geovanni franco | Horse Racing Free Tips

Lieutenant Dan Cruises In Eddie D. As Racing Returns To Santa Anita Hillside Course

Celebrated by racing fans nationwide, racing returned to Santa Anita's Camino Real hillside turf course in Arcadia, Calif., on Friday as California-bred Lieutenant Dan pressed the pace and took control turning for home en route to a half-length victory in the Grade 2, $200,000 Eddie D. Stakes. Ridden by Geovanni Franco, “Dan” got the “about” distance of 6 ½ furlongs down the hill on firm turf in 1:11.74.

Owned and bred by Nick Alexander, Lieutenant Dan sat a close third early to pacesetter Charmaine's Mia, who was pressed to her immediate outside by Law Abidin Citizen. Hand-ridden over the dirt crossing at the top of the stretch, Lieutenant Dan cruised to the lead and was never seriously challenged through the lane.

Off as the 5-2 favorite in a field of nine 3-year-olds and up, Lieutenant Dan, who notched his third consecutive victory today, paid $7.00, $3.80 and $3.20. The 5-year-old gelding by Alexander's stallion Grazen has now won eight of 16 career starts.

“It was so unexpected,” said Alexander of the horse's growing resume. “I think he was the seventh or eighth foal out of the mare (Excusabull), and the first seven did nothing so, we had very low expectations for this horse and he just continues to exceed them. He just loves to win.

“I love that turf course,” Alexander added. “We have always excelled on it and Grazen babies just seem to love that distance and that downhill. It is so beautiful.”

“He's a pretty fast horse and he's very versatile,” said Franco. “He broke sharp like he always does and put me in a nice spot where if they were going too slow, I could have gone and if they were going too fast, I could have sat back.

“All in all, he was the one taking me through the trip. At the end of the race he kept on going. I heard some noises of people coming but he never slowed down or waited for anybody.

“It was a great feeling to ride the hill again, it is definitely different than any other race or surface,” added Franco. “You have a lot of fun out there, especially when you have a horse like this one.”

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Highly accomplished Snapper Sinclair, who shipped in from Churchill Downs for Steve Asmussen, kept to his task from off the pace and finished second in a solid effort, finishing a neck in front of the Bob Hess, Jr. Chaos Theory. Off as the 7-2 second choice, he paid $4.40 and $3.20.

Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Chaos Theory was off at 36-1 and paid $10.80 to show while finishing a half length better than a late closing Gregorian Chant.

Fractions on the race were 21.61, 42.95 and 1:05.66.

The Eddie D is named for legendary retired Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye.

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Connie Swingle Leads 1-2 Alexander Finish In Del Mar’s Generous Portion Stakes

Nick Alexander's homebred Connie Swingle grabbed a good spot early in the six-furlong Generous Portion Stakes Friday, then drew well clear in the lane to tally by 3 1/4 lengths Friday at Del Mar as the 7-10 favorite in a field of 10 2-year-old California-bred fillies.

Owner-breeder Alexander also ran second in the $102,000 feature with his Carmen Miranda. Finishing third was George Krikorian's homebred Big Novel.

Connie Swingle, who was ridden by Giovanni Franco and is trained by Phil D'Amato, had scored the initial victory of her career in a straight maiden race at Del Mar on August 6 and her winner's share of $57,000 in the dash increased her bankroll to $108,000.

Final time for the 29th edition of the six panels was a solid 1:10.89. The winner paid $3.40, $2.60 and $2.20. Carmen Miranda returned $6.80 and $4.00, while Big Novel paid $3.00.

The track's Pick 6 Single Ticket Jackpot wager went unsolved one more day and its carryover rose to $419,662 for Saturday's 11-race card, which will be off and running with an early first post of 1:30 p.m. PT.

GEOVANNI FRANCO (Connie Swingle, winner) – “Phil (trainer D'Amato) told me to play the break and get a good spot with her. We did that. She was running nice and easy and when we got to the turn, I think she was playing with them (other horses). When we straightened out in the lane she just went. She's very talented.”

PHIL D'AMATO (Connie Swingle, winner) “I think she showed her class down the lane. That's a very respectable time for Cal-bred 2-year-old fillies. I think she'll run on and the same for (runner-up) Carmen Miranda (whom he also trains). I think she's just kind of dying for two turns. On to Santa Anita.”

FRACTIONS: :22.23 :45.04 :57.76 1:10.89

The stakes win is the second of the meet for rider Franco, but his first win in the Generous Portion. He now has five stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the third of the meet for trainer D'Amato, but his second (Long Hot Summer, 2014) in the Generous Portion. He now has 32 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owner and breeder is Nick Alexander of Del Mar and Santa Ynez, Calif.

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Lieutenant Dan Registers Front-Running Score In Green Flash

Nick Alexander's homebred Lieutenant Dan was just too fast for seven rivals in Sunday's $101,500 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar, running five furlongs on turf in :55.98.

The 5-year-old gelding by Alexander's prime stallion, Grazen, shook off pressure early, then cleared late to finish 2 1/4 lengths best in the dash for 3-year-olds and up. He picked up a check for $60,000 for the win and pushed his bankroll to $543,740.

Geovanni Franco rode the winner for trainer Steve Miyadi.

Finishing second was Hogan or Hogan's Give Me the Lute, a neck in front of Slam Dunk Racing, Old Bones Racing Stable and Nentwig's Gregorian Chant.

Lieutenant Dan paid $6.00, $3.40 and $2.60. Give Me the Lure returned $7.40 and $4.80 and Gregorian Chant paid $3.60 to show.

Post-race quotes:

GEOVANNI FRANCO (Lieutenant Dan, winner) – “No special instructions for me; I know this horse well. Since he's come back from his layoff (was away from June 2020 to July 2021), he's more puffed up. He's acting like a bully. He's doing good now. When I made the lead in the straight, I wasn't worried about the others behind me coming to get us. But I wasn't going to wait for them either.”

STEVE MIYADI (Lieutenant Dan, winner) – “In this day and age you're always worried about the bounce. I didn't train him particularly hard for (a win here July 23), because I was thinking about this race and I was pleasantly surprised at how well he ran. That's when you worry about the bounce. He overcame my training.”

FRACTIONS: :22.16 :44.52 :55.98

The stakes win was the first of the meet for rider Franco and his first in the Green Flash. He now has four stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer Miyadi and his first in the Green Flash. He now has four stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owner and breeders is Nick Alexander of Santa Ynez and Del Mar, Calif.

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McAnally Runner Tests Positive For CBD

The Ron McAnally trained Roses and Candy has tested positive for 7-Carboxy-Cannabidiol, a metabolite of cannabidiol, after a win at Del Mar on Nov. 22 last year, according to a complaint filed by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Monday.

Because CBD is currently unclassified in California, a positive finding is by default a class 1, category A drug violation, requiring that the horse is disqualified and purse monies forfeited. Under CHRB rules, such a violation can also lead to a minimum one-year suspension or a maximum three-year suspension, with a maximum fine of $25,000 or 25% of the purse.

However, according to CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten, agency staff will recommend to the stewards that they treat the positive as a lower class 3 category B penalty. That's because the CHRB is in the process of making CBD a class 3, category B drug through a proposed rulemaking change.

A class 3 substance potentially requires the disqualification of the horse and the redistribution of the purse, along with a fine of no more than $10,000 and a minimum 30-day suspension for the first offense, absent mitigating circumstances.

According to McAnally's long-time assistant, Dan Landers, the finding is potentially a result of cross-contamination. When details of the positive emerged last year, Roses and Candy's jockey, Geovanni Franco, approached him to explain that he used CBD himself, Landers said.

“He came to me and he told me he'd used it on himself,” said Landers. “My best advice for him was to tell the investigator what he'd told me, which he did.”

Landers added: “We went upside down trying to find where this came from, and [Franco] was the only source that did say they'd used it, and that says a lot about him–he's an honest guy. I appreciated his honesty on that. He didn't have to say anything.”

Marten also pointed to the veteran trainer's fine regulatory record in California.

“McAnally has never had anything worse in his whole career than a class 4” drug positive in California, said Marten.

According to Landers, the barn's last positive in California was in 1996.

In 1994, McAnally was among five trainers whose horses tested positive for scopolamine. After a lengthy investigation, his fine was overturned, but the horse in question was disqualified and the purse money rescinded.

As CBD use in humans has sky-rocketed in recent years, the eyes of the regulatory world have turned to the inevitable spill-over into equine competition. Last December, the CHRB sent a notification to California-based trainers warning them of CDB use in horses and the possible consequences.

“My recommendation to the horsemen is do not use this product on a racehorse that is going to be subject to testing, which is basically all of them,” CHRB equine medical director Rick Arthur told the TDN at the time. “The risk is so out of proportion to the reward that it would be foolish to use this product on a racehorse.”

While derived from both marijuana and industrial hemp plants, CBD is non-intoxicating. Nevertheless, while CBD products are required to contain less than 0.3% THC, lack of regulatory oversight means that some CBD products contain much more THC than that. The ARCI designates a CBD product with more than 0.3% THC as a class 1, category A substance.

The purported benefits from CBD use in horses include treatment of inflammation, ulcers, laminitis, colic, and decreased anxiety. However, “None of these claims are substantiated with independent, peer reviewed research in the horse,” according to a Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC) cannabidiol bulletin from 2019.

Among some of the findings in published literature, CBD has been shown to help ameliorate the pain of osteoarthritis in dogs and ease anxiety in humans. One recent study out of Colorado found a potential correlation between CBD use in dogs and reduced seizure frequency.

Experts point to the wild west nature of the CBD market at present, however, with much variability in purity, strength, and safety of these products. A recent study out of Europe found that more than two-thirds of the 14 CBD products tested contained concentrations that differed by more than 10% from the label. As such, in its 2019 bulletin the RMTC offers no recommended withdrawal times.

McAnally, owner Deborah McAnally and Franco are scheduled to appear before the stewards at Santa Anita on May 22.

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