blair golen | Horse Racing Free Tips

R.A. Hill Stable's Majestic Dunhill, under a confident ride from Joel Rosario, made the grade with a smart head score over multiple graded-stakes placed Share the Ride in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Bold Ruler, a seven-furlong test for 3-year-olds and up at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by George Weaver, the 5-year-old Majesticperfection gelding started a step slow but tucked into second position as Share the Ride, third last out in the Grade 2 Vosburgh Invitational, marked off splits of 23.37 and 47.13 seconds on the muddy main track.

Share the Ride, with Manny Franco up, maintained the lead through the turn as Arch Cat threatened to the outside with Rosario opting for an inside run with Majestic Dunhill. A game Share the Ride stayed on strong down the lane, but the patient Rosario angled Majestic Dunhill off the rail late in the lane and surged outside his rival to secure the narrow score in a final time of 1:22.48.

Share the Ride completed the exacta four lengths in front of Arch Cat, with Mihos completing a compact running order. Wendell Fong and Phat Man were scratched.

Rosario said he was pleased with the effort from the hard-trying Majestic Dunhill, the regular workout partner for Breeders' Cup-bound Vekoma.

“He ran really well,” said Rosario. “I thought the Franco horse would have a little bit of speed. Going seven furlongs, I thought I would be laying second behind him and see where we go from there. He broke a little bit slow but he got going right away and I was able to find my spot where I wanted to be.

“When it was time to go, I asked him and he really moved nice and went on.”

Blair Golen, Weaver's Belmont-based assistant, praised Majestic Dunhill's versatility.

“This horse has been good for us from when he was 2 to now. He's won races on the turf and dirt and always runs his best race even when we put him in a tough spot,” said Golen. “We got fortunate here today and he really deserved a graded stakes win.

“Joel is a great rider,” added Golen. “He has great hands and he's very smart. He knows when to let a horse run and he's good at feeling in the bridle where the horse is at and in a race like this closing and pace are important, he fits this horse well.”

Majestic Dunhill, bred in Kentucky by Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm, banked $55,000 in victory while improving his record to 21-5-4-4. He paid $5.90 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Belmont with a nice-race card to close out the fall meet featuring the $80,000 Pumpkin Pie, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up; and the $80,000 Chelsey Flower, a 1 1/16-mile turf route for juvenile fillies.

Closing Day will also be highlighted by a mandatory payout of the Empire 6, which boasts a jackpot of $419,254 heading into Sunday's racing action. The Empire 6 sequence kicks off in Race 4 with an approximate post time of 1:45 p.m. The card will also feature mandatory payouts for both the Early Pick 5 and Late Pick 5 wagers. First post is 12:15 p.m.

Live racing will then move to Aqueduct Racetrack for the 18-day fall meet, featuring 29 stakes, including 11 graded events, worth $3.41 million in purse money, which will kick off on Friday, November 6 and run through Sunday, December 6.

The post Majestic Dunhill Takes Bold Ruler On Penultimate Day Of Belmont Fall Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Owner Randy Hill was still on cloud nine Sunday morning, the day after Vekoma went gate-to-wire in the Grade 1, $500,000 Runhappy Met Mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

“What a horse,” an emphatic Hill said. “I'll never own another horse like this. I've watched the race about 20 times and it just gives me goosebumps. I really wish I could have been there, but I'd rather win than be there and lose them.”

Owned by Hill in partnership with Gatsas Stables, Vekoma's win earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure. Vekoma controlled the pace before being confronted around the far turn. He shook off his competition when asked by Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano and drew off to a 1 1/4-length score, keeping his record as a 4-year-old unblemished in three starts for trainer George Weaver.

Prior to the Runhappy Met Mile, Vekoma won the Sir Shackleton at Gulfstream Park in his 2020 debut before an impressive 7 1/4-length win in the Grade 1 Runhappy Carter on June 6 at Belmont Park, netting a 110 Beyer.

The Grade 1, $300,000 Forego presented by America's Best Racing on August 29 at Saratoga Race Course could be the next start for Vekoma, Hill said.

Hill also mentioned the possibility of Vekoma training up to the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course.

Vekoma has earned an automatic entry into both the Breeders' Cup Sprint and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile when taking the Runhappy Carter and Runhappy Met Mile, which are both Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” events.

“I think he's the best older horse in the country,” Hill said. “George is thinking about the Forego or training right up to the Breeders' Cup and we leave all of that up to him. The horse will tell us. He's such a warrior.”

Blair Golen, who oversees Weaver's Belmont string, reported that the Runhappy Met Mile hero emerged from Saturday's triumph in good shape.

“He came out of it in good order,” Golen said. “What impressed me last time and this time was that he wasn't that tired. When he ran here at seven furlongs, he recovered fast and was really on the muscle, and it was the same again this time too.”

Bred in Kentucky by Alpha Delta Stables, Vekoma is by multiple-champion producing stallion Candy Ride out of the Speightstown broodmare Mona de Momma who, like Vekoma, also was a Grade 1-winner going seven furlongs.

The post ‘It Just Gives Me Goosebumps’: Co-Owner Of Vekoma Recounts Big Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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