juan hernandez | Horse Racing Free Tips

Count Again Wallops Seabiscuit Handicap Rivals With Strong Stretch Punch

Agave Racing Stable or Sam-Son Farm's Count Again trailed early, but came roaring through the lane to take down honors in the $203,500 Seabiscuit Handicap Saturday at Del Mar. He ran the 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:40.84 to establish a stakes record.

Juan Hernandez gave the 5-year-old Awesome Again gelding a well-timed ride that saw him get home by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 2 feature for 3-year-olds and up. Phil D'Amato trains the bay who was making his California debut after racing in Canada for trainer Gail Cox earlier this year.

“He'd been running longer races (10 and 12 furlongs) and when he broke a little slow today I didn't rush him,” said Hernandez. “We were in a good spot on the backside and I could feel I had plenty of horse. When we hit the three-eighths (pole) I wheeled him outside and we started to pick them up. He ran hard through the stretch and we got it done.”

Finishing second in the Seabiscuit was Juddmonte Farms' favored Flavius and running third was Iavarone, McClanahan or Peskoff, et al's Next Shares.

Count Again returned $18.80, $8.40 and $5.80 across the board. Flavius paid $4.20 and $3.40, while longshot Next Shares returned $10.00 to show.

Co-owner Sam-Son Farm's of Ontario, Canada, is also the breeder of the winner.

“Gail Cox delivered this horse to me in excellent condition and I was really glad to have him,” said D'Amato. “She got him going really good and his confidence up as well and I just kind of trained on from that. I'm just fortunate to have him. Juan (jockey Hernandez) followed our plan. I just told him to save all the ground and come with one run. If the race sets up for us, great, if not we'll stretch him out next time. He followed those instructions to a 'T' and he came with a monstrous run. ”

The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer D'Amato, but his third in the Seabiscuit. He now has 29 stakes wins at Del Mar.

Count Again registered his fourth win in his eighth career start and pick up $120,000 as the winner's share of the purse. He now has career earnings of $271,165.

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Extra Hope Turns Tables On Midcourt With Front-Running Native Diver Score

Last year in a four-horse field in the Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar, Jay Em Ess Stable's Extra Hope tracked C R K Stable's Midcourt from second place all the way around the track in the nine-furlong race. Midcourt drew clear late and won it by nearly six lengths.

This year – in another four-horse field at the Del Mar, Calif., track – the roles flipped.

Extra Hope and rider Juan Hernandez made the lead out of the gate and led Midcourt and Victor Espinoza from break to finish, scoring nicely in the Grade 3, $100,000 contest. His winning margin was only a length, but in the counting house and the record books a win is most certainly a win. Fractions were :23.86 :47.79 1:11.45 1:37.02 1:50.11

“That was the plan – to go for the lead right away,” said Hernandez. “He helped me a lot the way he broke so good out of there. Then he was running nice an easy for me; he was relaxed. At the quarter pole I asked him and he gave me a good reply.”

“That's (front running) what we planned with Extra Hope,” said Mandella. “I told (Juan Hernandez) 'Spin the tires' out of the gate a little bit. He (Extra Hope) kind of doesn't take life real serious, so he wasn't getting out of his training what he needed to before his first race off the layoff. But the one race did it. He's been doing good since then. We'll look at the Big 'Cap (next year) and possibly the San Antonio on opening day at Santa Anita.”

Extra Hope, a 4-year-old colt by Shanghai Bobby, earned a check for $60,000 for capturing his first stakes race and increased his bankroll to $294,831 with his fourth win in 14 starts. The victory was extra sweet for the lady behind Jay Em Ess Stable –Samantha Siegel. She also bred Extra Hope.

Finishing third in the lineup was Hronis Racing's Combatant and filling out the field was Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farm's Royal Ship, who stumbled badly out of the gate and nearly unseated rider Mike Smith.

Extra Hope ran the mile and one-eighth in 1:50.11 and paid $10.40 and $2.80. Midcourt, the 2/5 favorite, returned $2.10. There was no show wagering in the short lineup.

Leading rider Abel Cedillo had a pair of victories on the afternoon and now has 16 winners in the first 10 days of racing. Best performance by a rider on the afternoon though went to Flavien Prat, who registered three firsts. He now sits in second place in the jockey standings with 10 wins.

Racing resumes tomorrow at Del Mar with a nine-race card beginning at 12:30 p.m.

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Knust Hoping ‘One A Day’ Will Be Tonic For Cedillo Repeat In Del Mar Jockey Race

Defending Bing Crosby Season riding champion Abel Cedillo won Friday's sixth race aboard Just Grace ($5.60) for trainer Bob Hess, Jr., and has a four-win margin (10-6) over closest pursuer Tiago Pereira with nine days remaining in the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club meet in Del Mar, Calif.

And one win (or more) per day is what Tom Knust, Cedillo's agent, would like to see to keep his comfort level up through the Nov. 29 conclusion of the meet.

“If we can win one a day, we'll be OK,” Knust said Saturday morning. “We were fortunate to get off to a good start while (Flavien) Prat and (Juan) Hernandez were away. But they're back and we know how tough they can be. It's not going to be easy.”

Prat, leading rider or close contender at Del Mar for the past four years, guided a pair of price horses home Friday after getting a leg up by his counterpart in the training category, Peter Miller. Seaside Dancer paid $21.80 to win in the fifth and Ruthies Racer $14.40 in the eighth.

Prat and Hernandez are among a group tied for sixth in the Torrey Holistics standings with three wins. Prat is 3-for-12, Hernandez 3-for-28.

Miller's two wins gave him six for the meet and broke a three-way tie atop the trainer standings. Bob Baffert, who had no starters Friday, remains 4-for-7 while Doug O'Neill blanked with five runners and is 4-for-24.

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‘Small But She’s Got A Big Heart’: Biddy Duke Outlasts Jo Jo Air in Sen. Ken Maddy

Easily one of the smallest horses on the grounds, trainer Doug O'Neill's speedy Biddy Duke showed tremendous gameness late in taking Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Ridden for the first time by Juan Hernandez, the 3-year-old daughter of Bayern got 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in 1:02.03 while prevailing by a head over Jo Jo Air.

Breaking like a shot from her number two post position, Biddy Duke out-footed Jo Jo Air to the far turn and had a one-length advantage turning for home. With a host of pursuers, led by “Jo Jo” set to pounce a furlong out, Biddy Duke, who may not stand quite 14 hands tall, simply would not be denied while hand-ridden late.

“She's really fast and she's one of the smallest horses I've ever ridden,” said Hernandez, who picked up his second win on the day. “I knew we were going fast, but she was comfortable, so I let her go. When she saw that other filly come to us, she really fought back. She's small but she's got a big heart.”

Claimed for $40,000 six starts back on May 23 and most recently third over the course in the Unzip Me Stakes Sept. 26, Biddy Duke was off at 9-1 in a field of six fillies and mares and paid $20.20, $8.00 and $4.80.

“This filly has been so honest ever since we got her,” said Leandro Mora, assistant to O'Neill. “The idea was just to not go to the lead, just go close to the lead … Juan said she never quit, when he asked her, she just came back and that's all you see.

“We just pray and do the best we can.”

Owned by Joe Besecker, Biddy Duke, who is out of the Ghostzapper mare Ghostslayer, notched her first-ever stakes win and improved her overall mark to 20-7-5-3. With the winner's share of $60,000, she increased her earnings to $280,332.

Breaking from the rail, Jo Jo Air ran a huge race in defeat, prevailing by one length over longshot An Eddie Surprise for second money. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Jo Jo Air was the second choice at 5-2 and paid $4.00 and $3.00.

With Mario Gutierrez up, An Eddie Surprise, one of three O'Neill entrants, was off at 9-1 and paid $4.00 to show while out-finishing Aqua Seaform Shame by a neck.

Ridden by Abel Cedillo, heavily favored Magic At Midnight, who was off at 4-5, saved ground while a close fifth at the top of the lane, but never threatened from there while finishing next to last.

Fractions on the race were 21.80, 44.60 and 56.09.

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