Kathleen O'Connell | Horse Racing Free Tips

O’Connell Moves Ahead as Winningest Female Trainer

With her victory in the fifth race at Tampa Bay Downs Sunday, Kathleen O'Connell surpassed Kim Hammond to become the winningest female trainer in North America. My Eagle Soars (Khozan) became O'Connell's 2,386th winner when he crossed the line first in the six-furlong maiden claimer.

“It's just been a wonderful ride,” O'Connell said of her training career. “It's not only about the destination, it's the journey getting there.”

O'Connell, who began training on her own in 1981, has twice been the leading trainer at Tampa Bay Downs. She also won a title at Calder. She currently trains about 60 horses between Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream Park.

She has won nine graded stakes, three from 1997-2000 by Blazing Sword, as well as the 2011 GII Tampa Bay Derby with Watch Me Go; the 2003 GII Bonnie Miss S. with Ivanavinalot; the 2019 GIII Sam F. Davis S. with Well Defined; and back-to-back runnings of the GII Princess Rooney in 2018 and 2019 with Stormy Embrace.

Hammond, who has yet to win a race in 2023 from 16 starts, will have a chance to go back into a tie with O'Connell when she saddles a runner in the fifth race at Turfway Park Friday.

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Tapeta Surface Unveiled at Gulfstream

A new era began Thursday at Gulfstream when the 4-year-old claimer Emoji Guy (Khozan) won the opening race on the card, the first to be run over the newly installed Tapeta track. It was the first of four races on the day run on the synthetic surface.

As is the case with all of the synthetic races, the first was largely uneventful. Trained by Kathleen O'Connell and ridden by Edwin Gonzalez, Emoji Guy was fifth early before launching a bid nearing the turn. He made the lead in mid-stretch and was comfortably in front from there, winning by 1 3/4 lengths.

“He was good and comfortable. The horse really liked it,” said Gonzalez. “You have to ride it like the turf. I wanted to make one move and I was pretty happy where he was. It's good. I have to tell you, they did a really good job. Right now, it's good, and when the tractors start working it more, it's going to be better.”

Early indications were that the track is going to produce slow times. The first, a mile-and-a-sixteenth $12,500 claimer, went in 148.08 and the third, a $16,000 maiden claimer run at 5 1/2 furlongs, was completed in 1:08.56. The fifth, a maiden special weight going 5 1/2 furlongs, went in 1:08.09. The final Tapeta race, the seventh, a mile-and-70-yard starter allowance, was completed in 1:45.36.

That didn't bother trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., whose Strategy Queen (Fed Biz) won the fifth, a $60,000 maiden special weight race on the Tapeta. The filly was ridden by Cristian Torres.

“We put a horse on it we thought would like it,” Joseph said. “Cristian said, at first, she was a little green, but there was no kick-back and she was able to maintain her position. One of the things about Tapeta is you don't get dirt in your face. I think that's why some turf horses run on it better than they do on dirt.”

Among the horses who started in the Tapeta races, not one had a prior start on a synthetic surface. But that didn't give handicappers any problems. Three of the four winners were the favorite and the fourth, Strategy Queen, paid just $11. The other winners paid $5.60, $5.40 and $4.40.

Nor was there any apparent bias. Two of the races were won wire to wire, a third winner stalked the pace and Emoji Guy was a winning closer.

O'Connell said she wasn't surprised that Emoji Guy won since he is a horse who seems to handle any surface he runs over. But she still doesn't know what to expect from other horses in her barn.

“It's an experiment and we're all going to have to learn as we go along,” she said. “The horse I ran today is what I would call an 'all-terrain' horse. He can handle any surface, so I was happy he was my first horse on Tapeta here. A lot of turf horses like the Tapeta, but not all of them do. I left Colonial one year and I took eight over to Presque Isle and four of them liked the surface and did well and four of them you couldn't find with a search warrant. It's an individual type of thing. But as long as it is safe for the horses I am all for it. That it's safe, that's all that I want.”

O'Connell said the Tapeta at Gulfstream appears to be different from the one at Presque Isle. She noted that the Gulfstream surface is much lighter in color than the one she has raced over at Presque Isle.

“It's a different kind of Tapeta here, which you can tell by the color,” she said. “The Tapeta at Presque Isle is very different. It's the consistency. Supposedly, this was made for the climate here.”

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Tapeta Era Dawns At Gulfstream Park On Opening Day Of Fall Meet

The ground-breaking Tapeta era dawned Thursday at Gulfstream Park, where four races were contested over the newly installed all-weather surface on opening day of the Fall Meet.

Kathleen O'Connell, the second winningest female trainer in history, notched Win No. 2279 after saddling Emoji Guy for a victory in Race 1 in the first Tapeta race run at Gulfstream, the very first racetrack with dirt, turf and all-weather surfaces.

“It means a lot,” O'Connell said. “I'm happy for the owners. They've waited for a long time. I just texted them, 'It's a new track record. Of course, it was the first race run on it.”

J S Stables LLC's Emoji Guy, the 9-5 favorite for the $12,500 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles, was timed in 1:48.08 in his all-weather debut under Edwin Gonzalez.

“He was good and comfortable. The horse really liked it,” said Gonzalez, who has ridden on all-weather tracks at Golden Gate, Presque Isle and Arlington. “You have to ride it like the turf. I wanted to make one move and I was pretty happy where he was.”

Gonzalez, who made a three-wide sweep to the lead on the far turn aboard Emoji Guy, expressed his satisfaction with the going on the Tapeta track and his belief that the surface will become tighter as time goes by.

“It's good. I have to tell you, they did a really good job. Right now, it's good, and when the tractors start working it more, it's going to be better.”

Emoji Guy won for the first time in eight starts, seven on turf, since breaking his maiden on turf.

“He's pretty much an all-terrain model, so I wasn't so much worried about him,” O'Connell said. “Some of the others I do worry about. I spent a couple of seasons at Presque Isle. Not all of them that like the turf like the synthetic. I've had some dirt horses that turned into synthetic specialists. You just have to be in tune with your horse.”

A $60,000 maiden special weight for juvenile fillies at 5 ½ furlongs on Tapeta was featured on Thursday's program. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Strategy Queen, who had shown promised in two starts on dirt, broke through with a deep-closing triumph under Cristian Torres in the Race 5 feature.

“Her dad won three times on it. Her sister won on it and her other sister won on turf. We put a horse on it we thought would like it,” Joseph said. “Cristian said, at first, she was a little green, but there was no kick-back and she was able to maintain her position. One of the things about Tapeta is you don't get dirt in your face. I think that's why some turf horses run on it better than they do on dirt.”

The daughter of Fed Biz had finished second in her most recent start after dueling from the start of the six-furlong $50,000 maiden claimer.

Wow Tapit, a daughter of Cairo Prince who finished third in her second career start in a recent off-the-turf sprint, took to the Tapeta to graduate in Race 3, a 5 ½-furlong maiden race for juvenile fillies. The Amador Sanchez-trained filly led throughout to score by 3 ½ lengths under Hector Berrios.

Monarch Stables Inc.'s Light Fury transferred his winning form on turf to the Tapeta in Race 7, an about-a-mile-and-70-yard optional claiming allowance. The Ron Spatz-trained son of Wicked Strong, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Samy Camacho, chased Vow Me Now into the stretch before taking the lead and holding on to win by a half-length. Light Fury was winless in eight starts on dirt before winning five times and finishing in the money nine times in 10 races on turf.

Five races will be run on the Tapeta track on Friday's nine-race program that will get underway at 12:50 p.m. Races 5, 7 and 9 will be included in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence that will span Races 4-9. The Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $350,000.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved Thursday for the 11th racing day since a Sept. 10 mandatory payout produced multiple payoffs of $313,299.84

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

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Well Defined Holds Off Shivaree To Win Benny The Bull At Gulfstream

Graded-stakes winner Well Defined continued a successful comeback Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., capturing the $75,000 Benny The Bull Stakes by the rapidly diminishing winning margin of a neck.

Bred by Gil Campbell's Stonehedge LLC, The 5-year-old son of With Distinction, who captured the 2019 Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs in Tampa, Fla., won his sixth race from nine starts since coming off a layoff following a private purchase by his trainer Kathleen O'Connell.

“He needed some time off and Mr. Campbell has a lot of horses. I was willing to give him some time off,” O'Connell said of the sale. “It's a gamble. Sometimes, they come back and sometimes they don't. I have ones come back that have never been half of what they were. I'm just glad he made a whole recovery, and Mr. Campbell still reaps the benefits because he's the breeder. It's a win, win, win.”

Well Defined, who was sent to post as the 6-5 favorite in a field of seven in the seven-furlong stakes for Florida-breds, was beaten to the lead by Travy Boy, who set fractions of :22.75 and :45.03 seconds for the first half mile while pressed by the favorite. Well Defined took the lead entering the stretch under Emisael Jaramillo but started to falter in the final yards and was just able to hold off the late outside surge by Shivaree, a multiple-stakes winner who finished second behind Tiz The Law in the 2020 Grade 1 Florida Derby.

“I think he's better loose on the lead, but I think Jaramillo made a great decision sitting off a horse that was sharp coming off a layoff,” O'Connell said.

Well Defined, who earned a $25,000 Florida Sire Stakes Win Only bonus in addition to the winner's share of the purse, ran seven furlongs in 1:23.47. Shivaree finished three-quarters of a length ahead of third-place finisher Pro Quality.

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