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Next up for Preakness (G1) third-place finisher Mage is some time off. The colt, owned by OGMA Investments LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing LLC, and CMNWLTH, will soon head to The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky.

“He was there from May of last year to October,” Restrepo said after checking on Mage at the Pimlico Stakes Barn Sunday morning. “We will get him turned out and do some training. Everything is great. The colt is fantastic, bright-eyed, and his head is up. We could not be any happier with him after trying as hard as did in the Preakness. The kid is an iron horse.”

Restrepo was not sure when Mage would ship to Lexington. That decision will come after he huddles with trainer Gustavo Delgado and his son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado Jr.

The next goal for Mage, who won the Kentucky Derby (G1) in his fourth career start, will be the Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 26.

“We will give him a little vacation and he will power up and we will figure out the best way to get to the Travers,” Restrepo said. “He has not missed a day and has been on the engine since January.”

Mage, who was ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, was victim of a slow pace in the Preakness, which was crafted by another Hall of Famer, John Velazquez, aboard winner National Treasure.

The third-place finish ended Mage's bid to become the sport's 14th Triple Crown winner.

“I am old enough to remember Unbridled,” Restrepo said. “And I am old enough to remember Ferdinand and Alysheba and Street Sense. They were all amazing Derby winners who ran nice races in the Preakness but didn't win. They went on to have great careers after that. Are you kidding me? We won the Derby, and we were third in the Preakness. If you would have told me that was possible a year ago, I would have given you my right hand.”

Wait And See For Preakness Runner-up Blazing Sevens

The first Preakness for John and Carla Capek brought plenty of excitement, but not the outcome they were hoping for.

The Capeks' Rodeo Creek Racing LLC's Blazing Sevens finished a head behind National Treasure in the  second leg of the Triple Crown.

“We thought he ran exceptionally well,” John Capek said “It's tough to be a little bit short on the winning side of things, but we are pleased with his progress.”

Trainer Chad Brown was attempting to win his third Preakness in the last seven years. He skipped the Kentucky Derby with Blazing Sevens, even though he had enough qualifying points for the race. He had used the same formula with Preakness winners Cloud Computing in 2017 and Early Voting last year.

“It was better for us to come to the Preakness and have a shot of winning than be in the middle of the pack in the Derby,” John Capek said “The horse is making progress. Every race this year has been a better race than the previous one.”

Blazing Sevens shipped back to New York early Sunday morning. Brown has not said what the colt's next race will be.

“We will talk to Chad and see what is best for the horse for his next race,” John Capek said.

Asmussen Likes Mile And A Half For Red Route One

Trainer Steve Asmussen saw enough in Red Route One's Preakness (G1) fourth-place finish that after the race he said the Belmont Stakes (G1) is the obvious target. Jockey Joel Rosario was forced to have Red Route One closer to the lead than is his want, given how John Velazquez was able to back down the pace to a crawl up the backstretch.

“This race fell apart for a lot of reasons that nobody will be able to put their finger on,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “I don't expect that to be the way things are going forward. We just regroup and get better at it.

“You're not guaranteed to get pace in the Belmont. You win races because of pace, and you benefit from it periodically. And then other times you don't. This would have been the latter for him,” he added. “He is nearing $700,000 in earnings. He's kept very good company his whole career and was probably beaten [4 ¾] lengths in the Preakness in a race I don't think set up ideally for him. Does he beat them under different circumstances? Who knows? But I do like the opportunity to run him a mile and a half.”

Actually, Red Route One has earned $732,525 off of a 2-2-1 record in 10 starts. He earned a free roll in the Preakness by virtue of winning Oaklawn Park's Bath House Row Stakes.

The post ‘We Will Give Him A Little Vacation’: Mage To Be Aimed For Travers appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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 As the dust settles on Saturday evening following the 149^th Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs, horseplayers will have a value-added opportunity to look forward to later that evening with a mandatory payout of Charles Town's jackpot Pick 6 carryover.  

The Charles Town 6-12 jackpot carryover currently stands at $110,595 with one card remaining prior to its distribution.  The Charles Town 6-12 is a jackpot style Pick 6 covering the final six races on each Charles Town card and carries a low 12-percent takeout.  

Because of the low takeout and size of the carryover, the mandatory payouts of the Charles Town 6-12 have typically resulted in a players' advantage of upwards of 13% paid out on top of the gross pool on the night of the distribution.  

The first race on Charles Town's Saturday night program is scheduled for its standard 7:00 P.M ET post time. 

The post Charles Town: Saturday Night’s Pick 6 Jackpot Has Mandatory Payout appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox set a single-season Oaklawn record for stakes victories by a trainer when heavily favored Merlazza captured Saturday's inaugural $150,000 Valley of the Vapors for 3-year-old fillies going one mile at the Hot Springs, Ark. track.

The Valley of the Vapors represented the ninth stakes victory at the meeting for Cox, 43, who was honored with an Eclipse Award in 2020 and 2021 as the country's outstanding trainer.

Cox has 21 victories at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting, with 43 percent coming in stakes company. Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen won eight stakes races at the 2019 and 2021 Oaklawn meetings.

In addition to the Valley of the Vapors, Cox won the $250,000 Smarty Jones Jan. 1 with Victory Formation, $200,000 Martha Washington Jan. 28 with Wet Paint, $250,000 Bayakoa (G3) Feb. 4 with A Mo Reay, $300,000 Honeybee (G3) Feb. 25 with Wet Paint, $150,000 Purple Martin March 25 with Key of Life, $200,000 Hot Springs April 1 with Eyeing Clover, $600,000 Fantasy (G3) April 1 with Wet Paint and the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 1 with Angel of Empire.

“Very good meeting,” Jorgito Abrego, who oversees Cox's Oaklawn division, said Sunday morning. “Obviously, thanks to the owners to give the opportunity to Brad. Brad's always picking the right spots for the horses. It's amazing. You look at nine stakes as part of our 21 wins – 40 percent stakes is very good. Win the Arkansas Derby, the Fantasy, those type of races, makes you keep going.”

Merlazza was making her stakes debut after winning two consecutive starts at Fair Grounds. She finished second, beaten a head, in her Jan. 21 career debut at the New Orleans track. Ridden Saturday by Joel Rosario, Merlazza ($3.20) overcame an imperfect pace setup to edge long shot Pink Ace by a length. The final time over a fast track was 1:40.75.

“After the slow fractions, I was kind of scared,” Abrego said. “They went a (half-mile) in :50 and I was thinking, 'This filly may not get there.' But good horses always find the right spot for a win. With a good horse, you don't really find an excuse. That filly ran really, really good and came back good. Now, we'll have to look for a graded stake.”

Merlazza, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro who races for breeder/owner Don Alberto Stable, has a 3-1-0 record from four lifetime starts and earnings of $191,650.

Cox narrowly missed a 10th stakes victory at the meeting, finishing second and third with Tapit Shoes and Victory Formation, respectively, in Saturday's inaugural $200,000 Bath House Row for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles. Tapit Shoes, who was making his stakes debut, was beaten a head by Red Route One, with Victory Formation a half-length farther back.

Cox has 286 career victories at Oaklawn, the first coming in 2009. All 37 Oaklawn stakes victories, including seven in 2021 (his previous single-season high), have come since 2015, coinciding with his rise to national prominence. Cox is personally based at Fair Grounds in the winter, with Abrego running his Oaklawn operation.

The post Cox Sets Oaklawn Single-Season Record For Stakes Wins appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Lucky Seven Stable's Rattle N Roll swept to the front passing the three-sixteenths pole and held off a late bid from Call Me Fast to claim his second graded stakes victory at Keeneland Saturday in the $300,000 Ben Ali (G3) for 4-year-olds and older.

Trained by Kenny McPeek and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., Rattle N Roll scored by 1 1/4 lengths and covered the 1 3/16 miles over a fast track in 1:56.48. The victory is the third in the race for McPeek, who won in 2014 with Frac Daddy and in 2018 with Rated R Superstar, and the second for Hernandez, who was aboard Eagle for the victory in 2016. It was the third victory of the afternoon for Hernandez.

Pioneer of Medina led the field of seven through uncontested fractions of :23.34, :47.62, and 1:12.18 with Trademark stalking in second while Rattle N Roll raced in midpack.

Pioneer of Medina and Trademark reached the top of the stretch together with Rattle N Roll closing in from the outside with a clear run. Rattle N Roll blew the past leaders passing the three-sixteenths pole and opened a clear advantage with enough cushion left to hold off Call Me Fast.

Winner of the 2021 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) and a Keeneland sales graduate, Rattle N Roll is a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Connect out of the Johannesburg mare Jazz Tune. The victory was worth $181,350 and increased his earnings to $1,215,861 with a record of 6-1-2 from 16 career starts.

Rattle N Roll returned $7.98 for the win. Call Me Fast, ridden by Julien Leparoux, finished a half-length in front of third-place finisher Pioneer of Medina under Tyler Gaffalione.

It was another three lengths back to Happy American, who was followed in order by favored Skippylongstocking, Trademark and Tawny Port.

Ben Ali Quotes

Kenny McPeek (winning trainer of Rattle N Roll):

On Rattle N Roll's performance between winning Keeneland's Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at 2 and running fourth in the March 25 New Orleans Classic (G2) at Fair Grounds to start his 4-year-old season:

“He just needed that run down there at Fair Grounds. He'd been off a while and was a little bit rusty. He didn't quite get into his run as early. But we've kind of been plotting for this race. We thought it would be a really good spot for him.

“There's a couple of people (who are) the reason we're standing here: Greg Geier, my assistant at Churchill (Downs) – this is like 'his boy' – and Peter Soria, the groom who has handled this horse from the beginning. It's teammates like that that help us get here. Unfortunately, they don't get the glory of it all, but Greg Geier and Peter Soria are fabulous horsemen and contribute to this horse's daily routine more than I do.

“Peter told me in the Paddock when we were saddling, he said, 'Kenny, he'll win today,' and I said, 'I like to hear that, Peter,' because Peter knows. He knows what time he's done eating – we keep an eye on a lot of those details – and then Greg keeps the routine solid at Churchill. He has a basic routine. It's not complicated, but his team is rock-solid. They're like a Swiss watch over there, and it makes my job easy.”

Brian Hernandez Jr. (winning rider):

On navigating through traffic on a horse who comes from well off the pace:

“That's the good thing about this horse. Being fortunate enough to ride him as many times as I have, we've learned his tendencies. He's the type of horse that he doesn't get in a hurry early, but when he gets in his rhythm you just stay out of his way. He has a known tendency to make an early move, but that's just him, and if you try to slow him down when he starts to make his move, you just kind of compromise him. So I've learned to stay out of his way and let him run his race and leave it up to him. That's the good thing about riding good horses as well: He was there traveling for me the whole way, so when a little spot would open he was there, and he would turn off and turn on and navigate through traffic like we needed him to.”

Julien Leparoux (rider of runner-up Call Me Fast): “We had a good race. He improved the way he ran. No excuse, just a good race for my horse.”

Tyler Gaffalione (rider of third-place finisher Pioneer of Medina): “Everything went to plan. From the inside post, we wanted to be aggressive. He broke alertly and put me in a good spot. He traveled well within hand throughout. Coming in the stretch, he kicked on but was no match for the winner today. The plan really wasn't to be in front, but we wanted to break alertly. He has a tendency to kind of get left in the gate, so we wanted to help him out of there. He's a big, long-striding horse, so I didn't want to take anything away.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. (rider of fifth-place finisher and beaten favorite Skippylongstocking): “Perfect trip. The horse felt good, did everything good. The horse that won is a good horse. I think (Skippylongstocking is) better than he showed today. The pace was fast for the distance.”

The post Rattle N Roll Storms To Ben Ali Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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