Florent Geroux | Horse Racing Free Tips

Diamond Oops Gives Geroux Fifth Win On Oaks Day In Twin Spires Turf Sprint

Breaking from the No. 1 post position and saving ground throughout, Diamond Oops rallied from last to win Friday's Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., giving jockey Florent Geroux his fifth win of the afternoon on the Kentucky Oaks day card.

Owned by Diamond 100 Racing Club LLC, Amy E. Dunne, D P Racing LLC and Patrick L. Biancone Racing LLC, the 5-year-old gelding by Lookin At Lucky is trained by Biancone. He covered 5 1/2 furlongs on turf rated good in 1:04.18 and paid $10 as the 4-1 second choice in the wagering.

Extravagant Kid, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, finished second as the 2-1 favorite, beaten a neck, with Just Might a length back in third and Chaps fourth in the field of 12 older turf sprinters.

The win was the first on grass for Diamond Oops, who was bred in Kentucky by Kin Hui Racing Stables and produced from the Whywhywhy mare, Patriotic Viva. His best previous turf performance in three starts came last fall at Keeneland when second, beaten three-quarters of a length by Bowies Hero, in the G1 Shadwell Turf Mile while battling on the front end throughout.

Diamond Oops was shuffled back to the back of the field after the break as Wellable led the field through an opening quarter mile in :22.58 under pressure from Just Might. The latter took command on the turn, the half mile clocked in :45.85, but Extravagant Kid quickly emerged on the scene and appeared to be headed to victory.

Geroux and Diamond Oops began passing horses on the turn after trailing early, following Extravagant Kid on the inside. He came off the rail to pass Wellabled in midstretch, then closed strongly for the win.

“He ran big. He's an amazing horse,” said Geroux. “Patrick (Biancone) always told me this horse has a little bit of some kind of physical problems, but he has the heart of a champion. He'll run on any kind of surface, any distance, from six furlongs to a mile. We saw him last year when he almost pulled it off in the (Grade1) Shadwell Turf Mile. I have no idea what's next for him, because he runs turf, he runs dirt, he does everything.”

Winner of two G3 races in 2019 at Gulfstream Park, the Smile Sprint and Mr. Prospector, Diamond Oops finished fourth behind Mucho Gusto in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 25. Given 4 1/2 months off, Diamond Oops then ran second in an overnight handicap at Gulfstream in June and trained up to the Twin Spires Turf Sprint at Palm Meadows in South Florida.

The victory in the $250,000 race was worth $144,150, upping his earnings to $938,590. He's won six of 15 career starts.

Brendan Walsh, who trained runner-up Extravagant Kid, said: “He ran well. Looked like he had the race won. He did that the one time he got beat here at Churchill, he made the front a little too soon. But in fairness to (jockey) Tyler (Gaffalione), he thought he had everybody covered. You can't just sit on him. He had to go with it, and we got caught out. But hat's off to the winner. They won the race. But he showed up again. We can't ask for much more than that. It would have been nice to win, but there you go.”

Geroux's five wins came in race 5 aboard Travel Column, a 2-year-old filly from the first crop of Frosted who was impressive breaking her maiden in her debut; in race 7 with Flabbergasted in an allowance race; in race 11, the G1 La Troienne aboard Monomoy Girl; and race 12 aboard Shedaresthedevil in the G1 Kentucky Oaks.

The post Diamond Oops Gives Geroux Fifth Win On Oaks Day In Twin Spires Turf Sprint appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Déjà Vu: Shedaresthedevil Springs 15-1 Upset For Cox, Geroux In Kentucky Oaks

Nothing is quite the same in 2020, and horse racing has been no exception. Churchill Downs' cavernous, nearly empty grandstands stood watch over Friday's Kentucky Oaks, delayed from the first Friday in May to September by the global coronavirus pandemic.

Fans may not have been present this year, but trainer Brad Cox must have felt a strong sense of déjà vu when he saddled Staton Flurry and Qatar Racing's Shedaresthedevil to post a 15-1 upset in the 3-year-old fillies' classic. Just one race prior, Cox had sent out his 2018 Kentucky Oaks winner Monomoy Girl to win the Grade 1 La Troienne.

“This is why you wake up every morning to get to win races like this,” Cox said. “This filly has been really impressive coming into the race and when she breezed with Monomoy Girl a couple weeks ago, we knew how well she was training. There were some tough fillies in the Oaks this year with Swiss Skydiver and Gamine. We are so thrilled to win a race like this, again, in our backyard. This has been a phenomenal day with Monomoy Girl winning the La Troienne then winning the Oaks with Shedaresthedevil. These are the days you dream of.”

Jockey Florent Geroux rode both champion Monomoy Girl and Shedaresthedevil to victory on Friday, and booted home a total of four winners on the Kentucky Oaks card.

“She had a great trip,” said Geroux. “She broke very sharp and I was able to stalk Gamine all the way. That was the plan, but sometimes plans don't always work out. Perfect plan today. The only question was whether or not I was going to be able to run her down. My filly ran an amazing race. It's been an amazing day.”

Shedaresthedevil came into the Oaks with wins in three of her five starts this year, but her long odds reflected the fact that she hadn't been successful against the division's top contenders. Her wins came in the G3 Indiana Oaks, an allowance race, and the G3 Honeybee, while she'd been beaten 13 1/4 lengths by Kentucky Oaks rival Swiss Skydiver in Oaklawn's G3 Fantasy Stakes back in May.

“We've taken the conservative route with this filly, kind of dodged the bullets,” Flurry explained. “We did that with the hope that we'd have a fresh horse for this.”

The strategy seems to have worked out, as Shedaresthedevil pulled away to win the Kentucky Oaks by 1 1/2 lengths. It was also the fastest Kentucky Oaks in history as Shedaresthedevil ran 1 1/8 miles over the fast main track in 1:48.28, besting Bird Town's 2003 time of 1:48.64.

A total of nine 3-year-old fillies lined up for the nine-furlong contest, including the supremely talented Gamine, who'd won her last two races by a combined total of over 35 lengths. Gamine went off at odds of 3-5, while G1 Alabama winner Swiss Skydiver, who'd also earned 40 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby by facing males in the G3 Blue Grass Stakes, was the second choice at 5-2.

As expected, the speedy Gamine went straight to the lead from post position five, and Swiss Skydiver pushed through from her position on the rail to try to be second. Shedaresthedevil broke to her left, and muscled her way over to keep pace pressure on Gamine through the early stages, keeping Swiss Skydiver boxed in on the inside.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez kept a tight hold on Gamine through a first quarter in 23.39 seconds, but Geroux also had Shedaresthedevil under a good hold just a length off the leader. Swiss Skydiver and Tyler Gaffalione were at the rail in third, while Donna Veloce tried to push her way into contention between rivals in fourth.

Just after the half-mile in :47.92, Velazquez left the rail open for a few strides and Gaffalione tried to send Swiss Skydiver on through. He didn't make the gap and Velazquez aimed Gamine back at the rail, causing Gaffalione to check and wait for the overland route along the outside.

That veteran move by Velazquez gave Geroux an opportunity with Shedaresthedevil, and he took full advantage, getting first run on Gamine around the far turn. Swiss Skydiver ended up swinging three-wide at the head of the lane, but Shedaresthedevil had already set her sights on the passing Gamine and hitting the wire first.

Shedaresthedevil dug in to put away Gamine by the three-sixteenths pole, then held of the late bid from Swiss Skydiver on her outside to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Gamine checked in third, while Speech got up to finish fourth. The remaining order of finish was: Tempers Rising, Hopeful Growth, Bayerness, Donna Veloce, and Dream Marie.

Trainer Ken McPeek wasn't displeased with the effort from runner-up Swiss Skydiver.

“She ran super,” McPeek said. “That other filly (Shedaresthedevil) has been training extremely well. I've been watching her. Tyler (Gaffalione) rode her good. That's horse racing. There's no guarantees. She's been training super. I actually wasn't as worried about Gamine as I was about another filly running a bang-up race. That's what happened.”

Meanwhile, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert had been hoping for a stronger return to two-turn racing for the super-talented Gamine.

“She hadn't gone long and we can always second guess ourselves,” Baffert lamented. “Maybe I should have run her longer or whatever. But the winner was tough, you have to give her credit.

“(Gamine) just didn't have it. Turning for home, she was in a good spot and she was late switching leads and she never does that. I don't know if she just got tired or whatever. But down the backside he couldn't have been any better, he was in the perfect spot. She just didn't have it there.”

Shedaresthedevil (center, maroon cap) out-finishes both Swiss Skydiver (left) and Gamine (right) to win the Kentucky Oaks

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Shedaresthedevil is out of the winning Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed. Initially sold for $100,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale, the filly returned and did not meet her reserve when bidding stopped at $20,000 at the following year's Keeneland September sale.

Entered in race training with Norm Casse, Shedaresthedevil won on debut and was the first winner for her freshman sire, Daredevil, in June of 2019 at Churchill Downs. Qatar Racing purchased an interest in the filly and she was sent to west coast trainer Simon Callaghan, for whom she ran third in the G2 Sorrento, fourth in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, and second in the Anoakia Stakes.

Sent back through the Keeneland November sale at the end of her juvenile season, Shedaresthedevil brought a final bid of $280,000 from Staton Flurry, and Qatar Racing stayed in for the ride. The filly was sent to trainer Brad Cox, and kicked off her sophomore year with a second-place finish to stablemate Bonny South in an allowance at Oaklawn Park. She added the pair of graded stakes wins to her resume over the course of 2020, and the Kentucky Oaks win improves her overall record to 5-2-2 from 10 starts for earnings of over $1.2 million.

“As bad as 2020's been for everybody, this makes it a little bit better, for us,” Flurry said from the winner's circle.

Co-owner Staton Flurry celebrates with friends after Shedaresthedevil brings home the Kentucky Oaks trophy

The post Déjà Vu: Shedaresthedevil Springs 15-1 Upset For Cox, Geroux In Kentucky Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘All She Does Is Win’: Monomoy Girl Takes Grade 1 La Troienne In A Hand Ride

Heavily-favored Monomoy Girl continued what is now nearly a three-year winning streak Friday with a win in the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes under a hand ride from Florent Geroux. The 5-year-old fan favorite chestnut sat off early pacesetters Lady Kate and Risky Mandate, who put some daylight between themselves and Monomoy Girl up the backstretch. Going into the final turn, Geroux could be seen looking over his shoulder to size up any potential competition before allowing Monomoy Girl to put in some run at the top of the stretch. The mare opened up in late stretch to win by 1 3/4 lengths, prompting announcer Larry Collmus to proclaim “All she does is win!” as she hit the wire.

Monomoy Girl paid $2.80 to win.

Geroux would later tell NBC cameras he has to choose his moment carefully with Monomoy Girl, as she's inclined to do just enough to stay in the lead and needs competition to run at.

Lady Kate finished second, followed by Horologist. The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.14, 5/100ths of a second off the stakes record.

Brad Cox trains Monomoy Girl for Michael Dubb and Monomoy Stables.

Monomoy Girl returned to the races earlier this year after missing her 4-year-old season due to a serious bout of colic, winning an allowance optional claimer and the G2 Ruffian. She also has wins in the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff, G1 Kentucky Oaks, G1 Acorn, and G1 Coaching Club American Oaks to her credit.

Monomoy Girl was bred in Kentucky by FPF LLC and Highfield Ranch. She is the daughter of Tapizar and Henny Hughes mare Drumette.

See the full chart here.

LA TROIENNE QUOTES, courtesy of the Churchill Downs media office

Florent Geroux (winning rider, Monomoy Girl) — “There was no doubt. She gave us every indication in the morning that she was back at a top level. In the Ruffian, when she beat Vexatious pretty easily and then Vexatious came back and beat Midnight Bisou, it gave us a better line from there. Even if it wasn't for that, she's been working extremely well in the morning. There is no doubt she is a champion horse and definitely a horse of a lifetime. “There was a little bit of congestion going into the first turn, but I had a nice outside post. I was never worried. I was on the best horse and we had a great trip. I just had to push the button when she was ready.”

Brad Cox (winning trainer, Monomoy Girl) — “She's the only horse I get nervous running. Once I leg up Florent (Geroux) it's 10 minutes of anxiety. He did have to work on her a little bit to clear off from Lady Kate. She's a true champion and is able to overcome a four-wide trip into the first turn. She's the horse of a lifetime. The way she's trained since the spring, since April, is when she took off.”

Javier Castellano (rider, Lady Kate, second) — “I love the way she did it today. She broke so well out of the gate and I just let her do her own thing. The good thing is she'll rate beautifully on the lead. That's what I was looking for, I know Monomoy Girl was much the best but my filly ran a really good race. I think she was second best today and I'm very satisfied with the way she did it. She ran so good. I had a lot of confidence turning for home but when I saw Monomoy Girl, she went by. I wasn't disappointed in my filly because she responded too. Everything I asked for, she gave it to me. But Monomoy Girl was much the best.”

Eddie Kenneally (trainer, Lady Kate, second) — “We were delighted with that. That was a big effort. She didn't get beat very far. It was a good effort. We were delighted, absolutely. Grade 1, that means a lot.”

(On Breeders' Cup Distaff?) We'll get with Brad (Anderson), the owner, and we'll come up with a plan, but hopefully so.”

Brad Anderson (owner, Lady Kate, second) — “That was crazy. I'm so proud of her. I thought she was going to stop at the top of the stretch, and she just kept going. Monomoy Girl, come on. We gave her everything she wanted. It's just nice because we had to take our time with her, we've been patient. It's nice to see them finally run their race, get the break you want and get everything you wanted. And here we got beat by a better horse but we ran our race. Grade 1 on our pedigree, stakes-winner last time. That's huge. That's huge for me. That's the most expensive filly I ever bought ($485,000 yearling). And now I can thank my wife for letting me spend that kind of money.”

The post ‘All She Does Is Win’: Monomoy Girl Takes Grade 1 La Troienne In A Hand Ride appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Therideofalifetime, Pico D’Oro Chasing Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Berth In Saturday’s Iroquois

The Road to the 2021 Kentucky Derby will begin Saturday afternoon when 10 2-year-olds go to the post for the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The Iroquois offers 17 points toward the 2021 Run for the Roses on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the top four finishers, as well as an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in early November.

Topping the entries is Stephen Fidel's Therideofalifetime, runner-up in the Saratoga Special (GII) in his most recent start. Trained by Ignacio Correas IV, Therideofalifetime will be ridden by Florent Geroux and break from post position 10.

Also figuring to draw support is Sandin Syndicate Stable's Pico d'Oro.

Trained by Bill Morey, Pico d'Oro won the Ellis Park Juvenile last month in his most recent start that served as his maiden-breaking score. Javier Castellano has the mount and will break from post position seven.

The field for the Iroquois, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Drop Anchor (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118 pounds), Sittin On Go (Corey Lanerie, 118), Super Stock (Ricardo Santana Jr., 120), Ultimate Badger (Joe Talamo, 118), Dreamer's Disease (Miguel Mena, 118), Belafonte (Declan Cannon, 118), Pico d'Oro (Castellano, 120), Midnight Bourbon (Gerardo Corrales, 118), Crazy Shot (Edgar Morales, 118) and Therideofalifetime (Geroux, 118).

The Iroquois will go as Race 10 with a post of 4:07 p.m.

The post Therideofalifetime, Pico D’Oro Chasing Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Berth In Saturday’s Iroquois appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post