long island stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mutamakina Ends Her Career On A High Note With Long Island Win

Trainer Christophe Clement expressed pride and satisfaction in saddling Al Shira'aa Farms' Mutamakina to victory in the final start of her career when capturing Saturday's $400,000 Grade 3 Long Island at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The 5-year-old daughter of Nathaniel defended her title in the Long Island, which she won last year when collaring stablemate Traipsing up the rail in the final strides. Mutamakina saw some added ground in this year's Long Island which was moved from 11 to 12 furlongs.

“I'm still enjoying the win,” Clement said. “I'm very grateful for the owner and hopefully we can be lucky again.”

Previously trained in France by Carlos Laffon-Parias, Mutamakina achieved modest success overseas, including a Group 2 placing behind subsequent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass at Longchamp in Paris, France. She finished a distant eighth to eventual Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Audarya in her final start in France in August 2020.

Her career reached new heights when transferred to Clement in New York, finishing a troubled third in last year's Zagora at Belmont over yielding turf en route to her first Long Island score to close out her 4-year-old campaign.

Following three losses at Belmont at stakes level to launch her 2021 season, including a second in the G2 Sheepshead Bay and a third in the River Memories, Mutamakina went on a three-race tear, traveling to Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, to capture the G2 Dance Smartly and G1 E.P. Taylor ahead of this year's Long Island.

“She had a real career in the States. It was a great decision on their part to send her here because she improved her resume by coming here,” Clement said. “When things work out with staying fillies like her, these things happen. She's talented and an above-average horse and, like most horses, she got better as she got older.”

Dylan Davis, undefeated aboard Mutamakina, piloted the mare to all four of her triumphs in North America. She provided Davis with his first Grade 1 win by besting stablemate La Dragontea by a neck in the E.P. Taylor in October.

“I got aboard her because Kieran Lalor, the racing manager for Al Shira'aa Stud, really wanted me to ride her after I rode her in last year's Long Island,” Davis said. “She had different riders in between then, but once I got back up on her this summer, we hooked back up. She was my first Grade 1 winner, I went 4-for-4 on her. How much better can you get than that? I'm going to get a nice big picture of her and put it in my house.

“She's pretty straightforward,” Davis continued. “She was actually a little more on edge at Woodbine. She'd be more on it those first couple of jumps out of the gate. After that, she would settle down, but over here she was more relaxed.”

Mutamakina is slated to ship to Ireland for a broodmare career, where she will be bred to Dubawi.

Bred in Great Britain by Widgham Stud, Mutamakina is out of the Danehill broodmare Joshua's Princess. Her fourth dam is 1995 European Horse of the Year Ridgewood Pearl, who captured that year's G1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Mutamakina closed out her career with a record of 17-6-3-3 with purse earnings of $854,066.

The post Mutamakina Ends Her Career On A High Note With Long Island Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mutamakina Repeats In Long Island At Aqueduct

Mutamakina (GB) found herself behind horses coming out of the final turn as Candy Flower seemed on the precipice of taking the field gate to wire in the Grade 3 Long Island at Aqueduct Racetrack. A late move to the outside by jockey Dylan Davis and a driving surge in the race's final furlong gave the 5-year-old mare everything she needed for her second victory in the Long Island and her third straight graded stakes victory.

In the 1 1/2-mile stakes over firm turf, the daughter of Nathaniel (IRE) lingered toward the back of the pack, with Candy Flower running easily on the lead a length ahead of Sorrel and Harajuku. For the first mile, Mutamakina saved ground, running in fifth behind fellow Christophe Clement trainee La Dragontea. Through fractions of :24.20, :50.02, and 1:15, Candy Flower looked poised to take the field all the way, her lead 1 1/2 lengths as they hit the stretch at the Ozone Park, N.Y. track.

Entering the stretch, Mutamakina had traffic in front of her, so Davis tipped her out four-wide from the rail to find a clear lane. Running on the outside of La Dragontea, Mutamakina quickly made up ground, her late surge in the final furlong shortening Candy Flower's lead and then catching her just before the wire to win by a half-length. La Dragontea was third, with Luck Money fourth.

The final time for the 1 1/2 miles was 2:28.08. Find this race's chart here.

Mutamakina paid $6.60, $4.10, and $2.90. Candy Flower paid $15.60 and $6.80. La Dragontea paid $2.60.

Bred in England by Widgham Stud, Mutamakina is out of the Danehill mare Joshua's Princess (GB). She is owned by Al Shira'aa Farms. She was consigned by New England Stud and purchased by Shawn Dugan, agent, for $137,225 at the 2017 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. With her win in the G3 Long Island, Mutamakina has three wins in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of six wins in 17 starts and career earnings of $854,509. Her win gives trainer Christophe Clement his fourth win in this graded stakes.

The post Mutamakina Repeats In Long Island At Aqueduct appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mutamakina Rides The Rail To Capture Long Island Stakes

Al Shira'aa Farms' Mutamakina rallied up the rail under Dylan Davis to collar fellow Christophe Clement trainee Traipsing in the final stride in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Long Island, an 11-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Traipsing, under a heady ride by Kendrick Carmouche, led the twelve-horse field over good turf through moderate splits of 26.10, 52.62 and 1:19.76 as Beau Belle tracked her early foot with Eliade chasing along the rail in third.

Mutamakina, content to rate in fifth position, sat a patient trip under Davis as Traipsing led confidently through the final turn and opened up a 2 ½-length lead at the stretch call. Inside the final furlong, Traipsing was still moving well but Davis went to work on Mutamakina, who responded with a powerful turn-of-foot to overtake Eliade and Delta's Kingdom and squeeze up the rail past Traipsing in the shadow of the wire. She stopped the clock in 2:21.08 for the three-quarter-length win.

It was another 1 3/4-lengths back to Delta's Kingdom in third. Eliade, Theodora B., Wegetsdamunnys, English Affair, With Dignity, Beau Belle, Pretty Point, Hungry Kitten and Siberian Iris completed the order of finish. Also-eligible Lovely Lucky was scratched.

Clement, the Big A fall meet's leading trainer with 14 wins, said he was pleased with the ride by Davis aboard Mutamakina, who entered from a troubled third in the 1 ½-mile Zagora on October 31 over yielding Belmont Park turf.

“Traipsing set up a perfect pace; she looked great. My other filly [Mutamakina] was very game,” said Clement. “Dylan gave a great ride. He wasn't a long way off the pace and she was travelling well down the backstretch. I'll have to talk to the owner, but she might stay another year. Obviously, the way she ran today, she will be an exciting prospect for the 1 ½-mile division. I thought she was extremely unlucky last time at Belmont Park. I was delighted to see her win. She deserved a graded stakes win.”

Davis, who won three races on Saturday, finished second in a pair of stakes earlier on the card with Monday Morning Qb in the Grade 3 Discovery and El Tormenta in the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship.

The veteran rider said he was nervous when Traipsing kicked away in the stretch run.

“I didn't think I was going to get there at first because I saw Kendrick pull away a bit, but she does take a little bit of time to get running,” said Davis. “When she started moving, I knew it was over. Within the last eighth of a mile she was just getting into stride and I was just staying out of her way and keeping her happy. She was able to get up, which was nice.”

Stone Farm homebred Traipsing entered from a front-running score in 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming tilt on the September 26 on firm Belmont turf and nearly held on under Carmouche, who leads the Big A fall meet jockey standings with 16 wins.

“My horse ran very well and I loved her today,” said Carmouche. “Coming out of a mile-and-a-sixteenth race, I thought I would be right there on the lead. She ran really well. The favorite beat me, but my horse did a good job.”

Bred in Great Britain by Widgham Stud, Mutamakina banked $55,000 in victory while maintaining improving her record to 11-3-2-2. She was making just her second start for Clement after winning a pair of races in France last year for former conditioner Carlos Laffon-Parias.

Mutamakina returned $5.90 for a $2 win ticket as the 9-5 mutuel favorite and her card-closing score secured a hefty $482,817.70 single-ticket payout of the Empire 6 jackpot.

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a 10-race card highlighted by a trio of $100,000 stakes, including the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap for 3-year-olds and upward going six furlongs over the main track; the Tepin for juvenile fillies going 1 1/16 miles over the turf; and the Autumn Days at six furlongs on turf for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

The post Mutamakina Rides The Rail To Capture Long Island Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Frontrunning Theodora B. Faces Trio From Clement Stable In Aqueduct’s Long Island

An evenly-matched field of fillies and mares are set to clash on the Aqueduct Racetrack turf in Ozone Park, N.Y., in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Long Island at 1 ⅜ miles on the inner course, led by graded stakes winner Theodora B. from the barn of trainer Michael Dickinson.

A versatile 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, Theodora B. had been knocking on the door at the stakes level for much of her career before breaking through in a big way in 2020. The Augustin Stable homebred began her year with an encouraging optional claiming win at Laurel Park, and after a hiccup on the synthetic main track at Woodbine in the Grade 3 Trillium, finally notched her first stakes victory with a wire-to-wire score in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on turf.

That same frontrunning tactic earned her another stakes win one start later in the TVG at Kentucky Downs, but she failed to get the job done in her most recent start, the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor at Woodbine, fading to fifth after setting the early pace.

“She's doing very well, fresh and sound.” said Dickinson, who attributes her improvement this year to mental and physical maturation. “She's stayed very sound, and we've discovered she's happiest on the front end, which is where she'll be again on Saturday. It's not anything we planned for, it just happened that nobody wanted the lead [in the Dance Smartly], and she's been in great form.”

In search of her third stakes win of the year, Theodora B. will enlist the services of top turf rider Jose Lezcano from post 9.

Never a stranger to turf stakes races on the NYRA circuit, trainer Christophe Clement has a trio of runners entered in Wegetsdamunnys, Mutamakina, and Traipsing.

Bred in New York by Wellspring Stables, the daughter of D'Funnybone will be making her swan song in the Long Island before she heads to the breeding shed in 2021. The 5-year-old mare has accumulated over $300,000 in career earnings with five wins from 23 starts, and recently finished second in the Yaddo on September 4 at Saratoga Race Course.

“She's always been consistent for us,” Clement said of Wegetsdamunnys. “It's a bit ambitious, but this will be her last race before she goes off to become a broodmare.”

Conversely, Mutamakina's U.S. career appears to just be taking flight after the French import finished third in the Zagora on October 31 at Belmont Park in her stateside debut. The 4-year-old filly encountered significant trouble in the Zagora, run over a yielding turf course at Belmont, having been shuffled badly in upper stretch before mounting a strong rally to get within a half-length of the winner at the finish.

“She ran a very good race last out,” said Clement. “She's been training forwardly and we'll take her to Florida after this race.”

A Stone Farm homebred, Traipsing will take a hefty step up in class after beating a second-level optional claiming field in late September on the Belmont lawn in wire-to-wire fashion. She will also stretch out in distance significantly having won that race at 1 1/16 miles, and she has yet to go beyond 1 ⅛ miles in her career.

Wegetsdamunnys will be ridden by Dylan Davis from post 2, Mutamakina will have the services of Eric Cancel out of post 4, and Kendrick Carmouche will be aboard Traipsing from post 3.

Local horseman Tom Albertrani also has a formidable duo lined up for the Long Island with turf marathon aficionados Beau Belle and Lovely Lucky. Though winless on the year, Beau Belle has acquitted herself nicely in a few such stakes races, with a couple of third-place finishes in the Grade 2 Glens Falls and the River Memories on her 2020 resume. In her most recent outing, however, she finished a distant eighth in the Zagora.

“She did too much on the front end that day [in the Zagora] and the soft turf just got to her,” said Albertrani, who trains Beau Belle for Mark Anderson. “It's the only race she really ran poorly in. Hopefully, with a different scenario it works out next trip. She's run well in most of her starts. We'll see if she can come back.”

Luis Rodriguez Castro will ride Beau Belle from post 7.

A 4-year-old daughter of Lookin At Lucky owned by Elizabeth Mateo, Lovely Lucky looked like a star in the making when she got to go 1 ⅜ miles for the first time on July 24 at Saratoga, however that hasn't really panned out in subsequent starts. She entered her breakthrough victory off a meager maiden claiming score, but exploded to a surprising 6 ¾-length romp at the Spa at odds of 19-1. Since then, she's finished fourth in the Glens Falls and seventh in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational in her latest outing.

“She's a filly that's been improving with the distance that we ran her,” said Albertrani. “In the race at Saratoga [the Grade 2 Glens Falls], Lezcano was fighting her a little too much and she ended up running fourth. We were thinking Beau Belle would set the pace but actually she had more speed and I think he may have held her back a little more than she needed him to. She still ran well. Hopefully, she steps up.”

An also eligible in post 13, Lovely Lucky will hope to draw into the race for rider Harry Hernandez.

New York mainstays Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey and renowned turf conditioner Chad Brown will also be well represented. McGaughey's Hungry Kitten nearly won her third race in a row last out in the Zagora, in which she finished a fast-closing second behind Luck Money. The rapidly improving 4-year-old will be ridden by Nik Juarez from post 11.

Brown, meanwhile, will send out French product Eliade, who is coming off an impressive allowance win on October 8 at Keeneland. Prior to that, the Teofilo filly finished an even fifth in the Glens Falls on this circuit. Jose Ortiz, regular rider of Hungry Kitten, will take the call from the inside post.

Rounding out the field are Siberian Iris [post 5, Mike Luzzi), English Affair (post 6, Jorge Vargas, Jr.), With Dignity (post 8, Sebastian Saez), Pretty Point (post 10, Christopher DeCarlo) and Delta's Kingdom (post 12, Junior Alvarado).

The Long Island is slated as the finale on Aqueduct's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 11:50 a.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the Aqueduct fall meet with coverage to air on FOX Sports and MSG Networks.

The post Frontrunning Theodora B. Faces Trio From Clement Stable In Aqueduct’s Long Island appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post