Keeneland | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Ruth’-Like Performance: Ribchester 2yo Filly a Rising Star for Wesley Ward at Keeneland

Ruthin (GB) (f, 2, Ribchester {Ire}–Selinka {GB}, by Selkirk), a 350,000gns TATOCT yearling purchase, kicked off her career with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance sprinting on the Keeneland lawn for Wesley Ward Thursday.

The rail-drawn, 3-5 favorite shot out to the front and sped through an opening quarter in :21.91. She let it out a notch approaching the top of the stretch, and, despite racing greenly on her left lead for most of the stretch, was geared down late en route to a flashy, six-length victory over Artos (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

The final time for 5 1/2 furlongs over the “good” going was 1:04.95.

Freshman sire Ribchester, the European champion miler in 2016 and 2017, stands at Darley's Kildangan Stud. Ruthin is his first winner and was his priciest, first-crop yearling to switch hands in 2020.

Ruthin, a daughter of two-time stakes winner in England Selinka, is a half-sister to Hit The Bid (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), MGSW-Ire, GSP-UAE, GSP-Eng, $410,031. Selinka brought 100,000gns from John and Jake Warren in foal to Showcasing (GB) at the 2015 TATDEC sale. She is also represented by a 2021 Land Force (Ire) colt. This is the extended female family of G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Bold Edge (GB).

1st-Keeneland, $40,960, Msw, 4-22, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:04.95, gd, 6 lengths.
RUTHIN (GB), f, 2, by Ribchester (Ire)
                1st Dam: Selinka (GB) (MSW-Eng, $119,968), by Selkirk
                2nd Dam: Lady Links (GB), by Bahamian Bounty (GB)
                3rd Dam: Sparky's Song (GB), by Electric (GB)
Sales history: 350,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $21,720. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree or the VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Highclere Stud & Jake Warren Ltd (GB); T-Wesley A. Ward.

The post ‘Ruth’-Like Performance: Ribchester 2yo Filly a Rising Star for Wesley Ward at Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

With Just One Winning Favorite, Cross Country Pick 5 Pays $1,622

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5, featuring stakes action from Aqueduct, Oaklawn Park and Keeneland, returned $1,622 for selecting all five winner's for the 50-cent wager. The total was pool was $133,595.

An allowance race from Keeneland started the sequence in Race 7, as Brooke Marie won a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint by 1 1/2 lengths for trainer Jonathan Thomas. Brooke Marie, piloted by Luis Saez, returned $9 on a $2 win wager, posting a final time of 1:02.75.

Oaklawn got in on the action in the second leg when Impressed won a six-furlong main track sprint in Race 7, registering a 1 1/4-length score for trainer Ingrid Mason. The allowance optional claiming tilt saw jockey Martin Garcia keep Impressed off the pace, rallying from eighth to complete the course in 1:10.51. Impressed paid $17.

Action shifted back to Lexington, Kentucky for the third leg and the first stakes, as Say the Word bested Channel Cat by 1 1/2 lengths to win the Grade 2, $200,000 Elkhorn for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles on the turf in Keeneland's Race 9. The Philip D'Amato trainee returned $7.20, finishing in 2:28.26 under jockey Luis Saez.

Graded stakes action continued in Hot Springs, Arkansas when Silver State extended a run of non-favorites winning by topping Fearless by a half-length to win the Grade 2, $1 million Oaklawn Handicap for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track in Race 9. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Silver State paid $11.40, with jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. guiding Silver State to the winner's circle after posting a final time of 1:49.56.

The lone victorious favorite in the Cross Country Pick 5 was in the ninth race finale at Aqueduct, when Sassy Melissa edged Tales I Winit by a neck in six-furlong maiden claimer on the outer turf. Off at 2-1, Sassy Melissa paid $6.30, with Jose Ortiz notching his meet-leading 21st victory. Winning trainer David Donk's charge stopped the clock in 1:12.35.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

The post With Just One Winning Favorite, Cross Country Pick 5 Pays $1,622 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Highly Motivated Has Best-Of-Morning Half-Mile Breeze At Keeneland

Klaravich Stables' homebred Highly Motivated, runner-up to champion Essential Quality in the Toyota Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland racecourse on April 3, began his final preparation for an expected run in the $3 million Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Woodford Reserve by working a half-mile in :47.20 over a fast main track Sunday morning at the Lexington, Ky., racecourse.

The move by the Into Mischief colt was the best of 27 at the distance. (Click here for a video of the work.)

Trained by Chad Brown, Highly Motivated worked in company with Founder, who was fifth behind Essential Quality in the 2020 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland. The two came on the track shortly after 9 a.m. and worked on even terms through fractions of :12.20, :23.60, :36 and :47.20 with Highly Motivated galloping out 5 furlongs in 1:00.20 and 6 furlongs in 1:15.60.

Highly Motivated set Keeneland's track record for 6½ furlongs with his 1:14.99 clocking in winning the Nyquist Stakes during the first day of the Breeders' Cup World Championships last November. The colt is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs Monday, April 19, with Brown slated to arrive in Louisville on Wednesday, April 21.

The post Highly Motivated Has Best-Of-Morning Half-Mile Breeze At Keeneland appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Saez Guides Say The Word To Elkhorn Stakes Victory

Say the Word, a Grade 1 winner of the Northern Dancer Stakes for trainer Gail Cox at Woodbine last year, picked up his first victory since being transferred to California-based Phil D'Amato in Saturday's Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland racecourse in Lexington, Ky.

Ridden by Luis Saez, the 6-year-old son of More Than Ready defeated another 6-year-old turf veteran, Channel Cat, by 1 1/2 lengths while covering 1 1/2 miles in 2:28.26 on a course labeled “good.” Crafty Daddy finished a neck back in third, with Fantasioso fourth in the field of eight older horses.

Say the Word, who on Thursday was named champion turf male in Canada's Sovereign Awards, paid $7.20 as second wagering choice behind 2-1 favorite Tide of the Sea.

Say the Word raced in mid-pack in the early going as Tide of the Sea set the pace. He made a wide move running down the backstretch, reaching contention at the quarter pole, then drawing off late for the victory.

Bred by Sam-Son Farm, Say the Word joined D'Amato's stable after Mark Martinez bought into the horse from Sam-Son late last year in the name of his Agave Racing Stable. He ran three times for D'Amato prior to the Elkhorn, finishing third in the G2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar, 11th in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park and second to United in the G3 San Luis Rey at Santa Anita.

The win was the sixth for Say the Word in 29 career starts. He was produced from the Giant's Causeway mare Danceforthecause.

Post-race quotes:

Luis Saez (winning rider of Say the Word): “He just found a good spot (on the backstretch), and he picked up the bridle. I didn't want to let him go too early, so I tried to relax him. When we came into the straight (on the run to the finish), he was pretty good. He took it away, and he won the race.”

Josh Flores (assistant to winning trainer Phil D'Amato, who is based at Santa Anita in California): “The only instructions I gave to Luis was just get him to settle early. For a second we were a little concerned when he picked up the bridle on his own. Luis did a great job to get him to settle. Down the lane, the horse really dug in and put up a good fight.”

Corey Lanerie (rider of runner-up Channel Cat): “We were forwardly placed right behind the favorite (Tide of the Sea). The eventual winner was right on my hip and I just could not hold him off. My horse ran great. Going a mile and a half, the pace might have been a little quicker than I thought we would be going, but he handled it the whole way.”

Jack Sisterson (trainer of Channel Cat): “He ran a very good race. We were optimistic going in to this race. We backed off since his last race (fifth in Jan. 23 William L. McKnight-G3 at Gulfstream Park). We decided to point to the Elkhorn here at Keeneland – this is home for him. If horses could talk, he was telling us he was going to run a big race. It was good to see him run back to the form he had when he was trained by Todd Pletcher.”

On Channel Cat's next race: “We might look at something like the Manhattan (G1 at Belmont Park June 5) or the United Nations (G1 at Monmouth Park July 17). I think he is better than a Grade 3 horse.”

The post Saez Guides Say The Word To Elkhorn Stakes Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post