federico villafranco | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Week in Review: Wayne Lukas Rolls the Dice

In an era where most every trainer has grown way too cautious and overly patient, 86-year-old Wayne Lukas has emerged as a breath of fresh air.

Lukas announced last week that he was going to run his star filly Secret Oath (Arrogate) in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby against the colts instead of in the safer pick, the GIII Fantasy S. run the same day. It's not just a bold choice, it is a smart choice. With the contingent of males heading to the Arkansas Derby an unusually weak one, Secret Oath figures to be the favorite in a race where the purse is $1.25 million and the winner gets 100 points for the Derby. She can absolutely win. The Fantasy goes for $600,000.

And while Lukas says the horse, no matter how she performs in the Arkansas Derby, is still being pointed for the GI Kentucky Oaks, don't believe him for a minute. If she wins the Arkansas Derby, she'll run in the GI Kentucky Derby. Lukas is too much of a swashbuckler not to take that chance. This is right out of his play book.

A filly last ran in the Derby in 2010 when Devil May Care (Malibu Moon) finished 10th. In 2016, Churchill went to a new system, awarding qualifying points in traditional preps for the race rather than going by earnings in graded stakes races. That meant that a filly had to run in a prep against males to have any chance of making it into the Derby field. Up until now, no one has even tried.

Enter Lukas. He didn't become one of the greatest trainers of all time by being timid.

He won the 1984 Arkansas Derby with the filly Althea, who came into that race just seven days after winning the Fantasy. It was the last time a filly won the Arkansas Derby. She didn't fare well in the Kentucky Derby, she was 19th. But she was there. In 1988, he sent Winning Colors from the GI Santa Anita Oaks straight to the GI Santa Anita Derby, which she won. Four weeks later, she became only the third filly in history to win the Kentucky Derby. Lady's Secret ran against males seven times and beat them in the 1986 GI Whitney H., a win that helped her secure the Horse of the Year title. Serena's Song won the 1995 GII Jim Beam before running 16th in the Derby, the fourth Lukas-trained filly to start in the race. She went on to win the 1995 GI Haskell Invitational. In 1996, she missed by just a neck when second in the Whitney.

Secret Oath, a late developer, didn't hit her stride until she got to Oaklawn. She won a Dec. 31 allowance there by 8 1/4 lengths and then won the Martha Washington S. by 7 1/4. Next up was a start in the GIII Honeybee S. and she crushed them again, winning by 7 1/2 lengths.

Maybe she's not as good as a Winning Colors or a Lady's Secret, but she doesn't have to be…particularly when it comes to winning the Arkansas Derby. Many of the starters will be coming out of the GII Rebel, which was a mess. It was won by 75-1 shot Un Ojo (Laoban) and the odds-on favorite from the Baffert stable, Newgrange (Violence), was a dull sixth. The Rebel went in 1:45.69 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth. Six races earlier in the Honeybee, Secret Oath went almost a second faster, in 1:44.74.

In T.D. Thornton's latest Derby Top 12, not a single confirmed Arkansas Derby starter made the list.

Among the colts eyeing the Derby, there are no stand outs, no one to fear. The best horse may be Baffert's Messier (Empire Maker) and, due to Baffert's problems, he may not be in the field. There's also the Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) factor. Last year's Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly champ will make her 3-year-old debut Saturday at the Fair Grounds in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks. If she picks up right where she left off she might just be better than any of the colts eyeing the Derby.

Then there's the “what's best for the game” angle. During a prolonged period where scandals have dominated the headlines, the sport could really use a feel-good story. To see a revered icon attempt to win the Kentucky Derby, 23 years after he last won the race and to do so with a filly at age 86, is something everyone can rally around. This could be Lukas's last chance, and he appears ready to go for it. Good for him.

Speaking Of Old-Timers…

How about Rated R Superstar (Kodiak Kid) winning a $500,000 graded stakes race at age nine? The veteran pulled off the feat Saturday at Oaklawn when winning the GIII Essex H. by 2 1/4 lengths.

Owner Danny Caldwell and trainer Federico Villafranco took a big chance last year when claiming the horse for $50,000 as an 8-year-old. But he's more than paid them back. He's won four times since and earned $300,000 in the Essex for the richest win of his career. Rated R Superstar won his first graded stakes way back in 2016 when he captured the GIII Carry Back S. at Oaklawn. He's won six stakes races, including the 2019 Essex, which was ungraded that year. He'll go next in the GII Oaklawn H. Apr. 23.

The New Arlington Million

People love to hate Churchill Downs, but when they do something right they should be recognized for it. The announcement last week that Churchill will hold a one-day meet Aug. 13 and will host the GI Arlington Million, the GI Beverly D. S. and the GII Secretariat S. was a welcome one. Yet, it was met with a lot of negativity.

Chris Block, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, which represents horse owners and trainers, told nbcchicago.com that the Million's move “is another reminder that Churchill Downs shuttered Arlington Park and abandoned Illinois horse racing, compromising hundreds of jobs throughout our state.”

Yes, it would be much better if Arlington Park were still open and hosting those races, but that was not going to happen. The only alternative to the Million being run at Churchill was that it wouldn't be run at all. This is better. The sport can't easily afford losing such a historic race.

The Million, by the way, hasn't always been run at Arlington. With Arlington in the process of being rebuilt after the fire, it was run at Woodbine in 1988.

The post The Week in Review: Wayne Lukas Rolls the Dice appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Amazing’ 9-Year-Old Rated R Superstar Could Make Fifth Start In Upcoming Razorback

Danny Caldwell recorded his second career Oaklawn stakes victory Saturday and he used an old script to do it.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Oaklawn's four-time leading owner said. “That's probably not been done much.”

Caldwell struck again with millionaire Rated R Superstar ($53.80), who collared front-running Mucho on the outside near the wire to win the one-mile race for older horses by a neck under David Cabrera. Caldwell also won the 2017 Fifth Season with another 9-year-old gelding, Domain's Rap, who, like Rated R Superstar, was making his seasonal debut in the race.

On behalf of Caldwell, trainer Federico Villafranco claimed Domain's Rap and Rated R Superstar for $10,000 and $50,000, respectively, the latter coming last January at Oaklawn.

“I was actually thinking about an allowance race for him this time, bringing him back off a layoff,” Caldwell said. “But he was doing so good and Freddy told me: 'He's doing as good as he's ever been doing in our barn, coming off the layoff.' He was fresh and seemed like he was ready.”

Rated R Superstar hadn't started since finishing second in a Sept. 11 allowance race at Remington Park. Caldwell said the gelding came out of the race with a minor splint bone issue, necessitating a short break from training. Rated R Superstar had five published workouts since Dec. 2, the last two coming at Oaklawn, in advance of the Fifth Season.

Last entering the backstretch, Rated R Superstar zoomed past most of the field along the rail to reach contention at the half-mile pole. Rated R Superstar had to wait briefly on the second turn before Cabrera guided the gelding to the outside, three-wide, approaching the quarter-pole. Rated R Superstar wore down a stubborn Mucho in the short run to the wire (mile races at Oaklawn begin and end at the sixteenth pole).

Rated R Superstar's winning time of 1:37.16 was the fastest since the Fifth Season was shortened from 1 1/16 miles to a mile in 2020, when the race was split. Rated R Superstar ran sixth in the second division in 2020. The track was fast Saturday.

“The pace set up well for us and he's a late runner,” Caldwell said. “David made a good move on the backside here to get him up in there. We didn't want to get shuffled back and end up going 15-wide. So, he made that move up the rail and I'm thinking, 'I hope we didn't move too quick.' But I could tell he still had some horse. Luckily, they kept going and we had an opportunity down the stretch to run them down.”

The victory was the 10th in 57 lifetime starts for Rated R Superstar and raised his career earnings to $1,271,014. He is a five-time stakes winner.

Rated R Superstar has been an ATM throughout his lengthy career, bankrolling $518,367 and becoming a multiple Grade 3 winner in his first 30 starts for trainer Kenny McPeek. Rated R Superstar made 18 starts for trainer Cipriano Contreras after being claimed for $62,500 in November 2018 at Churchill Downs.

Highlighted by a victory in the $350,000 Essex Handicap for older horses in 2019 at Oaklawn, the gelding earned $363,656 before Contreras lost him to Caldwell almost a year ago. In nine starts for Caldwell and Villafranco, Rated R Superstar has made $388,991 and posted three victories, including the $175,000 Governor's Cup Stakes Aug. 20 at Remington Park.

“Amazing,” Caldwell said.

Oaklawn's two-turn stakes series for older horses continues with the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 12. Rated R Superstar has already started four times in the Razorback, finishing sixth for McPeek in 2018, third for Contreras in 2019, seventh for Contreras in 2020 and fifth for Villafranco last year.

“We'll see,” Caldwell said of another potential Razorback start. “He'll tell us.”

Rated R Superstar is a son of 2008 Oaklawn allowance winner and 2009 champion sprinter Kodiak Kowboy.

The post ‘Amazing’ 9-Year-Old Rated R Superstar Could Make Fifth Start In Upcoming Razorback appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Veteran Rated R Superstar Springs 25-1 Upset In Fifth Season

The 9-year-old gelding Rated R Superstar proved age is just a number in Saturday's $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park, springing a 25-1 upset with his neck triumph over pacesetting Mucho (7-1). The victory brought a bit of déjà vu for owner Danny Caldwell, who sent out Domain's Rap to win the 2017 edition of the Fifth Season when that gelding was nine years old. Both geldings are trained by Federico Villafranco.

“Just because they're eight or nine years old, doesn't mean they can't still run,” Caldwell said from the winner's circle.

Rated R Superstar was making his first start since September, and made a mid-race move from off-the-pace under jockey David Cabrera. Finding clear racing room in the center of the stretch, the son of Kodiak Kowboy ran down Mucho to complete a mile over the fast main track in 1:37.16. Thomas Shelby checked in third.

Sent to post as the 3-2 favorite, 2021 Rebel Stakes winner Concert Tour appeared to struggle around the far turn and was eased under the wire by jockey Joel Rosario. It was the colt's first start since the Preakness, as well as his first since being transferred to trainer Brad Cox.

Mucho, making his first start around two turns, went straight to the lead in the Fifth Season, pulling away to lead by as much as 1 1/2 lengths in the early going. Concert Tour was right there in second, tracking through fractions of 23.33 and 46.91 seconds, while Thomas Shelby came up the rail to join him down the backstretch.

Cabrera found a seam at the rail and sent Rated R Superstar through it midway down the backstretch, and brought the gelding into third on the inside. Thomas Shelby was challenging Mucho for the lead, while Concert Tour dropped back. Mucho repelled Thomas Shelby, but there was another challenger yet to come.

Swinging to the outside, Rated R Superstar saw the finish line and laid his ears back, eating up ground in the center of the track. Cabrera hit the wire a neck in front on Rated R Superstar, with Mucho and jockey Florent Geroux having to settle for second. Thomas Shelby was a close-up third, while it was several lengths back to Necker Island in fourth.

The remaining order of finish was: Silver Prospector, Snapper Sinclair, Atoka, Long Range Toddy, and Concert Tour.

Bred in Kentucky by Thorndale Stable L.L.C., Rated R Superstar was a $50,000 claim last January at Oaklawn. He's compiled a record of three wins, three seconds, and a third from nine starts for his new connections.

Rated R Superstar has significant back-class: he ran second in the G3 Iroquois and third in the G1 Breeders' Futurity in 2015, won the G3 Carry Back in 2016, the G3 Ben Ali in 2018, the $350,000 Essex in 2019, and the $175,000 Governor's Cup in 2021. Overall, the gelding has won 10 races from 57 starts and earned $1,271,014

The post Veteran Rated R Superstar Springs 25-1 Upset In Fifth Season appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Wish I Had A Barn Full Of Horses Like Him’: Veteran Rated R Superstar Returns In Fifth Season Stakes

Danny Caldwell's first Oaklawn stakes victory came with a 9-year-old. Now, Oaklawn's four-time leading owner bids for a second with another 9-year-old in late-running millionaire Rated R Superstar, who is scheduled to make his 2022 debut in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes for older horses at 1 mile Saturday at Oaklawn.

Caldwell won the 2017 Fifth Season with Domain's Rap, who was making his 9-year-old debut after being claimed for just $10,000 in November 2015 at Remington Park. Caldwell claimed Rated R Superstar for $50,000 last January at Oaklawn and has been rewarded, again, by another member of the elderly equine set.

Rated R Superstar, in eight starts for Caldwell and trainer Federico Villafranco, has bankrolled $298,991. Caldwell recouped his investment when Rated R Superstar finished second in the $500,000 Essex Handicap for older horses last March at Oaklawn. The gelding surpassed $1 million in career earnings in the Essex, was eighth in $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses last April at Oaklawn, an allowance winner in May at Prairie Meadows and captured the $175,000 Governor's Cup Stakes Aug. 20 at Remington Park, where Caldwell is the all-time leading owner.

“I'd been watching this horse for a long time,” Caldwell said Monday afternoon. “I liked him and I liked the way his running style was. Most horses that run at the end of the race, normally they take care of themselves. They're not like sprinters. They go out there and go all out. He knows how to take care of himself. He had a couple of bad races there at Turfway Park, where he didn't hit the board. I thought, 'You know, I'm just going to throw those two races out because that's a Poly track.' He just didn't like it. I think he had run in a Grade 2 before that at Keeneland and he only got beat three lengths, I think. I thought I would give him a shot for $50,000. We love older horses. The best horse I've ever had is Domain's Rap and he made me more than a half-million dollars, most of it as a 9-year-old.”

After winning the Fifth Season, then worth $125,000, Domain's Rap made his final four career starts later in the 2017 Oaklawn meeting. He won a $76,000 allowance race, was third to eventual 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses, second to eventual 2017 Met Mile winner Mor Spirit in the $250,000 Essex Handicap for older horses and second to Inside Straight in the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses. Inside Straight finished second to Domain's Rap in the allowance race. Domain's Rap retired with $880,850 in earnings during a 64-race career.

Domain's Rap spent most of his career in the allowance and stakes ranks in Illinois before tumbling down the class ladder and being claimed, but Rated R Superstar began his racing career as a promising Triple Crown prospect for nationally prominent trainer Kenny McPeek.

Rated R Superstar, in 2015, finished second in the $150,000 Iroquois Stakes (G3) for 2-year-olds at Churchill Downs, then third in the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity Stakes (G1) for 2-year-olds at Keeneland. Breeders' Futurity runner-up Exaggerator won the Preakness in 2016. Rated R Superstar became a multiple Grade 3 winner for McPeek, earning $518,367 in 30 starts before being claimed by trainer Cipriano Contreras for $62,500 in November 2018 at Churchill Downs.

In 18 starts for Contreras, Rated R Superstar earned $363,656. The gelding ran third in the 2019 Razorback before winning the Essex, then worth $350,00, in his next start.

“That's amazing,” Caldwell said, referring to Rated R Superstar's money-making skills. “He's just a professional. He's professional racehorse is what he is. He knows his job, he loves his job, he loves to go out there and perform. I wish I had a barn full of horses like him.”

Rated R Superstar hasn't started since finishing second in a Sept. 11 allowance race at Remington Park. Caldwell said the gelding came out of the race with a minor splint bone issue, necessitating a short break from training. Rated R Superstar has five published workouts since Dec. 2, the last two coming at Oaklawn.

“We trained him on the wheel and just kind of brought him back slow,” Caldwell said. “He's come back really feeling good. We're hoping to have a good 9-year-old year with him.”

A son of 2009 champion sprinter Kodiak Kowboy, Rated R Superstar has a 9-10-8 record from 56 lifetime starts and earnings of $1,181,014. He has won from 6 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles. Rated R Superstars is seeking his fifth career stakes victory in the Fifth Season, which has attracted two other millionaires in Snapper Sinclair for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and Long Range Toddy (Dallas Stewart). Also entered is Concert Tour, who won the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds last March at Oaklawn for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. The colt, unraced since the Preakness last May, is now with trainer Brad Cox.

“It's tough,” said Caldwell, Oaklawn's leading owner in 2014-2017. “It's not going to be easy.”

The projected nine-horse Fifth Season field from the rail out: Thomas Shelby, David Cohen to ride, 122 pounds, 5-1 on the morning line; Rated R Superstar, David Cabrera, 122, 8-1; Snapper Sinclair, Ramon Vazquez, 122, 6-1; Necker Island, Francisco Arrieta, 122, 9-2; Concert Tour, Joel Rosario, 122, 5-2; Atoka, Luis Contreras, 122, 15-1; Long Range Toddy, Jon Court, 115, 10-1; Silver Prospector, Ricardo Santana Jr., 115, 10-1; and Mucho, Florent Geroux, 122, 7-2.

Probable post time for the Fifth Season, which goes as the eighth of nine races, is 3:46 p.m. (Central). First post Saturday is 12:30 p.m.

The post ‘Wish I Had A Barn Full Of Horses Like Him’: Veteran Rated R Superstar Returns In Fifth Season Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post