Tag: get smokin

Longshot Get Smokin Wires Kentucky Turf Cup

When they throw $1.7 million at a race that entitles the winner to a guaranteed, fees-paid berth in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, sometimes you cast all logic aside and roll the dice against all odds.

As the saying goes, 'you miss 100% of the shots you don't take,' and it was with that mindset that Get Smokin (Get Stormy)–a Grade II and Grade III winner, but unproven over the 12-furlong trip of the GII FanDuel Kentucky Cup Turf–was even entered in the first place. But given a perfect ride from the front by Fernando de la Cruz on a day the rail was where you wanted to be at Kentucky Downs, the chestnut, off at 19-1, forgot to stop and proved 1 3/4 lengths superior over Spooky Channel (English Channel) when all was said and done. Santin (Medaglia d'Oro) raced prominently throughout and settled for third.

“I have often told [Ironhorse Racing Managing Partner] Harlan [Malter] that he is the craziest owner I train for. But this was not a crazy idea,” winning trainer Mark Casse said in the immediate aftermath of the upset.

The hard-fought winner of a Gulfstream allowance first off a September layoff back in April, Get Smokin was sixth in a graded-stakes quality renewal of the Opening Verse S. at Churchill May 4, then was run down late and finished runner-up in the GIII Arlington S. June 3 and in the July 1 Wise Dan S. at Ellis. Tried over 10 furlongs for the first time in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup Aug. 6, Get Smokin made the running, but was reeled in late and settled for fourth.

Though he had a bit of early company in the form of Santin in the final event of Saturday's stakes-laden program, Get Smokin took the field into the first turn and opened up four or five lengths on his rivals as they hit the backstretch. Despite the loose lead, Get Smokin switched off beautifully on the engine, getting the half in :49.61 and the opening six panels in a comfortable 1:14.18.

Even though the next couple of furlongs were covered in a testing :23.81, Get Smokin was still full of run down the side of the track, daring some proven stayers to come and get him. But catch him they could not, as he switched his leads at the quarter pole, flopped back and forth in the final furlong, but remained clear to the wire.

Malter was full of praise for de la Cruz, who won back-to-back runnings of the GII Woodford S. aboard Ironhorse's Bucchero (Kantharos) before also partnering with the horse in consecutive renewals of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“We looked at this race,” Malter said. “We wanted to test out at Ellis [in the 1 1/4-mile prep]. Even though we ran fourth, we were happy. He ran a similar figure to what he was running at a mile and a sixteenth. We were all systems go. We kind of came up with the idea to have Fernando. We made a very specific plan, and it's amazing how well Fernando executed it.”

Pedigree Notes:

By Get Stormy, winner of the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at nine furlongs on the turf, Get Smokin is out of a mare by noted sprint sire Smoke Glacken. There is a bit of stamina as you go down the page, as second dam Doc's Leading Lady–the dam of MSW Spanish Pipedream (Scat Daddy)–was a full-sister to Phi Beta Doc, who set a Saratoga course record when winning the 1999 GIII Saranac S. over a mile and three-sixteenths before annexing that year's 10-furlong Virginia Derby, also in course-record time. Third dam Smart Queen was a half-sister to 1977 GII Arkansas Derby hero Clev Er Tell (Tell).

Hookah Lady is the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Vino Rosso who was a $32,000 RNA as a KEENOV weanling, then sold for $35,000 at KEESEP last fall before blossoming into a $550,000 OBS March breezer. Smoldering Ash, a yearling full-sister to Get Smokin, went for $102,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale to NBS Stable's John Ballantyne, coincidentally the owner of Turf Cup runner-up Spooky Channel. The mare produced a Classic Empire colt this year and was bred back to Practical Joke.

Saturday, Kentucky Downs
FANDUEL KENTUCKY TURF CUP S.-GII, $1,675,429, Kentucky Downs, 9-9, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:28.66, fm.
1–GET SMOKIN, 122, g, 6, by Get Stormy
                1st Dam: Hookah Lady, by Smoke Glacken
                2nd Dam: Doc's Leading Lady, by Doc's Leader
                3rd Dam: Smart Queen, by King Pellinore

($11,000 Ylg '18 FTKOCT). O-Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC, BlackRidge Stables LLC, T-N-T Equine Holdings, LLC and Saratoga Seven Racing Partners, LLC; B-Hurstland Farm, Inc. & James Greene Jr. (KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Fernando De La Cruz. $972,220. Lifetime Record: 27-6-7-2, $1,650,497. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Spooky Channel, 124, g, 8, English Channel–Spooky Kitten, by Kitten's Joy. ($10,000 Ylg '16 FTKOCT). O-NBS Stable; B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Jason Barkley. $316,200.
3–Santin, 122, h, 5, Distorted Humor–Sentiero Italia, by Medaglia d'Oro. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $158,100.
Margins: 1 3/4, HD, NO. Odds: 19.57, 17.54, 4.29.
Also Ran: Red Knight, Verstappen, Kitodan, Me and Mr. C, Therapist, Never Explain, Foreign Relations, Another Mystery, Nautilus (Brz). Scratched: Cellist, Highest Honors, Red Run, Sy Dog.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Longshot Get Smokin Wires Kentucky Turf Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Get Smokin Has Ironhorse, Partners On the Road Again

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — In the spring of 2018, Bucchero (Kantharos) took the Ironhorse Racing Stable on the ride of a lifetime. Having burst onto the scene with an upset victory in Keeneland's GII Woodford S. the previous fall, the popular Indiana-bred finished fourth, beaten just one length, in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Behind him that afternoon were the likes of Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) and Marsha (Ire), both world-class turf sprinters, and it got IHR managing partner Harlan Malter's wheel's spinning. If Bucchero could mix it with those at home, why not try them on their home turf?

Malter and his IHR partners eagerly accepted an invitation to Royal Ascot for the 2018 G1 King's Stand S. over a straight and undulating five-furlong trip. Bucchero acquitted himself exceptionally well against some of the best European short-trackers in recent memory like Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal), Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), just missing fourth while beaten under five lengths.

The flames had been fanned and this weekend at Meydan Racecourse, a half a world away, Get Smokin (Get Stormy) faces a diverse bunch in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the G1 Dubai World Cup undercard.

“I think once you're exposed to international racing and the enthusiasm and passion that the rest of the world has toward all of the racing, it makes you want to put your horse on that stage,” Malter said last week from his home in Southern California. “You have to have the right horse. And when we went with Bucchero, we were 50-1, but the horse ran as competitively on the world stage as you possibly could have hoped. And we feel the same way about Get Smokin.”

Malter and partners BlackRidge Stables LLC, T-N-T Equine Holdings LLC and Saratoga Seven Racing Partners acquired Get Smokin in a private transaction late last year.

“We've been working with [bloodstock agent] Phil Hager for about three years now, and he came to us with the horse,” Malter said when asked how they came to own the 5-year-old. “He had picked the horse out as a yearling [$11,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in 2018] and had stayed quite involved with his progress both through his friendship with [trainer] Tom Bush and with the [previous owners the] Sullivans.

He continued, “They were starting to disperse a little bit of some of their holdings, and they had kind of leaned on Phil to hopefully find a really good spot for the horse to end up in. And so he came to us with the possibility of purchasing the horse. We were able to put together a really, really good team of Ironhorse partners plus some outside partners who were super game and have been really great to own the horse with. There's some very obvious similarities to another horse that we campaigned internationally, a chestnut with four white socks, but the thing that really, really caught our eye about the horse is, you just don't see a horse that's more game than this horse. If you look at his past performances, it's littered with the top turf horses in the country the last two years.”

Get Smokin posted a front-running defeat of the classy Decorated Invader (Declaration of War) in the 2020 GIII Hill Prince S. going Belmont's one-turn mile and made the majority of the running in that year's GI Hollywood Derby over a stamina-stretching nine panels, only to be swarmed late to finish a close fourth to divisional leaders Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) and Gufo (Declaration of War). A four-race campaign in 2021 included a 3/4-length success in the GIII Tampa Bay S. from just off the pace and he also annexed a graded-stakes quality renewal of the Seek Again S. in May. He was sidelined off a fifth in the GIII Poker S. and resumed with a very useful runner-up effort in defense of his title in the Tampa Bay S. Feb. 5, going a good gallop before just running out of fitness late in his first run for his new owners.

“I think any time you give a horse some time off, you don't know exactly how tight they'll be when they come back. So we were thrilled,” Malter said. “[Trainer] Mark [Casse] said he was extremely happy with the way he was training. So we were excited about the way of coming into it. And he put in exactly the effort we had hoped off a break like that.”

 

 

 

Malter is well aware that the task ahead in the Al Quoz will not be an easy one, as Get Smokin is set to face a distance and configuration he is generally unaccustomed to. The competition in the race, contested over a straight six furlongs, figures extremely strong, including last-out G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint romper Man of Promise (Into Mischief), European Group 1 winners Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) and A Case of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) and GI Jaipur S. hero and recent G3 1351 Turf Sprint runner-up Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) among what is expected to be a full field. Flavien Prat has accepted the mount in the race won last year by fellow Yankee Extravagant Kid (Kiss the Kid).

“In talking to people who have experience with Dubai and some of the past success, and some of the Americans going over, the cutback milers have fared quite well,” Malter said. “The near miss by Long on Value (Value Plus) comes to mind. It is one of those situations where you don't know that he can't do it, and you don't know that he can do it. And we tend to lean to the side that we don't know that he can't do it. So he's the type of horse that gives you a ton out of the gate going through turns, and immediately pretty much rates himself. And he gives you a kick toward the end.

He added, “It's really going to be a lot up to how he decides to handle early, faster fractions, because he's never really been exposed to them. And what we obviously hope is that we've put one of the best riders in America on him, who's run this type of race before. And we'll leave it to him and the horse to see how they're feeling when the gates open. But we do feel like, with the speed he has, he should be able to position himself quite handy. And you hope that a horse that is normally used to going a much longer distance should have plenty left for the last two furlongs.”

Win, lose or draw Saturday, the allure of traveling horses has led Malter, Ironhorse and his partners to the sprawling Meydan Racecourse. And he is relishing the opportunity.

“When you get a chance to have the world bring their horses to a single race and put your head in there and let your horse be seen on that stage, it really does become about the horse,” he offered. “And giving the horse the chance. This is a unique opportunity to give your horse a chance to show what he's got against the top horses in the world and really make a mark. And we would definitely not go unless we thought this horse was going to be very competitive.”

The post Get Smokin Has Ironhorse, Partners On the Road Again appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Get Smokin, Bleecker Street Top Entries For Tampa Bay Downs’ Turf Champions Day

A full field of 12 males, headed by defending winner Get Smokin, are expected to compete in Saturday's Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes, while 10 fillies and mares, including Grade 1 winner Lady Speightspeare, are entered in the Grade 3, $175,000 Endeavour. Both races will be contested at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf course.

The Endeavour is the sixth race on a 10-race card on Tampa Bay Downs's “Turf Champions Day.” The Tampa Bay Stakes is the eighth race. There are 13 horses entered in the Tampa Bay Stakes and only 12 are permitted to run, so the connections of Carpenters Call would need a late scratch to compete.

The 5-year-old gelding Get Smokin will be making his first start since June. Now trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse, Get Smokin, who will be ridden by Antonio Gallardo, won the G2 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont as a 3-year-old. Get Smokin will break from the No. 7 post.

South Florida-based trainer Chad Brown will be sending two horses for the Tampa Bay Stakes in 5-year-old gelding L'Imperator and 8-year-old gelding Devamani. Samy Camacho is named to ride L'Imperator, while Pablo Morales will be aboard Devamani.

Tampa Bay Downs trainer Arnaud Delacour also has two entrants: 6-year-old horse Eons, who was second to Get Smokin last year, and 6-year-old gelding Talk Or Listen, last year's fourth-place finisher.

Brown, who is bidding for his first Tampa Bay Stakes trophy, has two entrants in search of his fourth Endeavour victory. Both of his 4-year-old fillies, Bleecker Street and In Italian, are owned by Peter M. Brant, with Bleecker Street a perfect 3-for-3 and In Italian 2-for-3 with a second. Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., rides Bleecker Street and Camacho is on In Italian.

They could have their hands full with 4-year-old Lady Speightspeare, who is 4-for-5 for trainer Roger Attfield, including the G1 Natalma at Woodbine as a 2-year-old. Her regular rider, Emma-Jayne Wilson, again has the assignment.

Trainer H. Graham Motion will bid for his third Endeavour victory with 4-year-old Oyster Box, who will be ridden by Gallardo. She was third in last year's Florida Oaks at the Oldsmar oval.

“Turf Champions Day” kicks off the track's seven-event graded-stakes schedule, which continues on Feb. 12 with the 42nd running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race for 3-year-old Triple Crown hopefuls.

The Sam F. Davis is the centerpiece of a four-stakes Festival Preview Day card that includes the mile-and-40-yard, $150,000 Suncoast Stakes, a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” points race for 3-year-old fillies; the 6-furlong, $100,000 Pelican Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward; and the $50,000, 6-furlong Minaret Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward.

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Mother-To-Be Oleksandra Beats The Boys In Poker Stakes

On Father's Day, it was the mother-to-be who brought home the victory for Team Valor International. Oleksandra (AUS), the lone mare in the field of nine, won the one-mile Grade 3 Poker Stakes by a neck over favored Raging Bull in Sunday's feature on the turf at Belmont Park, Elmont, Ny.

In her fourth start of 2021, Oleksandra, who is currently in foal to Into Mischief, broke a step slow from the gate, bumping into favorite Raging Bull, and was last for the first six furlongs of the one-mile Poker. Jockey Joel Rosario did not panic, though, content to let his mount run at the back of the pack and allow the race to develop in front of them. Get Smokin, winner of the Seek Again Stakes in his previous start, took the lead within the first furlong, with Raased and Tell Your Daddy running close behind, and he held onto that advantage until the final turn.

Favorite Raging Bull found himself boxed in for much of the race, but, as the field entered the stretch, he made his move on the rail, just to the inside of Get Smokin. At the back of the field on that last turn, Rosario took Oleksandra to the outside, moving down the center of the course as Raging Bull began to overtake Get Smokin. Raging Bull got to the lead in that last furlong, but Oleksandra moved past him, taking over first place and determinedly holding off Raging Bull to win the G3 Poker by a head. The final time for the mile was 1:32.11.

Behind Oleksandra and Raging Bull came Front Run the Fed, Sanctuary City, Get Smokin, Penalty, Tell Your Daddy, Raased, and Veronesi.

Oleksandra paid $36.80, $7.30, and $5.40. Raging Bull paid $2.60 and $2.10. Front Run the Fed paid $3.00 to show.

Trainer Neil Drysdale was pleased with Oleksandra's career finale. “Things haven't gone exactly smooth this year for her. We ran in Kentucky and realized she doesn't like the soft going. So, then we decided not to run here [in the Jaipur] because it was raining a lot here too at the time. Since she's more relaxed this year, we decided to try her at a mile hoping she could get the distance, and she did. She's pregnant [in foal to Into Mischief], so this was her swan song. She'll go out on a high note.”

Joel Rosario was not deterred by that slow start. “She always comes out of there like that [slow] but then she can be a little aggressive after. She relaxed very nicely. Neil Drysdale is a tremendous trainer.”

Foaled in Australia, Oleksandra is a daughter of 2011 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom out of the Caesour mare Alexandra Rose. Bred by her owner Team Valor, this 6-year-old mare was a $1.45 million RNA at the November 2020 Keeneland Breeding Stock sale. This victory in the G3 Poker Stakes is her first win of 2021 and her eighth career victory in 20 starts for career winnings of $705,748.

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