Christophe Clement | Horse Racing Free Tips

Three Graded Stakes On Turf Highlight Saturday’s Blockbuster Card At Del Mar

Headed by the $300,000, Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, Del Mar will present one of the best racing cards seen at the Southern California shore oval in decades Saturday on the penultimate day of sport for the seventh Bing Crosby Season.

Nine races – averaging more than 10 horses apiece – including three graded turf stakes will make for a delightful afternoon of competition and wagering at the seaside oval with the fun kicking off at 12:30 p.m. PT.

The Hollywood Derby, run at nine furlongs on the turf, has drawn 13 3-year-olds – eight colts, four geldings and one filly. All the males will carry 122 pounds, while the filly gets a three-pound sex allowance. It will be run as the ninth and final race on the program.

A trio of Eastern-based trainers should have a big say in the headliner – Christophe Clement, Chad Brown and Thomas Bush. Clement has sent out a pair for the Grade 1 in Otter Bend Stables' Gufo and West Point Thoroughbreds, Freeman, Sandbrook or Manning's Decorated Invader. Brown has entered Klaravich Stables' Domestic Spending and Bush will be represented by the Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust's Get Smokin.

Here's the full field for the seventh local running of the race from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Wertheimer & Frere's Kanderel (Giovanni Franco, 30-1); Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait (Umberto Rispoli, 7/2); Little Red Feather Racing or Naify's Scarto (Manny Franco, 10-1); Nguyen or Tran's Taishan (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 12-1); Exline-Border Racing, Bernsen, Hudock or Wilson's Storm the Court (Juan Hernandez, 8-1); Wachtel Stable or Gary Barber's California Kook (Ricky Gonzalez, 20-1); Roadrunner Racing or Sayjay Racing's Strongconstitution (Abel Cedillo, 20-1); Domestic Spending (Irad Ortiz, Jr., 5-1); Get Smokin (Mike Smith, 12-1); Decorated Invader (Joel Rosario, 3-1); R A Hill Stable or Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Ever Dangerous (Victor Espinoza, 12-1); MyRacehorse.com or Spendthrift Farm's Lane Way (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1), and Gufo (Flavien Prat, 4-1).

This actually will be the 79th edition of the Hollywood Derby with the first 72 presentations having taken place at the now-demolished Hollywood Park facility in Inglewood near LAX airport. When the race shifted to Del Mar in 2014, it got a big boost in its first local edition when soon-to-be Horse of the Year California Chrome won it smartly and thus ensured himself the first of his two HOY titles.

The chestnut colt Gufo, a son of the War Front stallion Declaration of War, shows four wins and a photo-finish second on his ledger for 2020. The stretch runner won the Grade I Belmont Derby last out on October 3 at the big New York track. Stablemate Decorated Invader has won five of nine starts and more than $500,000.

The Kingman gelding Domestic Spending has won three of four lifetime outings, including a tally in the Saratoga Derby Invitational in his most recent effort on August 15 at the upstate New York track.

Get Smokin, by Get Stormy, comes into the race off a score in the Grade 2 Hill Prince on the lawn at Belmont Park on October 18.

The local contingent is headed by multiple-stakes winner and $397,823 earner Smooth Like Strait and 2019 Juvenile champion Storm the Court, who has more than $1.3 million in the bank. That pair finished one-two in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar this summer, with the winner Smooth Like Strait coming back to capture the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita on October 18.

Earlier on the Saturday program there are a pair of grass stakes that also have drawn full fields.

The day's seventh race is the seventh local running of the Seabiscuit Handicap, a $200,000, Grade 2 offering that has drawn 13 older runners for a mile and one-sixteenth on the green.

Topweighted for the test is the eastern invader out of the powerhouse Chad Brown barn Flavius, a Juddmonte Farms homebred who'll pack 123 pounds and the nation's top money-winning jockey, Irad Ortiz, Jr., as he tries to add to his $541,151 bankroll.

Among his rivals are Agave Racing Stable, ERJ Racing, Madaket Stables or Rockin Robin Racing Stable's Bowies Hero, a multiple-stakes winner of more than $1.5 million; Sayjay Racing, Hall or Hubbard's One Bad Boy, last year's Queen's Plate winner; Peter Redekop's multiple-stake winner Anothertwistafate, who'll be making his first grass start, and Don't Tell My Wife Stables, Monomoy Stables or West Point Thoroughbreds' comebacking My Boy Jack, a now 5-year-old who was the buzz horse on the 2018 Derby Trail and who will be making his first start in more than a year.

Here's the full field for the Seabiscuit in post postion order with riders and morning line odds:

My Boy Jack (Victor Espinoza, 30-1); Paradise Road Ranch's Camino Del Paraiso (Tiago Periera, 15-1); Klaravich Stables' Spirit Animal (Manny Franco, 8-1); Bonne Chance Farm or Stud R D I's Imperador (Drayden Van Dyke, 15-1); Agave Racing Stable or Sam-Son Farm's Count Again (Juan Hernandez, 8-1); Lindley or Morton's Majestic Eagle (Mario Gutierrez, 15-1); R3 Racing or Calara Farms' Blitzkrieg (Abel Cedillo, 10-1); Anothertwistafate (Joel Rosario, 4-1); Baltas, Baltas, Ivarone, Ivarone, McClanahan, et al's Next Share (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 12-1); One Bad Boy (Flavien Prat, 12-1); Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal's Tartini (Edwin Maldonado, 30-1); Flavius (5/2), and Bowies Hero (Umberto Rispoli, 6-1).

The afternoon's fifth race is for 2-year-old fillies and is named the Jimmy Durante Stakes. Fittingly, the $100,000 Grade 3 test is run at a mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Both the race and the grass course were named for the multi-talented entertainer who for many years made Del Mar his summer stop of choice.

Again, trainer Brown's entrant well could be the one to beat in the juvenile feature. That would be Head of Plains Partners' homebred Fluffy Socks, shipped in from Belmont and with a stakes tally on the grass – and a close miss in another – already on her ledger. Once again top rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call and they'll break from Post 8 in the 13-horse lineup.

Here's the field for the Durante in post position order with riders and morning line odds:

Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal's Inner Beauty (Tiago Pereira, 20-1); C T R Stables, Wonderland Racing Stables, Bambauer, et al's Plum Sexy (Juan Hernandez, 6-1); Harris Farms' Closing Remarks (Umberto Rispoli, 15-1); Altamira Racing Stable, CYBT, Lantzman or Nentwig's Nimbostratus (Ricky Gonzalez, 12-1); Godolphin's Javanica (Flavien Prat, 6-1); Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners or Winners' Consternation (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1); Perry or Ramona Bass' Pizzazz (Mike Smith, 6-1); Fluffy Socks (5/2); Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal's Quattroelle (Tyler Baze, 8-1); Bridlewood Farm's Bay Storm (Joel Rosario, 5-1); Breeze Easy's Polished Lady (Victory Espinoza, 30-1); Slam Dunk Racing's Magical Thought (Abel Cedillo, 12-1), and Ryan, Drown or Team Hanley's Invincible Gal (Manny Franco, 6-1).

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Frontrunning Theodora B. Faces Trio From Clement Stable In Aqueduct’s Long Island

An evenly-matched field of fillies and mares are set to clash on the Aqueduct Racetrack turf in Ozone Park, N.Y., in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Long Island at 1 ⅜ miles on the inner course, led by graded stakes winner Theodora B. from the barn of trainer Michael Dickinson.

A versatile 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, Theodora B. had been knocking on the door at the stakes level for much of her career before breaking through in a big way in 2020. The Augustin Stable homebred began her year with an encouraging optional claiming win at Laurel Park, and after a hiccup on the synthetic main track at Woodbine in the Grade 3 Trillium, finally notched her first stakes victory with a wire-to-wire score in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on turf.

That same frontrunning tactic earned her another stakes win one start later in the TVG at Kentucky Downs, but she failed to get the job done in her most recent start, the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor at Woodbine, fading to fifth after setting the early pace.

“She's doing very well, fresh and sound.” said Dickinson, who attributes her improvement this year to mental and physical maturation. “She's stayed very sound, and we've discovered she's happiest on the front end, which is where she'll be again on Saturday. It's not anything we planned for, it just happened that nobody wanted the lead [in the Dance Smartly], and she's been in great form.”

In search of her third stakes win of the year, Theodora B. will enlist the services of top turf rider Jose Lezcano from post 9.

Never a stranger to turf stakes races on the NYRA circuit, trainer Christophe Clement has a trio of runners entered in Wegetsdamunnys, Mutamakina, and Traipsing.

Bred in New York by Wellspring Stables, the daughter of D'Funnybone will be making her swan song in the Long Island before she heads to the breeding shed in 2021. The 5-year-old mare has accumulated over $300,000 in career earnings with five wins from 23 starts, and recently finished second in the Yaddo on September 4 at Saratoga Race Course.

“She's always been consistent for us,” Clement said of Wegetsdamunnys. “It's a bit ambitious, but this will be her last race before she goes off to become a broodmare.”

Conversely, Mutamakina's U.S. career appears to just be taking flight after the French import finished third in the Zagora on October 31 at Belmont Park in her stateside debut. The 4-year-old filly encountered significant trouble in the Zagora, run over a yielding turf course at Belmont, having been shuffled badly in upper stretch before mounting a strong rally to get within a half-length of the winner at the finish.

“She ran a very good race last out,” said Clement. “She's been training forwardly and we'll take her to Florida after this race.”

A Stone Farm homebred, Traipsing will take a hefty step up in class after beating a second-level optional claiming field in late September on the Belmont lawn in wire-to-wire fashion. She will also stretch out in distance significantly having won that race at 1 1/16 miles, and she has yet to go beyond 1 ⅛ miles in her career.

Wegetsdamunnys will be ridden by Dylan Davis from post 2, Mutamakina will have the services of Eric Cancel out of post 4, and Kendrick Carmouche will be aboard Traipsing from post 3.

Local horseman Tom Albertrani also has a formidable duo lined up for the Long Island with turf marathon aficionados Beau Belle and Lovely Lucky. Though winless on the year, Beau Belle has acquitted herself nicely in a few such stakes races, with a couple of third-place finishes in the Grade 2 Glens Falls and the River Memories on her 2020 resume. In her most recent outing, however, she finished a distant eighth in the Zagora.

“She did too much on the front end that day [in the Zagora] and the soft turf just got to her,” said Albertrani, who trains Beau Belle for Mark Anderson. “It's the only race she really ran poorly in. Hopefully, with a different scenario it works out next trip. She's run well in most of her starts. We'll see if she can come back.”

Luis Rodriguez Castro will ride Beau Belle from post 7.

A 4-year-old daughter of Lookin At Lucky owned by Elizabeth Mateo, Lovely Lucky looked like a star in the making when she got to go 1 ⅜ miles for the first time on July 24 at Saratoga, however that hasn't really panned out in subsequent starts. She entered her breakthrough victory off a meager maiden claiming score, but exploded to a surprising 6 ¾-length romp at the Spa at odds of 19-1. Since then, she's finished fourth in the Glens Falls and seventh in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational in her latest outing.

“She's a filly that's been improving with the distance that we ran her,” said Albertrani. “In the race at Saratoga [the Grade 2 Glens Falls], Lezcano was fighting her a little too much and she ended up running fourth. We were thinking Beau Belle would set the pace but actually she had more speed and I think he may have held her back a little more than she needed him to. She still ran well. Hopefully, she steps up.”

An also eligible in post 13, Lovely Lucky will hope to draw into the race for rider Harry Hernandez.

New York mainstays Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey and renowned turf conditioner Chad Brown will also be well represented. McGaughey's Hungry Kitten nearly won her third race in a row last out in the Zagora, in which she finished a fast-closing second behind Luck Money. The rapidly improving 4-year-old will be ridden by Nik Juarez from post 11.

Brown, meanwhile, will send out French product Eliade, who is coming off an impressive allowance win on October 8 at Keeneland. Prior to that, the Teofilo filly finished an even fifth in the Glens Falls on this circuit. Jose Ortiz, regular rider of Hungry Kitten, will take the call from the inside post.

Rounding out the field are Siberian Iris [post 5, Mike Luzzi), English Affair (post 6, Jorge Vargas, Jr.), With Dignity (post 8, Sebastian Saez), Pretty Point (post 10, Christopher DeCarlo) and Delta's Kingdom (post 12, Junior Alvarado).

The Long Island is slated as the finale on Aqueduct's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 11:50 a.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the Aqueduct fall meet with coverage to air on FOX Sports and MSG Networks.

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Decorated Invader, Gufo Among East Coast Invaders For Saturday’s Hollywood Derby

Befitting its Grade 1 status, a field of 3-year-olds of both quality and quantity was entered Sunday for next Saturday's 79th running of the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar.

The 1 1/8-mile turf event, won by California Chrome in its initial edition at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif., in 2014 as a springboard to Horse of the Year honors, had 13 set as the entry deadline approached Sunday morning. Among the group were five shippers from East Coast-based trainers with two from Christophe Clement and one each from Chad Brown, George Weaver and Thomas M. Bush.

Clement is sending out Decorated Invader, a winner of the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park and the G2 Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga last summer and Gufo, a winner as the favorite of the Belmont Derby on October 3.

Brown is dispatching Domestic Spending, a winner of the Saratoga Derby Invitational in August by a head over Gufo; Weaver will be represented by Ever Dangerous, fresh from a win in a $150,000 stakes at Keeneland on November 6, and Bush sends Get Smokin, a wire-to-winner of the Grade II Hill Prince on a yielding Belmont turf on October 18.

Joel Rosario, who has ridden Decorated Invader for Clement for the son of Declaration of War's last five starts, was in the irons for a four-furlong workout in 51.66 seconds Sunday morning at Belmont Park. Stablemate Gufo also worked the same time and distance.

“He put in a good work,” Rosario said by phone while en route from Belmont to Aqueduct for the Sunday card. “He's doing very well and hopefully he'll make the trip well and run a good race.”

A supplemental entry, at a $3,000 cost, was Roadrunner Racing and Sayjay Racing's Strongconstitution. The Kentucky-bred son of Constitution, a $220,000 purchase at a 2-year-old in training sale last spring, was second in the Bob Hope last year and won the Let It Ride Stakes on the second day of the current meeting.

“The Let It Ride was a really good race for him and we're hoping he can step it up another notch because obviously he's going to have to against the horses he'll be up against this time,” trainer Doug O'Neill said.

The entrants, in alphabetical order with jockeys in parenthesis: California Kook (Juan Hernandez); Decorated Invader (Rosario); Domestic Spending (Irad Ortiz, Jr.); Ever Dangerous (Victor Espinoza); Get Smokin (Mike Smith); Gufo (Flavien Prat); Kanderel (Geovanni Franco); Lane Way (Drayden Van Dyke); Scarto (Manuel Franco); Smooth Like Strait (Umberto Rispoli); Storm The Court (Juan Hernandez); Strongconstitution (Abel Cedillo), and Taishan (Jose Valdivia, Jr.).

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Fasig New York-bred Record Setter Runs to the Money at Big A

5th-Aqueduct, $70,000, (S), Msw, 11-22, 2yo, f, 1m, 1:40.42, ft, 5 1/4 lengths.
BRATTLE HOUSE (f, 2, Malibu Moon–Savvy Sassy, by Street Sense), who set a Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale record when she brought $775,0000 from Larry Best last August, began repaying that investment Sunday with a facile debut win against an overmatched group of New York-bred fillies. Looking to follow in the hoofsteps of stablemate Harper’s in Charge (Malibu Moon), who dusted an open group of maidens here a week earlier to be named a ‘TDN Rising Star‘, the 4-5 favorite broke running from the rail and made the early lead fairly easily. Reined in by Joel Rosario to allow a rival to join in on pacesetting duties along the fence, Brattle House began to pull away from that foe into a :48.75 half. Flower’s Fortune (Effinex) ranged up and attempted to run with the chalk heading for home, but Brattle House cantered away all by herself with a high-headed action to romp by a geared-down 5 1/4 lengths. “I’ve never shopped the New York sale before,” Best said after signing the ticket last year on Brattle House. “I didn’t even intend to shop today. But I had nothing to do this afternoon, so I came over and looked at some horses and that one caught my eye. It’s a beautiful day. I had other business to do this morning, got doneearly and felt like I’d come over and look. And here we are.” The winner is half to this year’s Jerome S. runner-up Bourbon Bay (Bayern) and a weanling filly by Flatter. Her dam, who took her own unveiling for trainer Christophe Clement by 5 3/4 lengths at Belmont in 2014, is a full to Canadian MGSW Southdale and was bred to Constitution for 2021. Sales history: $775,000 Ylg ’19 SARAUG. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $38,500. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-OXO Equine LLC; B-Oak Bluff Stables, LLC & Christophe Clement (NY); T-Christophe Clement.

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