breeders' cup juvenile fillies | Horse Racing Free Tips

Keeneland Opens With a Trio of Breeders’ Cup Qualifiers

Keeneland opens its highly anticipated fall meet Friday with a trio of graded stakes that each provide the winners with a spot in the gate for the Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held in Lexington the first weekend of November.

The highlight of the day will be the GI Darley Alcibiades S., a qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Ken McPeek and Brad Cox have taken turns the last few years, each winning two of the last four, and McPeek has the morning-line favorite in last-out GIII Pocahontas S. winner Fun and Feisty (Midshipman).

McPeek also saddles longshot Stellar Lady (Shackleford), who broke her maiden on grass last out at Kentucky Downs Sept. 8. The aforementioned Cox also saddles a grass filly in unbeaten Chop Chop (City of Light), who enters off a win in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies S. Sept. 3.

DJ Stable's Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) will likely challenge Fun and Feisty for favoritism. Opening her account with a pair of wins including a dominant score in Churchill's Debutante S. in July, the dark bay checked in second in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S. Sept. 4.

Chad Brown sends out one worth a look at a price in Alpha Delta Stables homebred Raging Sea (Curlin). She rallied to victory in her debut going seven panels at Saratoga Aug. 7. Both her running style and her pedigree suggest she will only improve with more distance.

Juvenile grass fillies get their chance to secure a spot in the Breeders' Cup starting gate one race earlier in the GII J.P. Morgan Chase Jessamine S. Chop Chop would have been favored in this event, but now that will likely go to Towhead (Malibu Moon), who came up a nose short of that foe in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies S.

Jonathan Thomas saddles a live on in Augustin Stable's Delight (Mendelssohn). The $400,000 OBSMAR buy earned her diploma at Delaware last out Aug. 27 after a pair of thirds in her first two tries.

G. Watts Humphrey's Bling (American Pharoah) took a huge step forward when switched from dirt to turf in her second start at Ellis Aug. 20, earning her diploma by 3 3/4 lengths.

Also worth a look at what is sure to be a juicy price for bettors is NY-bred Recognize (Bolt d'Oro). Her freshman sire now has two graded winners on turf and her Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott is known for his patience and ability to get horses to peak at the right time. The bay graduated by 5 1/4 lengths at third asking against fellow Empire-breds at Saratoga in Aug. 18 and checked in third after setting the pace in that venue's P.G. Johnson S. Sept. 1.

Rounding out Friday's Breeders' Cup qualifiers is the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. for male sprinters. With champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Cody's Wish (Curlin), who defeated the divisional leader in the GI Forego S., waiting for the first weekend in November, this event lacks star power. However, the horse who may be improving at just the right time is Sibelius (Not This Time), who enters off a pair of strong victories and triple-digit Beyers, including the Lite the Fuse S. at Pimlico Sept. 10, for which he warned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

Special Reserve (Midshipman) captured this event last year, but could only manage fourth in the Breeders' Cup. Off the board in his seasonal debut in the DeFrancis Memorial Dash July 16, he wired the Senator Robert C. Byrd Memorial S. in the slop at Mountaineer last out Aug. 6.

The post Keeneland Opens With a Trio of Breeders’ Cup Qualifiers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Echo Zulu Obliterates Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Field

When a heavy favorite enters any athletic contest, the best strategy can sometimes be to never let the underdog get into the game. Echo Zulu employed that exact game plan to perfection in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Friday at Del Mar, and all but guaranteed herself an Eclipse Award at the end of the year.

The 2-year-old Gun Runner filly was hustled out of the gate from the outside post by jockey Joel Rosario, who trainer Steve Asmussen named aboard Echo Zulu for the Juvenile Fillies instead of regular rider Ricardo Santana, Jr. Rosario and Echo Zulu quickly worked their way in to the rail, and snuffed out the oxygen of any rival trying to fight for the early fractions.

Echo Zulu was safely ahead of next-closest Tarabi, as she led the field into an opening quarter-mile in :23.42 seconds, while Desert Dawn and Juju's Map battled a length behind Tarabi for third position. The leader continued to maintain a one-length advantage over Tarabi across the backstretch as the half-mile point passed in :47.01 seconds.

The field bunched up behind Echo Zulu, and the duo of Tarabi and Juju's Map got to the outside hip of the leader as they approached the turn, but Echo Zulu promptly repelled the challengers, and put them several lengths behind her heading into the turn, all without Rosario's hands leaving the reins.

“She is amazing,” Rosario said. “She is fast, has so much speed and it looks like she is not going that fast. Today she liked what she was doing up there (in the front) and when I asked her, she just took off. She's just amazing.”

Rosario did little else but shake the reins aboard Echo Zulu down the Del Mar stretch, as the filly drew off to win by 5 1/4 lengths. Juju's Map carried on for second, a half-length ahead of Tarabi.

Echo Zulu completed the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:42.24 over a fast main track, paying $3.60 to win as the overwhelming favorite.

Friday's Breeders' Cup victory improved Echo Zulu's lifetime record to a perfect four-for-four and all but clinched the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old filly. Echo Zulu won on debut in Saratoga in July, then took the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at the same track. Her most recent start prior to the Breeders' Cup was a 7 1/4-length demolishing of the G1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 3.

“The level of proud is just unbelievable, with her being in the first crop of Gun Runner, what he's done for us,” Asmussen said. “A filly that came through mom and dad's program in Laredo. She's just brilliant. She's faster than they are. It's as simple as that. We're just so fortunate to be around her.”

Asmussen trains Echo Zulu for the partnership of L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds.

It was an especially satisfying victory for the Winchell operation, which also campaigned sire Gun Runner to a Breeders' Cup Classic win at Del Mar in 2017. Echo Zulu's victory also made it a virtual guarantee that Gun Runner will finish atop the freshman sire standings in 2021, having already entered the Breeders' Cup card with a healthy lead by earnings.

“It reminds me of Gun Runner,” owner Ron Winchell said. “She got out there and took command. Then took it down a notch, relaxed and got it done in the stretch. It looked a lot like (Gun Runner's) Pegasus: out, over, relax and then go.”

Bred in Kentucky by the partnership of Betz/J. Betz/Burns/CHNNHK/Magers/CoCo Equine/Ramsby, Echo Zulu was a $300,000 purchase by Winchell Thoroughbreds at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Quotes from other connections:

Trainer Brad Cox (second with Juju's Map) – “She broke a little slow and (Florent Geroux)a put her in a good position. She raced a little wide, but she was no match for the winner. Second best today. Bottom line. No excuse.”

Trainer Cherie DeVaux (third with Tarabi) – “She ran great stretching out for the first time. The pace didn't unfold the way it looked on paper, so Javier (Castellano) went to Plan B and she ran great, so we're really happy with her performance. It's awesome to come in and have her show up off a layoff and doing something she hasn't done. Our team is great, so I'm very proud of everyone.”

Jockey Javier Castellano (third with Tarabi) – “We had a beautiful trip. I was very happy with her race. She broke good and was right behind the winner all the way. She was running very strong down the stretch and was fighting to be second. It's no disrespect to run third to a champion.”

Trainer Bret Calhoun (fourth with Hidden Connection) – “I'm very disappointed. We had a little higher expectations today. She got a little unnerved in the warmup and stumbled away from there and lost a little position early. Reylu (Gutierrez) had to use her a little bit to get back into position and she didn't have the answer today.”

The post Echo Zulu Obliterates Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Field appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Breeders’ Cup Notes: Dr. Schivel’s Perfect Del Mar Record On Line In Sprint

SPRINT

Dr. Schivel – Dr. Schivel, the alias name of the villainous character Mr. Freeze from the iconic Batman series, was on the track in the early hours this morning, well before the break, galloping 1 1/4 miles under regular exercise rider Jorge Loza. The sophomore colt has reeled off five successive victories, the past three for trainer Mark Glatt. Glatt took over training of the horse as the result of an ownership change prior to his victory in the Del Mar Futurity.

“It's difficult to get a Grade 1 winner, then inform the owners we should stop on him. But I felt it was in the horse's best interest to give him plenty of time to develop and to get over some minor things,” Glatt said. “So far, that decision has seemed like the right one.”

Dr. Schivel, unbeaten in all three of his Del Mar starts, is the second choice in the morning line at 4-1 for the six-furlong dash.

FILLY & MARE SPRINT

Bella Sofia – Proving again the adage that horses can come from anywhere, Bella Sofia, a $20,000 purchase as a 2-year-old has won four of five career starts and is the 5-2 second choice behind champion Gamine in the $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint.

As the daughter of Awesome Patriot, who stands for $2,500, she doesn't have the pedigree pizzazz of some of the competition she will face, but she has speed and has a resume that shows she knows how to win.

Rudy Rodriquez has developed Bella Sofia for the group of nine partners. She has given Rodriguez, a New York stalwart, his first graded stakes victories in four years. Her 4 ½-length victory in the Test at Saratoga in August brought Rodriquez to tears and his eyes were wet Tuesday morning at the mention of that important 7f race for 3-year-old fillies.

From the beginning, Bella Sofia has been a challenge for Rodriguez and his staff. Since all of her races have been at Belmont and Saratoga, he brought her to California two weeks before the race to give her time to acclimate to the new surroundings.

“She's a kind of quirky filly, not nervous,” Rodriguez said. “I think she just hears everything. Every little thing that she hears she just reacts very, very fast. Most of the time you've just got to be careful with her. We were jogging around, there was the sound of hitting something with a hammer and right away she started jumping all over the place. Nobody was behind her. You've just got to be alert and that's what we try to do.”

After she won the Gallant Bloom on Sept. 26, beating older horses in a graded stake, the owner opted to supplement her to the Breeders' Cup for $100,000.

“They said we're going,” Rodriguez said. “I'm just happy to be here. I know it's a lot of money, but more people have gotten into the group on the filly. They like the game.”

Bella Sofia, who is out of Love Contract by Consolidator, was sold in July 2020 at the OBS Horses of Racing Age sale. She was part of a package of seven horses that Rodriguez said cost about $500,000. So far, she is the star of the group – and his barn, too, Rodriquez said – with $542,600 in earnings.

On May 6 at Belmont at odds of 8-1, Bella Sofia broke her maiden at 6f by 11 ¼ lengths.

“She showed that she was more than just a horse,” Rodriquez said.

DIRT MILE

Ginobili – Ginobili will be the last horse to arrive for this weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships when the 4yo son of Munnings makes the short commute from the San Luis Rey Training Center this morning. The impressive winner of the “Win and You're In” Pat O'Brien Handicap has done all his training at the nearby facility for trainer Richard Baltas, who explained, “He's run two huge races off his conditioning there, so I don't want to change a thing. Don't call it superstition, though, it's intelligence—and experience.” He's passed all the tests so far, winning at one mile, followed by the O'Brien at seven furlongs, and is coming into this race fresh. I've always thought a lot of this horse.”

Ginobili completed his final preparations last Saturday with a five-furlong drill timed in 1:00 4/5.

Life Is Good – With four wins and a narrow second in five lifetime starts, Life Is Good is one of the highest-profile horses in the 38th Breeders' Cup. He will have an opportunity to add to his already substantial reputation Saturday as the 4-5 favorite in the Dirt Mile, which has a field of eight horses. Only Gamine, at 3-5 in the Filly and Mare Sprint, has lower odds on the morning line.

WinStar Farm and China Horse Club purchased the Into Mischief colt for $525,000 as a yearling in 2019 and sent him to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in California. He emerged as a top Triple Crown prospect with wins in the Sham and the San Felipe at Santa Anita Park, but went to the sidelines on March 20 with an ankle chip in his left hind leg. The chip was removed by surgery.

In June, Life Is Good was transferred to the care of trainer Todd Pletcher in New York. He returned to the races at Saratoga where his unbeaten record ended at three at the Graveyard of Favorites when he was beaten a neck in the seven-furlong Allen Jerkens Memorial on Aug 28. Life is Good answered that loss with a dominating 5 ½-length victory at odds of 1-20 in the mile Kelso Handicap Sept. 25 at Belmont Park.

“He's a super-talented horse,” Pletcher said. “He's shown that all of these races and he always breezes very impressively. He appears to be very talented and fast. Hopefully he has the ability to continue to carry that speed over a route of ground.”

Even though Life Is Good easily dispatched the competition in the four-horse Kelso, Pletcher said he and the connections did not flirt with the possibility of sending him to the 1 ¼ miles $6 million Classic.

“We've pretty much been focused on the Dirt Mile,” Pletcher said. “We just felt like, considering that he missed a good portion of the middle part of the year, that we were giving up too much recency and seasoning to be ready to fire his best shot in the Classic. We have confidence that the horse will handle more distance in the future, but we just felt like for right now the Dirt Mile is the correct spot.”

Life Is Good shipped from New York on Sunday. Pletcher said Life Is Good and his other horses have settled in well at Del Mar. He galloped Tuesday morning and Pletcher said he got over the track well.

Monday afternoon, Life Is Good drew post five in the Dirt Mile, a spot that Pletcher said was fine for him.

“He's pretty much in the middle,” Pletcher said. “We'll just play it off the break.”

Pletcher has started five horses in the Dirt Mile and has a record of 1-1-1. His winner was Liam's Map in 20 15.

Irad Ortiz Jr., who won the 2019 Dirt Mile on Spun to Run, will ride.

JUVENILE FILLIES

Ain't Easy – Unbeaten stakes winner Ain't Easy, one of the early prerace favorites for Friday's $2 million NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, will have surgery on her left ankle Wednesday after X-rays Monday showed a tiny chip. Trainer Phil D'Amato termed the procedure “a simple one, with an expected quick recovery.” Dr. Ryan Carpenter will perform the surgery.

The daughter of leading sire Into Mischief had some heat on her ankle following a gallop over the main track Monday. “She had worked on Saturday and came out of it fine, then walked on Sunday and was doing well,” D'Amato said. “It was a difficult call to make (to her owners), but we had to do the right thing for the horse.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Notes: Dr. Schivel’s Perfect Del Mar Record On Line In Sprint appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

New Racing Partnership Living Up to Its Name

DEL MAR, CA – With a tip on 2-year-old first-time starter Ocean Size (Maclean's Music), Jake Ballis watched with interest–and a win wager–on the fifth race at Colonial Downs Aug. 17.

When Hidden Connection (Connect)–the co-second choice at 5-2 on the morning line for Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies–ran away to a daylight score carrying the colors of Hidden Brook Farm with Ocean Size back in second, the frontman for the fledgling partnership Black Type Thoroughbreds quickly switched gears.

“When she drew off at the eighth pole, I looked down at the Form again and I saw that Hidden Brook owned her. As soon as she crossed the wire, I sent [Hidden Brook's Bloodstock Services & Client Relations] Bryan Cross a text and said, 'If she's for sale, please let me know,'” Ballis said.

She was. But with the filly not even back to the winner's circle yet, the folks at Hidden Brook, quite understandably, needed a little bit more time to digest.

“I spoke to him again the next day and they wanted to wait for the numbers to come out,” the 41-year-old native of Houston, Texas said. “I made them an offer–I didn't care about any of the numbers–and they waited until Friday when the Rags came out and [Hidden Brook partner] Dan [Hall] called me and told me the figure. I told him that my offer stood. He came back with one other number and I just said, 'OK.'”

After working out a deal for a 40% minority interest for an undisclosed sum, the new partners and trainer Bret Calhoun began to set their sights on the first Friday in November at Del Mar via the 'Win and You're In' GIII Pocahontas S. Sept. 18.

“We were running back in four weeks off a really big effort going 5 1/2 furlongs and stretching to 1 1/16 miles and there were other options,” Ballis said. “I talked to Bret [Calhoun] and he told me, 'I've been training this filly for the Pocahontas before she broke her maiden. I'm not gonna get off that plan.' That's how high he was on her.”

You can certainly see why now.

Off as the 9-5 favorite while making her two-turn debut beneath the lights at Churchill Downs, Hidden Connection stalked and pounced her way to a second straight runaway decision, this time by 9 1/4 lengths, while establishing a new stakes record. She went two points higher on the Beyer Speed Figure scale as well, earning a very strong 87 rating.

Hidden Connection became the first of two graded black-type winners for Lane's End freshman sire Connect. The other, impressive GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner Rattle N Roll, will miss the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile due to a foot abscess.

Hidden Connection went through the ring four times-RNA'ing for $49,000 as a KEENOV weanling, selling for $40,000 as a KEESEP yearling, RNA'ing for $55,000 as an OBSAPR 2-year-old and selling for $85,000 to Hidden Brook after breezing a quarter in :21 2/5 at OBS June.

Breeder St. Simon Place purchased Hidden Connection's dam C J's Gal (Awesome Again), a maiden of one career start from the family of GI King's Bishop S. winner Capo Bastone (Street Boss), for just $9,500 at the 2016 KEEJAN sale.

“It's hard to be right in this game, so when you are, it's a lot of fun,” Ballis said. “We brought 40-something people to the race, too. She was very impressive.”

From just five horses to race, the early results for Black Type Thoroughbreds–launched in 2019–have been awfully impressive as well.

Pass the Champagne (Flatter), purchased privately along with R. A. Hill Stable, Rock Ridge Racing LLC, BlackRidge Stables LLC and James Brown following a debut second at Gulfstream in January, earned a trip to the GI Kentucky Oaks following a painful second to the brilliant MGISW and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff major player 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) in the GI Central Bank Ashland S. at Keeneland.

Up in Smoke (The Big Beast), a $230,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old purchase by Black Type and R. A. Hill Stable, hit the ground running with three straight victories at Gulfstream before adding a win in the Game Face S. in Hallandale and a third-place finish in Saratoga's GI Longines Test S.

Black Type, R. A. Hill Stable, et al, joined Fergus Galvin on the ownership line to repatriate Breaker of Chains (Bernardini) to these shores after a pair of placings in Ireland and were immediately rewarded with a visually impressive maiden tally at Kentucky Downs. She gave herself a bit too much to do after a slow start in a paceless race and had to settle for sixth, beaten only 3 3/4 lengths, in Keeneland's GIII Rubicon Valley View S. over yielding ground Oct. 29.

Black Type Thoroughbreds also has eight head in the pipeline from this year's yearling and 2-year-old sales. The current roster of offerings includes unraced 2-year-old graduates Wish You Well (f, 2, American Freedom), a $550,000 Fasig-Tipton Florida buy (Hip 154; :10) for Black Type and R. A. Hill; and the New York-bred Jackson Square (c, 2, Union Jackson), a $140,000 OBS Spring acquisition (Hip 1140; :9 4/5*).

With Ballis's wife Maddie Mattmiller–the couple reside on a five-acre farm in Lexington, Kentucky–handling bloodstock duties at this fall's yearling sales, Black-Type acquired a trio at Keeneland September: Hip 1014, a $255,000 Mo Town filly; Hip 3182, a $120,000 Bolt d'Oro filly; and Hip 3677, a $32,000 Shaman Ghost colt. She also signed for Hip 3158, a $250,000 Army Mule filly on behalf of a George Weaver client to top the Book 5 opener. Black Type Thoroughbreds and Mattmiller stayed active at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky as well, bringing home: Hip 825, a $170,000 Uncle Mo filly; Hip 816, a $150,000 Goldencents colt; and Hip 658, a $43,000 Connect filly.

“Originally, it was just me, a couple of buddies and my family, and we kept it in house, then two years ago, I finally decided that I needed to get more people involved like Eclipse and West Point and all those groups that I want to emulate,” Ballis said.

“We've had five horses that have run–and two of them are Grade I-placed–and Hidden Connection won a Grade III and will be second or third choice in the Breeders' Cup. It's really been a heck of a ride. Maddie helps me with private purchases and also at the sales. She previously worked with Josh Stevens Bloodstock and gives me another perspective. She is a huge part of Black Type Thoroughbreds's success and future growth.

He continued, “To get a lot of friends involved from Houston as well as new partners–we only had six people put up money on our very first horse, which was Up in Smoke, and now I think I have close to 30–it means everything for me to be able to grow quick and have success for these guys. They trusted me and this year alone we've been able to take a lot of partners to the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders' Cup. [Longtime friend and former NBA All-Star] Rashard Lewis owned horses with me back in the day and he got in on Hidden Connection. He's pumped up and hopefully he'll make it out for the Breeders' Cup.”

Ballis, a former standout college basketball player and the son of John Ballis of champion sprinter and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Groovy fame, decided it was time to get his family back into the game after graduating from University of Houston with a degree in business management in 2003. Enter Groovy's former Hall of Fame rider Angel Cordero, Jr.

“I grew up flying with my dad to New York to watch his horses run,” Ballis said. “I was six or seven years old, so I don't remember a ton. But Cordero used to ride for my dad and he was the one that I reconnected with when I got out of college. He's been a mentor and has really helped us. Every horse that we buy I send him either replays, breezes, walking videos, etc. I value his opinion and he's still a big part of what we're doing. He was the guy that bought [2009 GII Pennsylvania Derby and GIII Tampa Bay Derby second and GI Kentucky Derby seventh] Join in the Dance (Sky Mesa) for us. That got the bug going for me.”

In addition to Join in the Dance, other previous success stories for Ballis include GSWs Cigar Street (Street Sense) and White Rose (Tapit) as well as three-time graded winner Race Day (Tapit), a $285,000 KEENOV horse of racing age purchase on behalf of owner Matthew Schera.

“Join in the Dance was our first horse and we went to the Derby and I figured it was easy,” Ballis said with a laugh.

With the imposing unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' and MGISW Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) the clear-cut horse to beat, the task ahead will be anything but easy in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Still, Ballis remains confident as ever in Hidden Connection and the team behind him, which will be rolling 70-plus deep at Del Mar this weekend.

“I feel really good about Hidden Connection and all the partners involved,” Ballis concluded. “We have every bit as good a shot to win that race as any filly in the country.”

The post New Racing Partnership Living Up to Its Name appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post