Hello Hot Rod Chasing Preakness Berth In Saturday’s Federico Tesio

It will be more than just a homecoming when stakes winner Hello Hot Rod returns to Maryland for only his second start of the year in Saturday's $125,000 Federico Tesio at Pimlico Race Course.

The Maryland-bred son of Mosler comes in off three consecutive victories, but has gone unraced since Jan. 31. He will be making his debut in the colors of owner George Sharp, who purchased Hello Hot Rod for $335,000 at auction in February from previous co-owner and trainer Brittany Russell. Among his rivals will be former stablemate Maythehorsebwithu. And, there is a Triple Crown berth on the line.

“We know he gets along well there,” trainer Shawn Davis said. “He's had several thoughts and hopes but the way he's trained and the way he's worked up to it, this is the first time I thought he'd been ready for any race since we've had him. I think he'll be coming in there pretty tough.”

The 40th running of the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio serves to headline a Spring Stakes Spectacular program of six stakes worth $650,000 in purses. For the sixth straight year, it will serve as a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15 at Pimlico.

Named for the noted Italian breeder, owner and trainer whose homebreds Nearco and Ribot dominate Thoroughbred bloodlines around the world, the Tesio debuted at Pimlico in 1981 and stayed every year but two through 2015. Laurel Park hosted the Tesio in 1987 and 1989 and each year since 2016.

Hello Hot Rod, a younger half-brother to multiple stakes-winning filly Hello Beautiful out of the mare Hello Now, made each of his first three starts at Laurel. He lost his debut in a waiver maiden claimer last October by a neck before back-to-back wins in maiden and allowance company – the latter going a mile – by a combined 6 ½ lengths.

Nine days following a victory in the seven-furlong Jimmy Winkfield at Aqueduct, Hello Hot Rod was sold at Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky February mixed sale for more than 30 times the $10,000 that Russell and Dark Horse Farm paid for him as a yearling.

Various circumstances kept Hello Hot Rod from returning to the races until now, but he has a string of six steady works since March 9 in Kentucky at both Keeneland and The Thoroughbred Center, where his most recent drill of four furlongs in 47.60 seconds came April 17, fifth-fastest of 49 horses.

“He's trained really well. Because of the ice storms and sale and different things we had some setbacks with him, but nothing serious,” Davis said. “The horse, his last couple works he's done really well in them and he'll be ready for the Tesio.”

Hello Hot Rod was already Triple Crown-nominated when he was purchased, and Davis said the Preakness bid did play a part both in the sale and choosing the Tesio, which will be his first attempt around two turns.

“That does factor in. We'll just have to see how he does and how he comes out of the race and everything,” Davis said. “What I liked about the horse since we got him is when you look at his form and everything, he'd never been trained really hard and he looked like he had quite a bit of ability. At this point to us as we've been working with him, he seems like he's got a lot of class. We know that he's done well so far and we're hoping that he's got the class he needs to go forward.”

Feargal Lynch is named to ride Hello Hot Rod from Post 5 in a field of eight.

Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Stables' Maythehorsebwithu was among nine Triple Crown nominees at the late March 29 deadline. He will be making his ninth start, fourth straight in stakes and fifth overall in the Tesio. He has progressively gone from 5 ½ furlongs in his Delaware Park debut last summer to 1 1/16 miles in the March 13 Private Terms at Laurel, his two-turn debut, where ran second by a half-length to Shackled Love.

“There's a little bit more of a run to the first turn over here, so you just hope that he gets a good spot and settles into that first turn and can just get comfortable,” Russell said. “Hopefully he just keeps running like he has.”

A dominant front-running winner of the one-mile Miracle Wood by four lengths Feb. 20 at Laurel, Maythehorsebwithu has been second in his other two stakes attempts including a neck loss to multiple stakes winner Kenny Had a Notion in Laurel's seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 16.

Maythehorsebwithu had an easy five-furlong breeze in 1:01.80 Sunday at Pimlico, where he has joined Russell's on-track string. Her husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, gets the return call from far outside Post 8.

“He had an easy day [Monday] because he worked on Sunday and he came out [Tuesday] morning and had his back all up and he was playing around and had lots of energy. It's just exciting to see him kind of touting himself like that again,” Russell said. “He doesn't really seem like he cares that he's at Pimlico and all that. He's been a lot of fun thus far, so you hope that he just keeps stepping forward.”

This year's early Triple Crown nominations opened Jan. 11 at a cost of $600, due by Jan. 23. The second and final deadline in late March came at a cost of $6,000.

“We felt this horse would be more of a sprinter type and the longer we've had him and the more we've got to know him and race him, we've been just delighted with the results,” Russell said. “I love our horse. I feel good about the position we're in regardless, so I'm just excited to have our guy to walk over.”

Also a late Triple Crown nomination was Phillip Ward's Tiz Mandate, whose lone victory came in his unveiling last Nov. 22 at Laurel, a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint he won by a neck. He ran fifth in a strong edition of the Heft Stakes Dec. 26 that included No Cents, Kenny Had a Notion and Singlino to cap his juvenile year.

Tiz Mandate opened 2021 running fourth in the Spectacular Bid, beaten 3 ¼ lengths, then rallied to be second behind Maythehorsebwithu in the Miracle Wood. In both starts, the Strong Mandate ridgling got away slowly, something trainer Damon Dilodovico hopes to remedy with the addition of blinkers for the Tesio.

“We're hopeful that will help him out getting away from the gate,” he said. “He was primed for a big effort last time. Obviously your heart just sinks when you spot decent horses as many lengths as he spotted them. But I think it was just all about his focus. It was non-existent that day. We're hoping that the blinkers will have him more focused.”

Jevian Toledo will be up for the third straight race on Tiz Mandate, who has yet to try two turns, breaking from Post 2. They breezed a half-mile together in 50.60 seconds April 19 at Pimlico with Laurel's main track currently closed to workers during evaluation and renovation.

“He just does not seem to get tired. He just keeps looking for more. Once you start running against some of these horses, maybe that'll change,” Dilodovico said. “The way he's coming into this race is not the fairest way to bring him into it, but we still have confidence in him. So, we'll see what happens.”

ZWP Stable, Inc. and Non Stop Stable's Shackled Love is entered for a shot in the Tesio. The gelded son of Preakness winner Shackleford had a maiden win and two seconds among his first five starts before stepping up to stakes company in the Private Terms. He pressed pacesetting even-money favorite Maythehorsebwithu from the gate, took a narrow lead in mid-stretch and dug in to the wire for a 21-1 upset.

“It's amazing how things sometimes work out,” trainer Gary Capuano said. “We stuck him in and looked at the race. His numbers fit with the race and he's been improving, so it was worth taking a shot. He had a good post position, the whole thing. It looked like he could be competitive in there if he ran his race.”

Apprentice Charlie Marquez climbs back aboard from Post 7.

Completing the field are Excellorator, Zertz and Royal Number, respectively third, fifth and sixth in the Private Terms; and The Reds, exiting a fifth in the one-mile Gotham (G3) March 5 at Aqueduct for New York-based trainer John Kimmel.

The post Hello Hot Rod Chasing Preakness Berth In Saturday’s Federico Tesio appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Federico Tesio, A ‘Win And In’ Race For Preakness, Returning To Pimlico

For the first time since 2015, Maryland's local audition for the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) in Baltimore, Md., will provide horses with an opportunity to prep over the same legendary Pimlico Race Course main track that serves as home for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

The $125,000 Federico Tesio headlines seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program Saturday, April 24, originally scheduled to be run at Laurel Park. With the ongoing evaluation of Laurel's main track, live racing has been shifted to Pimlico effective Thursday, April 22.

Laurel's spring meet, delayed seven days to an April 8 opening amid an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) quarantine, was scheduled to run through May 2. The Preakness Meet at Pimlico is scheduled for Thursdays through Sundays through May 31, with no live racing Sunday, May 16, or Thursday, May 27, and a special Memorial Day holiday program Monday, May 31.

The 1 1/8-mile Tesio – named for the noted Italian breeder, owner and trainer whose homebreds Nearco and Ribot dominate Thoroughbred bloodlines around the world – debuted at Pimlico in 1981 and stayed every year but two through 2015. Laurel Park hosted the Tesio in 1987 and 1989 and each year since 2016.

For the sixth straight year, the Tesio will serve as a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes Saturday, May 15. Among the horses under consideration are Grade 2 winner Brooklyn Strong, Grade 3-placed Tarantino, stakes winners Hello Hot Rod and Maythehorsebwithu, and stakes-placed Tiz Mandate.

All five horses are Triple Crown nominated, with Laurel Park-based Maythehorsebwithu and Tiz Mandate's eligibility coming at the late March 29 deadline. Shackled Love, another Laurel horse that beat Maythehorsebwithu in the March 13 Private Terms, is also being pointed to the Tesio.

Laurel-based trainer Lacey Gaudet was an assistant to her late father when Eddie Gaudet won the 2011 Tesio at Pimlico with Maryland-bred Concealed Identity, owned by his wife, Lacey's mother Linda, along with Morris Bailey. Sheldon Russell, still part of Maryland's jockey colony, was the rider.

The Tesio was actually the second straight win at Pimlico for Concealed Identity, a two-length triumph over Ruler On Ice, who would go on to capture the Belmont Stakes (G1). It would be the only Preakness appearance for Eddie Gaudet, patriarch of one of Maryland's best-known and respected racing families.

“I remember my mom and I discussing, 'OK, this is our goal. If he can win going two turns, and then win the Tesio, we'll go to the Preakness. It was the local prep and it we decided that if we won it, we'd go,” Lacey Gaudet said. “It was fairly cool. There was a lot of personal sentiment at the time. Sheldon had rode him for us and if you watch the replay when he comes past where we stand in the regular winner's circle at the wire, Sheldon kind of pointed over at us.

“He won convincingly,” she added. “Sheldon pointed at us as he crossed the wire for the Tesio because it was like, 'OK, guys. We get to have fun now.' It was really cool and it definitely gave us a confidence booster that he won over the racetrack. He was essentially the only horse going into the Preakness winning two in a row and at the track. It was exciting.”

Serving as the Tesio's co-headliner on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program is the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' qualifier for 3-year-old fillies to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday, May 14 at Pimlico. Each of the first four Weber City Miss winners since its 2016 debut have gone on to run in the Black-Eyed Susan including Lights of Medina, second by a head in 2017. Grand Cru Classe did not race in last year's Black-Eyed Susan.

Spring Stakes Spectacular includes a pair of $100,0000 dirt sprints, Frank Y. Whiteley for 3-year-olds and up and Primonetta for fillies and mares 3 and older. With the change in venue, the Whiteley has been shortened from seven to six furlongs, same as the Primonetta.

Also scheduled are the first three turf stakes of the year – the $100,000 Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Dahlia for females 3 and older, both at a mile, and $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up, carded for 5 ½ furlongs at Laurel but to be contested at five furlongs at Pimlico.

The Preakness highlights a program of 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million Saturday, May 15 that includes the 120th edition of the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) for 3-year-olds and up on turf, Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country, debuting in 1870.

Other graded-stakes on the Preakness undercard are the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, $150,000 Gallorette (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, and $100,000 Arabian Derby (G1) for Arabian 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

A total of six stakes, four graded, worth $1 million in purses help comprise the May 14 Black-Eyed Susan Day card, including the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles, $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs, and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles.

The post Federico Tesio, A ‘Win And In’ Race For Preakness, Returning To Pimlico appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Nominations Released For Good Samaritan Day Stakes Program At Laurel

Stakes winners and former stablemates Maythehorsebwithu and Hello Hot Rod top the list of 19 3-year-olds nominated to the $100,000 Private Terms Saturday, March 13, at Laurel Park in Maryland

The Private Terms, contested at about 1 1/16 miles, and $100,000 Beyond the Wire for 3-year-old fillies going one mile are the co-headliners on a Good Samaritan Day program featuring five stakes worth $450,000 in purses.

Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Stables' Maythehorsebwithu avenged a neck loss to Kenny Had a Notion in the Jan. 16 Spectacular Bid with a front-running four-length triumph in the one-mile Miracle Wood Feb. 20, a race where Kenny Had a Notion ran third. Trained by Brittany Russell, the son of Grade 1 winner Bullsbay was second in the First State Dash at 2.

Russell also trained and co-owned Hello Hot Rod before the Mosler colt was purchased by George Sharp for $335,000 at Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky mixed sale Feb. 9 and moved to trainer Shawn Davis, based at Turf Paradise in Phoenix. Hello Hot Rod has won three straight races including the seven-furlong Jimmy Winkfield Jan. 31 at Aqueduct.

Pocket 3's Racing's Shackqueenking, by Preakness (G1) winner Shackleford, already owns two wins at 1 1/16 miles, breaking his maiden Nov. 28 and capturing the Howard County Dec. 26, both at Laurel, for local trainer Gary Capuano. He ran eighth in the 1 1/8-mile Withers (G3) last out Feb. 6.

Another nominee exiting the Withers, where he finished fifth, is E.V. Racing Stable's Eagle Orb. The son of Florida Derby (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Orb trained by Rudy Rodriguez won the Notebook against New York-breds in his juvenile finale before opening 2021 running second in the Jerome prior to the Withers.

Ten horses were nominated to the Private Terms off last-out wins, including the pair of Sainthood and Unbridled Honor, trained by Hall of Fame trainer nominee Todd Pletcher; and Zertz, a front-running 11 ¼-length allowance winner Feb. 17 at Penn National.

Lucky 7 Stables' six-time stakes winner Street Lute and Team Gaudet and Five Hellions Farm's Fraudulent Charge, second to Street Lute in back-to-back stakes, are among 27 horses nominated to the Beyond the Wire. Street Lute is on a five-race win streak, all in stakes, but has never raced beyond seven furlongs for trainer Jerry Robb.

Fraudulent Charge has raced three times, all at seven furlongs, breaking her maiden first time out and rallying to get within a nose of Street Lute in the Gin Talking Dec. 26 at Laurel. Most recently, she came with a wide run but fell a length short of Street Lute in the Feb. 20 Wide Country.

BB Horses' Miss Leslie, second in the six-furlong Xtra Heat to Street Lute Jan. 16 and sixth in the Wide Country, stretched out to win the 1 1/16-mile Anne Arundel County Dec. 26 in her juvenile finale for Maryland's four-time defending training champion Claudio Gonzalez. Country Life Farm's Moonsafe was nominated off a 15 ¼-length maiden score Feb. 27 at Laurel.

Pletcher nominated Shadwell Stable's homebred Zaajel, undefeated in two career starts. The daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense broke her maiden by 7 ¼ lengths Dec. 20 and debuted at 3 winning the Forward Gal (G3) Jan. 30, both going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Tom Amoss, a multiple Grade 1 winner of more than 3,800 races, nominated four horses including My Trusty Cat winner Littlestitious and Save, unbeaten in two starts.

Also prominent among nominees are Buckey's Charm, second in the Anne Arundel County and fourth in the Wide Country; last-out winners Dollar Mountain, Hybrid Eclipse, Into Vanishing, Promise the World, Proper Attire, Slumber Party and Song of Innocence.

The $100,000 Harrison E. Johnson for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles attracted 24 nominations including multiple stakes winners Alwaysmining, Cordmaker and Forewarned; Grade 2 winner Shotski; Tattooed, winner of the Jan. 16 Jennings at Laurel and second in the General George (G3) Feb. 20; 2020 Fire Plug winner Honor the Fleet and Galerio, second in the Jennings and Feb. 20 John B. Campbell.

Older Maryland-bred/sired sprinters will go six furlongs in the $75,000 Not For Love featuring graded-stakes winners Laki and Still Having Fun, and Whereshetoldmetogo, a back-to-back stakes winner at Laurel to end 2020 awaiting his seasonal debut; and seven furlongs in the $75,000 Conniver for females with multiple stakes winner Artful Splatter and Kiss the Girl and Coconut Cake, respectively 2-3 in the one-mile Geisha Jan. 16.

The post Nominations Released For Good Samaritan Day Stakes Program At Laurel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Sharp High on Hello Hot Rod

George Sharp had been repeatedly shut out in his attempts to add to his 14-horse racing stable in the claiming ranks, so he was bidding not to lose when he purchased recent stakes winner Hello Hot Rod (Mosler) (hip 672) for $335,000 during Tuesday's session of the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale.

“My agent Charlie Allen, who was at Fasig-Tipton, picked him out,” Sharp said Tuesday evening from his Scottsdale, Arizona, home. “He picked out a few horses and I watched Hot Rod's races and the horse has a lot of guts. He seems to be a little immature still, but I like horses who look like they can improve. And this is definitely one of them.”

Hello Hot Rod won back-to-back starts at Laurel late last year and was coming off a gritty victory in the Jimmy Winkfield S. at Aqueduct just days before the Fasig-Tipton auction.

“I have high hopes for him,” Sharp said of the 3-year-old colt. “It might be a little too late to get to the Derby, but hopefully the Breeders' Cup where he will have a choice of races that we can get him into.”

Hello Hot Rod is expected to head west and arrive at the Turf Paradise base of trainer Shawn Davis this weekend.

“We will evaluate him over a week or two and work him and check his maturity level,” Sharp said of plans for his latest acquisition. “The Turf Paradise Derby, which is a 3-year-old $50,000 stakes, is on Mar. 12. If we feel he needs an easy spot to braven up, we might put him in there. But it is possible, if we feel he is strong enough, that we might go to a different Derby prep, or pre-Derby prep. And then see how he does. Or we can just go to the Turf Paradise Derby and then decide if we are going to do a Derby prep.”

Davis, a three-time world champion saddle bronc rider and a member of the Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame, trains 2018 GIII Aristides S. winner Chief Cicatriz (Munnings).

“We are here [at Turf Paradise] for now, until April or May, and then we are going to decide if we are going to either Kentucky or California or Texas,” Sharp said of plans for the Davis stable. “It's more likely that the barn is going east than west. And if we do it make it to Churchill [for the Derby] by some fluke of a chance, then we will probably just head that way a little earlier.”

Sharp is an investor and in mergers and acquisitions, as well as conducting investigations into stock market fraud. His first involvement in racing came in the Standardbred industry in the late 1990s.

“I was living in Los Angeles at the time and I was racing at Los Alamitos and then there was no more racing at Los Alamitos,” Sharp said. “So I raced around the country for a little while, but it consumed my life a little too much. The Standardbreds race every week and I always had a race somewhere in the country. I was traveling too much and neglecting the rest of my life. So I took a little siesta from the business and then I went into Thoroughbreds in 2015.”

Sharp currently has 13 horses based at Turf Paradise, plus one runner in California. He also has two broodmares in California.

“I'm in the business of racing,” he said. “I raise them to race them.”

Sharp said he is passionate about his horses and isn't afraid to get a little emotional after a special win. He scored his first victory at Del Mar with League of Shadows (Gotham City) in a 2019 allowance contest.

He said of that experience, “League of Shadows is a horse who has had a lot of health issues. I spent $60,000 to save his life once, but I love my animals. It's what I do. But if you watch the TVG replay, they interviewed me afterwards and I was very emotional in the winner's circle. You save a horse's life and then he goes and wins an allowance race, it's very emotional. I don't think I would be emotional if I won the Kentucky Derby, but that horse winning that race was a big deal to me.”

Sharp's stable includes a 2-year-old half-sister to League of Shadows who he hopes to see go postward later this year.

“I wouldn't mind getting a couple of older horses for some of the minor stakes around,” Sharp said of plans for his stable. “But they have proven to be very difficult to buy or even claim. I've been out-shook on so many claims at Santa Anita, I've been on a cold streak. I missed out on another 3-year-old that I really coveted. So today, I was just determined I was not going to lose.”

Sharp said Hello Hot Rod's $335,000 price tag was “by far” the most expensive horse he had ever purchased. But the colt wasn't Sharp's only purchase Tuesday. He also purchased a 2-year-old filly privately, spending $250,000 for a daughter of Daredevil out of stakes winner Jaws N' Paws (Onebadshark).

“The second most expensive horse I've bought was the filly I bought this morning,” Sharp said. “She is coming to Turf Paradise. They tell me she is the absolute real deal. She's already breezing, so we'll see how she progresses and then make a decision on her. It's going to be a fun year.”

And Sharp is more than ready to welcome Hello Hot Rod to Arizona.

“We are already planning some Hello Hot Rod giveaways, the obligatory hats, and he'll probably have a Twitter account by the end of the week,” Sharp said.

He concluded, “I like the business. I have always liked the business. It's not exactly a good investment, but it's more fun than I could ever possibly have imagined.”

The post Sharp High on Hello Hot Rod appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights