Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Klaravich Stables' multiple graded stakes-winner McKulick will attempt her second graded stakes win this summer at Saratoga Race Course in Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl, a 1 3/8-mile inner turf test for older fillies and mares.

The Flower Bowl, slated as Race 3, offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and is one of four stakes on Saturday's loaded 12-race card, co-featuring the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup in Race 11, the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress in Race 5 and the $150,000 Harvey Pack in Race 8. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

McKulick enters from a determined neck score in the Grade 2 Glens Fall on August 3 for four-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Chad Brown, claiming the victory from 4 1/2 lengths off the pace under regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. The daughter of Frankel was fourth at the top of the lane, but showed a tremendous turn of foot to sweep past multiple Grade 1-winning multimillionaire War Like Goddess in the final yards and complete the course in 2:27.05. She was awarded a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“She looks good,” said Brown, who pursues a record-extending eighth Flower Bowl victory and second consecutive after sending out Virginia Joy to capture last year's running. “I've been really happy with her training and we penciled this in right after that race [the Glens Falls]. She seems to run well at Saratoga.”

The consistent McKulick is 2-for-3 lifetime at Saratoga, beginning with a win on debut traveling 1 1/16 miles in August 2021. She returned to the Spa the next summer to finish second in the Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational in between victories in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in June and the Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational in September at Belmont at the Big A, the latter her only start at the Flower Bowl distance.

“She's come around and was a little slow to come into form this year, but now I think she's doing better than ever,” said Brown. “She needed a little more fitness and such, and this time of year, she's at her best physically. She's carrying the most weight I've seen her carry and she's really loving the summer. I think it's leading to her success.”

A winner at all three NYRA tracks, McKulick also earned Grade 1 placings when a closing second to stablemate Gina Romantica in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in October at Keeneland and third in the New York in June at Belmont. She has banked over $2.1 million in total purse earnings through an 11-4-4-2 record.

Ortiz, Jr. retains the mount from post 2.

Trainer Christophe Clement will be represented by two contenders in Moyglare Stud Farm's Amazing Grace [post 4, Joel Rosario] and West Point Thoroughbreds and Dream With Me Stable's Parnac [post 1, Dylan Davis].

Amazing Grace is in search of her first win since taking the Grade 3 Orchid in April at Gulfstream Park for her North American debut after beginning her career in France and Germany with trainer Waldemar Hickst. The German-bred daughter of Protectionist closed from seven lengths off the pace to run down her rivals in deep stretch of the 1 1/2-mile Orchid, securing a half-length score that produced a 98 Beyer.

The chestnut mare finished fourth in both the 1 3/8-mile Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay and two-mile Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup before a last-out third-place finish with a troubled trip in the Glens Falls behind McKulick. There, she raced on the inside under Tyler Gaffalione and was checked at the three-eighths pole, causing her to lose substantial ground and fall seven lengths back of the pace after coming within 2 1/2 lengths of the front at the one-mile call. Despite her troubled trip, Amazing Grace dug in down the lane and got up in time for show honors by a head over Sopran Basilea.

“She's doing very well and she was unfortunately a victim of her last trip,” said Miguel Clement, son and assistant to Christophe Clement. “She checked on the inside of McKulick and it cost her a couple of lengths. Nevertheless, I think she ran a great race and she's trained forwardly since then, so I'm looking forward to the race.”

Clement added that a cutback from the two-mile Belmont Gold Cup to the 1 1/2-mile Glens Falls was appreciated by Amazing Grace, who was a dual Group 2-winner in Germany going 1 1/4 miles and 1 1/2 miles, respectively.

“She's an honest, hard-knocking filly and I believe if anything she's really hitting her best stride at the moment, so we're expecting a better performance,” said Clement. “She'll like the cutback here and she looked like a winner at the top of the stretch in the Gold Cup, but she didn't get the distance. I think this mile-and-three-eighths or mile-and-a-half will really be her ball game.”

Parnac, a 4-year-old Zarak bay, finished a close third in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial last out on July 1 at Delaware Park, defeated just three-quarter lengths in a tight finish with the victorious Sopran Basilea and her runner-up stablemate Ever Summer. She visited the winner's circle two starts back in a second-level optional claimer going the Flower Bowl distance on June 11 at Belmont, capturing a neck triumph from off the pace under Flavien Prat.

The Flower Bowl will be Parnac's third try at 1 3/8 miles after making her first six stateside starts at distances of one-mile or 1 1/16 miles. She was a stakes-winner sprinting seven furlongs in Germany in October 2021, taking Hannover's Grosser Preis der Mehl-Mulhens-Stiftung.

Amazing Grace and Parnac breezed in company over Saratoga's Oklahoma turf training course on Thursday, covering a bullet five-eighths in 1:02.66.

“She's training well and both did it effortlessly, both helping each other,” said Clement. “I think the extra distance has shown her a new dimension this year. She went a mile and three-eighths at Belmont and then she ran in the stake at Delaware, and I thought those were her two best performances to date. She should relish the distance. We've always liked her.”

Completing the field is Andrew Rosen and Linda Shanahan's Tamarama [post 3, Javier Castellano], who is cross-entered in a 1 1/16-mile allowance on Friday at the Spa. Trained by Jack Sisterson, the daughter of Muhaarar looks to make her North American debut after finishing a distant 15th in a handicap on June 21 at Ascot for previous conditioner Ralph Beckett. Tamarama is a four-time winner in her native Great Britain, led by a three-quarter-length handicap triumph traveling one-mile in June at Kempton.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

The post McKulick Looks For Spa Double In Saturday’s Flower Bowl appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Godolphin's Grade 1 winner Proxy will make his Empire State debut in Saturday's 105th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup going 10 furlongs for 3-year-olds and upward at Saratoga Race Course.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a “Win And You're In” qualifier, offering an automatic entry into the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 4 at Santa Anita.

Proxy, a son of Tapit, is a six-time winner over four different ovals and enters from a victory in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on July 22 going nine furlongs, where he led from start-to-finish.

The 5-year-old bay horse established clear command entering the turn before being pressed by multiple graded stakes-placed Calibrate to his outside down the backstretch. Around the far turn, the pair was joined by Whelen Springs, who was three wide nearing the quarter pole as Calibrate began to drop out of contention. Whelen Springs had dead aim on Proxy in mid-stretch, but the latter had enough left to kick clear to a 2 1/2-length triumph. Whelen Springs exited that effort to capture the Grade 3 Phillip H. Iselin on August 19 at Monmouth Park.

Proxy's Monmouth Cup conquest came two starts following an off-the-pace win in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 22, where he defeated multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Last Samurai and Grade 1-winner Stilleto Boy. Trainer Michael Stidham praised his talented earner of $2,024,970 for being able to switch things up tactically at Monmouth.

“He showed some versatility and showed us that he can adapt to the pace whatever it may be,” Stidham said. “Those are things that earlier in his career he wasn't able to do. It gives us a little more confidence that if things don't set up the way we expect them, he can change tactics and still run a big race.”

Proxy secured his breakthrough triumph in last year's Grade 1 Clark on November 25 at Churchill Downs, defeating eventual Grade 1-winner West Will Power by three-quarters of a length. The effort came five months following a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster last July at Churchill Downs, where he earned a career-high 104 Beyer Speed Figure finishing five lengths back of the victorious Olympiad – last year's Jockey Club Gold Cup winner.

During his sophomore campaign, Proxy competed in a series of Kentucky Derby prep races at Fair Grounds Race Course, where he brags three of his six trips to the winner's circle. He finished second in the Grade 3 Lecomte and the Grade 2 Risen Star before rounding out the superfecta in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.

“We knew from early on that he had a lot of talent and that's why we were so ready to give him all the time he needed and let him mature mentally and physically to where he's at now and it's really paying off,” Stidham said.

A Kentucky homebred, Proxy is out of the millionaire Include mare Panty Raid, who was a Grade 1-winner on both turf and all-weather. Proxy's older half-sister Micheline, by Bernardini, was a graded stakes winner on grass and won at distances ranging from one mile to 1 5/16 miles for Stidham.

“There's been temptation to try him on grass but when a horse is winning Grade 1s on dirt, if it ain't broke don't fix it. If things weren't doing well, we would try the grass but certainly, that's not even a question mark because he's gotten so good on dirt,” Stidham said. “Micheline was real quirky about her stabling and Proxy is pretty laid back and easy to deal with. He can be a little quirky in his races, the way he runs. Sometimes, he'll drop way out of it or other times he'll show enough speed to be on or near the lead. Being around him and being around the barn and in his training, he's real compliant and easy to deal with.”

Joel Rosario, a two-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, has been aboard Proxy for his last three wins and will return to the irons from post 1.

Trainer Kenny McPeek will saddle Lucky Seven Stable's Grade 1 winner Rattle N Roll, who was last seen posting a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on July 1 at Ellis Park. The 4-year-old Connect colt earned his Grade 1 accolade in his stakes debut, when conquering the Breeders' Futurity in October 2021 at Keeneland. He entered the Stephen Foster from a string of three graded stakes triumphs over as many racetracks, each of which produced a triple-digit Beyer. Rattle N Roll captured the Grade 3 Ben Ali on April 22 at Keeneland [101] before shipping to Pimlico Race Course to take the 1 3/16-mile Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 19 [101], followed by a triumph in the Grade 3 Blame on June 3 at Churchill Downs [100].

Rattle N Roll, bred in Kentucky by St. Simon Place, is out of the Johannesburg mare Jazz Tune. He was selected by McPeek for $210,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Rattle N Roll will break from post 4 in rein to Brian Hernandez, Jr.

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher will seek his second Jockey Club Gold Cup triumph when saddling Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Bright Future [post 8, Javier Castellano].

Bright Future defeated second-level winners by 4 3/4 lengths last out on July 21 traveling nine furlongs over the local going, where he earned a career-high 100 Beyer. The three-time winning son of Hall of Fame inductee Curlin, who won the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2007-08, made his lone stakes performance in the Grade 2 Brooklyn on June 10 going 12 furlongs at Belmont Park. He finished a distant eighth in his lone off-the-board placing.

“We always thought a lot of him,” said Pletcher, who saddled 2020 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Happy Saver. “The Brooklyn didn't go the way he had hoped, but he regrouped with a big score here and he's trained well since.”

Bright Future appeared to be aptly named in his March 2022 debut, winning by 4 3/4 lengths going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park. After a third-place finish against winners three months later at Belmont Park, he received a freshening and returned to action with vigor, posting a 2 1/4-length score in a first level allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, where he defeated eventual graded stakes winner Giant Game.

“We weren't really thinking Triple Crown races after his maiden, but he's always one we thought would develop into a good, solid stakes horse,” Pletcher said. “He has a lot of Curlin about him; his physical makeup, demeanor and he seems to get better as he matures.”

Bright Future was a $350,000 purchase at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the graded stakes placed Bellamy Road mare Sophia's Song. His second dam Dreamscape is a full-sister to dual Champion Sprinter and Hall of Famer Housebuster.

Trainer Josie Carroll will bring a pair of formidable contenders by way of Canada in last out graded stakes-winners Tyson [post 6, Manny Franco] and Duke of Love [post 7, Luis Contreras].

Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings' Kentucky homebred Tyson brings a highly consistent 5-4-0-1 record into his dirt debut, entering from a three-length score in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup going 1 1/16 miles on July 29 over Tapeta at Woodbine. The 4-year-old Tapit gray previously captured the Grade 2 Dominion Day at the Toronto oval, defeating stablemate Treason by 1 1/2 lengths while earning a career-high 101 Beyer.

Tyson is out of the Smart Strike mare Honouring – a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Streaming as well as Teeming, whose fifth offspring Arcangelo captured this year's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets and Grade 1 Travers. He hails from the prolific line of Reine de Course broodmares Better Than Honor and Best in Show.

MyRacehorse's Duke of Love has campaigned mainly over Woodbine's all-weather surface, but has captured both of his conventional dirt starts. The 4-year-old bay son of Cupid won last year's Prince of Wales on dirt at Fort Erie by a half-length over next out graded stakes winner Ironstone. Following a trio of unplaced efforts at Woodbine, Duke of Love returned to the dirt to capture the Grade 3 West Virginia Governor's Cup on August 6 at Mountaineer Park.

Completing the field are Grade 2 Suburban second and third-place finishers Clapton [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] and Unbridled Bomber [post 2, Dylan Davis], as well as three-time winning stakes-placed Warrior Johny [post 3, Junior Alvarado].

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is carded as Race 11 on Saturday's 12-race program, which also includes the Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl – a “Win And You're In” for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf – the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress, and the listed $150,000 Harvey Pack. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

Since its first running in 1919, the Jockey Club Gold Cup has been one of the most prestigious events on New York's racing calendar, won by Hall of Famers such as Man o' War [1920], Hill Prince [1950], Nashua [1955-56], Sword Dancer [1959], Buckpasser [1966], Damascus [1967], Forego [1974], John Henry [1981], Easy Goer [1989], Cigar [1995], and Skip Away[1996-97]. The Hall of Famer Kelso won the Jockey Club Gold Cup a record five straight years from 1960-64 before Hall of Fame filly Shuvee beat males two years in a row [1970-71]. In addition, nine Kentucky Derby winners have won the prized event, including Triple Crown winning Hall of Famers Gallant Fox [1930], Whirlaway [1942], Citation [1948] and Affirmed [1979]. Contested at Belmont Park from 1975-2020, the historic event found a new home at Saratoga in 2021.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

The post Proxy Ships To New York For ‘Win And You’re In’ Jockey Club Gold Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Breeders' Cup, one of Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious international events, today unveiled its official logo for the 2024 Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar in Del Mar, California. This will be the third time that Del Mar will host the World Championships after being the host site in 2017 and in 2021.

The 2024 logo design incorporates the majestic seaside attraction of Del Mar, with an azure blue sky joining the Pacific Ocean waters. The primary Breeders' Cup logo, surrounded by a diamond shape, overlays these elements. The words “World Championships” are inscribed near the top of the image, which is surrounded by a yellow-lined circle.

“The 2024 official logo accentuates the grace and beauty of Del Mar and its iconic setting as one of the world's most renowned and picturesque racetracks,” said Breeders' Cup Chief Marketing Officer Justin McDonald. “We look forward to showcasing next year's logo to our international guests and participants on official materials and merchandise apparel for the 41^st running of the World Championships.”

To learn more about the 2024 Breeders' Cup World Championships and to sign up for ticket information, fans can visit BreedersCup.com/2024.

This year's Breeders' Cup World Championships will be held on Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Tickets are available at BreedersCup.com/tickets. The World Championships will be broadcast live on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and FanDuel TV.

ABOUT BREEDERS' CUP

Breeders' Cup Limited administers the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races through an 80-race series hosted by 11 countries, and the U.S.-based Dirt Dozen Bonus Series. The Breeders' Cup supports and operates under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), which, for the first time, establishes a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack. HISA seeks to enhance the safety of both horse and rider and to protect the integrity of the sport to the benefit of all racing participants, fans, and bettors.

The 2023 Breeders' Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Grade 1 Championship races, and $31 million in purses and awards, is scheduled to be held Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The Championships will return to the West Coast in 2024 with Del Mar in Del Mar, California, set to host Nov. 1-2. The Championships will be televised live by NBC Sports. Press releases appear on the Breeders' Cup website, BreedersCup.com. You can also follow the Breeders' Cup on social media.

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