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National Horseplayers’ Championship Crowns A Winner

Edited Press Release

Paul Calia, a retired disability advisor for Social Security from Kansas City, Missouri, toppled a field of 779 entries to take home the grand prize of $800,000, in addition to finishing in fourth place with his second entry–good for another $150,000– to earn an Eclipse Award and Horseplayer of the Year honors during the NTRA National Horseplayers' Championship which concluded Sunday in Las Vegas. This is the first contest that Calia has ever won.

Calia amassed winnings of $362.50 on his first entry, and $305.50 on his second entry, over the three-day tournament from 53 mythical $2 win and place bets–18 each on Friday and Saturday, 10 in Sunday morning's semifinal round, and seven at the exciting Final Table which ultimately yielded his victory. He is the first winner to also finish in the top 10 with a second entry.

“I started a little slow on Friday, thought I handicapped okay with some seconds and thirds,” said Calia. “But Saturday I was pretty hot, and pretty much hit every longshot. It's hard to put into words how many winners I picked on Saturday.”

When asked his approach to playing two cards in the final table he said, “I don't know how to describe it. I didn't switch a lot of picks, I don't let the odds affect me. I only switched about 10-15% of my picks between cards, one or two a day that's it.”

With this victory, Calia also earns an exemption into next year's NHC and a berth to the 2023 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge worth $10,000. In lieu of winning a second BCBC entry, which he won from finishing first on day two (Saturday), he will instead take home $10,000 cash. That makes his full earnings from the weekend a whopping $960,000 and a 2024 BCBC seat valued at $10,000.

“There are three pillars to the sport of Thoroughbred racing–you have the horse and its connections, the racetracks and the horseplayer,” said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. “So, if horse racing is a three-legged stool, we aren't anything without the horseplayer. My family's relationship with this sport and with football all traces back to playing horses. The excitement at the NHC is vital to everything we do as an industry. This year's NHC is bigger than ever before and I'm proud that the NTRA has this unique opportunity to showcase the best of the best in handicapping and celebrate what it means to be a horseplayer.”

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That’s A Mo Reay! Uncle Mo Filly Upsets The Beholder Mile

There were ostensibly no moons hitting eyes like big pizza pies on a dreary Saturday at Santa Anita, but the 4-year-old filly who was up in the final jump to take the GI Beholder Mile S.?–that's A Mo Reay (Uncle Mo).

A $400,000 purchase by Adrian Regan and Fergus Galvin's Hunter Valley Farm out of last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale, the dark bay swerved a clash with returning Grade I winners Secret Oath (Arrogate) and Clairiere (Curlin) in the GII Azeri S. in favor of a second career appearance at the top level, and the decision paid off handsomely, as she chinned odds-on Fun to Dream (Arrogate) right on the line for her biggest conquest to date.

Off at 79-10, A Mo Reay raced outside of Awake At Midnyte (Nyquist) rounding the first turn and had tugged her way up into a three-wide third as Ganadora (Quality Road) set the pace from a well-held Fun to Dream down the backstretch.

Fun to Dream was allowed to stride into the lead fully three furlongs from the line and drifted out into the lane while maintaining a clear lead. The odds-on chalk boxed on gamely nearer the inside, but A Mo Reay refused to lie down and was shoved across the line first by Flavien Prat to cause the upset.

“She really dug in when it was time to run, and she was travelling well all around,” the Frenchman said. “I watched her previous race and I talked to [trainer] Brad [Cox who watched the race from Oaklawn Park] and he was really high on her and really wanted her in this race. He was right.”

A Mo Reay made the first nine starts of her career for MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm, finishing third to eventual champion Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) in the 2021 GI Frizette S. as a maiden before graduating in the last of four juvenile starts that December. A Laurel allowance winner last June, she was third in the Riskaverse S. over the Saratoga turf course and fifth in the grassy GIII Pebbles S. before changing hands at FTKNOV. A Mo Reay took an off-turf renewal of the Dec. 31 Pago Hop S. at the Fair Grounds before wearing down Lovely Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Bayakoa last time.

Pedigree Notes:

A Mo Reay is the 12th top-level scorer for Uncle Mo, four of which were produced by Unbridled-line mares (Golden Pal, Unbridled Mo and Outwork). Other graded scorers by Uncle Mo from the same line include Grade III winners Uncle Vinny, Uncle Chuck and Girl Daddy.

Margaret Reay, a longshot second to Lady Eli (Divine Park) in the 2014 GIII Miss Grillo S. for Zayat Stables, was purchased by T & G Farm of Kentucky for $180,000 in foal to California Chrome at the 2018 Keeneland January Sale and is also the dam of the 3-year-old colt Upgrade (Flatter)–a $550,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by Mike Repole and St. Elias–and a yearling filly by Gun Runner. She was most recently covered by Quality Road.

Saturday, Santa Anita
BEHOLDER MILE S.-GI, $501,500, Santa Anita, 3-11, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.25, gd.
1–A MO REAY, 122, f, 4, by Uncle Mo
1st Dam: Margaret Reay (GSP, $133,455), by Pioneerof the Nile
2nd Dam: Legendary Stacey, by Include
3rd Dam: Ruth Ann d'Or, by Tour d'Or
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($400,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $400,000 3yo '22
FTKNOV). O-Hunter Valley Farm; B-T & G Farm of Kentucky LLC
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $300,000. Lifetime Record:
12-5-1-3, $692,650. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Fun to Dream, 120, f, 4, by Arrogate
                1st Dam: Lutess, by Maria's Mon
                2nd Dam: Alchema, by Menifee
                3rd Dam: Madeira M'dear, by Black Tie Affair (Ire)
O-Natalie J. Baffert and Connie Pageler; B-Connie Pageler &
Bob Baffert (CA); T-Bob Baffert. $100,000.
3–Midnight Memories, 122, f, 4, by Mastery
                1st Dam: Tiz Midnight (GSW & GISP, $339,800), by Midnight Lute
                2nd Dam: Tough Tiz's Sis, by Tiznow
                3rd Dam: Leaseholder, by Taylor's Falls
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Michael E. Pegram, Paul Weitman &
Karl Watson (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
Margins: HD, 2 1/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 7.90, 0.90, 8.40.
Also Ran: Desert Dawn, Kirstenbosch, Awake At Midnyte, Pauline's Pearl, Ganadora.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Tapit Trice Turns In Furious Stretch Rally To Win Tampa Bay Derby

At almost no point during the opening 6 1/2 furlongs of Saturday's GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby did things look particularly promising for Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable's heavily favored Tapit Trice (Tapit).

But in a stretch rally befitting his status as a 'TDN Rising Star', the $1.3-million Keeneland September graduate went through his gears and whistled home to–somewhat unbelievably–post an open-lengths victory over Classic Car Wash (Noble Bird) and Classic Legacy (Into Mischief), the third- and fourth-place finishers, respectively, in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. four weeks back.

One of the last to take up his spot in stall six, Tapit Trice was sluggishly into stride, was clearly last through the opening exchanges and was niggled along by Luis Saez before the field had entered the clubhouse turn. Longshot Dreaming of Kona (Fast Anna) took them into the backstretch, but as the half-mile went up in :46.96, Tapit Trice was under even heavier urging three off the fence and Saez even had to resort to a right-handed slap of the crop down the neck of his mount to keep his mind on the increasingly tall task at hand.

Still scrubbed along vigorously at the three-eighths marker and racing with just three rivals behind him at that stage, Tapit Trice was wheeled out about seven wide into the stretch, with plenty of work to do. Classic Car Wash, four wide the trip, came calling for the lead outside of Dreaming of Kona just inside the eighth pole, but Tapit Trice finally hit top gear, wrested command with 70 yards to race and remarkably put a margin on the competition.

“It took him a while to get on track but I was very impressed down the lane,” said Pletcher, winning the race for a record-extending sixth time. “He finished up the way we expected him to. He certainly seems like the farther he goes, the stronger he gets. He's got a big, long stride. Once he got clear down the lane, he really extended himself and I loved the way he finished up. He relished the two turns and the longer he goes, the better he'll get.

Pletcher continued, “Luis fits him well. He understands the way he needs to be ridden and he knows he's not going to come out of the gate quickly. He gave him plenty of time to get going. I feel like he is still learning, though he got a good education today. But he's a horse that I think still needs a little more racing experience to completely put everything together.”

Pletcher indicated that Tapit Trice's final Kentucky Derby prep could come in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Apr. 8.

Tapit Trice becomes the 100th worldwide graded/group winner for his Gainesway-based stallion. He is the fourth son of Tapit to win this particular Derby, joining Ring Weekend (2014), the Pletcher-conditioned future GI Belmont S. hero and now fellow Gainesway sire Tapwrit (2017) and Tacitus (2019).

“Thanks to Mandy Pope for letting me stay in on this lovely colt,” said Tapit Trice's breeder, Gainesway's Antony Beck. “We knew he is a very talented colt and we thought he had a very good chance today.”

Added Pope: “It was awesome–just the whole team from Whisper Hill Farm, Gainesway, Todd Pletcher–it takes a mountain of people to be in this position, but the horse is the one who did it. I lost track of him in the race and thought he was never going to make it up, but once he got free he ate up the ground.”

A useful third on his one-mile debut at Aqueduct the day after the Breeders' Cup Nov. 6, Tapit Trice defeated next-out winner and recent GIII Gotham S. runner-up Slip Mahoney (Arrogate) in a muddy mile event in South Ozone Park Dec. 17. Despite earning a lofty 87 Beyer for that effort, Tapit Trice was the somewhat surprising 13-10 second choice behind 9-10 stable companion Shesterkin (Violence) in a Feb. 4 allowance at Gulfstream, in which he turned on the afterburners in the lane to score by eight lengths.

Pedigree Notes:

Also a 159th black-type winner for his sire, Tapit Trice is bred on the exact same cross as two-time Eclipse Award and three-time Grade I winner Unique Bella, Grade II winner West Coast Belle and Grade III victor Capensis. Additional graded winners by Tapit out of Unbridled-line mares include Valiance and the aforementioned Tacitus.

The winner's now 11-year-old dam, a $5,500 Keeneland November weanling and $10,000 Fasig-Tipton October Yearling, was knocked down to Gainesway for $105,000 at the 2014 OBS April Sale and went on to be a three-time stakes and Grade III-placed winner of better than $312,000 while under the care of Steve Asmussen. She visited Union Rags in her first year at stud in 2018 and saw her and her family's value appreciate when her three-quarter sister Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) earned an Eclipse Award with her victory in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Jaywalk's first foal, a now 2-year-old colt by the late Duramente (Jpn), was sold for ¥300 million (US$2,205,927) at last year's JRHA Select Sale.

Hailing from the female family of the capable graded winners Mission Impazible and Forest Camp, Tapit Trice has 2-year-old and yearling full-sisters and Danzatrice was unsurprisingly bred back to Tapit.

Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
LAMBHOLM SOUTH TAMPA BAY DERBY-GIII, $360,000,
Tampa Bay Downs, 3-11, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.37, ft.
1–TAPIT TRICE, 120, c, 3, by Tapit
          1st Dam: Danzatrice (MSW & GSP, $312,145), by Dunkirk
          2nd Dam: Lady Pewitt, by Orientate
          3rd Dam: Spin Room, by Spinning World
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($1,300,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Whisper Hill Farm, LLC and Gainesway
Stable (Antony Beck); B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Luis Saez. $210,000. Lifetime Record:
4-3-0-1, $310,150. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Classic Car Wash, 120, g, 3, Noble Bird–East Lake Classic, by
Orientate. ($105,000 2yo '22 OBSMAR). O-Gary Barber;
B-Sherry R. Mansfield & Kenneth H. Davis (FL); T-Mark E.
Casse. $80,000.
3–Classic Legacy, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–Distorted Legacy, by
Distorted Humor. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
O/B-W. Bruce Lunsford (KY); T-William I. Mott. $35,000.
Margins: 2, 1 1/4, 1HF. Odds: 0.50, 13.10, 6.00.
Also Ran: Prairie Hawk, Lord Miles, Dreaming of Kona,
Shesterkin, Groveland, Zydeceaux, Mikey Bananas,
Champions Dream, Freedom Road.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO,
sponsored by TVG.

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Tyler’s Tribe Fires Oaklawn Bullet

Iowa-bred sensation Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) worked five furlongs in 1:00 flat Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park, his third breeze since receiving a month off following a second bleeding incident when third in the Dec. 9 Advent S. in Hot Springs. He also bled and was vanned off after being eased home in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in November. He previously went three furlongs in :36.40 (3/8) Feb. 18 and a half-mile in :48.60 (13/66) Mar. 4.

“Doing good,” said trainer and co-owner Tim Martin. “I'm just kind of working him and seeing where we're at. Working him and scoping him and he's looking good so far.”

The conditioner indicated that he would like to start Tyler's Tribe before the end of the Oaklawn meet May 6, but said he had no specific race in mind for the gelding's sophomore debut.

“I want to make sure he's right,” Martin said. “He's come back doing good and scoped clean every time. We're good, knock on wood.”

Tyler's Tribe won his first five trips to the post–four in stakes company–by nearly 60 lengths combined over sprint trips, and instead of stretching out for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, elected to stick to the Juvenile Turf Sprint. The 4-5 chalk in the Advent S., he set a reasonable early pace, but weakened late and scoped dirty yet again.

To date, Tyler's Tribe has amassed a record of 5-0-1 from seven starts overall and earnings of $320,169.

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