Gufo, Japan Meet Again In Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

During the latter half of his 4-year-old season, Otter Bend Stables' Gufo has displayed an affinity for 1 1/2-mile turf tests. On Saturday, Gufo will meet a cast of familiar rivals when striving for more 12-furlong success in the 44th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic over the Widener turf at Belmont Park.

The Hirsch, slated as Race 7, is part of a lucrative 11-race card that also features the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh [Race 5], a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Matron [Race 6] at six furlongs on turf for juvenile fillies. First post on Saturday is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Gufo, a last-out winner of the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course, has never finished off the board in a dozen starts sporting a ledger of 7-2-3 and lifetime earnings of $1,138,510.

The consistent Declaration of War chestnut will face a quality field which includes returning rival Japan, as well as previous Joe Hirsch Turf Classic victors Channel Maker [2018, 2020] and Arklow [2019].

Trained by Christophe Clement, Gufo earned a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure when fending off Japan by a neck in the Sword Dancer. The talented turf stayer raced along the rail through the early stages of the Sword Dancer, picking up ground past the second turn and into the backstretch. He was in command past the three-sixteenths and held off Japan's menacing outside rally.

Prior to the Sword Dancer, Gufo was a one-length winner of the 12-furlong Grand Couturier on July 5 at Belmont.

During his sophomore campaign last year, Gufo secured graded stakes triumphs in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Kent at Delaware Park and captured the 10-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational two starts later.

While stretching out to 1 ½ miles has paid dividends for Gufo, Clement said adding blinkers for the Grand Couturier score has been equally as beneficial.

“The blinkers made him a bit more manageable,” Clement said. “It's nice to have a horse that is so consistent at that level. We'll need some racing luck like always. He's run well in every Grade 1 in New York on turf this year and that's what it's all about. It's a Grade 1 so it will be a tough race by definition, but we'll be there.”

Joel Rosario, the pilot aboard Gufo in six of his 12 starts, will have the call from post 3.

[Story Continues Below]

Japan seeks to turn the tables on Gufo for trainer Aidan O'Brien who shipped Cape Blanco to the United States to take the 2011 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

Owned by Coolmore triumvirate Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith in partnership with Masaaki Matsushima, Japan gradually improved position throughout the Sword Dancer and attempted to collar Gufo in the final furlong coming up a nose short.

The 5-year-old son of Galileo was a two-time Group 1 winner in 2019, defeating three other Group 1 winners in the Juddmonte International in August 2019 at York. He captured the Group 1 Grand Prix De Paris in May 2019 at Longchamp.

Winless in five starts in 2020, Japan recaptured his winning form this season with a pair of Group 3 triumphs. In his seasonal bow, he won the Ormonde on May 6 at Chester, three starts ahead of a victory in the Meld on July 15 at Leopardstown.

“The turns at Saratoga didn't inconvenience him,” said O'Brien's travelling assistant T.J. Comerford. “He went around Chester in England which has pretty tight turns. He just probably didn't get the run of the race when he wanted. He came out of it well. He's going the right way. He's training well and Aidan is very happy with him. All he has to do is run like he did the last time and that gives him a good shot.”

Wayne Lordan ships in to ride from post 7.

A five-time graded stakes winning 7-year-old, Channel Maker captured both the Joe Hirsch and Sword Dancer last year ahead of a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf, which earned him Champion Turf Horse honors.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Channel Maker won both of his respective Joe Hirsch Turf Classics in wire-to-wire fashion garnering career best 108 Beyers.

After defeating a field of four Grade 1-winners by 4 ½ lengths in 2018, Channel Maker earned his second Joe Hirsch Turf Classic victory two years later, winning by 2 ¼ lengths under Manny Franco. He joined his sire English Channel amongst a compact group of horses to have won multiple runnings of the Joe Hirsch. A triumph this year would make Channel Maker the only horse to win three.

Channel Maker, one of five millionaires in the field, boasts the largest bankroll with earnings of $3,266,551. He is also the most seasoned amongst his competitors with a record of 41-7-6-5.

Franco will ride from post 6.

Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger and the Estate of Peter Coneway's Arklow, the 2019 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic winner, will vie to join Channel Maker and Val's Prince [1997, 99] as horses to win non-consecutive Joe Hirsch Turf Classics.

Trained by Brad Cox, the durable 7-year-old son of Arch secured his only Grade 1 victory when defeating Channel Maker by a half-length two years ago.

Sporting a ledger of 35-9-8-2, Arklow has won at least one graded stakes race every year since 2017. After rounding out his 6-year-old season with a win in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup in November at Del Mar, Arklow made his seasonal bow when coming from 10 lengths off the pace to win the Grade 3 Louisville on May 15 at Churchill Downs.

Arklow arrives off a late closing second in the Grade 3 Calumet Turf Cup on September 11 at Kentucky Downs, a race he had won in 2018 and 2020.

“He had a tough trip last out at Kentucky Downs but he ran a really good race,” Cox said. “He came out of the race in good shape and had two nice works on the turf at Belmont. He's made almost $3 million in his career and it would be exciting to win this race for the second time.”

Jose Lezcano picks up the mount from post 2.

In pursuit of his third Joe Hirsch victory, trainer Chad Brown will saddle Serve the King [post 1, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] and Rockemperor [post 4, Javier Castellano].

Peter Brant's Serve the King earned his first stakes victory last out in the restricted John's Call on August 25 at Saratoga, which he won a half-length. The lightly-raced 5-year-old son of Kingman sports a consistent record of 9-4-1-1.

Rockemperor, owned by Madaket Stable, Michael Dubb, Wonder Stable, Michael E. Kisber and Michael J. Caruso, was fourth in the Sword Dancer last out. The seven-time graded stakes-placed son of Holy Roman Emperor last found the winner's circle in a 10-furlong allowance optional claiming tilt on June 26 at Belmont. He will race with blinkers off on Saturday.

Completing the field is Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border who enters off a third in the Sword Dancer for trainer Mike Maker. Unplaced in the last two Joe Hirsch Turf Classics, the New York-bred 7-year-old secured graded stakes victories with back-to-back wins in the Grade 2 Bowling Green at Saratoga [2020-21].

Cross Border was bred in New York by Berkshire Stud and B.D. Gibbs. Luis Saez will ride from post 5.

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational is named in honor of the late journalist, the founding president of the National Turf Writers Association, and recipient of the Eclipse Award of Merit [1992]. The press box at Saratoga Race Course is named in honor of Hirsch.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Gufo, Japan Meet Again In Joe Hirsch Turf Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Gufo Records Final Breeze For G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

Otter Bend Stables' Gufo recorded his final piece of serious preparation for Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park, breezing a half-mile in 48.80 Sunday over the Belmont inner turf.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the 4-year-old chestnut son of Declaration of War seeks to keep an unbeaten record at 12 furlongs intact following victories in the Grand Couturier on July 5 at Belmont before winning the G1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer eight weeks later at Saratoga.

“He worked very well this morning,” Clement said. “It was a strong work and he finished up very nicely, so I'm excited for next week.”

Clement will seek a second Joe Hirsch Turf Classic win, previously saddling Winchester to victory in 2010. Multiple champion Gio Ponti was second in the 2009 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for Clement.

Also appearing on Sunday's work tab for Clement was dual graded stakes winner Mutamakina who completed a half-mile move in 49.20 seconds over the inner turf. Al Shiraa'aa Farm's daughter of Nathaniel captured the G2 Dance Smartly on Aug. 22 at Woodbine last out and will return to the Toronto oval for the G1 E.P. Taylor on Oct. 17.

Scheduled to accompany Mutamakina for the journey up north is stable mate La Dragontea, a winner of the G2 Canadian on Sept. 18 at Woodbine who also will target the E.P. Taylor.

Clement said he plans on saddling multiple contenders next weekend for the G3, $150,000 Matron, a six-furlong turf event for juvenile fillies. Possible contenders for the Clement barn include stakes-winner Derrynane, who captured the Woodbine Cares on Sept. 19, as well as maiden winners The Club and Gal In a Rush.

The post Gufo Records Final Breeze For G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Gufo Breezes In Preparation For Joe Hirsch Turf Classic At Belmont

Otter Bend Stables' Gufo breezed an easy half-mile in :52 flat over the Belmont Park inner turf Sunday in preparation for the $500,000 Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on October 9 at the Elmont, N.Y., track.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the son of Declaration of War was a last-out winner of the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Invitational on August 28 at Saratoga, where he fended off a stretch rally from the Aidan O'Brien-trained multiple Group 1-winner Japan.

“It was an easy work on his own on the turf,” Clement said. “We'll work him back on the turf next week to be a little more aggressive. He looked good.”

Never off the board in a dozen starts, Gufo commenced his 4-year-old campaign with a second-place finish beaten a nose in the Grade 1 Man o' War before rallying from 17 lengths off the pace to finish third beaten four lengths to Domestic Spending in the Grade 1 Manhattan.

Gufo, who captured the Grade 1 Belmont Derby and Grade 1 Hollywood Derby last year, regained his winning form when stretching out to 1 ½ miles under regular rider Joel Rosario for the Grand Couturier on July 5 at Belmont where he added blinkers for the first time.

Clement said Gufo has shown improvement when adding blinkers.

“He was a bit more aggressive than usual last time, but it all worked out,” Clement said. “I think it's always a question of pace. Wherever Joel is comfortable, I'm happy usually. Blinkers on gives him a little more cruising speed. Joel never had to hit him, and the horse was a bit more consistent in the stretch. He wasn't erratic like sometimes he can be. He looked better.”

Gufo will attempt to become the fourth horse in the past decade to sweep the Sword Dancer-Joe Hirsch double, joining Channel Maker [2020], Main Sequence [2014], and Point of Entry [2012].

On Saturday, Clement saddled Soldier Rising to a runner-up finish to Yibir in the Jockey Club Derby Invitational. The son of Frankel raced along the hedge in fourth down the backstretch with a ground-saving trip and launched his bid once finding racing room in upper stretch, finishing 2 ½ lengths behind Yibir.

He was second in his previous outing in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 7 at the Spa, where he was a rallying second to Irish invader State of Rest.

“He ran really well. He looked good and came back from his race in good shape,” Clement said. “He's a very nice horse. We just have to keep him sound. We'll run him maybe once or twice more, but I'm not sure where yet. Then we should have a very nice horse for next year.”

[Story Continues Below]

Clement shipped two-time allowance winner La Dragontea to Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, for a victory in the Grade 2 Canadian on Saturday. The Lope de Vega dark bay or brown filly displayed stalking tactics while under a strong hold by Rosario down the backstretch. Rosario did not coax his filly until mid-stretch, where she extended her advantage to a one-length score.

La Dragontea, owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Rebecca Hillen, captured her North American debut with a wire-to-wire score in a Belmont allowance at 1 ¼ miles before finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Robert Dick Memorial at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del. Prior to the Canadian, she defeated optional claiming company over a yielding Mellon turf at Saratoga.

“She's a nice filly,” Clement said. “She was a bit unlucky when I ran her in the stakes at Delaware as the turf was very soft that day. She won yesterday nicely. It gives you an idea of the level of racing at Belmont when you think she was in her conditions. She is an improving kind of a filly.”

The post Gufo Breezes In Preparation For Joe Hirsch Turf Classic At Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Gufo Brings Doctors Together On Ride Of Lifetime

After nearly three decades in the horse business, Dr. John Little, co-breeder of Grade 1-winning Breeders' Cup Turf candidate Gufo, knows one thing for sure: He's not in it for the money.

An anesthesiologist affiliated with Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Little studies pedigrees, conformation, race records, and stallion statistics to decompress from the daily demands of medicine. He has bred two millionaire runners from his Petionville mare Floy: Gufo and his half brother Hogy, a graded stakes-winning turf sprinter.

“That's what I do to get away from medicine,” said Little, a Texas native who as a youngster rode Quarter Horse races at bush tracks and later found success breeding Thoroughbreds on a small scale at his Central Kentucky farm. “This is my thing to distract me. It takes enough thought and I have to totally shift gears away from medicine to do this. People at the hospital ask me if it has been profitable looking back at the last 25 years. Financially, if you look at exactly the numbers…I would say no. I do medicine to make a living, and the only reason I even do horses is so I don't have to think about it.”

Little bred Gufo, most recently winner of the G1 Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes, a Breeders' Cup Win & You're In event, on turf Aug. 28 at Saratoga, in partnership with close friend, Dr. Stephen Cainelli, who is retired from an obstetrics practice in Texas and races the Declaration of War colt as the only runner for his Otter Bend Stable.

Little and Cainelli met years ago when practicing medicine in San Angelo, Texas. Little had a farm in Stephenville, but after many vacation trips to Kentucky with his horses shifted permanently to the Bluegrass in 2004 and established Cave Brook Farm in Keene, near Lexington.

Cainelli's formal introduction to the sport came in 2016 when he and Little decided to breed Floy in a foal-share agreement. For years, however, Cainelli had been a naysayer when Little talked horses, but he later became interested and then a fan eager to participate on the ownership level.

“We practiced medicine together and played softball together; when our third child was born he was a boy and (Cainelli) asked to be his godfather,” Little said. “He told me how stupid the horse business was for the last 30 years and finally he said about four years ago: 'I don't have anything fun to do right now and I need a reason to come visit you. …Surely by now you've got some good horses after all these years.'

“Steve's involved in a bank that currently sells on the Dow (Jones Industrial Average); he started it,” Little continued. “He's involved in the Washington Nationals baseball team. And I knew he wasn't talking about a horse to try to win an allowance race at Mountaineer. He said 'Do you have any good horses?' So, I told him about my best horse on the farm; it was my mare that produced Hogy.”

Little called upon all his instincts and insights developed over many years researching Thoroughbreds to select young War Front stallion Declaration of War, then standing at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, and Cainelli put up the stud fee, the resulting 2017 foal was Gufo, from the stallion's second crop.

Following the Sword Dancer, Clement indicated the colt's next start would be the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Oct. 9 at Belmont Park, also going about 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Gufo has shown promise form the time he was a youngster. Little sent him yearling to the late Kenny Lejeune at Oak Ridge Training Center in Morriston, Florida. Lejeune developed a number of good runners, including G1 winners Divine Park, Mo Forza, and Peace Rules. He also was the regular rider of Racing Hall of Fame member and champion sprinter Precisionist.

Gufo at ten months old

At one time Lejeune rode Quarter Horses in Texas for Little's brother and father, and Little maintained the relationship when he started breaking horses down in Florida 25 years ago.

“He had been really accurate in assessing the ones that were bad and the good ones,” said Little, who previously had sent Lejeune his homebred Schoolyard Dreams, a graded stakes-placed runner and former 2003 Preakness starter. “[Lejeune] was a big part of my whole deal.”

Lejeune died of cancer at age 60 in December 2020.

“Kenny loved [Gufo] and after about three months he said: 'He's my best horse. I don't know how good, but he's good. So [Gufo] had been there four or five months and I called Christophe Clement. Steve Cainelli is from New Jersey right on the New York City border. He's got family in New Jersey and New York and I knew he would enjoy racing in New York. And Clement likes turf horses.”

Clement consented to train Gufo after sending his son Miguel to Florida to see the colt, then two, and get Lejeune's assessment. He was familiar with Hogy, having previously sent runners to compete against him. After his own judgment when the colt joined his New York stable, Clement wanted to give Gufo time off to grow and mature.

“I didn't realize how patient he was,” Little said of Clement. “I didn't realize how appropriately caretaking of horses he was. He told me the horse was growing really fast and he would do good to have a few months off.”

At that point, Little decided Cainelli could take sole ownership of Gufo, who had yet to start. Little first suspected there could be a problem with colt that might cost him money but Cainelli reminded him of why Clement was chosen to train in the first place.

Cainelli told him, “I don't care about the money part of this. I don't know [much] about the horse business but the money part doesn't matter. If you'll be adviser to me I'll take care of the money part.'”

Co-breeders Dr. John Little, left, with Dr. Stephen Cainelli of Otter Bend Stable

Little then mentored and advised Cainelli through his initial first steps in ownership and then took a back seat before the colt made his debut at two in November 2019. The Sword Dancer was his second top-level win following the 2020 G1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes at three. He has never failed to finish in the top three in 12 career starts, winning seven times while bankrolling $1,138,510.

Little bought Gufo's grandam, four-time winner and $114,865-earner Risen Miss, a 6-year-old daughter of Peteski, for just $4,500 after she caught his eye at the 2003 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October mixed sale.

The mare was not pregnant and had been turned out with some cattle in Nebraska. Her first foal was Gufo's dam, Floy, who made one start at Keeneland for Little before a torn suspensory ligament curtailed her racing career.

“She was beautiful; she was big and strong like Gufo,” Little said of Risen Miss. “Floy is a little bit smaller and more feminine.”

Little raised Gufo on his farm, “in my backyard. He was just a big good-looking colt.”

Floy has had some hard luck in her broodmare career, losing several foals after producing Hogy, a son of Offlee Wild sold by Little's Cave Brook Farm for $16,000 at the 2010 Keeneland January Horses Of All Ages sale. His racing career spanned nine seasons, 55 starts, and a 19-13-7 record, including graded stakes wins and $1,339,782 in earnings. A fan favorite, he eventually joined Old Friends Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Ky., when retired in 2019 but a paddock accident led to the gelding's death at age 12 in August.

Other horses Little has been connected with include Willy Beamin, who he bought for $3,000 at the 2010 Keeneland January sale then sold him later that year at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale for $16,000. He went on to win 2012 G1 King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga.

Little is currently excited about Floy's homebred 3-year-old Tourist filly Sisi, who is expected to make her second start at the current Belmont Park meet. She breezed a half mile in :47.77 September 12, fifth fastest of 73 at the distance.

[Story Continues Below]

Floy is in foal to Hard Spun for 2022.

Little sells about three foals each year and keeps several mares, including Floy, on his farm, situated along South Elkhorn Creek in Jessamine County. His horses are nourished by well water from Cave Spring. Nearby is the historic Keene Springs Hotel, which housed many Lexingtonians fleeing cholera epidemics in the 1830s and 1840s in the hopes the area's medicinal white sulphur spring water would fortify their health or cure their ills.

Little has been married 31 years to his wife, Laurie, who handles all the farm business. His brother, Bill Little, also assists on the farm. The couple have three adult children: Leanne, who is chief resident of ophthalmology at Cleveland Clinic, Jennifer, who operates Centered Holistic Health studio in Lexington, and Daniel, a talented baseball player who attends Auburn University studying aerospace engineering.

Little credits his horse business for instilling a strong work ethic in his children. He said that's the profit he's gained in it, not financial reward.

“They know that horses don't care if it's Sunday or Christmas; they still have to eat and (their stalls need to be cleaned). I've got some hardworking kids.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Gufo Brings Doctors Together On Ride Of Lifetime appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights