Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Following the third week of voting, Hronis Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Summer Wind Equine LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing LLC's Flightline remains at No. 1 in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, with Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) winner Olympiad moving into second place. The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings is a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 5.

The 4-year-old Flightline, a six-length winner of the Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park on June 11, earned 269 votes. Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable LLC, and LNJ Foxwoods' 4-year-old Olympiad, undefeated in five starts this year, improved from third to second place this week, registering 217 votes. CHC, Inc. and WinStar Farm LLC's 4-year-old Life Is Good, winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in January and the John A. Nerud Stakes (G2) on July 2, drops from second place to third with 210 votes.

The next six places in the rankings remain unchanged from last week.

Country Grammer, owned by Commonwealth Thoroughbreds, LLC, WinStar Farm LLC, and Zedan Racing Stables, Inc., is in fourth place. Winner of the Dubai World Cup (G1), Country Grammer has 180 votes. Boat Racing, LLC, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss' 4-year-old Hot Rod Charlie, second in the Dubai World Cup, is in fifth place with 126 votes.

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Epicenter leads a trio of 3-year-olds for positions six through eight. Epicenter, who finished second in both the Kentucky Derby (G1) and the Preakness Stakes (G1), is in sixth with 94 votes, and is followed by Klaravich Stables Inc.'s Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting (76 votes), and Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud, and Peter Brant's undefeated Jack Christopher, who has 65 votes.

CRK Stable LLC's 5-year-old Express Train, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), is in ninth place with 48 votes. CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm LLC's 4-year-old Americanrevolution (44 votes), second in the Stephen Foster, rounds out the top 10.

Jeff Drown's 3-year-old Zandon, winner of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, drops to 12th place after being tied for 10th last week.

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings poll is determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 11. A list of voting members can be found here.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – July 12, 2022*

*Note – The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

The post Flightline Maintains Lead In Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The roadmap for Grade 2 winner Simplification's summer and fall campaign will involve stops in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, co-owner Tami Bobo said Tuesday while shopping for horses at the Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale.

Bobo, who owns Simplification in partnership with Tristan de Meric, said the 3-year-old Not This Time colt will make one prep start before entering the G1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 24 at Parx Racing. If that effort is satisfactory, Simplification will target either the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile or Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 5.

Simplification has been based at Gulfstream Park with trainer Antonio Sano, preparing for his return start after finishing sixth in the Preakness Stakes on May 21. He finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier.

After the Preakness, Simplification spent some time at Bobo's First Finds Farm in Ocala, Fla., but the owner said the colt made it clear he didn't want to be on the bench for long.

“He ate sweet potatoes by the pound,” Bobo said. “He had three weeks of sweet potatoes, and decided he was ready to go back into training, so unfortunately, we couldn't give him as long a break as anticipated.”

Simplification turned in the first timed breeze of his comeback on July 2 at Gulfstream Park, covering four furlongs in :50.75.

Once again, Bobo said the colt forced the issue.

“That was just kind of him last week,” she said. “He's a hard horse, and he loves to train, so you've got to let him do something.”

Bobo said Simplification's first serious breeze will take place later this week, then he will ship to Parx to train locally for the Pennsylvania Derby. His return start will likely come in the G3 Smarty Jones Stakes on Aug. 23 at Parx to serve as a local prep for the Grade 1, but Bobo said the the G3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer on Aug. 6 was also under consideration for his prep start.

As for the Breeders' Cup, Bobo said the connections would place Simplification strategically, based on where other looming figures in the class decided to settle.

“I think Jack Christopher's going to dictate a lot of what we do,” she said. “I'm going to let Jack Christopher tell me where we need to be.”

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The Brazilian born Ivar and jockey Joe Talamo made a big move in the final turn to rally home for the win in the $100,000 Jonathan Schuster Memorial Saturday, July 9 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The six-year-old turf specialist scored his first win of 2022 in his first outing after taking the winter off.

Talamo has ridden the horse exclusively as he's traveled from the Midwest to the West Coast. They teamed up for a win in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland in the fall of 2020. They took six months off before making three starts last year, including a third place finish in the $2 million Breeders Cup Mile last fall, their last start before the Schuster Memorial.

Ivar got away in mid-pack and sat patiently as Somelikeithotbrown and Rafael Bejarano set the pace up front. Gray's Fable continued to stalk for Jockey Michaelle Michel through most of the one and one-sixteenth mile turf before Talamo made his move in the turn.

Just a couple of suggestions and Ivar was off to the races, gobbling up ground with every stride into the stretch. From there he was able to get a good final eighth put together and got the win by a length over Cavalry Charge and David Cohen, who closed for second. Somelikeithotbrown maintained ground for third.

“This poor horse, I mean, when he runs, he runs so hard,” said Talamo. “He's one of those you wish you could get about six, seven races a year. All the credit goes to Paulo Lobo and his team. Every time this horse runs, he has him A+ ready to go. No difference today. It set up well for us. They had a good pace, but I was loaded the whole way and just tried to get him a good trip around there.”

Ivar, the favorite of the field, paid $4.40 for the win. The son of Agnes Gold is owned by Bonne Chance Farm and Stud Rio Dois Irmaos of Brazil. Paulo Lobo handles the training duties for Ivar. Lobo noted coming into the race off an eight and one-half month layoff was okay for the stable standout, who moved just under the $1 million mark in earnings for his connections.

“We were ready to run at Churchill Downs the day of the Derby (G1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic),” said Lobo. “He had a minor problem in the left front foot and we needed to stop on him a little bit. Then we were pointing for the Wise Dan (G2 July 2) and then the grass at Churchill Downs, they canceled the race. I was glad we got some rain yesterday. He's a very good horse. He overcame a lot of things this year. He deserved this.”

Ivar began his career in Argentina, winning all three of his starts, including two Grade 1 stakes before venturing to the United States. With only 12 career starts, he has now won half and has competed in the last two Breeders Cup Turf Mile events, finishing third and fourth.

“After the Breeders' Cup, we gave him the winter,” added Lobo. “Our main goal this year is the Breeders' Cup again. We need to pick his spots correctly to give the horse a chance to perform well at the Breeders' Cup. He's a very nice horse. This was not an easy race. I was very worried. Very worried. I came here even-money favorite, very worried.”

The next start for Ivar is still undecided, but a stepping stone toward the Breeders Cup could be the $1 million WinStar Mint Million Mile, a Grade 3 event at Kentucky Downs.

Ivar was the 13th winner of the Schuster Memorial, named after former vice president and general manager at Horseshoe Indianapolis Jon Schuster, who passed away in 2019. The race was renamed at that time to honor Schuster, who led the team through the first 17 years of operations. Jon's daughters, Rachel and Abi, were trackside to present the trophy to the connections of Ivar.

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