commonwealth stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

TDN Snippets: Weeks of Apr. 4 – Apr. 10

Karma, football, a wild longshot in the Santa Anita Oaks, and one of the industry's oldest farms striving to break new ground in new areas. Let's also not forget the big Twin Spired shadow looming over us. Here's how the controlled chaos went down this week.

Defying the odds…again
Taiba will be up against all sorts of historical norms by forging ahead to the Kentucky Derby off just two lifetime starts. Since 1937 (the advent of detailed start statistics), only four horses have ever even attempted the Derby in career start number three: China Visit (sixth in 2000), Disposal (18th in 1992), Senecas Coin (DNF in 1949) and Perfect Bahram (ninth in 1946).

It's a dry heat…
Arizona will get a chance to bring that lovely weather with them to the Kentucky Oaks after Desert Dawn's shocking upset of the GII Santa Anita Oaks. Her AZ-based owners Hollis and Elena Crim (racing under the farm name of H & E Ranch) kept the faith in their homebred through a three deep string of off-the-board finishes against graded company in California, and were rewarded with a gutsy breakthrough win. A lifetime of dreams are now poised for a run on the first Friday in May.

Pioneerof the Nile's enduring legacy…
The passing of any horse is difficult, doubly so when they're poised for a future like what WinStar experienced with Pioneerof the Nile even if he hadn't sired a Triple Crown winner. As his final crops start racing, the loss becomes more noticeable. Which makes the arch of the universe all the more curious when one considers that his GIII Beaumont S. winning daughter Matareya was born two days before her sire died in 2019: the filly hitting the ground March 16, and Pioneerof the Nile passing away March 18. And so, the world turns and the karmic arc bends more in his favor every day.

Football and the ponies…how very Kentucky
War of Will's syndicate announced a N.I.L. (Name, Image and Likeness) deal with the University of Kentucky's starting quarterback Will Levis. Both Wills love a good race, so the opportunity poses an interesting approach to marketing the sport to a younger, more diverse audience and the stallion to the hardcore UK fans in the breeder ranks. Claiborne Farm is the first such operation to partner with a Division I athlete, and it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out for horse and man.

Through Prevalence, Enrichment is prevalent…
It's a remarkable feat for a broodmare to get two winners on the same card. In Enrichment's case, they came during the incredibly competitive opening weekend at Keeneland. Emirates Road, the youngest of racing age, charged home in the second race on Saturday to win in his second lifetime start. Three races later, Prevalence outran fellow 'Rising Star' Nashville and eight others to capture his first graded stakes, the GIII Commonwealth, for their shared connections of Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh. With a blue hen, a two-time leading Ecuadorian sire, and a variable assortment of graded stakes winners beneath her in the pedigree, Enrichment is set to reap ever more bountiful rewards.

The post TDN Snippets: Weeks of Apr. 4 – Apr. 10 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Prevalence Captures the Commonwealth

'TDN Rising Star' Prevalence made the grade Saturday with a good-looking score in the Commonwealth at Keeneland. Away well from post 10, the bettors' second choice raced in a joint second as favored fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Nashville zipped through an opening quarter in :22.12. The bay turned up the heat on the chalk a bit through a :44.61 half-mile and they turned for home on even terms. Nashville threw in the towel at the top of the stretch, fading fast to the back of the field, but Prevalence had a head full of steam, rolling clear to score. Long Range Toddy completed the exacta with O Besos in third.

“I wasn't sure we'd get that close to [Nashville],” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “[The plan was] let [Prevalence] work his way into the race. They were going quick, but he looked comfortable the whole time. Tyler [Gaffalione] said he was just cruising along for him.”

“He's just a very smart horse,” Gaffalione said. “He does everything so easily. The first thing Brendan said was, 'Man, they went quick, but it looked like he was doing it well within himself,' and he really was.He has a high cruising speed, and he's a very intelligent horse. I had plenty left.”

Opening his account with a pair of flashy wins at Gulfstream last winter, Prevalence was off the board when stepped up in class for both the GII Wood Memorial S. and GII Pat Day Mile, after which he was shelved for the season. Returning Feb. 5 in a Gulfstream optional claimer, he finished fifth after a bad start and rebounded with a decisive score next out at that oval Mar. 5.

Pedigree Notes:
Prevalence is the 87th graded winner and the 163rd black-type scorer for Darley's Medaglia d'Oro. He is also the 17th graded victor and 28th black-type achiever out of a daughter of Ghostzapper. The Godolphin homebred is a half-sibling to Group 3 winner Estihdaaf and stakes winner Libreta (Girolamo). His 3-year-old half-brother Emirates Road (Quality Road) rallied to victory for Walsh and Godolphin in a seven-panel maiden special weight at Keeneland earlier on Saturday's card (video). Their dam Enrichment is a daughter of blue hen and Grade II winner Sahara Gold, making her a full-sister to MGISW Better Lucky and SW Final Frontier and a half to GSW Sahara Heat (A.P. Indy). Sahara Gold is a daughter of GI Breeders' Cup Sprint victress Desert Stormer (Storm Cat). Enrichment's recent produce includes a juvenile colt by Frosted and a yearling colt by Uncle Mo. She was bred back to Medaglia d'Oro.

Saturday, Keeneland
COMMONWEALTH S.-GIII, $300,000, Keeneland, 4-9, 4yo/up, 7f, 1:22.47, sy.
1–PREVALENCE, 118, c, 4, by Medaglia d'Oro
                1st Dam: Enrichment, by Ghostzapper
                2nd Dam: Sahara Gold, by Seeking the Gold
                3rd Dam: Desert Stormer, by Storm Cat
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Godolphin, LLC; T-Brendan P. Walsh; J-Tyler Gaffalione.
$174,375. Lifetime Record: 7-4-0-0, $288,225. *1/2 to Libreta
(Girolamo), SW, $128,660; and Estihdaaf (Arch), GSW-UAE,
$183,491. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 'TDN Rising Star'
2–Long Range Toddy, 118, h, 6, Take Charge Indy–Pleasant
Song, by Unbridled's Song. O-Zenith Racing; B-Willis Horton
Racing LLC (KY); T-Dallas Stewart. $56,250.
3–O Besos, 118, c, 4, Orb–Snuggs and Kisses, by Soto.
O-Bernard Racing LLC, Tagg Team Racing, West Point
Thoroughbreds and Stephens, Terry L.; B-L. Barrett Bernard
(KY); T-Gregory D. Foley. $28,125.
Margins: 2 1/4, HD, 1. Odds: 2.50, 45.20, 4.30.
Also Ran: Surveillance, South Bend, Three Technique, Manny Wah, Endorsed, Atoka, Nashville. Scratched: Sir Alfred James. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Flagstaff Rallies Late Under Rosario For Commonwealth Stakes Triumph

Bottled up on the inside after breaking from the rail post, Lane's End Racing and Hronis Racing's Flagstaff was taken to the outside in the stretch by jockey Joel Rosario, and the 7-year-old gelding by Speightstown finished with determination to overtake front-runner Special Reserve and win Saturday's Grade 3 Commonweath Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths at Keeneland racecourse in Lexington, Ky.

Trained by John Sadler, Flagstaff was winning for the first time since taking the G2 San Carlos at Santa Anita on March 7, 2020. He completed the seven furlongs on a fast main track in 1:21.84 and paid $5.80 as the 9-5 favorite.

Special Reserve just held second over a fast-closing Attachment Rate, with Bango fourth and Mucho fifth in the field of seven older sprinters.

Special Reserved, claimed two starts back for $40,000 by trainer Mike Maker, set all the fractions: :22.98 for the opening quarter mile, :45.97 for the half and 1:09.80 for six furlongs. Bango chased the front-runner from the outside with Flagstaff racing along the inside until Rosario eased him off the rail turning into the stretch. He guided the gelding further out in mid-stretch and Flagstaff responded to the clear sailing with a strong finish.

Flagstaff, bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Farm, is out of the A.P. Indy mare, Indyan Giving. He improved his record to six wins, six second and three thirds from 18 starts. He was coming off a third-place finish in the Hot Springs Handicap at Oaklawn behind C Z Rocket and reigning sprint champion Whitmore.

Post-race quotes:

Joel Rosario (winning rider of Flagstaff)

“I was thinking (about) trying to get out at some point. With an inside post position I just had to be there. He broke really sharp and I was in a good spot, and I was just waiting to be in the clear when I could going forward.”

“He was running for me (coming into the stretch). Sometimes you know how much (horse) you have when you start moving, but I stopped moving and he kept moving forward so I felt very good about how much horse I had.”

Bill Farish (of winning co-owner Lane's End Racing)

“When you have the one post, you either send him or you don't, and it looked like (Joel) was sending him in the beginning and maybe the horse just got outfooted a little bit. But when he swung him outside he really made a great run. It's really fun to have an older gelding like him. He just keeps coming on big days and winning big races, and it's a lot of fun for everybody involved.”

Mike Maker (trainer of runner-up Special Reserve)

“He made a really good effort – was trying very hard down the lane.”

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