Javier Castellano | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fan-Favorite Bodexpress Seeks Stakes Breakthrough In Alydar

Top Racing, Global Thoroughbred and GDS Racing Stable's Bodexpress will look to run off with Sunday's $85,000 Alydar, a nine-furlong route restricted to 4-year-olds and upward yet to win a stake this year other than state-bred, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Gustavo Delgado, the multiple graded-stakes placed Bodexpress was a late scratch before the start of the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on July 18 at Monmouth Park. He then re-routed to the Alydar at his home base at the Spa under the care of the conditioner's son and assistant trainer, Gustavo Delgado, Jr.

Bodexpress was also under consideration for last Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney, won by Improbable, and Delgado, Jr. expressed regret at not entering the colt in the compact, but talented, field of five.

“We were planning to enter him in the Whitney, and we were regretting not doing it because that race had no pace. They went [a quarter-mile] in 25, and almost 50 [to the half-mile],” said Delgado, Jr. “He probably would have been on the lead and not to say that he would have won it, but second or third in the Whitney would have been good.”

The 4-year-old Bodemeister bay has breezed twice on the Saratoga main track since scratching at Monmouth, including a five-eighths breeze in 1:02.66 Sunday under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano who has the call from post 5.

Bodexpress became an internet sensation after unseating Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez in last year's Grade 1 Preakness before completing the course on his own accord. Delgado, Jr. said providing Castellano an opportunity to hop aboard the quirky colt in advance of Sunday was important.

“Last Sunday he breezed with Castellano on him, and he really liked him,” said Delgado, Jr. “He's got more confidence in him now. It's always good to get to know him first.”

A runner-up as a maiden in the 2019 Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, Bodexpress was placed 13th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, ultimately graduating in October in a mile and seventy yard maiden tilt at Gulfstream Park West. He completed his eventful sophomore season with a third in the Grade 3 Harlan's Holiday at Gulfstream.

Bodexpress has made three starts this season at Gulfstream, including a fifth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational and a last-out third in the Grade 3 Hal's Hope at nine furlongs.

Delgado, Jr. said the well-traveled Bodexpress is enjoying his time at the Spa.

“He's doing really good. He's feeling good. He likes it here. The ambience, the weather, everything,” said Delgado, Jr.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Tenfold, a multiple graded-stakes winning son of Curlin, captured the 2018 Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga before running seventh in the Grade 1 Travers.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the Kentucky homebred will make his return to the Spa off a third in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on June 6 at Santa Anita, a 10-furlong event won by Improbable.

Ricardo Santana, Jr., who guided Tenfold to his most recent victory in the 2019 Grade 3 Pimlico Special, has the call from post six.

Godolphin homebred Endorsed, a 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt, earned a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure two starts back when second to Code of Honor in the Grade 3 Westchester traveling a one-turn 1 1/16-miles on June 6 at Belmont.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Endorsed has shown good form at Saratoga where he graduated in a maiden sprint in August 2018 and last year added a second in the nine-furlong Curlin and rallying fourth in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Runhappy Travers.

Endorsed will be looking for his third win of the campaign following optional-claiming scores in January at Gulfstream for former trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and a half-length win at Oaklawn Park in May at first asking for Mott.

Joel Rosario, aboard for a last-out seventh in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile on July 4 at Belmont, retains the mount from the inside post.

Rounding out the field are Backsideofthemoon [post 2, Manny Franco], Spinoff [post 3, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], and Its All Relevant [post 4, Dylan Davis].

The Alydar is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Sunday's card will also feature a mandatory payout of the Empire 6. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Fan-Favorite Bodexpress Seeks Stakes Breakthrough In Alydar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Delgados Derby Dreaming With Late-Blooming Caracaro

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – This summer, the road to Churchill Downs runs through upstate New York and has brought Caracaro (Uncle Mo) from South Florida for the historic GI Runhappy Travers S. Saturday.

Though the Travers is often the late-August goal for the owners and trainers of talented 3-year-olds, the COVID-19 pandemic has produced a serious rewrite of the schedule for elite races and briefly changed its status. Long ago dubbed the “Midsummer Derby,” the 2020 Travers at Saratoga Race Course is a stepping stone to the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5.

In their quest for Derby points, trainer Gustavo Delgado and his son and assistant Gustavo Delgado, Jr. shipped lightly raced Caracaro to Saratoga Race Course last month. Caracaro earned 20 points with his narrow second-place finish to Country Grammer (Tonalist) in the GIII Peter Pan S. on opening day, July 16. Those Peter Pan points have him in 25th place, close, but still outside the safety zone to secure one of the 20 berths. The Travers, with 100-40-20-10 points available, is their last chance.

“We’re thinking about qualifying for the Derby,” Delgado, Jr. said. “If he runs in the top three and he comes out good, hopefully we will make the Derby.

Caracaro is making his fourth career start for co-owners Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing and drew post seven in the eight-horse Travers. He will be ridden by Javier Castellano, who holds a record six victories in this event.

Delgado, a hugely successful trainer in his native Venezuela, laughed as he said that the colt–who was injured after his maiden victory Jan. 11 and had six months between starts this year–might make it to the Derby after all.

“Right now, with the pandemic there is a chance,” he said. “If there is no pandemic there is no chance.”

Delgado, Jr. stepped in and translated the rest of his father’s words: “I would say that the only good thing about the virus is that we have a shot in the Derby again.”

If Caracaro delivers a big performance in the 151st Travers, he would take the Delgados to their third Derby. Since emigrating from Venezuela in 2014 and opening a stable in Florida, they have had Majesto (Tiznow), 18th in 2016, and Bodexpress (Bodemeister), 13th last year. Delgado, Jr. said they did everything to get to Louisville with Majesto and Bodexpress.

“There is no comparison to this horse,” Delgado Jr. said. “This horse is way more talented than the last two.”

Caracaro showed that ability in his six-length win in the one-mile maiden score at Gulfstream, the second start of his career. The performance made him a Derby prospect and Rafael Celis of Global Thoroughbreds and his partner Lucas Noriego, who competes as Top Racing, had offers to buy the colt. During the vetting process, he was found to have a bone issue in is hind end that scuttled the sale. Caracaro did not need surgery, but required a three-month layoff.

“After the maiden race, there was a big group interested,” Delgado, Jr. said. “When we were doing the X-ray for the sale, that’s when he found out he had that. We did the right thing and gave him time. Our guess is that he was running with that problem before. He always showed something behind, nothing major, but that’s when we found out. Then we did the right thing and gave him time. We always considered him a good horse.”

Caracaro stayed with the Delgados at Gulstream Park West and returned to light training after his three-month hiatus. He had five breezes before making the trek to Saratoga to try to earn his way into the Derby. He moved to the lead of the Peter Pan in the stretch, but was collared by Country Grammer and lost by a neck. Delgado said he would have skipped the Travers if Caracaro had won the 1 1/8 miles Peter Pan and earned 50 points.

“We would go seven weeks [to the Kentucky Derby] not three weeks [to the Travers],” he said. “Seven weeks is very good. For the horse. For me. Every owner in the world likes to get to the Kentucky Derby.”

Delgado, Jr. picked up the translation for his father: “Normally, we would like to have more time between races, but right now we don’t have any more options.”

After the Peter Pan, Celis and Noriega–who also are partners in Bodexpress–heard from interested buyers, but they have retained ownership.

This weekend Caracaro will try again in the Travers, first run in 1864 and the marquee event of the Saratoga season. It was moved ahead a few weeks from its usual spot in late August to make it a Derby prep. This will be the earliest running of the race since 1916.

“We are here. The horse really likes the track,” Delgado, Jr. said. “He ran second and he ran a helluva race. The Travers is close to the Derby, but it will be hard for us telling the owners we don’t want to run in the Travers. Javier Castellano is open for us and the horse is doing good. So, a lot is going on from the owner’s standpoint. Everybody wants to try. If you have the horse now. It’s not like you are going to save time and see and then something happens after. You have the horse now and the horse is doing good now.”

Though his work tab shows two breezes since the Peter Pan, Delgado said he really could not work Caracaro between races.

“Everything is good. No problem,” he said. “He has only been galloping because he only had three weeks. It was six months, no races. Now it’s very difficult. We considered only galloping, to the Travers. It’s possible that we have good luck.”

The Delgados said they think the mile and a quarter distance of the Travers will suit their colt.

“The horse is going to be relaxed, he’s going to be on his own gallop,” Delgado, Jr. said. “We will feel better in the 10 furlongs. The 10 furlongs will be even better for our horse, that’s what we think. He’s a galloper. You can tell the way he strides he covers a lot of ground. We think he can go even better in the 10 furlongs than in a mile or a mile and an eighth.”

The post Delgados Derby Dreaming With Late-Blooming Caracaro appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

BC Announces Guests for Cocktails and Conversation Broadcast

Trainer Simon Callaghan and Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano are the special guests for this week’s installment of the Breeders’ Cup’s Cocktails & Conversation. The broadcast is a recurring virtual happy hour series designed to rally the industry into raising funds for communities that have been profoundly impacted by COVID-19.

It airs Thursday, Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. ET via Breeders’ Cup’s Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The episode will be hosted by Nick Luck and Britney Eurton of NBC Sports and 21 Club mixologist and creator of Breeders’ Cup’s official cocktails Mark Tubridy.

All proceeds generated from Cocktails & Conversation are wholly donated to the following organizations benefitting the horse racing and hospitality industries: Race Track Chaplaincy of America, USBG National Charity Foundation and Restaurant Workers Relief Program.

The post BC Announces Guests for Cocktails and Conversation Broadcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Cross Border Gets The ‘W’ In Bowling Green After DQ Of Sadler’s Joy

The 62nd running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was not without some anxious moments during the stretch run, but Cross Border, 10 days removed from a victory in the Lubash, was awarded the victory and kept an unbeaten record at Saratoga intact for leading owner Three Diamonds Farm and trainer Mike Maker.

The dark bay son of English Channel was named the winner of the 1 3/8-mile event over the Mellon turf following the disqualification of four-time graded stakes winning millionaire Sadler's Joy, who was placed fourth due to interference within the final eighth of a mile. Cross Border arrived at the Bowling Green off a 6 1/4-length victory in the Lubash on July 22.

Stable mate Marzo established command heading into the first turn and opened up by five lengths past the Saratoga grandstand through an opening quarter-mile in 25.30 seconds and a half in 50.38 seconds over a firm turf course.

Meanwhile, jockey Jose Ortiz had Cross Border tucked along the rail in fourth with Sadler's Joy just to his outside. Approaching the far turn, Ortiz gave Cross Border his cue while Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano did the same aboard Sadler's Joy. At the top of the stretch, Cross Border was five wide in between horses with Sadler's Joy in pursuit.

In the final furlong, Sadler's Joy assumed command with Cross Border and Channel Maker to his inside coming in close quarters and crossed the wire first by a neck in a final time of 2:14.77.

Highland Sky, who crossed the wire third, was subsequently elevated to second.

Following the race, the stewards ruled that Sadler's Joy would be disqualified from first to fourth due to lugging into the path of Cross Border and Channel Maker who crossed the wire second and fourth respectively. Following the ruling, Channel Maker was elevated to third.

The official remaining order of finish was Sadler's Joy, Marzo and Dot Matrix. Pillar Mountain was scratched.

The triumph was a fifth victory in as many starts over the Saratoga turf for Cross Border, who joined Maker's stable last year.

“We weren't sure which horse would be the pacesetter, but Marzo coming off the layoff was up there. I thought Marzo ran an incredible race. When it comes down to a street fight, Cross Border is awfully tough,” Maker said.

The victory pushed Cross Border's lifetime earnings past the half-million mark to $534,471 after banking $137,500 in victory. He returned $6.40 for a $2 win wager.

The Bowling Green marked a fifth win of the meet for current leading owners Three Diamonds Farm.

“This is just a gutsy New York bred and it's good for the game that they can breed a New York bred that can win a Grade 2 at Saratoga,” said Three Diamonds Farm owner Kirk Wycoff. “We love the Bowling Green. We were second in it three years ago with Bigger Picture. It was a calculated risk to come back in 10 days and we weren't all in agreement, but Mike Maker made the decision and obviously it was the right one.”

The win was a third stakes victory of the meet for Maker, who also saddled Somelikeithotbrown to victory in Sunday's Grade 2 Bernard Baruch over the inner turf.

Bred in New York by Berkshire Stud and B.D. Gibbs, Cross Border is out of the Empire Maker broodmare Empress Josephine and comes from the same family as leading New York sire Central Banker.

Castellano, aboard Sadler's Joy, stated his case and said the contact was incidental.

“You could see I hit the hole when it opened and I saw the [other] horse, but I never came over,” Castellano said. “We were all on the same line and I think the inside horses was involved a little bit and we all ended up caught in an overreaction. Of course, that put everyone under pressure and they were going to blame the horse on the outside [Sadler's Joy]. It was a decision for the stewards.”

Live racing returns on Sunday with a 10-race card which features the $100,000 Birdstone for 4-year-olds and upward going 1 ¾ miles over the main track. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

The post Cross Border Gets The ‘W’ In Bowling Green After DQ Of Sadler’s Joy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post