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‘Always’ in Control: Malibu Moon Filly Romps to Rising Stardom at Belmont

Just two days after her superstar sire died at the age of 24, Three Chimneys Farm's Always Carina (Malibu Moon) followed up a highly-graded debut victory with a facile allowance/optional claiming romp at Belmont despite a troubled start, earning 'TDN Rising Star' honors.

Unveiled at a nickel below even-money over a muddy, sealed track Apr. 11 at Aqueduct, the homebred shook off some intense early pace pressure and splashed clear in the lane to a four-length success, earning a 94 Beyer. Returning with a quartet of local interim breezes, capped by an easy half-mile move in :49 3/5 (31/64) May 15, the dark bay was backed to 2-5 to stretch her speed out to a flat mile. Stumbling significantly, albeit forward, at the start, Always Carina led early while pressed by Jordan's Leo (Malibu Moon) through a :23.34 quarter with Malibu Curl (Curlin) close behind in third.

The latter rival made a quick three-wide bid for the front midway around the turn, but Jose Ortiz still rode the chalk with confidence passing the five-sixteenths pole. She proved that confidence well-founded once straightening for home, quickly skipping clear under her own power. It was only a matter of how far from there, and Always Carina glided past the post 9 3/4 lengths to the good of Stand by You (Munnings).

The winner has a juvenile Palace Malice half-sister and a yearling half-sister by Gun Runner. She is the second foal out of Miss Always Ready, a $400,000 Keeneland April purchase in 2014, following Structor (Palace Malice), GISW, $710,880. Miss Always Ready was bred back to Palace Malice once more last spring. Second dam Miss Seffens was a five-time stakes winner with a career-high 108 Beyer who ran fourth in the 2000 GI Kentucky Oaks.

7th-Belmont, $89,240, Alw (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 5-20, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:36.38, ft, 9 3/4 lengths.
ALWAYS CARINA f, 3, by Malibu Moon
1st Dam: Miss Always Ready, by More Than Ready
2nd Dam: Miss Seffens, by Dehere
3rd Dam: Noise Enough, by Bold Ruckus
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $94,600. Click for the Equibase.com chart, VIDEO, sponsored by TVG or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O/B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown.

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Linda Rice Plans Appeal Of Three-Year License Revocation

Trainer Linda Rice told the Daily Racing Form Thursday that plans to appeal the three-year license revocation and $50,000 fine handed down by the New York State Gaming Commission on Monday for “actions inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interest of racing generally and corrupt and improper acts and practices in relation to racing.”

Rice's license will not officially be suspended until findings and an order have been served, typically within 10 business days of the determination. Meanwhile, Rice ran two horses at Finger Lakes on Wednesday, had three horses entered Thursday at Belmont Park, and has horses entered in three races Friday, five races on Saturday, and three races Sunday at Belmont.

Attorney Andrew Turro will represent Rice in her appeal process.

The NYSGC first launched an investigation into Rice's operation in early 2018, on the claim that she traded money for information from the racing office. That information, such as which horses were likely to enter races before the race had closed, could have given her a competitive advantage.

The investigation uncovered evidence that between 2011 and 2015, Rice received faxes and emails from former entry clerks Jose Morales and Matt Salvato, giving her the names and past performance records of horses prior to draw time. Senior racing office management has said the names of trainers and horses in a given race are not to be released until after a race is drawn (with stakes races being the exception).

An eight-day hearing was conducted at the end of 2020, and the hearing officer submitted a final report to the NYSGC on April 13, 2021. The report concluded that Rice's misconduct – which involved receiving and requesting confidential entry information in overnight races – was intentional, serious and extensive. It also concludes that her actions constituted improper and corrupt conduct in relation to racing in violation of NYCRR 4042.1 and were inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interests of horse racing.

Rice has saddled the winners of 2,107 races from 11,384 starters over a career dating back to 1987, according to Equibase. Her top trainees include millionaires La Verdad and Palace, as well as Grade 1 winners Voodoo Song, City Zip, and Tenski.

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After ‘Messy’ Kentucky Derby Run, Brooklyn Strong Will Try To Make Amends In Belmont Stakes

New York-bred Brooklyn Strong, trained by Danny Velazquez for owner Mark Schwartz, will look to make amends after a difficult 15th-place effort in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby when he returns in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 5.

The Wicked Strong gelding captured the Grade 2 Remsen at the Big A in December ahead of an even fifth in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino in April at Aqueduct.

Last out, Brooklyn Strong endured a troubled trip from post 3 under Umberto Rispoli in the Kentucky Derby.

“We got smashed coming out of the gate. It was a bad post and he had 18 horses in front of him,” said Velazquez. “It was messy but he made up some ground at the top of the stretch. The gallop out was real strong. The jockey said he had horse but there was a lot of kickback. The first five horses that broke on top, that's how the race ended. It was tough to make up ground.”

Last year, Tiz the Law became the first New York-bred horse to win the Belmont Stakes since Forester in 1882. Velazquez said Brooklyn Strong, also bred in the Empire State, will breeze Saturday at Parx in preparation for the 1 1/2-mile “Test of the Champion.”

“He came out of the Derby good and is doing real well. We have him pointed towards the Belmont. I think he'll like the added distance,” said Velazquez. “We have two big works scheduled for him here. He'll work this Saturday and next Saturday.”

Out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Riviera Chic, Brooklyn Strong was bred in the Empire State by Cheryl Prudhomme and Dr. Michael Gallivan.

No jockey assignment has been confirmed for Brooklyn Strong, who has partnered with a different jockey in each of his six career starts.

Velazquez said New York-bred Laobanonaprayer will work Saturday at Parx towards a start in the $125,000 Bouwerie, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies, part of New York Breeders' Showcase Day on Memorial Day featuring six stakes for horses bred in the Empire State.

“That's the target. She'll work Saturday,” said Velazquez. “If she works the way I want her too, then we'll come to New York on the 31st.”

Owned and conditioned by Velazquez, Laobanonaprayer graduated at third asking in the Maid of the Mist in October at Belmont providing Velazquez his first stakes win.

She followed with an eight-length score in the seven-furlong NYSSS Fifth Avenue in December at Aqueduct ahead of a good second in the Franklin Square in January on a muddy Big A main track.

After two off-the-board efforts, including a head-scratching sixth in the NYSSS Park Avenue last out on April 18 at Aqueduct, Velazquez said he expects a return to form from the Laoban bay.

“I'm just drawing a line through it,” said Velazquez. “She worked great last week and I'd like to see her do that again on Saturday and hopefully come back fresh.”

Out of the Raffie's Majesty mare Raffie's Chance, Laobanonaprayer was bred in New York by Christina Deronda.

The post After ‘Messy’ Kentucky Derby Run, Brooklyn Strong Will Try To Make Amends In Belmont Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features Stakes Action From Belmont, Churchill

The New York Racing Association Inc. [NYRA] will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring stakes action from both Belmont Park and Churchill Downs.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Belmont will host the first two legs, starting with the $100,000 Seek Again for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on the Widener turf in Race 9 at 5:12 p.m. Eastern. Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader will headline the field, with the Christophe Clement trainee, who won the 2020 Grade 2 Pennine Ridge and the Grade 2 Hall of Fame, facing talented competition.

Among those contenders will be Get Smokin, who started his 4-year-old campaign with a three-quarter length score in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay going 1 1/16 miles on February 6.

Trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of contenders, with Delaware, who won the Danger's Hour at Aqueduct last month to mark his first North American win in seven starts since arriving from Europe in 2019, and Flavius, who ran second to Count Again in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap in November at Del Mar.

Belmont's 10th race finale at 5:44 p.m. will see a field of filly and mare maiden claimers 3-years-old and up compete at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf. The hard-luck Emma and I, who has ran second by a neck in both of her last two starts, has been knocking on the door for trainer James Ryerson, with three runner-up finishes and two third-place efforts in seven career starts. Emma and I earned a field-best 60 Beyer Speed Figure last out going 1/16 miles on May 1 over the Belmont turf, marking her first start on grass after her three previous outings were on the main track.

Night racing at Churchill will comprise the final three legs, with a 1 1/16-mile main track maiden special weight slated for Race 7 at 9:05 p.m. Closet Shopper, a $600,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, has twice placed in five career starts, with the Gregory Foley trainee running third last out on April 9 going one mile at Keeneland. Foley will also send out Kizzy B, 0-5-2 in 10 career races, but has earned placings in three consecutive starts.

A one-mile allowance optional claiming tilt will be the wager's penultimate contest in Race 8 at 9:39 p.m. Finnick the Fierce, who was on the early 2020 Triple Crown trail with a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and later a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Blue Grass in July. Finnick the Fierce ran seventh in a turf optional claimer last out on April 30 at Churchill but will be returning to the main track on Saturday.

The Cross Country Pick 5 finale will showcase the $110,000 Keertana for older fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles on the turf set for Race 9 at 10:11 p.m. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will send out Delta's Kingdom, who has twice finished as the runner-up in graded stakes competition in the Grade 3 Bewitch last out in April at Keeneland and the Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January at Gulfstream Park sandwiched around a fourth-place effort in the Grade 3 Orchid in March in Florida. The field also includes Silverton Hill's homebred Pass the Plate, who finished a neck behind Delta's Kingdom in the Bewitch at Keeneland when stretching out to 1 ½ miles for the first time.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, May 22:
Leg A: Belmont– Race 9, Seek Again (5:12 p.m.)
Leg B: Belmont – Race 10 (5:44 p.m.)
Leg C: Churchill – Race 7 (9:05 p.m.)
Leg D: Churchill – Race 8 (9:39 p.m.)
Leg E: Churchill – Race 9, Keertana (10:11 p.m.)

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