Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Friday’s Speakeasy At Santa Anita To Offer Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Slot

An impressive first-out winner on dirt, Richard Mandella's Forbidden Kingdom merits top billing on grass in Friday's $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes at Santa Anita which has attracted a field of seven juveniles, including three fillies.  To be contested at five furlongs on turf, the Speakeasy is a Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” Challenge Race qualifier to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

A chestnut colt by American Pharoah, out of the Five Star Day mare Just Louise, Forbidden Kingdom was purchased for $300,000 out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Selected Yearlings Showcase Sale and is owned by MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm, LLC.  With a solid 79 Beyer Speed Figure in-hand, Forbidden Kingdom will hope to act on turf as well with Juan Hernandez back in the saddle.

A Chicago mainstay, jockey E.T. Baird will be back aboard the speedy One Timer, who is trained by Larry Rivelli and will be making his Southern California debut.  A Kentucky-bred gelding by Trappe Shot, One Timer comes off a pair of impressive sprint wins over synthetic surfaces.  A first-out 12 ½ length open maiden winner going five furlongs at Arlington Park June 26, One Timer, who is owned by Richard Raven and Patricia's Hope, LLC, then sped to a 3 ¾ length score in an ungraded stakes going 5 ½ furlongs at Woodbine July 31.

With five Arlington Park works over synthetic since winning in Canada, One Timer, who has registered Beyer Speed figs of 80 in both of his starts, can be expected to handle turf and if so, rates a big chance in a race that could set him up for Breeders' Cup stardom.

Owner Gary Barber's Time to Party, a chestnut gelding by Kantharos, comes off a 1 ½ length maiden win going five furlongs on turf as the 3-5 favorite on Sept. 2 and figures to attract ample pari-mutuel attention.  Trained by Peter Miller, Time to Party has shown plenty of speed in two starts, his first a narrow second place finish under the same conditions Aug. 1.

With Flavien Prat back aboard, Time to Party, who was purchased for a modest $72,000 at the 2020 Ocala Breeders' Sale Company Winter Mixed Sale, is based at San Luis Rey Downs and will hope to step forward for his high percentage connections on Friday.

Of the three fillies entered, Wesley Ward's turf stakes winning Miss Alacrity rates the best chance in what will be her third start.  A New York-bred by Munnings, she was a 10 length first-out winner versus statebreds going five furlongs on dirt at Belmont Park May 20 and came back at even money to drill open fillies going five furlongs on turf in an ungraded stakes Aug. 1 at Monmouth Park.  She'll be ridden by John Velazquez, who was aboard for the maiden win.

The remaining fillies are the Bob Hess, Jr. conditioned Blame It On Rose, a maiden $32,000 claiming winner two starts back who then took a first condition allowance going six furlongs on dirt Aug. 28 at Del Mar and Rock the Belles, a $2,000 supplemental entrant.  Trained by Luis Mendez, Rock the Belles was an impressive first-out maiden $150,000 claiming winner versus fillies Aug. 14 and was then well beaten in the Grade I Del Mar Debutante Sept. 5.

$100,000 SPEAKEASY STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS
IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 5 of 9 Approximate post time 3 p.m. PT

  1. Rock the Belles—Edwin Maldonado—115
  2. One Timer—E.T. Baird—122
  3. Anmer Hall—Joel Rosario—118
  4. Forbidden Kingdom—Juan Hernandez—118
  5. Miss Alacrity—John Velazquez—119
  6. Blame It On Rose—Drayden Van Dyke—115
  7. Time to Party—Flavien Prat—118

The Speakeasy is one of four stakes on a nine-race program Friday, opening day of Santa Anita's 16-day Autumn Meet which concludes on Oct. 31.  For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

The post Friday’s Speakeasy At Santa Anita To Offer Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Slot appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Debutante Winner Grace Adler Tops Field Of Seven In Friday’s Chandelier

A runaway winner of her lone Grade 1 assignment to date, Bob Baffert's Grace Adler heads a field of seven two-year fillies going a mile and one sixteenth in the Grade 2, $200,000 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita this Friday. A Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” Challenge Race qualifier, the Chandelier winner will earn a fees-paid berth to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

A heavily favored first-out maiden winner going five furlongs July 31, Grace Adler, a $700,000 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase purchase, came back to blitz seven rivals going seven furlongs at odds of 4-1 in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante Sept. 5, thus cementing her role as the Chandelier favorite.

Owned by Willow Grace Farm and Michael Lund Petersen, Grace Adler has rallied from off the pace in both of her wins and seems well suited to the stretch-out in distance with regular rider Flavien Prat back aboard. Out of the Newfoundland mare Our Khrysty, she's banked $222,000.

Second to Grace Adler in the Del Mar Debutante, trainer Mark Glatt's Dance to the Music was a runaway 4 ¾ length first-out maiden winner going 5 ½ furlongs and will retain the services of Abel Cedillo. Owned by Red Baron's Barn, LLC and Rancho Temescal, Dance to the Music, a Kentucky-bred filly by Maclean's Music, was purchased for $575,000 out of the 2021 Ocala Breeders' Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training this past April.

Baffert will also be represented by Censorship, who is owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. Although winless in three starts, she stumbled badly leaving the gate as the even money favorite in her most recent assignment, a one mile maiden race on Aug. 26, finishing second, beaten 4 ¼ lengths by Desert Dawn, who she'll again face on Friday.

Trainer Phil D'Amato will be sending out a three talented fillies in the Chandelier, headed by Elm Drive, who was a game head winner of the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes two starts back on Aug. 6 and who comes off a disappointing seventh following a rough start in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante. Owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Elm Drive won her first start going five furlongs by eight lengths and earned a lofty 85 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Sorrento. She'll try two turns for the first time and be ridden for the fourth consecutive time by Juan Hernandez.

D'Amato's Desert Dawn rallied nicely under Ricky Gonzalez to break her maiden in what was her second start at odds of 6-1. With the one mile win to her credit, this Arizona-bred filly by Cupid is owned by her breeders, the H & E Ranch.

D'Amato will also saddle first-out winner Ain't Easy, who pressed the early pace and opened up through the lane to win going 5 ½ furlongs by 5 ¼ lengths on Aug. 21 at Del Mar. A $400,000 Keeneland September Yearling, Ain't Easy, who was dismissed at 8-1 in her debut, is owned by Old Bones Racing Stable, LLC, Michael Lombardi and Joey Platts.

THE GRADE 2 CHANDELIER STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 6 of 9 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

  1. Electric Ride—Joe Bravo—122
  2. Ain't Easy—Joel Rosario–122
  3. Dance to the Music—Abel Cedillo—122
  4. Grace Adler—Flavien Prat—122
  5. Desert Dawn—Ricky Gonzalez—122
  6. Elm Drive—Juan Hernandez—122
  7. Censorship—John Velazquez–122

The Chandelier is one of four stakes on Friday's opening day program. For additional information, please visit Santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

The post Debutante Winner Grace Adler Tops Field Of Seven In Friday’s Chandelier appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Baffert-Trained Rockefeller Headlines Friday’s ‘Win And You’re In’ American Pharoah Stakes

Bob Baffert's talented first-out winner Rockefeller heads a promising group of seven two-year-olds going a mile and one sixteenth in Friday's Grade 1, $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita. Renamed in 2018 for Baffert's 2015 Triple Crown winner, the American Pharoah is a Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” Challenge Race qualifier to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

A $750,000 Keeneland September yearling, Rockefeller was a most impressive first-out winner going six furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 28, winning by 2 ¼ lengths under Abel Cedillo, who rides him back on Friday. A bay colt by Medaglia d'Oro out of the Speightstown mare Dance to Bristol, Rockefeller is owned by SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, LLC, et al. A winner of a record five previous runnings, Baffert would appear to be well positioned to notch his sixth American Pharoah win.

Another talented first-out winner, Forbidden Kingdom, rates a big shot in the American Pharoah as well. Trained by Richard Mandella, this chestnut colt by American Pharoah out of the Five Star Day mare Just Louise, broke sharply and took control early on his way to a half length score going 5 ½ furlongs on Aug. 21 at Del Mar. Purchased for $300,000 out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, Forbidden Kingdom is owned by Spendthrift Farm and MyRacehorse and will be ridden back by Juan Hernandez.

Pappacap, a winner of the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes in his second start and Finneus, who finished fourth and second respectively in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs Sept. 6, both merit strong consideration. California-bred Joker Boy, the likely speed in the race, comes off a smashing 3 ½ length score in the statebred I'm Smokin Stakes at six furlongs and will have theft on his mind with Edwin Maldonado up.

THE GRADE 1 AMERICAN PHAROAH WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT

  1. Corniche—Mike Smith—122
  2. Flying Drummer—John Velazquez–122
  3. Finneus—Tiago Pereira—122
  4. Oviatt Class—Kent Desormeaux—122
  5. Joker Boy—Edwin Maldonado—122
  6. Rockefeller—Flavien Prat—122
  7. Pappacap—Joe Bravo–122

First post time for a nine-race program on Friday is at 1 p.m. For additional information, please visit Santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

The post Baffert-Trained Rockefeller Headlines Friday’s ‘Win And You’re In’ American Pharoah Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Week in Review: Does the Path to the Classic Run Through Parx

It was 35 years ago this weekend that Broad Brush bolted to the outside fence at the top of the stretch while on a clear lead in the Pennsylvania Derby, then amazingly re-rallied to claw back the lead for an improbable win.

They've long since rebranded Philadelphia Park to Parx, added a racino, and been awarded an upgrade of that track's premier stakes from Grade II to Grade I. But history tends to repeat, and that same quirky spot at the quarter pole proved eerily enigmatic yet again on Saturday, this time for Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), whose momentum exceeded his maneuverability while spinning out of the final bend in the Pennsylvania Derby.

His arch-rival, Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), got cast adrift toward the crown of the course by “Chuck's” sudden centrifugal impulse. But both colts were back into stride within a few jumps of straightening into the lane, storming home through a :12.83 final eighth in which Hot Rod Charlie incrementally widened to a winning margin of 2 1/4 lengths at the wire. He earned the highest Beyer Sped Figure (111) by any 3-year-old this season in a two-turn race.

The drama (foul claim, inquiry, no DQ) generated by these two sophomores at Parx certainly wasn't the perilous sort supplied by their stretch run of the GI Befair.com Haskell S. July 17, when Hot Rod Charlie shifted in and caused Midnight Bourbon to clip heels and dislodge his jockey, who escaped serious injury. Chuck's abrupt lane changing that afternoon did result in his number coming down at Monmouth Park, so his Pennsylvania Derby score registered as the colt's first Grade I win.

Prior to Saturday, Hot Rod Charlie had been edged out in his only other three Grade I attempts: he was second, beaten three-quarters of a length at 94-1 in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile; third, beaten one length in the Kentucky Derby; then second, beaten 1 1/4 lengths in the Belmont S. Two of those Grade I defeats were gallant tries behind the formidable divisional leader, the 8-for-9 lifetime 'TDN Rising Star' and juvenile champ Essential Quality (Tapit).

Now that the year's final Grade I dirt route for straight 3-year-olds has been run, those two loom as the top sophomores aiming for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Since the year 2000, seven 3-year-olds have defeated older horses in the Classic. Do the colts in this year's crop have a shot at knocking off older divisional stalwarts like Knicks Go (Paynter) and Maxfield (Street Sense)?

Essential Quality certainly rates as the most professional Classic aspirant among the 3-year-olds. This athletic gray always looks comfortable while on the prowl in his ever-dangerous stalk mode, and he has the ability to unleash an overdriven, deep-stretch torque that is not so much a sensational burst of power as a crushingly blunt display of sustained intensity. This is evident in Essential Quality's margins of victory. He doesn't win races by running up the score by many lengths. Rather, this colt knows what is required and simply does it, relishing the challenge of protracted stretch fights.

In the GI Runhappy Travers S., Essential Quality and Midnight Bourbon brushed and battled in determined lockstep through a final quarter mile clocked in an astoundingly fast :23.15 (the fastest two furlongs of that stakes in at least three decades). One concern is that back in April, when Essential Quality won the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. after another demanding stretch scrap (final eighth in :12.53), the effort seemed to sap him for the Kentucky Derby four weeks later, resulting in his only lifetime loss. This time around after a hard race, Essential Quality will train for the 10 weeks leading up to the Classic–meaning the concern now becomes too much of a time gap between starts.

Hot Rod Charlie, on the other hand, still gives the impression of a work in progress. This is not necessarily a knock against him. In fact, it suggests there is still a vein of raw talent beneath the surface that has yet to be fully mined and polished for optimal performance.

Chuck is a consistent speed horse who neither shies from adversity nor requires being on the lead to run effectively. Early in his career, it was easy to stamp him as an outlandish longshot who got lucky by cashing in on a spent speed duel, giving Essential Quality a brief scare in the Breeders' Cup. But after his breakthrough win in the GII Louisiana Derby (in which he gamely repulsed the repeated challenges of Midnight Bourbon) and a Kentucky Derby third (where, for a tantalizing moment in upper stretch, it looked as if Chuck had a chance to reel in the leaders), this colt's ability crystalized into a more reliable commodity.

Hot Rod Charlie still hasn't figured out how to seamlessly fuse the high-impact speed of his older brother (2019 sprint champ Mitole) with the no-nonsense staying power of his sire (Oxbow, the gutsy victor of the 2013 GI Preakness S.). But a bet on Chuck in the Classic will be a wager predicated on this colt being able to produce a performance that exceeds what we've already seen from him (and his peers) up to this point.

Medina Spirit (Protonico), the Kentucky Derby winner, had been entered in the Pennsylvania Derby but was withdrawn by trainer Bob Baffert earlier in the week based on tactical concerns over getting stuck with post position nine. Instead, the colt will start in the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita Oct. 2. That nine-furlong start will come against 3-year-olds and up, but the field size is sure to be more to Baffert's liking. In the past three runnings, it has featured only five and six (twice) starters.

Medina Spirit–purchased for $1,000 at OBSWIN and $35,000 at OBSOPN–began the year far down the depth chart of Baffert's then-deep roster of 3-year-olds. It took two races before a mid-March operation to fix an entrapped epiglottis yielded positive results on the racetrack, but Medina Spirit's all-business, half-length Derby victory was accomplished under continuous pressure through the fastest final two Derby furlongs in a decade.

For certain, the ongoing saga over the colt's still-not-adjudicated betamethasone positive in the Derby and the subsequent banishment (and attempted banishment) of Baffert from major racing circuits has overshadowed Medina Spirit for the past four months. But he's still a plucky overachiever who outruns expectations. After a flat third in the Preakness, Medina Spirit won his late-summer comeback start, a wire job in the Shared Belief S. at Del Mar Aug. 29. He was hustled to the lead and continually hounded in that race, yet found another gear in the stretch as the competition withered behind him.

'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) ran his record to 4-for-5 Saturday at Belmont Park with what amounted to a “public workout” win at 1-20 odds in the GII Kelso H. (just four horses started and only three finished). The former Baffert trainee was the early Derby favorite until he got sidelined in March with an ankle chip (since surgically repaired).

Now trained by Todd Pletcher, Life Is Good could be a fascinating Classic inclusion. But having never raced beyond 1 1/16 miles at this stage of the season, Pletcher has indicated that the GI Dirt Mile could be the more realistic Breeders' Cup option.

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