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Alittleloveandluck a Dual-Surface Threat in Florida Oaks

With a near 100% chance of precipitation in greater Tampa, Saturday's GIII Florida Oaks is at the mercy of Mother Nature, but whether the race remains on the grass or is transferred to the main track, the Mike Dini-owned and -trained Alittleloveandluck (Arrogate) stands an excellent shot of getting her picture taken post-race.

The gray tried open company in her first three appearances, rounding out the triple in a one-mile Parx maiden in October before besting her fellow Florida-breds by a nose in a sythetic-track test at Gulfstream Nov. 12. Up late to take the grassy Ginger Brew S. Jan. 1–in which she had next-out GIII Sweetest Chant S. heroine Opalina (Optimizer) back in third–Alittleloveandluck was second–albeit well-beaten–behind the promising Nest (Curlin) in the Feb. 12 Suncoast S. over the local main track.

Domain Expertise (Kitten's Joy) gave trainer Chad Brown a second Florida Oaks last year and the conditioner has a pair of entrants to try to put them back-to-back. Spicer (Quality Road), a debut third at Belmont Oct. 9, was a convincing 3 3/4-length maiden winner–with Ambitieuse (Medaglia d'Oro) third–at Aqueduct Nov. 19 and adds Lasix for this potential return to action. Brown also saddles French import Dolce Zel (Fr) (Zelzal {Fr}), well-beaten in her Dieppe debut last July, but a latest 24-1 winner of a ParisLongchamp maiden for Alessandro and Giuseppe Botti Oct. 14. The bay would almost certainly come out of the race if removed from the turf.

Ambitieuse progressed from her debut third to graduate when tried over the Gulfstream Tapeta Dec. 29 and finished full of run when going down by three-parts of a length in the Sweetest Chant. Bred on the same cross that has produced MGISW Elate and a similar one to multiple champion Songbird, Ambitieuse is also a candidate to contest a main-track Oaks.

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Classic Causeway Looks To Hold Serve in Tampa Bay Derby

Currently ranked number one on the TDN Triple Crown Top 12, Kentucky West Racing LLC & the Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust's Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) will attempt to further cement his position as a chief protagonist of the 2022 sophomore crop when he jumps a warm favorite in Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on what projects a pretty wet afternoon on Florida's Suncoast.

One of three from the final crop of the 'Iron Horse' and one of two in the race, the blaze-faced chestnut made the most of a late start to his freshman campaign with an eye-catching debut score at Saratoga in September and was third from a horror draw when favored at 19-10 in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland the following month. A clear runner-up–with GIII Holy Bull S. hero White Abarrio (Race Day) second–in what has become a key running of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Nov. 27, Classic Causeway made all the running in this track's GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 12, controlling the pace while stuck down inside of a longshot rival before charging home 3 3/4 lengths to the good of New York-bred Shipsational (Midshipman).

“He came out of the [Sam F. Davis] very well, he's carrying good weight and he has great energy, so we're counting our blessings,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “He seemed to really like the racetrack, so we thought the smart thing was to take him back over there and have a crack at the Tampa Bay Derby.”

The last to complete the Davis/Derby double was Destin–a son of Giant's Causeway–in 2016, while the stallion's Carpe Diem took the 2015 Derby. Giant's Causeway is also the broodmare sire of 2013 Tampa Derby hero Verrazano (More Than Ready).

Giant Game (Giant's Causeway), third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but well beaten in the Holy Bull, resurfaces here after being scratched out of last weekend's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S.

Perfect in a pair of juvenile appearances, WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Major General (Constitution) makes his 3-year-old bow Saturday. The $420,000 Keeneland September grad narrowly bested a group of Saratoga maidens on debut Aug. 21 and made it two straight with a neck success in the GIII Iroquois S. in Louisville Sept. 18. The dark bay tries two turns for the first time here.

The well-tried Strike Hard (Flashback) won a Gulfstream allowance going the one-turn mile Dec. 5, earning 4-5 favoritism for the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man S. over the same track and trip. Beaten four lengths into second by Fountain of Youth hero Simplification (Not This Time) on that occasion, he endured a difficult wide trip in the Davis and although he failed to make up any ground in the final furlong, clawed his way past three rivals to finish fourth. He's slightly better drawn here and gets a significant jockey upgrade from Leonel Reyes to Luis Saez.

New shooters include Happy Boy Rocket (Runhappy), a good-looking allowance winner going two turns in Hallandale Jan. 29; Money Supply (Practical Joke), who Beyered 91 in breaking his maiden at first asking going six furlongs over this strip Feb. 12; and Belgrade (Hard Spun), who topped the horses-of-racing-age section at Keeneland January on a bid of $700,000 and exits a determined entry-level allowance score over six furlongs Feb. 19.

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Notable US-Breds in Japan: Mar. 12-13, 2022

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Chukyo Racecourse. Sunday's G2 Kinko Sho at Chukyo pits the Group 1-winning 5-year-old mares Lei Papale (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Akai Ito (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) against the likes of Potager (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn} x Ginger Punch) and the veteran Gibeon (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn} x Contested):

Saturday, March 12, 2022
3rd-CKO, ¥9,900,000 ($85k), Maiden, 3yo, 1400mT
ENTRY CODE (f, 3, Point of Entry–Indian Valley, by Cherokee Run) is a half-sister to MGSP Splashy Kisses (Blame) and is out of a winning half-sister to SW Chhaya Dance (A.P. Indy) and to the three-time graded-placed Convocation (Pulpit). The filly's third dam Colour Chart (Mr. Prospector), three times a winner at group level in France and placed in no fewer than three Grade Is in this country, was responsible for Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly Tempera (A.P. Indy) and MGSW/G1SP Equerry (St. Jovite). Point of Entry is the sire of eight winners from eight Japanese runners, including MGSW Lotus Land. B-Winchester Farm (KY)

6th-CKO, ¥14,250,000 ($123k), Allowance, 3yo, 1800m
BAHIR DAR (c, 3, American Pharoah–Llanarmon, by Sky Mesa) has yet to run a bad one in three starts to date, having finished second in his first two appearances at Hanshin late last year before breaking through with a facile maiden victory at Kokura Jan. 29. Shadai Corporation privately acquired the late April foal's dam, winner of the 2013 GII Natalma S., in 2018 and she was covered in Kentucky by Mendelssohn before her export to Japan. She produced a filly by the latter in 2020. B-Shadai Corporation (KY)

Sunday, March 13, 2022
2nd-CKO, ¥9,900,000 ($85k), Maiden, 3yo, 1800m
CORDON ROUGE (f, 3, American Pharoah–Champagne Room, by Broken Vow) is the first foal for her dam, the 2016 champion 2-year-old filly and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine who produced this filly Feb. 24, was covered by Justify and sent off to Japan. Champagne Room, who dropped a colt by the Triple Crown winner at Northern Farm Mar. 14, 2020, is a daughter of Lucky To Be Me (Bernstein), who was purchased by Katsumi Yoshida for $1.25 million at Keeneland November in 2017 before going on to produce GSP Fidele (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}). Lucky To Be Me passed away in 2021. American Pharoah has sired 75% winners to starters in Japan (21/28). B-Northern Farm (KY)

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U.S. Wagering, Purses Climb in February

Total wagering on U.S. races topped $911 million and purse money exceeded $75 million in the month of February, according to statistics released Friday by Equibase.

Compared to the $840.5 million wagered on U.S. races in 2021, the current figure represented a healthy gain of 8.39% while purse money rose by a whopping 22.09%. The number of U.S. race days and number of races run each increased by double digits, though average field size and the average wagering per race day declined modestly. Average purses per race day were $295,009, an increase of 4.04% over 2021.

When compared to February 2020, weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began to wreak havoc on North American racing, wagering this year was ahead by 1.09%, while U.S. purses were down by about 2%.

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