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Luis Saez Rides Essential Quality, Mystic Guide To Jockey Of The Week Title

Luis Saez usually rides at Gulfstream Park, but he traveled to Oaklawn Park last week as the track reopened after adverse weather conditions led to a two-week shutdown. Saez won both of the rescheduled graded stakes races, earning the Jockey of the Week award for the week of Feb. 22 through Feb. 28. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

Riding Mystic Guide for the first time for trainer Michael Stidham in the Gr. 3 Razorback Handicap, Saez was unhurried early in the field of seven for the first half mile. Saez moved Mystic Guide closer to the front down the backstretch and was a head in front at the top of the stretch drawing clear to win by six lengths in 1:45.48 for 1 1/16 miles over a track rated as sloppy.

“Everything was perfect, that was the trip we wanted,” said Saez. “We had the perfect spot from the outside. I just tried to keep the horse clean and he was comfortable all the way. He got to the top of the stretch and took off. It was a great race.”

Eclipse-award winning trainer Brad Cox engaged regular rider Luis Saez, on 4-5 favorite Essential Quality in the Gr. 3 Southwest Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. Breaking from the rail, Saez settled the reigning Champion 2-year-old behind Jackie's Warrior who set the pace for the first half mile in the field of seven. Saez patiently moved Essential Quality to the outside and made his move turning for home and drew well clear to win by 4-1/2 lengths in 1:44.33 over the sloppy track.

“I'm so excited,” Saez said. “I'm very happy to riding this horse. We were waiting a long time. What a talented horse. We knew the speed was to our outside. The plan was to follow him (Jackie's Warrior) the whole way. Everything came together. He finished very strong and I still had a lot of horse.”

Saez currently sits in second place in the jockey standings at Gulfstream Park. His weekly stats included seven wins from 22 starts for a win percentage of 31.82 percent and an in-the-money percentage of 59 percent with total purses earned $954,917 to lead all jockeys for the week.

Saez out-polled fellow riders Junior Alvarado with two stakes wins, James Graham who tied for second leading rider by wins with eight, Trevor McCarthy with seven wins and Jose Ortiz who won two graded stakes including the Fountain of Youth.

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Essential Quality Tabbed As 7-2 Morning Line Favorite In Fourth Kentucky Derby Future Wager

Godolphin's 2-year-old champion and winner of the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (Grade 3) Essential Quality was made the 7-2 morning line favorite in the field of 24 betting choices for Pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW), which will open on Friday.

Pool 4 of the KDFW runs concurrently with the lone pool of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager (KOFW). In addition to Win and Exacta betting, an Oaks/Derby Future Double is part of the wagering menu. The wagers will open Friday at noon (all times Eastern) and the KDFW will close Sunday at 6 p.m. while the KOFW will close 30 minutes later at 6:30 p.m. Betting on the KDFW and KOFW is available at simulcast centers around the country and ADW's such as www.TwinSpires.com.

Undefeated champion Essential Quality returned Saturday in the Southwest and splashed home to a 4 ¼-length win over Oaklawn's sloppy surface. Trained by Brad Cox, Essential Quality is likely to have one additional prep race prior to the Kentucky Derby. The Tapit colt is a perfect 4-for-4 with prior victories in the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) and $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).

Cox has three horses in Pool 4 of the KDFW. The others are Shortleaf Stable's $150,000 Smarty Jones winner Caddo River and Juddmonte Farms' $400,000 Risen Star (G2) winner Mandaloun.

Among the other horses likely to take wagering interest is WinStar Farm and CHC INC's $100,000 Sham Stakes (G3) winner Life Is Good. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Life Is Good is scheduled to run on Saturday in the $300,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita. In the first three pools of the KDFW, Life Is Good closed as the individual betting favorite at odds of 5-1, 7-1 and 7-1, respectively. He was made the 4-1 second choice on veteran oddsmaker Mike Battaglia's morning line in Pool 4.

Life Is Good is one of five horses in Pool 4 trained by Baffert. The others are Gary and Mary West's undefeated Concert Tour; SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert Masterson's $200,000 San Vicente (G2) runner-up Freedom Fighter and Southwest runner-up Spielberg; and Zedan Racing Stables' $100,000 Robert B. Lewis (G3) winner and likely fellow San Felipe competitor Medina Spirit.

Another horse likely to take interest in Pool 4 of the KDFW is Courtlandt Farms' $300,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) victor Greatest Honour. Conditioned by Derby-winning trainer Shug McGaughey III, Greatest Honour closed from nearly eight lengths off the early speed in the Fountain of Youth for a 1 ½-length score. He is likely to take the same path to the first Saturday in May as McGaughey's 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who ran in the Florida Derby (G1) as his final prep.

There are five new wagering interests from Pool 3: Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' recent 12 ½-length maiden winner Collaborate; Joseph P. Morey Revocable Trust's $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial winner Hush of a Storm; Godolphin's Risen Star runner-up Proxy; John and Diane Fradkin's $100,000 El Camino Real Derby hero Rombauer; and Spielberg, who closed at 47-1 in Pool 2 of the KDFW.

The complete field for Pool 2 of the KDFW (with trainer and morning line odds): #1 Caddo River (Cox, 15-1); #2 Candy Man Rocket (Bill Mott, 30-1); #3 Collaborate (Saffie Joseph Jr., 30-1); #4 Concert Tour (Baffert, 20-1); #5 Dream Shake (Peter Eurton, 30-1); #6 Essential Quality (Cox, 7-2); #7 Freedom Fighter (Baffert, 30-1); #8 Greatest Honour (McGaughey, 6-1); #9 Highly Motivated (Chad Brown, 20-1); #10 Hot Rod Charlie (Doug O'Neill, 30-1); #11 Hush of a Storm (Bill Morey, 50-1); #12 Keepmeinmind (Robertino Diodoro, 30-1); #13 Life Is Good (Baffert, 4-1); #14 Mandaloun (Cox, 15-1); #15 Medina Spirit (Baffert, 30-1); #16 Midnight Bourbon (Steve Asmussen, 30-1); #17 Prevalence (Brendan Walsh, 20-1); #18 Proxy (Mike Stidham, 20-1); #19 Risk Taking (Brown, 30-1); #20 Roman Centurian (Simon Callaghan, 50-1); #21 Rombauer (Michael McCarthy, 50-1); #22 Spielberg (Baffert, 20-1); #23 The Great One (O'Neill, 50-1); and #24 “All Other 3-Year-Olds” (10-1) .

In the Oaks Future Wager, Stonestreet Stables' $300,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2) winner Clariere was tabbed as the 5-1 morning line favorite in the field of 24 betting interests. Trained by Asmussen, Clairiere was able to get by a determined Travel Column in the Rachel Alexandra. The two-time winner has only one defeat on her résumé when Travel Column bested her in the $200,000 Golden Rod (GII) as a 2-year-old.

OXO Equine's Travel Column was made the 6-1 co-second choice on the morning line in the KOFW along with Shadwell Stable's undefeated filly Malathaat. Travel Column, trained by Cox, was the even-money favorite in the Rachel Alexandra for her 3-year-old debut. Malathaat, under the care of trainer Todd Pletcher, won the $150,000 Demoiselle (G2) as a 2-year-old at Aqueduct. She is currently preparing for her seasonal bow in South Florida.

The complete field for the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager (with trainer and morning line odds): #1 Bow Bow Girl (Dale Romans, 50-1); #2 Clairiere (Asmussen, 5-1); #3 Coach (Cox, 30-1); #4 Crazy Beautiful (Kenny McPeek, 20-1); #5 Dayoutoftheoffice (Tim Hamm, 12-1); #6 Kalypso (Baffert, 15-1); #7 Lady Mystify (Eurton, 50-1); #8 Li'l Tootsie (Tom Amoss, 30-1); #9 Malathaat (Pletcher, 6-1); #10 Moraz (Michael McCarthy, 50-1); #11 Obligatory (Bill Mott, 30-1); #12 Pass the Champagne (George Weaver, 50-1); #13 Pauline's Pearl (Asmussen, 30-1); #14 Search Results (Brown, 30-1); #15 Simply Ravishing (Kenny McPeek, 12-1); #16 Souper Sensational (Mark Casse, 50-1); #17 Sun Path (Cox, 30-1); #18 Travel Column (Cox, 6-1); #19 Vequist (Butch Reid Jr., 15-1); #20 Wholebodemeister (Juan Avila, 12-1); #21 Will's Secret (Dallas Stewart, 15-1); #22 Willful Woman (Asmussen, 50-1); #23 Zaajel (Pletcher, 15-1); and #24 All Other 3-Year-Old Fillies (8-1).

The Kentucky Derby and Oaks Future Wagers, which include $2 Win and Exacta wagering, provide fans of Thoroughbred racing with opportunities to place bets on possible entrants in the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1) and $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at odds that could be far greater than those available on the day of the race. The 147th running of Kentucky Derby, America's greatest race and the first leg of the Triple Crown, is set for Saturday, May 1 at Churchill Downs and the 147th edition of the Kentucky Oaks will run one day prior on Friday, April 30. There will also be a special $1 Oaks/Derby Future Double offered concurrently with both pools.

There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager or Kentucky Oaks Future Wager. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of this week's three-day pool that one of the wagering interests has experienced an injury, illness or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately.

More information and real-time odds are available online at www.KentuckyDerby.com/FutureWager.

Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, the lone remaining pool, will span March 26-28.

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Op/Ed: It’s Time to Challenge Monomoy Girl

Don't get me wrong. I respect Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). She's right up there among the best fillies and mares to compete in any of our lifetimes. But there was something routine about her victory in Sunday's GIII Bayakoa S. at Oaklawn Park.

It was the 16th chapter in what has essentially been the same story from the start. In 15 of her 16 races, she has crossed the wire first, always against fillies and mares while winning in a manner better described as professional rather than breathtaking. There were some decent fillies, including Grade II winner Finite (Munnings) in there, but there was never any doubt who would win the Bayakoa. Monomoy Girl is just a lot better than those horses. She's just a lot better than any filly in training.

The Bayakoa was a tuneup for the April 27 Apple Blossom H. Though it's a $1-million, Grade I race, the Apple Blossom will likely be another one-horse race. So far as what will come after that, her new owners haven't said. But where she goes after the Apple Blossom will tell us a lot about their intentions going forward.

Will the kid gloves come off? It's time for that to happen.

Through her 5-year-old year, Monomoy Girl was owned by the partnership of Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, Stuart Grant and Bethlehem Stables, and the group did a masterful job of managing her. They won the two races that matter most for a 3-year-old filly, the GI Kentucky Oaks and the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Due to a variety of setbacks, she missed her entire 4-year-old year and, then, the owners were understandably cautious when bringing her back last year as a 5-year-old. She didn't return until May, ran just four times and completed her year with another win in the Distaff and another Eclipse Award.

A few days after the Breeders' Cup, she was sold for $9.5 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and her new owners, Spendthrift Farm, My Racehorse Stable and Madaket Stable, gave the sport a gift when announcing they would run her this year as a 6-year-old. Presumably, she will be retired at the end of this year after the Breeders' Cup and will settle in at Spendthrift, where she will be among the most valuable broodmares on the planet.

That likely means that there are eight months left before she is done and eight months left to define her career.

The safe route would be to stay in her own division and run in races like the Apple Blossom, the GI La Troienne S., the GI Ogden Phipps S., the GI Personal Ensign S. and the GI Spinster S. before attempting to win the Distaff for a third time.

But what would that prove? She would be heavily favored in each race against overmatched rivals and it's unlikely that anyone would beat her.

Even with an unprecedented third win in the Distaff, should Monomoy Girl stick to running against fillies and mares, she will have retired without an all-important race against males. And that would set her apart from the two greatest fillies of her era. Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) defeated males in the GI Preakness S., the GI Haskell Invitational and in the GI Woodward S. Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) won the richest race on the U.S. calendar, beating males in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

Should Monomoy Girl stay in her division and run the table, she'd earn about $2 million on the racetrack. Considering how much they paid for her, how much she is worth as a broodmare and that Spendthrift has very deep pockets, it's doubtful that $2 million really matters to them one way or the other. And if they were in any hurry to retire her, at age six, they had every reason to do so rather than bringing her back to race this year.

The hope is that Spendthrift bought her and brought her back to the races this year, at least in part, so that they could enjoy what could be a terrific ride from an outstanding mare. Winning the La Troienne at 1-5 for the second straight year is not going to accomplish that. Or do anything for her legacy.

It would have been nice to see Monomoy Girl do what her rival Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) did when she took on males last year in the $20-million Saudi Cup. Or they might have pointed her for the G1 Dubai World Cup. It's too late for that, but not too late to schedule a post-Apple Blossom campaign that includes races against the boys. I'd like to see her run in a bunch of them, maybe the GI Whitney S., the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and then the Classic. But I won't complain if they pick only the Classic. That's the race she belongs in.

Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes is a smart businessman and he has every right to try to make as much money off of Monomoy Girl as possible. But he also comes across as someone who understands the history of the sport and is a sportsman. He gave the other great mare he campaigned, Beholder (Henny Hughes), a chance against males and she came through with a dominant win in the 2015 GI Pacific Classic. Let's hope he does the same with Monomoy Girl. Win or lose, she deserves the chance to show the sport just how great she really is.

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Essential Quality’s ‘Big Performance’ Confirms His Lead In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

The transition from age 2 to 3 proved no issue for Godolphin's homebred champion Essential Quality as the son of Tapit captured his seasonal bow this past weekend in handy fashion. In the wake of the colt's 4 ¼-length victory in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 27, Essential Quality has strengthened his position as the divisional leader, earning 37 first-place votes and 405 points to remain out front in this week's National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll.

In his first since capturing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November, Essential Quality ran his record to four wins in as many starts when he dismissed his six challengers in the Southwest Stakes. The reigning 2-year-old male champion will likely target either the $800,000, Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes April 3 at Keeneland or the $1 million, Grade 1 Arkansas Derby April 10 at Oaklawn for his final Kentucky Derby prep race.

“Big performance off the layoff,” Essential Quality's trainer Brad Cox told the Oaklawn Park notes team. “Hopefully, we can take another jump or two forward, I think, in order to win the Derby. Hopefully, he has it in him. It was a very nice race (in the Southwest).”

The Shug McGaughey-trained Greatest Honour (1 first-place vote, 336 points) moves up to second on the poll in the wake of his victory in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park this past weekend. The Courtland Farms homebred has now reeled off three straight wins including his triumph in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes on Jan. 30.

Life Is Good, winner of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Jan. 2, drops one spot to third with 2 first-place votes and 302 points followed by Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes winner Mandaloun in fourth with 1 first-place vote and 258 points.

Medina Spirit (206 points) holds in fifth followed by Caddo River (174), Concert Tour (121), and Keepmeinmind (91). Grade 3 Withers Stakes winner Risk Taking (74 points) is ninth with Proxy (39) completing the top 10.

Grade 1 winner Charlatan, who finished second in the $20 million Saudi Cup, continues to lead the way in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with 22 first-place votes and 382 points. Moving up in the ranks, however, is two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl, who advanced to second this week with 14 first-place votes and 349 points in the wake of her triumph in the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes.

Knicks Go, winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, is third with 300 points followed by Godolphin's unbeaten Maxfield (4 first-place votes, 289 points) and champion filly Swiss Skydiver (159 points).

It was a strong weekend for the Godolphin team as their colt Mystic Guide won the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap in his seasonal bow and debuted in the top 10 of the Thoroughbred Poll, earning 1 first-place vote and 158 points to land in the sixth position.

Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes winner Colonel Liam (152 points) is seventh followed by champion female sprinter Gamine (92), Jesus' Team (77), and champion turf male Channel Maker (70).

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in the Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll concludes following the Belmont Stakes on June 5 and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through November 6.

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