Feargal Lynch | Horse Racing Free Tips

Da Hoss Stakes, Juvenile Turf Sprints Headline Monday Card At Colonial

The third week of the Colonial Downs summer racing season kicks off Monday, August 2 with a trio of $100,000 stakes races, including a pair of Virginia-restricted turf sprints for 2-year-olds and a rescheduled stakes from the July 26 card when storms caused its postponement. Colonial Downs is located in New Kent, Va.

The five-furlong Hickory Tree Stakes attracted a field of ten colts/geldings including Sean Feld's Evan Harlan, the morning-line favorite. The Graham Motion trainee finished third in a maiden special weight turf race at six furlongs June 20 at Belmont, his only career start. The Temple City colt was two lengths back at the wire. Victor Carrasco has the mount from post three.

Jeremy Brooks' Wow Whata Summer, second early choice, finished second in his career bow July 20 at Colonial, but was bumped up to the top spot when initial winner Capt. Candy was disqualified and placed down a notch. The Summer Front colt is trained by James Lawrence and will be ridden by Feargal Lynch, who was up in the start two weeks ago.

Four first-time starters are also in the field. The Hickory Tree has been carded as the eighth race of nine at a scheduled post of 5:01 PM.

A field of nine fillies will compete in the Keswick Stakes, also at five furlongs, led by Big Lick Farm's Cavalier Cupid. The Sarah Nagle trainee is fresh off a two-length victory in a maiden special weight turf sprint opening day at the New Kent track. The daughter of Quality Road was the favorite with Horacio Karamanos in the irons. She is the morning-line choice in the stakes and Karamanos is scheduled to ride again.

David Ross's Rambert finished second to Cavalier Cupid in that maiden race July 19 and is the second early pick in the Keswick at 4-1. Michael Stidham, leading Colonial trainer in '19 and '20, conditions the Declaration of War filly. Colby Hernandez is back as rider.

Three other horses in the field come in fresh off maiden victories, though they all came on dirt. O K Smarty Pants and Fancy Her Up prevailed by five-plus lengths at Charles Town Race Track in Charles Town, W.Va., while Buff My Boots dominated gate-to-wire by ten lengths at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. Determined Truth, third early choice, lost by a neck at Pimlico in her debut July 9 which was also was on dirt.

The Keswick Stakes has been carded as the seventh and will go to post at 4:33 PM.

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Six of the seven Da Hoss Stakes entrants have a bankroll of $220,000-plus including Michelle Lovell and Griffon Farm's Just Might, the 9-5 early favorite. The 5-year-old Justin Phillip gelding captured the Mighty Beau Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., last out and earlier this year, powered home to a five-length win in the Colonel Power Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. In 2020, Just Might was stakes placed in a pair of Grade 2's — the Woodford Stakes and Twin Spires Turf Sprint. In all, he has bankrolled $400,309. Colby Hernandez will ride.

Ed Orr and Susie Orr's Virginia-bred Boldor, conditioned by Steve Asmussen, is the second early choice at 7-2. The 5-year-old Munnings gelding prevailed in the King Cotton and Sam's Town Stakes earlier this year at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., and Delta Downs in Vinton, La., in back-to-back starts. Jockey Sheldon Russell gets the call Monday.

Jim and Susan Hill's Holiday Stone, top money earner in the field with $521,159, is the third early pick. The 7-year-old Harlan's Holiday horse has a turf allowance victory in each of the last three years. Feargal Lynch will ride for trainer George Weaver.

The Da Hoss, open to three-year-olds & up at 5 1/2 turf furlongs, will kick off the stakes action in the third race at 2:41 PM. First post at Colonial is 1:45 PM.

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Colonial Downs To Feature Three Stakes On Monday Card

A trio of open turf stakes highlight Monday's nine-race card at Colonial Downs as the New Kent, Va., track ushers in week number two of its summer racing season on the heels of a record-breaking handle during opening week.

The $150,000 Buckland Stakes, to be run at 1 1/16 miles, attracted a ten-horse field, eight of which have earned $190,000 or more. The $100,000 Andy Guest Stakes for fillies & mares lured a dozen entrants and the $100,000 Da Hoss has an impressive seven-horse field. The final pair will be contested at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Godolphin, LLC's Pixelate, with wins this past year in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby, Woodchopper, and Prince George County Stakes, is the early 7-2 choice in the Buckland. The 4-year-old City Zip colt also finished a respectable fifth in January's Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The Kentucky-bred has five wins overall, six seconds, and three thirds with $493,350 in earnings. Pixelate is trained by Michael Stidham and will be ridden by Joe Bravo.

WSS Racing and Hooties Racing, LLC's Mr. Dumas, next at 4-1, has been idle since last October when he was best in a Keeneland Race Course grass allowance. The John Ortiz trainee also prevailed in a 2020 Churchill Downs allowance and finished a close second in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga Race Course last July. In 2019, Mr. Dumas captured the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old Majesticperfection horse has accumulated $358,479 in earnings from 14 starts. He will be ridden by Julian Pimentel.

Blackout Racing's Megacity, third early favorite at 9-2, is fresh off a pair of turf allowance wins at Belmont Park and Monmouth Park. The Michael Tomlison trainee was bred in Kentucky by Virginian Maggie Bryant, who recently passed away. Joe Rocco Jr. will be in the irons.

Team Valor International's Beantown Baby, looking for her fourth straight win, headlines the Andy Guest Stakes field. The 5-year-old Artie Shiller mare returns to Virginia after recent convincing turf sprint wins at Delaware Park and Pimlico Race Course, and another at Laurel Park last July. The Arnaud Delacour trainee captured a maiden claiming race in New Kent in 2019. Mychel Sanchez will ride on Monday.

John Kerber, Iveta Kerber, and Jon Lapczenski's Ain't No Elmers is the second choice at 4-1 and is fresh off a solid gate-to-wire performance in a Churchill Downs dirt allowance. The 4-year-old Goldencents filly was runner-up in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes in 2020. She has only made one turf start in 13 career outs. Ain't No Elmers is trained by Bret Calhoun and will be ridden by Adam Beschizza.

Six of the seven Da Hoss entrants have a bankroll of $220,000-plus including Michelle Lovell and Griffon Farm's Just Might, the 9-5 early favorite. The 5-year-old Justin Phillip gelding captured the Mighty Beau Stakes at Churchill Downs last out and earlier this year, powered home to a five-length win in the Colonel Power Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. In 2020, Just Might was stakes placed in a pair of Grade 2's — the Woodford Stakes and Twin Spires Turf Sprint. In all, he has bankrolled $400,309. Colby Hernandez will ride.

Ed Orr and Susie Orr's Virginia-bred Boldor, conditioned by Steve Asmussen, is the early second choice at 7-2. The 5-year-old Munnings gelding prevailed in the King Cotton and Sam's Town Stakes earlier this year at Oaklawn Park and Delta Downs in back-to-back starts. Jockey Sheldon Russell gets the call Monday.

Jim and Susan Hill's Holiday Stone, the top money earner in the field with $521,159, is the third early pick. The 7-year-old Harlan's Holiday horse has a turf allowance victory in each of the last three years. Feargal Lynch will ride for trainer George Weaver.

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First post on Monday is 1:45 PM. The Da Hoss is the fourth race on the card followed by the Andy Guest (Race 7) and Buckland Stakes (Race 8). For the opening race week that ran from July 19-21, Colonial handled a combined $7,100,435.

Colonial Downs also presents its first-ever online Handicapping Challenge on Monday. Two seats to the 2022 National Horseplayers Championship and one entry into the 2021 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge are up for grabs. Details are at colonialdowns.com/wagering.

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Corelli Flies Late in Henry S. Clark; Xanthique, Completed Pass Victorious

Augustin Stable's Grade 1-placed Corelli, cutting back to the shortest distance of his North American career in his first race since mid-October, came flying down the center of the track to catch Grade 2-winning favorite Pixelate approaching the wire and get his nose down at the wire of Saturday's $100,000 Henry S. Clark at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The 21^st running of the Clark for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles was the second of three turf stakes on an 11-race Spring Stakes Spectacular program featuring six stakes worth $650,000 in purses. Headlining the card were the $125,000 Federico Tesio, a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 146^th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15, and the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' event for 3-year-old fillies to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) May 14.

The $100,000 Dahlia for fillies and mares 3 and up, also at 1 1/16 miles, kicked off both the stakes action as well as the 2021 turf season in Maryland. The $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up sprinting five furlongs on the grass closed the card.

Ridden by Jevian Toledo for trainer Jonathan Thomas, Corelli ($12) hadn't raced since finishing seventh in a 1 1/8-mile allowance Oct. 17 at Keeneland. Prior to that he was fifth in the 1 ½-mile Sword Dancer (G1), third in the United Nations (G1) and fourth in the Tiller – the latter two at 1 3/8 miles – after arriving in the U.S. from England.

“I thought this year we'd just kind of reinvent him and let him fall off the pace and hope for a little bit of a stronger run race so he could finish up,” Thomas said. “I put blinkers on him last year and probably ran him too long, and he was just kind of idling at the end.

“We just thought we'd try something different. Honestly I thought he was going to come late and we were going to have to stretch him off of this, but he showed us a different dimension,” he added. “Really proud of how he ran.”

Ballagh Rocks was eager for the lead, breaking from outside all but one rival in the nine-horse field, going the opening quarter-mile in 23.73 seconds. Papal Law, sent off at 50-1, pressed the early pace before taking over after a half in 47.76, with 9-5 favorite Pixelate in fourth after moving off the rail for a clear run midway down the backstretch.

Pixelate forged a short lead once straightened for home but Corelli came with a steady run on the far outside after being set down for a drive by jockey Victor Carrasco. The two leaders matched strides inside the sixteenth pole before Corelli surged late, with Dreams of Tomorrow making a bold move to get up for third, 1 ¼ lengths back.

Unraced at 2, Corelli spent 2018 and 2019 racing in England for trainer John Gosden, winning once in six starts – none of them shorter than 1 ½ miles – and finishing second three times by a total of three-quarters of a length. Augustin's George Strawbridge moved the colt to Thomas last year.

“He was trained by arguably the greatest trainer on the planet so we just took over a really sound, nice horse,” Thomas said. “Really the credit goes to Mr. Strawbridge. Sharing a horse like this with us is a great credit and we're very fortunate to have him. I'm glad he got rewarded today.”

Xanthique Breaks Through with Stakes Win in $100,000 Dahlia
Thwarted by traffic and unlucky trips in her previous stakes attempts, VinLaur Racing Stables' Xanthique got an ideal ride from jockey Feargal Lynch and nabbed Grade 3-placed favorite Crystal Cliffs on the wire for a nose victory in Saturday's $100,000 Dahlia.

Shipped to Pimlico by Belmont Park-based trainer Tom Morley, on hand for the race, Xanthique ($14.20) ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.92 over a firm course in a thrilling opener to the 2021 turf season in Maryland.

“There was no unlucky in that trip,” Morley said. “It was as good a ride as you'll see around there. It was phenomenal.”

Making her sixth consecutive stakes start, Xanthique settled in mid-pack as 104-1 long shot Elegant de Domino outran Lagom for the early lead and they dueled through splits of 23.25 and 47.57 seconds with Vigilantes Way in the clear three wide in third and Crystal Cliffs saving ground inside in fourth.

Sheldon Russell and Crystal Cliffs was able to find a seam to take over the top spot at the top of the lane and Lynch followed on Xanthique, using the length of the stretch to wear down the favorite, racing for the first time since being beaten a head in the Regret (G3) last June. It was 2 ¼ lengths back to Vigilantes Way in third.

“She's a nice filly. Tom's done a great job. I followed Sheldon the whole way. She was the horse to beat. He got through and I followed him through and kept it simple,” Lynch said. “The turf course is beautiful. The guys have done a great job. The ground staff, they're working hard here and Laurel and doing everything they can.”

Xanthique, by Into Mischief, now owns five wins from 18 career starts and nearly $300,000 in purse earnings. Her best stakes previous stakes finishes were fourths in the Marie Krantz Memorial Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds and One Dreamer last September at Kentucky Downs.

“We were a little concerned there might be a lack of pace in the race, but we were delighted to see those two fillies go on in front of us. Feargal just stalked the favorite the whole way around there and turning in made a brave run up the rail but she's as game as a tiger, this horse. I never had any doubt that she put her head in the hole,” Morley said. “Huge credit to my team at Belmont. She's been a real project filly, so to claim her three years ago and now turn her into a stakes winner is very special indeed.”

Completed Pass Wins $100,000 King T. Leatherbury
Robert Bone's Completed Pass made his 7-year-old debut a memorable one when he gamely held off the 7-5 favorite and pacesetter Francatelli down the stretch to win the King T. Leatherbury, covering a firm five-furlong turf course in :56.52.

Saddled by leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez and ridden by Angel Cruz, Completed Pass, second in the Leatherbury in 2019 and a winner of the Laurel Dash last year, has won nine of 21 starts and more than $400,000. Cruz rated Completed Pass behind a :22.09 opening quarter set by Francatelli before drawing alongside him around the turn and putting a head in front entering the stretch. Despite a game performance by Francatelli, Completed Pass was never headed again.

For Cruz, the victory was a bit of redemption after being disqualified from first to second in the Tesio aboard Excellorator for bothering The Reds.

“I was a little upset because I didn't think I bothered him enough, but the stewards so I did,” Cruz said. “So to come back and win this stake makes me feel better, makes me happy.”

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‘Makes It All Worthwhile’: Feargal Lynch Posts Comeback Victory At Laurel

In just the second ride of his comeback from neck and back fractures that kept him away from the races for 200 days, journeyman Feargal Lynch piloted James Wolf's Nomo Ron to a 2 ½-length victory in Monday's special Presidents Day holiday feature at Laurel Park.

Nomo Ron ($7.40), a 6-year-old Paynter gelding trained by Anthony Farrior, ran six furlongs in 1:10.45 over a sloppy and sealed main track to capture the third-level optional claiming allowance for older horses, his ninth career win.

It was the first win for the 42-year-old Lynch since registering a hat track July 17, 2020 at Laurel, including a triumph on subsequent Maryland Million Turf Sprint and Claiming Crown Canterbury winner Fiya.

Represented by agent Chris Pipito, Lynch launched his comeback with a single mount Feb. 7 at Laurel, Graham Motion-trained Saintly Samurai, who was also racing for the first time since winning under Lynch last July 17. Lynch suffered a condylar fracture in his neck and wedge compression fracture in his back from a spill at Laurel just six days later.

“Yeah, that was nice. It makes it all worthwhile,” Lynch said. “I'm just glad to get the first winner back. I'm very thankful to Mr. Wolf and Anthony Farrior and all the people that helped me get here; my wife and my agent. It's been a good team effort and I'm just happy for everybody that we're back up and running.”

Lynch kept Nomo Ron in the clear three wide as Stroll Smokin and jockey Xavier Perez set the pace with Grade 3 winner and even-money favorite Always Sunshine, trained by Ned Allard, racing in between. Nomo Ron rolled up to take the lead on the turn after a half in 46.37 seconds and pulled away once straightened for home. Stroll Smokin finished second, with Always Sunshine third.

“I thought Ned Allard's horse would have a bit more pace. I thought he'd go and attack Xavier,” Lynch said. “Xavier had the lead and my horse broke really well in my hands and was traveling well. I just didn't want to disappoint him on that track. He got braver and braver and when we got into the straight, he went on about his business and he got the job done.”

Lynch is named on three horses when live racing returns to Laurel Park Friday, Feb. 19, including Grade 2 winner Shotski for trainer Jerry O'Dwyer. On the Feb. 20 Winter Sprintfest program, he will ride Needs Supervision for O'Dwyer in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3), Majestic Dunhill in the $250,000 General George (G3) and Buckey's Charm in the $100,000 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies.

Winter Sprintfest, featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses, was rescheduled from Feb. 13 due to inclement weather that also cost Laurel Sunday's Valentine's Day card.

“We're coming back and we'll hopefully have a nicer track for this Saturday. I've got some rides Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Lynch said. “I'm looking forward to the stakes again. I think a lot of the horses are staying here, so they're all going to be in the same boat.”

Lynch is a two-time meet leading rider at Pimlico Race Course, owning 526 career North American victories and nearly $19 million in purses earned, according to Equibase statistics. He is the younger brother of Laurel-based trainer Cal Lynch.

A former champion apprentice in England, Lynch rode Caribou Club to a record-setting victory in the 2019 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3) at Laurel, setting the Dahlia turf course mark of 1:33.35 for one mile.

Lynch was also the regular rider of retired multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Irish War Cry during his undefeated 2-year-old season of 2016 that included a win in the Marylander, now Heft Stakes.

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