Keeneland | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Whole Package’ Art Collector Jumps To Fourth In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

The story of Art Collector in his first two starts of 2020 was one of quiet progression with the son Bernardini winning both efforts against allowance optional claiming company. In the aftermath of the colt's 3 ½-length victory in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on July 11, Art Collector is anything but under the radar as evidenced by his climb up the ranks in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll.

On the strength of earning his first career graded stakes triumph, Art Collector earned 242 points from voters to move into the No. 4 position on the poll after previously being ranked 28th. The Tom Drury, Jr. trainee is now unbeaten in three starts during his sophomore campaign after beginning his career on the turf during his juvenile season.

“He's very versatile, very classy. He's just the whole package,” said Drury, who celebrated the first graded stakes win of his career with Art Collector's Blue Grass triumph.

Art Collector was the only new presence in the top 10 of the Three-Year-Old Poll this week. Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law continues his hold on the lead position with 39 first-place votes and 399 points as he readies for an expected run in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on August 8.

Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (1 first-place vote, 357 points) remains in second followed by graded-stakes winner Authentic (244 points), who is expected to be among the favorites for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on July 18.

Belmont Stakes runner-up Dr Post, who is also expected to contest the Haskell Invitational, sits fifth behind Art Collector with 180 points while King Guillermo (148 points) ranks sixth. Uncle Chuck, winner of the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4, is seventh with 118 points followed by Blue Grass Stakes runner-up Swiss Skydiver (110 points). Grade 1 Acorn Stakes winner Gamine (108 points) is ninth with Max Player (60) completing the top 10.

Champion Midnight Bisou, who returned to the worktab on Monday for the first time since her victory in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Stakes on June 27, spends yet another week atop the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with 22 first-place votes and 369 points. Grade 1-winner Tom's d'Etat (9 first-place votes, 334 points) is second with Met Mile hero Vekoma (2 first-place votes, 294 points) holding down the third spot.

Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, jumped up to the fourth position with 1 first-place vote and 142 points in the wake of her victory in the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes this past Saturday. Zulu Alpha (134 points) moves up to fifth on the heels of his win in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes followed by Mucho Gusto (133) and By My Standards (130).

Tiz the Law remains the lone sophomore in the Top Thoroughbred Poll with 2 first-place votes and 118 points to sit eighth while Code of Honor (1 first-place vote, 98 points) and Maximum Security (3 first-place votes, 95 points) complete the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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TIF Lauds Keeneland For Proactively Addressing Late Odds Shift

Keeneland didn't just offer customers free programs and past performances over their recently concluded five-day summer meet, they made a highly unusual announcement on Saturday morning.

After customer complaints on Friday afternoon, Keeneland explained a late odds change from the previous day's races, assuring the public the bets were appropriately time-stamped before betting was closed.

It's a tiny, first step for an industry which has too often left the majority of its customers behind, promoting the access of a few massive wagering syndicates above the experiences of the general public.

The field for Keeneland's sixth race on Friday jumped from the stalls and #3 Early Mischief was 10-1. While it doesn't happen often, the odds for the race were still on the screen as the field broke away. The next time the odds appeared on the screen, after the race was finished and Keeneland was showing a head-on replay of the start of the race, Early Mischief was listed at 5-1.

Those who bet the race, bet racing in general or simply observed the incident, commented negatively on the situation via social media in its aftermath. Incidents such as these occur with regularity across the sport, often leading to substantial frustration from customers and, in general, silence from racetracks and bet-takers.

Needless to say, concerned customers could have a variety of questions.

Was the bet entered after the race started and Early Mischief ended up on the lead?

Why does it take the tote system so long to update?

Is there anything nefarious involved here?

These are all fair questions. Customers ask these questions because incidents like the one at Keeneland occur with regularity across North American racing. Day in and day out.

Much to their credit, Keeneland did publish a statement on Saturday morning following the Early Mischief odds shift:

“In Keeneland's 6th race on Friday, there was a significant late odds shift on the winner, Early Mischief (3). Upon request from Keeneland, the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau analyzed the wagering records. During the last cycle, 26 percent of the win pool was received ($61,000). Of this amount, $16,000 was wagered on the 3 horse, dropping his odds from 10-1 to 5-1.

“Upon examination, several large win wagers were placed on the 3 horse just prior to post and those were reflected as horses left the gate. Keeneland refreshes win odds every 10 seconds to give the customer as accurate a picture as possible.

“All wagers were time stamped properly and were placed prior to the start of the race.”

CLICK HERE to read more on Keeneland's announcement…

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Fernandez Is Fifth Jockey Tied To Los Alamitos To Test Positive For COVID-19

Jockey Eduard Rojas Fernandez is the fifth jockey to ride at Los Alamitos and test positive for COVID-19 in the past month, reports the Daily Racing Form. Fernandez was off his evening mounts over the three-day racing weekend after he was notified of the positive.

Neil Bricks, Fernandez' agent, said the rider did not have acute symptoms. Fernandez posted on Twitter in Spanish that he “will be out for weeks.”

Other riders reporting COVID-19 positives this month include: Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia, Flavien Prat, and Luis Saez, each of whom rode the Thoroughbred card at Los Alamitos on July 4.

Garcia later rode at Prairie Meadows; Saez had mounts at Belmont, Indiana Grand, and Keeneland; and Prat rode at both Del Mar and Keeneland.

Weather Dependent: War Of Will, Got Stormy May Aim For Fourstardave

Trainer Mark Casse has the Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave at Saratoga Race Course in mind for Gary Barber's War of Will and defending winner Got Stormy, but only one of the two horses will race in the one-mile turf event.

War of Will, who won last year's Grade 1 Preakness, became a Grade 1 winner on both dirt and turf when taking the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland on Friday. Whether or not the 4-year-old son of War Front races in the one-mile event at the Spa depends on the turf conditions as Casse feels that a fast turf would be to the benefit of stablemate Got Stormy, who is winless in four starts this season.

“The plan is the aim him and Got Stormy to the Fourstardave and the [Grade 1, $1 million] Woodbine Mile [on September 19]. It all depends on the conditions of the turf,” Casse said. “If we get a fast turf for Got Stormy then we'll try her in the Fourstardave and War of Will in the Woodbine Mile. If it turns out that it comes up soft, then he would go to the Fourstardave. A lot of people have written off Got Stormy and I just think she needs a firm turf.”

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