city of hope mile | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mo Forza Flies Late For Second Consecutive City Of Hope Mile Score

Unhurried early under Flavien Prat, Mo Forza closed with a furious rush to nail front-running Smooth Like Strait in the final strides of Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 City of Hope Mile Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. The 5-year-old horse by Uncle Mo out of Inflamed, by Unusual Heat, was winning his fourth consecutive graded stakes – including last year's City of Hope Mile – and eighth race overall from 14 starts.

Smooth Like Strait, who went to the lead under Umberto Rispoli, then allowed Red Storm Risen to head him in the run down the backstretch, edged a fast-closing Hit the Road for second as the 9-5 second choice. Hit the Road, off at 5-1, was well clear of Red Storm Risen in fourth and Order and Law completed the order of finish.

Trained by Peter Miller and owned by Bardy Farm and OG Boss, Mo Forza was bred in Kentucky by the late trainer Barry Abrams in the name of his Bardy Farm.

Mo Forza covered the mile on firm turf in 1:32.45 after fractions of :22.61, :46.66, 1:08.98 and 1:20.57. He paid $3.20 to win.

Mo Forza was coming off a hard-fought head victory over Smooth Like Strait in the G2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 21, his first start since last year's City of Hope Mile. In this year's edition of the City of Hope, Prat settled Mo Forza at the back of the pack as Smooth Like Strait rushed up to take command early from the five post, holding a clear advantage while rounding the first turn.

In the run down the backstretch, Joe Bravo swung Red Storm Risen – who had broken from the rail post – to the outside and ranged up alongside Smooth Like Strait, taking a short lead into the far turn.

Prat, meanwhile, kept Mo Forza to the outside of Hit the Rail and Florent Geroux, and commenced a rally around the three-eighths pole. At midstretch, Smooth Like Strait looked home free, but in the blink of an eye Mo Forza pounced on the front-runner with Hit the Road racing to his outside.

Mo Forza closed with a rush, hitting the front in the final strides and looking like a serious contender for the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile to be held at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

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Mo Forza, Smooth Like Strait Face Off In City Of Hope Mile

A winner of his last three starts, all Grade 2 turf stakes, Peter Miller's Mo Forza, along with Michael McCarthy's ultra consistent Smooth Like Strait, headline Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 City of Hope Mile as a field of five 3-year-olds and up compete over the Santa Anita turf.

Bred in Kentucky by the late trainer Barry Abrams' Bardy Farm, Mo Forza, who won last year's City of Hope Mile two starts back, emerged from a 10 month layoff on Aug. 21 to rally and win the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile, his third consecutive Grade 2 win at a mile on grass. With Flavien Prat bidding for his fourth consecutive win aboard the 5-year-old full horse by Uncle Mo, out of the Unusual Heat mare Inflamed, Mo Forza seeks his sixth one mile turf win from eight tries.

Owned by Bardy Farm and OG Boss, Grade 1 winner Mo Forza has four wins from six starts over the Santa Anita turf. With lofty Beyer Speed Figures of 104, 106 and most recently 103 to his credit, he rates tops billing.

Trained by Michael McCarthy and owned and bred by Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC, Smooth Like Strait has four wins from eight tries at a mile on turf, with all four wins coming at Santa Anita. A solid second, beaten a head in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile Aug. 21, he was second, beaten a neck two starts back in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes and in his career-best performance, he sped to 1 ½ length win in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile here three starts back on May 31.

A 4-year-old colt by Midnight Lute, Smooth Like Strait, who along with Mo Forza will tote co-high weight of 126 pounds, is three necks and a head away from being unbeaten in five starts this year. With an overall mark of 17-7-5-2, he has earnings of $1,043,823 and will be ridden by Umberto Rispoli for the ninth consecutive time.

A gutty neck winner of the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile on turf here March 6, trainer Dan Blacker's Hit the Road was subsequently fifth as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 1 Makers Mile (turf) at Keeneland on April 9. Subsequent to that, he was freshened up and returned to the races on Aug. 21 at Del Mar, finishing a big third, beaten one length by Mo Forza.

With a recent race to his credit, Hit the Road will again get the services of eastern-based Florent Geroux as he bids for his fifth win from six starts over the course. A 4-year-old colt owned by D K Racing, LLC, Radley Equine Inc., Taste of Victory Stables, Rick Gold, Tony Maslowski and Dave Odmark, Hit the Road has six wins from 11 overall starts and earnings of $539,751.

THE GRADE 2 CITY OF HOPE MILE WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 3 of 11 Approximate post time 1:30 p.m. PT

Red Storm Risen—Joe Bravo—122
Mo Forza—Flavien Prat—126
Hit the Road—Florent Geroux—124
Order and Law—Abel Cedillo—122
Smooth Like Strait—Umberto Rispoli—126

The City of Hope Mile is one of five stakes on an 11-card Saturday with first post time at 12:30 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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Heavily Favored Mo Forza Rolls To Another Victory In City Of Hope Mile Stakes

Heavily favored and on his way. That pretty much sums up the performance tendered by Mo Forza in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as the 4-year-old son of Uncle Mo rallied from off the pace to win by 1 3/4 lengths while in-hand under Flavien Prat. Trained by Peter Miller, Mo Forza got a mile on turf in 1:32.09 and he and his connections now eye an engagement in the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

Breaking alertly from the outside in a field of seven, Mo Forza rated kindly and settled into a fluid rhythm down the backside, about five lengths off pacesetting Blitzkrieg with a half mile to run. Three-deep turning for home, he was hand ridden while lugging in a bit through the lane and won with consummate ease over multiple graded stakes winner Sharp Samurai.

“He pretty much had the same trip as he did in the Del Mar Mile (G2, Aug. 23),” said Prat. “I think he's getting more professional, which is great. Today he showed up again. We can probably go further, but as of right now, he's running pretty well, so I wouldn't change anything.”

A 4 1/4-length winner of the Del Mar Mile Handicap on turf, Mo Forza was off as the 3-5 favorite and paid $3.20, $2.20 and $2.10.

“That's him,” said Ruben Alvarado, assistant to Miller. “He relaxes early and then you saw the way he finished up. He ran today just like he did at Del Mar. We're very happy and we're looking forward to the Breeders' Cup.

Bred in Kentucky by former trainer Barry Abrams' Bardy Farm and owned by Bardy Farm and OG Boss, Mo Forza, who is out of the Unusual Heat mare Inflamed, notched his fifth graded stakes win and he has now won five out of his last six races with four of them over the Santa Anita turf. With six wins from 12 overall starts, he's four for five at one mile on grass and with the winner's share of $120,000, has earnings of $734,460.

Sharp Samurai, who sat a close third behind Blitzkrieg and eventual third-place finisher Bob and Jackie, kept to his task to finish second by 1 1/4 lengths and paid $3.00 and $2.60 as the 7-2 second choice with Juan Hernandez up.

Off at 24-1 with Heriberto Figueroa, Bob and Jackie prevailed by a head over Blitzkrieg and paid $5.60 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.58, 45.61, 1:08.76 and 1:20.53.

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Brinkerhoff’s ‘Best Horse’ Restrainedvengence Chasing Graded Win In City Of Hope Mile

Restrainedvengence, the “best horse” Val Brinkerhoff has ever trained, comes back in Saturday's Grade II City of Hope Mile on Santa Anita's turf in just over two weeks from his last race, a game head victory as the 4-5 favorite in the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque, New Mexico over a mile and an eighth on dirt Sept. 19. It was the richest race of the meet.

“The City of Hope is a short field and he came out of his race super-good, never lost any weight and never missed a meal,” said Brinkerhoff, a former jockey who rode at the bush tracks in the northwest before becoming one of the hardest-working horsemen in the game just over a dozen years ago.

Brinkerhoff, who turns 64 on Oct. 19, still gallops his own horses.

“I think getting the horse there took more out of him than the race itself,” said Val, whose wife and dedicated assistant, Kelly, and Bobby Grayson Jr. own the five-year-old gelded son of Hold Me Back, who has an 8-3-1 record from 25 starts with earnings of $625,222. He was second by a head in the City of Hope last year.

“I missed some training on him here but he ran good enough to win despite being bumped through the stretch. He should be fit now because I missed a bunch of time after I ran him at Golden Gate (in the Grade III San Francisco Mile June 14) because of a foot issue, then I missed time because of the smoke from the fires here, but he's fine now.

“He's won stakes on three different surfaces: Tapeta, dirt and turf, so he's very versatile.” While he's never won a graded stakes, the Kentucky-bred has competed in 12 straight added money races and earned Beyer speed figures of 100 or more in three of them.

The City of Hope, race eight of 10 with a 12:30 p.m. first post time: Sharp Samurai, Juan Hernandez, 5-2; Restrainedvengence, Ruben Fuentes, 8-1; Majestic Eagle, Ricardo Gonzalez, 20-1; Royal Ship, Mike Smith, 4-1; Bob and Jackie, Heriberto Figueroa, 12-1; Blitzkrieg, Abel Cedillo, 4-1; and Mo Forza, Flavien Prat, 8-5.

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