barb minshall | Horse Racing Free Tips

Oaks Prep: Arrogate’s Half-Sister Diamond Ore Tops Sunday’s Busanda Stakes

The Road to the Kentucky Oaks will go through New York when Diamond Ore takes on four other sophomore fillies in Sunday's 47th running of the $100,000 Busanda going nine furlongs over the main track at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Busanda is a local qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, scheduled to be run on April 30 at Churchill Downs, awarding the top-four finishers points on a 10-4-2-1 scale.

The race honors Ogden Phipps' 1950 Alabama winner, whose name is an anacronym for the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (BuSandA) – a Navy bureau that Phipps had served in during World War II. As a broodmare, Busanda, a daughter of War Admiral and granddaughter of the prolific broodmare La Troienne, produced Hall of Famer and prestigious sire Buckpasser and was also the great granddam of 1984 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Outstandingly.

Clearview Stable's Diamond Ore, a $750,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, makes her stakes debut for trainer Barb Minshall following a maiden-breaking effort routing on the Tampa Bay Downs dirt on Dec. 24.

The Tapit bay, out of the multiple stakes winning Distorted Humor mare Bubbler, is a half-sister to champion Arrogate, who won the 2016 Travers at Saratoga Race Course in a track record time of 1:59.36.

Diamond Ore made her first three starts on Tapeta for the Woodbine-based Minshall, who captured the 2017 Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga with Dream It Is, and will send out her first representative at the Big A since Hollywood Hideaway ran third in the 2017 Artie Schiller.

Following a pair of sprint efforts at Woodbine, Diamond Ore rallied to be second when stretched out to two turns for the first time on Nov. 14 at the Rexdale, Ontario oval, garnering a career-best 70 Beyer Speed Figure.

Minshall said the well-bred Diamond Ore is ready for her stakes debut.

“With her pedigree any blacktype is important,” said Minshall. “Hopefully, we can do that for the owners, and she could move forward from this. The horses will tell you where you can go. They sort themselves out. It's early in the 3-year-old year and this is a good chance to see what she's got and see how she handles the dirt in more difficult company.”

Minshall said Diamond Ore will appreciate the added distance Sunday and enters with the benefit of additional training at her Ocala, Florida base on the Winding Oaks Farm dirt, including a five-eighths breeze on Jan. 15 in 1:02 flat.

“The farther she goes the better. She's very game,” said Minshall. “She's trained very well on the dirt here at Winding Oaks. I find she's moved forward with her training. She's done everything right and deserves a chance to move on.”

Minshall said outside of the addition of jockey Eric Cancel, there will be no changes for Diamond Ore who will emerge from post 1.

“Everything's the same. She wears a small cup blinker. She's pretty straightforward,” said Minshall. “I did race her on Lasix at Woodbine, but she raced at Tampa without it and I didn't have any problems.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the 2013 Busanda with subsequent Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar, will attempt a sixth triumph in the Busanda with Repole Stables' Traffic Lane.

The daughter of second crop sire Outwork set the pace in the Grade 2 Demoiselle on December 5 over a sloppy and sealed Big A main track last out but faded to a distant fifth, finishing 18 ¼ lengths to stable mate Malathaat.

Pletcher's Belmont Park-based assistant Byron Hughes noted that neither the Demoiselle winner nor Traffic Lane liked the off-going but is optimistic for a better effort on Sunday.

The National Weather Service calls for partly cloudy skies and zero percent chance of precipitation on Sunday for the Ozone Park area.

“She didn't take to it either, but it looks like we'll have a fast track this weekend so we should see some improvement there,” said Hughes. “Our overall impression is that she didn't care for the off track.”

Prior to her stakes debut, third time was the charm for Traffic Lane, who graduated on November 15 over a good outer turf course at Aqueduct after two efforts in off-the-turf maiden events. In the 1 1/16-mile event, Traffic Lane tracked a length off the pace and secured a three-quarter length triumph over next-out winner Candace O.

“It was all just experience, that was the main thing,” Hughes said. “She hasn't been the most precocious filly, but I think the experience helped her and the races under her belt helped her. When she did break her maiden, she did it as we expected her to.”

Bred in Kentucky by Oak Lodge Bloodstock, Traffic Lane was purchased for $95,000 from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Blandford Stud consignment and is the second offspring out of the Quality Road mare Katie Lane.

With Jose Lezcano aboard, Traffic Lane will emerge from post 4.

The Pletcher-Repole combo will also be represented by New York homebred Coffee Bar, who is entered off two weeks' rest from an 8 ¼-length maiden win on January 10 going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.

Also a daughter of Outwork, Coffee Bar was a distant third on debut, but sat a couple of lengths closer to pace in her maiden victory to draw off a decisive winner while registering a 73 Beyer.

Coffee Bar will receive the riding services of the Big A's current leading rider Kendrick Carmouche from post 2.

Trainer Chad Brown sends out Louis Lazzinnaro's The Grass Is Blue after a close third in the December 26 Safely Kept at Laurel Park. The chestnut daughter of Broken Vow won on debut for a $25,000 tag at Monmouth Park by 8 ½ lengths and defeated winners in a Keeneland allowance on October 4 over next out stakes winner Feeling Mischief.

Bred in Kentucky by Phillips Racing Partnership, The Grass Is Blue is out of the Aldebaran mare Shine Softly, whose dam was 1999 Champion Turf Mare Soaring Softly.

Jockey Manny Franco will pilot The Grass Is Blue from post 5.

Wonderwall was dropped into a $25,000 maiden claiming tilt at Laurel Park on December 19 off a pair of swift works and proved she was no morning glory with a sharp 7 1/4-length score.

Claimed out of that winning effort by owner Marcial Cornejo, Wonderwall posted a supersonic effort in her first start for trainer Claudio Gonzalez when romping by 10 1/2-lengths in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming tilt last out on January 8 at Laurel that garnered a career-best 75 Beyer.

Wonderwall will be ridden by Trevor McCarthy from post 3.

The Busanda is slated as Race 8 on Sunday's nine-race program, which has 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. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

The post Oaks Prep: Arrogate’s Half-Sister Diamond Ore Tops Sunday’s Busanda Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Arrogate Half Sister Diamond Ore To Make Stakes Debut Jan. 24

Clearview Stable's Diamond Ore, a half-sister to 2016 Grade 1 Travers-winner Arrogate, is set to make her stakes debut in the $100,000 Busanda on Jan. 24, a nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies at the Big A offering 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

Trained by Barb Minshall, the Tapit bay, out of the multiple stakes winning Distorted Humor mare Bubbler, was purchased for $750,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms and Hill 'N' Dale Equine Holdings, Diamond Ore made her first three starts on Tapeta at Woodbine Racetrack, including a good second, defeated a half-length, on November 14 when stretched out to two turns for the first time that garnered a career-best 70 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I thought she was unlucky not to win her last race at Woodbine,” said Minshall. “She got shuffled back at the turn and then came back on and she just missed. That was the first two-turn maiden race at Woodbine on the synthetic.

“I ran her a couple times short just to give her some racing experience, even though I knew she wanted to go long,” added Minshall. “In her last race at Woodbine, she was really unlucky not to win.”

Last out, in a mile and 40 yards maiden special weight on Dec. 24 at Tampa Bay Downs, Diamond Ore made her dirt debut a winning one while racing without Lasix for the first time. With Samy Camacho up, Diamond Ore tracked in fifth before grinding out a half-length score over Purtiz that registered a 57 Beyer.

“The number was a little on the slow side, but she handled the dirt well off of one dirt work,” said Minshall.

Diamond Ore, who is based at Winding Oaks Farm in Ocala, Fla., worked five-eighths Friday morning in 1:02 as she prepares to stretch out in her stakes debut.

“It was a good work. She's strong,” said Minshall. “It's a deep track here at Winding Oaks and I thought she worked well. She's feeling good.

“I think she fits. The nine furlongs will be good for her,” added Minshall. “She's not an overly big filly, but she's gotten a lot more robust build since she came to me in July last year. She's a really happy, good feeling filly but she's not what I would call tall. She's compact.”

Minshall said the Kentucky Oaks qualifier will be a good litmus test as she plans a sophomore campaign for the well-bred bay.

“She's improved along the way. She's needed to learn and she's gotten stronger and smarter with every race,” said Minshall. “She has potential to move forward and obviously this is a big step from a maiden race to a stakes race, but it will be the same for most of the horses that are nominated. We're all looking to see what we have.”

Diamond Ore is slated to ship up to New York on Wednesday and will be piloted in the Busanda by Eric Cancel.

The post Arrogate Half Sister Diamond Ore To Make Stakes Debut Jan. 24 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Woodbine: Rookies Race For Top Prize In Sunday’s $250,000 Coronation Futurity

Eight hopefuls, including Barb Minshall trainees British Royalty and Threefiftyseven, and Gail Cox charge Tio Magico, square off in Sunday's $250,000 Coronation Futurity Stakes, at Woodbine.

The 1 1/8-mile Tapeta event for Canadian-foaled 2-year-olds is a significant race on the road to the 162nd running of the Queen's Plate, first jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

Minshall, in the midst of a strong campaign, packs a powerful punch in the form of British Royalty and Threefiftyseven.

British Royalty, an Ontario-bred son of English Channel, impressed in his career bow on October 11 at Woodbine.

Under Jerome Lermyte, who once again gets the call in the Coronation Futurity, the Bruce Lunsford-owned gelding was pinched back at the start of the 1 mile and 70 yard main track race. Last of nine early, British Royalty steadily gained on his eight rivals, and was travelling well around the final turn. Sixth at the stretch call, he continued to gobble up ground and went on to a 1 ¾-length score in a time of 1:43.74.

For Minshall, the ending was far more pleasing than the start.

“It was quite the effort. His effort is almost exactly him. He's a very tall, lanky, green horse. He was bought later in the year, so he wasn't as advanced as my other babies. He was the only baby that I've had in probably 10 years who had a bit of a shin. So, I had to stop on him for 45 days. He definitely got a little bit behind the eight ball.”

Bred by Richard Lister, British Royalty now gets a sterner test in his second outing.

Minshall believes her young pupil is up to the task.

“He has a lot of ability and he showed it. Being an English Channel, I think, definitely as he gets older, things should really start to come together. Here, there's not really anywhere else we could run him, if I want to give him another race. So, he'll race in here and then we'll go from there.”

A less complicated trip would be ideal.

“When he broke out of the gate and he was really far behind, I was thinking, 'Oh, no. Am I going to be embarrassed here with a horse I told the owner I like?' But I thought Jerome did a good job. He didn't rush him. He let him get his legs going. Once he found his stride and weaved his way through some traffic, he just took off like a bat out of hell. He's a talented horse, but I don't know if he really knew what he did. He's going to appreciate every bit of the distance and he's a nice two-year-old who needs another race. We're going to take a shot. There's a lot of money on the line and he's a nice horse.”

The multiple graded stakes winning conditioner also sends Threefiftyseven postward.

A son of Run Away and Hide, the gelding, whom Minshall owns and also co-bred (with Bruce Lunsford), is 1-2-0 from four starts.

The bay's most recent effort was a runner-up result in the 1 1/16-mile turf Cup & Saucer Stakes on October 10. Sent off at 8-1, Threefiftyseven crossed the wire 3 ¼ lengths behind the Mark Casse-conditioned winner Master Spy, who will also compete in the Coronation Futurity.

Finishing fourth in his debut, a five-furlong Inner Turf race on July 12, Threefiftyseven finished second in his following start on August 9, breaking his maiden the next time out, a 1 ¼-length triumph at 6 ½ panels on the Toronto oval Tapeta.

“He [British Royalty] is the total opposite of Threefiftyseven, who has had a few races,” noted Minshall. “He's a very professional horse, a very strong horse. He hasn't put – knock on wood – a foot wrong since he's started. He's also going into the race in really good order. “They're both very different horses on a very different level of knowledge, but we're going to take a shot with both of them and see what happens. I really, really like 2-year-olds and I love training them.”

Gail Cox, also in the midst of a successful season, will turn to Tio Magico to deliver her first Coronation Futurity title.

The Sam-Son Farm homebred finished sixth to Threefiftyseven in his debut on September 7.

“He got in a bit of trouble early,” noted Cox. “Then he made a great, big middle move, and I think he just got a little bit tired.”

The dark bay son of Uncle Mo was magic in his second start, a 1 1/16-mile main track race that was originally scheduled for the turf. Tio Magico, despite ducking in twice, held a 5 ½-length lead at the stretch call, and secured a half-length victory in a time of 1:44.85 ahead of the Kevin Attard-trained Coronation Futurity contender Stephen.

“He's doing great,” said Cox, who is one win shy of tying the career-best 15 victories she posted in 2011. “He's really good. After it came off the turf, I was thinking that you have to look ahead to the future. He trains well on the surface, so I wasn't really that worried about it. The only thing you question is, 'Now we're going two turns.' As it worked out, it was great that he had the opportunity to do that.”

The multiple graded stakes winning trainer, who has a personal-best four stakes scores this season, is excited to see what's in store for her young charge.

“He's a very nice horse and I think he's very talented. He's got a great mind… easy to train. He's still a colt and he's pretty good about it. He can run. He's always worked really well.”

Ayrshire Lad won the first running of the Coronation Futurity in 1902. The late Avelino Gomez won four straight (1964-67) editions of the race, a feat also achieved by Sandy Hawley (1973-76). Last year, Halo Again won the race in a time of 1:51.82. The last horse to notch the Futurity-Plate double was Norcliffe in 1975-76.

The 117th running of the Coronation Futurity is slated as race eight on Sunday's 11-race card. First post time is 1:10 p.m. Fans can also watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com.

$250,000 CORONATION FUTURITY

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Master Spy – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

2 – Tio Magico – Luis Contreras – Gail Cox

3 – One Flint – Emma-Jayne Wilson – John LeBlanc Jr.

4 – Giant Waters – Rafael Hernandez – Daniel Vella

5 – British Royalty – Jerome Lermyte – Barbara Minshall

6 – Threefiftyseven – David Moran – Barbara Minshall

7 – Flex – Slade Callaghan – Michael De Paulo

8 – Stephen – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard

The post Woodbine: Rookies Race For Top Prize In Sunday’s $250,000 Coronation Futurity appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘The Good Old Days’: Barbara Minshall Looks Back At Her Triple Crown First

Barb Minshall wasn't chasing history on that picture-perfect summer day 25 years ago at Fort Erie Racetrack.

“It seems like yesterday,” started Minshall, from her home office in Mississauga, Ont. “It's just amazing to me. When you realize that it was 1995… you just say to yourself, 'Wow.' But I never thought about being the first one. Your first thought is always the same… win the race.”

Leading up to the 136th running of the Queen's Plate, there hadn't been much talk, as she recalled, that the Canadian classic could produce a first in its storied history: a female trainer winning the race.

“I was really just starting training horses back then, so I didn't really follow the statistics and historical information,” said the Montreal-born conditioner, who took over the reins of Minshall Farms when her husband Aubrey, a respected and successful horseman, died in 1993. “The availability of statistics back then wasn't anywhere near to what it is today, where it's nearly instantaneous. Back then, if you didn't go to the track that day, you wouldn't find out any interesting info. until you picked up the paper the next day. I didn't realize a female trainer had never won a Triple Crown race.”

Blessed with a pair of talented 3-year-olds, homebreds Kiridashi and Mt. Sassafras, the brown and beige silks of Minshall Farms were well represented when the Canadian Triple Crown series got out of the gates, in the Queen's Plate, on July 9, 1995 at Woodbine.

Her coupled entry went off as the 7-2 third choice, behind the favoured entry of All Firmed Up and Honky Tonk Tune, and second choice, 2-1 Langfuhr.

At the finish of the 1 ¼-mile Queen's Plate, it was Roger Attfield trainee Regal Discovery, ridden by Todd Kabel, who was crowned champion after a 1 ¼-length score at odds of 9-1.

Kiridashi, who led the 14-horse field until just after the mile mark, finished fourth. Mt. Sassafras rallied to be third.

“I thought both of them ran their hearts out,” remembered Minshall. “It just wasn't our day.”

Cue the rematch.

The Prince of Wales, second jewel in the historic Canadian Triple Crown, attracted six starters, a field that included Regal Discovery, Kiridashi, and Mt. Sassafras.

Three weeks removed from Regal Discovery's triumph in the “Gallop for the Guineas,” Minshall was hoping to turn the tables with her powerful one-two punch entry in the 1 3/16-mile main track Prince of Wales.

She wouldn't have traded places with anyone at Fort Erie on July 30, 1995.

“I do definitely remember thinking we could win it. We were really confident in both horses. Mt. Sassafras was more of a come-from-behind horse and Kiridashi was an extremely fast horse, a horse that could run the turns very quickly and make up all his ground on the turns. He was a typical 'catch-me-if-you-can' type. And if you wanted to go with him, you'd usually empty the tank, and if you let him loose, he got very brave on the lead. He was a very dangerous horse. So, we had both ends covered and we were really confident.”

Her pre-race conversation with jockey Larry Attard, aboard Kiridashi, lasted all of 10 seconds.

“I told Larry to go to the front and wire the field. If Mt. Sassafras runs you down, that's okay, but you're on your own.”

Seizing control early from the outside gate, Kiridashi, the handsome son of Bold Ruckus, made every call a winning one, besting runner-up Regal Discovery by two lengths.

“The pace was a kind of slow pace,” said Attard, moments after the race. “The half went 47 [seconds] and change and I said if I make a slow pace, I'm going to win the race. It came exactly like I thought.”

With Kabel once again in the irons, Regal Discovery made a three-wide move to the leader up the backstretch, but midway through the far turn, Kiridashi and Attard were doing precisely what Minshall envisioned.

They were playing catch-me-if-you-can to perfection.

“He [Kiridashi] was the lone speed in the race and he got to dictate everything his own way,” noted Kabel. “I couldn't get him [Regal Discovery] to relax.”

Attard said, “Every time he [Regal Discovery] came up to me I just kind of opened up a half a length, a length to him. I know I got the horse.”

Mt. Sassafras finished third, a nose back of second spot.

“When Kiridashi had the lead turning for home and you knew he wasn't going to get headed, I had a really good feeling,” she recalled. “That's how he won most of his races. If he got that lead down the backside and he wasn't being challenged turning for home, it would have taken something else to try and run him down because he wouldn't let them go by him.”

With the win, Minshall, a former member of the Canadian Olympic equestrian team, had secured a spot in the record books as the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race, in Canada or the U.S.

Recollections of Kiridashi's wire-to-wire tour de force at Fort Erie still bring a smile to Minshall's face.

“It's scary how time goes by so fast, but you keep hoping to find those good ones again. To be in horse racing, you absolutely need to love horses and being around them. For me, nothing is more rewarding than seeing young horses develop and do well down the road.”

Just like Kiridashi and Mt. Sassafras did.

In 44 starts, Kiridashi won 14 times, adding nine seconds and eight thirds, along with earnings of $1.2 million (U.S.). At four, he won the Grade 3 King Edward Breeders' Cup Handicap, the Fair Play and Heresy, all at Woodbine. One year later, he took the Grade 3 Connaught Cup, Vigil, and Jacques Cartier.

His final race was a fifth in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, on September 21, 1998.

“Kiridashi was the studdiest horse to be around. I think it's why that when he shipped, he didn't run very well. He was so studdy. Nowadays, I probably would have gelded him. But when a horse is running so well like he did, it's tough to consider that option. He was a kind horse in the stall, but once you got on his back, he was very aggressive – just a very sound horse and easy to train. He was a strong galloper, but very straightforward.”

Mt. Sassafras, a son of Mt. Livermore, won eight times from 47 starts. He also added seven runner-up finishes, and 14 third-place efforts, to go with $1.38 million (U.S.) in earnings.

The chestnut delivered Canadians a big thrill in the 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic at Woodbine when he had the lead in deep in the stretch before finishing fourth at 101-1. A length separated him from Alphabet Soup, Louis Quatorze and Cigar.

That winter, Mt. Sassafras defeated Eclipse Award champion Skip Away at Gulfstream in the Donn Handicap.

“He was way more sensitive than Kiridashi. You had to make sure he ate. He was way more high-strung than Kiridashi. But he was extremely durable for a small, slight-framed horse. We got to travel to many big stake races all over the U.S. He ran in eight Grade 1 races and he won a Grade 1, $500,000 U.S. race, defeating good horses like Skip Away, Tejano Run and Suave Prospect.When I think of Mt. Sassafras, I think 'Grade 1,' – very talented and also unlucky. He really could have won several other races as well.”

Mt. Sassafras did, however, greatly contribute to Minshall Farms' banner 1996 season, culminating in five Sovereign awards, including Canada's horse of the year, champion older horse, top owner, and breeder honours.

The other trophy, for top trainer, represented another first.

“To win the Sovereign was another huge thrill,” said Minshall, the first woman to win it. “Hearing Mt. Sassafras' name called out as horse of the year and top older horse is something you'll never forget.”

She no doubt hasn't.

Minshall Farms, dispersed a few years after the impressive trophy haul, didn't spell the end of Minshall's training career.

Multiple stakes winners like Bold Ruritana, Stephanotis, Strut the Course and Stacked Deck have provided her with memorable triumphs over the years.

Their pictures, and many others, hang alongside the ones of Kiridashi and Mt. Sassafras, in Minshall's home office, happy reminders of treasured victories, past and present.

“You just smile… the good old days. And that day at Fort Erie, it was a really good one. I wasn't trying to put my name the history books that day. You just wanted to win the race.”

Kiridashi managed to deliver both.

The post ‘The Good Old Days’: Barbara Minshall Looks Back At Her Triple Crown First appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post