belmont park | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gufo Records Final Breeze For G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

Otter Bend Stables' Gufo recorded his final piece of serious preparation for Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park, breezing a half-mile in 48.80 Sunday over the Belmont inner turf.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the 4-year-old chestnut son of Declaration of War seeks to keep an unbeaten record at 12 furlongs intact following victories in the Grand Couturier on July 5 at Belmont before winning the G1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer eight weeks later at Saratoga.

“He worked very well this morning,” Clement said. “It was a strong work and he finished up very nicely, so I'm excited for next week.”

Clement will seek a second Joe Hirsch Turf Classic win, previously saddling Winchester to victory in 2010. Multiple champion Gio Ponti was second in the 2009 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for Clement.

Also appearing on Sunday's work tab for Clement was dual graded stakes winner Mutamakina who completed a half-mile move in 49.20 seconds over the inner turf. Al Shiraa'aa Farm's daughter of Nathaniel captured the G2 Dance Smartly on Aug. 22 at Woodbine last out and will return to the Toronto oval for the G1 E.P. Taylor on Oct. 17.

Scheduled to accompany Mutamakina for the journey up north is stable mate La Dragontea, a winner of the G2 Canadian on Sept. 18 at Woodbine who also will target the E.P. Taylor.

Clement said he plans on saddling multiple contenders next weekend for the G3, $150,000 Matron, a six-furlong turf event for juvenile fillies. Possible contenders for the Clement barn include stakes-winner Derrynane, who captured the Woodbine Cares on Sept. 19, as well as maiden winners The Club and Gal In a Rush.

The post Gufo Records Final Breeze For G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Pletcher’s Platoon Charts Course After Weekend Stakes At Belmont

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher sent out three starters in Saturday's Grade 1 Champagne with maiden Commandperformance closing to finish second ahead of stablemates Wit and My Prankster in the one-turn mile for juveniles won by Jack Christopher.

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Commandperformance lunged at the start of his six-furlong debut on September 6 over a muddy and sealed track at Saratoga, rallying to finish second.

On Saturday, with Tyler Gaffalione up from the outermost post 6, the Union Rags gray closed to finish second, just 2 3/4-lengths to Jack Christopher and seven lengths in front of Wit.

“He ran well first time out,” said Pletcher's Belmont-based assistant Byron Hughes. “He came back and put in a good breeze here and we expected him to run up to his training. He got a good post position and Tyler rode him well. He ran a big race.”

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Gainesway Stable's Wit was an impressive eight-length winner of the six-furlong G3 Sanford in July at Saratoga ahead of a troubled second in the seven-furlong G1 Hopeful where he stumbled at the break.

On Saturday, with regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, Wit was off a step slow and encountered traffic trouble approaching the quarter pole.

“He got in a little trouble on the turn,” Hughes said. “Irad said there was a tired horse in front of him and that he was going in and out and was trying to find the best route. He couldn't find a hole right away and that might have cost him a few lengths.”

Robert and Lawana Low's My Prankster was a 10-length maiden winner at first asking sprinting 6 1/2-furlongs on Aug. 21 at the Spa, but failed to make an impact in the Champagne.

“We didn't have any excuse for him after the race or this morning. We'll regroup with him and go for there,” Hughes said.

St. Elias Stable's Dr Post exited the inside post under Ortiz Jr. in the G1 Woodward but was forced to rally five-wide down the lane to complete the trifecta, 2 1/2-lengths to Art Collector.

“It was a big effort. He went the widest out of everybody. He was still grinding it out there at the end,” Hughes said. “I thought it was a good effort. A little more pace and maybe back to two turns might help, but the effort was definitely what we wanted to see from him for sure.”

Spendthrift Farm homebred Following Sea, a 3-year-old Runhappy colt, has made a trio of starts for Pletcher this year, besting elders in an allowance sprint in June at Belmont ahead of a second via disqualification in the nine-furlong G1 Haskell on July 17. Last out, Following Sea finished third in the seven-furlong G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Aug. 28 at the Spa.

Following Sea breezed a half-mile solo in 48.38 Saturday on the Belmont dirt training track in preparation for a start in the six-furlong G2, $250,000 Vosburgh on Oct/ 9, which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in November at Del Mar.

“He did it all well within himself,” said Hughes regarding the breeze. “He had a good gallop out and cooled out OK. He looked good this morning. We're very happy with the way he's training right now. Hopefully he runs like he's been training.”

The post Pletcher’s Platoon Charts Course After Weekend Stakes At Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Rising Star’ Annapolis Wins ‘War’ in Pilgrim

Sunday's GII Pilgrim S. at Belmont featured just four horses, but it was far from boring, as 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis and GIII With Anticipation S. runner-up Portfolio Company threw it down pretty much from start to finish. Bass homebred Annapolis was pounded down to clear favoritism off a head-turning, fast-finishing 4 1/2-length debut score at Saratoga Sept. 4, and prompted Portfolio Company here through easy splits of :24.34 and :48.96 as Expected pacesetter Doctor Jeff (Street Boss) was ridden with surprising patience after breaking slowly. Annapolis ranged up on even terms with his main rival after a six-furlong split of 1:12.22. Portfolio Company battled back gamely from the fence in the run to the line, but Annapolis always seemed to have a little bit more to give and struck the wire a head in front.

“With only four horses, there wasn't much speed in the race,” noted winning pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. “The other horse that showed some speed (Doctor Jeff) to the outside of me might be a step below these horses. [Portfolio Company] I've ridden before and he can be tough to handle and likes to get very keen. I knew the pace wasn't going to be very fast, so I just broke well and tried to be close to the pace. I ended up second to the horse I had to try and beat, so I just went from there.

“He fought the whole way to the wire. That was a nice race. The way he did it last time he looked like a nice horse, so we expected him to move forward and he did.”

Added Byron Hughes, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher: “He broke well and Irad had him in a great spot on the outside. It was a good duel down the stretch and he was able to get a head down at the wire… We were hoping he would break well and help Irad put himself in a good position and see what happened today. I thought [Doctor Jeff] was going to show more speed. He didn't break well and left us alone there on the outside in the clear, so it all worked out.”

This was Pletcher's fourth win in the Pilgrim, which has produced the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner in three of the last five years.

Sunday, Belmont Park
PILGRIM S.-GII, $186,000, Belmont, 10-3, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:41.04, fm.
1–ANNAPOLIS, 120, c, 2, by War Front
            1st Dam: My Miss Sophia (GSW & MGISP, $605,040),
                                by Unbridled's Song
            2nd Dam: Wildwood Flower, by Langfuhr
            3rd Dam: Dial a Trick, by Phone Trick
   'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES
   WIN. O-Bass Racing, LLC; B-Bass Stables, LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $110,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$165,000. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk
   Nick Rating: A.
2–Portfolio Company, 120, c, 2, Kitten's Joy–Iteration, by Wild
Again. ($125,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey (KY); T-Chad C. Brown.
$40,000.
3–Limited Liability, 120, c, 2, Kitten's Joy–Hold Harmless, by
Blame. O-Stuart S. Janney, III; B-Stuart S. Janney, III LLC (KY);
T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $24,000.
Margins: HD, 5, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.65, 2.35, 5.80.
Also Ran: Doctor Jeff. Scratched: City At Night, Midnight Worker.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Annapolis becomes the 100th black-type winner and 56th graded/group winner for his superstar sire–he is the fourth graded winner bred on the War Front–Unbridled's Song cross. Unbridled's Song, perennially at or near the top of the broodmare sire list, is responsible for the dams of 104 graded/group winners.

Originally campaigned by Mathis Stable and Pletcher after selling for $260,000 as a KEESEP yearling, My Miss Sophia took the 2014 GII Gazelle S. and was second in the GI Kentucky Oaks before being purchased by Reynolds Bell, Jr. on behalf of Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables for $2.15 million at the Fasig-Tipton November sale that fall.

My Miss Sophia found a new home on the turf at four, and earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure when finishing a close third in the GII Ballston Spa S. behind MGISWs Dacita (Chi) (Scat Daddy) and Tepin (Bernstein). She was subsequently put in foal to War Front after an abbreviated 2016 campaign, and produced the now 3-year-old Nevisian Sunrise, who was third in June's Wild Applause S. here for her breeder and Portfolio Company's conditioner Chad Brown. Agent Steve Young, meanwhile, paid $4 million for My Miss Sophia while she was carrying Annapolis at the 2018 Keeneland November sale–her price was $200,000 short of sale topper Lady Eli.

A half to the Young-purchased 2015 GI Florida Derby winner Materiality (Afleet Alex) from the family of GISWs Afleet Express and Embellish the Lace, My Miss Sophia lost her Medaglia d'Oro foal in 2020, but produced another War Front colt Apr. 23. She was barren to War Front in her most recent visit to him.

The post ‘Rising Star’ Annapolis Wins ‘War’ in Pilgrim appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Why Not?’: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Likely Destination For Champagne Winner Jack Christopher

Rising star Jack Christopher passed the Grade 1 test with flying colors in Saturday's $500,000 Champagne, earning a 93 Beyer with a 2 3/4-length win in the one-turn mile for juveniles.

In victory, the chestnut son of Munnings secured a “Win and You're In” entry to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Jack Christopher gave trainer Chad Brown his third Champagne victory, previously scoring with Practical Joke [2016] and Complexity [2018]. Brown finished second in the 2017 Champagne with subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old Good Magic.

“We were obviously very pleased with the race,” said Brown's Belmont-based assistant Dan Stupp. “He ate up well last night and we're happy with how he looked this morning.”

Jack Christopher, owned by Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter Brant, arrived at the Champagne off a sharp 8 3/4-length triumph going six furlongs on Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course.

Jack Christopher will face a new test going two turns with a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar on the horizon.

“The way he was able to relax and rate and with his running style, why not? He didn't do anything that would stop us from trying. He handled the extra ground very well,” Stupp said.

Earlier on the card, Brown saddled juvenile fillies Kinchen and McKulick to a respective second and third when chasing a leisurely pace in the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo.

Klaravich Stables' McKulick earned black type in her first graded stakes attempt following a 1 /16-mile victory at first asking on Aug. 8 over the Mellon turf at Saratoga over stable mate Consumer Spending, who won the Selima at Laurel Park on Saturday.

Still a maiden, Kinchen arrived off a narrow second at maiden level to Hail To, who finished fifth in the Miss Grillo.

“Obviously, we're disappointed to not get the win,” Stupp said. “The way the race set up and the way the turf was playing they came up short yesterday, but they made good accounts for themselves. They both looked good this morning.”

The post ‘Why Not?’: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Likely Destination For Champagne Winner Jack Christopher appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post