Tag: Breeders’ Cup

‘We’ve Booked Our Ticket’: Live In The Dream Springs 28-1 Upset In ‘Win And You’re In’ Nunthorpe

Live In The Dream (IRE) scored a major upset at odds of 28-1 to win the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) at York on Friday, with defending champion Highfield Princess (IRE) finishing second. The victory secured Live In The Dream a guaranteed start in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.

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.

Live In The Dream had been due to run at Keeneland in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint before costs prevented connections from traveling over, but after securing a spot in this year's race through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, trainer Adam West confirmed that all roads lead to the World Championships.

West said: “We've booked our ticket to the Breeders' Cup through 'Win and You're In'. It's an amazing opportunity and something we never thought we'd be able to do.”

Live In The Dream, a 4-year-old son of Prince Of Lir (IRE) campaigned by Steve & Jolene De'Lemos, had never competed in a Group 1 before but took his York rivals by surprise with a frontrunning victory in the hands of apprentice rider Sean Kirrane for trainer Adam West. Live In The Dream was fourth in a Listed race Aug. 6 at Deauville and took a huge step forward from that run to give West and Kirrane their first victories at the Group level.

After breaking from the gates swiftly, Live In The Dream was sent straight to the front by Kirrane and was soon clear of the 16-strong field. Defending champion and 7-5 favorite Highfield Princess and King's Stand (G1) victor Bradsell (GB) tried in vain to hunt him down.

When asked about the track at Santa Anita, West said he is excited for Live In The Dream to run around a bend.

“I think he's 10 pounds better on a turning track,” he said. “That's a big statement, but I do. He can get a breather round a bend whereas on these straight courses, he usually can't, but he just nicked enough today.”

Highfield Princess ran another brave race to be a 1 length back in second, and her trainer John Quinn was proud of her.

“Highfield Princess has run a fantastic race and she's a horse of two lifetimes,” he said.

Bradsell finished three-quarters of a length behind Highfield Princess in third. Commenting on his performance, his trainer Archie Watson said: “The draw had probably worked against us because the winner had blazed a trail and stuck on really well and that has probably favored Highfield Princess in our battle for second. Looking ahead, I would prefer to go to Ireland for the Flying Five Stakes (G1) and then America for the Breeders' Cup.”

Live In The Dream completed the 5-furlong contest in a time of 56:87 on ground listed as good to firm, good in places.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Live In The Dream to start in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, which will be run over 5 furlongs. 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 ‘We’ve Booked Our Ticket’: Live In The Dream Springs 28-1 Upset In ‘Win And You’re In’ Nunthorpe appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘He Still Loves His Job’: 9-Year-Old C Z Rocket Enters O’Brien For Fourth Time

In a day and age when horses achieving a certain degree of success wind up in the breeding shed by the time they're four, it's refreshing when a horse comes along and bucks the trend.

Case in point, C Z Rocket. A 9-year-old gelding who will be running in the G2 Pat O'Brien for the fourth time this Saturday at Del Mar.

The son of City Zip ran in his first Pat O'Brien in 2020 and won, beating the likes of Flagstaff and Law Abidin Citizen. He returned the next year and ran second to Ginobili, a horse that would go on and run second to Life Is Good in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar.

Last year C Z Rocket ran eighth in the Pat O'Brien in what turned out to be the only blemish on a successful 8-year old campaign. It included a near miss in the G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and a runner-up finish to champion Elite Power in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

“He's very sound and he still loves his job,” trainer Peter Miller says. “When he stops liking what he's doing and being energetic, then we'll deal with it but he amazes me.”

C Z Rocket has had some shining moments in his 41-race career. He served notice in 2020 when he finished second to Whitmore in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland. He held his form into 2021 and was unbeatable at Oaklawn Park, defeating Whitmore not once, but in back-to-back races.

There also was the blanket finish with Dr. Schivel in the 2021 G1 Bing Crosby.

“We claimed him for $40,000 at Oaklawn (in 2020),” Miller says. “He ran bad that day and bled. We found a few things we thought could help him, fix him up. I think he won five in a row and he was off to the races.”

One of those wins was his victory in the G2 Pat O'Brien followed by his runner-up finish in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, then by his victories over Whitmore.

C Z Rocket has yet to reach the winners circle this year in six races. He did try the Golden Shaheen in Dubai and while that didn't go so well (he finished eighth) he did return to the states and run second to Dr. Schivel in an allowance race at Santa Anita in May followed by a runner-up finish to Spirit of Makena in the G2 Triple Bend.

Spirit of Makena is also entered in the Pat O'Brien. He's coming off of a terrible trip in the G1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar last month. The son of Ghostzapper got tangled up with other horses on the far turn and lost all chance, eventually finishing last.

“Horses came out and he was right behind them,” trainer George Papaprodromou says. “He clipped heels. Just bad timing.”

Coming into the Bing Crosby, Spirit of Makena was arguably one of the best sprinters on the West Coast having won three straight including the G3 San Carlos and the G2 Triple Bend. He was certainly a horse on the rise and Papaprodromou is hoping to regain some of that momentum Saturday.

They likely will all be chasing Brickyard Ride, who set the pace in the G2 San Diego before getting rundown late by Senor Buscador and Slow Down Andy, two horses pointing to the G1 Pacific Classic.

“It's the best place to be,” trainer Craig Lewis says of Brickyard Ride being on the lead. “They have to catch him. It's like robbing a bank. The police have to catch you. Sometimes they do.”

Few can run with Brickyard Ride out of the gate and he's shortening back to a one-turn race, which bodes well for his early speed.

“What's giving me confidence is he's won 13 races and eight stakes,” Lewis notes. “Unfortunately, the stakes were all won at Santa Anita so he might have a preference for Santa Anita but let's hope he gets loose.”

The G2 Pat O'Brien is a seven-furlong test for horses 3-years-old and up. It's the 10th race on the 11-race Saturday card. Approximate post time is 6:30 p.m.

Here's the field from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds: Moose Mitchell (Mario Gutierrez, 5-1); Go Joe Won (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 50-1); Hoist the Gold (Reylu Gutierrez, 12-1); Sir Atticus (Mike Smith, 5-1); C Z Rocket (Geovanni Franco, 8-1); Brickyard Ride (Juan Hernandez, 5-1); Spirit of Makena (Joe Bravo, 4-1); Visitant (Antonio Fresu, 8-1); Anarchist (Ramon Vasquez, 7-2); Vivir Con Alegria (Hector Berrios, 20-1), and Bye Bye Bobby (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1).

The post ‘He Still Loves His Job’: 9-Year-Old C Z Rocket Enters O’Brien For Fourth Time appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Classy, Durable Channel Maker Ready For Sixth Sword Dancer

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–On the subject of the resilience of 9-year-old Channel Maker (English Channel) approaching his sixth-consecutive start in the GI Sword Dancer S. Saturday, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott made his point in a few words.

“I can't say enough,” he said.

Mott was smiling, but he wasn't joking.

“What can you say?” Mott said. “He sort of seems like an oddity in this day and age that he's able to stay around and still be in somewhat close to top form.”

Channel Maker has stood the tests of quality and time. The $1 million GI Sword Dancer will be the 55th start for the Ontario-bred in a career that began on July 24, 2016 with a third-place finish in a turf sprint for maidens at Woodbine. He snagged that first win for trainer Danny Vella the following month in the Vandal S. From there, it was on to a third in the GII Summer Stakes, the first of 45 graded stakes–28 of them G1–in his career. He has a record of 10-6-5 and earnings of $3,890,358.

Equibase stats show that since 1976 Channel Maker is one of 12 horses that has run in the same stake a least five times in a row. The stake had to be a Grade I at some point in its history. Of that dozen, five of them–including Channel Maker–accomplished their five-peat in the Breeders' Cup: Better Talk Now (Talkin Man), Turf; California Flag (Avenue of Flags), Turf Sprint; Channel Maker, Turf; Kona Gold (Java Gold) Sprint; and Perfect Drift (Dynaformer), Classic. Before his run in the Turf, Channel Maker ran in the GI Juvenile Turf and is the Breeders' Cup record holder with six appearances.

Channel Maker, the 2020 Eclipse Award champion turf male, is the only one in that group who has also run at least five times in a stake outside of the Breeders' Cup. He has done it twice, both in GI races–the Sword Dancer and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. He has won the Hirsch twice and the Sword Dancer once.

When he leaves the gate for the 1 1/2 mile Sword Dancer, he will pull into a tie with Desert Waves, who ran six times, winning twice, in the Niagara Handicap in the 1990s at Woodbine. Even with six, Desert Times (Alysheba) and Channel Maker will be one behind the legendary iron horse Fourstardave (Compliance), who started in the Jaipur every year between 1989 and 1995. He had a record of 1-2-2 in the Jaipur. In his five appearances in the Daryl's Joy at Saratoga, Fourstardave had two wins and two seconds. The race is now the GI Fourstardave.

During Fourstardave's remarkable 100-race career with trainer Leo O'Brien, the New York-bred gelding won at least one race at Saratoga Race Course for eight consecutive seasons.

According to Equibase statistics, the five who did their five-peats outside the Breeders' Cup are: Cozzene's Prince (Cozzene), Rothman's International; Grand Couturier {GB} (Grand Lodge), Sword Dancer; Hero's Reward (Partners Hero), Highlander S.; Interpatation (Langfuhr), Joe Hirsch; Stutz Bearcat (First Landing), Nearctic.

Channel Maker was handled by Vella for his first six starts, but was moved to Mott's care prior to an April 8, 2017 start at Keeneland after Wachtel Stable and Gary Barber bought into the ownership of the gelding. He was the Canadian champion 3-year-old male that season. His ownership group is now Wachtel Stable, Barber, R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing.

First seen at Saratoga as a 4-year-old in 2018, Channel Maker has made 10 starts at Saratoga and compiled a record of 3-1-1. That first summer, he finished in a dead heat for first with Glorious Empire {IRE} (Holy Roman Emperor {IRE}) in the GII Bowling Green then ended up second by three-quarters of a length to Glorious Empire in the Sword Dancer. In his standard front-running style, he won the Bowling Green again this summer, at 15-1, ending a seven-race losing streak, and is back in the Sword Dancer, his 50th start for Mott.

Since New York does not allow horses 10 and older to compete, this is likely to be Channel Maker's final appearance in Saratoga. Mott said he did not know if Channel Maker might run in 2024. He said the Bowling Green performance, which carried him to the Sword Dancer, might have been his final start.

“There were plans that if he hadn't run well the last time that maybe he'd be retired,” Mott said. “I don't think any of us want to see his form go five races beaten double digits or something like that. That's not going to happen.”

The post Classy, Durable Channel Maker Ready For Sixth Sword Dancer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Channel Maker Excels with Help from a Friend

NYRA's post parade program coordinator scoffed when she typed out the morning-line odds on Channel Maker (English Channel). 20-1 for the 9-year-old gelding going into the GII Bowling Green S. The Bill Mott trainee hadn't won a race in over a year and he'd finished a distant tenth in his last start in the GII Belmont Gold Cup S.

But the racing pundits and handicappers didn't know what she knew: that the hard-knocking old man looked just as good, maybe even better, coming into the Bowling Green than he had three years ago, when a pair of Grade I victories earned him Eclipse Champion Turf Male honors.

If anyone could have predicted Channel Maker's front-running Bowling Green upset, it was Gilda Libero.

Libero has been Channel Maker's “person” for three years. Daily grooming sessions that bring his dapples to a sheen, regular massages and stretches that conclude with handfuls of carrots, and long hours of grazing are all part of the routine that Libero and Channel Maker share.

“To me, he's really special,” she explained. “I don't know whether the fact that I really treat him so special makes a difference. I'll tell Bill that sometimes I don't even know if he likes me and he'll say, 'He likes you. He's different around you.' So I'll take it.”

Libero first met the chestnut gelding affectionately known around the Bill Mott barn as “grumpy” three summers ago in Saratoga. A racetrack lifer, Libero worked for Mott over 20 years ago, but she had not had a position on the backside since 2001. In 2020, the Mott crew called her asking for an extra hand. The pandemic was causing a staffing shortage and they could use her help in the mornings before she needed to be on the frontside for her role in the racing office.

Like many racing fans, Libero had admired Channel Maker from afar and was looking forward to meeting the turf star.

“I remember when I first laid eyes on him,” she recalled. “I saw him standing in the stall and to me, he was magnificent. There was something about him that drew me to him. Then finally I got to walk him one day and that was it. He just embodied these other horses that I'd had in my life.”

One of those horses that Libero saw in Channel Maker was her beloved Clarinet King (His Majesty). Throughout most of his 165 starts over a career that spanned the 1980s, Libero was his greatest fan. She was a barn foreman for Bobby Ribaudo when they picked up the hard-knocking horse, but she took him on and became his groom. She cheered Clarinet King on from afar when he was later claimed and went to race for other stables, and then adopted him as her own when he retired at the age of 12.

It was his eventual passing that drove her away from working on the backside, but she found another heart horse upon her return to the Mott barn a few years ago.

“It took a long time to be ready, because when I go into something it's 100%,” she shared. “It's a tremendous commitment. You have to be ready for the pain because when you loose them, it's brutal. Doesn't matter what age. They're part of your life.”

After a week of heartbreak for the Mott barn following the sudden passing of their talented Art Collector (Bernardini), who lost his life to laminitis, Libero's heart goes out to her good friend Erma Scott, who shared a close bond with Art Collector just as Libero does with Channel Maker. Both women return to the barn every morning because of their passion for the horses they care for.

“There are times even this summer when I don't want to get up in the morning,” Libero admitted. “But as soon as I don't want to get up, I know he's waiting for me. I have to be there for him. That's life, you know? And there are a lot of us like that out there. I'm not special. There are more people on the track like that than people want to give credit for.”

Along with Libero, Channel Maker has a host of other admirers in the Mott barn and beyond. Libero pointed out how the gelding's former exercise rider Patrice, who recently  retired and now watches all his races from afar, used to bring Channel Maker hand-picked grass and would give his head a good long scratch after taking his bridle off every day.

Libero among the celebrators of Channel Maker's 2020 Sword Dancer victory | Sarah Andrew

“A lot of people have been with him for a long time,” she explained. “I don't think there is anybody in the barn that doesn't have a fond spot for him in their heart. Everyone takes care of him in their own little way. He doesn't owe anybody anything. We owe him.”

Libero is also quick to note that the horse, while loveable, does have his idiosyncrasies. Libero is not a full-time member of the Mott team this summer, but she is there every day to care for Channel Maker and believes the exclusive attention she can give the gelding in the morning allows him to perform at his best in the afternoon.

“I get to just pay attention to him and not have to worry about, 'Oh, I have to be here to walk this horse or I have to be there to put the blanket on this horse.' It's really nice and relaxed and I think he does better with relaxed. He doesn't like quick movement around him. He tells you what he wants. You just have to listen.”

Even though he didn't win, Libero's favorite race of Channel Maker's was the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Turf. She had only been working with the Ontario-bred for a few months, but was already his biggest fan and hoped more than anything that she would be able to make the trip to Keeneland with him.

She went to Mott and told him she would pay her own way if need be, knowing there were other members of the team who had been in the barn for longer than she had, but in the end she was able to make it to Lexington. She cheered Channel Maker on as, with his signature high-headed, front-running style, he was passed only in the final strides to claim third.

“I was so proud of him,” she said. “It was as good as winning. He ran better than I think anybody expected him to and I got to be there with him.”

Owned by Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, the earner of $3.8 million will be aiming to make his seventh Breeders' Cup appearance as he returns to the starting gate on Saturday for the 'Win and You're In' GI Sword Dancer S. It will be his sixth straight start in the mile-and-a-half contest, which he won in 2020, and his 29th career Grade I start.

“I think he's going to run a good race,” Libero predicted. “He always tries, never puts in a fluke. You have to love him for that. To me, a win is gravy. Seeing him out there and coming home safe, that's everything. But they're going to have to run to beat him because he's got a heck of a kick for an old boy.”

The post Channel Maker Excels with Help from a Friend appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights