breeders' cup sprint | Horse Racing Free Tips

Breeders’ Cup On The Table For Undefeated 3-Year-Old Flightline

Trainer John Sadler told the Daily Racing Form on Monday that he may point the lightly-raced 3-year-old Flightline to the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Undefeated in two career starts by a combined 26 lengths, the son of Tapit may not have run in a stakes race, but he clearly showed talent in a Sept. 5 allowance race at Del Mar.

Flightline ran six furlongs in 1:08.05 that day, the fastest time at the distance during the six-week Del Mar meet.

A $1 million yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, Flightline is out of the three-time Grade 1-placed, G3-winning Indian Charlie mare Feathered. He is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Hronis Racing, Summer Wind Equine, Siena Farm, and Woodford Racing.

Sadler plans to speak with the owners this week to finalize a plan for the talented colt. If the Breeders' Cup Sprint is the target, Sadler said Flightline will not make another start prior to the World Championships.

‘Nothing Left To Prove’: Champion Sprinter Whitmore Retired

Fan favorite and 2020 sprint champion Whitmore pulled up after the Grade 1 Forego and was vanned off as a precaution after jockey Joel Rosario noted that the 8-year-old gelding felt off during his gallop out. Later Saturday, trainer Ron Moquett released a statement that Whitmore had been retired from racing.

“Joel said, 'He didn't feel right pulling up, boss' after the race. He felt something different,” Moquett told the Paulick Report Sunday.

Out of an abundance of caution, Whitmore was put on the on-track equine ambulance and returned to Moquett's barn at Saratoga Race Course, where he was examined by a track veterinarian. An x-ray showed “a shadow of something in the left foreleg,” so Whitmore will be sent to Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood and Riddle for further examination once the gelding has been cleared to ship to Kentucky. After that, he will be turned out at Rebecca Maker's farm while Moquett and co-owners Robert La Penta and Head of Plains Racing decide what's next. Whitmore's long-term prognosis is good, but Moquett believes that given his long list of accomplishments, retirement is the best route for the fan favorite.

“He's acting fine. We're just being overly cautious,” Moquett said about his star gelding. “Now is when we retire. He owes us nothing. He has nothing to prove. He's been to the mountaintop. What does he have left to do?”

Moquett's candor about Whitmore's status and his steps are indicative of the trainer's philosophy about racing in general and racing his horses specifically.

“One of the things we need to do in this sport is be transparent,” he said. “I felt I owed it to people to say this is what we're dealing with, this is what we're doing with him.”

That transparency will continue as Moquett pledges to update fans on Whitmore's next career after the announcement on Saturday.

“We're just tickled to death that we have a village. I get a lot of comments where a guy will tell me that his wife is not a racing fan, but she loves Whitmore,” the trainer reflected. “When someone respects a horse so much, that's what it's all about.”

By multiple Grade 1 winner Pleasantly Perfect, out of the Scat Daddy mare Melody's Spirit, Whitmore's resume includes three wins in the Grade 3 Count Fleet at Oaklawn Park, the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga in 2018, and the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in 2017. In a career that has spanned 43 starts with 15 wins, what does Moquett see as the ultimate Whitmore performance?

“His win in last year's Breeders'Cup Sprint for sure,” he said. “But his last win in the Count Fleet [in 2020] tied the record as the winningest stakes horse at Oaklawn Park. That one stands out as well.”

Moquett hinted in a statement released late Saturday that Whitmore may move on to a second career, which could see him contest the Thoroughbred Makeover, depending on his medical prognosis.

pic.twitter.com/roOR2gCra1

— Ron Moquett (@RonMoquett) August 28, 2021

“I hope that he teaches people that the Kentucky Derby is not the end-all, be-all, that everything he [Whitmore] accomplished came after that. Every animal is different. We focus on the individual's potential and acclimate what we do to get the most out of our horses.”

“The main thing is that Whitmore tried every time. He was as gutsy as hell.”

The post ‘Nothing Left To Prove’: Champion Sprinter Whitmore Retired appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Dr. Schivel Earns Breeders’ Cup Sprint Berth With Hard-Fought Bing Crosby Triumph

Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, William Reeves and partners Dr. Schivel, a 3-year-old taking on older rivals, made the lead in midstretch, then hung extra tough late to capture the 76th running of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes by a neck Saturday at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif.

The victory in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series Win and You're In contest gave Dr. Schivel a fees-paid berth in this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

The son of Kentucky sire Violence gave his jockey and trainer a unique double in the $301,500, six-furlong dash – back-to-back scores in the shore track's premier race for sprinters with 3-year-olds, something that's never happened before. The final time in the dash was 1:10.47.

Flavien Prat, Del Mar's leading rider, was aboard the colt for his fourth victory of the day. He now has 17 wins in the first nine days of racing and also a remarkable streak in the Crosby: he's won six of the last seven runnings of the race. Mark Glatt is the trainer of Dr. Schivel and he also was the conditioner of last year's winner, the then 3-year-old Collusion Illusion (who was entered and scratched in this year's Crosby).

Finishing second in the Crosby was Coolmore Stud, Madaket Stables or Starlight Racing, et al's Eight Rings, while running third was the 3-2 race favorite, Madaket Stables, Barber or Kagele's C Z Rocket.

Dr. Schivel, who was making only the sixth start of his career, scored his fourth victory and picked up a winner's check for $180,000 and increased his bankroll to $416,000. The bay youngster had won last year's Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity for former trainer Luis Mendez, then was put on the shelf for nine months before coming back to win an allowance race at Santa Anita in June.

Dr. Schivel paid $6.80, $4.00 and $2.60 across the board. Eight Rings returned $10.80 and $4.80, while C Z Rocket paid $2.40 to show.

In the track's Pick 6 Single Ticket Jackpot wager, there was a carryover for the seventh day in a row. The pool going into Sunday is now up to $566,809.

The Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch heads Sunday's card. First post for the day is 2 p.m.

FLAVIEN PRAT (Dr. Schivel, winner) – “No special instructions; just ride. He broke well, then when we went across the gap, he grabbed the bit. He was running well, pretty much all the way around. He was game late. Good win.”

MARK GLATT (Dr. Schivel, winner) – “They went fast early, maybe not as fast as we thought. Flavien (Prat) rode him perfectly, gave him a good trip, and the outside post was a benefit. This is a real racehorse. He beat the olders today, and hopefully in November he'll be able to do it again. (Scratch of Collusion Illusion?) He grabbed a quarter training yesterday and he just wasn't perfect on it today. It probably would have been safe to run him but the ownership group and I thought it was best to err on the conservative side and have him run another day.”

:21.83 :44.67 :57.39 1:10.47

The stakes win was the sixth of the meeting for rider Prat and his sixth (of the last seven) in the Bing Crosby. He now has 66 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meeting for trainer Glatt, but his second in the Bing Crosby (Collusion Illusion, 2020). He now has 12 stakes wins at Del Mar.

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Many Chances in Deep Bing

Handicappers will have a tough time tossing many horses from their tickets as a competitive nine-horse field lines up for Saturday's six-furlong GI Bing Crosby S. at Del Mar, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Given a slight nod on the morning line at 5-2 is C Z Rocket (City Zip). Claimed for $40,000 last spring at Oaklawn by Peter Miller, the gelding has been a new horse since, winning seven of nine races while finishing second in the other two. That streak includes a score in last summer's GII Pat O'Brien S. over this oval. The 7-year-old most recently was second when stretching out in the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S. May 31 at Lone Star.

California-bred Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride) rates a big chances breaking from the outermost stall. Earning a shot at open company after a convincing score in the California Cup Sprint S. Jan. 16 at Santa Anita, the Alfred Pais homebred didn't disappoint, cruising to an impressive four-length victory despite setting a scorching pace in the GII San Carlos S. Mar. 6. Well-beaten in his next two, he rebounded with a 4 3/4-length success in the Cal-bred Thor's Echo S. last out June 12.

Dr. Schivel (Violence) takes on older horses in just his fifth career start. Taking three tries to break his maiden, he came right back to annex the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity for Luis Mendez, but went unseen for over nine months after that before eventually returning with a narrow allowance/optional claiming tally for new trainer Mark Glatt June 18 at Santa Anita.

Defending Bing Crosby champion Collusion Illusion (Twirling Candy) makes his 4-year-old debut here. Runner-up in the GII Santa Anita Championship S. after his local heroics, he was 12th in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint before rebounding some to be third in the GI Runhappy Malibu S.

Other contenders include Vertical Threat (Tapiture), last seen romping by 7 1/2 lengths with a 102 Beyer in last November's Steel Valley Sprint S. at Mahoning Valley, Quick Tempo (Tapizar), who did his name justice when setting splits of :21.44 and :43.35 before setting for second in the Iowa Sprint S. at Prairie Meadows July 3, and Eight Rings (Empire Maker), who's winless in four starts since capturing the GI American Pharoah S. as a juvenile but shows a sharp worktab for Bob Baffert that includes a five-furlong bullet in :58 3/5 (1/91) July 10 in Arcadia.

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