Horse Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mind Your Biscuits Colts Takes Derby Points Race at Kawasaki

Jockey Fuma Matsuwaka conjured up one final late surge from third favorite Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) and was up on the wire to take out Wednesday's Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki Racecourse, earning 20 points to go to the head of the class on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Settled in mid-division and well off the inside for the run up the backstretch, the chestnut still had several lengths to find as 6-5 favorite Perriere (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) went for home. The latter began to look for the line and was overtaken to his inside by Omatsuri Otoko (Jpn) (Vittorio d'Oro) in the dying yards, but Derma Sotogake finished over the top of that one for the victory.

Derma Sotogake, unplaced in a pair of turf tries, but two-for-three on dirt prior to Wednesday's race, is the second stakes winner for Mind Your Biscuits, who has been represented by no fewer than 27 individual winners from his first crop to the races and is a near lock to be crowned champion freshman sire.

The winner's dam, who took this track's Listed Kanto Oaks in 2013, is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Million Disk (Jpn) (Afleet) and MGSP Request Song (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S). Amour Poesie's weanling filly by New Year's Day fetched $240,138 at this year's JRHA Select Sale and she is due to foal a full-sibling to Derma Sotogake in 2023.

The next race on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby is the Listed Hyacinth S. going a mile at Tokyo Feb. 19.

Wednesday, Kawasaki, Japan
ZEN-NIPPON NISAI YUSHUN (Jpn-G1)-Listed (Second Leg Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby), ¥71,400,000, Kawasaki, 12-14, 2yo, 1600m, 1:43.30, yl.
1–DERMA SOTOGAKE (JPN), 121, c, 2, by Mind Your Biscuits
1st Dam: Amour Poesie (Jpn) (SW-Jpn, $543,569), by Neo Universe (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Happy Request (Jpn), by Tony Bin (Ire)
3rd Dam: April Sonnett, by Dike
1ST STAKES WIN. (¥18,000,000 Ylg '21 JRHAJUL). O-Hiroyuki Asanuma; B-Shadai Farm; T-Hidetaka Otonashi; J-Fuma Matsuwaka; ¥42,000,000. Lifetime Record 6-3-0-1, ¥59,734,000. *Second stakes winner for freshman sire (by Posse).
2–Omatsuri Otoko (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Vittorio d'Oro–Matsuri Bayashi (Jpn), by Smart Boy (Jpn). (¥14,300,000 Ylg '21 HOKSUM). O-Kohei Koreeda; B-Grand Farm; ¥14,700,000.
3–Perriere (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Henny Hughes–Soft Rime (Jpn), by Fuji Kiseki (Jpn). (¥11,000,000 Ylg '21 HOKSUM). O-Yuji Hasegawa; B-Champions Farm; ¥8,400,000.
Margins: HD, 1, 3. Odds : 4.60, 2.40, 1.20.

WATCH: Derma Sotogake gets up late at Kawasaki

The post Mind Your Biscuits Colts Takes Derby Points Race at Kawasaki appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Colonial Shifting To Weekend Racing For 2023

The 2023 racing dates at Colonial Downs will hold steady at the same 27-program level that the turf-focused track ran this year, but the full first season under the ownership of the gaming company Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), will see a shift to Thursday-through-Saturday racing instead of the Virginia track's traditional Monday-through-Wednesday slot.

The number of racing dates had been a concern for mid-Atlantic horsemen who were leery about CDI bloating the racing schedule beyond what the region's horse population might be able to sustain.

Those concerns were raised back in July, when Bill Carstanjen, CDI's chief executive officer, said during a quarterly earnings conference call that it would be CDI's intent to expand the current boutique-styled summer race meet from 27 to 50 dates, for the purpose of maximizing the number of historical horse racing machines (HRMs) that it can operate throughout Virginia. A state law requires CDI to run one race date for every 100 HRMs.

“Over the next two to four years we expect to grow to up to 50 race dates as we reach 5,000 HRMs,” Carstanjen said in that July 28 call.

At that time, Frank Petramalo Jr., the executive director of the Virginia Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, told TDN that given the current harmony among racing schedules in the mid-Atlantic, “it's important to continue a cooperative relationship between Virginia and Maryland and Delaware [and] certainly Pennsylvania….. We have a lot of racing [in the region] and a diminishing number of horses. We think the way to success is to try to rationalize racing programs.”

The July 13-Sept. 9 schedule for 2023 was approved unanimously Dec. 14 by the Virginia Racing Commission.

The highlight of the meet, the GII Virginia Derby, will be run on closing day.

The switch to Thursday-Saturday racing “will allow for more Virginians to attend and enjoy live racing,” Jack Sours, the vice president for CDI's gaming operations, said in a press release.

But nationally, Colonial's switch to different dates and a 1:30 p.m. Eastern first post will put it in direct competition with Saratoga Race Course, the nation's dominant summer simulcast signal, and up against another CDI-owned track, Ellis Park, on Saturdays and Sundays.

After being closed for six years, Colonial reopened under new management in 2019, ushering in the HRM-fueled purse era in Virginia and carving out a reputation as an independent “comeback” track whose niche was turf racing.

In February 2022, CDI commenced a deal to buy Colonial and its HRM network in a sale announced as $2.485 billion.

The post Colonial Shifting To Weekend Racing For 2023 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Jeff Ruby Steaks Highlights Turfway Winter/Spring Stakes

The $700,000 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, offering qualifying points for a spot in the field for the GI Kentucky Derby, is the centerpiece of a 20-strong stakes schedule at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, this winter and spring.

Jeff Ruby Steaks Day will feature a total of six stakes events, including the $300,000 TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic, the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks–a Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualifying race–the $250,000 Animal Kingdom S., the $250,00 Latonia S. and the $250,000 Rushaway S.

Turfway will host one other Derby points race, the John Battaglia Memorial S. Mar. 4, which serves as a prep for the Jeff Ruby.

Tony Calo, the voice of Finger Lakes Racetrack, will serve as the interim track announcer while regular caller Jimmy McNerney recovers from neck surgery. Kaitlin Free will offer analysis on the simulcast feed.

The post Jeff Ruby Steaks Highlights Turfway Winter/Spring Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

We Are Horse Racing NY Releases Study on Economic Impact of Belmont Project

The project to modernize Belmont Park will produce billions of dollars in economic impact and generate thousands of jobs, according to an independent economic study released by We Are NY Horse Racing Wednesday.

According to the rigorous analysis completed by HR&A Advisors, a leading economic development and real estate consulting firm, the multi-year project to build a new Belmont Park will generate $1 billion in one-time construction-related economic impact while supporting 3,700 construction jobs. Upon completion, racing and non-racing activities at the new Belmont Park will generate $155 million in annual economic output, support 740 new full-time jobs, and produce $10 million in new state and local taxes per year.

The consolidation of racing to Belmont would unlock 110 acres of land at Aqueduct Racetrack, allowing New York State to pursue development opportunities for the parcel of land adjacent to JFK Airport. Owned by New York State and leased by NYRA, the land was recently appraised at a value of $1 billion.

“The transformation of Belmont Park will create jobs, drive tourism and secure the future of thoroughbred horse racing in New York State,” said Dave O'Rourke, NYRA President & CEO. “As we approach the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's remarkable Triple Crown triumph, we are reminded of the central role that Belmont has played in sports history. A new Belmont Park will build on that legacy and allow one of racing's most important venues to shine again. Thanks to the work of this coalition, and the broad support of New Yorkers, we are closer than ever to achieving this vision.”

To view the executive summary of the analysis performed by HR&A Advisors, click here.

The post We Are Horse Racing NY Releases Study on Economic Impact of Belmont Project appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post