Sharp Starr Looks To Repeat In Go For Wand At Aqueduct

Barry Schwartz's Sharp Starr will look to capture back-to-back editions of the $250,000 Grade 3 Go For Wand Handicap, a one-turn mile for fillies and mares slated for next Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The 4-year-old Munnings filly, out of the A.P. Indy mare Mindy Gold, breezed solo Saturday morning under trainer Horacio DePaz over a fast training track at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., going four furlongs in :48.68.

Last year, Sharp Starr defeated five rivals in the Go for Wand which saw the New York-bred filly capture her first graded stakes win and also her first win in open company while earning a 97 Beyer. Sharp Starr owns a 3-2-0-1 record racing at one mile on the dirt at the Big A.

DePaz believes his filly is in better shape for this year's edition.

“She's always had good form and it looks like she's stepping up. She's matured much more physically, so I'm very happy with her,” DePaz said.

Sharp Starr captured the $250,000 Empire Distaff last month at Belmont, off a two-month layoff, where she notched a 16-1 upset coming from last-of-10 under jockey Jose Ortiz, who will retain the mount. She earned a 92 Beyer for the win, her first of the 2021 season in five starts.

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Stakes-Winning Aquetduct Winter Warrior Sharp Starr Gets A Freshening

Trainer Horacio DePaz said Barry Schwartz's Sharp Starr, winner of the Grade 3 Go for Wand in December at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y., is enjoying some well deserved time off after a productive winter campaign.

The New York homebred, a 4-year-old dark bay filly by Munnings out of the A.P. Indy mare Mindy Gold, romped to a 15 3/4-length state-bred allowance win in November at the Big A that garnered a career-best 101 Beyer ahead of her Go for Wand score.

Sharp Starr followed that effort with a good second in the La Verdad in January on a muddy Aqueduct main track before a sixth-place effort in the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie in February at Laurel Park.

Last out, Sharp Starr finished a distant third to Water White in a one-mile optional-claiming event on April 1 at Aqueduct.

“I think she was a tired horse. She tried but there's really no excuses,” said DePaz. “We looked her over and everything was fine, so we turned her out at the farm. I think she just needed a break and to put some weight on her.

“She deserves the time off and she's been running pretty consistent all last year,” he added. “We'll bring her back fresh.”

DePaz said he is looking forward to the start of the Belmont spring/summer meet which begins on Thursday.

“I've got 23 horses at the moment and more coming,” said DePaz, who expects his barn to expand to 30. “The purse money is good, we just need the right horses to be able to chase it. It gets much deeper when everyone comes back, but it's exciting.”

The conditioner will send out a pair of starters on the Opening Day card including Whispering Pines in a featured allowance sprint in Race 7 and Fed Funds in Race 4, a seven-furlong $50,000 open-claiming sprint. DePaz said Fed Funds, a four-time winner from 10 starts, should appreciate the company following a pair of off-the-board efforts in strong optional-claiming sprints.

“The distance sets up perfect for him,” said DePaz. “There's some pretty salty horses in there, but he's a hard-trying horse. He likes to show up. Hopefully he's on top of his game. He's been very consistent for us.”

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Across The Board With Andy Serling: Horacio DePaz

Following an extended hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Across the Board with Andy Serling podcast returns this week featuring an interview with trainer Horacio DePaz.

The 35-year-old DePaz, who grew up watching Quarter Horses as a teenager in his native Texas, discusses his life in racing including working on the backstretch of Louisiana Downs; serving as an exercise rider and assistant for Kentucky Derby-winning trainers John Servis and Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas; as well as assisting Todd Pletcher, where he looked after accomplished runners Rags to Riches, Devil May Care and Quality Road.

DePaz went out on his own in 2015 setting up shop on the Mid-Atlantic circuit training horses for Kevin Plank's historic Sagamore Farm.
Now based in both Maryland and New York, DePaz also discussed training horses for owner Barry Schwartz and making an impact on the NYRA circuit with Sharp Starr, winner of the Grade 3 Go for Wand in November at the Big A, and stakes-winning New York-bred Amundson, who is entered in the Hollie Hughes on Monday at Aqueduct.

The episode is now available for download via https://soundcloud.com/acrosstheboardwithandyserling

About Across the Board with Andy Serling

Launched in April 2017, Across the Board with Andy Serling is a podcast presented by the New York Racing Association. New episodes of the show will be released in regular installments throughout the year, providing fans and horseplayers with access to the most interesting personalities in racing.

To access the complete ATB episode library please visit: https://soundcloud.com/acrosstheboardwithandyserling

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Horsemen Adapting After Winter Sprintfest’s One-Week Delay At Laurel

In a sport where making last-minute adjustments is a daily occurrence, horsemen are adapting accordingly to the one-week transfer of the Winter Sprintfest program, originally scheduled for Feb. 13 at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The entire nine-race program featuring six stakes, two graded, worth $900,000 in purses will be run Saturday, Feb. 20. Co-headlining the card are the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) for females and $250,000 General George (G3).

Barry Schwartz's Grade 3-winning homebred Sharp Starr, based at Belmont Park with trainer Horacio DePaz, was one of two horses that shipped to Maryland for the Fritchie, which attracted a field of eight including Laurel-based multiple stakes winners Hello Beautiful, the 8-5 program favorite, and Dontletsweetfoolya.

“The only way it affects us, and it's in a positive way, is the filly has more time to settle in,” trainer Horacio DePaz said. “I'm just going to leave her here at Laurel and train from here and go into the race. It's all good on that part.”

Sharp Starr, winner of the Go for Wand (G3) Dec. 5 at Aqueduct, exits a bullet half-mile work in 47 seconds Feb. 6, the fastest of 140 horses over Belmont's training track. She drew the rail in the Fritchie and is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line for DePaz, the former private trainer for Sagamore Farm who maintains a string at Pimlico Race Course.

“She had a huge work coming into it and she's been doing good and settled in for the most part pretty good,” DePaz said. “It just gives us more time. She's eating well, so hopefully we'll get some nice days to train. We'll see what happens.”

R.A. Hill Stable's 2020 Bold Ruler (G3) winner Majestic Dunhill made the trip from Palm Beach Downs in South Florida to Maryland, where the 6-year-old gelding drew Post 4 in a field of 10 for the General George that included fellow graded winners Laki and Share the Ride and multiple stakes winners Lebda and Funny Guy, the 9-5 program favorite based in New York.

“Whenever you're pointing for a race, particularly a stakes race, you put your horse on a schedule and have a very deliberate plan, and then something like this happens with the weather,” Majestic Dunhill trainer George Weaver said. “All the other horses have to deal with it, too. It is what it is.”

Majestic Dunhill shipped in to win the 2018 City of Laurel, run second in the 2019 General George and third in the 2017 Laurel Futurity on turf and 2019 Polynesian.

“I'm just going to leave him there and train him over the phone, and hopefully he does OK,” he added. “We know he likes it at Laurel.”

So, too, does Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion, whose four wins from seven career starts include the Jamestown on turf and the Maryland Million Nursery and Spectacular Bid on dirt, the latter Jan. 16. The son of Great Notion is the 5-2 second choice among seven in the $100,000 Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds going one mile.

“You know in this business, you're calling audibles every day. So, we'll have to see how the weather and the track is the next couple days and then I'll decide what I need to do with him. Hopefully we can get something done with him before Saturday,” trainer Dale Capuano said. “The extra time won't hurt him.”

Capuano also entered Mopo Racing's 5-year-old gelding Dixie Drawl in the $100,000 John B. Campbell for 4-year-olds and up at about 1 1/16 miles. Dixie Drawl is third choice in the program at 9-2.

“I don't think the extra time is going to bother him, either,” Capuano said. “I was going to scratch him anyway with the track coming up sloppy so, for him, it worked out just as well. It's another chance for a fast track for him. We'll see.”

The son of late trainer Phil Capuano whose younger brother, Gary, is also a Laurel-based trainer, Dale Capuano has won 3,530 races and more than $63 million in purse earnings since 1981, and is the all-time leading trainer in Maryland Million history with 13 wins.

“It was bad timing, but we'll see what happens next week,” he said. “You never know what you're gonna get.”

Laurel is scheduled to host a special Presidents Day holiday program Monday, Feb. 15, offering carryovers of $3,531.94 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 4-9) and $1,386.50 in the $1 Super Hi-5 (Race 2). First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

Monday's card includes a 5 ½-furlong allowance for Maryland-bred/sired horses in Race 7 that includes narrow 3-1 program favorite Nightlife and 2020 Wide Country winner Naughty Thoughts, and a third-level optional claiming allowance for older horses in Race 8 where Grade 3 winner Always Sunshine is favored at 2-1 off a Jan. 24 victory – his first start in 541 days.

John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer, sent off as the 6-5 favorite in a field of eight, rallied from last to first for a neck victory over Javanica in the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby Feb. 13 at Golden Gate Fields. Trained by Michael McCarthy and second in the American Pharoah (G1) last fall at Santa Anita, the bay Twirling Candy colt earned an automatic berth to the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15 at Pimlico.

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