Think about the scope of that accomplishment for a moment. On Apr. 2, 1973, Ouzts, then 18, rode his first lifetime winner on just his second day as a licensed apprentice, guiding home an Ohio-bred colt named Rablue on a raw, drizzly afternoon at now-defunct Beulah Park.

That first trip to the winner's circle for Ouzts occurred a little more than a month before Secretariat won the GI Kentucky Derby and then raced into immortality by sweeping the Triple Crown.

How many other direct, still-on-the-track competing connections to the pre-Secretariat era endure in our sport today? Not counting owners and trainers, the answer appears to be zero.

Ouzts has racked up 29 meet-leading riding titles at Ohio tracks alone, and just last August he passed David Gall to claim fifth position on the all-time winningest riders list in North America based on victories. The Jan. 16, 2024, win at Turfway upped Ouzts's career count to 7,420, making him the winningest currently active jockey on the continent.

Ahead of Ouzts on the all-time wins list are Russell Baze (12,842), Laffit Pincay, Jr. (9,530), Bill Shoemaker (8,833) and Pat Day (8,803).

Ouzts won't close that daunting 1,383-win gap to advance another spot on the list before his career comes to a close.

But with 53,146 lifetime starts and no publicly announced retirement plans, Ouzts does have a chance at 441 more mounts to get past Baze (53,587) and claim the North American record for most lifetime starts by a jockey, according to the rankings published by Equibase.

Although he's only ridden 10 horses so far this year, Ouzts's business tends to pick up considerably in the spring when Belterra Park returns to action. In the years 2021-23, he rode 592, 485 and 388 horses per season, respectively. Yes, his riding opportunities have been slowly declining, but the lifetime mounts record is still realistically within reach.

Framing Ouzts's years-of-victory streak by saying he's won “at least one” race per year for 52 years does understate his productivity quite a bit. He's ridden more than 100 winners per year close to 40 times (his exact yearly totals predate Equibase's full statistics, which only go back to 1976).

The only true outlier year was 2006, when Ouzts won just six races. That January he cracked four vertebrae, crushed a fifth, and suffered a compound arm fracture in a Turfway spill. Amazingly, prior to that accident, Ouzts had gone 14 years without a major injury.

Doctors told Ouzts, then 51, that he was millimeters away from being paralyzed and suggested he hang up his tack for good.

Ouzts was back riding 11 months later and hasn't stopped since.

Unlike the four jockeys ahead of him on the North American all-time wins list, Ouzts isn't in the Hall of Fame, although his name does occasionally get brought up as a worthy, blue-collar candidate.

This coming Thursday, when the sport celebrates the pinnacle of the profession at the Eclipse Awards in balmy Florida, Ouzts will be back in action under the lights at wintry Turfway, where he expects to add two more mounts to a career measured more in terms of toughness and durability than trophies.

'Phantom' Building Fandom…

Don't dismiss Track Phantom's wire-to-wire, 2 3/4-length score in the GIII Lecomte S. just because jockey Joel Rosario was able to secure the lead and milk the pace. This Steve Asmussen-trained son of Quality Road is now 3-for-3 around two turns, and while his wins might lack the flash and panache of peers ranked ahead of him on the Triple Crown trail, Track Phantom is building credibility by going out and executing his speed-centric tasks without being fazed by how the competition has tried to disrupt his rhythm on the front end.

Sent off at 7-5, Track Phantom broke fluidly from the outermost post in a field of six to clear rail-drawn 11-10 favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Nash (Medaglia d'Oro). Although it initially appeared as if this maneuver might be requiring a costly expenditure of energy, when a first-quarter clocking of :24.01 lit up on the tote board, the tepid tempo allayed any fears that Rosario was asking too much too soon from his mount, who adeptly settled into a comfortable cadence at the head of the pack.

Track Phantom rolled through subsequent splits of :24.35 and :24.79 with Nash edging closer, but when Rosario sensed that rival was just half a length back three-eighths out, he nudged Track Phantom to open up, and the visual at the quarter pole foretold the story of the stretch run: Track Phantom clearly had more left, while Nash was flailing under desperate urging to find another gear.

Track Phantom cruised through the long Fair Grounds home straight  unopposed through a fourth quarter timed in :24.86, with a last sixteenth in :6.72. The final clocking of 1:44.73 translated into a Beyer Speed Figure of 90, improving on his previous four-race Beyer arc of 74, 81, 88 and 89.

Owned in partnership by L and N Racing, Clark Brewster, Jerry Caroom, and Breeze Easy, Track Phantom's “how he did it” progression rates just as highly as his “how fast” metrics. The Lecomte win now marks three straight races in which this colt has been asked to deploy his early speed while figuring out how to best fight off better-positioned rivals to his inside.

'Fame' Was Faster, Though…

Track Phantom wasn't even the fastest sophomore colt out of the Asmussen barn to run 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds on Saturday. That 1:44.27 honor went to 10 1/4-length blowout maiden victor Hall of Fame (Gun Runner), who earned a 94 Beyer eight races earlier on the Jan. 20 card for the owner partnership of Magnier, Tabor, Smith, Westerberg, Gandharvi, and Rocket Ship Racing.

Backed to 4-5 favoritism in lifetime start number two, this $1.4-million FTSAUG colt forced markedly faster fractions from the rail than Track Phantom set, with Hall of Fame spending a good portion of his backstretch journey trying to squeeze inside of a persistent 7-2 pacemaker.

Also ridden by Rosario, Hall of Fame finally blasted through on the fence under mild far-turn urging, then ran up the score through the stretch while being kept to task before Rosario wrapped him up through the final 70 yards.

The gaudy winning margin was likely amplified by the fact that no other runners mounted serious late-race bids. But Hall of Fame scored with such commanding authority that it's logical to think a stakes engagement is next.

The post The Week in Review: Remarkable Streak Connects Ouzts to Pre-Secretariat Era appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“It's easy to compare where he's at with where we were with Epicenter two years ago,” Asmussen said. “Epicenter won the Gun Runner and was second in the Lecomte, but physically he was developing at the right time. I've always felt that in the 3-year-old series at Fair Grounds, your last race isn't good enough for the next one and that's how it should be. I appreciate the timing between races and the progression of the distances. It's ideal. We came up a half-a-length short of our goal of winning the Derby with Epicenter and now Track Phantom is on the same road. I think the Lecomte was as easy on him as you could have wanted it to be, with him still getting something out of it.”

Track Phantom isn't the only winner from Saturday's card in New Orleans that Asmussen is pointing to the Risen Star. Hall of Fame (Gun Runner), a $1.4-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase, was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following his 10 1/4-length maiden victory Saturday. The 3-year-old's final time of 1:44.27 for 1 1/16 miles was nearly a half-second faster than Track Phantom's clocking (1:44.73) in the Lecomte.

“Hall of Fame is as advertised,” Asmussen said. “As a $1.4-million yearling, he's impeccably bred and a beautiful individual with a tremendous amount of talent. I do expect him to run back in the Risen Star also. He was ridden much more aggressively [to win] on Saturday because he's playing a little catch up on a horse like Track Phantom, but the ability is there.”

The post Asmussen Eyes Risen Star for Track Phantom, Hall of Fame appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Graduates from last year's March sale include Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute), winner of the Jan. 22 GIII Lecomte S., and last year's GI Starlet S. winner Eda (Munnings).

OBS will again offer online bidding during the March sale. Buyers can register on the company's website. For complete information on registration and online bidding, visit obs-online-bidding.

The post OBS March Catalogue Online appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Call Me Midnight broke his maiden in his fifth career start with a last-to-first run at Churchill Downs on Nov. 13, but ran poorly next out when seventh in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 27.

“I convinced myself the wrong way to run him back quickly in Louisville,” Desormeaux said. “I wanted to give him another start over the track, but it was ill-conceived… What gives you confidence is the horse's confidence. He was exuding thusly today. He was very calm in the paddock.”

Last-out winner of the Gun Runner Stakes at the Fair Grounds, Epicenter broke sharply and demanded the lead under jockey Joel Rosario. Initially pressed by Surfer Dude through a quarter in 23.40 seconds, Epicenter pulled away to lead by a length and cover the first half in :47.01. Blue Kentucky was up close early, and race-favorite (3-2) Pappacap, last-out second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, moved up the inside to fourth down the backstretch.

Meanwhile, Call Me Midnight was content to trail from second-last early under Graham. He began picking up rivals around the far turn, and Graham decided on the overland route while maintaining momentum on the outside of his rivals.

Pappacap made his way up the rail to encroach on Epicenter's lead at the head of the lane, but Epicenter never allowed himself to be passed on the inside. However, Call Me Midnight and Graham were in the midst of a huge rally down the center of the racetrack and were just able to catch Epicenter in the final strides.

At the finish it was Call Me Midnight by a nose over Epicenter, with Pappacap just a half-length back in third. Trafalgar finished fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Hartwell Farm, Call Me Midnight is out of the unraced First Defence mare Overseen. As a weanling, the colt brought a final bid of $25,000 from Milton Lopez at Keeneland November. Unsold for $37,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale, Call Me Midnight returned to the sales ring at OBS October and brought $17,000 from Team Work Horseman Group. Desormeaux selected the colt for Cantrell the next March at OBS, paying $80,000 for the Navas Equine-consignee.

With two wins from seven starts, Call Me Midnight has earned just over $220,000. It was also the first graded stakes win for Cantrell.

The post Call Me Midnight Flies Late, Nails Epicenter At The Line For 28-1 Upset In Lecomte appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Leading the Lecomte field is Epicenter, winner of the Gun Runner Stakes on Dec. 26, a newly anointed Road to the Derby race in which he earned 10 points, which could be significant later in the season. Pappacap is notable not because of his two runner-up efforts last fall but because those efforts came against unbeaten and untested Corniche in the G1 American Pharoah Stakes and in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Unified Report is unbeaten in three races but gets a test on two levels here as his wins in the Louisiana Legacy Stakes and Louisiana Juvenile Stakes were against Louisiana-breds and were sprint races; he will be tackling two-turns for the first time in the Lecomte. Trafalgar is an up-and-coming horse who has won two in a row including a race at the distance of the Lecomte at Fair Grounds. Cyberknife also won his most recent start at this distance and over the track, but it was a maiden race so he is stepping way up in class.

Presidential was impressive when winning by seven and three-quarter lengths in his second career start, but it was nearly five months ago so he could be a bit short of ready for this caliber of field. Blue Kentucky finished third in the Sugar Bowl Stakes near the end of December and he too is trying two turns for the first time. Surfer Dude finished third behind Epicenter in the Gun Runner Stakes after leading for the first six furlongs so will be trying to improve, while Call Me Midnight was last seen finishing seventh of 11 in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes near the end of November.

Analysis:

Epicenter improved markedly last November in his second career start when stretching out to a mile (around one turn) for the first time and controlling the tempo from start to finish to beat nine other horses rather easily by 3 1/2 lengths. Moving way up in class from the maiden ranks to run in the inaugural Gun Runner Stakes, and in his first try around two-turns, Epicenter improved again to a career-best 98 Equibase Speed Figure while cruising to a 6 1/2-length win in “ridden out” fashion. Those two figures offer this colt a “double advantage” over the other eight entrants, as the lower of the two is higher than the higher of the last two figures of any of the other horses. Historically these types of horses have a high probability to win. Considering the win was at Fair Grounds and at the distance of the Lecomte and Epicenter is making only his fourth career start and second around two-turns, this colt is the one to beat in the Lecomte.

Trafalgar shows a similar pattern to Epicenter, except he hasn't run in a stakes race yet. Trafalgar finished second in his debut last summer at the same seven furlong distance that Epicenter finished sixth in his debut. In his second career start, also in a one-turn mile last fall, Trafalgar improved markedly, rallying from ninth of 10 to draw off late and earn a career-best figure, in this case an 88. Now this is where the two colts' paths diverge. Trafalgar took two months off and ran in an allowance race at Fair Grounds on Dec. 2, instead of a stakes race as Epicenter did. Although only winning by a head, and although the figure was lower at 82 then in his previous race, Trafalgar showed a lot of mental toughness in victory which may benefit him in the Lecomte. This is because after stalking in second and taking the lead to draw away in the stretch by 1 1/2 lengths, Trafalgar was challenged in the final yards but held his ground to emerge victorious by a head. Making his second start off the layoff, second over the Fair Grounds surface and second at this distance, Trafalgar draws one position inside Epicenter in the gate, and if in the final yards these two colts are neck-and-neck, Trafalgar may have the mental talent to post the mild upset and win.

Pappacap began his career last spring and summer in sensational fashion, breaking his maiden easily by almost three lengths then winning the Best Pal Stake by nearly five lengths. After a mediocre fourth place finish in the Del Mar Futurity last summer, trainer Mark Casse did not give up on Pappacap and entered him in a two-turn race for the first time in the American Pharoah Stakes. In that race he ran into Corniche, who had just galloped in his maiden win and was the prohibitive favorite. Even with Corniche rolling all alone on the front end, Pappacap stayed as close as he could and held second at 13 to 1 odds. Five weeks later in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, once again Pappacap faced Corniche and while that one rolled wire-to-wire on top as the heavy favorite, Pappacap finished second of 11 in a fine effort, earning a career-best 95 figure in the process. It might be a tougher task to run as well off nearly three months away from the races as compared to Epicenter and Trafalgar, but if Pappacap is fit to run as well as he did in his last race off workouts alone he should be a strong factor in this year's Lecomte Stakes.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Blue Kentucky (94 in sprints), Call Me Midnight (89), Cyberknife (91), Presidential (79), Surfer Dude (92 sprinting) and Unified Report (90 sprinting).

Win contenders, in preference/probability order:
Epicenter
Trafalgar
Pappacap

Lecomte Stakes
Race 14 at Fair Grounds
Saturday, January 22, 2022 – Post Time 7:20 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Sixteenth
Three Year Olds
Purse: $200,000

The post Equibase Analysis: Epicenter The One To Beat In Lecomte appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

“I think the distance is right in his wheelhouse and we're excited about running him in this series because of the distance of these preps,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “He's an efficient mover with a high cruising speed and horses like that can be very effective at Fair Grounds. We were very pleased with how he started off the year and this is the next step.”

A second-out graduate here in November, Proxy captured a 1 1/16-mile allowance in NOLA Dec. 19 prior to the Lecomte. Juddmonte homebred Mandaloun (Into Mischief) opened his account with a pair of wins, debuting at Keeneland in October and then at Churchill Nov. 28. Prepping for this with a best-of-35 five panels here Feb. 6, the bay adds blinkers for this event. Lecomte fourth-place finisher Santa Cruiser (Dialed In) broke his maiden at third asking at Churchill Nov. 15 before taking the leap to graded company.

'TDN Rising Star' Carillo (Union Rags) looks to make yet another headline if he pulls off the upset here. The bay was quite impressive when capturing his career bow at Aqueduct Jan. 8 for the estate of his late breeder Paul Pompa and trainer Chad Brown. The bay topped the Keeneland January sale days later, selling to bloodstock agent Lauren Carlisle for $875,000, and was sent to Tom Amoss. He makes his first start for Amoss and new owners Greg Tramontin, Joel Politi, Brittlyn Stable and Asaro Enterprises in the Risen Star.

“He trains like he ran and shows a great deal of stamina in the mornings and in his workouts,” Amoss said. “He shows a very good turn of foot at the end. The horse is pretty straightforward since I've gotten him. He needs to show he can make the transition from one to two turns but he's not the only horse like that at this time of year. All things point to that being something he's going to successfully do but he hasn't done it at this point.”

The post Lecomte Runners Rematch in Risen Star appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The points race was the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes from Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., a 1 1/16-mile contest offering 17 Derby points to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1). While no winners of the Lecomte have gone on to capture the G1 Kentucky Derby, there are some notable successes in the not-too-distant past, including G1 Preakness winners War of Will (2019) and Oxbow (2013). Going back a few more years to 2007, you'll find Derby runner-up Hard Spun on the Lecomte winner's roster.

Tampa Bay Downs ran the Pasco Stakes, a starting point for the Oldsmar, Fla., track's Derby qualifying points races: the Feb. 6 Sam F. Davis (17 points) and March 6 Tampa Bay Derby (85 points). The Pasco, run at seven furlongs, offered a $125,000 purse but no Derby points and has never produced a winner that had an impact on the Triple Crown.

Finally, California-breds were in the spotlight at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., including 3-year-olds in the Cal Cup Derby. While this might not be a points race, let's remember that a Lucky Pulpit colt named California Chrome launched his 3-year-old championship campaign (including Kentucky Derby and Preakness wins) with a victory in the Cal Cup Derby.

As I wrote in my first 2021 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card, the following grades are entirely subjective and based on my personal “eyeball test,” Beyer Speed Figures from Daily Racing Form, historical significance of the race and perceived quality of fields. I don't employ an “easy” curve in my grading.

Jan. 16: Lecomte Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Fair Grounds

Midnight Bourbon was second-choice in the wagering behind the Brad Cox-trained Into Mischief colt Mandaloun, the 4-5 favorite who came into the Lecomte undefeated in two starts: a six-furlong maiden win at Keeneland Oct. 24 and an allowance victory at Churchill Downs Nov. 28. Midnight Bourbon, trained by Steve Asmussen, chased the front-running (and likely distance challenged) Jackie's Warrior last time out when third in the G1 Champagne Stakes at a one-turn mile at Belmont Park Oct. 10. Michael Stidham-trained Proxy (by Tapit) won back-to-back maiden and allowance races around two turns in November and December at Fair Grounds after narrowly losing his debut at Monmouth Oct. 24.  He was the 8-1 fifth choice in the betting.

Midnight Bourbon and Joe Talamo hold off Proxy and Mandaloun to win the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds

All three come from serious racing and breeding operations: Midnight Bourbon is a Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Tiznow colt; Mandaloun is a Juddmonte Farms homebred; and Proxy is a Godolphin homebred produced from the outstanding racemare Panty Raid, winner of the G1 Spinster at Keeneland.

Midnight Bourbon has the goods pedigree-wise, being a half brother to G3 Salvatore Mile winner Pirate's Punch (by Shanghai Bobby); G1 Haskell winner Girvin (by Tale of Ekati); and G3 Iroquois winner Cocked and Loaded (by Colonel John). Now pensioned Tiznow, the two-time G1 Breeders' Cup Classic winner, has been an outstanding sire. He was a late developer, not debuting until late April of his 3-year-old campaign and winding up the year as the champion 3-year-old male and 2000 Horse of the Year. It wouldn't be a stretch to think Midnight Bourbon will age well.

Joe Talamo, subbing for jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. aboard Midnight Bourbon, took it to his rivals early, outhustling Proxy and Mandaloun for the early lead and laying down 24 and change fractions all the way around the Fair Grounds oval and repelling bids from Proxy and a three-wide Mandaloun from the three-eighths pole to the wire, holding them at bay by one length.  Trainer Cox said he might put blinkers on Mandaloun for his next start in the Risen Star, where he'll get a rematch with Midnight Bourbon.

The winner earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure in the Lecomte, a significant improvement from his previous best Beyer, 80, when second to late-running Sittin On Go at Churchill Downs in the G3 Iroquois Sept. 5 after making a bold move to the lead on the turn for home.

Midnight Bourbon ran his final sixteenth in 6.32 seconds and the final five-sixteenths in 30.85 in his first true two-turn test (he broke his maiden going a mile on the peculiar Ellis Park layout where they start coming out of a chute on the clubhouse turn).

Grade: B

Jan. 16: Pasco Stakes, seven furlongs, Tampa Bay Downs

The Bill Mott-trained Union Rags colt Nova Rags jumped off the Daily Racing Form past performances page as the only 3-year-old in the eight-horse lineup to contest a graded stakes, finishing fourth in the G3 Nashua at Aqueduct on Nov. 8.

Nova Rags was made the 13-10 favorite and ran to his odds, winning by 2 ¾ lengths under Samy Camacho despite going very wide throughout (five wide going into the final turn). Nova Rags covered seven furlongs in 1:24.55 and earned a 75 Beyer Speed Figure, three ticks lower than a 78 Beyer in his debut maiden victory at Belmont Park Oct. 10.

Nova Rags draws off late under Samy Camacho to win the Pasco Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths

Out of a Smart Strike mare, the Michael Shanley homebred should improve with distance and Hall of Famer Mott is known for his patience with all of his horses. It's hard to take much from this race, especially when you go back and look at how soundly he was defeated in the Nashua, where he lost by 14 ¼ lengths without apparent excuse.

Grade: D

Jan. 16: California Cup Derby 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita

Trainer David Hofmans added blinkers to Big Fish's equipment for this race restricted to California-bred or -sired horses after removing the hood two starts back. This a long-striding colt by the Dynaformer stallion Mr. Big who probably wasn't best suited when sent out for a 4 ½-furlong maiden test last June 19 in his debut, finishing second. After another sprint try on dirt where he finished third to Cal Cup Derby favorite Good With People, Hofmans moved Big Fish to turf, where he graduated against state-breds going one mile, then won the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes against open company at the same distance.

Big Fish put in a big stretch run to win the California Cup Derby under Juan Hernandez

In the Cal Cup Derby, jockey Juan Hernandez allowed Big Fish to settle well behind the early leaders, commenced a drive around the three-eighths pole, saved ground into the stretch and ran down Good With People and Peter Miller stablemate None Above the Law. Big Fish won going away by 1 ½ lengths in a fairly pedestrian 1:46.37 for 1 1/16 miles, earning a 71 Beyer Speed Figure.

Hofmans now has options for the Legacy Ranch homebred, who comes from the same female family as Pasco winner Nova Rags. The fourth dam of Big Fish is Kaylem Ho, and Kaylem Ho is the second dam of Nova Rags. Kaylem Ho was a member of Mrs. Henry D. Paxson's excellent broodmare ban in the late 1970s in Pennsylvania.

Grade: C-

Coming up on Friday's opening-day card at Oaklawn is the Smarty Jones Stakes at a mile, with 17 Derby points offered. The following weekend, the Road to the Kentucky Derby gets more serious with the Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park  and Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita.

Previously: Jan. 3 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card

The post Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card: Midnight Bourbon Aging Well appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

According to trainer Chris Block, Lothenbach's Stables' Silverbulletday Stakes winner Charlie's Penny also exited her Kentucky Oaks points race is excellent shape.

“So far everything looks good,” Block said. “She ate up last night and this morning, walked real well and she seems bright and not too knocked out. The next logical plan would be to point towards the Rachel Alexandra (G2, $300,000 at 1 1/16 miles on February 13 at Fair Grounds). What has pushed her forward is her mind and her determination. She's not a very big filly, king of average in size and a little bit on the narrow side, but all that is relative to what she can do herself. Yesterday she was helped by the (slow) pace, but so was everybody else, or so I would have thought. She rose to the occasion, now it's time to see if she can take the next step forward. It was really nice to win this race at Fair Grounds. My family used to send horses here for the winter with (the late) Richie Scherer, and management has been very kind to us.”

For her win, the Minnesota-bred daughter of Race Day earned ten points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.

Trainer Brad Cox reports that his pair of beaten favorites – Sun Path (fourth in the Silverbulletday) and Mandaloun (third in the Lecomte) – exited their respective races in good order. Sun Path will be given some time to regroup, while Mandaloun will likely get an equipment change next time out.

“I was super disappointed with the outcome of the Silverbulletday,” Cox admitted. “We don't see any physical issue with Sun Path. She appears to have come out of it well as of now. Obviously, we will back up a little bit. We won't run back in four weeks. We'll just try to train up to either the Honeybee (G3, March 6 at Oaklawn Park) or the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2, March 20). They would really be our only options moving forward. We need a little more time between races. She's going to be a little bit of a question mark until we run her again. She was doing so well leading up to this race (Silverbulletday).

“We still think he (Mandaloun) is a very good horse,” Cox said. “He raced wide around both turns. I thought it was a good experience. He showed up. He ran his race. I think we are going to add blinkers. I talked it over with the Juddmonte team and Florent (jockey Geroux). We kind of thought that ever since his first race. He came out it (Lecomte) so far so good. We will definitely look at coming back in the Risen Star.

“Gagetown raced well for his first time around two turns (second in a first level allowance earlier in the card),” Cox said. “Thought it was a good effort. Run was a little spotty. He was a little unsure of what was going on. It looked like he was going to be third, maybe even fourth, but he re-rallied and was actually running at the winner. He's still trying to figure it out. I wanted to get two sprints into him since he broke his maiden first time. I don't really think he's a 6-furlong horse, but I'm not so certain he's like a mile-and-an-eighth horse either. He's somewhere there in the middle.”

The post Fair Grounds: Midnight Bourbon, Mandaloun Expected To Point For Risen Star appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mandaloun (Into Mischief), the beaten favorite when third in the Lecomte, may get a change of equipment for his  next start, according to trainer Brad Cox.

“We still think he is a very good horse,” Cox said of the Juddmonte Farm homebred. “He raced wide around both turns. I thought it was a good experience. He showed up. He ran his race. I think we are going to add blinkers. I talked it over with the Juddmonte team and [jockey] Florent [Geroux]. We kind of thought that ever since his first race. He came out it [Lecomte], so far so good. We will definitely look at coming back in the Risen Star.”

Cox also saddled Sun Path (Munnings) to a fourth-place finish in Saturday's GIII Silverbulletday S.

“I was super disappointed with the outcome of the Silverbulletday,” Cox admitted. “We don't see any physical issue with Sun Path. She appears to have come out of it well as of now. Obviously, we will back up a little bit. We won't run back in four weeks. We'll just try to train up to either the [Mar. 6 GIII] Honeybee [at Oaklawn Park] or the [Mar. 20 GII] Fair Grounds Oaks. They would really be our only options moving forward. We need a little more time between races. She's going to be a little bit of a question mark until we run her again. She was doing so well leading up to this race [Silverbulletday].”

Silverbulletday winner Charlie's Penny (Race Day) will now likely target the Feb. 13 GII Rachel Alexandra S. at Fair Grounds.

“So far everything looks good,” trainer Chris Block said. “She ate up last night and this morning, walked real well and she seems bright and not too knocked out. The next logical plan would be to point towards the Rachel Alexandra. What has pushed her forward is her mind and her determination. She's not a very big filly, kind of average in size and a little bit on the narrow side, but all that is relative to what she can do herself. Yesterday she was helped by the [slow] pace, but so was everybody else, or so I would have thought. She rose to the occasion, now it's time to see if she can take the next step forward. It was really nice to win this race at Fair Grounds. My family used to send horses here for the winter with [the late] Richie Scherer, and management has been very kind to us.”

The post Midnight Bourbon on to Risen Star appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Three of the four graded stakes winners the Malibu Moon mare has produced are now a collective 5-for-6 over the Fair Grounds dirt after the one-length wire job by Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the first leg of the track's Road to the GI Kentucky Derby series.

Trainer Steve Asmussen's job will now involve trying to build upon that home-track advantage as Midnight Bourbon stretches out (likely in the next two sophomore preps at Fair Grounds) while making sure this $525,000 KEESEP colt saves a little something for Louisville on the first Saturday in May.

Midnight Bourbon's first stakes and two-turn win Jan. 16 came one year to the date that his older half-brother, Pirate's Punch (Shanghai Bobby), ran roughshod over a NW2X allowance field by 11 1/2 lengths at Fair Grounds prior to peaking as a two-time Grade III stakes winner deeper in the season.

And Midnight Bourbon's 7-2 win Saturday for Winchell Thoroughbreds has echoes of the 2017 Fair Grounds campaign of half-brother Girvin (Tale of Ekati), who for separate connections parlayed victories in the GII Risen Star S. and GII Louisiana Derby into a starting spot in the first leg of the Triple Crown. An untimely quarter crack two weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby and trip woes in the race itself contributed to a 13th-place finish, but Girvin rebounded smartly later in the season to win the GI Haskell Invitational S.

Trainers plan meticulous seasonal unveilings for their top-tier sophomores, but this doesn't stop fate from intervening on a routine basis. Last Saturday's 1 1/16-miles Lecomte is a prime example.

The race was initially drawn up on the overnight as being glutted with early speed, but three of the five projected pacemakers ended up scratching. Then Ricardo Santana, Jr., who is Asmussen's go-to rider, couldn't travel to New Orleans because of a family medical situation, so  Joe Talamo picked up the mount on Midnight Bourbon. When the gates finally opened, Santa Cruiser (Dialed In), who figured to be the top remaining Lecomte speed threat, got bumped and shuffled back, leaving him last in the field of eight.

Midnight Bourbon and Talamo took advantage of this unexpected pace vacuum, popping right on top from the rail and assuming command through moderate splits of :24.68 and :48.99.

The two horses closest in pursuit–the 8-1 Proxy (Tapit) and 4-5 favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Mandaloun (Into Mischief)–are no slouches, ranked at numbers five and nine, respectively, in the most recent edition of the TDN Derby Top 12. Proxy loomed boldly and got first run five-sixteenths out while Mandaloun appeared primed to pounce past them both at the quarter pole after going three wide on both turns.

Yet neither colt unleashed enough next-gear torque to seal the deal in the upper stretch, and Proxy and Mandaloun sparred back and forth for second while the freewheeling Midnight Bourbon cruised home in businesslike fashion.

His final time of 1:44.41 (0.14 seconds shy of the same-distance clocking by older horses in the GIII Louisiana S. three races earlier) translates to a very respectable 91 Beyer Speed Figure.

Midnight Bourbon's win also indirectly buoyed the stock of Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), another top sophomore in the Asmussen barn who was announced Saturday as an Eclipse Award finalist for the 2-year-old male award. The Lecomte was Midnight Bourbon's first start since Oct. 10, when he ran a distant third in the GI Champagne S. behind Jackie's Warrior.

Although both of those colts are wintering at Fair Grounds, Asmussen is targeting the 1 1/16-mile GIII Southwest S. Feb. 15 at Oaklawn for Jackie's Warrior's 2021 debut. He indicated post-race Saturday that Midnight Bourbon would remain on a separate path, taking aim at the nine-furlong GII Risen Star S. Feb. 13 and then probably the 1 3/16-mile GII Louisiana Derby Mar. 20, both at Fair Grounds.

Those latter two preps mirror the path taken by half-brother Girvin four years ago. Although Midnight Bourbon belongs to the foal crop known for coming of age during the COVID-19 pandemic, Girvin's sophomore season was also affected by a disease outbreak.

Girvin broke his maiden sprinting at Fair Grounds in December 2016, then shipped out to train at the Evangeline Downs training center. A quarantine to try and contain equine herpesvirus prevented Girvin from returning to New Orleans to run in the January 2017 Lecomte S., although he was able to make it back to win both the Risen Star and the Louisiana Derby later that spring.

Girvin had the benefit of cuffing around fairly weak fields in both of his Fair Grounds prep victories. But one trait that became more apparent the more he raced for trainer Joe Sharp and owner Brad Grady was his rounding into an unflappable, professional sort of racehorse who could handle varying pace scenarios and multiple levels of in-race pressure.

After his 13th place Derby effort (that necessitated the wearing of a bar shoe to help his quarter crack), I wrote in a TDN Derby recap that, “Despite being caught in tight at the break and losing all momentum on the far turn when boxed and blocked, one thing about Girvin's Derby that was true to his earlier efforts was that he maintained his composure despite those multiple adversities.”

If the ability to keep a level head under duress also runs in the family, that would be a powerful attribute for Midnight Bourbon to share with his older brother as the Derby pressure intensifies.

The distances of the Fair Grounds preps have been elongated since Girvin's campaign, but seeing two-time GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow parked atop Midnight Bourbon's pedigree suggests that the added sixteenth of a mile in both the Risen Star and the Louisiana Derby shouldn't be outside of his scope.

Remember, last year was the first season that Fair Grounds extended the distances within the prep series, but because of the pandemic-necessitated switch of the Kentucky Derby from May to September, we never got a chance to see what impact those longer preps had on the rescheduled  Triple Crown.

In addition to Midnight Bourbon, Girvin and Pirate's Punch, Catch the Moon also produced Grade III winner Cocked and Loaded (Colonel John). She is also the dam of a now 2-year-old Curlin colt that fetched $500,000 at KEESEP and a yearling colt by Quality Road. Perhaps those two unraced prospects will one day surface in New Orleans to further solidify the family tradition of excelling over the Fair Grounds main track.

The post The Week in Review: Will the Road to Louisville Run Through New Orleans? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post