gufo | Horse Racing Free Tips

Golden Glider Works for Belmont

Golden Glider (Ghostzapper), most recently second in the GIII Peter Pan S., tuned up for Saturday's GI Belmont S. with a four-furlong work in :49.90 (33/84) at Belmont Park Sunday. NYRA clockers caught the colt, with exercise rider Kylie Wellington up, through a quarter-mile in :26.20 and a gallop-out in 1:02.80.

“I thought he worked really well. He settled early, which is what you want out of a Belmont horse, and flew home,” trainer Mark Casse said.

Casse won the 2019 Belmont with Sir Winston (Awesome Again), who also finished second in the Peter Pan heading into the Test of the Champion. The Hall of Fame trainer expects Golden Glider will have no trouble with the Belmont's 1 1/2-mile distance.

“I'm not worried about the mile and a half, it's just how long it's going to take him,” said Casse, with a laugh. “He's a one-paced type of horse, so I'm hoping he'll have a similar trip like Sir Winston. In his previous races, Sir Winston used to come from the clouds, but in the Belmont, Joel Rosario kept him close enough and I could see the same thing happening Saturday with Dylan [Davis].”

Also working Sunday ahead of Saturday's stakes-packed card at Belmont, Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) went four furlongs in :48.01 (5/117) over the training track ahead of an engagement in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H.

“I let him pick it up a little more,” trainer Bill Mott said. “He shaded :24 coming home today. He was off nice and I had him in :47 3/5. The gallop out was just normal. We let him finish up to the wire.”

Speaker's Corner, a Godolphin homebred, won the GIII Fred Hooper S. at Gulfstream in January, the GII Gulfstream Park Mile in March and is coming off a win in the Apr. 9 GI Carter H.

“We've had a nice schedule. We've got a good foundation and plenty of time to be fresh for this race, so hopefully it works out,” Mott said. “He seems to be doing well and we got all our works in and been fortunate enough that we haven't missed anything. We did what we wanted to do.”

Trainer Chad Brown sent out GI Resorts World Casino Manhattan S. hopeful Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) to work five furlongs in 1:01.80 (1/3) over the inner turf course at Belmont Sunday.

“He worked really good,” Brown said. “He likes Belmont quite a bit and the key with him is firm turf. If the turf is firm on Saturday, he will run.”

Rockemperor won the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. over the Belmont lawn last year.

Also working for the Manhattan, Gufo (Declaration of War) worked four furlongs in company in :49.60 (9/19) over the inner turf course at Belmont Sunday.

“Gufo worked great and is ready for the Manhattan,” trainer Christophe Clement said. “He tried very hard and ran very well in the Man o' War.”

Third in last year's Manhattan, Gufo is coming off a runner-up effort in the May 14 GI Man o'War S.

The post Golden Glider Works for Belmont appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Gleneagles’s Highland Chief Upsets Yibir in Man o’ War

With heavily favored champion Yibir totally missing the start, Saturday's GI Man o' War S. at Belmont was thrown into a state of flux, and longest shot on the board Highland Chief took advantage. Away well himself and with no real pace on, Highland Chief shared early front-running duties with Abaan (Will Take Charge) past the wire for the first time while kept well off the fence by pilot Trevor McCarthy. Content to sit second on the first bend and down the backside through splits of :25.35, :51.84 and 1:17.60, Highland Chief turned the heat back up heading for home as last year's Jockey Club Derby Invitational and GI Breeders' Cup Turf hero Yibir and MGISW Gufo swept up to join the fray. Highland Chief poked a head in front after a mile in 1:42.04, and while it seemed like surely one of his more accomplished foes would come get him when they straightened, the bay kept finding and in fact pulled away slightly in the late stages.

“I wanted to get a good break, that was the most important thing,” said McCarthy, who was celebrating his first win at the highest level. “He broke well last time, but he just got annihilated at the break. Today, he was really handy the whole way for me. The pace was pretty slow, but the whole time he was just carrying me, carrying me, carrying me. At the 5/16 pole I let him go and started to make an early move. I just wanted to get away from the other guys and it sure paid off. He made up a ton of ground the first time he ran in America and got shut off really bad at the break, but he made a good rally.”

“It's a great feeling,” McCarthy said of winning his first Grade I. “To win it for [trainer] Graham [Motion], who has given me so much support in my career, it's really special. My father started riding for Graham and we got to be good friends with them and his family. I started at 15 and worked for Graham. As soon as I started to learn how to ride, I stayed at Fair Hill for three years. I would come in on the weekends and days off of school and ride out for him which was great. I learned so much from him and all his employees there at the time. To win it with so much history with him is great.”

Originally based with Paul Cole in England, Highland Chief was well thought of enough to contest the 2020 G1 Investec Derby, where he finished 10th before a pair of seconds going 1 1/2 miles at the Group level. He made just one start last year, checking in fifth in Epsom's G1 Coronation Cup June 4, and found 8 1/2 panels at Aqueduct too sharp when ninth while making up significant ground late in his Stateside debut Apr. 14.

“In fairness, Alex Cole, the manager for the owners, told me that if he runs back to his European form, he's very competitive with these horses,” said Motion. “He won a race at Ascot. That's not easy to do. Trevor had a strategy–he knew he couldn't leave him too much to do. He broke better today, which made a difference because he wasn't so held back at the start or too much ground to make up. Trevor gave him a great ride. I said to Trevor, 'I can't believe somebody broke slower than we did.”

Of potential future plans, Motion said, “We'd have to think about the [June 11 GI Resorts World] Manhattan, but it was mentioned to go to Europe after this race if he ran well. Originally, they talked about running in the Dubai World Cup and I knew he just wasn't ready for that. [The owners] think very highly of him.”

As for the beaten favorite, trainer Charlie Appleby said, “That's him. He did that here last year. That's his style. He did it [when second in the Mar. 26 G1] Sheema Classic as well. We intentionally did not want him to be as slow out, but his run style is to come off the pace… Unfortunately, we had rain here last night and rain again today and it's just on the slower side of where he likes to hear his feet rattling. For his acceleration, it just blunts it slightly. Take nothing away from the winner, he held decent form back in Europe in his 3-year-old career there and he had to be respected. We ran our race, but in an ideal world if you asked me what I'd like to have had, it would be no rain.”

Appleby said last year's champion turf horse would likely be back in the States for the Aug. 27 GI Sword Dancer S. at Saratoga.

Saturday, Belmont Park
MAN O' WAR S.-GI, $651,000, Belmont, 5-14, 4yo/up, 1 3/8mT, 2:17.04, fm.
1–HIGHLAND CHIEF (IRE), 118, h, 5, by Gleneagles (Ire)
1st Dam: Pink Symphony (GB) (GSW-Ire, MSP-Eng, $186,684), by Montjeu (Ire)
2nd Dam: Blue Symphony (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Blue Duster, by Danzig
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
WIN. O/B-Mrs. Fitri Hay (IRE); T-H. Graham Motion; J-Trevor
McCarthy. $375,000. Lifetime Record: 12-3-2-2, $501,862.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: B.
2–Gufo, 124, h, 5, Declaration of War–Floy, by Petionville.
O-Otter Bend Stables, LLC; B-John Little & Stephen Cainelli
(KY); T-Christophe Clement. $130,000.
3–Yibir (GB), 124, g, 4, Dubawi (Ire)–Rumh (Ger), by Monsun
(Ger). O/B-Godolphin (GB); T-Charles Appleby. $70,000.
Margins: 1, NK, 2 3/4. Odds: 19.20, 2.45, 0.55.
Also Ran: Easter (Fr), Abaan. Scratched: So High (GB). Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Highland Chief hails from the first crop of MG1SW miler Gleneagles, who was a distant last in his lone U.S. start when trying the dirt in American Pharoah's GI Breeders' Cup Classic procession. He is one of 10 graded/group winners for the Coolmore Ireland resident.

Montjeu, meanwhile, has 37 Northern Hemisphere graded/group winners as a broodmare sire to go with 17 foaled south of the equator.

The winner's dam was a 400,000gns TATOCT yearling purchase in 2008 by Paul Cole on Hay's behalf, and she helped repay that investment with a score in the 1 1/2-mile G3 Irish Stallion Farms E.B.F. Give Thanks S. in 2011. A half to MGSW/MG1SP Fantasia (GB) (Sadler's Wells)–a Group 3-winning producer herself–and MGSW/MG1SP Western Hymn (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), Pink Symphony is a granddaughter of Europe's 1995 champion 2-year-old filly Blue Duster. She has a 2-year-old full-brother to Highland Chief and a yearling filly by Churchill (Ire).

The post Gleneagles’s Highland Chief Upsets Yibir in Man o’ War appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Yibir Returns to America in Man O’ War

Godolphin's Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), named last year's Eclipse champion turf male off of a fast-finishing score in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, will make his first Stateside start since that effort as the likely favorite in a six-horse renewal of the 1 3/8-mile GI Man O' War S. Saturday at Belmont.

Showing just a single Group 3 win in his first nine starts in Great Britain, the chestnut gelding had his breakout performance with a victory in the G2 Sky Bet Great Voltigeur S. last August at York and validated that run with a convincing success in the local Jockey Club Derby Invitational S. before rallying from 13th to get up by a half-length in the Breeders' Cup. Making his 4-year-old debut in the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic, he closed furiously from last of 15 to just miss, finishing second by a neck. He followed that with a mildly-disappointing runner-up finish as a 1-4 chalk in the G2 Betfair Exchange Jockey Club S. last out Apr. 29 at Newmarket. Regular rider William Buick flies in for the mount.

“We were delighted with his first run back as a 4-year-old in the Sheema Classic. He was a fast-finishing second,” trainer Charlie Appleby told the NYRA notes team. “We know the tracks he loves are the more conventional flat galloping track likes Meydan and Belmont. The American tracks seem to suit him. The race at Newmarket was a prep to come to America. I know he was a beaten favorite on the day, but our European tracks don't seem to suit him so much. We were pleased that we got a run into him and he came out of the race well. I've spoken to the team at Belmont on a daily basis and they're happy with the way the horse has shipped and trained so far.”

Though favored at even-money on the morning line, Yibir has a major rival in Otter Bend Stables' narrow 7-5 second choice Gufo (Declaration of War), who will look to make amends for the worst race of his career behind Yibir in the Breeders' Cup. A hard-fought winner of the GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer S. last summer at Saratoga, the chestnut made a huge, early move in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. before flattening out to third over this course Oct. 9, and finished out of the trifecta for the only time in his 15-race career thus far when 10th at Del Mar. Removing blinkers for his 5-year-old bow in the GII Pan American S. Apr. 2 at Gulfstream, the Christophe Clement trainee scored an eye-catching two-length triumph, his sixth black-type conquest.

Second that day was Abaan (Will Take Charge), the only other horse in single digits on the morning line. Prior to that run, the Todd Pletcher pupil picked up back-to-back Gulfstream stakes victories in the two-mile H. Allen Jerkens S. and 12-furlong GIII W. L. McKnight S. before running fourth at 3-5 with a troubled trip in the GII Mac Diarmida S.

The post Yibir Returns to America in Man O’ War appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Gufo Returns Running In Pan American

Though he was the clear class of the seven horses signed on for Saturday's GII Pan American S. at Gulfstream Park, Otter Bend Stables' Gufo (Declaration of War) had a November layoff and some off form at the tail end of last season to overcome. But in the end, there was very little to worry about, as the fans on hand for the Curlin Florida Derby were treated to perhaps the most polished performance in the already-productive career of the 5-year-old, who took the 12-furlong test with a fair bit of authority.

Racing with blinkers off in the Pan Am, Gufo fell out of the gates as is his custom and was allowed to lob along near the tail of the field as longshot Tide of the Sea (English Channel) galloped them along at a solid-enough tempo for the distance. A path or two off the inside as they reached the halfway point in 1:14.40, Gufo always traveled well within the grasp of Joel Rosario and was handy enough three furlongs out, but with some traffic up ahead of him. Held together on the turn as chief market rivals Abaan (Will Take Charge) and Temple (Temple City) got the jump on him, Gufo was steered out and around the latter five deep into the lane, found further acceleration with a couple of Rosario reminders, grabbed Abaan a sixteenth of a mile from the finish and proved a much-the-best winner. Abaan, who gave the winner two pounds, easily held second ahead of Novo Sol (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Brz}), who took full advantage of a ground-saving trip throughout.

“It was perfect. He wasn't too far back,” said winning trainer Christophe Clement. “When he asked him to quicken on the outside, he was there for him. We were not thrilled with the blinkers in his last two races last year. Looking back at it, I probably should have [removed them] earlier, but that's OK. We live and learn.”

After turning in too-little, too-late efforts in the GI Man O'War S. and GI Manhattan S. last season, Gufo was equipped with blinkers for the first time and ran out a comfortable winner of the Grand Couturier S. last July. Given a savvy ride by Rosario in the GI Sword Dancer S. in August, the handsome chestnut proved a neck better than Ballydoyle's Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in August, but the season ended on a bit of a sour note, with a third in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational S. Oct. 9 ahead of a never-in-it 10th in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Clement indicated that Gufo would attempt to go one better in the 11-furlong Man O'War, a $700,000 event to be contested at Belmont Park Saturday, May 14.

Pedigree Notes:

One of 43 black-type and seven top-level scorers on three continents for his expatriated sire, Gufo is a half-brother to the versatile fan-favorite Hogy (Offlee Wild) as well as a yearling filly by Preservationist. Floy was most recently bred to another Danzig-line stallion in the form of Hard Spun.

Saturday, Gulfstream
PAN AMERICAN S. PRESENTED BY ROOD & RIDDLE-GII, $200,000, Gulfstream, 4-2, 4yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:27.28, fm.
1–GUFO, 122, h, 5, by Declaration of War
                1st Dam: Floy, by Petionville
                2nd Dam: Risen Miss, by Peteski
                3rd Dam: Eddie's Star, by Risen Star
O-Otter Bend Stables, LLC; B-John Little & Stephen Cainelli
(KY); T-Christophe Clement; J-Joel Rosario. $121,520.
Lifetime Record: MGISW, 15-8-2-4, $1,360,030. *1/2 to
Hogy (Offlee Wild), MGSW-US, SP-Can, $1,339,782. Werk
Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross
pedigree.
2–Abaan, 124, g, 5, Will Take Charge–Anchorage, by Tapit.
($280,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners
& Alex Daigneault; B-Rosilyn Polan (KY); T-Todd A Pletcher.
$39,200.
3–Novo Sol (Brz), 118, h, 5, Agnes Gold (Jpn)–Quebra-de-
Braco (Brz), by Wild Event. O-Daniel Alonso; B-Stud
Eternamente Rio (BRZ); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $19,600.
Margins: 2, 2 3/4, 2. Odds: 1.30, 2.30, 8.80.
Also Ran: Temple, Bakers Bay, Mid Day Image, Tide of the Sea.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Gufo Returns Running In Pan American appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post