Patience Pays Off With Doubledogdare Entrant Eres Tu

Two years ago at this time, Beverly Anderson and Edward Seltzer's homebred Eres Tu was on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail following a winter campaign at Fair Grounds for trainer Steve Asmussen.

The trail ended in New Orleans.

“They did the right thing and gave her plenty of time, and I get the benefit,” said trainer Arnaud Delacour, who welcomed Eres Tu in his barn at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland last summer after the filly had been away from the races for more than a year.

“She is a big filly and needed time to mature,” Delacour continued. “She was fit when she came to us at Fair Hill from the farm in Florida. We breezed her once a week, and she took everything in stride.”

Eres Tu has won three of four starts since joining Delacour. Her first victory came last fall at Keeneland, where she won an allowance race by 2¼ lengths going 1 1/16 miles, the same distance she will travel Friday in the 26th running of the $100,000 Baird Doubledogdare (G3) at Keeneland.

“She was ready to go in September but we decided to wait a couple weeks for the meet here, and she was impressive when she won,” Delacour said.

Eres Tu followed the Keeneland victory with stakes triumphs in Maryland in the Thirty Eight Go Go and Allaire duPont (G3). She was second in the Royal Delta (G3) at Gulfstream in February in her most recent start.

“I had hoped this race would come lighter with the ($500,000) La Troienne (G1) coming up in a couple weeks (at Churchill Downs),” Delacour said of the Baird Doubledogdare, which also attracted the likes of 2020 Central Bank Ashland (G1) winner Speech and Grade 2 winner Bonny South. “The timing is perfect for her. This race, then the duPont (on May 14) and a race (after) that and maybe the ($400,000) Delaware Handicap (G2 on July 10).”

Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard for the first time Friday.

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Delacour Hoping Magic Attitude Displays Her ‘Explosive Turn Of Foot’ In Hillsborough

Early last year, Tampa Bay Downs trainer Arnaud Delacour received rave reviews about Magic Attitude, a regally-bred filly who at the time was preparing to make her first 3-year-old start in the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux at Longchamp in Paris.

The daughter of renowned sire Galileo, out of Group 1-winning Margot Did, did not disappoint, notching her first stakes score by 2 lengths. Soon after, owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson purchased Magic Attitude privately on Delacour's recommendation, with the intention of sending her to the conditioner's stable in the United States to compete under their Lael Stables banner.

What transpired was indeed magical: a Grade 1 victory in her first North American start on Sept. 19 in the Belmont Oaks Invitational on the grass.

On Saturday, a freshened, more mature filly will try to launch an even better 4-year-old campaign in the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes at a mile-and-an-eighth on the Oldsmar turf course at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Hillsborough is one of five stakes on Saturday's $1-million Festival Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South card, headed by the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby for 3-year-old Triple Crown hopefuls.

Magic Attitude is one of two Lael Stables-owned and Delacour-trained fillies set to compete on Festival Day 41. The other, 3-year-old filly Be Sneaky, will make her turf debut in the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks at a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

Entries were taken and post positions drawn today for all five of Saturday's stakes races.

Delacour says Magic Attitude, who will be ridden for the first time by Julien Leparoux, is approaching the Hillsborough in top condition.

“She breezed a half-mile Tuesday (in 49 3/5 seconds), and I'm very happy how she came out of the work,” Delacour said. “We're excited about running her Saturday, but we still have to play it by ear because she is better on firmer turf (there is a possibility of rain Saturday).”

After racing twice against Group 1 competition under the Jackson colors in France while trained by Fabrice Chappet, with a second-place finish in the Prix Saint-Alary, Magic Attitude arrived in Delacour's barn in late July. The timing couldn't have been better: the Belmont Oaks Invitational, normally run in July, had been pushed back to Sept. 19 because of COVID-19, giving the conditioner time to sharpen Magic Attitude's edge.

After trailing early, the Great Britain-bred Magic Attitude took off in the stretch, sweeping to victory against her four rivals under Javier Castellano to earn the coveted Grade 1 victory – the third of Delacour's career, and his first for the Jacksons. Magic Attitude followed that up with a strong third-place performance in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented by Dixiana, also for 3-year-old fillies, on Oct. 10 on good turf at Keeneland.

Magic Attitude received a well-deserved rest before Delacour returned her to training in mid-December at Classic Mile Park in Ocala, where she got in a couple of breezes on Classic Mile's turf before shipping to Tampa Bay Downs in mid-February.

Delacour can't be sure how Magic Attitude will respond to running against older horses for the first time, but he is optimistic.

“She needs to step up, but I think she'll be ready,” he said. “She has an explosive turn of foot and great acceleration for about a sixteenth of a mile, which you like to see from a turf filly.”

Florida Oaks entrant Be Sneaky is a homebred for the Jacksons, by top U.S. sire Into Mischief out of their turf stakes-winning mare Bella Castani. Yet to race on grass, Be Sneaky is 1-for-3, with a second-place finish here in the Suncoast Stakes on Feb. 6 in her most recent start.

Hector Diaz, Jr., will ride Be Sneaky.

“We've always had it in the back of our minds to run this filly on the turf, but at this stage, it's a guessing game,” Delacour said. “She was a little aggressive (in the Suncoast), and we hope she can settle better on the grass and track the speed rather than setting the pace.”

The 45-year-old Delacour was successful switching surfaces at Tampa Bay Downs last year with another Lael Stables homebred, (then)-5-year-old mare Jehozacat. After winning the Wayward Lass Stakes on dirt, she returned three weeks later to win the Grade 3 Lambholm South Endeavour on the grass.

Delacour is seeking his first triumphs in both the Hillsborough and Florida Oaks, but his record of achievement with Lael Stables horses is enviable. He has trained such homebred standouts for the Jacksons as Jehozacat and Grade 3 winners Divining Rod and No Dozing, as well as Grade 2 winner Hawksmoor, also the 2019 Lambholm South Endeavour winner; 2018 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint runner-up Chalon; and multiple-Grade 3 winner Ageless.

“I'm very privileged to train for the Jacksons because of the quality of their stock and their confidence in our training program,” said Delacour, who has been with the couple almost 10 years. “They are great ambassadors for our sport, and they have put together a wonderful team of people that works together for one common goal.

“They take a progressive, step-by-step approach and never rush their horses. It doesn't matter what kind of race you're shooting for – you're trying to get them fit enough to compete, move on and use the race as a stepping stone for the rest of the season.”

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Jockey Hector Rafael Diaz Jr. Driven By Hope That His Brother Will Walk Again

When Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., dreams about racing against his brother, he can't identify the track or what horse he's riding. He doesn't know if it is a stakes or a $5,000 claiming race.

All that remains is the pure joy of competition.

As the siblings turn for home, their horses vying head-to-head, neither jockey gives an inch. Each seems to know what the other is thinking, and Hector Rafael's adrenaline skyrockets from the thrill of knowing that he and young Hector Miguel are living the life they were meant for.

When he wakes up, Hector Rafael is unsure who won. He snaps into a harsh reality, the scenario so vivid in his mind only a fantasy.

But there is no time to dwell on sadness or regrets. Hector Miguel, 27 (“Migue,” to family and friends), is back home in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down by a riding accident at Hipodromo Camarero in Canovanas on Jan. 3, 2015, almost two years before Hector Rafael rode his first race.

Chances are, Migue already has studied the past performances for his brother's mounts at Tampa Bay Downs and is ready to offer his observations and advice by phone.

Leaving home before daylight to work horses and get ready for the races, Hector Rafael kisses his fiancée Deyanyra and her 3-year-old son, Andrew. Being at Tampa Bay Downs, where he is tied for third place in the standings with 38 victories, feels like a dream come true.

A dream he shares with his brother.

“I would have loved to ride with him, to compete against him,” said the 31-year-old Diaz, whose 18.5-percent strike rate at the meeting is fourth-best at Tampa Bay Downs among jockeys with 100 or more starts. “In my dream, I think my brother beats me sometimes and I beat him sometimes. But it doesn't really matter. It's just us doing what we love, what we dreamed of doing.”

Their father, Hector Rafael Diaz, Sr., was also a jockey, retiring in his mid-30s after incurring more than his share of injuries. Neither he nor their mother, Norma Sanchez, wanted the boys to become jockeys, but years of going to Camarero to watch their father compete had already stoked their passion. Having an even more well-known pair of brothers as cousins and neighbors – Irad Ortiz, Jr., and Jose Ortiz – provided more fuel for the Diaz boys' fire.

“Every parent wants their kid to be a doctor or a lawyer and have a good career. I was a good student, and they wanted me to keep studying,” Diaz said. “But my brother and I went to the races every weekend to watch our father race, and we both came to want it.

“My brother didn't do it for money. He loved riding horses, and I'm the same way. This is not a job for me.”

The brothers talk on a daily basis, the discussion usually coming around to the horses Hector Rafael rode, or is scheduled to ride. “Migue is on top of all my horses,” said Diaz. “I call him when I finish working to talk about the races and I call him after the last race. He'll tell me what he thinks about the horses I'm riding, and we'll go over how to ride a race if 'Plan A' goes out the window when the gate opens.”

Migue, who is married with a 7-year-old son, Jesier, who wants to be a jockey, watches races from numerous tracks through his TVG account, but he is laser-focused on Tampa Bay Downs as his older brother climbs the ladder of success.

“His brother follows everything he does,” said Shawn Klotz, Diaz's agent. “From what Hector tells me, his brother could flat-out ride. He was one of the best jockeys out there.”

The record bears that out. During his three-year career, which began in 2012 when he was 19, Migue won 477 races from 2,558 mounts – an 18.6-percent strike rate – and captured three graded stakes in Puerto Rico, including two Grade Is.

“I thought he was the best rider I'd ever seen. We don't know how good he could have been,” said Hector Rafael.

Around the same time Migue's career was taking off, Hector Rafael, then 23, enrolled in the Escuela La Vocacional Hipica jockey school. He stayed there a year, then headed to New York to work as an exercise rider for trainer George Weaver.

In the fall of 2014, Migue moved north to reunite with his brother and ride at Belmont Park, Laurel, Aqueduct and Meadowlands. He managed four winners from 42 mounts, but the combination of the unfamiliar surroundings, a language barrier and frigid weather led him to return to Puerto Rico before the year ended.

That December, Hector Rafael took a vacation from his job for Weaver, returning home for the holidays. He was at the beach when Migue called him from the racetrack, reminding him he had one more race to ride and asking him to wait for his arrival.

About 20 minutes later, Irad Ortiz, Jr., called Hector Rafael and told him his brother had been in an accident. The horse inside Migue's mount came out a little, his horse clipped heels and the rider tumbled off, landing on his head and paralyzing his lower body.

Life can never be the same for an athlete who becomes paralyzed, especially one nearing the prime of their career. A little more than six years later, Migue sounds matter-of-fact about his accident, almost as if it had been an out-of-body experience he viewed through a camera lens. What beats inside him is perhaps best left between himself, family members and God, but he never blamed the sport or anyone else for what happened.

“I knew the risk when I chose to become a jockey,” Migue said in a recent Facetime conversation, which Hector Rafael translated for a reporter. “You know something like that can happen, but you don't think about it.

“God had other plans for me, and I'm following that. I am my brother's No. 1 fan, and I take his victories like they are mine.”

The Diaz brothers with their mother, Norma Sanchez

After the accident, their parents implored Hector Rafael to give up his dream and pursue another career. But he had already made up his mind.

“I had always wanted to be a jockey, but my brother getting hurt made me want it even more,” he said. “I thought, he can't do it anymore, so now it's my turn. I told my parents 'I respect your feelings, but this is what I love, and this is what I'm going to do.' I have to stay strong for him. He's not showing weakness, so I can't show weakness.”

While his brother began the arduous task of rehabilitation and learning to cope with a new way of life, Diaz returned to New York for more seasoning. His moment of reckoning came in a claiming race at Aqueduct on Nov. 11, 2016, when he rode Weaver's 3-year-old filly Shoppingforsilver, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, to a second-place finish in his first career race.

“It was me, Javier Castellano, Irad and Jose, and Manuel Franco (and Addiel Ayala) in that race. All good jockeys,” Diaz recalls, smiling at the memory. “I was a little nervous, but I enjoyed it. Being in the jockeys' room in New York was a great education. I learned a lot from guys like Cornelio Velasquez and Kendrick Carmouche, and Irad and Jose. You could go to any corner of that room and learn things from jockeys who were glad to share their knowledge.”

His first career victory on Jan. 15, 2017, aboard Honorable Jonas launched a year in which Diaz rode 74 winners, earning recognition as a finalist for an Eclipse Award as Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. Another graduate of Puerto Rico's jockey school, Evin Roman, won the award, but by staying in New York, Diaz established his ability to compete against many of the finest jockeys in the country.

“I started working with Hector that summer at Monmouth Park, and we won a bunch of races,” said Klotz, his agent. “Winning is what gets a jockey into new barns, and there were a lot of good outfits that wanted to use him.

“Hector studies races, he listens and he is always willing to learn. He is very patient – he isn't going to make a premature move that gets a horse beat. He'll sit and wait for his chance to pounce, but if there is no speed in a race, he's comfortable being on the lead,” Klotz said.

Last year, Diaz finished fifth in the standings at Monmouth with 30 victories. That performance came after he fractured three vertebrae in a fall at Aqueduct, causing him to miss six weeks, followed by almost three months off due to track closures caused by COVID-19.

Toward the end of Monmouth's season, trainer Michael Stidham's assistant, Ben Trask, suggested Diaz forgo New York's lucrative purses and give Tampa Bay Downs a shot. After weighing the pros and cons, Diaz decided it could only benefit his career exposing his talent to a brand-new audience.

“When I left New York last fall (soon after riding trainer Arnaud Delacour's 2-year-old colt Arrest Me Red to victory in the Atlantic Beach Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 6), I felt like the best rider out there,” Diaz said. “No disrespect to anybody; there are a lot of great riders who if they've got the horse, are going to show their talent. But when I'm riding races, I feel like I can do anything they can and nobody can outsmart me. That's the confidence I built being in New York with all those good riders.”

Diaz has won eight times for the Stidham barn this season, while also winning races for 16 other outfits. But Trask said the decision to use Diaz as the stable's “go-to” jockey in Oldsmar was based on more than his ability to win races.

Diaz winning aboard Skol Chant for trainer Michael Stidham

“It's very hard for someone who has never been here before to come in and be successful, because you have a handful of guys, like (Samy) Camacho and (Antonio) Gallardo and (Daniel) Centeno, who win a lot of races,” Trask said. “But Hector was already part of our team, and he knows what it takes to get the job done.

“Anybody can win a race. But Hector is a team player who got to see what happens behind the scenes when he worked for George Weaver, and that makes a big difference,” Trask said. “I have 40 people working in our barn, and he knows all their names and speaks to everybody when he comes to work. Hector never has a chip on his shoulder. When one of our guys shows up in the paddock with a horse, he greets them with respect.”

Kathleen O'Connell, who also uses Diaz on many of her horses, has helped cultivate the careers of numerous good jockeys, including Gallardo. She believes Diaz has the skill, confidence and courage to be as good as any of them.

“He is already polished, and I think he has a great future if he keeps doing what he's doing,” O'Connell said. “He is smart enough to know that you learn every day. You always need luck and the right horses and everything else, but as long as he keeps an open mind, he will keep progressing.”

O'Connell said Diaz's style puts horses at ease. “There is a big difference between taking a light hold and strangling a horse, and he has very kind hands on a horse and is astute as to how they are traveling. He cares about the animals and is a good communicator.”

After competing in New York as a proverbial small fish in a big pond, Diaz is getting noticed on a widespread basis. He is comfortable with his status as one of the top four jockeys this season at Tampa Bay Downs and the extra attention that comes with it.

“To be up there with guys like Gallardo and Centeno, who have won multiple titles, and Camacho, that is amazing,” Klotz said. “Those guys are cornerstones of Tampa Bay.”

Diaz – who has an 11-year-old daughter, Heclian, and a 2-year-old son, Jayden, from previous relationships – yearns to see his brother and his parents soon; he hasn't been home in a few years. He says his parents are more accepting of his career choice and proud at how he represents himself and the family.

“My father calls me a lot to talk about the horses and my career. I know it's tough for parents to see their kid can't walk, and I know there are nights when they cry in bed,” Diaz said. “But Migue is alive, and that's how we have to view it.”

In surroundings that are often hectic, when every move he makes can mean the difference between winning and losing, Diaz puts everything else out of his mind. But win or lose, he is uplifted knowing Migue provides another set of eyes that are invaluable in helping to keep the family tradition strong.

“My brother is my hero. I don't think I would ever have taken what happened the way he does,” Diaz said. “He is the one who gave me the big push to do what I am doing now. I don't know why, but I never think about his accident. I pray God to protect all of us riders on the track, but we got to compete. When I'm on top of a horse, I just think about winning the race.”

Diaz has another dream, one he carries in his heart. “I always say if I do real good, I want to take him somewhere to doctors who can help him walk again. That is my goal. He is grateful he is alive, and I am grateful he is alive. We know things could be a lot worse. But there is always a hope, and we never lose that.”

It is a dream worth sharing, with the racetrack community and the world.

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New York Turf Bonuses ‘Very Appealing’ For Grade 1 Winner Magic Attitude

Trainer Arnaud Delacour said Lael Stables' Grade 1 winner Magic Attitude is training towards a seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at nine furlongs on the Tampa Bay Downs turf on March 6.

“She's doing well,” said Delacour of the 4-year-old Galileo filly, who worked a half-mile in 50.60 seconds on the Tampa Bay Downs dirt on Feb. 17. “She had a little break and has been breezing well. I'm considering running her in the Hillsborough and then take it from there.”

Magic Attitude made a victorious North American debut in September in the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, part of the Turf Triple series implemented by NYRA in 2019 to showcase the best 3-year-old turf runners in the country.

The Belmont Oaks win has Magic Attitude eligible for significant bonus money should she win the Grade 2, $750,000 New York, a 10-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares to be held June 4 at Belmont; or the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl, an 11-furlong test for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up on Sept. 4 at Saratoga.

“We'll definitely keep in the back of our mind that the New York could be a very good spot for her with the bonus,” said Delacour. “It's very appealing because she's won at the course and going the distance, so that's definitely something we're thinking about.”

The “New York Stakes Turf Bonus” will provide $315,000 to the owner and $35,000 to the trainer of any previous winner of the filly Turf Triple Series races – Belmont Oaks, Saratoga Oaks or Jockey Club Oaks – who captures the 2021 edition of the New York.

Delacour and Lael Stables combined to win the 2017 New York with Hawksmoor.

In addition, the “Flower Bowl Bonus” will provide $300,000 to the owner and $30,000 to the trainer of any previous winner of a filly Turf Triple series race who wins the Flower Bowl, a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” event offering a berth in the Grade 1 Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar.

Magic Attitude launched her career in France with conditioner Fabrice Chappet, capturing the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux at Longchamp in May. Following a fifth in the Group 1 Prix de Diane in July at Chantilly, Magic Attitude was sent to Delacour and promptly bested 2020 Saratoga Oaks-winner Antoinette in the Belmont Oaks Invitational.

Magic Attitude completed her sophomore season with a third in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October over good turf at Keeneland and Delacour said the talented bay would have benefited from more time between starts.

“It was probably a combination of a few things. She was coming back three weeks after the Belmont Oaks and it would have been nice to give her more time,” said Delacour. “Some horses run well right away and then it takes them awhile to acclimate well. We were at the back of the pack and a stronger pace would have helped her to close, but I think she will probably run better on firmer turf anyway.”

Delacour said Magic Attitude has maintained her good form.

“She's on the small side but well put together,” said Delacour. “I haven't seen a tremendous change in her physically. She looks good and carries good weight.”

Bred in Great Britain by Katsumi Yoshida, Magic Attitude is out of the Exceed And Excel mare Margot Did, who captured the 2011 Group 1 Nunthorpe at York.

Following a trio of dirt starts, Delacour said Lael Stables' homebred Be Sneaky, a 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, could consider the Grade 3 Florida Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile turf test on March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs.

A maiden winner at first asking sprinting seven furlongs at Laurel Park in October, Be Sneaky followed with a third in the six-furlong Smart Halo in November at the Maryland oval. She stretched out to one mile and 40 yards in her seasonal debut when second to Curlin's Catch in the Suncoast on February 6 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Be Sneaky is out of the Big Brown mare Bella Castani, who won the 2013 Tweedside on the Belmont turf.

“The Suncoast was her first time going two turns so it was a bit testing for her, but I think we saw what we wanted to see,” said Delacour. “I had planned to run her on the turf and I couldn't find a race that I thought was the right fit, so we just took a shot in the Suncoast and she ran very well.

“The dam was a good turf filly,” continued Delacour. “I always had it in the back of my mind to try her on turf at least one time. The Into Mischiefs can run on any surface so I'd like to try her on turf at least once. The Florida Oaks on March 6 would be a good race to try her in.”

Delacour said Lael Stables' Arrest Me Red, who won the six-furlong Atlantic Beach in November on the Big A turf, is pointing to a return in late spring.

“We gave him a break and then he had a little setback,” said Delacour. “He hurt himself in the paddock. I don't expect to see him run before the end of the spring, beginning of summer.”

The sophomore son of Pioneerof the Nile finished fifth in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Bourbon at Keeneland in October and was fifth last out on dirt in the Inaugural on December 5 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Delacour said the bay colt will likely target one-turn races on his return.

“I tried to run him at Keeneland going a mile and a sixteenth and that is clearly not his thing,” said Delacour. “He came back and ran very well going six furlongs at Aqueduct, so I think between six furlongs and a mile is what we should consider for him.”

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