Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Del Mar, the graveyard of favorites.

Actually, that's Saratoga's claim to fame but for at least one race Saturday the moniker applied to the seaside oval. Pozo de Luna's Blue Stripe came rolling down the lane, cruising past 4-5 favorite Shedaresthedevil to win the Clement L. Hirsch (G1) and a berth in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).

Trainer Marcelo Polanco said Sunday morning his mare came out of the race in good order.

“She looked good,” Polanco said. “She was very alert this morning.”

As for the celebration Saturday night, Polanco said he was too busy to party.

“My phone didn't stop ringing for hours,” the smiling trainer said. “People from South America, people from around here…texting and calling…it was kind of a freaky night.”

Polanco says a decision about Blue Stripe's future is pending.

“We haven't talked to the connections,” Polanco said. “I don't want to say anything, but I think we're just going to wait for that (the Breeders' Cup) because she's run good fresh. But the decision has not been made yet.”

The Clement Hirsch victory was Polanco's third Grade 1 win in his career. He took the 2003 La Brea and 2004 Santa Monica with Island Fashion, but he says the Hirsch may his favorite.

“This is unbelievable,” Polanco says. “It was a tough race, good fillies, at Del Mar, Grade 1, just unbelievable.”

Trainer Phil D'Amato was just as happy with his horse, H & E Ranch's Desert Dawn, who headed Shedaresthedevil on the wire for second place.

“She came out of the race really well,” D'Amato said Sunday. “She ran against older for the first time and I thought she held her own and ran a valiant second. She nodded a real nice filly in Shedaresthedevil. We're proud of her.”

D'Amato has no immediate plans for Desert Dawn, who won the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) earlier this year, but he's eager for her future.

“I think this filly is going to continue to mature,” D'Amato stated. “I look forward to running her one or two more times this year and save some for next year.”

D'Amato says the Breeders' Cup is not necessarily in the plans at this time.

“It's a possibility,” D'Amato said, “but it's not something we need to get to. Definitely I think that will be our goal next year when she turns four and with a little more experience under her belt.”

The beaten favorite, Flurry Racing Stable, et al.'s Shedaresthedevil came out of the race no worse for wear.

“She came out of the race good,” assistant trainer Marcelo Aquinde said Sunday morning. “She's always been a quiet filly. We scoped her and she was clean so she'll be ready next time.”

Trainer Brad Cox will ship Shedaresthedevil back to Churchill Downs Tuesday and make a decision where she will run next.

The post Clement L. Hirsch Winner Blue Stripe Could Train Up To Breeders’ Cup Distaff appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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When CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Life Is Good crossed the finish line two lengths the best in Saturday's 95th running of the, $1 million Whitney (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, it marked the fourth time Hall of Fame conditioner Todd Pletcher was awarded the trophy for the historic nine-furlong event for older horses.

Looking back on past wins with Left Bank [2002], Lawyer Ron [2007], and Cross Traffic [2013], Pletcher acknowledged how difficult it is to find the winner's circle in the Whitney, noting the duality between the two heartbreaking losses he suffered when second with Quality Road in 2010 and Liam's Map in 2015, and the highest honors he achieved with his four victors.

“It feels great [to win again]. We've been fortunate to win four now and I would say two of the toughest beats we have ever taken were in the Whitney, too, with Quality Road and Liam's Map,” Pletcher said. “So, we never take for granted how hard they are to win.”

Life Is Good, a son of Into Mischief, continues to prove his place as the leader of the older male division, building upon a victory in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) to kick off his 4-year-old campaign in January at Gulfstream Park and a runaway score in the John A. Nerud (G2) as his final race before the Whitney on July 2 at Belmont Park.

He found Whitney glory with his usual front-running tactics, breaking sharply from the outermost post 5 under Irad Ortiz Jr. and making every step towards the finish a winning one. He completed the nine furlongs in 1:48.97 and was awarded a 107 Beyer Speed Figure, his eighth consecutive triple-digit figure.

Pletcher said Life Is Good's class not only allows him to excel on the racetrack, but to do so despite difficult factors like the ones he faced yesterday with the main track rated as good and harrowed, and temperatures in the low 90s with high humidity.

“He's a super special horse. He's so consistent not only in his races, but in his daily routine. He's eager to please every day,” Pletcher said. “I was concerned about all of those variables, and we got a downpour that I kind of didn't know what condition that would leave the track in. Then it got real steamy and humid and super hot. The track all meet has been super challenging, but he was able to overcome it all.”

With his Whitney victory, Life Is Good has received a berth to the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on November 5 at Keeneland. Should he run in the Classic and not in the Dirt Mile to defend his 2021 title, it would be the second time Life Is Good has raced at the 1 1/4-mile distance, his first try a weakening fourth in the Dubai World Cup (G1) in March at Meydan Racecourse in his lone off-the-board finish through 10 starts.

Pletcher said he expects Life Is Good to handle stretching out again after his strong performance in the Whitney.

“I think yesterday was kind of the race that was going to tell us which direction to go, and I think based on that, we'd be looking at the Classic,” said Pletcher.

It is possible that Life Is Good could get one more start before the Breeders' Cup with Pletcher not completely ruling out an engagement in the $500,000 Woodward (G1) on October 1 during the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.

The post Pletcher: Whitney Winner Life Is Good Possible For Woodward, Breeders’ Cup Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Wesley Ward changed tactics with Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westberg's Golden Pal, and Castleton Lyons' Chi Town Lady for their respective stakes engagements and was rewarded with meaningful victories from both horses this weekend.

Ultra-talented turf sprinter Golden Pal captured Friday's 5 1/2-furlong $300,000 Troy (G3) at Saratoga Race Course, earning a 100 Beyer Speed Figure – his third triple digit number. But the 4-year-old Uncle Mo colt also gained beneficial experience in racing from just off the pace under Irad Ortiz Jr., tracking quick early fractions and doing just enough to garner a seventh lifetime stakes victory.

Golden Pal's previous accolades include triumphs in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) at Keeneland and last year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Del Mar as only the sixth horse to win two different Breeders' Cup events. Additionally, he has now won a stakes race at the Spa for three years straight. A maiden-breaking winner of the 2020 Skidmore, he also captured last year's Quick Call (G3), both run at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Prior to the Troy, Golden Pal had won all of his races in gate-to-wire fashion. On Friday, he sat just off a swift pace set by the Graham Motion-trained True Valour and did just enough work to get the job done, dueling with the pacesetter and holding off a late rally by Thin White Duke.

“He had been training that way for quite some time from the onset when he came back here in his Turfway Park works earlier in the spring with [exercise rider] Julio [Garcia],” Ward said. “This gives us another option, especially moving forward with the Breeders' Cup and all the hot pace that will be in there. The fastest turf sprinters in the world will be there. This way, we aren't committed to the lead. I think both he learned a lot [on Friday], both the horse and Irad, about how he can do that.”

Ward said the Troy win was perhaps Golden Pal's biggest learning experience.

“Usually he's so quick and agile, he breaks so fast and moves like a cat the first few jumps out of there to where we're essentially committed to the lead,” Ward said. “But now he has other options now. If someone goes early, Irad can sit back and just ride his race instead of being committed to the front.”

After trying new tactics, Golden Pal could switch things up surface wise and is likely for the $300,000 Phoenix (G2) on October 7 over the dirt at Keeneland, where Ward is primarily based.

“Being a dirt sprint on his home track, which is Keeneland, he's trained there his whole life,” Ward said. “We're going to have a few workouts on the dirt in the coming weeks and that will tell the tale.”

The Phoenix – the oldest stakes race in North America, dating to 1831 – is a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” for the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), but Ward said he would be more likely to pursue a title defense in the Turf Sprint.

“I'd prefer to stick to the turf plan, but that will be discussed with Coolmore as we're getting the most important thing for the horse, which is stallion value. That's the reason for the Phoenix,” Ward said.

Despite winning by a slim margin, Ward said he was not the least bit concerned with Golden Pal due to his exceptional abilities.

“For me, just watching him and having so much confidence in his abilities, I just knew when they turned for home and he wasn't in behind horses or trapped or in trouble, that he had a clear run, I was very confident and I was just watching the last three-sixteenths of a mile unfold,” Ward said. “If it were another horse I would be grabbing on to my seat and screaming, but with him I was just watching it and taking it all in. Even though it was a small margin of victory, and Graham's horse ran a huge race, don't take anything away from him, I was pretty confident down lane.”

The next day, Ward visited the winner's circle following an upset victory from Chi Town Lady in the Longines Test (G1). The Joel Rosario-piloted Verrazano sophomore filly came from 11 lengths off the pace down the backstretch and gunned down graded stakes winner Hot Peppers and Grade 1-winner Matareya to secure her first graded stakes win.

Like Golden Pal, Chi Town Lady also changed tactics and conveyed a deep closing style in the seven-furlong Test. A winner of last year's Bolton Landing over turf at the Spa, Chi Town Lady showed tactical speed in some of her previous races.

“The filly ran a powerful race,” Ward said. “We had a plan going in. So often in racing, no matter what level of racing you're at, it's hard to win a race. To win a Grade 1 in a race like the Test, that's what everybody is here for.”

Ward said Chi Town Lady will likely train up to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint(G1)  on November 5 at Keeneland.

The post Golden Pal, Chi Town Lady Have Sights On Breeders’ Cup Following Tactics-Changing Graded Stakes Wins At Saratoga appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The South American mare Blue Stripe tracked a pair of leaders early, then went on by at the head of the stretch to register an impressive 1 3/4-length triumph in the $400,000 Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes Saturday at Del Mar.

The 5-year-old by the Argentinian stallion Equal Stripes out of an Argentinian mare named Blues for Sale ran the 1  1/16-miles on dirt in 1:42.97 under jockey Hector Berrios. She now shows two firsts and a second this year in stakes company under the training of Marcelo Polanco after she failed to make a dent in the Breeders' Cup Distaff field last November at Del Mar.

Finishing second in the headliner was H & E Ranch's Desert Dawn, who closed late to prove a head better than the race favorite, Flurry Racing Stables, et al's Shedaresthedevil, who went off at 4-5.

By winning the Hirsch, Blue Stripe becomes a “Win and You're In” victress and an automatic entrant – with all fees paid – to this year's $2-million Breeders' Cup Longines Distaff, which will be run at Keeneland in November.

Blue Stripe was a Group 1 winner in her native land in 2021, but the Hirsch was her first Grade 1 stateside tally. She now has six wins in 10 starts and with her $240,000 winner's share of Saturday's purse she pushed her earnings mark to $461,882.

Berrios, who is new to the Southern California racing circuit this season, was riding the bay mare for the first time.

Fractions for the race were :23.18, :46.82, 1:11.42 and 1:36.59.

The winner paid $12.60, $6.00 and $2.60.  Desert Dawn returned $6.20 and $2.40, while Shedaresthedevil paid $2.10 to show.

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HECTOR BERRIOS (Blue Stripe, winner) – “The race went exactly as we planned it. We wanted to sit behind the speed horses, then go get them late. She was running all the way. She was running well. Went we went past the half-mile (pole), we picked it up. She ran really well. She can run farther, too. I think she wants to run farther.”

MARCELO POLANCO (Blue Stripe, winner) – “We talked about where she's going to be because they scratched two horses and we had to change a little bit. We had her a little closer than we had before. Lucky everything worked. You know where we're going…Kenneland.”

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FRACTIONS:  :23.18  :46.82  1:11.42  1:36.59  1:42.97

The stakes win was the second of the meet for rider Berrios, but his first in the Clement L. Hirsch. He now has three stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the second of the meet for trainer Polanco, but his first in the Clement L. Hirsch. He now has five stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owners are Pozo de Luna, headed by Jose Cerillo of Lomas de Chapulpepec, Mexico.

The post Blue Stripe Upsets Shedaresthedevil In Clement L. Hirsch To Earn Breeders’ Cup Berth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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