Tag: Breeders’ Cup

The Charlie Bit Me Syndicate's Moss Tucker made it to back-to-back wins at The Curragh with a determined success on Sunday in the Al Basti Equiworld Flying Five Stakes (G1).

The 5-year-old son of Excelebration narrowly got the better of the Clive Cox-trained Get Ahead to win by a half-length at odds of 16-1. The victory earned the Ken Condon-trained 5-year-old an automatic berth into the $1-million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.

The Flying Five Stakes was one of two Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races to take place on the Sunday card, along with the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1), won by Fallen Angel.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 80 Graded/Group stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

After a dramatic start to the Flying Five Stakes, in which short-priced favorite Highfield Princess exited the stalls in awkward fashion, the field soon split into two groups. Moss Tucker was prominent throughout and, as the race entered the closing stages, the field soon came back together with the Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds-owned Equality leading to the furlong marker. Moss Tucker showed tremendous grit to first outbattle Equality before getting the better of Get Ahead at the finish. Equality finished 1¼-lengths back in third. Highfield Princess never threatened the leaders and finished fifth.

Moss Tucker, ridden by Billy Lee, was making just his second start at the top level having finished fifth in the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines (G1) last October in France.

He came into Sunday's race off a 2 1/4-length win in the six-furlong Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint Stakes (G3) on Aug. 12 at The Curragh.

Condon said: “It's been a great story with this horse, how he's progressed and kept improving. The heavens opened about an hour and a half before and you're thinking that's going to help us a little bit. He's the kind of horse you would want to be going into battle with. We were having a quiet time so to have a horse like him that can be competitive in these races, that's what we all get up for in the morning.”

Moss Tucker completed the five-furlong contest in a time of 1:00:89 on a course listed as good to soft.

Fallen Angel Gives Connections Day To Remember

Clipper Logistics-owned Fallen Angel followed up her win in the Aspall Cyder 1728 Sweet Solera Stakes (G3) to become a Group 1 winner Sunday with a fine performance in the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) for 2-year-old fillies. The victory earned Fallen Angel an automatic berth into the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).

After leading until the quarter pole, 6-5 favorite Ylang Ylang gave way to Fallen Angel and Vespertilio, with the duo quickly pulling clear of the field to produce a thrilling finish. However, it was the Karl Burke-trained filly who dug deepest on the run to the line and ultimately outstayed her rival to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Ornellaia finished 4 1/2 lengths back in third.

Winning jockey Danny Tudhope has ridden the daughter of Too Darn Hot on each of her last three starts and she was his second winner on a successful Irish Champions Weekend.

“She was very impressive. She keeps getting better and better all the time,” Tudhope said. “She's a beautiful big filly and is only going to improve. I'm absolutely delighted for her owner Steve (Parkin). Karl and the team work so hard and they deserve this. She's got a nice way about her in the way she goes about her game and she's very tough.”

Fallen Angel, the 9-4 favorite, completed the seven-furlong race in 1:27:50.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winners of the Challenge Series races to start at this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships. Breeders' Cup will also provide a travel allowance 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. 23 to receive the rewards.

The post BC ‘Win & You’re In’: Moss Tucker, Fallen Angel Land Group 1 Races In Ireland appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Get Smokin had things is own way Saturday at Kentucky Downs as he made all the pace and won $1.7-million FanDuel Kentucky Turf Cup (G2) in a tour de force performance

Under Fernando De La Cruz, the 6-year-old Get Stormy gelding trained by Mark Casse went to the front at the start and was pursued by Santin throughout. Into the stretch he dug in to notch clear victory by 1 3/3 lengths, covering 1 1/2 miles in 2:28.66. Get Smokin clocked all the fractions–:24 flat for the opening quarter mile, :49.61 for the half, 14.18 for six furlongs and 1:37.99 for the mile.

Sent away 19-1 odds, Get Smokin paid $41.14 and collected $$972,220 winner's share of the purse, lifting his lifetime purse earnings to $1,650,497.

In a race for second, Spooky Channel edged Santin by a head for the runner-up spot. Santin finished a nose in front of Red Knight in fourth while Verstappen was another half length back in fifth in the 12-horse field.

With the win, Get Smokin earned an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) Nov. 4 at Santa Anita as Saturday's race is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge 'Win and You're In' series.

The win was the sixth in 27 lifetime starts for Get Smokin, whose previous graded stakes victories were 2021 and 2022 editions of the Tampa Bay Stakes (G3), and 2020 Hill Prince (G2). He came into Saturday's race with a pair of runner-up finishes: the Arlington (G3) June 3 at Churchill Downs and Wise Dane (G2) July 1 at Ellis Park as well as a fourth in the KY Down Preview Turf Cup Aug. 6 at Ellis Park as his springboard to Saturday's dominating performance.

Get Smokin is campaigned by Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC, BlackRidge Stables LLC, T-N-T Equine Holdings LLC, and Saratoga Seven Partners LLC. Bred in Kentucky by Hurstland Farm and James Greene Jr., his dam is the Smoke Glacken mare Hookah Lady. Hurstland Farm offered him at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, where Mary A. Sullivan bought him for $11,000.

Kentucky Turf Cup Quotes

Trainer Mark Casse, 1st, Get Smokin (by phone from Lexington) – “It really worked out good. I have to hand it to Harlan (Harlan Malter, managing partner of Ironhorse Racing Stable, co-owner). It was his idea and you know, sometimes you have to step out o the box and be willing to do it. What a horse he is! We have had him a couple of years and he is something. He gives you everything he has every time he runs. I knew he was in a good rhythm. Fernando rode him perfectly.

“I am excited for the owners but I am more excited for the horse.

“Going to the lead, that was the strategy. That's the way he runs. We felt we would establish a big lead and hope that everyone else would think he could not go that far. Guess what? He did. I am almost speechless. I watched him and he kept on running. Larry (track announcer Collmus) kept saying 'They might not catch him.' I have always said that a mile and a half is a differently run race. I see a lot of horses that can not go that far.”

“I have often told Harlan that he is the craziest owner I train for. But this was not a crazy idea.

“I don't know what is next. I just want to enjoy this one. We'll talk to Harlan and the rest of the owners. We want to enjoy this. It's a great win for a really good horse who gives you everything.”

Jason Barkley, trainer, runner-up Spooky Channel: “He tried every  inch of the way. He ran a big race. I thought I would (run down the winner). He just kept trying (but) the track has been favoring speed. James did a good job getting to the rail, which is the best part of the track today. Ran big. Very proud of him.”

Note: Barkley is leaving training to pursue other endeavors in horse racing. Asked when he's leaving, he said, “Well, I guess after he's done running. I guess we'll have one more stop on the farewell tour.”

Trainer Brendan Walsh, 3rd, Santin, 5th Verstappen  – “That is the way the track has been playing all day, really. It played out exactly the way I thought it would and my two were right behind him the whole way. We have no excuses. You can't take anything away from the winner. He ran his race and we didn't get him.”

Fernando De La Cruz, 1st Get Smokin (winning his first $1 million+ race): “We talked with Harlan and Mark. (They said) “just take him to the lead and see what happens.” It's a mile and a half, a long way to go. But the horse is a really nice horse. He just kept going, kept going. Thanks to God I got it done.”

(Does he ride much for Mark?) “Not really. The owner, I went with him in 2018 to the Breeders' Cup. That's the reason I got (the mount).”

Co-owner Harlan Malter (Get Smokin): “He's an absolute dream to own. He just lays it out for you every single time. I think he was just screaming for the humans to come up with a plan for him. We made a plan. Fernando won two Grade 2s for us on Bucchero, and we knew he was the man for the job. Watching the race, he did it to a tee. Look, I give it all to the horse, Mark, David. They've done an unbelievable job with the horse. The horse is just thriving. I said I want to run in this race, and Mark said to me, 'You're one of my crazier owners. This idea, I don't think is that crazy.' So I'm glad I have a trainer who is willing to listen to some of my crazy ideas.”

“We bought him and said he's a really good miler, a pretty good mile and a sixteenth horse. We got to figure out what he's great at. So we went to Dubai, went six furlongs. That didn't work out really well. So we said, 'well there's probably another distance to him.' We brought him back this year. Look, he's a horse that gets caught late. So you think if you keep stretching him out farther, it's going to be even harder for him to get it. We looked at it the opposite way: We just needed this horse to be able to do what he does best. He gallops at a very high rate of speed, and he has a huge heart. We actually were kind of forcing him to do things he couldn't do, meaning we were letting him stay too close, and the guys who could close on him were closing on him.

“We looked at this race. We wanted to test out at Ellis (in the 1 1/4 prep). Even though we ran fourth, we were happy. He ran a similar figure to what he was running at a mile and a sixteenth. We were all systems go. We kind of came up with the idea to have Fernando. We made a very specific plan, and it's amazing how well Fernando executed it.

“Look, they discounted him. Because he hadn't made it. I saw the handicappers, 'Well, he couldn't make it a mile and a quarter, how is he going to make it a mile and a half.' This horse just has a huge heart, carved out fractions that were workable for him, and they weren't going to catch him.”

(So now he's going to the Breeders' Cup) “Yeah. I will say this: We were not expecting to go to the Breeders' Cup and the Breeders' Cup Turf even 30 days ago. But as we got closer to this race, David Carroll, Mark's assistant at Churchill, his wife (Kim) who does a tremendous amount of work on him, every time I called they said how well he was doing. To have a 6-year-old horse in this type of form and doing this well, David said, 'Look, all I can tell you is he's doing unbelievable. Let's go for the whole thing.' We'd love to get back to the Breeders' Cup. The horse deserves that kind of attention. Obviously a very, very tough race to do it your second time going that difference in the Breeders' Cup.

“This is the biggest race we've ever won.”

(What are you thinking at the finish?) “Sometimes I sit there and I think I'm almost frozen, because you almost don't want to jinx it.  You're watching the plan come to fruition, watching the horse give absolutely everything. I really probably didn't move until he was one stride (from the finish) and no one was going to catch him. You can hear my voice. I may not be speaking a lot tomorrow. To have a horse like this that just shows up every day and runs, it's just a privilege. It's why we own horses.”

The post Get Smokin Dominates For 19-1 Kentucky Turf Cup Upset, Secures Breeders’ Cup Turf Berth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Calumet Farm homebred Gear Jockey fought out a thrilling finish to spring a 23-1 surprise in the $1-million Ainsworth Turf Sprint (G2) at Kentucky Downs and earned his second victory in the race Saturday.

The 6-year-old son of Twirling Candy scored comfortably by 2 ½ lengths in the 2021 edition of the six-furlong contest but needed every inch of the stretch this year to win by head from favorite One Timer.

Ridden by Jose Lezcano for trainer Rusty Arnold, Gear Jockey returned $23.30 after finishing the trip in 1:10.59.

Pacesetter Bad Beat Brian finished third, a neck behind One Timer.

With the victory, Gear Jockey earned an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) in November at Santa Anita via the Breeders' Cup Challenge 'Win and You're In' series.

With the $589,680 winner's share of the purse, Gear Jockey's lifetime earnings increased to $1,586,651. His overall record stands at 5-2-6 from 24 starts. His dam is the Tapit mare Switching Gears.

Ainsworth Turf Sprint Quotes

Trainer Rusty Arnold, 1st, Gear Jockey – “We're pretty happy. He's a favorite. I thought he had lost his edge. He's had his issues and we thought we had him in pretty good shape. He loves this course. Two times he's won on it, so obviously he does. Great ride. Very happy.”

How did you have the confidence to try him here? “We had this horse in at Ellis to get him ready We got him down there and were ready to go. It was a beautiful day, but the sprinklers had been left on all night so we couldn't run him.

Then we were scrambling and I don't think he got to Virginia (where he was sixth in the Van Clief Stakes July 22 in his first starts since Nov. 25) the right way. It was a disaster. Then we just pointed for here. He had three really, really good works.

“We thought we had him right, but there is a way of being fit and there is racing fit. Everybody else has been running and we've been on the shelf with one start in a year basically.”

“He's had his issues. You get him over here without his issues and you've got a different horse. Each time he ran one of those there was a reason for it. We tried to give him the winter off and get him right. The only one we kind of scratched our head on was the last race in Virginia because we thought we had him good enough to run a good race. We knew we were coming here. But he didn't run at all. We had shipped down the day before and nothing went right. Everything went right for this one.”

“He won kind of the same way two years ago. We wanted to run here last year. We missed it. It's nice to get him back.”

Jockey Jose Lezcano, 1st, Gear Jockey – “He broke very sharp. He gave me the same race he gave me two years ago when he won here (2021 Turf Sprint). To be honest with you, I knew it was going to be very close. At first, I thought the other horse (One Timer) got me. I thought he got me in the last bob and I was like (clenches his teeth). I really didn't know. Sometimes you know. The angle here is different so it's hard to know. I was very happy for the horse. He is a tough horse and he tries all the time. I am very happy for Rusty and his whole team. They work very hard.”

Trainer Larry Rivelli, 2nd, One Timer – “He likes this track. We'll see him next year. Same race. That's what we're going to do. We'll run him in the Breeders' Cup and give him some time off.

Were you compromised by not getting to the lead right away? “The other horse, Bad Beat Brian, caught a flyer. We've ran against him several times and we've been in front of him. There's nothing you can do. He just got us. Baird knows the horse well enough that he let him settle in.”

Jockey E. T. Baird, 2nd, One Timer – “I thought I got there. He ran good. They out footed me the first part so I just conceded and held him together. I didn't know at the wire. I knew it was going to be close. He ran hard.”

The post Gear Jockey Lands KY Downs’ Turf Sprint For Second Time In Thriller, Earns Breeders’ Cup Berth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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