Mandaloun | Horse Racing Free Tips

Classic Bound Sophs Highlight Saturday Worktab

On a brisk spring morning, Juddmonte Farm's Mandaloun (Into Mischief) began his serious preparation toward the GI Kentucky Derby with a half-mile breeze in :49.80 under jockey Florent Geroux Saturday. The GII Risen Star S. winner worked outside of stakes winner Australasia through a moderate :25.40 opening quarter-mile fraction. The duo galloped out together through five furlongs in 1:02.60 and completed the work with a six-furlong time of 1:16.40, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. Trained by Brad Cox, Mandaloun was the 6-5 favorite in the Mar. 20 GII Louisiana Derby, but finished a disappointing sixth.

“There really wasn't an excuse in the Louisiana Derby,” Cox said. “I hate to use the cliché of drawing a line through the race, but that is what we are doing. At the half-mile pole, he really didn't continue to put himself into the race and was out of gas. We had high hopes, obviously, that he would run better in that race. We talked it over with the folks from Juddmonte and if he continues to train well, we are going to pursue the Derby.”

Moments before Mandaloun's work, Cox's top GI Longines Kentucky Oaks contender Travel Column (Frosted) breezed a half-mile in :48.60. She began the work with a :24.60 quarter-mile time and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.

Other stars that recorded works Saturday morning at Churchill Downs included 2020 GI Preakness S. winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), who worked a half-mile in :48 under jockey Robby Albarado and undefeated GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf hero Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire)), who worked a half-mile in :48.60 under Geroux.

On the West Coast, Louisiana Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) worked four furlongs Saturday morning in :49.40 under Flavien Prat, while Derby-bound GII Rebel S. winner Concert Tour (Street Sense) went six furlongs in a bullet 1:12.80 for Bob Baffert.

“He went the last eighth in :11 and change,” trainer Doug O'Neill said of Hot Rod Charlie. “I'm very happy.”

Of the 145 recorded workouts, including 25 on the training track, 21 were for runners conditioned by O'Neill. Baffert also sent Rebel runner-up Hozier (Pioneerof the Nile) four furlongs in a bullet :46.60 as the colt prepares for next Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby. It was the fastest of 67 drills at the distance and almost three seconds quicker than the average time of :49.26

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‘Seasoned Horse’ Essential Quality Arrives In Kentucky For Blue Grass Stakes

Champion 2-year-old Essential Quality has arrived home in the Bluegrass state, shipping in to Keeneland on Monday morning. Trainer Brad Cox spoke with the Kentucky HBPA's Jennie Rees later Monday, regarding the colt's upcoming engagement in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes this Saturday.

Essential Quality, a homebred son of Tapit for Godolphin, is undefeated across four career starts including his sophomore debut, the two-week delayed edition of the G3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 27. Since then, the colt has been training at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., breezing regularly ahead of his second start off the layoff.

“He's a very good work horse,” Cox said, explaining that he'd worked Essential Quality in company on Saturday, March 27. “They worked five-eighths from the half mile pole in, I think, a minute and two-fifths, (galloped) out in 1:14, well in hand. It was exactly what we wanted to see.”

That final preparation completed, Cox is looking forward to having Essential Quality back at a familiar track. The colt won both the G1 Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile over Keeneland's dirt last fall, and is the expected favorite for Saturday's Blue Grass.

“I'm confident that he doesn't need a certain trip to be able to win,” Cox said. “He's been able to take dirt, he's been able to go inside and outside of horses, you know. He's a seasoned horse as far as the trips he's gotten. It's not like he breaks and he's right there and he just runs away from them. He's won his races, pretty much the first three were all different, different styles of winning.”

Essential Quality will make the Kentucky Derby on May 1 his third start of the winter layoff, and will run out of his own stall at Churchill Downs, both strong points in his favor, according to Cox.

The 2020 champion trainer also has two other Derby contenders in the barn. Mandaloun, winner of the G2 Risen Star, baffled both the betting public and Cox with a dull performance in the Louisiana Derby last out, but returned from the race in pristine condition and will press on to the first Saturday in May.

Caddo River, meanwhile, won the listed Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn in January, but ran fifth last out as the favorite in the G2 Rebel. He'll return in the G1 Arkansas Derby in two weeks' time, with Cox's goal to have Florent Geroux be a bit more aggressive early in the race.

Check out the full interview here:

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Louisiana Derby Aftermath: Hot Rod Charlie Back to California; Mandaloun May Run In Lexington

The dust has settled after a thrilling 14-race card Saturday at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, with the TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) and Oaks (G2) in the rearview mirror. Both the local Derby and Oaks offered 100-40-20-10 qualifying points for the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, and the April 30 Longines Kentucky Oaks, and several of the top finishers emerged with both races firmly on their calendar.

The connections for several of the major players had a chance to sleep on the results, evaluate how their respective horses came out their races, and plot a path to Churchill Downs. Fair Grounds media caught up with several trainers Sunday morning to get their thoughts moving forward.

Louisiana Derby:
Doug O'Neill, trainer, Hot Rod Charlie (Leandro Mora was trainer of record in Louisiana Derby) (1^st): Charlie looked great this morning. He flies back to California on Tuesday. I love the spacing (six weeks) leading up to the Kentucky Derby. It's ideal. He's proven to travel well. I'm very proud of my nephew Patrick (with Boat Racing). He's a real good young man and I'm very excited for him and all of the owners.

Scott Blasi, assistant trainer to Steve Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon (2^nd): Big effort and he's another horse (like Clairiere) that's just going to continue to improve. I don't think distance will be an issue with him and the timing, back to the Derby, off this series here, there will be plenty of time to freshen up and run his best race. We'll train here for a week and ship a week from Sunday (the 28^th).

Greg Foley, trainer, O Besos (3^rd): We all want to go forward after yesterday. The only question we had was the distance, and he answered that pretty good. He galloped out past the winner. We've got 25 (derby qualifying) points. If we got second, we wouldn't have to think about it, but now we have to hope we get in. we just have to wait and see. I don't want to run him back (before the Derby). I don't think it will affect our training. He's a dead-fit horse. We'll get hi back home next week (to Churchill Downs) and we'll just wait and see. If it gets us in, great, if it doesn't, oh well, we'll go from there. I'd like to try and get in the big one and hopefully that will get it done. At least we're not wondering any more (about the distance).

Mike Stidham, trainer, Proxy (4^th): He came back in good condition. I will discuss it with the Godolphin team and decide which direction we go in next.

Brad Cox, trainer, Mandaloun (6^th as the 6-5 favorite): We couldn't come up with any reasons for the dull performance. We'll get him back to Kentucky, see how he trains, and then go from there. I've thought about it, but I think right now I'll probably nominate him to the Lexington (G3, April 10 at Keeneland) and we'll see. He was done at the half-mile pole, so I don't think the distance was the reason (he was so dull). He ran out of horse fairly quickly. He handled everything in the paddock, so to show up and get beat by those horses we had run so well against, that was obviously disappointing. He's not that bad. We were the favorite. It's almost like you'd like to see a reason or an excuse but we aren't seeing it yet. The six weeks (to the Derby) is almost a blessing. I don't think it's a bad thing. We'll see how he trains. I'm not going to change too much with him. He bounced out of it in good shape, scoped good, no issues. He'll probably go to Churchill at some point later this week.

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California Invader Hot Rod Charlie Scores Front-End Victory In Louisiana Derby

Second at 94-1 odds in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and third in his 3-year-old debut in the G3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, Hot Rod Charlie scored a front-running two-length victory under Joel Rosario on Saturday in the $1-million, G2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans, La.

Sent away as the 5-2 second choice in the wagering behind the Brad Cox-trained 6-5 favorite Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie battled with Midnight Bourbon and Joe Talamo throughout the 1 3/16 miles, and put that rival away in the final sixteenth of a mile to win in 1:55.06 on a fast main track, a new track record at the infrequently run distance. He paid $7.80 to win.

Fractions of the race were :23.10, :47.04, 1:11.25 and 1:36.38.

Midnight Bourbon held second, with 28-1 longshot O Besos rallying up the rail late to finish a head back in third, with 3-1 third choice Proxy another 1 3/4 lengths back in fourth. Mandaloun finished sixth of the eight 3-year-olds. The Risen Star winner tried to reach contention with the top pair going into the far turn but was not able to sustain his rally.

Leandro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O'Neill, was the trainer of record for the Louisiana Derby as O'Neill was serving a 10-day medication suspension for a lidocaine positive in California from March 8-17 when entries for the race were taken.

The son of the Awesome Again stallion, Oxbow, Hot Rod Charlie earned 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, with the second through fourth finishers getting 40, 20 and 10 points, respectively.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

Hot Rod Charlie is owned by the partnership of Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing and William Strauss.

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