Math Wizard Among Latest KEEJAN Supplements

Math Wizard (Algorithms), winner of the 2019 GI Pennsylvania Derby, is among seven more supplemental entries to the 2022 Keeneland January Horses of All Age Sale, set to take place Jan. 10-13 in Lexington. The 5-year-old Math Wizard will be offered as a racing or stallion prospect. An earner of $1,183,840 to date, he is entered in an allowance Sunday at Fair Grounds. Taylor Made Sales Agency will consign.

Additional supplements include:

  • Benissimo, a 2-year-old colt by Pioneerof the Nile consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Juddmonte. From the family of Grade I winners Sightseek and Tates Creek, he is cataloged as a racing or stallion prospect.
  • Colorful Sense, a 5-year-old daughter of Street Sense in foal to Munnings, consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, agent. Out of stakes winner Revolutionary Act (Boston Harbor), she is a half-sister to stakes winners Night Party and American Act.
  • Rags to Brags, a 6-year-old mare by Medaglia d'Oro in foal to American Pharoah. Consigned by Four Star Sales, agent, she is from the family of Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour.
  • Speedy Soul, a 5-year-old multiple stakes winner by Souper Speedy in foal to Twirling Candy. She is consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency, agent.
  • Verbier, a 2-year-old colt by Arrogate and from the family of multiple Grade I winner Evening Jewel consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Juddmonte. He is cataloged as a racing or stallion prospect.
  • Warrior's Battle, a 2-year-old daughter of Khozan who recorded her first career victory Dec. 5 at Oaklawn Park when she won by 7 1/4 lengths. A half-sister to millionaire and Grade III winner Warrior's Charge, she is cataloged as a racing or broodmare prospect and is consigned by ELiTE, agent.

As previously announced, a no-guarantee season to Gun Runner will be auctioned off at KEEJAN on Jan. 10 with all proceeds to benefit victims of deadly tornadoes that struck Western Kentucky earlier this month.

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Jesus’ Team Returns In Friday’s Alydar At Saratoga

Group 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team, who has earned three placings in prestigious Grade 1 races, will return to stakes company on Friday as part of an eight-horse field of 4-year-olds and up who have not won a stakes other than state-bred in 2021 in the $120,000 Alydar contested at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The ninth edition of the Alydar, named for the 1989 Hall of Fame inductee who finished second to Affirmed in all three legs of the 1978 Triple Crown, will see Jesus' Team return to the Spa for the first time since running third in last year's Grade 2 Jim Dandy.

The Tapiture colt used that contest for sophomores as a prep for the 2020 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, which was held in October last year, with Jesus' Team finishing third in the final leg of the Triple Crown behind Authentic and winner Swiss Skydiver. Trainer Jose D'Angelo saw him build on that effort in a Triple Crown classic to run second behind Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cut Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Jesus' Team closed out his year with his first stakes win, capturing the Claiming Crown Jewel in December at Gulfstream going 1 1/8 miles. Returning to the same track and distance, Jesus' Team again linked up with Knicks Go in his 2021 bow, again running second to his rival in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January that netted a 105 Beyer.

D'Angelo then shipped Jesus' Team to the United Arab Emirates, where he ran sixth in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March. After a four-month freshening, he returned to run fifth on July 11 at Gulfstream, prompting D'Angelo to skip the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney on August 7 at Saratoga in favor of the Alydar.

“The last race, for sure, he needed,” D'Angelo said. “After quarantine coming back from Dubai, he lost a little weight. It was a little hard to [improve] his conditioning again. He needed that race to be the horse he is now. He's bigger than his last race, and in that race, he was a little too close to the front. I think it helped him get him fit, though, and we're looking forward to this race.”

Junior Alvarado will pick up the mount from post 7.

Two-time graded stakes-winner Core Beliefs returned from a nine-month layoff to run third in an optional claiming contest going 1 1/16 miles in June at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Trainer Brian Lynch said the Quality Road bay needed that race after being given a freshening following a fifth-place finish in the Champions Day Marathon in September at Churchill Downs for then-trainer Scott Hansen.

“I think he ran well enough last out to give us the confidence to try him in a spot like this, because it was a credible effort off a long layoff,” Lynch said. “He's trained on well enough to get a shot. This will be the second time off the bench and it's at a distance that he really likes.”

Core Beliefs, owned by Gary Broad, won the 2018 Grade 3 Ohio Derby in a sophomore year that saw him run fourth in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and fifth in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. He then made his 2019 debut with a win in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La., that March, which marked his last victory.

Running at Saratoga for the first time, Core Beliefs will be seeking his first victory in his last eight starts and enters after posting four workouts over the Saratoga main track in July.

“He's doing well and has great energy, and for an older horse, he's been very willing and trying hard in his works,” Lynch said. “I take that as a positive. He just acts like he's in good form. He's done so well since he's been here and the weather has been a little bit cooler, and he seems to enjoy that. His appetite has been fantastic, too. We're just hoping for good things.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will have the call from post 3.

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Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector, who like Jesus' Team also competed in last year's Preakness and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, will get his first opportunity to run at Saratoga and his first start for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Art Collector commenced his 4-year-old year with a sixth-place finish in the Kelly's Landing on June 25 at Churchill Downs, marking his first race since running eighth in that Breeders' Cup appearance seven months prior.

Art Collector, who ran fourth in the Preakness, finished just a head back to Jesus' Team to fall just short of black type in the 1 3/16-mile classic. The winner of the 2020 Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland will have the services of Luis Saez. on Friday, breaking from post 4.

Steve Landers Racing's Night Ops, off three consecutive runner-up efforts in the Grade 3 Ben Ali, Blame, and Grade 3 Monmouth Cup for reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, will make his Saratoga start in a well-traveled career.

Night Ops, who Manny Franco will ride out of post 8, has finished in the money in his last six starts, all against stakes competition, starting with a win in the 2020 Grade 3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa.

Bourbon Lane Stable's Bourbon War will be running in a stakes for the first time since 2019, when as a 3-year-old he found success on the Triple Crown trail by running second in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth before finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, eighth in the Preakness, and 10th in the Belmont Stakes. Trainer Ian Wilkes took over the conditioning duties for Bourbon War's 5-year-old campaign, which started with a strong second, by a neck, to Home Base in an optional claimer in May at Churchill Downs before running third under similar conditions at the same track on June 26.

“He came off a long layoff and ran two good races; I thought he ran really respectable in putting two good ones together back-to-back,” Wilkes said. “I'm getting to know him and he's getting to know me, so it's all good there. The horse has been happy, so that's the key. We're hoping to make that next progression. He needs to step up and pick up his game a little more. I feel good for him.”

Bourbon War, a son of Tapit, will have Brian Hernandez, Jr. in the irons from post 6.

Prioritize, sixth in the Grade 2 Suburban on July 3 at Belmont, will return to a familiar track that's near trainer H. James Bond's base, as the Tizway gelding ran twice here last year, winning an optional claimer before running third in the Grade 1 Woodward. The now 6-year-old will have jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard for the first time, departing post 1.

Math Wizard will enter off a six-month layoff in his first start since finishing sixth in the Pegasus World Cup. The Saffie Joseph, Jr. trainee will be racing for just the second time as a 5-year-old as he seeks his first victory since the 2019 Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby [Irad Ortiz, Jr., post 5].

Limonite ran third in the Grade 3 Excelsior going the Alydar distance on April 3 at Aqueduct and after two fifth-place efforts will return to the Spa for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez [Joel Rosario, post 2].

The Alydar, slated as Race 8 on the 10-race card, is one of three stakes on a stacked Friday card that will feature a 1:05 p.m. Eastern first post.

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Algorithms, Sire Of Math Wizard, Sold To Stand In Uruguay

Algorithms, a Grade 3 winner and veteran sire, has been sold to a partnership of Uruguay breeders, the South American publication Turf Diario reports.

The 12-year-old son of Bernardini had previously resided at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., where he entered stud in 2013.

He was purchased by a syndicate that includes Haras Los Mendez, Haras Estrella del Sur, and Haras Rapetti. When the Southern Hemisphere breeding seasons begins, he will stand at Haras Phillipson.

From six crops of racing age, Algorithms has sired 183 winners, and his runners have earned a combined $14.5 million.

The star of his stallion resume is Math Wizard, who upset the 2019 running of the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby. He is also the sire of Grade 3 winners Recruiting Ready and Rich Mommy, as well as consistent stakes winners He Hate Me and South Bend.

Algorithms won all three of his career starts, highlighted by the G3 Holy Bull Stakes, for earnings of $301,500.

Bred in Kentucky by Oakbrook Farm, Algorithms is out of the Grade 3-placed Cryptoclearance mare Ava Knowsthecode; a blue hen mare whose 10 winners from 12 runners also includes Grade 1 winners Justin Phillip and Greenpointcrusader, Grade 2 winner Keyed Entry, and Grade 3 winner Successful Mission.

Algorithms is the second Claiborne sire to join the stallion ranks in Uruguay this season, after Kentucky Derby winner Orb's sale was announced earlier this year.

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‘If It’s Meant To Be, It’s Meant To Be’: Zayas Looking Forward To Pegasus Chances

Edgard Zayas is hardly a stranger to the Gulfstream Park winner's circle, where he has celebrated the vast majority of his 1,720 career victories while amassing numerous spring and summer riding titles since launching his career in 2012, as well as holding his own during the annual Championship Meet.

The 27-year-old Zayas, however, is doing much more than just holding his own while enjoying break-out success during the 2020-2021 Championship Meet.

After winning 18 and 29 races during the past two injury-interrupted seasons, Zayas has already ridden 42 winners, ranking fourth in the standings, just eight winners less than two-time defending Championship Meet titlist Irad Ortiz Jr.

“I have been blessed. I've been getting a lot of opportunities this meet. It's worked out perfect. Thankfully, I've been healthy the whole year, that's the main part of it,” Zayas said. “It's been 2, 2 ½ years since I've ridden this whole meet because of injuries. I've been getting a lot of support from owners, trainers and my agent.”

Zayas' greater opportunities include mounts in both the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He has the call on Grade 1 winner Math Wizard in the Pegasus and 2020 Del Mar Derby (G2) winner Pixelate in the Pegasus Turf.

“The Pegasus, riding here year-round, is a race I've been really wanting to ride in,” Zayas said. “I've been blessed this year, riding in both – both on horses with a very good shot. I'm just hoping for the best.”

Although still young, Zayas has benefited from nearly a decade of riding since leaving his home in Puerto Rico for South Florida in 2012.

“I think I've grown a lot through the years after all the ups and downs and injuries. Things that happened in my career I've learned a lot from,” Zayas said. “I've always said, 'If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.' I've been riding with a lot of confidence, not getting the horses out of their pace, riding the way the race comes up, and trying to be smarter.”

Zayas left Puerto Rico's Esquela Vocational Hipica riding school two months before graduation to get the jump on his classmates to start his career and moved directly to South Florida. Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero took him under his wing and worked with him every day of the 2012-2013 Championship Meet. He continues to learn the art of riding Thoroughbreds from Hall of Famer Edgar Prado.

“As a bug boy, Angel really helped me out that first year. Now, I have Edgar Prado in my corner every day. He's not riding as much now, but he has the experience of being a Hall of Fame rider and winning so many races,” Zayas said. “To this day, it doesn't matter if I win race, he'll tell me what I did wrong. That really helps a lot. Every time I'm riding a race, he's always watching. I'll text him and ask, 'What do you think of this race?' He always tells me his opinion.”

Prado, who is riding year-round in South Florida, has been only too happy to impart his knowledge on Zayas.

“He's a good rider and a good kid, and he's willing to learn,” Prado said. “I'm willing to help anyone who listens. I concentrate on the ones who want to learn. We've changed some things, and he's applied them, and it's working out.”

Zayas also credits the years riding alongside the best riders in the country during past Championship Meets with helping him refine his riding style.

“Watching them, how they ride and how patient they ride. Watching them ride and how they get there and how they make their horses run, has definitely made a big difference,” he said. “Every day you learn, no matter how many years you've been riding.”

Zayas has been enjoying success while balancing his career and his family life. He and wife, Ashley, the proud parents of soon-to-be-4 Lilly, recently welcomed little sister Lilah to the family.

“I'll come home from the races, and I'll sit there at dinner and I'm on my iPad watching the races. Ashley will tell me, 'Put that down,'” Zayas said with a chuckle. “It's hard to balance. On my off days, I try to get away from horse racing and dedicate my time to them. When it's racing time, it's business time. They're a big part of my life and have really helped me mature.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed pressure on his career as well as his family life.

“This year has been very challenging for everyone. Not working horses has been a little challenging, especially when the 2-year-old season started. You don't know what kind of horses you're riding. You only know what the trainer tells you,” said Zayas, referring to the protocols that restrict jockeys from entering the backstretch. “It's been challenging, but we've been very blessed at Gulfstream. They've done a very good job of keeping us running year-round without stopping. We've had no problems.”

No matter how many races he wins in the future, Zayas' resume will always have a nagging void until he can call himself a winning jockey in Puerto Rico.

“I left the jockey school two months earlier and came straight here to Florida, so I never got to ride in Puerto Rico. I went back one day and rode a couple races there, but I still haven't won a race there,” he said. “It bothers me a little bit. Eventually, I'll get back there and win a race someday. It's something that you grew up around and you need it.”

For now, Zayas will keep his focus on continuing his success during the Championship Meet in Saturday's Pegasus and Pegasus Turf.

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