Florent Geroux | Horse Racing Free Tips

Shedaresthedevil Makes Victorious Return, Holds Off Letruska In Azeri

Shedaresthedevil, winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks last September, made a winning return to the races at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., on Saturday, going right to the front, controlling the pace and holding off a late bid in deep stretch from favored Letruska to win the G2, $250,000 Azeri Stakes by a short head.

Off since tiring in the stretch to be third in the G1 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland in her lone start against older fillies and mares in 2020, Shedaresthedevil covered 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.57 and paid $5.60 as the second choice in the wagering. She carried 119 pounds, five fewer than Letruska.

Letruska, a star at Hipodromo de las Americas in Mexico City before coming to the U.S. late in 2019, finished second in the field of five in her bid for a third consecutive graded stakes win. Encoutante finished third, with Getridofwhatailesu fourth and Motion Emotion fifth.

A 4-year-old filly by Daredevil owned by Qatar Racing, Big Aut Farms and Flurry Racing Stable, Shedaresthedevil is trained by Brad Cox and was ridden to victory by Florent Geroux.

Breaking from the outside post, Shedaresthedevil darted to the front immediately and set fractions of :23.93 for the opening quarter mile, :47.79 for the half and 1:11.54 for six furlongs. Envoutante was her closest pursuer with Letruska – who typically runs on the front end – three wide while third into the first turn and in the run down the backstretch.

As the field rounded into the stretch, Joel Rosario allowed Letruska to drift out even further while trying to run down the favorite. Shedaresthedevil maintained a clear advantage at the mile marker — clocked in 1:36.25 – but was all out to hold off a surge from Letruska in deep stretch.

“We caught a flyer out of the gate,” Geroux said. “I was expecting Letruska to lead all the way. I don't know if she didn't break fast enough or stumbled, but we inherited the lead and I just took it from there. My filly is extremely talented. You know you want to slow her down, just keep her in a nice rhythm. Turning for home, she gave me everything she had. She maybe got a little bit tired down the lane, but it was good for her first race off the break. I don't think she was 100% cranked up for this. We have hopes for a big year with her.”

The win was the sixth from 12 starts for Shedaresthedevil, who won the G3 Honeybee at Oaklawn in 2020, along with the G3 Indiana Oaks prior to winning the Kentucky Oaks. She was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm.

“Whenever I run here, I'm nervous,” Staton Flurry of Flurry Racing said. “I expected the three (Letruska) to break good, but she didn't. We just went on with it. She really dug in. Florent rode a great race. I'm glad to have her back. It's going to be a fun year.”

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Oaks Winner Returns Running in Azeri

Easing out to start the 9-5 second favorite while making her 4-year-old debut in Saturday's GII Azeri S. at Oaklawn Park, last year's GI Kentucky Oaks victress SHEDARESTHEDEVIL (f, 4, Daredevil–Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats) was allowed a reasonably easy time of it on the engine and held on late to narrowly defeat 3-2 chalk Letruska (Super Saver) by a short neck. Alertly away from the widest stall in the field of five, Shedaresthedevil was allowed to dictate terms, as Envoutante (Uncle Mo) did the pressing to her outside while Letruska was settled three wide for Joel Rosario. She covered the opening half-mile in a controlled :47.79, but had a hard-ridden Envoutante and Letruska stacked to her outside with every chance if good enough turning for home. Envoutante was the first to yield, but Letruska–taken out of her best game–kept plugging away and Shedaresthedevil managed to scrape home narrowly first.

Saturday, Oaklawn Park
AZERI S.-GII, $343,000, Oaklawn, 3-13, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:42.57, ft.
1–SHEDARESTHEDEVIL, 119, f, 4, by Daredevil
                1st Dam: Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats
                2nd Dam: Andria's Forest, by Forestry
                3rd Dam: Andriana B., by Far North
($100,000 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $20,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP;
$280,000 2yo '19 KEENOV). O-Flurry Racing Stables LLC, Qatar
Racing Limited & Big Aut Farms; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $210,000. Lifetime Record:
GISW, 12-6-2-3, $1,503,518. *1/2 to Mojovation (Quality
Road), GSP, $190,088. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Letruska, 124, m, 5, Super Saver–Magic Appeal, by Successful
Appeal. O/B-St. George Stables, LLC (KY); T-Fausto Gutierrez.
$70,000.
3–Getridofwhatailesu, 121, m, 5, Ghostzapper–Autobahn Girl,
by A.P. Indy. ($160,000 Ylg '17 FTSAUG). O-The Elkstone
Group, LLC (Stuart Grant); B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.
$35,000.
Margins: HD, 2, HD. Odds: 1.80, 1.50, 4.40.
Also Ran: Envoutante, Motion Emotion.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Hit The Road Finds Room Late, Takes Kilroe Mile For Blacker’s First Grade 1

In a thrilling head and head battle to the wire, trainer Dan Blacker's Hit the Road prevailed by a neck over 5-2 favorite Smooth Like Strait, in Saturday's $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, providing Blacker, 38, with his first Grade 1 triumph. Ridden for the first time by eastern-based Florent Geroux, Hit the Road, 4-year-old colt by More Than Ready, out of the U S Ranger mare Highway Mary, got the mile on grass in 1:34.48.

With longshot Flying Scotsman hustled from his outside post, Smooth Like Strait fell into a stalking trip second, while Hit the Road was at joint third at the rail with Casa Creed to his outside and about three lengths off the lead heading into the far turn.

Leaving the quarter pole, Smooth Like Strait, under Umberto Rispoli, assumed command while Hit the Road was forced to wait for racing room behind a three-horse spread that included Smooth Like Strait, Flying Scotsman and Casa Creed. Full of run, Geroux found a seam two from the rail a furlong out and from there, it was game-on between Hit the Road and the runner-up.

“I was pretty anxious, but I thought if he can get through, he's got a good chance,” said Blacker in recanting the final quarter mile. “Luckily 'Flo' found a gap and he proved he's the best today. I gave myself 10 years to win a Grade I and luckily we got it done in year nine. I don't want to make this all about me. It's all about the horse, he's such a professional animal, he is a true racehorse. He was born that way, he's just a true athlete and so mentally focused on racing.”

With Rispoli opting to stay with multiple graded winner Smooth Like Strait over recent G3 Thunder Road Stakes winner Hit the Road, Geroux was more than happy to take the Kilroe call and Hit the Road was off at 4-1, returning $10.40, $5.40 and $4.20.

“The trip made the difference, we got very lucky with the trip,” said Geroux. “It opened up at the right time and the horse got the job done. It was all heart. Sometimes when you have to go through a tight spot, the horse doesn't necessarily cooperate, but he did great and did everything I asked him to … I liked my horse and the one horse (Smooth Like Strait), and I thought it was going to be very tough between those two. I was able to follow him all the way around and got through on the inside.”

Owned by D K Racing, LLC, Radley Equine, Inc., Taste of Victory Stables, Rick Gold, Tony Maslowski and Dave Odmark, Hit the Road, in taking his first Grade I stakes, improved his overall mark to 9-6-0-0 and with the winner's share of $240,000, increased his earnings to $494,751.

In a huge effort, Smooth Like Strait, who finished a neck better than a flying Count Again, paid $4.40 and $3.40.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Count Again rallied from far back and paid $6.60 while off at 16-1.

Fractions on the race were 23.17, 47.32, 1:11.28 and 1:22.91.

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Hit The Road Rallies To Win the Kilroe Mile

Hit the Road (More Than Ready) struck a blow for the locals, parlaying a perfect trip into a stirring short-neck victory in Saturday's GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. at Santa Anita.

Drawn in gate two with the visiting Florent Geroux in the irons, Hit the Road found the perfect spot in the box seat, as Flying Scotsman (English Channel) sped across from his outside barrier to supplant favored Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute). The pace was sensible through the middle stages, with positions largely unchanged, and Hit the Road appeared to be in some bother nearing the quarter pole, as Flavius (War Front) kept him in for a time.

Smooth Like Strait had first run and the race was there for the taking if good enough, but Hit the Road, off at odds of 4-1, sliced through at the rail and fought on bravely to post a narrow victory. Count Again (Awesome Again) came from a share of last to be third with a flying finish.

Hit the Road is the first Grade I in the career of 38-year-old trainer Dan Blacker.

“I was pretty anxious, but I thought if he can get through, he's got a good chance,” Blacker said. “Luckily, 'Flo' found a gap and he just proved that he's the best today. I gave myself 10 years to win a Grade I and luckily we got it done in year nine. I don't want to make this about me. It's all about the horse, he's such a professional animal–he is a true racehorse. He was born that way. He's just a true athlete and so mentally focused on racing. I just feel so fortunate to have him and with a great group of owners. Being with me for such a long time, they've been so patient, and I'm just really thrilled for them all to get a win like this.”

Hit the Road, an impressive last-to-first winner of the Zuma Beach S. over course and distance at two, entered the Kilroe Mile riding a three-race winning streak. Two-for-two in an abbreviated 3-year-old campaign, including Del Mar's Runhappy Oceanside S., Hit the Road fired fresh off the bench with a sharp tally in the local GIII Thunder Road S. Feb. 6.

Pedigree Notes:

Hit the Road is the 26th worldwide top-level winner for the sensational dual-hemisphere stallion More Than Ready and 12th Grade I winner in North America. Hit the Road is bred on the wildly successful cross over Danzig-line mares-predominantly through Danehill-that has been responsible for the likes of top-level scorers Sebring (Aus), Prized Icon (Aus), Perfectly Ready (Aus), More Than Sacred (Aus) in Australia, to name only a few, and Uni (GB) in the United States.

Hit the Road is the first foal out of unraced Highway Mary (U S Ranger). The 8-year-old mare subsequently produced a filly by Quality Road, that died the following season, during which she
was barren. She had an Arrogate filly in 2020 and has a foal filly by American Pharoah. The winner's second dam is Grade II winner Wandering Star, dam of G1 Dewhurst S. hero War Command (War Front), Group 3 scorer Naval Officer (Tale of the Cat) and Wonder Woman (Storm Cat), responsible for a pair of black-type winners and four black-type performers.

Highway Mary brought €100,000 from agent Justin Casse at the 2015 ARQDEC sale.

Saturday, Santa Anita
FRANK E. KILROE MILE S.-GI, $402,500, Santa Anita, 3-6, 4yo/up, 1mT, 1:34.48, fm.
1–HIT THE ROAD, 122, c, 4, by More Than Ready
                1st Dam: Highway Mary, by U S Ranger
                2nd Dam: Wandering Star, by Red Ransom
                3rd Dam: Beautiful Bedouin, by His Majesty
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($200,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-D K
Racing, LLC, Radley Equine, Inc., Taste of Victory Stables, Gold,
Rick, Maslowski, Tony E. and Odmark, Dave; B-Fred Hertrich
(KY); T-Dan Blacker; J-Florent Geroux. $240,000. Lifetime
Record: 9-6-0-0, $494,751. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Smooth Like Strait, 122, c, 4, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy. $80,000.
3–Count Again, 122, g, 6, Awesome Again–Count to Three, by
Red Ransom. O-Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm;
B-Sam-Son Farm (ON); T-Philip D'Amato. $48,000.
Margins: NK, NK, HF. Odds: 4.20, 2.80, 16.30.
Also Ran: Flavius, Royal Ship (Brz), Casa Creed, Ride a Comet, Spirit Animal, Flying Scotsman, Social Paranoia. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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