Pacific Classic Day Figures To Be Busy One For Michael McCarthy

Trainer Mike McCarthy has four of his own charges to saddle in three of the five graded stakes on Saturday's $1 million TVG Pacific Classic card in Del Mar, Calif. – and one extra.

McCarthy has multiple graded stakes winner Smooth Like Strait, the 9-5 second choice to 8-5 favorite Mo Forza in the Grade 2 $300,000 Del Mar Mile, the seventh race on the program. He has Independence Hall (5-1) and former boss Todd Pletcher's Dr Post (4-1) to take care of in the G1 Pacific Classic. And he'll end the busy day with two to saddle, Crossfirehurricane (30-1) and Master Piece (15-1) in the G2 Del Mar Handicap Presented by The Japan Racing Association, which is the nightcap of an 11-race program.

For most of the build-up to the Classic, it appeared that Independence Hall would not be a participant. The Charles Town Classic on Aug. 27 was considered the destination for the 4-year-old son of Constitution.

But things changed.

“We decided to run him right out of his stall rather than ship across country,” McCarthy said. “He's a horse that has a lot of ability and he's trained well up to this point. We'll lead him over and hope for the best. It's a great position (No. 7) and hopefully we get a good break and take it from there.”

Two late changes, announced at the post position draw, worth noting: Florent Geroux replacing the originally announced Trevor McCarthy in the saddle and the addition of blinkers.

McCarthy, an assistant to Pletcher for 11 ½ years before going out on his own, has had Dr Post in his stable since the horse's arrival from Saratoga on Tuesday and will do the saddling duties. Pletcher, recently recovered from a bout of COVID, will remain in New York.

Dr Post, a 4-year-old son of Quality Road who was a $400,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, has nearly doubled his purchase price with four wins from nine career starts. He has two G3 wins from three 2021 starts. His only loss came in the G1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap.

Pletcher's entire previous Del Mar experience came during the 2017 Breeders' Cup when he had one win and five out-of-the-money results from six starters and left with earnings of $144,345. Destin got Pletcher's crew off to a good start winning the Marathon, but a fifth-place from March X Press in the Juvenile Turf Sprint was the best from five other starters.

McCarthy's Smooth Like Strait is nearing millionaire status with $983,823 from seven wins in 16 lifetime starts entering the Del Mar Mile. The 4-year-old son of Midnight Lute won the G3 La Jolla Handicap and was second in the G1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar in 2020 and was second, beaten a neck by United, in the G2 Eddie Read on July 24.

“I thought he was a little unlucky in the Eddie Read, but he came out of it good and has trained well,” McCarthy said. “This is obviously an excellent race, a strong field, but he likes Del Mar and gives a good effort every time.”

Crossfirehurricane was imported from Ireland and made his U.S. debut for McCarthy in the Shoemaker that was won by stablemate Smooth Like Strait in May. Having some time to acclimate to new surroundings and going from a mile race to the 1 3/8 miles of the Del Mar Handicap should be more to the Kitten's Joy colt's liking.

“He needs to have some pace to run at and obviously he's going to get that,” McCarthy said.

Master Piece is a newcomer to the McCarthy barn, having made his first four U.S. starts since arrival from South America for trainer Chad Brown in the Midwest or East.

The post Pacific Classic Day Figures To Be Busy One For Michael McCarthy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Ballydoyle Six Headed By Santiago In the Irish Derby

A field of 15 have been declared for Saturday’s G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh, with Aidan O’Brien responsible for six. The master of Ballydoyle’s main chances appear to be last week’s G2 Queen’s Vase winner Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) and G2 King Edward VII S. runner-up Arthur’s Kingdom (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the largest field since 1977. Santiago has been done no favours by the draw, having been posted wide in 11 while Joseph O’Brien has a trio engaged headed by Scott Heider’s unbeaten G3 Gallinule S. scorer Crossfirehurricane (Kitten’s Joy). He too will have to navigate a high draw in 13, while Jim Bolger relies on the maiden Fiscal Rules (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) who was fifth in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas June 12 and exits stall five. In an unusual year where the Irish Classic precedes the G1 Investec Derby by a week, Aidan O’Brien is keeping Russian Emperor (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and Vatican City (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) back for Epsom. According to the Racing Post, Armory (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has been described as a possible for the blue riband and also the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club July 5.

The post Ballydoyle Six Headed By Santiago In the Irish Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Memorable Week for Heider

Scott Heider enjoyed a memorable couple of days on both sides of the Atlantic last week. Thoughtfully (Tapit), a $950,000 purchase last summer at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, debuted on Thursday at Churchill Downs and ran to the money with a dominant score to become a TDN Rising Star. The following day Crossfirehurricane (Kitten’s Joy) carried his colours to victory in the G3 Coolmore Ten Sovereigns Gallinule S. at The Curragh.

TDN‘s Gary King caught up with Heider to reflect on this success and to learn more about his interests in the Thoroughbred business. (Click here to listen.)

The post Memorable Week for Heider appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The Weekly Wrap: Peace, Love and Understanding

First Love, now Peaceful. In another alarming week in world events, we could all use a little of both, but they are of course the two latest Classic winners for their peerless sire Galileo (Ire).

When winning the Moyglare Stud S. last September, Love (Ire), now also the 1000 Guineas winner, sparked a Group 1 double on Irish Champions Weekend which was completed by the Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song (Ire). By November, Galileo had drawn level with Danehill’s record on 84 individual Group 1 winners thanks to the remarkable Magic Wand (Ire), who won the G1 Mackinnon S. in Australia on her 11th start of a 12-race year across six different countries.

The 5-year-old mare, who returned in triumphant fashion on Saturday at the Curragh to win the G2 Lanwades Stud S., is perhaps the perfect embodiment of the most important trait Galileo appears to impart to many of his offspring: hardiness. Plenty of them, of course, are not short on talent either, and another went his way with just one runner apiece in the fields for the 1000 Guineas and Irish 1000 Guineas and the most recent Classic was added to Galileo’s phenomenal tally after Peaceful (Ire) led home an O’Brien family party at the Curragh on Saturday.

Trained, like a significant number of Galileo’s major winners, by Aidan O’Brien, she was at the forefront of a quartet completed by her stable-mate So Wonderful (War Front) and Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and New York Girl (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) representing the stables of the master trainer’s sons Donnacha and Joseph. It would be no surprise to see first-season trainer Donnacha snare an early Classic victory of his own courtesy of Fancy Blue, on whom he won a Naas maiden last September in his final season as a jockey and who looks tailor-made for the Oaks, both on her Guineas performance and pedigree.

Lyons In Roaring Form
The weekend delivered an extra shot in the arm with the victory of Siskin in the Irish 2000 Guineas. The unbeaten Juddmonte colt of course also represents one of the most powerful owner-breeder operations in the world, but he has been entrusted to Ger Lyons, who, over three decades has steadily built his stable into a serious force to be reckoned with. That he is now patronised by some of the world’s leading owners is deserved rewrad for effort and a first Classic success for Lyons and his retained jockey Colin Keane was a widely popular result.

He is a trainer who doesn’t pander to anyone and is refreshingly direct in this age of spin by social media. But it was easy to detect the strong emotion prompted by Siskin’s behind-closed-doors Guineas win even as Lyons joked that it suited him just fine as he prefers his own company anyway. He may have stood alone, but the racing world was watching and smiling along with him.

In a different year, with more time between major events and fewer restrictions on travel, we maybe would have seen Siskin take on Pinatubo (Ire), Kameko and Victor Ludorum (Ire) in the St James’s Palace S. As it is there will be no raiding party from Glenburnie at Royal Ascot this year.

“That’s out of everybody’s control,” Lyons told TDN on Monday. “I know Aidan [O’Brien] is partaking but he can fly in and fly out, but apart from the flying in and out it would be the wrong thing to run Siskin back again. That doesn’t work for me. I’m not saying it’s wrong for Aidan, I’m just saying it doesn’t work for me.”

He continued, “It’s just the timing and it’s unfortunate but it’s the year that were in and we’ll take it. The English Guineas was ruled out because we couldn’t get Colin in to ride, simple as, so we committed to the Curragh Guineas, and that was our main aim. We said if we’re doing that and he’s good enough, then the Sussex Stakes will be the next race. He’s proven himself well good enough, so as we stand it’s the Sussex Stakes unless we are told differently. That’s his programme.”

The unbeaten Siskin appears to have taken his first outing of the season well, according to his trainer, who said, “He’s grand, he lost his weight but he’s licked his pot. If he ever stops eating I’ll be very worried. He rode out this morning and did his dressage, had a shower and had his roll as usual. Then he had a couple of hours picking grass and he’s the same old Siskin, so I’d say the weight will be back on him in the next day or so.”

While he was the most important, Siskin was not the only exciting winner to emerge from Glenburnie in the past week. Lyons has sent out six winners from his 31 runners since the resumption, including exciting juvenile debutante Frenetic (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and the listed winners Heliac (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and Nickajack Cave (Ire) (Kendargent {Fr}). Juddmonte’s Peace Charter is also a filly to watch with interest following her fifth-place finish in the G3 Leopardstown Fillies Trial S.

“Peace Charter had a bad draw in the Guineas trial at Leopardstown and had no luck in running. That would have been grand if she’d had a better draw but we had a good end of the week for Juddmonte. Our horses in general have run really well since we’ve started back so we’re delighted,” Lyons said.

“Frenetic is a little star. She was back under saddle this morning and did a canter. She was mad keen to get out, that filly, and was ready for a while, and she will hopefully aim for the group race at Naas [the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies’ Sprint S. on July 4].”

He added of the emerging staying prospect Nickajack Cave, winner of the Saval Beg Levmoss S., “I’m not a globetrotter but he’s a horse that we said at the start of the year if we had an Ebor horse it was him. He’s a long way off [last year’s Ebor winner] Mustajeer (GB) at the moment. He still only a young unexposed 4-year old and that was his first time over the trip. I got so much pleasure watching him because I just love seeing a race run like that. You could see [Colin] there watching and you could see the further he went the stronger the horse was coming under him and you knew turning in that he was going to take off.  And he did and it was lovely to watch.

“He did it well and we have lovely options for him. Ultimately he has that shape about him, he’s the type of horse who could be a Melbourne Cup horse for the next three years. I’m not saying for me but he has that sort of look about him.”

Transatlantic Joy
Following the 2000 Guineas success of Kameko, his sire Kitten’s Joy was represented by another exciting 3-year-old this week in Crossfirehurricane, winner of the G3 Coolmore Ten Sovereigns Gallinule S. for Joseph O’Brien.

The colt boosted a good week for American owners in Ireland as he races in the colours of his co-breeder Scott Heider of Heider Family Stables. In a partnership which started around six years ago, Heider bred the unbeaten Crossfirehurricane with Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm and they now have a serious Irish Derby contender on their hands.

Bernick was also on the winners’ sheet in Ireland last week as the owner of the Dark Angel (Ire) filly Lynn Britt Cabin (Ire). Her victory at Leopardstown on Thursday for Fozzy Stack came a day after the owner’s One Voice (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {Ire}) was just touched off in the listed Salsabil S. at Navan. She holds an entry for a potential quick turnaround in the listed Victor McCalmont Memorial S. on Friday.

Star Quality
Five new TDN Rising Stars were named in Europe in the last week and they include Admiral Nelson (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who made a few headlines even before he started racing.

Bred by Bob and Pauline Scott at their Essex-based Parks Farm Stud, the colt set a new record price for the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale last year when selling to Coolmore through Hillwood Stud for £440,000.

The Scotts bought his dam Shamandar (Fr) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) as a foal and retained her at 3,500gns when offered as a yearling at the Tattersalls December Sale. She was later withdrawn from the Guineas Sale but the tale of pinhooking woe had a happy ending when she won the listed EBF Dick Poole Fillies’ S. in their colours and more than £200,000 in prize-money earned from 11 starts.

Admiral Nelson is the mare’s fifth foal and is entered for both the G2 Norfolk S. and G2 Coventry S. later this week.

Belardo Bowling Along
No fewer than 18 first-crop stallions have now been represented by at least one winner in Europe. Haras de Colleville’s Goken broke early and has maintained his lead with five winners to his credit. He is also the first of the bunch to record a stakes winner. His daughter Livachope (Fr) won Sunday’s listed Prix la Fleche having got her sire off the mark on debut on May 13.

It is the Darley stallion Belardo (Ire), a grandson of the recently deceased Shamardal, who has really caught the eye in the last week, however, bringing his tally up to four with a smart-looking first-time-out winner at Goodwood on Sunday. Trained by Joe Tuite, Lullaby Moon (Ire) streaked away from her rivals, including the 6/4 favourite Stream (GB) (Frankel {GB}), to win by two and a quarter lengths and she holds an entry for Saturday’s G2 Queen Mary S. Belardo could also be represented at Ascot in the G3 Albany S. by another recent winner, the William Haggas-trained Golden Melody (Ire).

With Roaring Lion having died last summer and Hawkbill relocated to Japan, only one son of the celebrated Kitten’s Joy remains at stud in Britain and that is the Lanwades resident and GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby’s Kitten. He too could be represented in the Queen Mary by one of his two winners to date, Kirsten Rausing’s Sands Of Time (GB).

 

 

The post The Weekly Wrap: Peace, Love and Understanding appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights