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Danon Pharaoh Too Strong in Japan Dirt Derby

The bettors had it right–well, in a sense.

They pounded the previously undefeated Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) into 1-10 favoritism for Wednesday’s Japan Dirt Derby, but Danon Pharaoh (Jpn) (American Pharoah) had other ideas, as he put away pacesetting Daimei Corrida (Jpn) (Eskendereya) in the final 150 meters en route to a 1 3/4-length success. Kitano Octopus (Jpn) (Fenomeno {Jpn}) rounded out a longshot trifecta that returned better than 7,700-1. The victory was worth 40 points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Daimei Corrida jumped alertly from his high draw and crossed the field to lead through the stretch the first time as Danon Pharaoh and Cafe Pharoah raced in close attendance. The favorite, who took an awkward step entering the first turn, and began showing signs of distress 500 meters out, leaving Daimei Corrida and Danon Pharaoh to fight it out to the finish. The front-runner held firm into the final eighth of a mile, but Danon Pharaoh had all the answers, edging clear in the final stages. Cafe Pharoah split the field in seventh.

A maiden winner at second asking last November, Danon Pharaoh added a Kyoto allowance in February. A strong second to Barnard Loop (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the Listed Hyogo Championship S. at Sonoda May 6, the striking dark bay was well-beaten behind Miyaji Kokuo (Jpn) (Victoire Pisa {Jpn}) when last seen in the Listed Hosu S. at Kyoto May 24.

With victories in the Listed Hyacinth S. and in the G3 Unicorn S. last time, Cafe Pharoah has amassed 70 Kentucky Derby points and can claim the berth in the Run for the Roses if connections so choose. Should they decline the invitation, it will be extended to the connections of Danon Pharaoh.

Danon Pharaoh’s yearling half-brother by Screen Hero (Jpn) (walking video) and his Jan. 23-foaled half-brother by Lord Kanaloa (walking video) each go under the hammer at the JRHA Select Sale on Hokkaido July 13 and 14.

Danon Pharaoh becomes the eighth stakes winner for American Pharoah and his third on the dirt, joining Cafe Pharoah and Harvey’s Lil Goil, who recently added the GIII Regret S. on turf.

WATCH: Danon Pharaoh causes the upset in the Japan Dirt Derby

Wednesday, Ohi, Japan
JAPAN DIRT DERBY-Listed (Final Leg–Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby), ¥76,500,000, Ohi, 7-8, 3yo, 2000m, 2:05.9, my.
1–DANON PHARAOH (JPN), 123, c, 3, by American Pharoah
1st Dam: Crisp (GISW, $286,431), by El Corredor
2nd Dam: Cat’s Fair, by Sir Cat
3rd Dam: Very Fair, by Honest Pleasure
1ST STAKES WIN. ($350,000 in utero ’16 KEENOV; ¥180,000,000 Ylg ’18 JPNJUL). O-Danox Co Ltd; B-Northern Farm; T-Yoshito Yahagi; J-Ryusei Sakai; ¥45,000,000. Lifetime Record: 8-3-2-0, $644,903.
2–Daimei Corrida (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Eskendereya–Miracle Flag (Jpn), by Spicule (Jpn). (¥30,240,000 2yo ’19 JRA2YO). O-Noboru Miyamoto; B-Deguchi Bokujo; T-Naoyuki Morita; J-Kenichi Ikezoe; ¥15,750,000.
3–Kitano Octopus (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Fenomeno (Jpn)–Hiro Angelo (Jpn), by Grass Wonder. O-Naoto Kitasho; B-Mikami Bokujo; T-Noboru Takagi; J-Hironobu Tanabe; ¥9,000,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 5, 1 3/4. Odds: 39.60, 19.50, 49.70.
Also Ran: Bravoure (Jpn), Miyaji Kokuo (Jpn), Aime Limite (Jpn), Cafe Pharoah, Barnard Loop (Jpn), Causey Son Rad (Jpn), Riko Seawolf (Jpn), Gamila’s Jackson (Jpn), Full Flat, Gold Bomber (Jpn).

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Baytown Bear Notches First Win For Airdrie Stud’s Upstart

Multiple graded stakes winner Upstart was represented by his first winner Tuesday at Indiana Grand when Baytown Bear romped to a 9 3/4-length victory in a one-mile maiden special weight for 2-year-old.

The gray/roan juvenile chased Onenightstandards through six furlongs, and then despite being floated very wide into the stretch when the pacesetter drifted out severely, drew away impressively in the final furlong to win geared down under the wire.

Baytown Bear is owned by McEntree Racing, Inc. and was bred in Kentucky by Airdrie's owner Brereton C. Jones. He is the second foal out of And You Can, who is a half-sister to Jones' Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can.

Upstart won or placed in 10 graded stakes in his stellar career, retiring with more than $1.7 million in earnings. He has been one of the leading first-crop sires at this year's 2-year-old sales, topping all freshman sires by median price and ranking third by average, at $130,555, more than 13 times his stud fee.

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Swiss Skydiver Entered In Blue Grass; McPeek Trainee Only Second Filly To Contest Keeneland’s Biggest Derby Prep

Multiple graded stakes winner Swiss Skydiver is scheduled to become the second filly to run in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes since it debuted at Keeneland during the track's inaugural Spring Meet in April 1937.

The 3-year-old daughter of Daredevil drew post seven of 13 entrants in Saturday's contest, which offers the winner 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Trained by Kenny McPeek, Swiss Skydiver already tops the points standings for the Kentucky Oaks, with wins in the Gulfstream Oaks, Fantasy Stakes, and Santa Anita Oaks on her resume.

The Blue Grass will be the filly's first start against males, and she'll again be partnered by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.

The first filly to run in the Blue Grass was Hyman Friedberg's homebred Harriet Sue, who in 1944 won the Ashland and next was fifth to Skytracer in the Blue Grass. That year, Keeneland's Spring Meet was held at Churchill Downs. In 1948, future Hall of Famer Bewitch was scratched from the Blue Grass.

This year's Blue Grass field is as follows:

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey
1	Shivaree	Ralph Nicks	John Velazquez
2	Finnick the Fierce	Rey Hernandez	Jose Ortiz
3	Art Collector	Tom Drury Jr.	Brian Hernandez Jr.
4	Mr. Big News	Bret Calhoun	Mitchell Murrill
5	Man in the Can	Ron Moquett	Tyler Gaffalione
6	Hard Lighting	Alexis Delgado	Rafael Bejarano
7	Swiss Skydiver	Kenny McPeek	Mike Smith
8	Basin	Steve Asmussen	Ricardo Santana Jr.
9	Attachment Rate	Dale Romans	Luis Saez
10	Rushie	Michael McCarthy	Javier Castellano
11	Hunt the Front	Nick Zito	Corey Lanerie
12	Enforceable	Mark Casse	Joel Rosario
13	Tiesto	Bill Mott	Flavien Prat

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‘You Have To Be Ready When You Get Here’: Jane Cibelli Off To A Fast Start At Monmouth Park

Jane Cibelli knows exactly what it takes to win a training title at Monmouth Park, having accomplished the feat in 2011 and 2012. But that knowledge, says the veteran conditioner, isn't much of an advantage if the racing fates don't send a little good fortune your way over the course of the meet.

Cibelli, who has a full barn of 50 horses stabled on the Monmouth Park backstretch, has already given a hint she will be a factor in the trainers' race, sending out three winners on the opening weekend of racing to top the standings. Nine different trainers won two races over the three-day opening weekend.

So that begs the question: Can she win another title?

Possibly, she said.

Will she? That's a complicated question that depends on a variety of factors.

“Everything has to go your way,” said Cibelli, who has horses entered in three of the six races when Monmouth Park resumes racing with a Friday twilight card that starts at 5 p.m. “Races you are pointing to have to go when your horses are ready. That's probably the hardest part of the business right now because it's difficult keeping horses at their peak and ready. We were very fortunate both years we won the title that the races we pointed for went. We also claimed a lot more horses those two years.

“I think you'll find at most racetracks – with the exception of guys like Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown, who just have so many horses – that the leading trainer does a lot of claiming. It's a different game. I'm looking to develop more horses for the long term now. I enjoy that more.”

After clicking with 14 winners from 66 starts at Monmouth Park a year ago, Cibelli followed that with a solid winter in Florida, winning 24 races from 109 starters at Gulfstream.

So she returned to New Jersey with momentum, which was reflected in the first weekend, with two of her three Monmouth winners so far coming in maiden races. She also has a dozen 2-year-olds and expects to add to that total during the summer. That's generally not conducive to a training title campaign.

“I don't ever go into a meet thinking about being the leading trainer,” said Cibelli, who went out on her own in 1987, when female trainers were still a rarity. “I'm not going to jam in a horse for $10,000 that is worth $30,000 just to win a race to help me be the leading trainer, because you don't get any extra money for being leading trainer.

“It's an honor, obviously, and a notable achievement but at the end of the day you're trying to run a business and trying to get the best you can out of your horses. So if it happens, it happens.”

Monmouth Park's condensed meet, and the later start to it due to the Covid-19 pandemic, have also changed the dynamics of the summer for trainers.

“You can't use this meet to get ready,” said Cibelli. “You have to be ready when you get here.”

In a typical year, few if any of Cibelli's 2-year-olds would come into the Monmouth meet with a start. But by staying in Florida until the Monmouth Park backstretch opened on June 1 she was able to unveil some of her “babies.”

“I've had three 2-year-olds out already, which is unheard of for me,” she said. “Normally I don't get 2-year-olds out until the middle or end of summer. That's huge. I'm very happy with that.”

One in particular, a filly named Flight to Shanghai, showed plenty of promise in her debut, finishing second in a Maiden Special Weight race at Gulfstream Park on June 19.

“I very rarely win with first-time starters. It's by design. I don't turn the screws on them too early,” she said. “But she ran second and she ran huge. She looks like she will be a good one.

“My approach with 2-year-olds is `if they're ready, they're ready.' They don't have to set the world on fire at 2 for me. I like to keep them around at three and four and beyond. It's just how I do things. I'm old school.”

It's a formula that has served her well. Whether it results in another title this summer remains to be seen.

“Both years I won the title I didn't set out to win it,” she said. “It just happened. So you never know.”

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