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Record-Tying Six-Win Day Catapults Cancel To Jockey Title At Aqueduct; Rodriguez Leads Trainers

Jockey Eric Cancel tied a New York Racing Association single-day record with six wins, capturing his first career riding title on the circuit with a furious comeback in the standings on Sunday, closing day of the 2020-21 winter meet at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Cancel entered the eight-race card trailing Kendrick Carmouche by four victories but made a strong proverbial stretch-drive rally by winning six races on a single card for just the 23rd time in NYRA's recorded history, ending his meet with 78 total victories. Cancel finished in the money in all eight races, adding a runner-up and a third-place finish in the finale in his bid to become the first jockey to win seven races in a single day at a NYRA track.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez dominated the standings with 36 wins, capping the 54-day winter meet that ran from December 10 to March 28. Michael Dubb and Repole Stables [Mike Repole] each had 10 wins to lead all owners.

Cancel crafted a dramatic winter meet finale through rainy and foggy conditions, starting in the opener when Sono Grato won going a one-turn mile in a maiden tilt. Cancel rode Big Mountain to a runner-up effort in Race 2 but won five in a row, piloting Lobsta, Kith, City Temper, Make Mischief and My Boy Tate in the $100,000 Haynesfield for New York-bred 4-year-olds and up going one mile, sweeping Races 3-7.

The 24-year-old Cancel was the leading North American apprentice rider by earnings in 2015 and was the 2015 Eclipse Award finalist as Outstanding Apprentice. Cancel finished 78-63-53 in 361 mounts and earnings of just more than $4 million. Carmouche, the defending leading rider at the Aqueduct fall meet, was second with 76 wins while Manny Franco was third with 61.

“It's very meaningful,” Cancel said. “This is something I always wanted and I just want to continue to do better and better. I was just trying to win as much as I can and go home happy.”

Three of Cancel's five stakes wins this meet came in February, with Make Mischief winning the $100,000 Maddie May, Miss Brazil in the $100,000 Ruthless and Risk Taking highlighting his meet with a win in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers that earned Risk Taking 10 qualifying points for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby. Cancel also guided Espresso Shot to victory in the $100,000 Biogio's Rose on March 7 before adding My Boy Tate to the ledger.

“I've been trying to take everything in a good way and try to make every step better and better,” Cancel said. “I think right now, I'm on my top game. I know the guys are coming back from Florida and it'll be a little tough because a lot of mounts will go back to them. But I'll just keep on grinding. Nothing is going to stop me and I'll just keep on doing my best.”

Rodriguez paced all conditioners, finishing 10 wins ahead of second-place finisher Linda Rice. The effort marked Rodriguez's first training title since the 2019 Aqueduct spring meet. Ten of his 12 total meet titles have come at Aqueduct, with the other two during the Belmont fall meet [2010 and 2016].

Rodriguez, assisted by his brother, Gustavo, sent out a meet-high 181 starters, compiling a 36-26-26 record with earnings of more than $1.6 million. His runners finished in the money 48.62 percent of the time and posted a 19.89 winning percentage.

“I'm just very happy for everyone in the barn,” Rodriguez said. “My brother, my whole family, all the grooms and hotwalkers; they all work so hard. It's a team effort. They all know what to do, and I'm very happy to have all of them around me and help me. We don't have too many stakes-winning horses, but we try to make the best of it and we had a solid meet. We'd like to get even better horses and hopefully one day we'll get there. We're trying to build on the success and keep working hard and hopefully the big owners will send us some new stock.”

Among Rodriguez's meet highlights was Pete's Play Call's 2 1/2-length win in the $100,000 Gravesend on January 2 and Backsideofthemoon's victory in the $100,000 Queens County on December 19. Ryan's Cat won the Peeping Tom during Saturday's New York Claiming Championship Day.

Dubb saw his starters finish in the money in 72.5 percent of his 40 races, with his runners going 10-13-6 in winning a quarter of the races. Dubb's runners earned $727,674, tops among all owners, with Chateau's victory in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 6 marking the highlight. Dubb, a member of NYRA's Board of Directors, won a share of his first meet title since the 2019 Aqueduct Winter.

Repole Stable, led by Mike Repole, saw a nice mix of quality and quantity to earn a share of the title, with his starters going 10-11-6 in 43 races, posting earnings of $582,675. Backsideofthemoon's win in the Queens County on December 19 provided an early highlight, and Devious Mo closed the meet for the stable with a maiden claiming score on March 13 to allow Repole to hit double digits.

Thoroughbred action continues at Aqueduct Racetrack for the 11-day spring meet that will run from Thursday, April 1 through Sunday, April 18. The meet will include 13 stakes worth $2.7 million in purses highlighted by the 96th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on Saturday, April 3. Live racing will be conducted on a Thursday-Sunday schedule with a 1:20 p.m. Eastern first post.

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Cancel Clinches First Meet Title After Six-Win Sunday at Big A

Jockey Eric Cancel tied a NYRA record with six wins Sunday to propel himself to a first riding title on closing day of Aqueduct's 2020-21 Aqueduct winter meet. The 24-year-old finished the meet with 78 winners–two ahead of Kendrick Carmouche.

“I've been trying to take everything in a good way and try to make every step better and better,” said Cancel, who was 2015's leading apprentice by earnings and a finalist for that year's Outstanding Apprentice Eclipse Award. “I think right now, I'm on my top game. I know the guys are coming back from Florida and it'll be a little tough because a lot of mounts will go back to them. But I'll just keep on grinding. Nothing is going to stop me and I'll just keep on doing my best.”

Rudy Rodriguez dominated the trainer standings with 36 wins, 10 ahead of Linda Rice.

New York and national fixtures Michael Dubb and Mike Repole's Repole Stables shared the owner title with 10 wins apiece.

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Search Results Edges Miss Brazil In Busher, Earns 50 Kentucky Oaks Points

The $250,000 Busher Invitational kicked off the stakes action on Gotham Day at Aqueduct Racetrack in thrilling fashion as the two favorites, Search Results and Miss Brazil, sparred for the duration of the one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, with the Klaravich Stables-owned Search Results proving best by a half-length at the finish.

Sent off as the narrow second choice in the wagering at 2-1, Search Results was making just her second career start on the heels of an emphatic, four-length debut win on January 3 at Gulfstream Park for trainer Chad Brown.

Despite a far less imposing resume than Miss Brazil, who won the local prep for the Busher, the Ruthless, by 6 ¼ lengths as an encore to a dominant maiden score at Aqueduct, the betting public had the race pegged with near-laser precision as Miss Brazil was sent off the slightest of favorites at 9-5 — a margin that was almost transposed onto the racetrack given the way the race unfolded.

The field of six all broke well and formed a very tight pack down the backstretch of the Ozone Park, N.Y., track as Miss Brazil went out to show the way through splits of 24.53 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.64 for the half with Search Results in close attendance on her outside. The two continued to amble along on the front around the far turn, logging three-quarters in 1:15.14, and began to gain separation from the others as the field turned for home.

As jockey Eric Cancel finally let her loose, Miss Brazil tried to inch away from her rival down the lane, but Search Results proved an intractable foe and refused to concede any ground to the favorite. With a sixteenth to go it was still anyone's race, and it was only in the waning strides that Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano and Search Results were able to finally pass Miss Brazil, stopping the clock in 1:39.75 for the distance.

“She broke so well out of the gate. She put me in a good position to rate and I didn't want to take that away from her and take her back,” said winning rider Castellano. “I just let her do what she wanted to do. She was happy and she settled fine. They were just galloping along in the lead with the one horse [Miss Brazil], who was my target on paper.

“When I asked her, she didn't switch leads, but everything I asked for, she gave it to me. She responded,” he added. “I like the way she galloped out and I think she's going to be a good filly in the future. Two turns will be even better.”

The win made it two in a row for Search Results, a dark bay daughter of Flatter that was purchased for $310,000 as a yearling at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale, and in the process netted her 50 qualifying points toward a berth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs. Search Results returned $6.30 on a $2 win wager and received the winner's share of the purse of $137,500, bumping her bankroll to $161,500.

A game Miss Brazil finished second, 5 ¾ lengths in front of Search Results' stablemate The Grass Is Blue, who got caught up in a bit of traffic around the turn and was still able to muster a rally in the stretch behind the tepid early splits, while it was another half-length back to Laobanonaprayer in fourth. These three earned 20, 10, and 5 Oaks qualifying points, respectively, for their finishes. Make Mischief and Mo Desserts completed the order of finish.

Updated Kentucky Oaks leaderboard

“The plan going into this race was to go to the lead and make her comfortable, and I followed through with it,” said Cancel of runner-up Miss Brazil. “I just got caught the last sixteenth. The [final furlong] made a little bit of a difference with it being her first time going a mile. She fought hard almost to the wire. The last sixteenth she struggled just a bit, but they ran hard. I can't take anything away from her. She's a really decent filly.”

Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card highlighted by the $100,000 Biogio's Rose, a one-turn mile for state-bred fillies and mares 4-years-old and up in Race 7. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

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Miss Brazil Easily Defeats Short Field In Monday’s Ruthless, Oaks Prep Up Next

Team D's Miss Brazil validated her heavy 2-5 favoritism, taking command from the gate and drawing away easily in the stretch for a 6 1/4-length victory in the $100,000 Ruthless for 3-year-old fillies on Monday at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Ruthless, which was moved from Sunday to Monday after heavy snow forced the entire card to be pushed back a day, saw a three-horse field of Miss Brazil, Gulf Coast and Dealing Justice compete with It Can and Little Huntress scratched.

Miss Brazil, with Eric Cancel aboard from the inside post, led the compact field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.32 seconds and the half in 46.34 on the fast main track. Miss Brazil led handily out of the turn and had plenty left in the stretch, completing the seven furlongs in 1:24.92 in her sophomore bow.

Miss Brazil made her debut on Oct. 25, running third on the Belmont Park turf. Trainer Tony Dutrow said he thought the Palace Malice filly would prefer the main track, and she took to the surface with a maiden-breaking score on Aqueduct's dirt on Nov. 29.

Well-rested for her first start of 2021, Miss Brazil improved to 2-for-2 on the main track and returned $2.90 on a $2 win wager, besting Gulf Coast, who finished 45 3/4 lengths ahead of Dealing Justice, who was eased through to the wire.

“She's been very good in all three of her races,” Dutrow said. “Both her maiden win and today shows plenty. She's always promised to be a nicer kind of filly, so getting her ready for this race was easy. She's a better kind of horse and she does it all.”

Purchased for $170,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Miss Brazil will now look to stretch out to a mile in the $250,000 Busher Invitational on March 6 at Aqueduct. The Busher offers 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the top-four finishers towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

“I'm feeling good about her at one mile at Aqueduct in the Busher,” Dutrow said. “I feel that won't be an issue for her. As far as two turns goes and her future after that, we'll have to wait and see how she does in the Busher.”

Cancel won his second consecutive stakes win after the rider piloted Risk Taking to victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Withers.

“I wanted to be on the lead to dictate the pace and take it from there,” Cancel said. “She's a very honest filly so I didn't have any doubts about her today. She's pretty straightforward and I had plenty of gas in the tank. I just wanted to give her a good ride and it worked out well.”

WinStar Stablemates Racing's Gulf Coast, conditioned by Rodolphe Brisset and ridden by Manny Franco, is 2-2-0 in four career stats, including runner-up efforts in the Sandpiper in December at Tampa Bay Downs and a stakes win in the Cash Run on New Year's Day at Oaklawn Park.

“The scratch of the speed [Little Huntress] hurt us a little bit given we were looking to stalk the pace,” Brisset said. “Nobody else could go with the favorite, so we had to go after her. Manny rode a great race. She may have broke a little slower than we were hoping for, but after that we just went on and tried to put pressure on the winner. But the winner was much the best.

“It's a long way to come to run second, but I'm happy with her race,” he added. “She tried hard. Hopefully, she can regroup and try another spot.”

Live racing at Aqueduct will continue on Friday with a first post of 1:20 p.m. Racing will be conducted four days this week, starting Friday and concluding Monday with a special Presidents Day holiday card.

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