Doug O'Neill | Horse Racing Free Tips

Slow Down Andy, Art Sherman Among Highlights For Los Alamitos Winter Meet

An upset by Slow Down Andy in the $300,000 Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, a fifth consecutive win in the G1 Starlet for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, and a retirement ceremony for trainer Art Sherman were among the highlights of the seven-day Winter Thoroughbred meet, which concluded Sunday at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif.

A homebred son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist owned by J. Paul Reddam and trained by Doug O'Neill, Slow Down Andy surprised 1-2 favorite the Baffert-trained Messier Dec. 11, ending Baffert's streak of seven wins in a row in the Futurity.

In the Starlet, Eda, the 11-10 favorite, prevailed, continuing a run for Baffert that has seen him win the prestigious race for 2-year-old fillies five of the eight years it has been offered at Los Alamitos.

Baffert also won the meet's other graded race, capturing the $100,500 G3 Bayakoa with favored As Time Goes By for Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.

The two other stakes were for 2-year-olds bred or sired in California. Professors' Pride went gate-to-wire in the $101,500 Soviet Problem for Larry and Carolyn Samovar's Academic Farms and trainer Eddie Truman while 2-1 second choice Straight Up G led throughout to take the $102,000 King Glorious for owner-breeder Jim Rome's Jungle Racing LLC and trainer Richard Baltas.

Sherman, 84, was honored Dec. 10 minutes after he saddled his last career starter – Chasing Alchemy, who finished seventh in a $50,000 maiden claimer for 2-year-olds. The popular trainer, who has been involved in racing for more than 65 years, finished his career with 2,261 wins. His most famous pupil was two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, who was based at Los Alamitos for most of his career.

Baffert topped the trainer standings with five victories, one more than Lorenzo Ruiz. It was the 13th meet he has either led or shared the title since daytime thoroughbred racing returned to Los Alamitos in 2014.

Baffert had the most wins (13) for the year at Los Alamitos, combining the Winter meet with the Summer Thoroughbred Festival (June 25-July 5) and the Los Angeles County Fair season (Sept. 10-26). Peter Miller and Steve Miyadi tied for second with 11.

A closing day triple-double enabled Abel Cedillo to win the jockey title, his second in a row locally after taking the LACF meet. The 32-year-old native of Guatemala finished with nine wins, three more than Tyler Baze, apprentices Ricardo Ramirez and Diego Herrera, and Kyle Frey.

For the year at Los Alamitos, Cedillo totaled 35 wins, 14 more than closest pursuer Juan Hernandez. Frey and Herrera shared third with 16.

All sources handle for the Winter meet was up 11% on a comparative basis over 2019, which was also a seven-day season.

Handle at California satellite locations declined 23%, but advance deposit wagering in Southern California increased 61%. “We're pleased with how things went for the days we raced, but disappointed we aren't able to run next week,'' said F. Jack Liebau, vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association.

Daytime thoroughbred racing will return to Los Alamitos in 2022. The first of three meets is scheduled to begin Friday, June 24, and will continue through Sunday, July 10.

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Slow Down Andy Joins Five Others With 10 Kentucky Derby Qualifying Points

With his victory over 1-2 favorite Messier in Saturday's Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity at Los Alamitos racecourse in Cypress, Calif., Reddam Racing's Slow Down Andy earned 10 qualifying points for the May 7, 2022, Kentucky Derby. The Doug O'Neill-trained colt by Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist joins five others with 10 points each, two points behind the current leader, Mark Casse-trained Pappacap, runner-up behind Corniche in both the G1 American Pharoah Stakes and G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Corniche, like other horses trained by Bob Baffert, is ineligible for Derby points and the Derby itself, as long as he is in the stable of the Hall of Fame horseman, who has been excluded through June 2023 from participation at all tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc., including its flagship operation in Louisville, Ky., where the Derby is run.

Churchill Downs Inc. took the action against Baffert when it was revealed the 2021 Derby winner, Medina Spirit, failed a post-race drug test. No regulatory action has been taken against Medina Spirit or Baffert by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which has yet to schedule a hearing on the matter. Baffert and his attorneys contend the positive drug test for the corticosteroid betamethasone was the result of an ointment they said Baffert's veterinarian prescribed for a skin rash a month before the Kentucky Derby.

Medina Spirit's failed test was the fifth (and second for betamethasone) alleged violation compiled by Baffert over a 365-day period. His previous betamethasone positive test was for the champion filly Gamine after she finished third as the odds-on favorite in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks. She was disqualified and placed ninth.

The Baffert-trained duo of Messier finished second and Barossa finished third in the Los Alamitos Futurity but did not earn any points. Fourth-place finisher Durante, also from the O'Neill barn, finished fourth, earning one point.

The next qualifying points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby is Friday's Springboard Mile at Remington Park, offering 10-4-2-1 points to the top four finishers.

Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks standings plus Road to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks race schedule

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Hot Rod Charlie Wins 2021 Vox Populi Award

Horse racing fans have spoken, and they have chosen Hot Rod Charlie, the gutsy 3-year-old colt who was a force along the Triple Crown trail, as the winner of the 2021 Secretariat Vox Populi Award. Created by Secretariat's owner Penny Chenery, the award annually recognizes the horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the general public and gained recognition for Thoroughbred racing.

Emerging as the favorite among the thousands of fans who voted in the year-end online poll, Hot Rod Charlie started the season as a long shot but consistently showed speed and determination that carried him through the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Hot Rod Charlie is owned in a partnership with Boat Racing LLC, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss. Trained by Doug O'Neill and piloted by Flavien Prat, he was a surprise winner of the Louisiana Derby and later finished third in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont Stakes, where his blistering fractions in the first quarter-mile rivaled the record-setting pace set in 1973 by Secretariat. Later in the year, Hot Rod Charlie answered an infamous disqualification in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes with a breathtaking comeback in the Pennsylvania Derby, his first graded stakes win.

The Oxbow colt's thrilling performances and his tenacity on the track endeared him to racing fans. Finishing in the money for five of his seven 2021 starts, Hot Rod Charlie tallied more than $2 million in earnings in 2021 and is poised for a sensational 4-year-old season in 2022. Off the track, his owners have donated a portion of Hot Rod Charlie's earnings to causes such as the Melanoma Research Alliance to honor O'Neill family members who had succumbed to the disease, as well as the Folds of Honor Foundation and the Jake Panus Walk-On Football Endowed Scholarship Fund at the University of South Carolina.

“Hot Rod Charlie represents the heart and purpose of the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, and his feel-good story and grit as a competitor remind us why we love racing,” said Kate Chenery Tweedy, family historian and daughter of Penny Chenery. “Traditional awards may overlook his accomplishments, but this award celebrates his endearing connection with fans.”

Greg Helm of Roadrunner Racing, representing Hot Rod Charlie's ownership interests, expressed gratitude for the honor, given the talented field of nominees.

“This colt has given our team such an incredible ride this year, and we are overjoyed he has been recognized as the winner of the Vox Populi Award,” Helm said. “We saw something special in him early on, and 'Charlie' has validated that time and time again. It means so much to us that fans have connected with him too.”

Hot Rod Charlie was one of a select group of six nominees submitted by the Vox Populi Committee and presented to thousands of voters in all 50 states and more than 40 countries who spoke as the “Voice of the People” in the Secretariat.com online poll. Other nominees were Echo Zulu, Essential Quality, Knicks Go, Letruska, and Life is Good. Voters also had the option to write in their own favorite candidate to recognize other exceptional horses.

Hot Rod Charlie now joins a list of cherished racing stars who have also received the Vox Populi Award: Authentic (2020), Bricks and Mortar (2019), Winx (2018), Ben's Cat (2017), California Chrome (2016 and 2014), American Pharoah (2015), Mucho Macho Man (2013), Paynter (2012), Rapid Redux (2011), and Zenyatta (inaugural 2010).

The trophy presentation for Hot Rod Charlie's connections is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2022, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., where race fans can also enjoy the official Vox Populi winner's print giveaway and special autograph appearances.

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Slow Down Andy Takes Los Alamitos Futurity For Reddam, O’Neil

Sporting the same colors that his sire Nyquist won the 2016 Kentucky Derby in, Slow Down Andy ran greenly through the stretch in the Los Alamitos Futurity but was able to straighten out and take the Grade 2 stakes by a length over the favored Messier.

In a short field of five, Slow Down Andy broke from the outside, settling in behind the front three of Olympic Legend, Durante, and Messier down the Los Alamitos straight and around the first turn. Through fractions of :22.79, :46.62, and 1:10.83, Olympic Legend maintained a half-length lead, with Messier pulling even with him as they approached the far turn. Mario Gutierrez on Slow Down Andy went four-wide into the turn, with Messier taking the lead as they hit the top of the stretch.

Into the Los Alamitos stretch, Messier on the rail had a short advantage over Slow Down Andy driving on the outside. The gap between them shortened as Slow Down Andy made his bid for the lead, passing Messier, but then the son of Nyquist lugged in and bumped the Baffert trainee, allowing Messier to battle back and take the lead briefly. Inside the last sixteenth, though, Gutierrez straightened Slow Down Andy out and dug in, passing Messier to take over for good, hitting the wire a length in front. Barossa, Durante, and Olympic Legend rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.35. Find this race's chart here.

Slow Down Andy paid $12.40 and $3.40. Messier paid $2.10. The field of five meant no show wagering for the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity.

“He relaxed perfectly early. When I saw the opening going to the turn I sent him through and he responded. I think he was just playing around in the stretch. When (runner-up) Messier got back in front of him, he regained his focus and showed his heart,'' jockey Mario Gutierrez said after the race.

“If it was up to me we would have run in the California bred race ($100,000 King Glorious) tomorrow. It was strictly (owner-breeder) Paul (Reddam) wanting to take a chance and having faith in Slow Down Andy and thank God he did. We figured our other horse (Durante) would show speed and being in (post 5) we hoped (jockey) Mario (Gutierrez) would get good position and ride his race. Down the stretch, it looked like we had it and then we didn't and then we did, so it was very exciting,” trained Doug O'Neill said after the race. “He doesn't really remind me of Nyquist. This horse has a lot of different gears and Nyquist was just a beast, so precocious. This horse is pretty calm and more mentally versatile at this stage than Nyquist ever was.''

The G2 Los Alamitos Futurity is part of the Road to the 2022 Kentucky Derby. With his win, Slow Down Andy earns 10 points toward a spot in the starting gate for next year's Derby. Messier earns four points, Barossa gets two, and fourth-place Durante earns one.

Bred in California by owner Reddam Racing, Slow Down Andy is out of the Square Eddie mare Edwina E. With his win in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity, the 2-year-old colt has two wins in three starts for career earnings of $249,850.

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