Tag: Bad Beat Brian

Twirling Candy’s Gear Jockey Doubles Up in Ainsworth Turf Sprint

In a mad scramble for the wire in Saturday's $1-million GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs, 23-1 Calumet homebred Gear Jockey (6, h, Twirling Candy–Switching Gears, by Tapit) got a desperate head down in front of 3-2 choice One Timer (Trappe Shot) and 11-1 Bad Beat Brian (Jack Milton). It was a repeat of his success in this same race two years ago when it was a Grade III, albeit by a far slimmer margin.

Final time for the six furlongs was 1:10.59. The Turf Sprint is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” race, giving Gear Jockey an automatic berth into the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

The winner was prominent throughout, stalking the :21.77 and :45.08 early fractions set by Bad Beat Brian. Gear Jockey didn't give the leader a comfortable time of it while pressuring from the outside. The duo remained one-two until late stretch with Bad Beat Brian digging in gamely, but Gear Jockey determinedly stuck his head in front as One Timer–who won the GII Franklin-Simpson S. over this course last year–closed down the middle and entered the scene from the outside. The largest margin between the first seven horses across the wire was a neck.

“He broke very sharp. He gave me the same race he gave me two years ago when he won here,” said winning rider Jose Lezcano. “To be honest with you, I knew it was going to be very close… I was very happy for the horse. He is a tough horse and he tries all the time. I am very happy for [trainer] Rusty [Arnold] and his whole team. They work very hard.”

Gear Jockey brings his best to Kentucky Downs, as he won this race in 2021 with a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, his top to date, but had neglected to find the winner's circle since until Saturday and makes it two-for-two over the Kentucky Downs lawn. He was coming off a sixth-place finish in the July 22 Van Clief S. at Colonial Downs–his first start since last November–behind Front Run the Fed (Fed Biz), who finished sixth in Saturday's Turf Sprint. While he hasn't shied away from top competition and has just the two Kentucky Downs graded stakes on his CV, Gear Jockey has faced and finished just behind some of the best grass sprinters of the last few years. His five graded placings include the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and the 2022 GII Shakertown S.

“We're pretty happy,” said trainer Rusty Arnold. “He's a favorite. I thought he had lost his edge. He's had his issues and we thought we had him in pretty good shape. He loves this course. Two times he's won on it, so obviously he does. Great ride. Very happy.”

 

Pedigree Notes:

Thanks to the healthy purses at Kentucky Downs, Gear Jockey is the richest of Twirling Candy's 43 black-type winners, although the stallion's 18 graded winners also include GISWs Concrete Rose, Pinehurst, Gift Box, and Rombauer, as well as four additional Grade I winners. The son of Candy Ride (Arg) stands alongside his sire at Lane's End. Gear Jockey is also one of 90 stakes winners out of daughters of Tapit, whose 2023 successes as a broodmare sire have catapulted him into the leading damsire of the year. Gear Jockey joins luminaries such as Cody's Wish, Pretty Mischievous, and Arcangelo on the Gainesway sire's 'best-of' list as broodmare sire for 2023.

Calumet bought Switching Gears for $20,000 at the 2017 Keeneland January sale with Gear Jockey in utero. The mare is out of a half-sister to GISW and sire Stroll (Pulpit). Her most recent foal is a yearling colt by Bravazo. She was bred to Mandaloun for next term.

Saturday, Kentucky Downs
AINSWORTH TURF SPRINT S.-GII, $998,667, Kentucky Downs, 9-9, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:10.59, fm.
1–GEAR JOCKEY, 121, h, 6, by Twirling Candy
                1st Dam: Switching Gears, by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Pace, by Indian Ridge (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Maid for Walking (GB), by Prince Sabo (GB)
O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-George R. Arnold, II; J-Jose Lezcano. $589,680. Lifetime Record: GISP, 24-5-2-6, $1,586,651. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–One Timer, 121, g, 4, Trappe Shot–Spanish Star, by Blame. ($21,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT). O-Patricia's Hope LLC and Richard Ravin; B-St. Simon Place LLC (KY); T-Larry Rivelli. $192,800.
3–Bad Beat Brian, 121, g, 6, Jack Milton–Ultimate Class, by During. ($22,000 RNA Wlg '17 KEENOV; $16,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $115,000 2yo '19 EASMAY). O-Marsico Brothers Racing LLC; B-Pope McLean, Pope McLean Jr., Marc McLean & Phil Hager (KY); T-Brittany A. Vanden Berg. $96,400.
Margins: HD, NK, NK. Odds: 23.30, 1.50, 11.84.
Also Ran: Olympic Runner, Cogburn, Front Run the Fed, Eamonn, Dr Zempf (GB), Dream Shake, Counterstrike, Noble Reflection. Scratched: Anaconda, Nobals.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Caravel All Heart in Shakertown

In Keeneland's second consecutive race Saturday with a Breeders' Cup-winning mare from last November returning to the scene of her greatest triumph for her 2023 debut, CARAVEL (m, 6, Mizzen Mast-Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats) won the Lexington oval's GII Shakertown S. She was last seen taking the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint over this course and distance Nov. 5. It was deja vu, as just like last November, when Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) won the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in the race immediately preceding the Turf Sprint on that card, Goodnight Olive won the GI Madison S. in the race immediately preceding the Shakertown on Saturday's card.

Caravel earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure in the Breeders' Cup, her first time beating the boys. She was 42-1 that day, but 2-1 Saturday in her return to the races, again against males, after working well at Turfway Park on the all-weather surface since February and securing a bullet in her lone Keeneland work: a :48 1/5 (1/4) over the all-weather training track Apr. 1.

The gray went straight to the front and looked strong throughout despite Bad Beat Brian (Jack Milton) hounding her two furlongs in. Caravel hit that mark in :21.86 while Bad Beat Brian increased the pressure. The two rounded the turn with Caravel just in front at the :44.77 half, then battled down the lane. It was around the :56.45 marker for the five furlongs that Bad Beat Brian poked his head in front, but Caravel absolutely would not be denied. She gamely fought back, all heart, and got her head down on the wire in 1:02.58. MGSW & GISP Arrest Me Red (Pioneerof the Nile) finished third.

“I loved it [when she came back after being headed],” said winning rider Tyler Gaffalione, who was also aboard for the Breeders' Cup. “She showed so much heart there. She's a tremendous filly. I'm just lucky enough to be able to guide her around there. [Whether she wants the lead) depends on her break. She's a very alert filly. She jumped well today, so I didn't want to take anything away from her.”

Picked up by her current connections for $500,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale as a GIII winner, she was turned over to Brad Cox for 2022 and had a stellar year, winning five of eight, all black-type events. She is actually on her third straight course and distance victory, as she took Keeneland's GIII Franklin S. at the fall meet. Her ownership group originally had her entered in last fall's Keeneland November sale to follow her Breeders' Cup win, but withdrew her and opted to race her this year.

Pedigree Notes:

Caravel has put an exclamation mark on the final crops of Juddmonte's pensioned Mizzen Mast, whose 13 current 2-year-olds are his final foals. The Cozzene stallion has 26 graded winners and 63 black-type winners with Caravel marking his third Breeders' Cup winner following 2012 Juvenile Fillies Turf winner and French champion Flotilla (Fr) and 2012-13 Turf Sprint winner Mizdirection. Caravel is also one of 19 winners out of a daughter of Congrats, although surely none have such a fun name as Caravel's dam, Zeezee Zoomzoom.

The first foal for Zeezee Zoomzoom, Caravel has a younger dual black-type winning half-brother, as well as a 2-year-old half-brother named Enzo (Great Notion) and a 2022 half-sister by Street Boss. The workmanlike family has not been generous with black-type; until Zeezee Zoomzoom's feat of producing Caravel, one has to go back to the Shakertown winner's seventh dam to find a graded producer, making Caravel's as a five-time graded winner all the more impressive.

Saturday, Keeneland
SHAKERTOWN S.-GII, $319,094, Keeneland, 4-8, 3yo/up,
5 1/2fT, 1:02.58, gd.
1–CARAVEL, 121, m, 6, by Mizzen Mast
               1st Dam: Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats
               2nd Dam: Zee Zee, by Exchange Rate
               3rd Dam: Emblem of Hope, by Dynaformer
($330,000 RNA 3yo '20 WANOCT; $500,000 4yo '21 FTKNOV).
O-Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel & Madaket Stables LLC;
B-Elizabeth M. Merryman (PA); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Tyler
Gaffalione. $169,725. Lifetime Record: GISW,  21-13-0-3,
$1,500,877. *1/2 to Witty (Great Notion), MSW, $308,900.
Werk Nick Rating: A++. 
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Bad Beat Brian, 122, g, 6, Jack Milton–Ultimate Class, by
During. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($22,000 RNA Wlg '17
KEENOV; $16,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $115,000 2yo '19
EASMAY). O-Marsico Brothers Racing LLC; B-Pope McLean,
Pope McLean Jr., Marc McLean & Phil Hager (KY); T-Brittany A.
Vanden Berg. $63,875.
3–Arrest Me Red, 122, h, 5, Pioneerof the Nile–Maraschino
Red, by Medaglia d'Oro. O-Lael Stables; B-M. Roy Jackson (KY);
T-Wesley A. Ward. $31,938.
Margins: HD, HF, NO. Odds: 2.15, 40.93, 3.80.
Also Ran: Oceanic, Mark of the Z, Bakers Bay, Stitched, Noble Emotion, Mister Mmmmm, All in Sync, Artemus Citylimits, Johnny Unleashed. Scratched: Nobody Listens. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Bad Beat Brian Drives To Victory In Claiming Crown Canterbury

Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher's Bad Beat Brian, stuck behind a wall of horses entering the far turn, swung into the clear approaching the stretch and came with a steady drive through the lane to edge Xy Speed by a length in the $90,000 Claiming Crown Canterbury Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Bad Beat Brian ($10.20) ran five furlongs in :54.78 over a firm turf course to extend trainer Mike Maker's record to 19 career Claiming Crown victories with his first in the Canterbury. He has won at least one race in all but three Claiming Crowns since 2007.

“Hopefully, we'll get a couple more,” Maker said.

Bad Beat Brian was unhurried under jockey Emisael Jaramillo while saving ground in the early going, as Oct. 2 Laurel Dash winner Xy Speed went right to the front and was challenged by Admiral Abe through a sizzling opening quarter-mile in :21.12. Xy Speed maintained an advantage around the turn and straightened for home in front after going a half in :43.46, with Jaramillo swinging out into the clear.

“The horse broke really sharp and the pace was lively. I was just hoping we'd have a chance somewhere to get out, and he did and ran them down,” Maker said. “As soon as he got him out without getting stopped, I felt pretty confident.”

Xy Speed held second, with 24-1 long shot The Connector third, and Harry's Ontheloose fourth. Discreet Tune was fifth with narrow 3-1 favorite Belgrano checking in seventh.

A 4-year-old Jack Milton gelding, Bad Beat Brian had gone winless in four starts since being claimed back by Maker for $40,000 July 16 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., after losing him for $62,500 one start earlier at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

“He's good. He's a maintenance-free horse, very easy-going,” Maker said. “He's a favorite around the barn.”

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Lopez, Joseph Jr. Crowd Claiming Crown Winner’s Circle

Trainer Mike Maker racked up his series-leading 19th career Claiming Crown victory, conditioner Saffie Joseph Jr. won three of the stakes conducted under starter-allowance conditions, and jockey Paco Lopez won five races overall on the Saturday card to kick off the championship meet at Gulfstream Park.

The Claiming Crown began in 1999 as a blue-collar version of the Breeders' Cup to reward primarily older horses who compete in the types of races that form the backbone of day-to-day American racing.

But oddly enough, it was a lightly-raced 3-year-old homebred who snuck up the rail to win the Dec. 4 feature, the $125,000

CC Jewel S. over nine furlongs in a 10-1 upset.

Twelve Volt Man (Violence) stalked patiently in mid-pack, then dove to the rail under deft handling by jockey Edwin Gonzalez to reel in a tiring leader in the final hundred yards for trainer Joseph Jr. and owner Magic Cap Stables. The winning margin was three-quarters of a length in 1:49.92 over a “fast” main track.

“I thought that maybe I'd get beat at the wire there, but a lot of heart this horse has,” said owner/breeder Joe Anzalone, who eventually sold the mare but kept this gelding. “Words can't say [how proud I am]. I'm still shaking.”

The annual CC event is a partnership between the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. After initially rotating among smaller tracks, Gulfstream has evolved into the host site over the past 10 years.

All of Saturday's winners could have been previously snagged at the claim box for relatively low asking prices prior to competing for comparably higher CC purses.

Miles Ahead (Competitive Edge) was one such gelding. There were no takers when he broke his maiden by 12 1/4 lengths for a $12,500 tag back in January 2020. He finished seventh in last year's edition of this $85,000 CC Rapid Transit S., but subsequently won the GIII Smile Sprint S. and had a trip-troubled last-place try in the GI Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga this past summer.

On Saturday he avenged last year's CC defeat by winning the Rapid Transit by 1 1/4 lengths as the 13-10 favorite with a sweeping far-turn bid in 1:21.99 for seven furlongs. Lopez rode for owners David Melin, Leon Ellman, and Laurie Plesa.

“Races like the Claiming Crown are the bread and butter of horse racing,” said trainer Ed Plesa Jr. “It's great to see that they have a day like this, not because I won, but just because the everyday participants of the races are the ones that need a little bit more 'oomph.'”

Another winner on Saturday who set the record straight after losing the same stakes a year ago was the 3-1 Sugar Fix (Treasure Beach {GB}). The 4-year-old filly was second in the 2020 CC Tiara S., but in this season's $95,000 edition she pounced from just off the pace to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:40.19 for 1 1/16 miles over the “firm” turf.

Edgard Zayas rode for trainer Joseph Jr. and owners Mad Dog Racing Stable and Big Frank Stable.

One winner who was a re-claim for current connections stood out: Bad Beat Brian (Jack Milton) in the $90,000 CC Canterbury S. over five furlongs over the lawn.

The 4-year-old gelding had been claimed away for $62,500 at Churchill June 11, but was taken back for $40,000 by trainer Maker and owners Paradise Farms and David Staudacher in his next start July 16 at Del Mar.

Bad Beat Brian then waited until his fourth start off that re-claim to pay 4-1 dividends in the toughest spot he'd ever been entered. He surged down the center of the stretch to win by a length under Emisael Jaramillo in :54.78.

In the companion $90,000 CC Distaff Dash S. over five furlongs on the grass, 9-5 fave Payntdembluesaway (Paynter) bounded straight to the lead, dueled head-and-head with a 45-1 longshot, then asserted her dominance at the eighth pole to win going away by four lengths in :55.31.

Lopez rode for trainer Jane Cibelli and All My Hart Racing, Inc.

Despite a sweet 8-for-13 lifetime record, the 5-year-old mare has never been claimed despite being offered for $16,000 on four occasions. She's now 4-for-5 sprinting on the Gulfstream turf.

“She's tough. She likes to have things her own way and she's a little tough to train. But if she has things her own way, she's fast. She just loves to run,” said Cibelli.

In the one-turn-mile $80,000 CC Glass Slipper S., Sweet Willemina (Raison d'Etat) uncorked a long drive and split foes late to snatch a head victory at 8-1 odds in 1:36.68.

Silvestre Gonzalez rode for owners Richard Ciavardone and Home Team Stables. The win for conditioner Scott Lake was his ninth (third best among all trainers) in the history of the CC.

The 4-year-old filly was mired in a nine-race losing streak when those connections claimed her for $32,000 June 21 at Churchill Downs. She promptly won six straight Parx and Delaware, then ran second in her last outing up north before getting reacquainted with the winner's circle on Saturday.

In the six-furlong $75,000 CC Express S., the 9-2 Face of Victory (Run Away and Hide) tallied by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:10.52 under Zayas for trainer Joseph Jr. and owner Mercy Man Racing.

The 7-year-old gelding was the oldest CC winner on Saturday's card. He had changed hands via claim for $8,000 and $10,000 earlier this year at Gulfstream.

Blue Steel (Will Take Charge) was an aptly named winner of the afternoon's first CC event, the $75,000 CC Iron Horse S.

The 5-year-old gelding is usually a front-end force. But on Saturday he stalked tepid fractions, took over on the backstretch, and was saved by the wire while losing steam late over 1 1/16 miles at 7-2 odds in 1:44.61.

Blue Steel was ridden by Lopez for trainer Jeff Hiles and owner James Woodruff. He's been a frequent winning shipper this season, getting his photo snapped on six occasions at five tracks (Mahoning Valley, Keeneland, Belterra, Indiana Grand and Gulfstream).

Lopez bookended the CC portion of the program with victories (four wins and two seconds in CC races, plus a score in a non-stakes undercard race). He decisively stormed straight to the front in the nightcap to control the pace in the $95,000

CC Emerald S. with Mid Day Image (Midshipman).

The 5-year-old homebred for Patricia Generazio had been last seen winning back-to-back starter-handicaps at Monmouth. Trainer Luis Carvajal had the speedster ready off a nearly three-month layoff to win at 3-1 odds in 1:39.82.

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