Jack and Noah | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jack And Noah Gives Casse First Win Of Saratoga Meet In Wednesday’s Mahony Stakes

Gary Barber's Jack and Noah broke alertly and never looked back, wiring an eight-horse field by drawing away to a 3 1/4-length victory in Wednesday's $85,000 Mahony for sophomores at Saratoga Race Course.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse entered the second running of the Mahony winless during the summer meet but tallied nine runner-up finishes. Jack and Noah finally eliminated the goose-egg for his conditioner, rocketing to the front under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez from the outermost post and building a six-length lead on the field with the opening quarter-mile in 21.50 seconds on the Mellon turf course labeled firm.

Jack and Noah registered the half-mile in 43.55 and built a 7 ½ length-edge at the three-eighths mark. In the stretch, Competitive Saint made up some ground, but the pacesetter was never seriously challenged, completing 5 ½ furlongs in a final time of 1:01.28.

Jack and Noah won for the second time in his three starts, building on a one-length score in the six-furlong Sir Cat in June at Belmont Park. The gray son of Bated Breath set the pace last out before tiring and finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Quick Call on July 24 at Saratoga. A month later, the French bred responded to a return engagement on the track by winning for the fourth time in eight starts overall.

“He was out of there right from the start,” Velazquez said. “Last time, the track was a little bit soft, so it took him a couple of strides to get out of the gate. Today, the track had a little more grip to it, so he got a nice grip coming out of there. All the way around the turn, I knew he was going well. I was just hoping that down the stretch things would go our way, and they did. I was proud of the horse's effort.”

Casse earned his first victory with his 32nd starter of the meet, with the 5-1 selection returning $12 on a $2 win bet. Jack and Noah improved his career earnings to $216,300.

“We didn't tell Johnny too much. He's been here before and has a game plan going in,” Casse assistant Jamie Begg said. “Last time, he missed the break, but the turf was also a little soft, so when he needed to run last time, he struggled a bit through the softer turf. The turf has been a lot better recently, so we were confident going in and as soon we saw Johnny break on top like that, I knew we were away to the races.”

Earlier in the meet, Casse came close in graded stakes company, finishing second with Got Stormy in Saturday's Grade 1 Fourstardave, Tap It to Win in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on Whitney Day, August 1, and with Make Mischief in the Grade 2 Adirondack on August 12.

“It's one of those things where if we had a few wins, we'd be having a decent enough meet,” Begg said. “We've been pretty consistent with the graded horses hitting the board. We just needed to get one and having it be in a stake with a horse coming back is pretty good.”

Competitive Saint, making his stakes debut after starting his career 2-for-2 for trainer George Weaver, finished 1 ½-lengths in front of Buy Land and See for second.

Island Commish, Flap Jack, 9-5 favorite Maven, Old Chestnut and Power Up Paynter completed the order of finish. Cajun Casanova and Turned Aside scratched, as did main-track only entrant Sky of Hook.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a nine-race card that features the $85,000 Smart N Fancy older fillies and mares going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in Race 7 at 4:41 p.m. First post is 1:10 p.m.

The post Jack And Noah Gives Casse First Win Of Saratoga Meet In Wednesday’s Mahony Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A Horse For The Course? Turned Aside Wins Quick Call At Saratoga

Paul Pompa Jr.'s Turned Aside had seen Jack and Noah win the three previous races in which the two matched up entering the Grade 3, $100,000 Quick Call at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. But Turned Aside ensured he would earn the trip to the winner's circle on Friday, making a strong move from the outside coming out of the turn and charging home a 1 ¾-length victor in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds.

Turned Aside broke sharp under jockey Jose Lezcano, tracking in third position as Jack and Noah, who broke awkwardly led the six-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 21.32 seconds on the Mellon turf coursed labeled firm. Lezcano pressed his charge up from the outside, where he overtook his budding rival before hitting the stretch, posting the half-mile in 44.01.

Lezcano kept Turned Aside's attention when straightening for home, repelling Old Chestnut's late move for second, completing the course in a 1:01.99 final time.

“I had a very good trip,” Lezcano said. “My horse broke very sharp and was right there when I asked him. The horse on the lead was lugging out a little bit, but I held my position and when I asked him, he gave me everything.”

The Linda Rice trainee ran second to Jack and Noah in his second career start in September at Belmont Park and also was the runner-up last out, finishing one length back in the Sir Cat going six furlongs on Belmont's firm turf. He also ran seventh in the Atlantic Beach in November at Aqueduct Racetrack. A son of 2015 Triple Crown-winner American Pharoah, Turned Aside improved to 3-2-1 in seven career starts.

“Paul and I discussed it and we felt if we didn't engage early we were just going to hand it over to Jack and Noah and we've done that enough already,” Rice said. “Sometimes you change courses and one horse prefers Belmont and one horse prefers Saratoga and I thought our horse has been training great all spring and maybe we could turn the tables on him on a different course.”

Off at 2-1, Turned Aside returned $6.50 on a $2 win wager. He improved his career earnings to $179,992.

“There were a couple other horses [of concern] in this race – Old Chestnut and I thought Doug O'Neill's horse [Fore Left] showed promised as well, but this horse has trained well and shows no quit in his workouts. Once we were on a clear lead, I thought we'd get it done.”

Old Chestnut, who like Jack and Noah is trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, edged Fore Left by a neck for second. The 11th running of the Quick Call featured the top-three finishers of the Sir Cat, as Old Chestnut earned third in that contest under jockey Junior Alvarado, who had the return call Friday.

“I wish the number two [Jack and Noah] would have broke a little sharper, so it would have made the winner chase a little harder and I'd have even more pace to finish,” Alvarado said. “Other than that, I had a great trip and saved as much ground as I could. Turning for home, he gave me a nice kick.”

Fore Left made his first turf appearance in 11 career starts, earning black type in his first start since a ninth-place effort in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20.

Flap Jack, 4-5 favorite Jack and Noah and High Cruise completed the order of finish. Power Up Paynter was scratched, as was main-track only entrant Sky of Hook.

Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga with an 11-race card that includes the Grade 1, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt for 3-year-olds and up in Race 10 at 6:16 p.m. and the Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares on the inner turf in Race 3 at 2:18 p.m. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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Quick Call Looks a Two-Horse Affair

Seven sophomore turf sprinters and one entered only in the event the race comes off the main track are set to contest Friday’s GIII Quick Call S. at Saratoga, but it looks all over a two-horse test.

Jack and Noah (Fr) (Bated Breath {GB}) is the even-money favorite on the morning line and with good reason. A €47,000 Arqana August yearling turned €160,000 Arqana May juvenile purchase by Justin Casse, the gray colt won the six-furlong Atlantic Beach S. at Aqueduct last November, but failed to stay a when sixth at 9-5 in the Texas Turf Mile at Sam Houston in January. Since being cut back to one turn, Jack and Noah ran last year’s GII Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Chimney Rock (Artie Schiller) to a head in Churchill allowance company May 17 before wiring the field in the June 19 Sir Cat S. at Belmont, stopping the clock in a slick 1:07.05.

Turned Aside (American Pharoah), seventh in the aforementioned Atlantic Beach S., bested Wednesday allowance winner Maxfield Esquire (Discreet Cat) in a November allowance at the Big A and did the chasing in the Sir Cat, going down by a length.

Jack and Noah is joined in the Quick Call field by stablemate Old Chestnut (Speightstown). The front-running winner of the Ontario Racing S. at Woodbine last September, the Live Oak homebred son of GISW Pool Land (Silver Deputy) snapped a streak of four off-the-board finishes with a third-place effort in the Sir Cat.

The post Quick Call Looks a Two-Horse Affair appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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