Brian DiDonato | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bevy of Bullets at OBS Thursday

A total of 15 juveniles shared the bullet :9 4/5 furlong work time during the second session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Thursday in Central Florida.

Three of the bullet workers came from the Wavertree Stables consignment: a filly by Nyquist (hip 304) out of High Heeled Girl (Malibu Moon); a filly by American Freedom (hip 400) out of Limitless (Discreet Cat); and a colt by Shancelot (hip 421) out of Magnolias in Bloom (Flatter).

Wavertree also had a McKinzie colt who shared the :9 4/5 bullet time during Wednesday's first session of the under-tack show.

Eddie Woods sent out a pair of colts by WinStar Farm first-crop sires to share the bullet :9 4/5 time.

First up for the consignment was a chestnut colt by Promises Fulfilled (hip 316). Out of Hot Fun (Latent Heat), the Maryland-bred was purchased by the Quarter Pole Enterprises pinhooking partnership for $110,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I expected him to work well,” Woods said. “He is an amazingly good-looking colt by kind of an off-the-wall stallion, so to speak. I thought he would work really quick and he did. He's been like that from the first time we ever worked him. He just jumps right in there. He's a tall, leggy colt with great angles to him.”

Also working in :9 4/5 Thursday for Woods was a colt from the first crop of champion Improbable (hip 395). The bay is out of Libby's Tail (Tiz Wonderful) and was purchased by Woods on behalf of Michael Rullo for $135,000 at Keeneland September.

“The work was spectacular,” Woods said. “I can't always tell you a big horse like him is going to work in :9 4/5, but we expected a good work from him and he did that and then some. He galloped out great. He's a beautiful, big, long-striding horse. I think a lot of people are going to like him.”

The colt was one of two sons of Improbable to work the furlong in :9 4/5 Thursday. Also sharing the bullet was hip 325, a colt by the WinStar stallion out of stakes-placed Inaugurate (Empire Maker) from the Majestic consignment.

“As yearlings, I thought they were taller, leaner kind of horses,” Woods said of the progeny of Improbable he has seen. “But we had several in training here and they have come along really well. The one thing they do is move beautifully. They get across the ground really well. They are not huge, robust horses, but they are very athletic.”

For the second day in a row, a filly by Munnings from the Niall Brennan Stables consignment worked her furlong in :9 4/5. Hip 229 is out of Firefoot (Tapizar), a half-sister to graded winner Bandbox (Tapit). The 2-year-old, a $125,000 Keeneland September purchase, is a half-sister to stakes-placed Freeburn (Mitole).

A Bullet Bolt for Horseology Partners

Sharing in the bevy of bullets Thursday at OBS, a colt by Bolt d'Oro (hip 422) worked the furlong in :9 4/5 for Katie Miranda's White Lilac consignment. The bay colt is out of Maisie (Stay Thirsty), a half-sister to multiple graded winner Lovely Bernadette (Wilburn).

“The horse has always shown us positive things,” said Miranda. “He's had lovely breezes at the farm all year. I don't think we've ever had a bad breeze from him. And he prepped in :9 4/5 here [at OBS] last week.”

Asked to describe the colt, Miranda said, “He's a tank. He is an absolute tank. He looks like a Quarter Horse and he has muscles popping out of every part of his body.”

The colt was purchased for $150,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale by Brian DiDonato's Franklin Ave Equine on behalf of David and Jon Schlosser's Cliff Racing and Miranda and trainer Jena Antonucci's Horseology partnership.

“He was one of our stretch purchases of the year,” Miranda said. “Obviously, partnering with Cliff and Brian allowed that to happen. We had very high thoughts of him from the jump and he's proven it day in and day out. He's just a class act.”

Miranda and Antonucci have been working together for four years and this will be Horseology's second year of pinhooking partnerships.

“We have a good mixture of owners,” Miranda said. “Our big goal is to get new people involved. We do smaller shares to give people the ability to start at just a smaller level because this is an expensive game. We bought 10 [yearlings] for this year. The Bolt d'Oro is one of them. And we've got a pretty big group of owners involved, a mix of owners we have worked with for years and some new ones.”

Also earning the furlong bullet time Thursday: a filly by Caracaro (hip 225) consigned by Cesar Loya Training & Sales; a filly by Honest Mischief (hip 243) consigned by Jesse Hoppel's Coastal Equine; a filly by City of Light (hip 290) consigned by Top Line Sales; a colt by Violence (hip 301) consigned by New Hope AB; a colt by Twirling Candy (hip 398) consigned by GOP Racing Stable Corp.; a filly by Maximus Mischief (hip 418) consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock; and a colt by Volatile (hip 420) consigned by Grade One Investments.

A pair of juveniles shared Thursday's fastest quarter-mile time of :20 4/5: a filly by Uncle Mo (hip 252) consigned by Pick View and a colt by Cajun Breeze (hip 271) bred and consigned by Tom McCrocklin.

While headwinds were a major factor later in Wednesday's first session of the under-tack show, conditions were more consistent throughout the second session Thursday, according to Miranda.

“The headwind yesterday was terrible,” Miranda said. “We probably had a much more consistent track today. They said it was going to be overcast–which to me means you can't see the sun. And there was just one cloud in the sky. Which was annoying just because the track gets so hot and sticky so quick. But the track seemed to play fair all day.”

Of wind conditions, Miranda said, “If anything we had a little bit of a tailwind at times, but definitely not the 12mph headwind people had to deal with yesterday.”

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. The March sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. Bidding begins each day at 11 a.m.

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Fox Sports’ Mike Mulvihill Joins the TDN Writers’ Room

Fox Sports has embraced horse racing and has acquired the broadcasting rights for the GI Belmont S., starting in 2023. And one of the reasons why is that in Executive Vice President, Head of Strategy and Analytics Mike Mulvihill, Fox has an executive who likes the sport and is bullish on its future, particularly when it comes to the gambling element. This week, Mulvihill joined the team on the TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland, to talk about Fox's increasing interest in the racing. Mulvihill was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“Fox Sports is in the business of premium live events,” Mulvihill said when asked about Fox's acquisition of the Belmont rights. “We want to be in the business of championship events, special events, whether that's the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Belmont Stakes and anything else that's out there. We pride ourselves on being the leaders in live sports event consumption.”

Mulvihill and his team see the Belmont as more than just a sporting event. Fox, which operates the sports betting website Fox Bets and has a 25% ownership interest in NYRA Bets, wants to be a player in the gaming market and sees horse racing as an important part of that strategy.

“I like to say that we are evolving from being strictly a media content brand into being a media and gaming brand,” Mulvihill said. “That has a lot to do with the recent legalization of sports betting. But it also has to do with the partnership that we have with NYRA in NYRA Bets. Not only is [the Belmont] a championship event in and of itself, but it becomes an opportunity for us to really promote and try to drive new business and drive sign ups and new accounts for that NYRA Bets business. So it really works, both as media content–which is the business we've always been in–and it works as an engine for our gaming business, which is a newer business for us.”

Mulvihill said Fox plans to focus on the gambling element on future Belmont broadcasts, but, at the same time, does not want to ignore the casual fan who may not understand what a superfecta box is and is interested in the human interest stories that are always part of a big race. With that in mind, the plan, he said, is to have two separate broadcasts, one that will look more like a traditional racing broadcast and the other one meant for the horseplayer and sports bettor.

“I like to think we can do both,” he said. “And I think a template has been provided for us by ESPN and their presentation of Monday Night Football this year, where they have the traditional presentation on ESPN, and then they're doing the Manning cast on ESPN2, and that's getting a significant percentage of the audience. It's doing really well. It's worked out very, very well for them. I think we have an opportunity to do something similar where we can do a traditional presentation of the Belmont on Fox broadcast, and we can provide an alternate presentation for some part of the day on our cable platform and tailor that really to people that are more regular players and that maybe aren't as interested in the lifestyle pieces.”

In other segments of the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, Legacy Bloodstock and XBTV, the writers discussed such subjects as the Seth Fishman trial, the Bob Baffert hearing and jockey Mychel Sanchez being suspended for betting on mounts other than his own. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Kentucky Downs Turf Pick of the Day for Sept. 8

Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato give their best bet for each day of racing during the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. $100 Win/Place format; highest bankroll at the end wins.

Steve Sherack: Monday's Results – Setting the Mood was fourth.

Race 5 – Reward Night has looked like a graded stakes horse in the making since switching to grass in his last two starts for Ian Wilkes. Rallied nicely–albeit into a hot pace–to finish a very useful third sprinting over the Ellis lawn July 9, then broke through with a visually impressive maiden score at this distance Aug. 6, coming home in a field-best :22.33. Still room for improvement as the son of Will Take Charge takes on winners for the first time here. Selection: #8 Reward Night (5-1).

Brian DiDonato: Monday's Results – Button Boy finished third.

Race 5 – This looks to be a really wide open race with lots of legitimate contenders. I'll take a bit of a flyer on lightly raced but well-bred Bugle of War (War Front). He's been off since finishing one spot behind recent Queen's Plate winner Safe Conduct in a Gulfstream allowance in March, and he probably needs to get a little faster to win this, but he figures to take a natural step forward with expected maturity in the time away. His maiden-breaking romp came at 1 1/16 miles, so this one-mile trip might be to his liking compared to his two nine-furlong attempts. Accomplished trainer Eddie Kenneally has had a quiet year by his standards, but he's been heating up of late with a Grade I win at Arlington and win rate close to 20% at the Ellis meet as of this writing. Selection: #3 Bugle of War (12-1).

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Breeders’ Cup Talk with Jerry Bailey on the TDN Writers’ Room

The countdown is running to a close for the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championship and perhaps no one has more Breeders’ Cup memories to share than Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who made an astounding 15 trips to the Breeders’ Cup winner’s circle during his 31-year career, including a record five wins in the Classic.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week for Wednesday’s TDN Writers’ Room podcast presented by Keeneland, Bailey spoke on some of his favorite Breeders’ Cup moments, as well as a few of his top picks going into this weekend’s meet.

When asked which horse he would choose as his Classic mount, Bailey wavered between a few different contenders.

“I would probably choose Authentic (Into Mischief), but it’s a toss up between Improbable (City Zip) and Authentic,” he said. “If you drill down, I think Authentic is the true speed of the race and he will make the lead. I think he’s super dangerous doing that. I think it comes down to the trips. Who gets the most comfortable trip and who gets the trip that they like and they’re best at? I think it’s most likely either Authentic on the lead or Improbable in the three path stalking just a few lengths off the lead.”

This year will mark the 25^th anniversary of Bailey’s win in the Classic aboard Cigar, a race that was also the 12^th of 16 straight victories for the Hall of Fame duo. Cigar’s unforgettable career was recently relived in a TDN Look feature.

Bailey spoke on the pressure of being the regular rider for such a beloved racehorse.

“There is pressure on any rider that walks out on the heavy favorite, no matter who it is or what race it is, the first race or the last. So yeah, I felt it on him pretty much every time. But he was a horse that I knew I could get out of any trouble I ever got in. But my philosophy was, don’t get in trouble. If you think you’re on the best horse, then you put him in position to win. And if he’s good enough, he’s going to win.”

Another memorable Classic for Bailey was when he pulled off a 133-to-1 odds win aboard French import Arcangues in 1993.

“I knew nothing about the horse,” he said. “I didn’t even get the mount until about five days before the race. So I thought okay, I’ll talk to the trainer when I walk in the paddock. He’ll kind of clue me in. But I couldn’t find [trainer] Andre Fabre and I didn’t know what he looked like. Actually, I had never met him. There were a thousand people in the paddock, so I couldn’t find him. So my next thought was during the rider’s up, I would talk to the groom. And the groom told me everything I needed to know- in French. And I didn’t understand it. So I left the paddock on the horse not knowing anything other than what I could glean from the racing form.

Now serving as a spokesperson for the industry as a leading racing analyst for NBC Sports, Bailey gets a unique perspective from a fan’s point of view on a day-to-day basis.

“The biggest complaint I get from fringe fans is that it’s too boring. It’s too slow,” he said. “I mean, we’re in a world that if it takes 30 seconds to download something, we’re frustrated. So the time between races is kind of a drag to a lot of people. We go to a lot of Heat games and you’re entertained at every time out, from the moment the whistle blows until they start again. It’s a little different, obviously, but I think if we could provide some entertainment as informational vignettes about the jockeys, the horses, the trainers and the owners, we have to step it up a little bit because we’re playing catch up from a long time ago.”

Elsewhere on the show, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the writers shared their hottest tips looking ahead to this weekend’s racing. Is Princess Noor (Not This Time) unbeatable in the Juvenile Filles? Will the European invaders dominate in the Mile or can a U.S.-based runner get the win? And will the Distaff turn out to be a match race between Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) and Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil)? The writers examine these questions and more. Click here to listen to the audio version.

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