Tag: marcelino pedroza

Bubble Horse O Besos Will Be ‘Ready To Go’ If Kentucky Derby Opportunity Arises

Third last out in the G2 Louisiana Derby, O Besos is currently 22nd in the Kentucky Derby points standings with 25. However, several horses ahead of him are expected to skip the Run for the Roses in favor of the Preakness Stakes, and it appears likely that the 3-year-old son of Orb will make the 20-horse starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

“I'd say we've got a good chance,” trainer Greg Foley told Jennie Rees in a video for the Kentucky HBPA earlier this week. “Another jump and we'd have been second in the Louisiana Derby, and we wouldn't have to worry about getting in the race. But our horse is doing good, so we're just gonna watch him. We'd love to run, and if we get that chance we'll be ready to go.”

O Besos, a chestnut homebred for Barrett Bernard also campaigned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Tagg Team Racing, breezed five furlongs in an official 1:00 3/5 on Tuesday at Churchill Downs (see video below). Up for the workout was jockey Marcelino Pedroza,

“I didn't have him go real fast or anything, just want him to finish up good the last eighth and gallop out good and strong, which he did that,” Foley said. “On the video you can see he picked it up pretty good.”

Pedroza complimented the colt's workout as well.

“I asked him just a little bit after the wire,” Pedroza said. “He did respond like I wanted him to, galloped out really strong, and then he was enjoying himself again, looking around. I'm really happy with the way that he worked today.”

Out of the 12-time winner Snuggs and Kisses (Soto), O Besos shouldn't have a problem with the 1 1/4 miles over the Kentucky Derby.

Pedroza added: “He will love it.”

O Besos would be the second Kentucky Derby starter for the Louisville native Foley, who sent out Major Fed to finish 10th in last year's Sept. 5 edition.

Foley likes his chances with O Besos for this year's race.

“It's anybody's race, I think. It's a wide, wide open race,” Foley said. “Our horse is ready he's doing good. We're gonna train like we're going in the race.”

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Nine Races Carded For April 13 Opening Day At Indiana Grand

Nine races will kick off the 19th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing Tuesday, April 13. The program features eight Thoroughbred and one Quarter Horse race with a first post time of 2:25 p.m.

Featured on the card is a $37,000 Indiana sired allowance in the sixth race. The eight-horse field brings the return of several Indiana winners from last season, including Sudden Shift from the Bob Gorham Stable. The three-year-old Unbridled Express gelding finished second in his final start of 2020 in the $75,000 Indiana Futurity. DeShawn Parker, 2020 leading rider at Indiana Grand, will guide Sudden Shift from post seven.

Parker earned his first leading jockey title at Indiana Grand in 2020 with 106 trips to the winner's circle. The jockey with more than 5,800 career wins adds the title from Indiana Grand to his impressive resume with numerous leading jockey titles from Mountaineer Park. Joining Parker in the race for leading jockey in 2021 is Marcelino Pedroza, Jr., who won his second leading jockey title at Indiana Grand in 2019. Pedroza was sidelined for most of the 2020 season due to injury.

In the trainer category, Genaro Garcia returns seeking his fifth straight title. He topped the standings last year with 43 wins over the shortened 96-day racing season. His stable, Southwest Racing, teamed up with Steve Lewis last year to also win leading owner honors.

The 120-day racing season extends through Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. The stakes schedule has been expanded to include several new stakes, bringing the total count to 40 with purses exceeding $3.6 million. Highlighting the stakes season is the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby and the Grade 3 $200,000 Indiana Oaks set for Wednesday, July 7. Also featured is the state's richest turf race, the $150,000 Caesars Stakes (Listed) set for Wednesday, Sept. 8.

Live racing is conducted Monday through Wednesday at 2:25 p.m. with first post on Thursday set at 3:25 p.m. Six all-Quarter Horse days have been set beginning with the first one Saturday, June 5 at 10 a.m. More information about the 2021 racing season is available at www.indianagrand.com.

The post Nine Races Carded For April 13 Opening Day At Indiana Grand appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Captivating Moon Springs $89 Surprise In Fair Grounds Stakes

Rallying far out in the middle of the Fair Grounds turf course, Lothenbach Stables' homebred Captivating Moon upset the apple cart at odds of 43-1, getting up in the final sixteenth of a mile to win Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Fair Grounds Stakes in New Orleans, La.

Trained by Chris Block and ridden by Marcelino Pedroza, the 6-year-old son of Malibu Moon was 1 3/4 lengths ahead at the finish, covering 1 1/8  miles on the soft Fair Grounds turf  in 1:50.27 and paying $89 on a $2 bet.

Logical Myth finished second, edging Peace Achieved by a head, with Set Piece a nose bacj in a three-horse photo. Factor This, the 9-5 favorite, finished fifth in the field of 10 older runners. Blackberry Wine was scratched, trainer Joe Sharp opting to run the horse one race earlier in the Mineshaft Stakes.

Captivating Moon raced near the back of the field, alongside Set Piece, as Spectacular Gem and Factor This battled on the front end through fractions of :23:35, :48.14 and 1:12.20 for the opening six furlongs.

Pedroza took the outside route and Set Piece went inside as the field rounded the turn and headed into the long Fair Grounds stretch. Captivating Moon began running down the leaders in the final furlong, after a one-mile clocking in 1:37.99, then took command in the closing strides.

“He does like a soft turf,” said Block. “Marcelino did a nice job of keeping him in the clear.”

Block had also entered Captivating Moon in the Colonel Power Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong turf stakes, earlier in the card, but opted for this spot.

The victory was the fifth in 29 career starts for Captivating Moon, who had run on dirt in his eight most recent races. The Fair Grounds Stakes was his first graded stakes victory.

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Strong Tide Living Up To His Dam’s Legacy With Third Stakes Win Of 2020

Having a very successful mother can be hard to live up to, but Strong Tide has risen to the challenge. The son of Dreamin Big, winner of more than $600,000 and listed second on the list of all-time leading Indiana bred females in earnings, is now a three-time stakes winner this season for Mike and Penny Lauer.

Bred to run on the turf, Strong Tide stepped up to tackle opponents on the dirt in the 23rd running of the $100,000 To Much Coffee Stakes. Named in honor of one of Indiana's first standouts, To Much Coffee, multiple stakes winning and track record setting gelding, the race showcased the state's best older males in the event.

Strong Tide began his journey from the center of the starting gate and was in the midst of an all-out charge to the first turn of the one and one-sixteenth mile event. Horses were stacked seven-deep into the first turn and jockey Marcelino Pedroza found a resting spot along the inside early on as Mystery Unbridled and Kendal Sterritt emerged as the first leader of the 12-horse field.

Down the backstretch, the field remained tightly packed with Uphold and Jesus Castanon moving to the lead by the halfway marker. Pedroza had Strong Tide right at his heels tracking every move he made heading into the turn. Mystery Unbridled was not going away easily on the inside in the turn, and it gave Strong Tide the opportunity to move out three-wide and get ready for the attack in the stretch.

Strong Tide and Uphold began to match each other stride for stride in the early stages of the stretch drive, but as the wire neared, Strong Tide was able to get into another gear and get by Uphold. The three-year-old son of English Channel was a two-length winner at the wire over Uphold for second. Max Express and Alex Achard closed quickly on the outside for third.

“We were able to get right behind the two (Uphold) early on, and I thought that was a great place to be,” said Pedroza, who scored four wins on the Wednesday racing card. “I thought the two (Uphold) had a shot after looking at the way he ran in his last race, so we stayed right there until we got a shot to get through. Once we got through and he got by the two (Uphold), he really responded and was strong all the way to the wire.”

It was the fifth win in 17 starts for Strong Tide, who is a homebred by the Lauers, who also campaigned Dreamin Big. Mike handles the training duties while is wife, Penny, is the owner. The sophomore colt now has in excess of $247,000 in purse earnings.

The abbreviated 2020 racing season comes to a close Thursday, Nov. 19 with a mandatory payout in the Straight Fire 6. The carryover heading into closing day is in excess of $140,000 and will begin in Race 5 to capture the final six Thoroughbred races of the season. Racing dates for 2021 will be approved and announced by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission in December.

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