June 4 Insights

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PRICEY & WELL-BRED FIRSTERS LINE UP AT BELMONT

4th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 2:24p.m.

A trio of well-bred colts meet in this loaded maiden event at Big Sandy on Belmont S. eve. Hall of Famer Bill Mott unveils the latest Godolphin blue-blood in Cody's Wish (Tapit). The homebred is a daughter of Grade I winner Dance Card (Tapit), who is also the dam of GSP Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) and SP Bocephus (Medaglia d'Oro). Todd Beatie ships in from Penn National with a $600,000 KEESEP purchase making his debut in The Honorable One (Honor Code). Out of SW It Tiz (Tiznow), the dark bay is a half-sister to Grade I winner It Tiz Well (Arch). Todd Pletcher sends out an expensive colt making his second start in Shadwell Stable's Mahaamel (Into Mischief). The $700,000 KEESEP buy checked in a close second to First Captain (Curlin) in his debut over track and trip Apr. 24. That foe came back to earn 'TDN Rising Star' honors with an impressive allowance win in Elmont May 29.The son of GSW Hot Stones (Bustin Stones) adds blinkers for this second attempt. TJCIS PPs

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Tacitus Nearing Return To Training, Could Be Ready To Race By August

Multiple graded stakes-winner and blue-blooded Juddmonte homebred Tacitus has not been seen since finishing seventh in the $20 million Saudi Cup in February, having reportedly injured himself in his stall ahead of a planned run in the Dubai World Cup in March. According to TVG's Horse Racing Insider, the 5-year-old son of champion sire Tapit and five-time Grade 1 winner Close Hatches is nearing a return to training.

“We brought him back to the farm and…we've been back swimming him and riding him and he'll probably go back to (trainer) Bill (Mott) in the next week,” Juddmonte's general manager Garrett O'Rourke told TVG. “He looks magnificent. He hasn't turned a hair. He's put on a few pounds which, I'm sure, (trainer) Bill (Mott) will take off him quickly. If he could have about eight weeks to get him race fit, that would put him on target to be back at the races hopefully by August.”

A three-time Grade 2 winner, Tacitus has an overall record of 4-4-3 from 16 starts with earnings of $3,747,500. He has placed in Grade 1 company a total of six times, including an elevation to third in the 2019 Kentucky Derby.

Read more at TVG's Horse Racing Insider.

The post Tacitus Nearing Return To Training, Could Be Ready To Race By August appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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June 3 Insights: Following Sea Goes First Out for Pletcher at Belmont

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3rd-BEL, $92K, Alw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 4:09 p.m. ET

Spendthrift Farm made waves when it announced, following the failed drug test of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico), that it would be moving some horses out of trainer Bob Baffert's barn. One of the most intriguing of those horses, 'TDN Rising Star' FOLLOWING SEA (Runhappy), will make his first start for the Todd Pletcher barn in this first-level allowance sprint early on Thursday's card. Unveiled at 9-10 Mar. 6 at Santa Anita, the homebred finished second and was later demoted to third for causing crowding early in the race. Shipped to Oaklawn for his next engagement Apr. 10, the bay dueled through a sizzling opening quarter, shook clear on the turn and never looked back, winning geared down by 5 3/4 lengths with a 97 Beyer. Since being sent to Pletcher, Following Sea shows a pair of sharp local works, including a half-mile bullet in :48 flat (1/78) over the training track May 28. His main competition on paper comes from another 'Rising Star' in Klaravich Stables' returning Reinvestment Risk (Upstart). Debuting with an impressive 7 3/4-length romp against a live-looking Saratoga maiden group last August, the $280,000 OBS March buy was runner-up to Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in both the GI Runhappy Hopeful S. and GI Champagne S. before closing his juvenile campaign with a disappointing 10th-place run in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The Chad Brown trainee also breezed sharply here May 28, going a half-mile on the main track in :48 1/5 (4/86). TJCIS PPs

5th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 5:13 p.m. ET

Courtlandt Farms went to $975,000 to secure AMERICAN PARADE (American Pharoah) at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale and the sophomore filly will make her career debut in this promising maiden heat Thursday at Belmont. The first foal out of her dam, a half-sister to Stage Magic (Ghostzapper), the dam of Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), she displays six Belmont breezes for trainer Shug McGaughey, punctuated by a four-furlong bullet in :47 1/5 (1/7) May 18. Made a narrow favorite on the morning line is another firster, My Racehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Lady Valentine (Into Mischief), who will break from the rail for Todd Pletcher following a sharp Saratoga worktab. Bought for $385,000 at KEESEP, she recorded a pair of :47 3/5 half-mile bullets at the Spa–a best-of-35 move May 7 and a best-of-20 move from the gate 13 days later. Her second dam is a half-sister to the late GISW and influential sire Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker). Also opening her account is Klaravich Stables' Equal Pay (Qualty Road). Herself a $475,000 KEESEP pickup, the Chad Brown pupil breezed a half-mile from the gate over this track in :48 3/5 (6/45) May 16. Of the horses with experience, After the Party (Into Mischief) stands a big chance. Yet another pricey KEESEP buy at $750,000, the Jeremiah Englehart charge was a solid third in her debut after dueling with next-out 'TDN Rising Star' Always Carina (Malibu Moon) debuting in the Aqueduct mud Apr. 11. The runner-up in that spot, Amendment Nineteen (Constitution), also returned towin impressively here Sunday. TJCIS PPs

6th-CD, $100K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 7:25 p.m. ET

Blue-blooded Juddmonte homebred MAXIMUS AURELIUS (Tapit) will make his career bow in this elongated sprint on Thursday's twilight card at Churchill. The Bill Mott trainee is the second foal to race out of the brilliant MGISW Close Hatches (First Defence), following his multimillionaire full-brother Tacitus, and he got acquainted with this surface in a trio of local works, the swiftest of which was a half-mile spin in :48 2/5 (9/57) May 16. TJCIS PPs@JBiancaTDN

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Outadore Installed As Morning LIne Favorite For Friday’s Penn Mile

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course announced Monday that a field of seven horses has been entered for the eighth running of the $300,000 Penn Mile (G2) for 3-year-olds going one mile on the turf to be run on Friday, May 28.

Post time for the 11-race card is 6 P.M. EST with the Penn Mile set as the fourth race scheduled for approximately 7:45 P.M. as the final leg of an “All Stakes – All Turf Pick 4.” The Pick 4 will kick off with two $100,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-breds followed by the $100,000 Penn Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going one mile on the turf.

Also featured on the evening card is a mandatory payout of the Hollywood High 5 carryover in race 7 which currently stands at over $216,000 as of Friday, May 21

Breeze Easy, LLC's Outadore, trained by Wesley Ward, was installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite for the Penn Mile. A winner in his last race in the Animal Kingdom Stakes at Turfway Park on the synthetic surface, Outadore will switch back to the turf for Friday's featured race. Twice a winner on the turf as a two-year-old, Outadore also finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Keeneland last fall. Irad Ortiz, Jr., Eclipse Award winner as the top rider in North America for three consecutive years and winner of the 2017 Penn Mile aboard Frostmourne, is scheduled to ride.

Hall of Famer conditioner Bill Mott will saddle 9-5 morning line second choice Annex for owners LNJ Foxwoods and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. A winner of his first three lifetime starts including the Cutlers Bay and Palm Beach stakes at Gulfstream Park earlier this year, Annex finished eighth, beaten only five and half lengths, as the favorite in the Grade 2 American Turf run at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby day race card. Jockey Junior Alvarado has the mount.

The Mike Maker trained Chess's Dream, owned by Michael Dubb, Steven Bouchey, Bethlehem Stables LLC and Chester A. Bishop, also last raced in the American Turf checking in seventh. Chess's Dream was victorious in the Kitten's Joy (G3) at Gulfstream Park in January and will be ridden by jockey Kendrick Carmouche on Friday.

Hall of Famer and recent Kentucky Derby winning jockey John Velazquez will be aboard Eric Fein's Original. Trained by John Terranova II, Original placed third in his last two starts – the Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct and the aforementioned Kitten's Joy won by Chess's Dream.

Rounding out the field is Godolphin, LLC's Gershwin, trained by Michael Stidham and ridden by Joe Bravo, J Park Racing, LLC and Delia Nash's Sibelius, trained by Jeremiah O'Dwyer and ridden by Sheldon Russell, and Kernan E Morris, Jr. and Jagger Inc.'s The King Cheek, trained by Jamie Ness and ridden by Jaime Rodriguez.

After only seven previous editions the Grade 2 Penn Mile has quickly become one of the top turf events of the year for the 3-year-old division earning Grade 3 status after just three runnings and moving up to Grade 2 status after just four renewals. In its short history, prior Penn Mile winners include Breeders' Cup champion Bobby's Kitten as well as Grade 1 winners Catch a Glimpse and Force the Pass in its short history.

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