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Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Four Tracks, Two Turf Races, 12-Percent Takeout

Over the course of approximately one hour, Friday's Stronach 5 will feature races from Laurel Park, Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park and Golden Gate Fields, a low 12-percent takeout, full fields, and two turf races.

The action begins at 4:28 ET.

Laurel's ninth race, a $10,000 claimer at seven furlongs, starts the Stronach 5. The wide-open field of 14 fillies and mares includes Bellswillberinging from the barn of Gary Contessa. The daughter of Mosler drops in class. Icy Harbor, part of a Dove Houghton-trained entry, shortens in distance after finishing ninth on a muddy track. His previous race over a fast track produced a third-place finish. El Bochinche enters off a second-place finish for trainer John Robb.

The Stronach 5 heads west for the second leg, Santa Anita's third race. The 1 1/8-mile turf event for 4-year-olds and up for $25,0000 claimers has an 8-5 favorite in Keystone Field. The Richard Mandella-trained gelding drops in class after finishing fourth, beaten two lengths, in allowance conditions at Del Mar. The second-place finisher in that race came back to win under allowance conditions. Stage Ready goes out second off a $40,000 claim for trainer Jeff Mullins. John Velazquez is named to ride. Graded stakes winner Cleopatra's Strike, who has five seconds at the distance in seven starts, seeks his first win since the 2019 John Henry Turf (G2).

Gulfstream's ninth race, a $62,500 allowance optional claimer at 6 ½ furlongs for 4-year-olds and up, drew a field of nine including Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq, who will make his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher in a year. The Into Mischief colt won the Bourbon (G2) on the turf as a juvenile before going to the sidelines after winning the Mucho Macho Man in his only start as a 3-year-old. Luis Saez has the call. Bank On Shea will make his first start at Gulfstream after winning restricted races for New York breds at two and four. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides for Carlos David.

Golden Gate's third race will serve as the fourth leg of the Stronach 5. The six-furlong claiming event for 4-year-olds and up drew a field of seven with a 2-1 favorite in Mohawk King, an Irish-bred who drops in class and gets blinkers for trainer Simon Callaghan. Mohawk King finished fifth in his last start behind Freeport Joe, who has won two consecutive races including the Berkeley Handicap (G3). Mohawk King will likely be joined on the lead or as part of the pace by Knockout Bert, who has finished in the money in seven of nine starts at Golden Gate. Foster Boi goes for his fifth win at Golden Gate in eight starts.

Gulfstream's 10th race concludes the Stronach 5. The one-mile turf event, a maiden optional claimer for 4-year-olds and up, has a 5-2 favorite in Eagle Chief, who breaks from the rail after being claimed by Paradise Farms Corp and trainer Mike Maker for $50,000 at Del Mar in November. Eagle Chief, a son of Into Mischief, is winless in 11 starts. Tyler Gaffalione rides. Golden Indy, fifth in his debut Dec. 16 for trainer Jonathan Thomas, returns with Paco Lopez in the saddle.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One –Laurel Race 9: (14 entries, 7 furlongs) 4:28 ET, 1:28 PT
Leg Two –Santa Anita Race 3: (9 entries, 1 1/8-mile turf) 4:35 ET, 1:35 PT
Leg Three – Gulfstream Race 9: (9 entries, 6 ½ furlongs) 4:42 ET, 1:42 PT
Leg Four – Golden Gate Race 3: (10 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:50 ET, 1:50 PT
Leg Five –Gulfstream Race 10: (9 entries, 1 mile turf) 5:14 ET, 2:14 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Four Tracks, Two Turf Races, 12-Percent Takeout appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Edgard Zayas On Injury Rehabilitation And Coming Back ‘Stronger Than Ever’

Horse racing is an incredibly dangerous sport to pursue as a professional athlete, and most jockeys can tell you a story or two about injuries that have forced them to watch from the sidelines until they were cleared to race. Multiple graded stakes-winning jockey Edgard Zayas is no exception, having sustained multiple injuries that have put him on the sidelines through the years.

The leading rider of Gulfstream Park's 2021 Fall Meet and Spring/Summer meet is a native of Puerto Rico as well as a former student of the Escuela Vocacional Hípica jockey school there. He moved to South Florida to pursue a career in racing in 2012. Over the span of his decade-long career, Zayas has won 1,930 races and $55,080,460 in earnings. He is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and is likely to not make another start until the spring.

Zayas discussed his stellar year of racing accomplishments, as well as his hopes for the future following rehabilitation from his current injury.

Question: How did you get into horse racing?

Edgard Zayas: “I used to live close to a racetrack in Puerto Rico. I used to go to that racetrack all the time with my grandfather and I really loved it. I was always into sports, but I got to a point where I was 14 or 15 years old and I was a little too small to play any sports so I decided that I really wanted to try to be a jockey. I was 17 years old when I decided to join the jockey school in Puerto Rico. It was amazing. I think they have a really good system. They teach us everything from treating a horse to riding a horse. It's awesome because at that point I had never really been involved with horses so I didn't know how to work with horses and groom them and all that. At the jockey school they teach you everything from grooming a horse and doing stalls to riding them.”

Q: How did it feel to have such a good year and bring home a leading rider title from Gulfstream after having two years in a row interfered with by injuries?

E: “It felt great. This year I was still kind of dealing with a little injury in my shoulder and I decided to get surgery because it was bugging me all year, but luckily I have support from big trainers down here in South Florida. I had a great year that would've carried on to the winter so it was a tough decision to do it [get shoulder surgery].”

Q: What does the rehabilitation process for your shoulder injury consist of?

E: “Right now I'm in a sling for four weeks. After that I'll start some therapies and whenever I get my motion and my muscles back I can start galloping horses in the morning again and then decide from there. I'm looking at probably three or four months.”

Q: Do the areas that you injured remain vulnerable to potential arthritis or re-injury now? If so, what kind of special care or precautions do you have to take now that you didn't before?

E: “Yeah absolutely. The more injuries I get, I have to take care of myself more. I'm young, but I'll start getting older little by little. There's things I like to do outside of horse racing like I used to play basketball and stuff like that, but those are things that I now have to compromise for horse racing. I have to concentrate on what I do to not get re-injured.”

Q: Did you find that having to take that much time off from racing had any impact on your mental health?

E: “Absolutely, and I've been doing really good every time I've gotten an injury, but it's really tough mentally. Hopefully I get a couple years of being healthy. That's all I can ask for.”

Q: Is it difficult to get momentum back with trainers after time away due to injuries?

E: “Luckily I've always got support when I come back and I'm able to get the ball rolling quick. Hopefully this time will be the same way. I'm going to try to come back stronger than ever, and finally I can ride confidently because this whole year I had that shoulder problem that was really bugging me. Hopefully when I come back I can come back one hundred percent and get the support and get the ball rolling for a better year.”

Q: Who is one other jockey that you look up to the most?

E: “Johnny V absolutely. Inside he's the best and outside he's the best.”

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Owner Hits Jackpot With First Horse

The sport is not supposed to be that easy, even if some people make it look that way sometimes.

Pat Kearney is 83, admits he doesn't know much about racing, has a fairly modest budget and had never owned a horse when he showed up last year at the OBS April 2-year-old sale. Fast forward some eight months later and Kearney is the owner of Kathleen O. (Upstart), one of the more promising 3-year-old fillies in racing right now. Making her second career start Saturday at Gulfstream, Kathleen O. won the Cash Run S. by 8 1/2 lengths in an impressive effort despite hesitating at the start. The victory came after she broke her maiden in her debut in November at Aqueduct.

“It has been an amazing, exciting, energizing experience,” said Kearney, who races under the name of Winngate Stables.

Prior to getting involved in ownership. Kearney was a casual racing fan who started going to the track at Arlington Park with his father as a child.

“I'm not a good handicapper,” he said. “I don't know much about breeding or pedigrees. What I did was take my $50, spend a day at the track and make some bets. It's good entertainment. I always really liked the horses.”

Kearney, who is retired after working in the securities industry in Chicago and as a lawyer, and Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey have known each other for about 20 years and often play golf together. Somewhat out of the blue, Kearney one day asked McGaughey what he thought about his buying some horses.

“I talked to Shug and I asked him if he would work with me and buy some horses,” Kearney said. “I asked him what to do and he said I should buy two horses, a filly and a colt, get them at auction and buy them at a 2-year-old sale. He explained the costs and explained that you don't get into this sport to make money but for the satisfaction and the fun of the game.

“I wanted to find something I was interested in that I could do and didn't have to make a huge commitment. Not so much financially, but more so time and effort. I didn't want to have a lot of obligations.”

Having gotten off to a successful start in the game, Kearney only wishes he started earlier.

“I don't know why I didn't do it earlier,” he said. “About a year ago I just decided I wanted to get involved in something new. Do I wish I did it 10 years earlier? Absolutely. It had just never come up. The one question I had was whether I was too old to get started in the business. Fortunately, I am in good health.”

Kearney bought Kathleen O. for $275,000. He named the filly after his wife, whose maiden name is Kathleen O'Boyle. His other purchase, Cloudy (Noble Mission {GB)}, was bought three days later at the same sale for $130,000. He is winless in two starts.

Buying horses at the sales is somewhat new territory for McGaughey, whose longtime main client, the Phipps family, races primarily homebreds.

“I enjoy going to the sales,” McGaughey said. “I worked the yearling sales pretty good last fall and we bought some nice yearlings. We also looked at some 2-year-olds last winter. It's been fun and interesting.”

It was apparent early on that McGaughey had picked out a filly with talent. Sent off at 3-1 in her first start in her debut, Kathleen O. was next to last and 6 1/2 lengths behind with a furlong remaining, but still found a way to get up in time to win by a head.

“I think we've got a lot to look forward to,” McGaughey said after the Cash Run. “I'm very pleased with the way she's come along and the way she ran today, and her maturity level. I was just saying to [my wife] Alison, think of what she's going to look like in a year from now. She's always been tall and she's still filling out.”

He may still be learning about the sport, but Kearney knows enough to know that the GI Kentucky Oaks could be part of the filly's future.

“I know that she's a very talented horse and I know there is a race called the Kentucky Oaks, but I have no idea if she will qualify for that or not,” Kearney said. “So far, it's been like hitting the lottery. I'm flabbergasted.”

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Sunday’s Insights: Expensive, Purple Pedigrees Debut in the New Year

1st-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo, f, 7 1/2fT, 12:30 p.m. ET
As two of the most expensive auction purchases on the entire card, newly turned 3-year-old fillies SIEMPRE ELEGANTE (American Pharoah) and AMERICAN HEROINE (War Front) will be turning heads for more reasons than one. The former clicked through her paces at the 2021 OBS March sale (:21 1/5) well, impressing owner Sean Flanagan enough to put down a healthy $550,000 for her; one of a six-way tie for fourth most expensive of the sale. While the first dam is devoid of black-type for now, it's the second dam which catches the eye: MGSW Woodlander (Forestry), SW Admiral Alex (Afleet Alex), MGSW Azar (Scat Daddy), and MGSW Coal Front (Stay Thirsty) lead a top cast in the female line. She'll go to post for Flanagan Racing and trainer John Kimmel.

The hammer dropped at $1.05 million for American Heroine at the 2020 Keeneland September sale, one of five big tickets for her dam Chatham (Maria's Mon), including the South Korean-bound full-brother and European champion 2-year-old Air Force Blue. This is also the family of champion 2-year-old filly Flanders (Seeking the Gold), and her Seattle Slew champion 3-year-old Surfside. Breeder Stone Farm and Augustin Stable partner up with Christophe Clement at the helm. TJCIS PPs

10th-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo, 7 1/2fT, 5:14 p.m. ET
Phipps Stable sends out a smartly bred colt to debut here in GRAND CAY (Uncle Mo), a son of MGSW Abaco (Giant's Causeway), earner of over $780,000 and second in the GI Flower Bowl S. at Belmont. She's a fourth-generation graded stakes winner in a line starting with champion Relaxing, the dam of Easy Goer (Alydar). On the far outside of the field will break Field Marshal (War Front), another with a purple catalog page. This is the second foal out of MGSW Sentiero Italia (Medaglia d'Oro), the first being half-brother and GISP Santin (Distorted Humor). This Godolphin homebred son of War Front has been working steadily and will be unveiled under the tutelage of Bill Mott. TCJIS PPs

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