C Z Rocket | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bing Crosby Nominations Promises Deep Field Of Sprinters At Del Mar

Seventeen horses, encompassing virtually all the top sprinters on the West Coast, have been nominated to Saturday's $300,000 Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes, assuring that the field will be a stellar one when it is set and post positions are drawn on Wednesday.

Trainer Mark Glatt finished first and third in the 2020 Crosby with Collusion Illusion and Law Abidin Citizen. He has those two plus Dr. Schivel nominated and said Sunday he might run all three.

Other marquee speedsters on the nomination list include 2020 Pat O'Brien winner C Z Rocket for Peter Miller; the trio of Ax Man, Eight Rings, and Gamine from the Bob Baffert barn; graded stakes winner Flagstaff from the John Sadler stable; and the double-quick Cal-bred Brickyard Ride out of the Craig Lewis barn.

Sadler said Flagstaff will skip the Bing Crosby and instead go in the seven-furlong Pat O'Brien here on August 28.

Baffert said the 4-year-old filly Gamine, a winner of six graded stakes in her last seven starts – four of them Grade 1s – is more likely to continue competing against her own gender elsewhere than take on males in the Bing Crosby.

But Gamine is one of 11 older fillies and mares nominated to next Sunday's Clement L. Hirsch, as is stablemate As Time Goes By. A 4-year-old daughter of Baffert-trained Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, As Time Goes By is one of three stakes winners at Santa Anita that are possibles for the Hirsch, a 1 1/16-mile main track event that usually determines the top older filly or mare of the meeting.

The others are Venetian Harbor and Warren's Showtime.

The 6-furlong Bing Crosby is a “Win & You're In” qualifier for the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar on November 6. The Clement L. Hirsch is likewise designated for the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff that same day.

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C Z Rocket Tops Invitees To ‘Win And You’re In’ Smile Sprint

Madaket Stables LLC, Gary Barber and Tom Kagele's C Z Rocket tops a list of 15 invitees for the $200,000 Smile Sprint Invitational (G3) July 3 at Gulfstream Park.

The Smile Sprint, a six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up that will offer a $25,000 win-only bonus for Florida-bred entrants, will be featured on the Summit of Speed program that will be headlined by the $350,000 Princess Rooney (G2), a seven-furlong Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' sprint for fillies and mares.

Peter Miller-trained C Z Rocket won five straight races last year before finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland. The multiple Grade 2 stakes winner won his first two 2021 starts, including a victory in the Count Fleet Sprint (G3) at Oaklawn, before coming up a little short to finish second last time out while stretching out in the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) at Lone Star Park.

Diamond Racing Club LLC and partners' Diamond Oops, the 2019 Smile Sprint champion who is being asked back to seek a second score in the race named for the 1986 Breeders' Cup Sprint champion, is a multiple graded-stakes winner who is Grade 1 stakes-placed on dirt and turf.

After winning the 2019 Smile, the Patrick Biancone-trained 6-year-old gelding went on to finish second in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt on dirt at Saratoga and the Shadwell Mile on turf at Keeneland. After starting his 2020 campaign with a solid fourth-place finish in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream while stretching out to 1 1/8 miles, Diamond Oops returned to one-turn races to win the Twin Spires Turf (G2) at Churchill and the Phoenix (G2) on dirt at Keeneland. The millionaire son of Lookin At Lucky followed up a pair of subpar efforts to capture a six-furlong overnight handicap June 5 at Gulfstream Park.

Michael Dubb's Chateau, who captured the Tom Fool (G3) at Aqueduct, is also prominent on the invitation list. The Rob Atras-trained 6-year-old gelding followed up his graded-stakes score in March with a fourth-place finish in the Carter (G1) at Aqueduct and a runner-up finish behind Firenze Fire in the Runhappy (G3) at Belmont.

Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher's Special Reserve made the Smile invitational list by winning the Maryland Sprint (G3) at Pimlico on the Preakness (G1) undercard. In the 5-year-old gelding's prior start, the Michael Maker trainee finished second in the Commonwealth (G3) at Keeneland.

Trainers Kathy Ritvo and Saffie Joseph Jr. are both represented on the Smile invitation list by three horses.

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing owns the Ritvo-trained trio of Double Crown, Frosted Grace and Ournationonparade. Double Crown, who concluded his 2020 campaign with graded-stakes placings in the Smile Sprint and the Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico, came off a 6 ½-month layoff to win a May 23 stakes-quality optional claiming allowance last time out. Frosted Grace, whom Dean and Patti Reeves own in partnership with William Branch, is graded stakes-placed in two of his three 2021 starts, including a troubled third behind Special Reserve in the Maryland Sprint last time out. Ournationonparade most recently finished third behind Diamond Oops June 5.

Shooting Star Thoroughbreds LLC's Chance It, the hero of the 2019 Florida Sire Stakes series and the winner of the 2020 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream, tops the Joseph trio. The 4-year-old son of Currency Swap recently came off a 14-month layoff to finish second behind Double Crown. Daniel Alonso's Wind of Change, who captured the ungraded Mr. Prospector at Monmouth last time out, and Elona Jones' Doc Amster, a last-out optional claiming allowance winner, also made the invitational list.

David Melin, Leon Ellman and Laurie Plesa's Miles Ahead, who was just a head behind Diamond Oops while finishing second in the June 5 overnight handicap at Gulfstream; Bell Racing LLC's Real Talk, an impressive winner of a recent six-furlong optional claiming allowance; Rigney Racing LLC's Rubus, an optional claiming allowance winner at Churchill Downs last time out; Jacks or Better Farm Inc.'s Shivaree, a multiple stakes winner who finished second behind Tiz the Law in the 2020 Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream; and Lea Farms LLC's Willy Boi, who captured the Hutcheson during this year's Championship Meet at Gulfstream; round out the list of Smile Invitees.

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Mo Mosa Wins Steve Sexton Mile For First Graded Stakes Triumph

Coming off a stakes win on the bullring at Fonner Park, Perry and Denise Martin's homebred Uncle Mo colt Mo Mosa found a muddy track to his liking at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Monday night, coming from just off the pace to win the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths.

Ridden by Ramon Vazquez for trainer Michael Maker, Mo Mosa was clocked in 1:37.15 for the mile and paid $48.60 as the second longest shot in the field of seven older runners.

Multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter C Z Rocket, sent to Lone Star by trainer Peter Miller, finished second as the 8-5 favorite, with Silver Prospector finishing third and Hunka Burning Love, who set the pace for the first six furlongs, fourth. Sheriff Brown, Warrior's Charge (the 9-5 second choice compromised by a very slow start) and Harvey Wallbanger completed the order of finish. By My Standards was scratched.

David Cabrera, the rider of Hunka Burning Love, claimed foul against C Z Rocket alleging stretch interference, but stewards allowed the original order of finish to stand.

Hunka Burning Love raced off to the early lead, opening up two lengths after a quarter mile clocked in :24.70. C Z Rocket applied pressure to his outside through a half-mile in :47.83, and that pair was joined further to the outside by Mo Mosa around the far turn, the six furlongs timed in 1:11.55.

Under strong urging from Vazquez, Mo Mosa poked his head in front with a furlong remaining (the seven-furlong fraction was 1:23.95), then widened the advantage down the stretch.

The win was the fourth in 16 career starts for Mo Mosa, who was produced from the Eskendereya mare Roughing. Second in the G3 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park last year, the colt's only previous stakes win came in the Bosselman Pump and Pantry/Gus Fonner Stakes on April 24.

The race, formerly the Texas Mile, was renamed in 2017 to honor the memory of the late Steve Sexton, the respected racing executive who was part of the management team when Lone Star Park opened in 1997.

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By My Standards, C Z Rocket Face Off In Monday’s Steve Sexton Mile

Monday, Memorial Day, May 31 is Lone Star Million Day at Lone Star Park. Five stakes worth a total of $1.1 million will be up for grabs, with the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile headlining the card.

The one-mile dirt contest drew a field of eight and is scheduled as the 11th and final race of the evening.

Multiple Grade 2 winner By My Standards drew post three for trainer Bret Calhoun, and will make the Sexton his second start of 2021. In April, the 5-year-old son of Goldencents won the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile by a game nose over Rushie, the latter expected to target the Met Mile on the Belmont Stakes undercard. Gabriel Saez retains the mount.

C Z Rocket, the 7-year-old gelding trained by Peter Miller, has already won two races this season. He defeated reigning Breedesr' Cup Sprint champion Whitmore in both the Hot Springs Stakes and the G3 Count Fleet Sprint, and will be stretching out to a mile under the hands of jockey Florent Geroux.

The 5-year-old gelding Sherriff Brown enters the starting gate off three straight wins in allowance company for trainer Todd Fincher. Out of the champion New Mexico-bred Rose's Desert (15-10-5-0, $$626,035) and sired by Curlin, Sherriff Brown is a half-brother to graded stakes winner Runaway Ghost (15-8-3-0, $783,509) and stakes winner Senor Buscador (3-2-0-0, $145,247).

Here is the field in post position order with jockey and trainer.

1) Silver Prospector, Ricardo Santana, Jr.,Steven M. Asmussen
2) Sheriff Brown, Ty Kennedy, Todd W. Fincher
3) By My Standards, Gabriel Saez, W. Bret Calhoun
4) Warrior's Charge, Joel Rosario, Brad H. Cox
5) Hunka Burning Love, David Cabrera, Karl Broberg
6) Harvey Wallbanger, Danny Sorenson, Danny Pish
7) Mo Mosa, Ramon Vazquez, Michael J. Maker
8) C Z Rocket, Florent Geroux, Peter Miller

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