Javier Castellano | Horse Racing Free Tips

Estilo Talentoso Splashes Home On Top In Bed O’ Roses

Medallion Racing, Barry Fowler, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Little Red Feather Racing, and BlackRidge Stables' Estilo Talentoso took advantage of her outside draw to capture Friday's Grade 3, $300,000 Bed o' Roses Stakes at Belmont Park, defeating Lake Avenue by a neck on the wire. Following a weather delay when a deluge hit the Elmont, NY track, the 4-year-old daughter of Maclean's Music splashed over the sloppy, sealed main track to cover seven furlongs in 1:22.96 under Javier Castellano.

Estilo Talentoso marks the first graded stakes winner for trainer Juan Arriagada, and was off as the 5-2 second choice in the field of six.

“I feel like I'm blessed,” Arriagada said. “To be in Belmont today and to win with her, it's one of the more beautiful things that could happen in my life right now. I appreciate the owners giving me the opportunity.”

Race-favorite Victim of Love (9-5) broke on top, as expected, and was pressured by Pacific Gale through fractions of :22.90 and :45.87. Bayerness and Lake Avenue were also close to the pace early. Castellano kept Estilo Talentoso out in the clear going in the center of the course, though at the back of the compact field down the backstretch.

Lake Avenue got a perfect rail trip to challenge for the lead at the head of the lane, but Castellano had already moved Estilo Talentoso into contention while staying widest of all. Lake Avenue grabbed a brief advantage while Bayerness made a run up the rail, but Estilo Talentoso was able to get her neck in front in the final sixteenth of a mile.

“It went well,” Castellano said. “That's what I was looking for today. Everything worked out perfect, the way it was set up. The two speed horses [went to the front] and I tried to keep track of the third horse, outside, because there seemed to be a lot of puddles on the rail, but my horse helped me to handle the situation very well. When I asked her, she responded very well and did it very well.”

Lake Avenue had to settle for second, while Bayerness checked in third. Pacific Gale was fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Mile High Bloodstock, Estilo Talentoso is out of the unraced Afleet Alex mare Bazinga Baby. A $77,000 yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall sale, the filly later brought just $15,000 when selected by Arriagada at the OBS June sale. Estilo Talentoso began her career with four straight second-place finishes, and finally broke her maiden in her sixth start. She was stakes placed next out, and won the Escena Stakes at Gulfstream in August of her sophomore season. Since then Estilo Talentoso has twice hit the board in Grade 1 company, and the Bed o' Roses improves her overall record to 3-8-3 from 14 starts for earnings of over $430,000.

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Front-Running Get Smokin Takes Seek Again Foes Wire To Wire

Entering the $100,000 Seek Again for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on Belmont Park's Widener turf course, trainer Tom Bush said he was optimistic Get Smokin would benefit from a more compact schedule between starts. The ability to get in a rhythm paid off, as the Get Stormy gelding led the eight-horse field through every point of call and held off 9-5 favorite Flavius to post a three-quarters of a length score on Saturday at the Elmont, N.Y., track.

Get Smokin, who won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay going 1 1/16 miles on the Tampa Bay Downs turf on February 6, ran eighth after a nearly two-month respite in the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile on April 9 at Keeneland. Bush said Get Smokin can better demonstrate his ability when wheeling back in just five or six weeks, and the schedule adjustment resulted in his second win in three starts of his 4-year-old campaign.

Get Smokin broke sharp under jockey Junior Alvarado, leading the field through the opening quarter-mile in 24.25 seconds and the half in a moderate 48.61 over the firm turf as the Chad Brown-trained Flavius pressured the pacesetter from the second position.

Out of the turn, Alvarado kept his charge alert, maintaining the edge as Flavius made a stretch-drive bid from the outside. But Get Smokin did not wilt under pressure, finishing strong to the wire in a final time of 1:33.96.

“He's very quick,” Alvarado said. “If anyone else wants the lead, they have to work very hard. He broke sharp today again, which makes my job easy. I just had to nurse him along. Turning for home, I knew I had plenty of horse left and he gave me that nice kick that he has.

“You can never get too excited until you cross the wire first, but I was very happy with the pace I was going with him,” he added. “He was traveling comfortable enough that I knew he'd have a kick at the end.”

Bush, who also trained Get Stormy to nine stakes wins from 2009-'12, said the pace scenario set up well for Get Smokin.

“He's dangerous on the front end, that's for sure,” Bush said. “When they're loping along like that and they aren't using themselves too much, you're always happy to see that. I knew they'd be laying a little closer, too, since we were the only speed, but they couldn't get by him. It was a terrific effort.”

Owned by Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust, Get Smokin won for the third time in four career Belmont starts, going 2-for-2 in stakes at the Elmont-based track after winning the Grade 2 Hill Prince in October. Bred in Kentucky by Hurstland Farm and James Greene, Jr., Get Smokin improved to 4-3-2 in 14 career starts and increased his career earnings to $376,040.

“Junior was saying after the race that he would love for this horse to have a target and just lay second or third, but he's so good leaving the gate that you can't take the gate away from him,” Bush said. “This is what we were looking for today. That's the class of the horse. He didn't get discouraged and that's what good horses do.”

Off at 9-2, Get Smokin returned $10.80 on a $2 win wager in the Seek Again's inaugural edition. Bush said the effort could set him up for a start in the Grade 3, $250,00 Poker going one mile on June 20 at Belmont.

Flavius, a close fourth last out in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, was making just the second start of his 6-year-old year after ending 2020 with a second in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap in November at Del Mar. Flavius edged the Tom Morley-trained Tell Your Daddy by a nose for second on Saturday.

“It was a fun race because the two best horses fought all the way from the beginning to the finish,” said Flavius' Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano. “There was no pace in the race and he [Get Smokin] had pace and went pretty slow. With no pace and the winner being able to go 24 and 48, that probably cost us the race.”

Fellow Brown trainee Delaware finished fourth, with Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader running fifth. Tiberius Mercurius, Olympic Runner and Epic Dreamer completed the order of finish.

Main track-only entrants Danny California and Yankee Division were scratched.

Live racing continues Sunday with a nine-race card and a 1 p.m. Eastern first post.

Starting on May 1, Belmont Park re-opened to a limited number of spectators. All admission must be purchased in advance at nyra.com/belmont/tickets/.

For comprehensive information on health and safety protocols in effect for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/visit/plan-your-visit.

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Brown: Crowded Trade Needs ‘To Step Up’ For Preakness Start

Four years after securing his first victory in a Triple Crown race in the Preakness Stakes (G1), trainer Chad Brown is aiming Crowded Trade for Pimlico Race Course's signature event on May 15.

Cloud Computing, a 13-1 long shot co-owned by Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, won the 2017 Preakness by a head over Classic Empire. Klaravich is the sole owner of Crowded Trade, who has been on course for the Preakness since finishing third in the Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct on April 3.

Brown said Wednesday by phone from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. that Crowded Trade is scheduled to work this weekend, probably on Saturday, weather permitting.

“Assuming he works well, I'm planning on coming to Pimlico and trying the Preakness,” Brown said.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano is booked to ride the colt in the Preakness.

Brown's only other Preakness starter was Good Magic, who ended up fourth in a tight finish of the memorably fog-shrouded 2018 running won by eventual Triple Crown champion Justify.

Crowded Trade is a work in progress for Brown, the four-time Eclipse champion trainer. After breaking his maiden by six furlongs Jan. 28 at Aqueduct, the son of More Than Ready finished second by a nose to Weyburn in the Gotham (G3) before going on to the Wood.

“He's got to step up off his last race and prove he can get the distance,” Brown said. “In both of his last starts, as we have stretched him out, he has come up a little short through the stretch. He makes a good move and he sort of hung a little bit both starts. The distance is definitely a question mark, but he seems like a horse that's improving.”

Although Crowded Trade had enough qualifying points to make it into the field, Brown opted to skip the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby (G1) and wait for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.

“We specifically sat out the Derby to try to give him a little bit more time in between starts and try a slightly shorter distance than the Derby,” Brown said. “As of right now, we're still following that thought process to give it a try.”

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The Sun Shines Bright On Kentucky Derby Day In Louisville: Scratches, Odds And Statistics

For the first time since 2015, there will be no rain falling on the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs for a Kentucky Derby held on its traditional date in Louisville, Ky., on the first Saturday in May.

The 2020 Run for the Roses was contested under clear skies and a fast track on Sept. 5, with no fans in the grandstand due to the coronavirus pandemic that caused track officials to delay the race. A limited number of tickets are being sold for this year's renewal.

Dawn broke cool but clear, with temperatures expected to reach 73 degrees by the 6:57 p.m. ET post time for the 147th running of the Derby. Forecast calls for sunny skies throughout the day, the first mostly sunny Derby day in May since 2005.

First post for the 14-race card is 10:30 a.m. ET. The Derby is the 12th race.

There was one scratch announced on Friday for the Derby, with Kenny McPeek having to withdraw King Fury (No. 16) due to a fever and elevated white blood cell count. This year's Derby, thus, will run with 19 starters.

Other scratches on the Derby day card announced at 8 a.m. Saturday: race 2, the also eligibles (Nos. 13 through 16); race 3, Harvard (No. 1); race 4, the also eligibles (13-16); race 8, the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile Stakes, Ultimate Badger (No. 2); race 10, the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes, Attachment Rate (No. 6), who ran in Friday's Alysheba Stakes, finishing sixth; race 12, the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, King Fury (No. 16); race 13, Triple Tap (No. 6, a half brother to American Pharoah), Santa Cruiser (No. 10), Shadow Matter No. 1A).

NBCSN will air Derby coverage from noon until 2:30 p.m. ET, with the NBC network picking up coverage from 2:30-7:30 p.m. Coverage is also available to stream live on NBCSports.com and on the NBC Sports app.

This will be the second year Churchill Downs officials are using a new starting gate that can accommodate up to 20 horses. Prior to 2020, an auxiliary gate was used to start 20-horse Derby fields, with 14 runners in the main gate and up to six in the auxiliary gate.

The winningest post position since a starting gate was first used in 1930 is No. 5, with 10 victories from 91 starts, the most recent being Always Dreaming in 2017. Next is post one, with eight wins from 91 starts, the most recent being Ferdinand in 1986.

Win bet odds for the Kentucky Derby (as of 9 a.m. ET) are:

1. Known Agenda, 16-1
2. Like the King, 54-1
3. Brooklyn Strong, 54-1
4. Keepmeinmind, 53-1
5. Sainthood, 42-1
6. O Besos, 44-1
7. Mandalounn, 40-1
8. Medina Spirit, 15-1
9. Hot Rod Charlie, 7-1
10. Midnight Bourbon, 15-1
11. Dynamic One, 45-1
12. Helium, 51-1
13. Hidden Stash, 39-1
14. Essential Quality, 6-5
15. Rock Your World, 9-2
16. King Fury SCRATCHED
17. Highly Motivated, 16-1
18. Super Stock, 46-1
19. Soup and Sandwich, 30-1
20. Bourbonic, 33-1.

Essential Quality was installed the 2-1 morning line favorite, but his odds plunged on Friday after James “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, a well-known horse owner and furniture store owner from Houston, Texas, made a $500,000 win bet on the gray colt by Tapit. McIngvale said he will be betting between $2 million and $4 million as insurance against a promotion he's doing that will refund mattress purchases if the Derby favorite wins.

Favorites won six consecutive Derbies, from 2013-18, with 4-1 favorite Improbable running fourth in 2019 and 7-10 favorite Tiz the Law second in the delayed Derby of 2020.

Brad Cox, the Eclipse Award-winning trainer of 2020, will be saddling his first Derby starters in Essential Quality and Mandaloun. Cox is a Louisville native who grew up in the shadow of the Twin Spires.

Trainer Bob Baffert will sent out Medina Spirit in an attempt for a seventh Kentucky Derby victory from 34 starts. That would make the Hall of Fame conditioner the winningest trainer in Derby history. Baffert is currently tied with another Hall of Famer, Ben Jones, who won six Derbies from 11 starters. (Read more about “Plain Ben” Jones here.)

At the other end of the spectrum is Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who has the unfortunate distinction of saddling the most Kentucky Derby starters – 21 – without a victory. He will be represented by Midnight Bourbon and Souper Stock.

John Velazquez is the winningest Derby jockey among this year's riders, with three from 22 mounts. He'll ride Medina Spirit. Javier Castellano, who rides Highly Motivated for trainer Chad Brown, has the most Derby mounts without a victory among active riders. Dating back to 2005, Castellano carries an 0-for-14 record into this year's Derby dating

Sixteen of the 19 runners were bred in Kentucky, with the other three Florida-breds.

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