gulfstream park | Horse Racing Free Tips

Four Claiming Crown Wins Net Paco Lopez Jockey Of The Week Title

Paco Lopez started the 2021-2022 Gulfstream Park Championship Meet in style with a five-win day on Saturday including four stakes races in the Claiming Crown Series. Lopez's achievements earned Jockey of the Week for Nov. 29 through Dec. 5. The honor, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

For the 10th consecutive year, Gulfstream Park hosted the Claiming Crown, a series of nine starter stakes races celebrating the blue-collar horses that are the back-bone of racetracks around the country.

Lopez was aboard Blue Steel for trainer Jeff Hiles in the Claiming Crown Iron Horse Kent Sterling Memorial to start the series. The pair took over the lead around the turn and kicked clear to win the race by a half-length in 1:44.61 for 1 1/16 miles.

Lopez also won the next race, his third on the card, the Claiming Crown Distaff Dash for trainer Jane Cibelli aboard Payntdembluesaway. Off as the favorite in the field of 12, Payntdembluesaway scored a four-length victory in :55.31 for the five furlong turf test.

Trainer Eddie Plesa, Jr. gave a leg up to Lopez on Miles Ahead in the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit, a seven furlong race on the dirt. Off as the favorite in the field of 10, Miles Ahead tracked the leaders outside and up the backstretch wearing down his rivals to pull clear by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:21.99.

The Claiming Crown Emerald was the last of the starter series. Riding for trainer Luis Carvajal, Jr., Lopez took Mid Day Image straight to the lead from the inside post, maintained a clear lead at the top of the stretch and went on to post a 1 1/4-length win in 1:39.82 for 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

“Not too bad a day,” said Lopez to the Gulfstream Park Publicity team. “We had five wins and a couple of seconds. My horses ran very well today.”

A multiple graded stakes winner and the 2008 Eclipse Award winner as leading apprentice, Lopez shares the Gulfstream Park track record with seven wins on a single day.

Lopez's weekly statistics were 35-8-6-3 and total purse earnings of $371,525.

Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Arnaldo Bocachica with 10 wins, Juan J. Hernandez who won the G1 Starlet, Sonny Leon also with 10 wins and Luis Saez who won the G1 Cigar Mile.

The post Four Claiming Crown Wins Net Paco Lopez Jockey Of The Week Title appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Jose Ortiz To Winter At Aqueduct; Javier Castellano Headed To Gulfstream After Holidays

A pair of New York-based jockeys have made their winter plans known to the Daily Racing Form this week.

Though he has traveled to South Florida for the past five years, jockey Jose Ortiz plans to stay at Aqueduct this winter. One reason for the change is that his oldest child is approaching the age for kindergarten, Ortiz explained, and another is the opportunity to contend for the leading rider title.

“When you go to Florida, you follow the good horses, but the everyday business is not there,” Ortiz told DRF. “I like to win, and that's one of the reasons I'm staying. I think I'll win more, and the purses are bigger and I can always fly to ride the good horses.”

Meanwhile, Javier Castellano had planned to stay in New York for the winter, but picked up new business and changed his mind. He will now head to Gulfstream after the Aqueduct meet goes on break on Dec. 19.

Sister Nell Gives Pletcher, Alvarado First Win Of Gulfstream’s Championship Meet

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher notched his first victory of the 2021-2022 Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., Sunday when JSM Equine LLC's Sister Nell captured her career debut under a perfectly executed ride by Junior Alvarado.

The 2-year-old daughter of Kitten's Joy scored a 14-1 upset victory after saving ground while rating off the early pace in the mile maiden special weight race on turf carded as Race 3. After cutting the corner into the stretch and caught behind a wall of horses in mid-stretch, Alvarado took advantage of room that opened up along the rail, and the homebred filly surged through the opening to prevail by a half-length.

Pletcher has won a record 18 Championship Meet training titles.

Sister Nell was also jockey Alvarado's first winner of the Championship Meet.

“He got a great trip, saving ground. When we turned for home, I was just hoping for a little bit of room, and when I found it, she gave me a very nice kick at the end,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado returned to South Florida last season to ride during the Championship Meet after spending several winters in New York, riding 53 winners to rank seventh in both victories and purses-won.

“I love it here. Even before getting here, it was getting into the 20s and 30s. It was already getting a little chilly there,” said Alvarado, who also scored aboard favored Strike Hard in Sunday's Race 9 feature. “Moving here and getting the great sunshine does make you ride better.”

The post Sister Nell Gives Pletcher, Alvarado First Win Of Gulfstream’s Championship Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Drain The Clock Breezes Ahead Of Return To Races Friday

Grade 1 winner Drain the Clock breezed a half-mile in :45.48 Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., producing the fastest of 53 workouts timed at the distance in preparation for a return to action Friday.

The 3-year-old son of Maclean's Music, who captured the G1 Woody Stephens on the June 5 Belmont Stakes undercard, has been on the sidelines since finishing fourth in the G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes August 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Sunday's breeze was the latest in a series of five workouts in preparation for his return in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance in Friday's Race 7 feature.

“He's had good preparation. We'll get him started in the allowance, and after that, we'll come up with a plan for where we'll go to next,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said.

Tyler Gaffalione has the mount on Drain the Clock, who will take on six rivals, including Todd Pletcher-trained Nocturnal, who has been idle since breaking his maiden and winning an optional claiming allowance back-to-back during last season's Championship Meet.

Drain the Clock has won three races in four starts at Gulfstream, including last season's G3 Swale. His only loss at Gulfstream came in a second-place finish in the two-turn G2 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes.

The post Drain The Clock Breezes Ahead Of Return To Races Friday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post