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Canadian Champion Gretzky The Great Headlines Sunday’s Toronto Cup

The $125,000 Toronto Cup and the $100,000 Belle Mahone co-headline Sunday's 11-race card at Woodbine.

Nine 3-year-olds, a group that includes Artie's Storm, Gretzky the Great and Riptide Rock, will travel one mile on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course in the Toronto Cup.

Owned and trained by Paul Buttigieg, Artie's Storm will chase his first added-money score in his third stakes appearance.

A son of We Miss Artie-Tiz Stormy Now, Artie's Storm heads into the Toronto Cup off a third-place effort in the Greenwood Stakes, just a head back of winner Gretzky the Great, who he'll meet again on Sunday.

Artie's Storm rallied stoutly in the Greenwood, contested at seven furlongs over the E.P. Taylor on August 14.

David Moran, who has been aboard for all five of the dark bay's starts, once again gets the call.

“He's a lovely horse,” said the multiple stakes winning jockey. “He loves the turf, but I don't think the surface matters at all with him. He settles lovely in every race and he always tries. The distance for this race won't be an issue for him because he's very relaxed in the race and he loves the turf. He's just a nice horse.”

Moran handed out top marks to the gelding for the determined Greenwood showing.

“He just got beat. He just missed second by a head bob, where he was in front just before and just after the wire. It was hard-luck not to be second to Gretzky the Great last time.”

Artie's Storm debuted last October at the Toronto oval, rallying to finish third, a neck away from taking top spot in the 5 ½-furlong Tapeta race.

Bred by Sunrise Farm, Artie's Storm broke his maiden next time out in his three-year-old debut in a main track race over seven panels on the main track.

After a runner-up result in the Queenston Stakes, he was back in the winner's circle, recording a half-length score in a 1 1/16-mile turf race on July 24.

“When I came back after that first race, I said, 'Paul, you've got a really nice horse here,'” recalled Moran. “I told my agent all winter not to miss that horse. He's just improved every race. He's training really well coming into this race. He's a lovely horse to be around and has a great attitude.”

Multiple stakes winner and Canada's champion 2-year-old male Gretzky the Great goes after his fifth career win his ninth start. Bred by Anderson Farms Ontario, the son of Nyquist is trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.

Riptide Rock, who finished a hard-charging second to Safe Conduct in the Queen's Plate on August 22, will return to the turf for the first time since his career bow last October, when he was a 2 ½-length winner in a six-furlong race on the E.P. Taylor. The Stronach homebred is trained by hall of famer Sid Attard.

Also on Sunday, seven starters will go postward in the Belle Mahone Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile main track event for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and upward. Trainer Mark Casse sends out the trio of Art of Almost, Crystal Glacier and Skygaze.

The Woodbine Turf Endurance Series continues with a 1 ½-mile Inner Turf race. Mambointheforest, at 79-1, took the first leg, at 1 3/8-miles on the Inner, for trainer Ron Sadler and owner Phillip Lanning. The series concludes with a 1 ¾-mile marathon on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course on October 3.

The Toronto Cup is scheduled as the eighth race on Sunday's 1:10 p.m. program. The Duchess is slated as race nine.

Fans can watch and wager on all the action through HPIbet.com.

$125,000 TORONTO CUP STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Riptide Rock – Justin Stein – Sid Attard

2 – Artie's Storm – David Moran – Paul Buttigieg

3 – War Bomber (IRE) – Shaun Bridgmohan – Norm McKnight

4 – Derzkii – Jason Hoyte – Carlos Grant

5 – My Sea Cottage (IRE) (S) – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse

6 – Lenny K – Antonio Gallardo – Kevin Attard

7 – Azzurro – Eswan Flores – John Mattine

8 – Barnegat Light – Pablo Morales – Timothy Hamm

9 – Gretzky the Great – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

$100,000 BELLE MAHONE STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Crystal Glacier – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

2 – No Mo Lady (S) – Luis Contreras – Michael Trombetta

3 – Saratoga Vision – Jeffrey Alderson – Alexander Patykewich

4 – Skygaze – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

5 – Art of Almost – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

6 – Fate Factor – Rafael Hernandez – Chris Block

7 – Antigone – Daisuke Fukumoto – Zeljko Krcmar

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Keeneland, Kentucky Downs Team To Offer Racing Opportunities To Horses Sold At September Sale

Horses offered at auction during the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale will be eligible to run in a pair of $250,000 allowance races at the 2022 FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.

Keeneland and Kentucky Downs today announced an arrangement where Kentucky Downs will stage one $250,000 allowance race for 2-year-old fillies and one for 2-year-old colts and geldings restricted to horses that go through the sales ring at Keeneland's world-famous yearling auction Sept. 13-24 in Lexington, Ky. Yearlings that are sold as well as those not reaching their reserve bid will be eligible for the lucrative allowance events the following September at Kentucky Downs.

“This innovative venture between Keeneland and Kentucky Downs is a win/win, rewarding those horsemen who buy yearlings at the September Sale with lucrative racing opportunities while enhancing Kentucky's racing circuit,” Keeneland vice president of racing Gatewood Bell said. “It is an investment very much in keeping with Keeneland's mission to strengthen the sport of racing, and an example of how collaboration among racing entities benefits our industry.”

“Every meet, owners tell us after winning a race that now they have more money for the Keeneland September Yearling sale,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' vice president for racing. “This is just another incentive to keep those sales horses in Kentucky or to bring them back to the state to race. This should also help breeders and consignors of yearlings with turf pedigrees, giving potential owners extra reason to buy a grass horse.”

Kentucky Downs already offers the largest purses in America. To put the $250,000 purse in perspective, an entry-level allowance race for 2-year-olds at the 2021 meet carries a purse of $145,800, of which $75,600 comes from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF).

The Keeneland sale-restricted allowance purses will not include any KTDF money, which is available only to registered Kentucky-bred horses. That means horses born anywhere will run for the entire $250,000, which is more than the purses of most stakes races.

Funding will come out of the Kentucky Downs' horsemen's purse account under an agreement with the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents owners and trainers at the commonwealth's five Thoroughbred racetracks.

“This is just another example of horsemen and racetracks working together to strengthen the entire circuit,” said Marty Maline, executive director of the Kentucky HBPA. “This also gives owners buying horses in the middle and end of Keeneland's September Sale the opportunity to compete for big bucks with a horse that might not cost a lot of money.”

Kentucky Downs' 2021 meet opened Sunday, Sept. 5 and continues on Sept. 11 and 12. The six-date session was scheduled to pay out more than $15 million in purses, including KTDF supplements.

Keeneland's September Yearling Sale is the world's most important Thoroughbred auction, offering quality yearlings at all levels of the market. Attracting buyers from across the world, Keeneland September is racing's No. 1 source of future champions and Grade 1 winners. The 2021 auction spans 11 daily sessions, beginning Monday, Sept. 13.

A total of 2,481 yearlings were sold for a collective $248,978,700 at last year's September Sale. While the sales topper fetched $2 million, the average price was $100,354 with the median being $37,000.

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Biancone: Diamond Oops ‘Runs his Best When He’s Doing Something Different’

When Andie Biancone saddles Diamond Oops in Kentucky Downs $1 million G3 FanDuel Turf Sprint on Saturday it will be yet another episode in the ongoing multi-generational, two-family affair.

Diamond Oops, the 6-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky, is a member of the third of four generations of his family trained by Biancone's father, Patrick. Andie has joined the family business, is an assistant trainer and the exercise rider for the multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire gelding.

After Diamond Oops ran third as the 8-5 favorite in the six-furlong G3 Smile Stakes on dirt on July 3 at Gulfstream Park, his connections decided that it was time to try something new and began preparing for a September trip to Kentucky Downs.

“Initially, the plan for this year was to really focus on six furlongs on the dirt, because that's really his niche. That's really where we feel like he does his best,” she said. “But last race, we ran him and he just ran like a pretty flat third. We think it's because he's bored. This horse runs his best when he's doing something different. He loves to run six furlongs on the dirt, a mile on the turf, five furlongs on the turf. He loves the change. He's so intelligent and he really appreciates doing things differently. I think that's why he loves Kentucky Downs so much. It's because it's not a race track. It's so big, so different. And he's just so happy.”

During training hours Wednesday, Diamond Oops showed Biancone, 24, just how pleased he is to be at the sprawling track in rural southern Kentucky very close to the border with Tennessee.

“It's like he's at Disneyland here,” she said. “It's just kind of blowing his mind a little bit. The space. The grass. Everything. He's so excited. He's also just so well right now. My dad really has him in his best form.

“He came out of the barn, heard some gravel move and then he just reared straight up and bashed me in the face with his head. I'm a little concussed, but it's a long way from my heart. It's okay. I can survive. He definitely felt sorry afterwards. He was giving me the baby eyes like 'Mom, I'm so sorry.' I was like, 'Hmm. OK. You can make it up to me on Saturday.' I'm like, 'Save it, save it for the race. Please keep yourself composed for 48 hours.”

The horse and human connections go back more than 20 years when Patrick Biancone was training Diamond Oops' grandsire, the multiple graded-stakes winner Whywhywhy and his second dam Patriotic Diva, owned by Kin Hui. After Patriotic Diva retired, Hui bred her to Whywhywhy and that mating produced the 2007 filly Patriotic Viva, who became the dam of Diamond Oops. Patrick Biancone also trained other foals dropped by Patriotic Viva. This summer, the 2-year-old Diamond Wow, a daughter of Diamond Oops' sister, Patriotic Diamond, broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park.

“It's been really cool. They're just such a classy family,” Andie Biancone said.

Bred by Hui, Diamond Oops is co-owned by Hui's Diamond 100 Racing Club, Amy Dunne, D P Racing and Patrick Biancone Racing. He wasn't supposed to end up in Biancone's care.

“We named him Oops, because he was so ugly and we got stuck with him, kind of,” Andie Biancone said. “We tried to, sell him as a weanling and he was a no-bid at the sale. It's so funny because when he won the Phoenix (in 2020), Keeneland posted like a little video of him in the ring, I always wondered what he looked like as a baby. And they posted this video of him in the ring. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, a mule.' He really looked like a donkey. It's so funny how much he's grown into himself. He's obviously gorgeous now.”

Diamond Oops won a pair of stakes as a 2-year-old, but was limited to a single start as a 3-year-old by what was feared to be a career-ending leg injury. After a 10-month layoff, Diamond Oops returned to competition and won the Smile in his third start. He was second in a pair of G1 stakes, the A.G. Vanderbilt on dirt and the Shadwell Turf Mile, and was eighth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and completed his season with a victory in the G3 Mr. Prospector.

Last year, he captured G2 stakes on turf and dirt and was sixth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Noting that Diamond Oops wasn't at his best later in the season in the Breeders' Cup, his connections gave him a couple of months off during the winter and plotted a conservative schedule for 2021. The Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs was a reworking of the plan and will be his sixth career start on grass. A victory will earn him a guaranteed, fees-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint through the “Win and You're In” program.

Based on his history and the way he feels under her in the morning, Andie Biancone expects him to run well Saturday.

“He's gutsy,” she said. “When he ran the Shadwell Turf Mile, I thought that was pretty bold to run him two turns, but he finished a really game second. That's just him. He loves a challenge. He's not afraid. He doesn't back down and he literally thinks he's like the only horse in the world. It's just that cocky attitude of his.”

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Isaac Castillo Not Content With Breakout Year, Sets Sights On More Stakes Wins

After a year of “firsts,” 23-year-old jockey Isaac Castillo knows exactly what's next to keep his career on the rising arc it's now on.

“I need to win more stakes races. That's the next step for me,” he said.

After the breakout year Castillo has had at Monmouth Park, stakes victories are part of the logical progression that has seen the native of Panama improve his win total for all six years he has been riding.

This year has been particularly noteworthy as Castillo heads into a heavy three-day workload at Monmouth Park this weekend.

He is currently second in the Monmouth Park rider standings with 49 wins, trailing only Paco Lopez, the runaway leader seeking his eighth title. Last year he won 21 races at the meet.

Castillo also has 87 overall wins from 541 mounts after winning 36 races from 284 mounts a year ago.

“I'm very happy with the way everything is going,” he said. “It feels good to have this success. I have worked hard and the trainers have supported me. I would say it's even better than I expected this year.”

Castillo's other “firsts” in 2021 include riding in a Grade 1 race – something he did twice on the same day, with a mount in both the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (Basso) and the United Nations (Oceans Map). Neither longshot showed much but Castillo was grateful for the experience.

“It meant a lot just to ride in a Grade 1 race for the first time, and to do it twice in the same day was special for me,” he said.

Castillo said the momentum for his big year started at Tampa Downs over the winter and carried through to the Monmouth Park meet. His work ethic has taken that to another level this summer.

Though he has won two stakes races at the meet – the Rainbow Heir Stakes with Belgrano and the Regret Stakes aboard Bronx Beauty – he knows they have to come with more frequency at this stage of his career. He is convinced they will.

“I am seeing what happens if you keep working hard,” he said. “I'm out there every morning doing what I can do to get better. I want to be good and I know you have to work hard to get there. Good things happen if you work hard.

“The funny thing is I am not tired at all, not mentally or physically, from how much I have ridden this year. It just makes me hungrier. Hopefully more trainers will see the success I am having and I will continue to get better and better horses to ride.”

And finishing second in this case is actually something to feel good about.

“That would be a big accomplishment. There are a lot of good jockeys here,” he said. “Everyone knows how tough Paco Lopez is here. He's hard for anyone to beat. So being second to him would be a big deal for me.”

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