belmont park | Horse Racing Free Tips

Truth Hurts Has Options For Next Start After Perfect Sting Win

Truth Hurts, trained and co-owned by Chad Summers with J Stables, flourished in the slop, posting a 5 3/4-length score in Saturday's off-the-turf $100,000 Perfect Sting at one-mile for older fillies and mares at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Entered for the main track only, Truth Hurts drew in and tracked the early speed of Piedi Bianchi under a sharp steer by Luis Saez. Truth Hurts was asked for her best into the turn and responded with a smart turn-of-foot to secure the win, garnering a 76 Beyer.

Summers said the addition of blinkers has honed the Ontario-bred daughter of Tonalist's natural pace.

“I think adding blinkers put a little more speed into her. She's been really good in the morning time since we put blinkers on her,” said Summers. “She's been more aggressive than she has been in the past.

“She's happy with herself this morning,” Summers added. “She cooled out really quickly and is real happy this morning, bouncing around the shed row.”

Summers said he will consider many options for Truth Hurts, including the $200,000 Grade 2 Honorable Miss, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on July 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; or possibly the seven-furlong Grade 3 Seaway on the Tapeta at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario on August 21.

“I don't want to go a mile and an eighth with her anymore. I think a mile is as far as she wants to go,” Summers said. “With that in mind, it's just a matter of seeing what's out there. We could look at a race like the Honorable Miss cutting back to three quarters. We'll take a look around and evaluate the filly sprint division and if she comes back and needs more time, we can wait. There's plenty of options out there.”

Summers said he will have 15 stalls at Saratoga for the upcoming 40-day summer meet that kicks off on July 15.

“We have a lot of exciting babies and we want to take our time with them and do right by them and get them in the right spots,” said Summers. “Saratoga has my favorite races over there, the maiden auction races for horses bought for $45,000 or less. So, we'll take a look at the condition book and see what shakes free.”

NYRA Maiden Allowance Auction Series races are restricted to horses that sold or RNA'd for $45,000 or less at their most recent auction.

The Maiden Allowance Auction Series races offer purses of $80,000 and will also include up to $13,920 in New York Breeding Fund open company owners awards for New York-breds finishing first through third.

Summers said he is looking forward to the debut of Cee Are Em, a $25,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The bay daughter of Orb is out of the Known Fact mare Database, who produced the multiple graded stakes winning turfer Data Link.

“She's going to run in the auction race on the grass in book two,” said Summers. “She works well on the dirt, but with her pedigree being a half to Data Link, we'll want to take a shot on the grass first time out.”

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Max Player Earns Career-Best Speed Figure In Suburban Win

George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player put his best foot forward on Saturday when outdueling Group 1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide in the stretch to capture the $400,000 Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., garnering a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

The 4-year-old son of third-crop sire Honor Code tracked Moretti's moderate pace and remained in the clear as Mystic Guide made an inside rally around the far turn. Despite Mystic Guide's persistence, Max Player came out on top, besting the odds-on favorite by a neck under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr.

In capturing the ten-furlong “Win And You're In” qualifier, Max Player earned an automatic entry into the $6 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 6 at Del Mar in Del Mar, Calif.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Max Player was winless in his prior half-dozen starts heading into the Suburban with his previous victory taking place in the Grade 3 Withers last February at Aqueduct. He was subsequently third in last year's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers, both of which were won by Tiz the Law.

“He came out of it in good shape, ate up, got a nice little roll in the grass. He's very happy,” said Asmussen's Belmont-based assistant Toby Sheets.

Max Player arrived at the Suburban off a distant sixth in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 14, and shipped straight to Belmont Park, recording five breezes over the training track.

“He gradually improved; he loves it here,” Sheets said. “He got to do some things that helped him. I'm very happy with him. The way he ran shows how he improved.”

The triumph gave Asmussen a second victory in the Suburban after sending out New York-bred Haynesfield to victory in the 2010 edition.

Bred in Kentucky by K & G Stables, Max Player is out of the stakes-winning Not For Love mare Fools in Love, who also produced Seahenge, a Group 2 winner in England.

The post Max Player Earns Career-Best Speed Figure In Suburban Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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First Captain Takes Next Step in Dwyer

Two-for-two 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) takes the next logical step in Monday's GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont Park. The $1.5-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga co-topper defeated subsequent winner and 'Rising Star' recipient Mahaamel (Into Mischief) in their respective debuts going a furlong shorter here Apr. 24, then doubled up in a track-and-trip allowance in the slop May 29, good for a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.

First Captain is owned by a powerful conglomerate led by West Point Thoroughbreds and conditioned by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey.

“We're super excited and it's a wonderful and really powerful partnership assembled,” West Point's Terry Finley said. “We've got Siena Farm, who we owned part of the [2017 GI] Kentucky Derby winner [Always Dreaming] with, Woodford who are a part of the Lanes' End partnership and, of course, [First Captain's breeder] Bobby Flay. He breeds really good horses and is just one of the many class horses he bred. I remember when his mother ran and Bobby owned her, too. Everyone is excited. This is what you go to these yearling sales for.”

The First Captain team is hopeful their charge can stake his claim on a wide-open 3-year-old division during this second half of the season.

“We know that there are moving parts in every division,” Finley said. “You have horses that come back from the Triple Crown in races like the Haskell and Jim Dandy. We'd like to think that he would be able to throw his hat in the ring. The beautiful part of our industry is that it doesn't matter what we think or what we say, what matters is what the horse does on the track. Opinions don't matter, it's all about getting to the wire first.”

Juddmonte homebred Snow House (Twirling Candy) appears to be First Captain's main challenger. After finishing fourth on debut over the Fair Grounds turf in March, he has reeled off back-to-back wins of his own for Brad Cox, at Keeneland Apr. 21 and in a Churchill optional claimer May 29. Godolphin's Gershwin (Distorted Humor–Music Note) scratched out of Delaware's GIII Kent S. Saturday for this. He was last seen taking the rained-off GIII Penn Mile in the slop May 28.

The post First Captain Takes Next Step in Dwyer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Pick 6 Carryover For Sunday Card At Belmont Park

Sunday's Pick 6 will be bolstered by a $130,681 carryover as the multi-race wager went unsolved on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The $1 Pick 6, implemented at the current 48-day Belmont spring/summer meet, returned $21,780 to bettors who selected 5-of-6 winners correctly.

Saturday's Pick 6 sequence kicked off in Race 5 when longshot True Palace [No. 6, $37.60] lit up the tote board for a $30,000 tag for owner-trainer Darmindra Dharamjit.

Luis Saez picked up his second win on the card with Bodecream [No. 10, $14.40] for trainer Mike Maker and Repole Stable in a one-mile allowance optional claiming tilt originally scheduled for the turf in Race 6.

Alcools [No. 4, $11.40] prevailed by 3 ½ lengths for trainer Peter Miller with jockey Flavien Prat aboard. The son of Gemologist raced for a $20,000 claiming tag going 6 ½ furlongs over the main track in Race 7.

Race 8 saw Woodslane Farm's Wolfie's Dynaghost [No. 3, $10.80] lead gate-to-wire in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming event moved off the turf for trainer Tom Albertrani. The son of Ghostzapper and half-brother to multiple graded stakes-winner Sadler's Joy prevailed by two lengths.

Truth Hurts [No. 5, $18.00] won an off-the-turf edition of the $100,000 Perfect Sting Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old and upward. The Tonalist filly earned her first stakes triumph and third overall victory for trainer and co-owner Chad Summers. The victory gave Saez his third win of the program.

Closing out the sequence in Race 10, Max Player [No. 5, $25.60] fought gamely down the lane with Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide to capture the $400,000 Grade 2 Suburban for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen with Ricardo Santana, Jr. aboard.

Featuring a $1 bet minimum and 15 percent takeout, the Pick 6 wager requires bettors to select the first-place finisher of six designated races on the card. A total of 75 percent of the full pool, minus takeout, will be distributed to bettors who select the first-place finisher of all six races. A consolation payout of 25 percent of the net pool will be distributed to tickets selecting 5-of-6 winners.

In the event there are no tickets with six winners, there will be a carryover of 75 percent of the net pool into the next day of the meet with the remaining 25 percent of the net pool distributed as a consolation payout to tickets selecting the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races on the card. On carryover days, the Pick 6 is offered with a 24 percent takeout.

The $1 Pick 6 replaced the Empire 6, a jackpot style wager featuring a $0.20 bet minimum first offered in August 2019 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Spring, N.Y.

Sunday's Pick 6 kicks off in Race 5 at 3:02 p.m. Eastern and includes the $100,000 Manila for 3-year-olds over the Widener turf course in Race 9 as well as the $250,000 Grade 2 John A. Nerud Stakes for 4-year-olds and upward going seven furlongs over the main track in the tenth-race finale. First post on Sunday's card is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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