Jose Ferrer | Horse Racing Free Tips

Helium Returns Big ‘Balloons’ In Tampa Bay Derby Upset

D J Stable LLC's Helium (Ironicus) overcame an impossibly wide trip and gamely fended off a late charge from the well-backed Hidden Stash (Constitution) to upset Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby by three-quarters of a length while making his dirt and two-turn debuts.

Perfect in two starts going seven furlongs over the Woodbine synthetic last year, including a 4 1/4-length success in the Display S. when last seen Oct. 18, the $55,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling graduate's worktab included a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 (1/8) at Palm Meadows Feb. 3.

Helium was slow into stride from a wide gate and was left no choice but to take the first turn in about the six path while racing with just two rivals behind. Five or six paths off the inside down the backstretch, Helium went for an early run with about a half-mile to run, but continued to be trapped off the track, as favored GIII Sam F. Davis S. winner Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}) was moving simultaneously underneath him.

Consigned to a five-deep trip around the second turn, Helium nevertheless gained steadily on the leaders, was shifted down to the inside when making the lead in upper stretch and managed to hold sway late.

Hidden Stash, a closing third to Candy Man Rocket in the Sam F. Davis, looked to have Helium at his mercy at the sixteenth pole, but was swatted away late and settled for second.

Candy Man Rocket was out of gas by the top of the stretch and tired to 11th.

“Our biggest concern going into the race was not only the competition, but also the distance, because he had never gone further than seven furlongs,” said DJ Stables Racing Manager Jon Green. “We were also concerned about the surface, because he had only run on the Tapeta at Woodbine. So we felt like he had three things he had to accomplish today–not only to beat the top horses in the race, but also overcome the two turns, the surface, and the layoff. So for him to accomplish what he did today by holding off a very nice horse in Hidden Stash, made us very excited for his future.”

Green added, “As of now, we're unsure as to his next start. We're going to analyze where the competition is going and decide what would be his best spot.”

Helium is not currently nominated to the Triple Crown, but will be supplemented for $6,000 at the next deadline at the end of March, said Green. “He has certainly punched his ticket.”

Helium was purchased privately last March as a 2-year-old from Bo Hunt. “The horse industry certainly works in mysterious ways,” said Green. “If it weren't for COVID, we never would have been able to buy this horse. We bought him privately because we weren't sure what was going to happen with the sales.”

Green said, “I really want to give Mark Casse tremendous credit for being able to be flexible with this horse and pivoting as many times as we did with him before landing on the Tampa Bay Derby in his 3-year-old debut.”

Casse said, “He trained well enough that we thought he deserved a chance. Again, I have to give so much credit to Nick Tomlinson who had him down at Palm Meadows for us. We had thought about running in the Gotham and thought, if we're going to try the dirt, let's run him close to home. It worked well for us.

Casse continued, “This horse is something because he got away a little slow today and we had planned on him being closer. He made that big wide run, he made the lead but [after Hidden Stash rallied] I was going to be happy with second. I thought, we can build on this, because this is only his third start and there is a lot of room for improvement. What was amazing is that he wasn't overly exhausted after the race. He's a beautiful horse, he's bred to run all day long and he looks like a Derby horse, so it's exciting.”

Winning rider Jose Ferrer added, “On the backside, I had all kind of horse under me, and when I set him down at the three-eighths pole, I could see I had a chance. I just had so much horse and he flew down the lane. Then I think he got by himself and kind of got bored and he thought, game over. But I still had plemty of horse and be re-broke again.”

Pedigree Notes:

Helium hails from the first crop of Ironicus. He became the first stakes winner for the young Claiborne sire after securing last term's Display and is also his first graded winner. This is the 46th graded winner for Thunder Gulch as a broodmare sire.

Thundering Emilia, a $15,000 KEESEP yearling graduate, carried Teneri Farms' colors to a win in Delaware's John W. Rooney Memorial S. She was also a GSW & G1SP in Peru.

Progeny in the pipeline for Thundering Emilia include the 2-year-old colt Thunder Stride (Classic Empire) and a yearling colt by Accelerate. She was bred to American Pharoah for 2021.

Winning owner DJ Stable bought Helium's 6-year-old GSP half-sister Mighty Scarlett (Scat Daddy) for $240,000 at the 2020 KEENOV Sale.

This is the family of Peruvian champions Valiant Emilia (Per) and Domingo.

Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
LAMBHOLM SOUTH TAMPA BAY DERBY-GII, $350,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 3-6, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.55, ft.
1–HELIUM, 117, c, 3, by Ironicus
1st Dam: Thundering Emilia (GSW & G1SP-Per,
SW-USA, $140,963), by Thunder Gulch
2nd Dam: Saint Emilia (Per), by Saint Ballado
3rd Dam: Proud Emilia, by Proud Appeal
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($55,000 Ylg '19 FTKOCT). O-D. J.
Stable LLC; B-Teneri Farm Inc & Bernardo Alvarez Calderon
(KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Jose C. Ferrer. $210,000. Lifetime
Record: 3-3-0-0, $287,763. *1/2 to Mighty Scarlett (Scat
Daddy), GSP, $225,860; Emilia's Moon (Malibu Moon),
G1SW-Per. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Hidden Stash, 117, c, 3, Constitution–Making Mark Money,
by Smart Strike. ($50,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-BBN Racing, LLC;
B-Rhineshire Farm LLC (KY); T-Victoria H. Oliver. $70,000.
3–Moonlite Strike, 117, c, 3, Liam's Map–Twinkling, by War
Chant. ($45,000 RNA Wlg '18 KEENOV; $120,000 Ylg '19
KEESEP; $145,000 RNA 2yo '20 OBSMAR; $77,000 RNA 2yo '20
OBSOPN). O-Sonata Stable; B-Brushy Hill, LLC (KY); T-Saffie A.
Joseph, Jr. $35,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 15.40, 3.10, 34.60.
Also Ran: Unbridled Honor, King of Dreams, Awesome Gerry, Sittin On Go, Boca Boy, My Liberty, Super Strong, Candy Man Rocket, Promise Keeper.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Helium Remains Unbeaten With Tampa Bay Derby Surprise

D J Stable's Helium transformed his synthetic track form to dirt and improved his record to a perfect 3-for-3 with an off-the-pace victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Jose Ferrer, Helium ran 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:43.55 and paid $32.80 as a 15-1 longshot. Hidden Stash, who ranged up to challenge the winner in mid-stretch, finished second as the 3-1 second choice, with another longshot, 34-1 Moonlite Strike third, Unbridled Honor finished fourth, with King of Dreams fifth. Candy Man Rocket, the 8-5 favorite coming off a victory in the G3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, was never a factor.

The Tampa Bay Derby offered 85 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby with 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers.

From the first crop of Ironicus, a top-class turf performer by Distorted Humor, Helium won his first two starts on the Tapeta synthetic surface at Woodbine, including a 4 1/4-length victory in the Display Stakes in his most recent start on Oct. 18.

Boca Boy reprised his role from the Sam F. Davis, setting the pace through fractions of :23.23, :47.06 and 1:11.38 for the first six furlongs. King of Dreams and Moonlite Strike were in closest pursuit, with Helium kept to the far outside in the run down the backstretch, with Hidden Stash just behind him.

Approaching the far turn, Ferrer put Helium in a four-wide drive and had the lead entering the stretch. Hidden Stash rallied alongside Helium, possibly putting his nose in front just inside the eighth pole, but Helium fought back and gradually edged clear approaching the wire.

“I'm just so happy to ride my first Tampa Bay Derby,” said Ferrer. “I always wanted to ride this race. Mark Casse gave me a great opportunity to go out there and do my job and do my thing. On the backside, I had all kind of horse under me, and I could see who had more horse and when I set him down at the three-eighths pole, I could see I had a chance. I just had so much horse and he flew down the lane. Then I think he got by himself and kind of got bored and he thought, game over. But I still had plemty of horse and be re-broke again.”

“He trained well enough that we thought he deserved a chance,” Casse said. “Again, I have to give so much credit to Nick Tomlinson who had him down at Palm Meadows for us. We had thought about running in the Gotham and thought, if we're going to try the dirt, let's run him close to home. It worked well for us.

“This horse is something because he got away a little slow today and we had planned on him being closer,” Casse added. “He made that big wide run, he made the lead but (after Hidden Stash rallied) I was going to be happy with second. I thought, we can build on this, because this is only his third start and there is a lot of room for improvement. What was amazing is that he wasn't overly exhausted after the race. He's a beautiful horse, he's bred to run all day long and he looks like a Derby horse, so it's exciting.”

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Monmouth Park Reports Gains In Average Daily Handle During Abbreviated Meet

Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., showed increases in both the daily transmission of its signal and in total average handle compared to 2019 while also avoiding any cases of COVID-19 during the combined 44-day meet that concluded on Saturday.

Monmouth Park's average daily simulcast handle increased 27.09 percent to $3,604,413 daily compared to $2,836,148 last year. The overall average handle was up 20.81 percent to $3,807,082 daily compared to $3,151,201 last year.

“We are so grateful to everyone for supporting this extraordinary meet and, more specifically, the Governor's Office and the New Jersey Racing Commission for allowing us the ability not only to race, but to do so with fans,” said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, operators of the racetrack.

“And once we were green lit for racing, the entire Monmouth Park staff worked tirelessly to ensure not just great racing, but a safe environment for everyone. We couldn't be more proud to report zero cases of COVID-19 over the course of our entire meet, and the credit goes to the horsemen and fans who not only followed the necessary guidelines, but collectively cooperated to ensure each person's safety.

“(Track Medical Director) Dr. Angelo Chinnici and his entire team deserve special recognition for their efforts and, literally, around the clock work. Our success this season is rooted in their dedication and Monmouth Park is better off because of Angelo.”

The Monmouth Park meet that ran from July 3 to Sept. 27 consisted of 36 racing days after one live card was lost due to weather. The Meadowlands-at-Monmouth in the month of October provided an additional eight days of racing after one was canceled to weather as well.

Last year's racing season was 68 days.

The track operated with attendance restrictions throughout the 2020 season under COVID-19 guidelines. Opening day was delayed from its original starting date of May 2 to July 3 due to the coronavirus, with racing calendar reduced from 56 days to 37 as a result.

During the abbreviated Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet Jose Ferrer was the leading rider with 11 winners over the eight live racing cards. Wayne Potts topped the trainer standings with seven winners.

Trainer Kelly Breen, who captured his third Monmouth Park training title during the summer meet, ended the New Jersey racing season with a flourish by winning three races on Saturday's 11-race card, including two of the three Jersey-bred stake races.

Breen trainee Stay Smart, a daughter of Smart N Classy, won the $75,000 Smart N Classy Handicap while stablemate Royal Urn upset heavily-favored Golden Brown to capture the $75,000 Dan Horn Handicap.

Long-time New Jersey breeder and owner John Bowers bred and owns both winners.

Lil Miss Moppet ran her winning streak to four and improved to 4-for-4 at Monmouth Park with an easy victory in the $75,000 Pinot Grigio Stakes. Peter Miller trains the 4-year-old filly. She was one of three winners on the day for jockey Joe Bravo.

Thoroughbred racing is set to return to New Jersey next spring.

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It Can Be Done Among Ferrer’s Five Winners Sunday At Monmouth Park

The stakes were considerably higher but the tactics were exactly the same for jockey Jose Ferrer on Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Get to the lead, slow down the fractions and steal off with a grass route race.

The veteran rider did that in a Maiden Special Weight race early on the card at Monmouth Park from an outside post on Sunday at odds of 18-1 and the repeated the strategy with 6-1 shot It Can Be Done in the inaugural running of the $150,000 Nownownow Stakes, scoring a comfortable 2½-length victory over Mischievous Dream in the one-mile turf feature for 2-year-olds.

Ferrer won five races on the 12-race card.

“Jose is a master of getting to the lead and slowing it down on the turf,” said winning trainer Gregg Sacco. “He had to go a little fast the first quarter but he slowed it down the second quarter and when that happens if you have horse you have horse.”

Neither Sacco nor Ferrer was sure about It Can Be Done's lasting power since he had only sprinted his first three career starts, including a 41/2-length victory in a Maiden Special Weight race in his last start on Sept. 20.

Though Ferrer had to use the Kentucky-bred son of Temple City to get the lead from the outside post in the eight-horse field, going :23.38 for the first quarter, he backed down the half to :48.33 and was able to lope to three-quarters of a mile in 1:13.52.

The final time over the firm turf course was 1:37.57.

Sapling winner Mischievous Dream, a closer and the only filly in the field, could never make up ground in the stretch because of Ferrer's ability to control a leisurely pace.

“The game plan was just what happened – get to the lead and slow it down,” said Ferrer. “That was the intention, to walk the dogs. Coming from races at three-quarters to this I knew he was going to want to show some speed. The first quarter was a little quick but once he made the lead he settled down and I was able to nurse him on the backside. In the stretch he took off like a jet.

“I was a little worried about going two turns the first time with him coming from three quarters. Of course I was. But the race worked out the way we wanted it to and needed it to.”

Sacco said taking off the blinkers, worn by It Can Be Done his first two starts but not his past two victories, has made the difference for the gelding.

“We only sprinted him before this but the first two starts we had blinkers on him. The key was taking them off,” said Sacco. “He's bred to run all day. He's a medium-sized horse with a great length of stride. From his gallops in the morning we didn't think distance would be a limitation but we were jumping from a Maiden Special Weight race to a stakes race and there were some talented horses in the race so we knew were coming into a tough heat.

“He ran dynamite on the turf in his only grass start (prior to this). He ran right up to the leader but he wouldn't go by him with the blinkers. He put it all together in his last start. You don't know about two turns until you stretch them out but it was really nice.”

It Can Be Done, owned by Red Oak Stable, paid $14.00 to win.

Mischievous Dream held off No One To Blame for second by a nose.

Racing resumes for the Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet with a 10-race card on Wednesday, Oct. 7. First race post time is 12:50 p.m.

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