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Knicks Go Re-Routed To Met Mile

Multiple Grade 1 winner Knicks Go had been targeting the May 31 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park for his first start back after finishing fourth in the Saudi Cup in February, but the 5-year-old son of Paynter has been re-routed to the Grade 1 Met Mile on June 5 at Belmont Park.

Trainer Brad Cox told the Daily Racing Form the reason behind the change is that Charlatan, second-place finisher in the Saudi Cup, will not appear in the Met Mile entry box. The Bob Baffert-trained colt was taken out of training for an unspecified issue earlier this month, and his trainer is currently banned from entering horses at NYRA racetracks.

Other likely entrants in the G1 Met Mile include: Mischevious Alex, Dr Post, Silver State, and Lexitonian. Possibles include Ny Traffic and Rushie.

Cox has several other contenders for the loaded Belmont Stakes Festival, including juvenile champion Essential Quality in the marquee event. Shedaresthedevil and Bonny South are pointing to the Ogden Phipps, Travel Column the Acorn, Caddo River the Woody Stephens, and Kinenos the Belmont Gold Cup.

Agenda Set For Track Superintendents’ Field Day At Indiana Grand

After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the 20th Annual Track Superintendents' Field Day is set to be held June 14-15 at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino and registrations are on pace for possible record attendance. Organizers have announced the agenda for the gathering that brings together track superintendents and staff to discuss best practices related to track maintenance, safety and operational issues for racing and training facilities.

“Track Supers Field Day has been growing just about every year, and we've seen even more interest this year as the industry continues to focus on the vital issues of track maintenance and safety,” said Roy Smith, founder of the event and track superintendent at Indiana Grand. “This year we've tried to expand the scope of the meeting to include more attendees from training centers and farms with training tracks, and so far we've had a very good response. We are still accepting registrations, so we encourage anyone who works with track surfaces to join us.”

An optional golf event will be held June 13, and then the meetings will begin on June 14 with workshops all day and a trackside BBQ that night with cigars and live music. Meetings will continue on the morning of June 15, followed by a keynote address at lunch and then an afternoon of racing at Indiana Grand.

There are no registration fees for track supers and staff thanks to the support of sponsors.

The speakers on the agenda include Joe Morris, senior vice president of racing for Caesars; Mike Ziegler, senior vice president and general manager of Churchill Downs; Dr. Michael DePew, an agronomist/soil scientist and industry-leading leading soil expert; trainer Michael Dickinson, president of Tapeta Footings Inc.; Dr. William Farmer, equine medical director for Churchill Downs Inc.; Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA; Ginny Smith of Advanced Turf Solutions; and Brett Davis and Mark Lowery of New Holland.

For more information, go to www.tracksupers.com.

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Outadore Installed As Morning LIne Favorite For Friday’s Penn Mile

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course announced Monday that a field of seven horses has been entered for the eighth running of the $300,000 Penn Mile (G2) for 3-year-olds going one mile on the turf to be run on Friday, May 28.

Post time for the 11-race card is 6 P.M. EST with the Penn Mile set as the fourth race scheduled for approximately 7:45 P.M. as the final leg of an “All Stakes – All Turf Pick 4.” The Pick 4 will kick off with two $100,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-breds followed by the $100,000 Penn Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going one mile on the turf.

Also featured on the evening card is a mandatory payout of the Hollywood High 5 carryover in race 7 which currently stands at over $216,000 as of Friday, May 21

Breeze Easy, LLC's Outadore, trained by Wesley Ward, was installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite for the Penn Mile. A winner in his last race in the Animal Kingdom Stakes at Turfway Park on the synthetic surface, Outadore will switch back to the turf for Friday's featured race. Twice a winner on the turf as a two-year-old, Outadore also finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Keeneland last fall. Irad Ortiz, Jr., Eclipse Award winner as the top rider in North America for three consecutive years and winner of the 2017 Penn Mile aboard Frostmourne, is scheduled to ride.

Hall of Famer conditioner Bill Mott will saddle 9-5 morning line second choice Annex for owners LNJ Foxwoods and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. A winner of his first three lifetime starts including the Cutlers Bay and Palm Beach stakes at Gulfstream Park earlier this year, Annex finished eighth, beaten only five and half lengths, as the favorite in the Grade 2 American Turf run at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby day race card. Jockey Junior Alvarado has the mount.

The Mike Maker trained Chess's Dream, owned by Michael Dubb, Steven Bouchey, Bethlehem Stables LLC and Chester A. Bishop, also last raced in the American Turf checking in seventh. Chess's Dream was victorious in the Kitten's Joy (G3) at Gulfstream Park in January and will be ridden by jockey Kendrick Carmouche on Friday.

Hall of Famer and recent Kentucky Derby winning jockey John Velazquez will be aboard Eric Fein's Original. Trained by John Terranova II, Original placed third in his last two starts – the Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct and the aforementioned Kitten's Joy won by Chess's Dream.

Rounding out the field is Godolphin, LLC's Gershwin, trained by Michael Stidham and ridden by Joe Bravo, J Park Racing, LLC and Delia Nash's Sibelius, trained by Jeremiah O'Dwyer and ridden by Sheldon Russell, and Kernan E Morris, Jr. and Jagger Inc.'s The King Cheek, trained by Jamie Ness and ridden by Jaime Rodriguez.

After only seven previous editions the Grade 2 Penn Mile has quickly become one of the top turf events of the year for the 3-year-old division earning Grade 3 status after just three runnings and moving up to Grade 2 status after just four renewals. In its short history, prior Penn Mile winners include Breeders' Cup champion Bobby's Kitten as well as Grade 1 winners Catch a Glimpse and Force the Pass in its short history.

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Canadian Derby Winner Real Grace Named Alberta’s 2020 Horse Of The Year

The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (Alberta Division) hosted the 47th Annual Alberta Thoroughbred Awards in a virtual format on May 20th, 2021, led by Horse of the Year Real Grace.

Real Grace, a Mineshaft gelding, won two of nine starts in 2020, highlighted by an 18-1 upset victory in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby at Century Mile. Earlier in the season, he also won the Derby Trial Stakes at Assiniboia Downs.

The gelding started his 2020 campaign at Tampa Bay Downs after selling as a unraced racing-age prospect at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Winter Mixed Sale in January. He raced twice in Florida, including a second-place effort in a maiden special weight for owner and trainer Bernell Rhone. He then shipped north to Canterbury Park for another second-place effort, this time with additional owners Shelley Brown, Jean McEwan, and Bette Holtman.

Real Grace then went north of the border for the remainder of his campaign and raced for trainer Shelley Brown, starting at Assiniboia Downs in Manitoba, where he broke his maiden in the Derby Trial Stakes. He then finished fifth in the Manitoba Derby.

The remainder of the gelding's season was spent at Century Mile in Alberta. He debuted with a win in the Count Lathum Handicap, and later found the highlight of his season in the Canadian Derby, Alberta's biggest race.

In addition to taking home Horse of the Year honors, Real Grace also earned the title as Alberta's champion 3-year-old male.

Bred in Kentucky by Peter Johnson, Real Grace is out of the stakes-winning Yes It's True mare True Way of Grace.

Following is a complete list of winners from the Alberta Thoroughbred Awards.

The H.B.P.A. Trophy
Champion Claimer: Something About Me
Trainer: Allen Goodsell
Owner: Carter Goodsell
Breeder: Paul Treasure & Harry Bettis
Ch. F. 4., by Boos – Justbluffin (Pine Bluff)
2020: 9 Starts – 5 wins – 1 second – 2 thirds – $39,424
Winner: Allowance Optional Claiming, Claiming

The Century Downs Racetrack and Casino Trophy
Champion Sprinter: Stone Carver
Trainer: Tim Rycroft
Owner: Riversedge Racing Stables Ltd.
Breeder: T/C Stable, LLC
B. G. 5., by Birdstone – Vermilion Sea (Boundary)
2020: 7 Starts – 1 wins – 3 second – 0 thirds – $42,290
Winner: Journal Handicap (BT)

The Dwight McLellan Memorial Trophy
Champion 2-Year-Old Filly: She Likes to Party
Trainer: Greg Tracy
Owner: Don Danard
Breeder: Lou Neve
B. F. 2., by Maclean's Music – Gone to Party (All Gone)
2020: 4 Starts – 3 wins – 0 second – 0 thirds – $81,000
Winner: Princess Margaret Stakes, Freedom of the City Stakes (BT)

The Rocky Mountain Turf Club Trophy
Champion 2-Year-Old Colt: Bang On*
Trainer: Craig Smith
Owner: True North Stables Ltd.
Breeder: Running Fawcett Thoroughbreds Ltd.
B. C. 2., by Commissioner – Next Big Nothin' (Forest Wildcat)
2020: 5 Starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 1 thirds – $59,264
Winner: Birdcatcher Stakes (BT)

The Dave Kapchinsky Memorial Trophy
Champion 3-Year-Old Filly: Pearl of Knowledge*
Trainer: Karline Kingston
Owner: Don Danard & Jim Juris
Breeder: Starline Thoroughbreds
B. F. 3., by Cape Canaveral – Lil Missknowitall (Kafwain)
2020: 6 Starts – 2 wins – 2 second – 1 thirds – $54,760
Winner: Alberta Oaks

Sponsored by Bar None Ranches Ltd.
Champion 3-Year-Old Colt: Real Grace
Trainer: Shelley Brown
Owner: Shelley Brown, Jean McEwan, Bette Holtman, Bernell Rhone
Breeder: Peter Johnson
B. G. 3., by Mineshaft – True Way of Grace (Yes It's True)
2020: 9 Starts – 2 wins – 3 second – 0 thirds – $89,162
Winner: Derby Trial Stakes, Canadian Derby (G3)

The Moore Equine Veterinary Centre Ltd. Trophy
Champion Older Mare: Sunburst
Trainer: Barbara Heads
Owner: Russell & Lois Bennett
Breeder: Mr. & Mrs. R J Bennett
Ch. F. 4., by Sungold – Tierra Del Feugo (Finality)
2020: 4 Starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 1 thirds – $70,560
Winner: Redtail Landing Handicap, Northlands Distaff Handicap (Listed)

The Century Mile Racetrack and Casino Trophy
Champion Older Horse: Go Away
Trainer: James Brown
Owner: Kirk Sutherland
Breeder: Lynch Bages Ltd.
B. G. 4., by Scat Daddy – Elbow (Woodman)
2020: 11 Starts – 3 wins – 3 second – 3 thirds – $80,980
Winner: Don Getty Handicap (BT)

The Ted Connor Memorial Trophy
Champion Alberta-bred: Maskwecis*
Trainer: Ron K Smith
Owner: Jim & Carole Barker, Red Ron Farms
Breeder: Doug Oberg
B. G. 3., by Jimmy Creed – Maidstone (Aptitude)
2020: 5 Starts – 3 wins – 0 second – 1 thirds – $57,760
Winner: Western Canada Handicap, Beaufort Stakes

The Horse Racing Alberta Trophy
Horse of the Year: Real Grace
Trainer: Shelley Brown
Owner: Shelley Brown, Jean McEwan, Bette Holtman, Bernell Rhone
Breeder: Peter Johnson
B. G. 3., by Mineshaft – True Way of Grace (Yes It's True)
2020: 9 Starts – 2 wins – 3 second – 0 thirds – $89,162
Winner: Derby Trial Stakes, Canadian Derby (G3)

Sponsored by the H.B.P.A.
Leading Apprentice Jockey: Mauricio Malvaez
Starts: 191 – Wins: 16 – Seconds: 27 – Thirds: 16
Earnings $280,625

Canadian Sovereign Apprentice Jockey, Mauricio Malvaez, was the top apprentice last season at Century Mile with 16 wins including a victory in the biggest race in Alberta, the Grade 3 Canadian Derby/

The Lou Davies Memorial Trophy
Leading Jockey: Rico Walcott
Starts: 204 – Wins: 68 – Seconds: 39 – Thirds: 38
Earnings $820,968

Rico Walcott returned to the track last season after a health battle sidelined him in 2019. This award becomes the ninth Leading Jockey title for Rico in the past ten years.

The H.B.P.A. Trophy
Leading Trainer: Tim Rycroft
Starts: 237 – Wins: 42 – Seconds: 38 – Thirds: 46
Earnings $646,551

Tim Rycroft earned the third Leading Trainer title for the third consecutive year with Rycroft trained horses earning over $640,000 and 42 wins last season. The top runner for Tim in 2020 was the multiple stakes placed Alberta bred runner, Saveitforarainyday.

The C.T.H.S. Trophy
Leading Breeder: Highfield Investment Group
Starts: 74 – Wins: 16 – Seconds: 4 – Thirds: 7
Earnings: $290,736

The Leading Breeder goes to Highfield Investment Group for a season that saw horses bred by Highfield earn over $290,000 with 16 wins. The top Highfield-bred horse last season was Jasper Shine, out of their multiple stakes winning mare, Golden Made.

The Jockey Club of Canada Trophy
Leading Owner: Riversedge Racing Stables Ltd.
Starts: 130 – Wins: 23 – Seconds: 25 – Thirds: 23
Earnings: $417,781

The Leading Owner title was awarded to Riversedge Racing Stables Ltd. for back to back awards in this category. Horses owned by Riversedge earned over $400,000 with 23 wins. The leading earners for Riversedge last season include Stone Carver, Bareback Jack and Dad's Legacy.

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