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Trio of Grade Ones Highlight Holiday Stakes Action Monday

Santa Anita will play host to three Grade I races, while Grade III action features the return of a champion at Churchill Downs and a talented Louisiana-bred attempting to make the grade at Lone Star Park during holiday stakes action Monday.

The GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita is set to be the first of 41 Breeders' Cup Challenge series races in North America this year. A field of 11 goes postward seeking the winner's share of the $500,000, as well as an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup FanDuel Mile, which will be held over the same course in November.

Trainer Phil D'Amato saddles three in the race, including morning-line favorite Hong Kong Harry (Ire) (Es Que Love {Ire}), who was a three-time graded winner in California last year. He was fourth behind reopposing stablemate Gold Phoenix (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) in the Mar. 4 GI Frank Kilroe Mile before heading east for a runner-up effort in the May 6 GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.

Gold Phoenix, who was 10th in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf, returned from his win in the Kilroe Mile to finish fourth when stretched to 1 1/4 miles for the Apr. 8 GII Charles Whittingham S. last time out. Unbeaten in two tries at a mile on grass, Gold Phoenix will be reunited with Japanese sensation Kazushi Kimura, who has been aboard for his last two starts and will fly in from his Toronto base for the ride Sunday.

Rounding out the D'Amato trio–who were all plundered from Europe to find graded success in the U.S.–is Balnikhov (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}), who was seventh in the Kilroe Mile before getting up in the last jump to win the Apr. 29 GIII San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate in his most recent start.

Both Gold Phoenix and Balnikhov represent the red-hot Little Red Feather partnership, which won four stakes last weekend.

An hour before the Shoemaker Mile, seven older fillies and mares head postward at Santa Anita for the GI Gamely S. Trainer Michael McCarthy will saddle morning-line favorite Queen Goddess (Empire Maker). The 5-year-old raced last year for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and her breeder TOLO Thoroughbreds and, after selling for $1.525 million at Fasig-Tipton last November, returned for the partnership of Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Gary Barber to win the GIII Robert J. Frankel S. last December. She added a win in the GIII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream in January and returns to the West Coast following a sixth-place effort in the Apr. 15 GI Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland.

D'Amato has two chances in the nine-furlong Gamely, with School Dance (Animal Kingdom) and Macadamia (Brz) (Hat Trick {Jpn}) in the line-up.

The GI Gold Cup concludes the Grade I action at Santa Anita Monday. Trainer Bob Baffert holds a strong hand in the 1 1/4-mile race with Country Grammer (Tonalist) and Defunded (Dialed In) appearing to tower over the six-horse field. Country Grammer, second in the Feb. 25 G1 Saudi Cup, will look to get back on track following a seventh-place effort while attempting a defense of his title in the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March. Defunded had to settle for third after setting the pace over this track and trip in the Mar. 4 GI Santa Anita H., but returned to the winner's circle with a three-length tally in the Apr. 22 GII Californian S. last time out.

In other graded stakes action across the country, champion Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) makes her return to the races in the GIII Winning Colors S. at Churchill Downs. Champion 2-year-old filly of 2021, the 4-year-old has been off since finishing second in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint last November at Keeneland.

Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) looks for his seventh straight victory in the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S. at Lone Star Park. The Louisiana-bred, trained by Jeff Delhomme, will be making his first start outside state-bred company. The 4-year-old's toughest competition might be the Mike Maker-trained 7-year-old Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro), who won a pair of one-mile graded events at Gulfstream this past winter.

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Churchill Downs Issues Statement On Equine Fatalities

Edited Press Release

Churchill Downs Incorporated released the following statement Saturday in response to questions about track safety during the meet:

In today's first race, Kimberley Dream (Colonel John) sustained a significant injury–a distal sesamodean ligament rupture–to her left front leg. A similar injury occurred to Lost in Limbo (Into Mischief) during Friday's seventh race. Unfortunately, in both scenarios, attending veterinarians determined that the injuries were inoperable and unrecoverable and made the difficult but most humane decision to euthanize. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to the connections and all who loved and cared for Kimberley Dream and Lost in Limbo.

There have been 12 equine fatalities at Churchill Downs since the stable area reopened for training on March 30. It is with absolute dismay and sorrow that we report this highly unusual statistic. Our team members mourn the loss of these animals as we continue to work together to discover cause and determine appropriate investments to minimize, to the degree possible, any avoidable risk in this sport and on our property. We do not accept this as suitable or tolerable and share the frustrations of the public, and in some cases, the questions to which we do not yet have answers. We have been rigorously working since the opening of the meet to understand what has led to this spike and have yet to find a conclusive discernable pattern as we await the findings of ongoing investigations into those injuries and fatalities.

As with any matter under investigation, justice or answers are not always swift, but the commitment to being thorough is incredibly important. We understand the justified desire for answers, yet also respect the process and authority of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) when managing these important investigations. We are actively working in cooperation with these regulatory authorities and share their goal to improve the safety of this sport.

In recent weeks, we have been focused on our responsibility to provide the safest racing environment possible on our property. Part of that effort has included increasing the frequency with which our surfaces are tested. Earlier this week, Churchill Downs commissioned Dr. Mick Peterson, Executive Director of Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory and Professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky, to perform additional diagnostics on our racetrack. The report indicated that the measurements from retesting do not raise any concerns and that none of the data is inconsistent with prior measurements from Churchill Downs or other tracks.

We simply will not allow these equine fatalities to be in vain. We are engaged in an epidemiological study with the Jockey Club to review each individual horse to determine if there are any undetected patterns that have not been previously identified. These findings can be incorporated into our daily review of entries and potentially trigger additional interventions using advanced diagnostic modalities.

Additionally, we have worked to uncover ways to invest in research and resources that may be made available to trainers, so that together we can better detect pre-existing injuries and work to avoid catastrophic injuries in racing. We have made promising progress in determining ways to increase the use of technology to better inform and intervene when abnormalities in horses present and are eager to share these announcements with horsemen and the public in the coming days. This is in addition to mining and enhancing our already comprehensive safety protocols and policies (Churchill Downs “Safety from Start to Finish”), all developed over the years to improve upon every opportunity we have to advocate in the best interest of our equine and human athletes.

We are troubled by this recent string of fatalities. It is extremely inconsistent with the outcomes we have experienced over the years, with the reputation we have developed over the decades and with the expectations we set for ourselves and owe our fans. We are committed to doing this important work and updating the public with our developments.

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Daughter Of Omaha Beach Storms Home In Debut Win At Churchill

3rd-Churchill Downs, $80,000, Msw, 5-27, 2yo, f, 5f, 1:00.27, ft, head.
EASY RED (f, 2, Omaha Beach–Blessings Count, by Pulpit) was hammered at the windows from 5-1 down to 3-2 in her debut here for first-crop sire Omaha Beach (by War Front), who recorded his first winner with Cynane May 5 at Belmont Park. The chestnut filly trailed early, but began to make up ground around the far turn. Racing out in the center of the track, Easy Red laid down a furious rally down the lane and with less than a sixteenth left, got up just in time over Luxuriate (Outwork) to graduate by a head. Second dam MGSW Topicount (Private Account) also produced GSP Winning Season (Lemon Drop Kid), who is responsible for Sennockian Storm (Storm Cat)–dam to GSWs Honey Bunny (Tapizar) and Dr. Edgar (Lookin At Lucky). The winner claims half-sister Minds Eyes (Macho Uno), SP, $167,504 and half-brother Rodaini (Exchange Rate), SW-Eng, SP-UAE, $323,852. She is her dam's last recorded foal. Sales History: $40,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $40,320. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. O-Donald R. Dizney; B-Ron Stolich & Matchstalk Investments (KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill.

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Sunday Insights: $1.25m Keeneland Yearling Grad By Into Mischief Debuts

5th-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 2:45 p.m.
PUMPKIN SCONE (Into Mischief), a $1.25-million Keeneland September Yearling purchase by Spendthrift Farm, debuts for Brad Cox from the outside gate on Sunday. Bred in Kentucky by the China Horse Club, the bay filly is out of Embellish the Lace (Super Saver), who has also produced three-time winner and fellow $1.25-million KEESEP graduate Tap the Faith (Tapit). Pumpkin Scone hails from a female family which includes GI Travers S. hero Afleet Express (Afleet Alex) and MGISP My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song), the dam of GISW Annapolis (War Front). She will face a pair of debuting homebreds in Juddmonte's Call Again (Arrogate) and Winchell Thoroughbreds's Absinthe (Gun Runner). TJCIS PPS

1st-BEL, $75K, Msw, (S), 2yo, 5f, 1:00 p.m.
A 2-year-old maiden special weight for New York-breds kicks off Belmont's Sunday card. Trained by Mike Maker, the rail-drawn THE WINE STEWARD (Vino Rosso) hails from the first crop of Vino Rosso, who is represented by one winner from five starters. The $340,000 OBS March buy's dam Call to Service (To Honor and Serve) counts MGSW Isotherm (Lonhro {Aus}) as a half-brother and the unraced half-sister Adande (Bwana Charlie), who is responsible for GSW Skelly (Practical Joke). TJCIS PPS

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