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Derby, Oaks Preps Highlight Saturday’s Broadcast Of America’s Day At The Races

Exciting live racing from Aqueduct Racetrack, Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay Downs will comprise Saturday's broadcast of America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will air from 2:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Eastern on FS2, including four graded stakes from Fair Grounds, highlighted by the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles at the New Orleans-based track in Race 13 at 7:18 p.m. Eastern.

The Kentucky Derby prep race offers 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the top-four finishers. Leading the charge is Grade 3 Lecomte-winner Midnight Bourbon for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Midnight Bourbon ran third in his only appearance in New York in the Grade 1 Champagne on Oct. 10 that closed out his juvenile campaign. He started his 3-year-old season with a one-length win going 1 1/16-mile in the Lecomte on Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds.

Proxy, the runner-up to Midnight Bourbon in that contest, will get the chance to turn the tables for trainer Michael Stidham, while Lecomte third-place finisher Mandaloun will also look to improve for trainer Brad Cox.

The Risen Star is the last of four consecutive graded stakes at Fair Grounds and five stakes overall, which starts with the Albert M. Stall Memorial for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going 1 1/16 miles on the turf in Race 9 at 5:12 p.m.

The broadcast's graded stakes portion commences with the Grade 3, $200,000 Mineshaft for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles in Race 10 at 5:44 p.m. Maxfield, a perfect 4-for-4, will look to stay unbeaten for trainer Brendan Walsh after closing his sophomore year with a win in the Tenacious in December at Fair Grounds following victories in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and the Grade 3 Matt Winn.

Wells Bayou, who ran third in the Grade 3 Louisiana last month in his first start since running in the 2020 Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, will be seeking his first win in 11 months for Cox. Chess Chief, who ran off the board in the 2019 Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga will also go for trainer Dallas Stewart.

Rounding out the undercard for Risen Star is the Grade 3, $150,000 Fair Grounds in Race 11 at 6:16 p.m. that will see 4-year-olds and up go 1 1/8 miles and feature a formidable duo by Cox in Factor This and Set Piece. Factor This has netted triple digit Beyer Speed Figures four times in his career, including a 110 for his win in the Grade 2 Dinner Party on Preakness Day, Oct. 3, at Pimlico. The English-bred Set Piece has won three of his five starts since arriving from Europe last year.

Race 12 at Fair Grounds showcases the Grade 2, $300,000 Rachel Alexandra for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles in a contest offering 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Post time is 6:47 p.m.

Souper Sensational, a $725,000 purchase in 2019 and trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, will make her graded stakes debut and seeks her second stakes win overall after capturing the Glorious Song in October at Woodbine.

NYRA paddock analyst Maggie Wolfendale will be reporting live on-site from Fair Grounds.

Tampa Bay Downs will offer the $100,000 Pelican for 4-year-olds and up going six furlongs in Race 9 at 4:19 p.m. Cool Arrow, winner of the Grade 3 Smile Spirit in September at Gulfstream Park, will seek more stakes blacktype.

Aqueduct will host a nine-race card with a first post time of 1 p.m. America's Day at the Races will broadcast races 5-through-9.

America's Day at the Races is also broadcast on NYRA's YouTube channel which boasts more than 64,000 subscribers. Fans can subscribe to NYRA's channel and set a reminder to watch the show on YouTube Live. NYRA's YouTube channel also hosts a plethora of race replays, special features, America's Day at the Races replays and more.

Free Equibase-provided past performances are available for races that are part of the America's Day at the Races broadcast and can be accessed at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official online wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

For the current broadcast schedule and additional programming information, visit NYRA.com.

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Australia Jockey Handed One-Year Ban For Mistreatment Of Horses

Queensland jockey Chris McIver has been banned for 12 months for “stomping” on a horse at the stalls – the third ban he has received for mistreating horses.

McIver, 33, returned from seven months on the sidelines only in November after he was stood down for whipping a horse on the head.

That sentence included an extra month activated from when he was found guilty of misconduct in 2019 for kicking and punching a horse after a race, resulting in a three-month ban, of which a month was suspended.

In the latest incident McIver faced a Queensland Racing Integrity Commission inquiry for kicking a horse at the barriers before a race last month at Rockhampton, in Central Queensland. He was found guilty of misconduct after he twice forcibly stomped on the hindquarters of his mount Or Else.

Chief Thoroughbred steward Peter Chadwick said any rule breach involving the mistreatment of a racehorse must be met with a significant penalty.

McIver was previously banned for striking Absolute Bonza on the head as he they pulled up at the end of this race in 2020

“The penalty must not only deter Mr McIver but must also illustrate to the racing industry that these actions are not to be tolerated,” said Chadwick. “In this case Mr McIver also had two recent breaches of the misconduct rule in 2019 and 2020.”

McIver's was one of four misconduct cases dealt with by QRIC, which issued a general warning to the sport's participants to keep their behavior in check or suffer the consequences.

Jockey Nigel Seymour was found guilty of misconduct and disqualified for nine months for sending threatening text messages to a licensed trainer.

In another incident, Brisbane-based jockey Nathan Thomas pleaded guilty to misconduct and was suspended for two weeks after he struck his mount in the shoulder with his whip after getting dislodged before a race at Mackay.

While stablehand Nick Trimble pleaded guilty to misconduct and was disqualified for three months for striking a horse in the girth while unsaddling following a race.

Chadwick said all of the incidents had a detrimental effect on the image of racing, and penalties must serve as a general deterrent to illustrate to the racing industry that these activities were unacceptable.

This story was originally published by Horse Racing Planet and is reprinted here with permission.

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Gulfstream: Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed At $1.3 Million

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $1.3 million Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

The Rainbow 6 went unsolved for the 11th straight racing day Wednesday, when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $21,145.52.

A mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is scheduled for Saturday's 12-race program that will also feature the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) and the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3).

The jackpot pool is usually only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. However, on mandatory payout days the whole pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors holding tickets with the most winners in the six-race sequence.

Undefeated Structor, idle since winning the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), is entered in an optional claiming allowance on Saturday's program at Gulfstream Park.

Don Rachel and Jeff Drown's 4-year-old son of Palace Malice, who was injured while training last June, is undefeated in three starts, including the Pilgrim (G3) at Belmont prior to his Breeders' Cup score.

Jose Ortiz is scheduled to ride the Chad Brown trainee in the mile turf race carded as Race 10.

WHO'S HOT: Leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. doubled aboard Eagerly ($4.40) in Race 6 and Little Bit Good ($13.80) in Race 10. Miguel Vasquez scored back-to-back aboard Choose Joy ($9.60) in Race 8 and Soldollie ($13) in Race 9.

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Keepmeinmind Staying Put for Southwest

Despite the weather-enforced postponement of the GIII Southwest S., Keepmeinmind (Laoban) will remain in his stall at Oaklawn Park and will pass this weekend's GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds, trainer Robertino Diodoro confirmed Wednesday.

“In the end, I feel better running him out of his own stall,” Diodoro said.

The bay colt, who was third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile before breaking his maiden in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 28, turned in his sixth breeze of the year Monday in Hot Springs, going a half-mile in :49.60 beneath jockey David Cohen.

“David did a great job again working him,” said Diodoro, Oaklawn's leading trainer last year. “A horse like him, as aggressive as he is, you get the wrong guy on him and all of sudden your nice, easy half-mile work could turn into :45, :46. Even with those other works, it's the same thing. He's a horse that you've definitely got to have the right guy on or you could really blow a work.”

The Southwest is also likely to attract champion Essential Quality (Tapit) and MGISW Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music).

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