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From the TDN Look: Keeping the Faith, Victor Martinez Believes in King Guillermo

Five-time MLB All-Star Victor Martinez is following a dream with King Guillermo– already a graded stakes winner who, after a seven-month layoff, is set to return to Grade I company.

King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) will be in a tough spot when he starts in the GI Cigar Mile H.at Aqueduct. The 3-year-old colt hasn’t raced since May 2 and has never faced older horses. That’s fine by his owner, retired MLB All-Star Victor Martinez.

“I’m not a big believer in favorites,” he said.

That was the theme throughout his baseball career and helped him surpass the modest expectations when he was a skinny kid out of Venezuela who got a mere $8,000 signing bonus from the Cleveland Indians as a 17-year-old prospect. He still feels that way, his beliefs strengthened by the emergence of the horse who seems to do his best when it is least expected.

During his playing days, Martinez was a casual racing fan who was first introduced to the sport as a boy in his hometown of Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. He retired in 2018 and just a few months later decided it might be fun for his family if he were to own a few racehorses. His agent from his playing days put him in touch with trainer Juan Carlos Avila, who had recently arrived in the U.S. after a distinguished career in Venezuela. Martinez didn’t want to just own horses. He wanted to own special horses.

“I sat down with Juan Carlos and I told him, ‘Listen you’re not going to get a horse just to go to the Kentucky Derby, you’re going to pick the horse that will win the Kentucky Derby,'” Martinez said. “He looked at me, like this guy is crazy. I’ve been dreaming my whole life, my whole career. I came to the United States with zero dollars in my pocket. Why not keep dreaming?”

Avila didn’t have the heart to tell Martinez that was being unrealistic. The two were soon headed to the 2019 OBS April 2-Year-Old sale in search of that special horse Martinez seemed to think was easy to come by. Martinez knew little about racing, breeding and the sales, but understood that Uncle Mo was one of the sport’s best sires. He wanted one.

“I just wanted a son of Uncle Mo,” he said.

The one he picked out was out of the Dixieland Band mare, Slow Sand. From six foals of racing age, she had produced five winners but no stars. Then there was the colt’s size. He was on the small side, something that would turn off a lot of buyers but not Martinez. He felt a connection with the horse.

“The way we got him, it made me reflect on my career,” he said. “He was a little guy and if he had weighed 100 more pounds we wouldn’t have been able to buy him. He would have cost way more. I was the same way. When I first signed in professional baseball I was 120, maybe 130, pounds. At the time, I was a shortstop and I only got an $8,000 signing bonus. I put a lot of work in to get where I did. He was a little guy that a lot of people didn’t pay any attention to.”

He broke in with the Cleveland Indians as a shortstop, but was told by that organization that the only way he could make it was if he switched positions and became a catcher. He was so discouraged by that decision that he called his mother and told her he was quitting. She refused to let him give up, maybe the best advice he ever received.

That scrawny kid from Venezuela bulked up to 235 pounds and became a five-time All Star. Martinez had 246 home runs and 1,178 RBI in his career, hitting .295. In 2015, he signed a four-year $68 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.

So there was something about this horse that reminded him of himself. For $150,000, a reasonable sum for an Uncle Mo, Martinez purchased the horse.

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The post From the TDN Look: Keeping the Faith, Victor Martinez Believes in King Guillermo appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Half-Sister To Scat Daddy, Lovestruck Stays Undefeated In Tepin Stakes

Godolphin Stable's Lovestruck, the half-sister to the late stallion Scat Daddy, won her first stakes appearance in similar fashion to her career debut on Sunday. The 2-year-old filly stayed off the pace before a strong stretch-drive kick to post a one-length victory in the $100,000 Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Kentucky homebred was a one-length winner going 1 1/16 miles over the firm inner turf at Saratoga Race Course on Sept. 7. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott elevated the Tapit filly to stakes company for her second start, where she again won at the same distance, this time over an inner turf course rated good.

Lovestruck broke sharp under jockey Junior Alvarado from post two, being forwardly placed in third position as 20-1 longshot Big Time Lady led the eight-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 24.05 seconds, the half in 50.50 and three-quarters in 1:16.21.

Turning for home, Big Time Lady was kept inside by jockey Eric Cancel, but Lovestruck pressed on and overtook the pacesetter from the outside. Invincible Gal, piloted by Jose Ortiz, made a strong bid near the rail, but Alvarado set down Lovestruck to repel the threat and hit the wire in 1:47.14.

A stewards' inquiry focused on bumping at the head of the stretch between Big Time Lady and Lovestruck resulted in no change to the order of finish.

“She's been ready for quite a while,” Alvarado said. “We were expecting the kind of run from her that we saw today. There's still room for her to improve. She's still a little bit green and when she got to the lead she was wandering around the track, which is fine. When she puts it all together, we'll get a little more from her.”

Off as the even-money favorite, Lovestruck returned $4.20 on a $2 win wager. She more than doubled her career earnings to $94,600.

“I knew she was going to be sharp, but I like to teach them to relax behind horses and have a nice finish,” Alvarado said. “I didn't want to just let her go. Even though it was a slow pace, I knew I was close enough that she wouldn't have too much to do at the end.”

Invincible Gal, fresh off an 11th-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 6 at Keeneland, outkicked Big Time Lady by 1 ½ lengths for second. The Graham Motion trainee has run second in three of her four stakes starts, adding to her runner-up efforts in the Sorority in September at Monmouth Park and the Selima on Preakness Day, Oct. 3, at Pimlico.

“I had a beautiful trip. I found an opening on the inside in the stretch and I thought I had a shot to get there but the winner, she showed up,” Ortiz said. “She's the real deal.”

Island Treasure, Fifth Risk, Bravo Regina and Lexinator completed the order of finish. Thursday was pulled up and vanned off.

Frost Me was scratched, as were main-track only entrants Hit the Woah, Dollar Mountain and Malibu Curl.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Aqueduct with a nine-race card that features a 12:20 p.m. Eastern first post.

The post Half-Sister To Scat Daddy, Lovestruck Stays Undefeated In Tepin Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Share The Ride Wins Fall Highweight Handicap After Quick Turnaround

A quick turnaround was no issue for Share the Ride, who outdueled Tribecca down the lane before kicking clear to a three-quarter length win in Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap going six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Antonio Arriaga for owner Silvino Ramirez, the son of Candy Ride ran just 11 days ago, where he bested six others in a seven-furlong allowance at Parx by 7 ½ lengths, garnering a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Breaking from post 5 in the seven-horse field, jockey Jose Ortiz hustled Share the Ride through the first few strides out of the gate and secured his mount a path to the outside as Tribecca dictated terms on the front end through an opening quarter-mile in 23.03 seconds over the fast main track.

Around the far turn, Share the Ride inched his way closer to Tribecca under no urging from Ortiz, who looked over both shoulders as they approached the quarter-pole through a half in 46.14.

Ortiz gave Share the Ride his cue just outside the three-sixteenths pole, but a stubborn Tribecca did not retreat and dug in toward the rail as multiple stakes-winner Stan the Man and five-time winner Absentee made late bids in tandem to the outside.

Share the Ride edged clear of Tribecca just inside the eighth-pole to hit the wire a three-quarter length winner in a final time of 1:10.62.

Late closers Stan the Man and Absentee finished a respective second and third. Tribecca, Drafted, Arch Cat and Majestic Dunhill, who was compromised by an unfavorable beak, rounded out the order of finish.

Share the Ride has been a model of consistency through his 5-year-old campaign, winning 4-of-9 starts, including a triumph in the Mr. Prospector on September 12 at Monmouth Park. He also was third to Firenze Fire in the Grade 2 Vosburgh on September 26 at Belmont Park and was a game runner-up to Majestic Dunhill in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler on October 31 at Belmont.

Returning $5.20 as the favorite, while carrying 133 pounds as the co-highweight, Share the Ride upped his lifetime earnings to $369,860 and record to 20-8-3-4.

“Everybody had a little extra weight today, but my horse was very game,” Ortiz said. “It was a great training job. This horse was 100 percent ready. He broke well and sat second and relaxed. I asked him to go passing the three-eighths pole to engage Tribecca. I wanted to be close to him at the quarter-pole because he's hard to beat on the lead and he digs in. I was in good range to win the race and they battled down the lane; two good horses in a match race and then the other horses were coming too, at the end, but he dug in.”

Bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms, Share the Ride is the second progeny out of the multiple stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed Graeme Hall mare Belle of the Hall.

Live racing resumes Thursday at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

The post Share The Ride Wins Fall Highweight Handicap After Quick Turnaround appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Bon Raison, True Timber Have Final Cigar Mile Preps For Sisterson

Trainer Jack Sisterson saw his two expected entrants for Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct register their final workouts Saturday at Keeneland, with Bon Raison and True Timber each working five furlongs on the main track. The duo breezed with different workmates.

Calumet Farm's Bon Raison will be looking to rebound from a 10th-place finish last out in the six-furlong Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint on November 7 at Keeneland. He will be running at one mile for the first time in seven starts, dating to the second race of his 5-year-old campaign when against optional claimers under then-trainer Michael Tannuzzo on January 31.

True Timber, also owned by Calumet Farm, was third in last year's edition of the Cigar Mile, earning a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his black type effort in a race won by Maximum Security. He was second in the 2018 Cigar Mile behind Patternrecognition. The 6-year-old son of Mineshaft will be looking for his first win of 2020 but has hit the board three times in four starts since Sisterson took over the training duties from Kiaran McLaughlin, who retired to become a jockey agent.

Bon Raison recorded a bullet 59.20 seconds Saturday, the fastest of a group of 18, while True Timber went in 1:01.40.

“Both worked very well at Keeneland yesterday and went five-eighths, they didn't go in company together,” Sisterson said. “They did everything we asked them to and more. We don't typically train them hard, but I wanted to get a good work in them leading up to the Cigar Mile. We are stretching them out to a mile and wanted to get a little air into the lungs and they both worked well within themselves and cooled out great.”

True Timber is slated to have the services of jockey Kendrick Carmouche for the Cigar Mile, which will feature its 32nd edition as the headliner of four graded stakes over the Big A main track on Saturday that will also include the Grade 2, $150,000 Remsen for juveniles, the $150,000 Demoiselle for 2-year-old fillies, and the Grade 3, $100,000 Go for Wand for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.

Bon Raison will have the services of jockey Jorge Vargas, Jr. It will mark his first start at Aqueduct since running third in the Grade 3 Tom Fool going six furlongs on March 7.

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