Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners | Horse Racing Free Tips

Con Lima Box to Wire in Saratoga Oaks

Sunday, Saratoga
SARATOGA OAKS INVITATIONAL S.-GIII, $700,000, Saratoga, 8-8, 3yo, f, 1 3/16mT, 1:54.42, fm.
1–CON LIMA, 121, f, 3, by Commissioner
1st Dam: Second Street City (SW, $209,843), by Consolidator
2nd Dam: Trix City, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Always Nettie, by Vice Regent
($15,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV; $19,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP;
$22,000 RNA 2yo '20 OBSMAR). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred
Partners, Joseph F. Graffeo, Eric Nikolaus Del Toro & Troy
Johnson; B-Lisa Kuhlmann (TX); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Flavien
Prat. $375,000. Lifetime Record: 13-7-5-0, $884,865. Werk
Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross
pedigree.
2–Higher Truth (Ire), 121, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Wannabe Better
(Ire), by Duke of Marmalade (Ire). (500,000gns Ylg '19
TATOCT). O-Michael J. Ryan, Jeff Drown, & Team Hanley;
B-Churchtown House Stud (IRE); T-Chad C. Brown.
$130,000.
3–Creative Flair (Ire), 121, f, 3, Dubawi (Ire)–Hidden Gold
(Ire), by Shamardal. O/B-Godolphin, LLC (IRE); T-Charles
Appleby. $70,000.
Margins: 3/4, 1 1/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 3.05, 7.40, 3.20.
Also Ran: Plum Ali, Gam's Mission, Out of Sorts, Messidor (Ire), Rocky Sky (Ire).

Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Con Lima was afforded an easy lead under Flavien Prat, opened up in the stretch and held sway late to annex the GIII Saratoga Oaks Sunday at the Spa.

Originally just a $15,000 Keeneland November weanling buy, the dark bay was privately purchased out of a sharp main-track graduation for trainer Carlos David last July at Gulfstream and was runner-up in the off-turf P.G. Johnson S. and Our Dear Peg S. Scoring a wire-to-wire 5 1/4-length success in her grass bow Dec. 12 at Gulfstream, she repeated in the Ginger Brew S. and was second in the GIII Sweetest Chant S. before being elevated into a GIII Herecomesthebride S. victory via disqualification. Taking one more crack on dirt in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, she faded to fourth after setting a slow pace, her only finish out of the exacta thus far, but bounced back when returned to the lawn with triumphs in the Honey Ryder S. and GIII Wonder Again S.

Just run down late when second in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. last out, Con Lima was made a narrow favorite over Godolphin invader Creative Flair here and broke a bit outwardly. Easing her way to the front as no one else took the initiative, she clicked off comfortable fractions of :23.64, :50.02 and 1:14.34 with ears pricked. Turning aside a brief bid from Gam's Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) past the three-sixteenths pole, she skipped clear into the final furlong as Higher Truth came off the rail to take her shot. Jumping back to her left lead at the sixteenth marker, it briefly appeared that Con Lima was in danger, but Prat kept her to task to score by a fairly comfortable margin in the end.

“I was analyzing the race beforehand and we were the only speed but I wasn't 100% sure with a couple of the Euros if they would show some initiative,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher, capping off a weekend that started with his Hall of Fame induction. “I left it in Flavien's hands and Plan A was to break well and see if anybody would try to take the lead away from us and if they didn't, we'd be happy to have it. It worked out really well. He just gradually got up there instead of having to hustle her and use her. She relaxed really well. You could see when she turned up the backside and her ears were flicking back and forth that she was in a happy zone.”

“The speed was pretty much me and the Godolphin filly and it seems she broke a step slow,” said Prat. “I broke better than her and I ended up on the lead. Going to the first turn I felt really comfortable. I was really pleased with the way she was traveling and I felt we were doing some easy fractions. She really kicked on well. I got her ready to kick and she really did. When she swapped leads, she responded well from that point.”

Pedigree Notes:

One of nine stakes winners and three graded stakes winners for 2014 GI Belmont S. runner-up Commissioner, Con Lima is the first foal to race out of her stakes-winning dam. She is followed by a yearling Point of Entry colt named Pico de Gallo and a weanling colt by Lord Nelson. Second Street City was bred to Game Winner this spring.

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Morny Date For Quick Suzy

G2 Queen Mary S. winner Quick Suzy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) will reappear in the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville on Aug. 22, with connections deciding to bypass Sunday's G1 Phoenix S. at The Curragh.

Trained by Gavin Cromwell, Quick Suzy was purchased privately by the American-based Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners after breaking her maiden at The Curragh on May 3. Joseph Burke, who brokered that deal, said, “She worked well at The Curragh on Tuesday. But having spoken to Gavin, [jockey] Gary Carroll and Aron Wellman–the head of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners–we figured, having given her a holiday following Royal Ascot, that we'd give her another couple of weeks and aim for the Prix Morny instead. She gets an extra pound from the colts in Deauville as well-four pounds as opposed to three pounds at The Curragh–and fillies have a very good record in the Morny. She's already group-placed in Ireland, a group winner at Royal Ascot and the joint-highest rated 2-year-old in Ireland, so it would be great to get some Group 1 form in France on her CV next.”

Quick Suzy's key end-of-season goal is the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November.

“Ultimately, her season revolves around the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar and we're working back from there,” added Burke. “This race [the Morny] fits in nicely, and we might take in the Cheveley Park then, all being well, before going to Del Mar.

“We're very lucky to have her. She's brought a lot of joy to all of us already, and we hope the second half of her season will be just as rewarding.”

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Moretti Goes For Second Straight Birdstone At Saratoga

Repole Stable and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' multiple graded stakes placed Moretti will attempt to defend his title against a talented field of older horses in Thursday's $120,000 Birdstone, a 1 3/4-mile main-track marathon at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the Medaglia d'Oro bay, out of the Grade 1-winning Concerto mare Rigoletta, is a half-brother to millionaire 2017 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Battle of Midway.

Purchased for $900,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, Moretti blossomed last season, posting a record of three wins and three seconds in six starts, including stakes scores in the Flat Out at Belmont Park and Birdstone at Saratoga to go along with a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont.

Pletcher, a five-time Birdstone winner, said Moretti is working well into Thursday's repeat bid, including a five-eighths breeze in 1:01.88 on July 29 on the Spa main track.

“He's doing well. We know he likes the distance,” Pletcher said. “It's just a matter of keeping him happy and fit. He's coming off a couple of solid efforts and we're looking forward to giving it a try again.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will be tasked with engineering the title defense from post 4.

“I think the main thing is to get into a comfortable rhythm rather than worry about who's on the lead or stalking,” Pletcher said. “In these types of races, you just want to get into a good rhythm. You don't get many opportunities at this distance, so we'll give it our best shot.”

Flying P Stable's Lone Rock made the grade last out, romping to an 11 1/4-length score in the 12-furlong Grade 2 Brooklyn presented by Northwell Health on Belmont Stakes Day June 5.

Claimed back by trainer Robertino Diodoro for $40,000 out of a winning effort in November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., Lone Rock captured a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer in February at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., in his next outing.

The 6-year-old Majestic Warrior gelding has made his last four starts at 1 1/2-miles, finishing second in the Temperence Hill in March ahead of an optional claiming score on April 11, both at Oaklawn Park. He returned on short rest to capture the Isaac Murphy Marathon on April 27 at Churchill Downs ahead of an eye-opening effort in the Brooklyn that registered a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

Lone Rock posted a bullet half-mile on the main track in :46.60 on July 22 and worked an easy half-mile in :52.19 Friday over sloppy going on the Oklahoma training track.

“He's a horse that loves his job and he's training great. He bounced out of that race like it was nothing,” Diodoro said. “On Belmont day, it was a little warm, and to run that far, you'd think it would take a little bit out of him but he's come back like a monster.”

Ramon Vazquez retains the mount from post 3.

Centennial Farms' multiple graded stakes-winner Rocketry has finished third in the last two editions of the Birdstone.

Trained by Jimmy Jerkens, the 7-year-old Hard Spun bay finished off-the-board last out in the Brooklyn and will look to return to the form that saw him capture the 1 5/8-mile Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance in November at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

“That one horse [Lone Rock] looks like a standout in that category. If ever he's going to beat horses like that, it's going this distance,” Jerkens said. “That's what happened in Kentucky. The pace was just too sharp for going that far and they came back to him and he went by them in the very end.”

Ricardo Santana, Jr. picks up the mount from post 7.

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Lothenbach Stables' Ry's the Guy, sixth last out in the Brooklyn, broke through at stakes level in September, taking the 12-furlong Champions Day Marathon at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Ian Wilkes, the 5-year-old Distorted Humor bay breezed a half-mile in :48.44 Thursday on the Saratoga main track.

“He came out of the last race good and I'm happy with him. It won't be an easy assignment; we'll be facing some of the same horses,” Wilkes said. “He has no problem with the track. He's trained here and got over it fine. His works have been solid. I'm very pleased with his breezes here. We've had a little bit of cool weather and that's helped.”

Ry's the Guy will exit the inside post under Chris Landeros.

Final Turn Racing Stable and Noda Brothers' You're to Blame, runner-up in last year's Birdstone, made an impressive first start Sunday for trainer Orlando Noda with a 9 1/2-length off-the-turf optional claiming romp traveling nine furlongs over a fast main track.

The 7-year-old Distorted Humor bay, a veteran of 37 career starts who captured the 2018 Grade 3 Greenwood Cup at Parx, will exit post 6 under Jose Ortiz.

Rounding out the field are graded-stakes placed He's No Lemon [post 2, Manny Franco], and stakes-placed Shooger Ray Too [post 5, Joel Rosario]

The Birdstone is slated as Race 9 on Thursday's 10-race card. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

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Alabama Possible Next Stop For Malathaat

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat garnered a career-best 96 Beyer for her game runner-up effort to Maracuja in Saturday's Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and piloted by fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the regally bred Curlin bay was pressured throughout the nine-furlong journey, first by Maracuja and later by Clairiere, after exiting the inside post in a compact field of four.

Malathaat, out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia, maintained a precarious advantage at the stretch call but could not repel the rallying Maracuja, who prevailed by a head.

Pletcher said he concurred with the Daily Racing Form running line comment, which read, in part, “hounded.”

“Hounded is an accurate description,” Pletcher said. “We had a difficult time analyzing the race beforehand and how we thought it might unfold. There wasn't a lot of speed on paper and we were in the one post with a target on our backs, so our strategy was to let her run away from the gate and try to establish a position into the first turn, or, if someone was to clear us, hopefully move out into the clear.

“Everyone left there with the same intention and by the time we got to the first quarter we'd gone 23 and 1, which is fine if we could have a little breather along the way,” Pletcher continued. “But as soon as we got on the backside, Irad [Ortiz, Jr. aboard Clairiere] made a move and put pressure on her. She kind of had to fight off the whole field. When you're a heavy favorite in a race like that with a short field, those things can happen. I'm not disappointed with the filly at all. I thought she ran bravely considering everything that was thrown at her off the layoff. If she comes back well, we'll point towards the Alabama.”

The 10-furlong $600,000 Grade 1 Alabama is slated for August 21.

Pletcher said Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Joseph F. Graffeo, Eric Nikolaus Del Toro, and Troy Johnson's multiple graded-stakes winner Con Lima is training well into the 1 3/16-mile $700,000 Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational, the second leg of the Turf Triple series for fillies on August 8.

The Texas-bred daughter of Commissioner, who captured the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Herecomesthebride by disqualification in February at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and the nine-furlong Grade 3 Wonder Again in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., worked a half-mile in :51.66 Saturday on the Saratoga main track.

“She worked fine. She's a high energy filly that seems to take her races well,” Pletcher said. “She'll have one more breeze and it seems like everything is in order.”

Last out, in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, Con Lima stretched her speed to 10 furlongs over good going, but was collared in the final stride by highly regarded Santa Barbara.

Pletcher was full of praise for the ultra-consistent dark bay, who boasts a record of six wins and five seconds from 12 starts with purse earnings of $509,865.

“She just continues to step up. She's been super consistent and gives a good effort every time,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher said the tighter turns of the Saratoga turf may prove favorable for the handy Con Lima.

“This will be a little more favorable although she did win the Wonder Again at Belmont,” Pletcher said. “She seemed to really like Gulfstream, which is a tighter course, so maybe that will work in her favor here.”

CHC and WinStar Farm's undefeated Life Is Good, recently transferred to Pletcher's care, worked a half-mile in :48.88 Saturday on the Oklahoma dirt training track.

Pletcher said the Into Mischief Bay, who bested Kentucky Derby-winner Medina Spirit in the Grade 3 Sham and Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita, will target either the seven-furlong $500,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at the Spa, or the 1 1/16-mile $300,000 Grade 3 Smarty Jones on August 24 at Parx.

“He breezed in in 48 and change. He's a very impressive horse to watch train. He did that well in hand throughout,” Pletcher said. “We'll play it by ear, but we have a couple of options with the Allen Jerkens here and the Smarty Jones at Parx would be a possibility if we needed more time. He's a super talented horse and we're fortunate to have him.”

Repole Stable's Midnight Worker, a 2-year-old bay colt by Outwork, earned a 59 Beyer for a hard-fought win by a head in a six-furlong maiden special weight Saturday at Saratoga. A $60,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, Midnight Worker was piloted to victory by Luis Saez.

“It was a good effort,” Pletcher said. “He was under pressure from the one hole, but worked out a trip and fought off a couple challenges. I was proud of his effort and he was very solid on debut. “

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