joel rosario | Horse Racing Free Tips

Slipstream Slips Through To Win Futurity, Earn BC Juvenile Turf Sprint Spot

Last early, Joel Rosario found room on the rail for Slipstream to slide past Run Curtis Run and win the Grade 3 Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. With this victory, Slipstream earns a spot in the starting gate for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Breaking from post four, Rosario settled Slipstream at the back of the field of eight in the race's opening strides, as longshots Ready to March and Run Curtis Run lead down the backstretch. Entering the final turn, Slipstream was still toward the back of the pack on the rail as Run Curtis Run took over the lead going into the stretch.

Over the firm Belmont turf, Run Curtis Run was a length to the good as Slipstream squeezed by Midnight Worker, finding just enough room to get to the outside of the leader. Once clear, the 2-year-old son of More Than Ready accelerated and pulled clear of Run Curtis Run in the race's final yards. Biz Biz Buzz was third and Midnight Worker fourth.

The final time for the six furlongs was 1:08.36. Find this race's chart here.

Slipstream paid $6.60, $3.90, and $3.30. Run Curtis Run paid $13.00 and $7.80. Biz Biz Buzz paid $4.80.

The G3 Futurity is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. Winners of Challenge Series races receive a fees-paid, guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding event at the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Bred in Kentucky by Burleson Farm and McKenzie Bloodstock, Slipstream is out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Cake Baby. Owned by Jump Sucker Stable and trained by Christophe Clement, the 2-year-old colt has two wins in four starts for career earnings of $147,600. He was consigned by Burleson Farms at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and purchased by Northshore Bloodstock for $170,000.

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Following Sea Dominant In Vosburgh, Earns Spot In BC Sprint

Following Sea gave sire Runhappy his first graded stakes winner with his multi-length score in the Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. With this victory, the 3-year-old colt earns a fees-paid, guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Though the field numbered only four, the Vosburgh featured Firenze Fire, last-out second in the Grade 1 Forego, where he attempted to bite eventual winner Yaupon multiple times down the stretch at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Baby Yoda, who earned a 114 Beyer Speed Figure in his last start, also at Saratoga. The six-furlong G2 was all Following Sea, though, improving off of his third-place finish in the G1 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga and a second via disqualification in the G1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. After Firenze Fire broke through the gate and was reloaded, the short field broke cleanly, with Firenze Fire grabbing a short lead in the race's opening strides. Jockey Joel Rosario sent Following Sea to the lead within the first furlong and, from there, had no trouble holding off the multiple graded stakes winner.

Maintaining a one-length lead throughout, Following Sea kicked away as the field hit the stretch, stretching his lead out to three lengths before Rosario powered him down. At the wire, the son of Runhappy was 4 3/4 lengths to the good, with Firenze Fire second and Baby Yoda third. Good Effort (IRE) was fourth in his American debut. The final time for the six furlongs was 1:09.20.

Following Sea paid $7.00 and $3.10. Firenze Fire paid $2.50. With only four horses in the field, no show betting was offered. Find this race's chart here.

The G2 Vosburgh is a Win and You're In event for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, to be contested Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. Winners of Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races earn a free guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding Breeders' Cup event.

“I thought he ran great. We just wanted to take advantage of the outside post and see how everything unfolded. He really took all the strategy out of play in the first 50 yards. He broke great, put himself right on the front and it seemed like he was in hand throughout,” trainer Todd Pletcher said after the race. “We left the paddock with the idea that we won't take anything away that comes easily. If he breaks well, that's great. If he gets in a speed duel, that's okay, too. So, I said to use judgment and it looked like he made a decision pretty easily. When he made the lead that easily, I was pretty confident. He looked like he kicked on pretty well and Joel [Rosario] wrapped up on him pretty late.”

“I just helped him out of there. It looked like he broke really well and he put himself on the lead. I thought he liked that and he ran a big race,” jockey Joel Rosario told the NYRA Press Office after the Vosburgh. “Todd just told me to ride him the way it came up. He broke sharp and I asked him a little bit to get a position. If somebody else goes, I could sit second but I decided to go to the lead because I was there. He ran really well.”

Bred by owner Spendthrift Farm, Following Sea is out of the Speightstown mare Quick Flip, a black-type stakes winner. The 3-year-old colt has three wins in six lifetime starts, for career earnings of $513,020.

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Favored Special Reserve Delivers In Phoenix

Despite not making his stakes debut until his 5-year-old son, Paradise Farms and David Staudacher's Special Reserve has proven he deserves a chance against the world's best sprinters next month at Del Mar. This Friday, the son of Midshipman delivered as the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland, earning an expenses-paid berth for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Jockey Joel Rosario never panicked when losing the early lead, and kept Special Reserve driving through the finish line to hold off the late charge of Aloha West by a neck. Special Reserve completed six furlongs over the fast main track in 1:08.54, giving trainer Mike Maker his first victory in the Phoenix.

Special Reserve was very quick out of the gate, leading for the first sixteenth of a mile until Quick Tempo rushed up the inside to take command by a length. Quick Tempo led through fractions of :21.90 and :44.69, with Rosario waiting patiently in second on Special Reserve. Just Might was close up in third, while Mucho stayed near the rail in fourth.

Rounding the turn, Rosario allowed Special Reserve to take over and set him down for the stretch run. Just Might went three wide but failed to sustain his bid. Mucho had to wait for racing room as he moved by the tiring Quick Tempo, while Aloha West began to unleash his rally way out in the center of the course.

Special Reserve was kept to task through the wire, and had just enough left to fend off the challenge from Aloha West, winning by a neck at the wire. Mucho checked in third, while Endorsed closed to fill out the superfecta.

Bred in Kentucky by Russell L. Reineman, Special Reserve is out of the Hard Spun mare Love Spun. He commanded $60,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale, and later brought a final bid of $140,000 at the OBS March 2-year-old sale. Special Reserve began his career in the barn of Randy Mores. He required six starts to break his maiden, and ran in the claiming ranks for a tag as low as $25,000.

Maker claimed Special Reserve for $40,000 in February of this year, and the horse has not finished worse than second since. He was second in the G3 Commonwealth at Keeneland in April, then won the G3 Maryland Sprint at Pimlico in July. Next out Special Reserve won the listed Iowa Sprint Stakes on July 3 at Prairie Meadows, and followed up that effort with a second in the G1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga on July 31, beaten just a half-length by Lexitonian.

Overall, Special Reserve's record stands at eight wins from 22 starts, with earnings of $638,647.

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Plainsman Out Duels Favored Beau Liam To Take The Ack Ack

Shortleaf Stable's Plainsman rallied from off the pace, grabbed the lead with a furlong to run and out-kicked 1-2 favorite Beau Liam to the wire to win Saturday's 29th renewal of the $300,000 Ack Ack (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs by one length.

Plainsman, a 6-year-old son of Flatter, ran one mile on a fast track in 1:33.85, which was just .07 off Pants On Fire's 2013 stakes record (1:33.78) and .59 off Fruit Ludt's 2014 track record (1:33.26).

Joel Rosario rode the winner for trainer Brad Cox, who swept the Saturday stakes at Churchill Downs. Two races earlier, Knicks Go won the G3 Lukas Classic.

For Rosario it was his fifth win on the day, which marked the 72nd time a jockey has accomplished that feat and the first since Florent Geroux won five races from nine mounts on Sept. 4, 2020. Rosario's nine mounts earned a hefty $603,170 on the day.

Atoka, with Mr Dumas in tow, led the field of nine older horses down the backstretch in the one-turn mile through fractions of :22.65, :45.21 and 1:09.15 with Plainsman sitting off the pace and in clear.

Leaving the turn after a three-wide move, Plainsman was in fifth behind the leaders and ducked inside to split Mr Dumas on the rail and Atoka on his outside. He grabbed the lead with an eighth of a mile to run and turned back favored Beau Liam, who made his stakes debut after winning his first three starts.

“I was able to sit a good trip for most of the race,” Rosario said. “I knew turning for home I'd have a decision to make whether to keep him inside or go out. I knew I had a lot of horse underneath me and the race developed well for him.”

The first prize was $178,800 and hiked Plainsman's bankroll to $729,207 with a record of 8-6-3 from 25 starts. It was his fourth career stakes win. Previously he won the 2018 G3 Discovery at age three and prevailed in the $50,000 Jim Rasmussen at Prairie Meadows and $85,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial at Indiana Grand earlier this year.

“This horse has been in great form this year,” Cox said. “I think two turns is probably his best distance, but today he was able to sit a good trip from off the pace at the one-turn mile. He showed a lot of adversity today and ran a good effort.”

Six of the last eight Ack Ack winners – Pants On Fire (2013), Tapiture (2015), Tom's Ready (2016), Awesome Slew (2017), Seeking the Soul (2018) and Mr. Money (2020) – used the race as a springboard to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, which is scheduled for Nov. 6 at Del Mar with a $1 million purse. Cox non-comital to Plainsman's next start.

Plainsman paid $13.60, $3.80 and $3.20 at odds of 5-1. Beau Liam, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., paid $2.60 and $2.40. Atoka was another 2 ¾ lengths back in third under Rafael Bejarano and paid $8 to show.

Rushie, South Bend, Mr Dumas, Guest Suite, Exculpatory and Mo Mosa completed the order of finish. Ebben and Aloha West were scratched.

Plainsman, out of the Street Sense mare S S Pinafore, was bred in Kentucky by Joseph Minor.

The race is named in honor of Cain Hoy Stable's 1971 Horse of the Year Ack Ack, who is enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In his only Churchill Downs appearance, Ack Ack won the 1969 Derby Trial in 1:34.40 which was a track record for one mile that has since been eclipsed.

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