breeders' cup mile | Horse Racing Free Tips

Casse ‘All Smiles’ After Get Stormy’s Fourstardave Victory, 104 Beyer Speed Figure

Trainer Mark Casse was all smiles on Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course after securing his first Grade 1 victory as a newly enshrined Hall of Famer when Got Stormy bested males to win the $500,000 Fourstardave for the second time on Saturday.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm and MyRacehorse Stable, Got Stormy set a course record over the inner turf capturing the 2019 Fourstardave in a time of 1:32 flat with Ricardo Santana, Jr. up.

After finishing second in last year's running to pacesetting Halladay, the 6-year-old chestnut daughter of 2010 Fourstardave victor Get Stormy vindicated herself with a sharp 1 ½-length triumph under Tyler Gaffalione.

The victory registered a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, a tenth lifetime triple-digit number for the talented mare, and included a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile on November 6 at Del Mar.

Despite last week's Hall of Fame induction, the summer campaign had been a frustrating one for Casse, who was winless at the current Saratoga meet before Got Stormy's Fourstardave coup.

“It's been a rough meet, but my wife [Tina] said it best: 'It's been gloomy in Saratoga until the storm blew through,'” Casse said.

Got Stormy arrived at the Fourstardave off two fifth-place finishes at graded stakes level after making her seasonal bow a winning one in the Grade 3 Honey Fox on February 27 at Gulfstream Park.

Sent off at 12-1 odds, Casse said he nevertheless felt confident in his mare because of her demeanor in the paddock.

“It's her. She just gets happy,” Casse said. “She was walking around after I had saddled her and I told Tyler, 'She's got her game face on today, they better be ready,' I could tell she just wanted to go out there and do it.”

Casse said Got Stormy, a seven-time graded stakes winner with graded scores at six different tracks, will appreciate a return to Del Mar, where she captured the Grade 1 Matriarch in her final start of 2019.

“The good news for us is she's 1-for-1 at Del Mar,” Casse said. “We should have hard and fast [turf] there, and the turns aren't quite as tight as they are here but they're sharp. I want to get one race into her, I just haven't figured out where I want to do that yet.

“She just loves training here so much. Most horses do,” Casse added regarding Got Stormy's affinity for Saratoga. “She enjoys the tight turns. She can run around a turn like most horses can't, so that helps.”

Casse mentioned the possibility of attempting a dual conquest in the $600,000 Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint on September 11 at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.

“I can go to Kentucky Downs just as a prep, run her at 6 ½ [furlongs] and we don't care about the weather,” Casse said. “If it rains, it's okay. Where the soft ground hurts us is when she's trying to get a mile.”

Previously owned by Gary Barber, Got Stormy was purchased for $2.75 million by Spendthrift Farm at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

[Story Continues Below]

Ned Toffey of Spendthrift Farm said he was delighted to see the superstar mare secure a Grade 1 victory when sporting Spendthrift's orange and purple silks.

“Mark was very confident. He said she was doing so well,” Toffey recalled. “I think clearly, she really likes Saratoga. It was just great to see. This was so gratifying because when Mr. [B. Wayne] Hughes decided to get involved with MyRacehorse, he really believed that this was something that would be successful, but what they need are really good horses.

“She didn't appear to have lost any steps yesterday so that was great to see,” Toffey continued. “She's such a gutsy, hard trying mare. You just love to see that kind do well.”

Toffey said he felt gratified to be able to provide the multiple MyRacehorse partners a prestigious victory at Saratoga.

“To get a Grade 1 and to be able to see a project like this come full circle, work out this way, and have a bunch of enthusiastic MyRacehorse fans to be there and share it with us was a great feeling,” Toffey said.

Casse said that maiden Volcanic, a two-time starting son of Violence owned by Breeze Easy, could race back in the $300,000 Grade 1 Hopeful on September 6. The $230,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase finished third last out in a six-furlong maiden event on July 24 at the Spa.

The Hall of Fame trainer said Live Oak Plantation's graded stakes-winner Souper Sensational, who finished second in the Grade 1 Longines Test here on August 7, could race back in the $250,000 Grade 2 Prioress on September 4 at the Spa.

The post Casse ‘All Smiles’ After Get Stormy’s Fourstardave Victory, 104 Beyer Speed Figure appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Palace Pier Wins Second Jacques Le Marois At Deauville, BC Mile Berth

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's Palace Pier (GB) became the first horse to win the Group 1 Prix Du Haras De Fresnay-Le-Buffard Jacques le Marois in successive years since Spinning World in 1997. The win gave him his second “Win and You're In” Breeders' Cup Challenge Series of 2021, having won the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. The son of Kingman (GB) has an automatic starting position and fees paid into this year's $2 million Grade 1 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by PDJF through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 84 stakes races where the winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will be held at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., on Nov. 5-6.

Palace Pier, trained by John & Thady Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, traveled up on the outside of the field and showed a sparkling turn of foot to go clear of his seven rivals before having to withstand a strong challenge from Group 1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas hero Poetic Flare (IRE) in the final furlong to hold on by a neck. The defending Grade 1 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile champion, Order of Australia (IRE), was a further 1 ¾ lengths back in third.

After completing the mile in 1:35.96 over a course listed as good, Palace Pier was cut to 7/4 with Unibet for the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile in November.

John Gosden speaking after the race, said: “I thought it was a very clean race. They went a sensible pace. They quickened from 600 meters out and so it was a test of speed and he's done it well. He's a gorgeous and lovely horse to be around. He's got this amazing cruising speed and acceleration. I've made no secret that he was ill. He had a blood disorder and missed the G1 Qatar Sussex Stakes and we've come here on the absolute minimum amount of work. He's probably come here at 80% and as Frankie (Dettori) said, his class has got him through. He's having a strong blow after, so he was probably 10 days short of work, but they weren't going to move the Jacques Le Marois!”

Gosden indicated that QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot in October could be next for the five-time Group 1 winner.

“We'll now wait until Champions Day and go either for the 1-mile Group 1 QIPCO Queen Elizabeth II Stakes or perhaps the 1 ¼ mile Group 1 QIPCO Champion Stakes.”

When asked if the Breeders' Cup could be on the agenda for the son of Kingman (GB), Gosden replied: “November is a long way off! Del Mar is a track I'm very fond of and I had a lot of success there and have a lot of good friends there, but that's a long way down the road at the moment.”

Palace Pier was already a winner of the “Win and You're In” G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and is one of seven horses this year to have gained a “Win and You're In” berth for the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile. Jet Dark (SAF), winner of the Group 1 L'Ormarins Queen's Plate in South Africa, Succeso (CHI) who claimed the Group 1 Gran Premio Club Hipico Falabella in Chile, Smooth Like Strait who won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile, Danon Kingly (JPN) who captured the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan, Alcohol Free (IRE) who stormed clear in the Group 1 Qatar Sussex Stakes, and Got Stormy who yesterday won the Grade 1 Fourstardave, are the other six.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Palace Pier to start in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile, which will be run at a mile on the Del Mar turf course. Breeders' Cup will also provide a travel allowance of $40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of Oct. 25 to receive the rewards.

The post Palace Pier Wins Second Jacques Le Marois At Deauville, BC Mile Berth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Got Stormy Again Faces Males In Fourstardave; Casse’s Only Concern Is ‘Weather’

Got Stormy used a strong effort in last year's Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave to facilitate a successful initiative that led to a pair of graded stakes wins. Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said he's hoping for a similar trajectory this year, as the 6-year-old will compete in Saturday's 37th running of the Fourstardave going one mile on the inner turf course in Race 10.

Got Stormy, owned by MyRacehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm, has a strong connection to this prestigious turf tilt for 3-year-olds and up. Her sire, Get Stormy, won the race in 2010 and finished third in 2012. In 2019, Got Stormy bested males to win the Fourstardave by 2 1/2 lengths in a course record 1:32 flat, earning a 109 Beyer Speed Figure that is still a personal best in a 29-race career.

Last year, Got Stormy ran second, 1 1/4-lengths back to Halladay, in the race and subsequently won the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Lady Spirit and the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County before capping her campaign with a fifth-place effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November at Keeneland.

On Saturday, Got Stormy will look to become the first dual Fourstardave winner since two-time Horse of the Year and recent Hall of Fame inductee Wise Dan [2012-13]. She drew post 6 in the eight-horse field.

“I think she's training well and similar to when she ran a big race last year,” said Casse, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame across Union Avenue from the Spa last week. “I was just going over the similarities from one year to the other. She kind of struggled early on and then came here and ran a big race in the Fourstardave. She's happy and she's ready. We just have the same concern we always do about the weather.”

Got Stormy will stretch back out to one mile after running fifth in the six-furlong Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur on Belmont Stakes Day June 5 on a course rated good. Casse said Got Stormy's preferred track is a firm surface but he added the eight furlongs also should play to her strengths.

“She loves the mile on the inner turf, it's her best [distance] and she likes the sharp turns,” Casse said.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, aboard for her last seven starts, will have the return call. Got Stormy is 10-1 on the morning line, with 9-5 favorite Raging Bull drawing the inside post and 5-2 Set Piece breaking from post 5.

Casse said both of his runners in last Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test – runner-up Souper Sensational and eighth-place finisher Make Mischief – exited the seven-furlong sprint for sophomores in good order.

Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational ran second, 4 1/4-lengths back to much-the-best winner Bella Sofia, to earn a 93 Beyer one race after posting a personal-best 95 number for her 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Victory Ride on July 10 at Belmont. In eight career starts, the Curlin filly has already earned stakes black type at four different tracks [Woodbine, Fair Grounds, Belmont and Saratoga].

“She's doing well. I haven't really decided what I'm going to do with her next,” Casse said.

Gary Barber's Make Mischief has already made eight starts in her 3-year-old campaign and has spent the spring and summer facing top-flight competition, starting with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in April at Churchill before running third in the Grade 1 Acorn going a one-turn mile on Belmont Stakes Day. Returning to Big Sandy for the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Mother Goose three weeks later, Make Mischief ran fourth before finishing last-of-eight in the Test.

Casse said the daughter of Into Mischief, bred in the Empire State by Avanti Stable, could be targeting the $200,000 Fleet Indian for state-bred 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on August 27 at Saratoga.

“Make Mischief will probably go back against New York-breds,” Casse said. “I want to just see how hot it is and how they respond to the heat. But she has quite a resume, so we're very proud of her.”

Casse said John Oxley's Palazzi, who ran seventh in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational in the second leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series on August 7, will now likely run in a stakes at Kentucky Downs next out.

The post Got Stormy Again Faces Males In Fourstardave; Casse’s Only Concern Is ‘Weather’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Raging Bull Headlines Talented Field Readying For ‘Win And You’re In’ Fourstardave

Peter Brant's Raging Bull will be out for redemption against an all-graded stakes winning field for Saturday's 37th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave for 4-year-olds and upward going one mile over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course.

Raging Bull, who finished second in 2019 and fifth a year ago, will look to give trainer Chad Brown his first win in the Fourstardave, a “Win And You're In” event offering an automatic entry into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile on November 6 at Del Mar.

Four of the last ten editions of the Fourstardave were captured by the subsequent winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile with World Approval [2017], Tourist [2016] and Wise Dan [2012-13] securing the Fourstardave-Breeders' Cup Mile double.

This year's Fourstardave field has won a cumulative 22 graded stakes races, which will see Raging Bull attempt a fourth graded stakes triumph.

Raging Bull, a three-time Grade 1-winner with earnings in excess of $1.5 million, secured his top-flight triumphs over three different ovals. At three, he shipped to Southern California to capture the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar after earning graded stakes triumphs at the Spa in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and the Grade 3 Saranac. The French-bred 6-year-old son of Dark Angel commenced his last two seasons in Grade 1-winning fashion with victories in the Shoemaker Mile in May 2020 at Santa Anita and the Makers' Mark Mile on April 9 at Keeneland.

Raging Bull enters off a troubled second in the Grade 3 Poker on June 20 at Belmont Park, racing in fifth along the rail down the backstretch while four horses battled up front. Lacking racing room in upper stretch, he made an inside rally at the eighth-pole but was unable to catch in-the-clear outside runner Oleksandra, losing by a head.

“I'm hoping he can stay off the inside with a better trip,” Brown said. “His turn of foot seems to be his best characteristic. He's in as good of form as he's ever been in. I love the way he's been training. He's a remarkable horse, very consistent.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. retains the mount from post 1.

Raging Bull will face seven other challengers, including stablemate and fellow Peter Brant color-bearer Blowout, who is one of three accomplished distaffers taking on males in the Fourstardave.

Known for her frontrunning fashion, Blowout was a last-out pacesetting winner of the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on May 1 at Churchill Downs. Never worse than third – and never beaten more than three-quarters of a length in 11 lifetime starts – the daughter of Dansili made her lone Grade 1 start when second beaten a nose to stablemate Viadera in the Grade 1 Matriarch in November at Del Mar.

Both Raging Bull and Blowout were bred by Dayton Investments. Raging Bull is out of the Mr. Greeley mare Rosa Bonheur. Blowout is out of the Group 1-winning Deep Impact mare Beauty Parlour.

Jockey Joel Rosario, a two-time Fourstardave winner, rides Blowout from post 8.

Jim and Susan Hill, who owned 2015 Fourstardave winner Grand Arch, will be represented by four-time Grade 1-placed Daddy Is a Legend, who makes her first start against males for trainer George Weaver.

The 6-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy was a late-closing third in the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game on June 5 at Belmont Park behind the Godolphin-owned Althiqa and Summer Romance who replicated said exacta in the Grade 1 Diana on the Spa's opening weekend.

Also third in the 2019 Just a Game behind Rushing Fall and Beau Recall, Daddy Is a Legend notched Grade 1 black type with runner-up efforts in the Matriarch at Del Mar in 2018 and 2019.

“I think a mile is her best distance,” Weaver said. “We were looking at this race after she ran big in the Just a Game and those two fillies came back and ran well here. If she takes another step forward, we're hoping that Saturday can be her day.”

Daddy Is a Legend made the grade in December 2017, capturing the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante in November 2017 at Del Mar. She won the following year's Grade 3 Lake George at Saratoga.

“She's a very good racehorse. She's talented but the other thing she has that all good racehorses have is the fact that she shows up. She gives what she has,” Weaver said. “Right now, she's doing well, she's happy and she's all business. We're looking forward to running her.”

Jockey Manny Franco rides from post 3.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will send out Got Stormy, who seeks a non-consecutive victory in the Fourstardave. Owned by MyRacehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm, the outstanding daughter of 2010 Fourstardave winner Get Stormy faced males for the first time off one week's rest in the 2019 Fourstardave, which she won by 2 ½ lengths in a track record 1:32 flat while recording a career best 109 Beyer. A six-time graded stakes winner, Got Stormy boasts the highest bankroll in the field with earnings in excess of $2.1 million.

A victory would make Got Stormy the first dual Fourstardave winner since two-time Horse of the Year and recent Hall of Fame inductee Wise Dan [2012-13].

Breaking from post 6, Got Stormy will be ridden by regular pilot Tyler Gaffalione.

Trainer Brad Cox will carry momentum from recent victories with Grade 2 Jim Dandy winner Essential Quality and Grade 1 Whitney winner Knicks Go when saddling Juddmonte's Set Piece for his Grade 1 debut. The Dansili homebred brings three straight wins to Saturday's engagement. After Churchill Downs stakes victories in the Opening Verse on April 29 and the Douglass Park on May 29, Set Piece defeated graded stakes winners Somelikeithotbrown and Ride a Comet in the Grade 2 Wise Dan on June 26 over the Louisville oval.

“He's a Grade 2 winner and obviously he has a good pedigree that all Juddmonte horses do, and it helps some of the siblings that come up from the broodmare band as well,” Cox said. “He deserves the opportunity to take a swing at a Grade 1 and we'll see what he can do.”

Florent Geroux returns to the saddle from post 5.

Following a victory in the Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur on June 5 at Belmont Park going six furlongs, Casa Creed will stretch back out to one mile for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The 5-year-old Jimmy Creed bay, third in last year's Fourstardave, took the Grade 2 Hall of Fame in August 2019 going one mile over Saratoga's inner turf.

Owned by LRE Racing and JEH Racing, Casa Creed looks to became a fifth Fourstardave winner for Mott, who campaigned Hap [2000], Silver Tree [2007], Seek Again [2014] and Tourist [2016].

Jockey Junior Alvarado will ride from post 4.

Three Diamonds Farm's Field Pass is a four-time graded stakes winner at four different tracks for trainer Mike Maker. The gray or roan son of Lemon Drop Kid won the Grade 3 Baltimore Washington International Cup on July 24 at Pimlico last out. During his sophomore season, he won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park and the Grade 3 Ontario Derby at Woodbine – both over synthetic surfaces. He also won the Grade 3 Transylvania last July over the Keeneland turf.

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. rides from post 7.

Rounding out the field is Electric City Racing, Madaket Stables, Christopher Dunn and Jeremy Peskoff's Whisper Not, who won the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile two starts back for trainer Richard Baltas.

Jockey Jose Ortiz picks up the mount from post 2.

The prestigious Fourstardave honors the “Sultan of Saratoga” who earned his nickname by winning at least one race at the Spa from 1987-94. Trained by Leo O'Brien and owned by Richard Bomze and Bernard Connaughton, Fourstardave's signature Spa wins included the 1988 Albany Handicap as well as two non-consecutive wins in the West Point [1989 and 1991]. Fourstardave secured two triumphs in his namesake race when run as the Daryl's Joy [1990-91].

The Fourstardave is carded as Race 9 on Saturday's 11-race program at Saratoga Race Course, which also includes the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for juveniles over the main track. First post is 1:05 p.m. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Raging Bull Headlines Talented Field Readying For ‘Win And You’re In’ Fourstardave appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post