We'll see what he can do on the dirt, but I'd imagine the turf will be his thing given his mother. The Nyquists like the turf.”

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‘I Think This Is A Derby Horse’: Trainer Wyner Celebrates First Stakes Win With Capo Kane In Jerome

Capo Kane made his stakes debut – and first start in New York – a successful effort, leading gate-to-wire for a 6 1/4-length victory in Friday's 151st running of the $150,000 Jerome for newly minted 3-year-olds at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Owned by Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto, Capo Kane made his debut on October 28 at Parx, running second in a seven-furlong sprint. He ended his juvenile campaign with a maiden-breaking victory on November 25 on the same track, being stretched out to a mile and 70 yards.

Returning to action on an overcast New Year's Day, the California-bred Capo Kane broke sharp from the inside post under jockey Dylan Davis and led the compact five-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.53 seconds and the half in 47.83 on the muddy main track with 7-5 favorite Swill in close pursuit.

Jockey Manny Franco urged up Eagle Orb out of the turn, making a bid from the outside. But Davis responded to the pressure by keeping Capo Kane alert, and the Street Sense colt responded with a strong stretch drive surge that saw him move out to the center of the track while drawing away to win the first stakes of the year on the NYRA circuit. He completed the one-turn mile in a final time of 1:38.02.

Capo Kane, off at 6-1, returned $15.80 on a $2 win wager and earned 10 qualifying points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs. The top-four finishers were awarded 10-4-2-1 points.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard

“He broke sharp for me and I was able to take the lead very comfortably,” Davis said. He responded great all the way to the wire and I was very happy with the way he did it. He galloped out well. It was a very comfortable win and he handled the track real well.”

Conditioner Harold Wyner, a former steeplechase jockey who trained his first winner in 2004, earned his first career stakes win in his 1,679th career starter. Capo Kane, who was running without Lasix for the first time, is now tied for fifth on the early points leaderboard for the “Run for the Roses.”

“I'd like to thank the owners for giving me the opportunity to train this horse and having faith in me,” Wyner said.“The goal was to do what Dylan wanted. I said to Dylan if he breaks good to just leave him alone, take a long hold and let him get in his stride and take the race as you find it. He found himself on the lead and Dylan rode a fantastic race.

“Last time he drifted out a little bit at the head of the lane at Parx, but that was because he switched his lead early. He's still a little green,” he added.

Wyner said stretching back out to two turns could be the next step, with the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers [10-4-2-1 points] going 1 1/8 miles on February 6 at the Big A remaining a possible target, as well as the Risen Star at Fair Grounds on February 13.

“It should be no problem. In the morning, the further he gallops the stronger he gets. He just loves to run,” Wyner said. “He's a racehorse. I'd like to see how he comes back, but I may point him towards the Withers or the maybe the Risen Star.”

Wyner said he's excited to train another horse who has potential on the Kentucky Derby trail, building on a recent experience. He picked out Capo Kane, a $26,000 purchase, at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The Manchester, England, born conditioner was also the initial conditioner of Ny Traffic, who finished eighth in last year's Kentucky Derby for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

“When I first got the horse I breezed him and he breezed real well,” Wyner said about Capo Kane. “I used to have Ny Traffic as a 2-year-old and I won with him and brought him here [fifth in 2019 Notebook at the Big A] and we decided to send him to Florida to Mr. Saffie and thank God we did because COVID hit. I told Mr. Fanelli [co-owner of NY Traffic] then that he was a Derby horse and I think this is a Derby horse, too. I bought Ny Traffic at the sale, and I also bought this one.”

E.V. Racing Stable's Eagle Orb, a New York-bred son of Orb, finished 2 ¾ lengths ahead of Hold the Salsa for second. The Rudy Rodriguez trainee has finished first or second in five of his six career starts.

“I had a good trip,” Franco said. “I was right there, but I have to give credit to the winner. He's a nice horse.”

Swill picked up a lone qualifying point for fourth while Original completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Saturday at Aqueduct with a nine-race card highlighted by the $100,000 Gravesend for 4-year-olds and up going 6 1/2 furlongs in Race 8. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

The post ‘I Think This Is A Derby Horse’: Trainer Wyner Celebrates First Stakes Win With Capo Kane In Jerome appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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James Bond: ‘We Got Through It As A Family And As A Team’

Just one live race day – the New Year's Eve card on Thursday at Aqueduct Racetrack – remains in 2020 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. The NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of New York-based racing personalities to get their reflections on the memorable year.

H. James Bond is a multiple Grade 1-winning trainer and a fixture on the NYRA circuit. Born in Rochester, New York, Bond began galloping horses at age 11 before taking out his trainer's license at 16. The veteran conditioner heads the family-run Bond Racing Stable with his wife, Tina, and their sons Kevin and Ryan. In addition to the racing stable, Jim and Tina own a 100-acre farm named Song Hill Thoroughbreds in Stillwater, New York.

Bond's numerous G1 winners include Behrens, Val's Prince, Tizway, L'Carriere and 1996 Travers winner Will's Way. Bond has been named New York Trainer of the Year five times and is on the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) board of directors.

What was your favorite winning moment of 2020?

Bond: Winning the West Point with Rinaldi was huge. He was a household horse for us and the partners. I was just proud of all the horses. They all showed up and ran well. I was happy for our clients, they didn't bat an eye during COVID. We got through it as a family and as a team and I didn't lay anyone off. I was proud that we kept the whole team together. We have a pretty big payroll between the farm and the track.

Our Saratoga meet in general was just awesome. The horses ran great. It was sad a lot of owners couldn't attend being out of state. More than anything, it was hard not seeing the fans who love to come to Saratoga. But we were very fortunate as a stable.

Was there a horse that you thought exceeded expectations this year?

Bond: Prioritize is a horse that I've always liked. We picked him out at the sale ourselves and didn't pay a lot. He was always a solid, training horse who always did what you wanted. I had him on the turf at first and he was getting close-but-no-cigar in those stake races. He always worked well on the dirt in the morning so finally we took a shot on the dirt and the rest is history. After the Woodward [where Prioritize finished third], we decided to give him one shot in the Gold Cup [fourth] and give him a rest. I'm excited for him for next year; he's in top physical condition.

What was the best ride on a horse of yours this year?

Bond: Every horse Luis Saez rode for us at Saratoga was memorable for me. He had it tough. He had a positive COVID test and he had to serve days [at first]. His Saratoga meet was probably one of the best Saratoga meets for a rider when you go back and look at it. He wasn't riding Chad [Brown's] 2-1 shots, he was riding [Jimmy] Bond's 10-1 shots.

He was playing catch up in a sense and [agent] Kiaran [McLaughlin] did a great job stepping in and taking his book after Richard DePass retired. I think it's a great story. He gives you a confident smile when he gets on a horse saying, 'We're good boss, we're good'. He's such a nice person and that smile of his is contagious. I think New York racing is lucky to have a rider of his talent.

How much do you enjoy racing on the New York circuit?

Bond: I'm on the NYTB board and my wife is on the NYTHA board, so we believe in New York. I have a $4 million barn and a private racing barn at Saratoga, so I'm all in. I came from humble beginnings and was lucky to have a lot of nice owners who gave me a chance. I want everyone in New York to have that same dream. You have to have a couple people who believe in you along the way. When you come into Belmont Park or Saratoga, you better bring a racehorse. A few weekends back, the New York-breds won a lot of the big races across the country and New York-breds are really showing what they can do on a major scale. We had the [Grade 1] Starlet winner [Varda] here at the farm for six months and we still have her mother, She'll Be Right, here at the farm too. She's in foal to Maclean's Music.

New York-breds are serious horses, like Tiz the Law and so many others. It's remarkable how great we really are. The purse structure is what brings horses. I was so happy NYRA realized that when you increase purses, people come. It's hard to do, because you're sort of speculating on whether or not they do come. We have a lot of history here with some of the greatest races of all time and they're exciting to win. Whether it's the Bold Ruler or the Ruffian, when you walk into Belmont Park and look at all of those pictures on the walls you get goosebumps. I want the next generation to get that chance.

I'm very optimistic. We're getting phone calls from all over North America of people who want to invest 10 or 20 thousand dollars because they think it's fun. That's our job, to make it fun. I think sometimes the racing industry forgets that it's an entertainment business and we have to try hard and take pride in what we do.

As both an owner and a trainer, what was the most challenging part of this year given the COVID-19 pandemic. How did you overcome it?

Bond: We were pretty nervous during COVID in terms of how things would rebound. We were very lucky. Most of the owners stayed with us, supported us and made it through. I'm just proud that the horses and help really jumped in. It was really a team effort. The guys held the barn together. I didn't go back to New York City a lot, but I have a great team of people, including Kevin and Ryan who both do a great job. My wife comes from a financial background and she was very keen. We sat down and planned it out. We had 11 yearlings we were going to sell, but the Fasig-Tipton New York sale was cancelled, and we didn't want to just take them to Kentucky and have them possibly not race in New York, where we could get breeders awards.

We watched what NYRA was doing on FOX Sports and we decided to be bullish. It's what NYRA did in November; they got bullish. They raised the purses and the horses stayed as a result. The advertising for our ownership group on the television show helped immensely. We've already signed up for next year. We were lucky to have had the inventory. We had a lot of 2-year-olds ready to go. We breed a wholesome horse and we buy some, too.

Many of your better horses this year are ones that also are owned by you. Talk about Bond Racing Stables and what the ownership group is about.

Bond: It's a lot of fun. We have people from all over the country that were sitting home and tired of watching replays of golf and football during the pandemic. They tuned into America's Day at the Races. We keep 50 percent of everything and we sell each share for 10 percent. There are no maintenance fees. It's just like owning 10 percent of a sports team. They share in the rewards and the headaches. A lot of them are homebreds.

It's so satisfying. Of course there's a risk factor for ourselves, but 50 percent is not so bad and it gets a lot of new people in the game to see if they like it, but it's a team mentality that I really like. It teaches people about our game without getting hurt. We make sure that the horses get placed, my wife Tina is very strong on aftercare and retirement making sure they get to the next safe spot and we have so many great stories about some of our old horses. [Multiple stakes winner] Our Way found a home in Massachusetts and he was a very good racehorse. It's nice to see horses like him go to the next level.

What NYRA race would you most like to win?

Bond: I haven't won the Jockey Club Gold Cup yet. I love distance horses, so that race is something that I can hopefully put on my resume someday.

The 2020-21 winter meet at Aqueduct returns to action on Thursday, December 31 and continues through Sunday, March 28.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

For additional information, and the complete winter meet stakes schedule, please visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule.

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Hold The Salsa Seeks Start To Kentucky Derby Campaign In Jerome Stakes

Two-time stakes winner Hold the Salsa has already displayed superiority against his New York-bred counterparts during his juvenile campaign, but will seek a first triumph against open company when he takes on a field of four other newly turned 3-year-olds in Friday's 151st running of the $150,000 Jerome going one mile at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Inaugurated in 1866, the Jerome has been won by all-time greats Tom Fool (1952), Bold Ruler (1957), Kelso (1960) and Carry Back (1961). The Jerome is also a Kentucky Derby qualifier, offering 10-4-2-1 points to the top-four finishers.

Trained, owned and bred by Richard Lugovich, Hold the Salsa posted three wins in six starts in his 2-year-old year, including a last-out triumph in the seven-furlong NYSSS Great White Way on Dec. 6 at the Big A.

The Hold Me Back colt tracked the pace in mid-pack, came under urging approaching the quarter pole, and made a winning four-wide move in the stretch while fending off late challenger It's Gravy.

Two starts prior, the son of Hold Me Back won the Bertram F. Bongard on Oct. 2 at Belmont Park, also a seven-furling event, by 1 3/4 lengths. Hold the Salsa has been training forwardly at Lugovich's stables at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland, breezing five furlongs over the all-weather training track in 1:01.40 on Dec. 23.

“He's been training super. I know he'll run well, it just depends on how well,” Lugovich said. “I want him to go a little farther and I think longer distances are going to suit him. He gallops beautifully every day. He's a very kind and nice horse.”

Boasting $237,775 in career earnings, Hold the Salsa was a 26-1 upset winner of his debut on July 12 at Belmont, defeating subsequent stakes winner Thin White Duke.

“It's always exciting to get good horses and I can tell he's getting better and better,” Lugovich said. “Even though he's quiet he's very good looking and a very handsome horse. Watching him gallop is when you can tell he's a nice horse. He always drops his head. That's good when you're coming to the finish line.”

Hold the Salsa will be ridden by Romero Ramsay Maragh, who piloted the horse to his maiden triumph, from post 3.

“He won on him the first time and I like him,” Lugovich said. “He also rode [upset maiden winner] Copper Chalice and he paid over $100 earlier in the Belmont meet. He was a first time starter as well.”

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez earned himself his first Kentucky Derby starter when New York-bred Vyjack won the 2013 Jerome and hopes that E.V. Racing Stable's Eagle Orb will take a similar path when breaking from post 4.

The son of Orb, who defeated Vyjack in the 2013 Kentucky Derby, will be stretching back out to a mile after capturing the six-furlong Notebook on November 14 at Aqueduct and registered a 74 Beyer. His prior effort in the Sleepy Hollow on Oct. 24 at Belmont Park was his lone start at one mile, where displayed frontrunning dimensions but was passed up nearing the sixteenth pole by Brooklyn Strong, who subsequently won the Grade 2 Remsen.

“The mile won't be a problem. The first time we ran at a mile he did well and now he has more seasoning into him,” Rodriguez said. “He's been very good. It's a step up for him and we're going to see what we got. We always can come back against New York-breds. Right now, it's the start of 3-year-old season so we have to see what he can do.”

Eagle Orb won his debut, besting eventual two-time stakes-placed It's Gravy going six furlongs on Aug. 21 at Saratoga. Bred in New York by Barry Ostrager, Eagle Orb is out of the stakes-placed Harlan's Holiday mare Lady On Holiday. Eagle Orb will be ridden by Manny Franco.

Trainer John Terranova will attempt a second victory in the Jerome when saddling maiden winner Original for owner Eric Fein. The son of Quality Road was a gate-to-wire winner last out in his second start when breaking his maiden over a yielding Aqueduct outer turf course by two lengths on Nov. 14.

Original was obtained for $425,000 from the 2020 OBS April Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the Empire Maker mare Unforgettable. Breaking from post 5, Original will be ridden by Jose Lezcano.

Ten Strike Racing and Kueber Racing's Swill cuts back to one turn following a fourth-place finish in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs for trainer Brad Cox. Third time was the charm for the son of Munnings, who broke his maiden by three lengths in September going seven furlongs over the Churchill Downs main track.

Swill will be piloted by Kendrick Carmouche from post 2.

Completing the field is Big Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane, who broke his maiden in wire-to-wire fashion on Nov. 25 at Parx Racing going a mile and 70 yards for trainer Harold Wyner. Capo Kane will break from the inside post under Dylan Davis.

The Jerome is slated as Race 8 on Aqueduct's nine-race program, which offers a first post of 12:20 p.m. Eastern.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. The

NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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