Tag: Horseplayers

Suburban Stakes (G2) winner Dynamic One headlines the 1 1/4-mile, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at historic Saratoga Race Course, as the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series continues this Saturday live on NBC and Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET, with automatic starting position into the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on the line.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup broadcast is the fifth program this year in the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In – presented by America's Best Racing” on NBC, Peacock, and CNBC from some of North America's most iconic racetracks. The series leads to the 39th Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 4-5. The complete series TV schedule can be accessed here and the NBC Sports programming schedule can be found here.

Saturday's 90-minute program will also include coverage of the $600,000 Flower Bowl Stakes (G2), which will provide the winner an automatic berth into the $2 million Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1).

NBC Sports' coverage will feature commentary and discussion led by Randy Moss and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, winner of 15 Breeders' Cup races including five victories in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, reporter Kenny Rice, and handicapper Matt Bernier.

Dynamic One, a 4-year-old colt owned by Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable, has won his last two starts. He captured the 1 1/8-mile listed Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 4. He started next in the 1 1/4-mile Suburban at Belmont Park on July 9, and in a furious stretch drive defeated First Captain by a nose, with stablemate Untreated finishing three-quarters of a length back in third.

Commenting on the improvement of Dynamic One, trainer Todd Pletcher said: “He's made steady progress throughout this year. I think each race has been better than the previous one, culminating with a win in the Suburban. We've been pointing for The Jockey Club since then and has had a good schedule. The horse has trained well and we're happy with the way he's coming into the race.”

Pletcher's Grade 1-winning starter in the Gold Cup is CHC Inc and WinStar Farm LLC's 4-year-old Americanrevolution, who won last year's Cigar Mile (G1) at Aqueduct. This year, the son of Constitution finished fourth in the Blame Stakes and was second to Olympiad in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs on July 2.

The fourth Pletcher starter is Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith, and Spendthrift Farm LLC's 4-year-old Keepmeinmind, who returned from an 11-month layoff and won his first race for the seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, taking a 1 1/8-mile allowance race by 2 ¾ lengths at Saratoga on July 22. Keepmeinmind finished second by a half-length to eventual 3-year-old champion Essential Quality in last year's Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has four career Jockey Club Gold Cup winners. On Saturday, he sends out West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm LLC, Bobby Flay, and Woodford Racing, LLC's First Captain, who has two wins in four starts this year. Prior to his second-place finish in the Suburban, First Captain, a son of 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Curlin, captured the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special (G3) at Pimlico Race Course on May 20.

Olympiad, trained by Bill Mott, earned an automatic berth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Stephen Foster Stakes, which was his fifth consecutive win of the year. Owned by Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable LLC, and LNJ Foxwoods, Olympiad's winning streak ended when he finished fourth in the Whitney Stakes on Aug. 6.

In the 1 3/16-mile Flower Bowl, George Krikorian's five-year-old mare War Like Goddess will be a prohibitive favorite against six rivals. The defending Flower Bowl champion, War Like Goddess has won both her starts this year for trainer Bill Mott, taking the Bewitch Stakes (G3) at Keeneland in April and the Glens Falls Stakes (G2) at Saratoga on Aug. 6. Peter Brant's Virginia Joy (GER), won the Sheepshead Bay Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park in May, and finished third in the Glens Falls for trainer Chad Brown.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winners of The Jockey Club Gold Cup winner and The Flower Bowl to start in the World Championships. Breeders' Cup will also provide a $10,000 travel allowance for all starters based outside of Kentucky to compete in the World Championships.

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Sky Racing World has announced an important enhancement to its content portfolio of international racing by facilitating the commingling of USA wagering pools into pools hosted in the United Kingdom by Arena Racing Company. The commingling of pools commenced Aug. 30 for United Kingdom Greyhound racing product provided by Arena Racing Company and simulcast across the United States  by Sky Racing World.

The addition of UK Greyhound Racing product builds upon the existing portfolio of Greyhound Racing offered by Sky Racing World with the simulcast of Australian Greyhound Racing having been distributed in the U.S. since June 2020. U.S. Greyhound racing fans will now be able to experience quality United Kingdom Greyhound racing product seven days a week, from a variety of new locations including Nottingham, Great Yarmouth, Kinsley, Newcastle, Perry Barr, Sunderland, and Swindon.

U.S. players will be able to access the United Kingdom Greyhound wagering pools via Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) partners who offer wagering on Greyhounds. At launch, the wagering bet types offered will be Win, Place, Exacta and Trifecta. The commingling of pools will no doubt provide improved liquidity, greater stability of odds and a more attractive wagering proposition to players on both sides of the pond.

David Haslett, CEO of Sky Racing World, stated: “We are proud to introduce the simulcast of UK Greyhound racing to the USA and believe the commingling of pools will provide a boost to wagering play which will benefit handicappers and the UK Greyhound Racing Industry.”

Mark Kingston, Director of Media Technology and Production at ARC, said, “We are delighted to work with Sky Racing World in this new partnership which will showcase our high-quality greyhound product to customers in the USA.  We will drive a number of benefits to punters in both the USA and UK, including improved liquidity to the pools.”

All races will be live-streamed on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms. Fans can also get free access to past performances and picks at skyracingworld.com.

Sky Racing World, a subsidiary of Tabcorp, is Australia's biggest wagering and entertainment company. It retains the exclusive rights to distribute live racing from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Singapore, Japan (NAR) and Argentina to territories across the Americas and the Caribbean. It also remains the leading digital source for premium tipping content from the Southern Hemisphere's leading race markets and live video broadcasts.

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The Grade 1, $1 million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes, a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Classic, didn't draw a big field but it drew a very strong field of six, with three millionaires and a budding superstar who can go over the $1 million mark in career earnings with a victory.

That horse is Flightline, who is undefeated and untested in four starts to date, winning by a combined margin of 43 1/2 lengths. Still, there are questions, as this talented colt is being asked to run around two-turns for the first time and to run the mile and one-quarter distance for the first time.

One of those in the field already proven at the distance is Country Grammer, who has banked $10 million in his career, most of it when winning the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March. Country Grammer also won the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes in May of 2021 at the distance of the Pacific Classic. Royal Ship missed by a head in last year's Gold Cup behind Country Grammer and enters the race off an easy win in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap over the track. Express Train proved he belongs with these horses by winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at the distance this past March. Extra Hope has never run this far and his best career effort came when winning the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar in the fall of 2020. Stilleto Boy earned his biggest win in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes in April, beating Express Train, but has only managed fourth- and third-place efforts since and has never finished better than third at this classic distance. 

Top Contenders to win: 

Before I get to Flightline, I want to talk about Royal Ship and Country Grammer. These two have met three times previously, with Country Grammer coming out on top once (in the 2021 Hollywood Gold Cup) and with Royal Ship coming out on top twice. The first of those two occasions was in the 2021 Californian Stakes, where the two horses battled head-and-head for the entire last eighth of a mile, and the second was at the end of July, where Royal Ship drew off with authority in the San Diego Handicap. In the 2021 Gold Cup as well as in the recent San Diego, Royal Ship earned and then tied career-best 110 Equibase Speed Figures, the same figure as Country Grammer earned in his Gold Cup victory. Country Grammer bettered that figure this February when second in the Saudi Cup with a 117 figure then earned one of the top figures this year, 128, when winning the Dubai World Cup one month later. However, he only managed a 106 figure in the San Diego Handicap.

One of the more important considerations is that in the San Diego, both horses were coming back from layoffs, with Royal Ship having been off two months and Country Grammer having been off four months. Given that both are making their second starts off layoffs, it is reasonable to assume they can improve at the same rate.

That being the case, Royal Ship will be my top selection to win this year's Pacific Classic, particularly as his three workouts since the San Diego Handicap have been nothing short of spectacular. Considering Hall-of-Fame trainer Richard Mandella is not known for fast workouts, the fact the horse put in a :46.20 half-mile drill (best of 30) on August 11 and a :47.40 workout on August 28 (sixth best of 77) strongly suggests Royal Ship is going to run even better than he did earlier this summer at Del Mar.  That being said, I also expect Country Grammer to run strongly, which could lead to a head-and-head battle down the length of the stretch as occurred when they met in the Hollywood Gold Cup in 2021. 

Now, about Flightline. There is no doubting his innate athletic ability and in four races he has not given another horse even the slightest chance to win in the last quarter mile. He won the Malibu Stakes in December with a 126 figure which is pretty unheard of for a 3-year-old, and when coming back from nearly six months off in the Metropolitan Handicap in June, Flightline earned a 114 figure which could have been higher as he coasted home easily. Still, he has never run around two turns and the farthest he has run is one mile around one turn.

There's an old maxim in handicapping that one should never bet a favorite (which Flightline will be) trying something for the first time, and I plan to stick to that rule. As a son of Tapit there is little doubt a mile and one-quarter is in his pedigree, but when I consider the 127 and 126 figures he earned last September and December are the same as the 128 figure Country Grammer earned winning the Dubai World Cup in March, and that the World Cup was run at the mile and one-quarter distance of the Classic, I have to believe Country Grammer is more likely to win than Flightline. As I also believe Royal Ship is more probable to win than Country Grammer, I am left with no other choice than to believe no matter how talented Flightline is, he has his work cut out for him in the Pacific Classic.

The other three Pacific Classic entrants, with their best figures, are Express Train (110). Extra Hope (111) and Stilleto Boy (117).

Win Contenders in preference, handicapper's probability order:
Royal Ship
Country Grammer
Flightline

TVG Pacific Classic Stakes – Grade 1
Race 10 at Del Mar
Saturday, September 3 – Post Time 8:30 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Quarter
3-Year-Olds and Upward
Purse: $1 Million

Ellis Starr is national racing analyst for Equibase

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