Max Player | Horse Racing Free Tips

On To The Derby For Travers Runner-Up Caracaro; Rice Keeping Max Player’s Options Open

It's on to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby for Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing's Caracaro, runner-up in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trainer Gustavo Delgado said he was pleased with the way Caracaro exited the “Mid-Summer Derby,” his second race in three weeks off a six-month layoff.

“He came back very good. He's happy, he ate his food, he's relaxed. Right now, he's sleeping. Everything's good,” Delgado said. “We'll check with the vet and talk with the owners and my son and decide. As long as there's no problems, we'll go to the Derby.

“Yesterday was a big race, a strong race. I consider Tiz the Law the best horse in the country,” he added. “In the Travers, they were all good horses. It was his second race after the six months and to run second again was very good for us.”

Caracaro earned 40 qualifying points for the Derby in the Travers, where he was 5 1/2 lengths behind Tiz the Law but two lengths clear of Max Player in third. Caracaro picked up 20 points for his neck defeat in the Grade 2 Peter Pan on July 16 at Saratoga and ranks 10th, solidifying his spot in the 20-horse Derby field.

“That's what we wanted and that was the plan. It's always been the plan with him. We're kind of satisfied that we accomplished that,” Delgado's son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado, Jr. said. “Of course we know there's a freak horse around. We do think that our horse still has a lot of room for improvement. He's still developing, you can tell, and we were asking a lot from him.

“I think running after three weeks, one more furlong, out of that effort in the Peter Pan, to come back in the Travers, a tougher race, a tougher field, and he showed up again,” he added. “His figure numbers keep improving. He handled the distance pretty well. You can tell he kept going, at his own pace, but he kept going. We were just second-best. But he beat all the other horses, so that was good.”

Delgado, Jr. said Caracaro is expected to remain in Saratoga to train for the Derby, which was rescheduled from May 2 to September 5. It will be the third trip to Louisville for the Delgados, who ran 18th with Majesto in 2016 and 13th with Bodexpress in 2019.

“It's going to be a long and very exciting three weeks,” Delgado, Jr. said. “It's more likely that we will stay here. I don't think shipping the horse the next few days would be good for him. He will go through regular post-race stress so it's better if he stays here, and he likes it here, the weather and everything. Ideally, we will stay here and train for the Derby and ship right before the race. That's what makes more sense right now.”

'Baby Steps' Forward For Third-Place Finishers Max Player
George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player continued his career-long trend of finishing in the money, earning third-place honors for the second consecutive Grade 1 with his black-type effort in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers.

Just like in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20, Max Player stayed off the pace in the 151st running of the Travers before finishing strong to earn a placing in a race won by New York-bred Tiz the Law.

Under jockey Joel Rosario for the second consecutive start, Max Player went four-wide in the upper stretch and hit the wire two lengths back of runner-up Caracaro, who was 5 1/2 lengths behind the runaway winner and 1-2 favorite.

Bred by K&G Stables in Kentucky, Max Player is 2-1-2 in five career starts for trainer Linda Rice.

“He came out of it really well,” Rice said. “He's a little tired, but otherwise, he's in good shape.”

Max Player earned a 99 Beyer for the effort, the best of his career and exceeding his previous high of 92 garnered in the Belmont Stakes. He has improved his speed figures in every start, beginning with a 68 in a second-place debut effort as a juvenile in November at Parx. After breaking his maiden at second asking to cap his 2-year-old year in December over a sloppy and sealed Parx main track, Max Player earned an 86 for his 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Withers in his stakes – and sophomore – debut in February at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“We were pleased with it,” Rice said. “He's continued to improve and taken baby steps forward. So, we were pleased with that. He's been pretty consistent and has been moving forward with gentle progress. We're happy with that. He came out of it fine and he's sleeping a lot today since he ran hard and is a bit tired. But all in all, he came out of the race well.”

Max Player earned 20 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby on September 5 at Churchill Downs, with the Runhappy Travers awarding 100-40-20-10 to the top-four finishers. He sits ninth on the Derby leaderboard with 60 total points and $337,500 in non-restricted stakes earnings. With the “Run for the Roses” expected to draw its usual full field of 20, that would put Max Player in contention to give Rice her first career Derby starter should the connections decide to ship him there.

“We're certainly going to keep that option open,” Rice said. “We'll give it a few days and I'll discuss it further with George and Joe De Perio [president of SportBLX] and talk about that later in the week.”

The post On To The Derby For Travers Runner-Up Caracaro; Rice Keeping Max Player’s Options Open appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Tiz the Law in Good Order After Travers Romp, On to Derby

Sackatoga Stable’s GI Runhappy Travers S. winner Tiz the Law (Constitution) was bright-eyed the morning after his dominant 5 1/2-length victory in Saratoga’s marquee race, for which he received a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure. Shortly after training concluded for the morning, trainer Barclay Tagg was at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch standing next to the garland of carnations that had been draped around the now four-time Grade I winner’s neck Saturday. Tagg said his star 3-year-old colt was in good order.

“He looks fine,” Tagg told the NYRA notes team. “I was very pleased with the way he ran. He did everything a good horse ought to do and did it perfectly.”

After becoming the first New York-bred to win the GI Belmont S. in 138 years, Tiz the Law became the first horse bred in the Empire State to win the Travers since Thunder Rumble in 1992. Tiz the Law will now point to the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs, which Tagg won with Sackatoga’s Funny Cide in 2003.

“He seems to terrorize the competition when he makes his move,” Tagg said. “Every race I’ve seen, even the first one, has been great. He came off that turn, and I thought, ‘They’re going to run by him like he’s standing still’ and then I look again and he’s three in front. It was the same way yesterday. I thought, ‘Get into him, Manny’ and he just kept running, running, running.”

Tiz the Law will likely have two breezes prior to the Derby, according to Tagg.

“He’ll gallop every day,” Tagg said. “He’ll have about 10 days before we breeze him again. We’ll probably only be able to get two breezes in him before we go out there. We’ll go out there a week ahead of time.”

Travers runner-up Caracaro (Uncle Mo) is likely Derby bound, reported trainer Gustavo Delgado. The lightly-raced colt would be making just his fifth career start in Louisville.

“He came back very good. He’s happy, he ate his food, he’s relaxed. Right now, he’s sleeping. Everything’s good,” Delgado said. “We’ll check with the vet and talk with the owners and my son and decide. As long as there’s no problems, we’ll go to the Derby. Yesterday was a big race, a strong race. I consider Tiz the Law the best horse in the country.”

Third finisher Max Player (Honor Code), who also ran third in the Belmont, has enough qualifying points to be trainer Linda Rice’s first Derby starter, but Rice said she would wait a bit to make a decision on the race.

“He came out of it really well,” Rice said. “He’s a little tired, but otherwise, he’s in good shape. He’s continued to improve and taken baby steps forward. So, we were pleased with that. He’s been pretty consistent and has been moving forward with gentle progress. We’re happy with that. We’re certainly going to keep [the Derby] option open. We’ll give it a few days and I’ll discuss it further with George and Joe De Perio [president of co-owner SportBLX Thoroughbreds] and talk about that later in the week.”

The post Tiz the Law in Good Order After Travers Romp, On to Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Rice Hoping Rosario Keeps Max Player Closer To The Pace In Travers

George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player, whose two-race win streak concluded when third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in June, has the chance to return to his winning ways in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers at Saratoga.

The 151st running of the 1 ¼-mile Mid-Summer Derby will mark just the fifth career start for Max Player, a 3 ¼-length winner of the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Withers in his 3-year-old debut on February 1 at Aqueduct.

Trained by Linda Rice, Max Player didn't run back until the Belmont, shortened to 1 1/8 miles in leading off the revamped Triple Crown lineup. The Travers offers 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the top four finishers for the next leg, the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on September 5.

“I knew from February to June, based on the way he was training, that he was going to take a big step forward. Obviously he needed to,” Rice said at Wednesday's post-position draw. “This time around, I don't know that we're going to see the same progression we did from February to June, but if he takes baby steps that would be good [to] get us to September.”

Max Player will be the second career Travers starter for Rice, the only woman to win a training title at Saratoga. The 2009 meet champion was fourth in the 2014 Travers with Kid Cruz.

Rice opted to keep most of her string downstate this summer at Belmont, where Max Player has done the bulk of his training. He arrived in Saratoga Wednesday afternoon and went to the track Thursday and Friday.

“He's trained fine. I've been training at Belmont, not at Saratoga, which is a little unusual,” Rice said. “Coming into the Belmont he was off a 5 ½-month break, so I trained him pretty aggressively. Coming into this race, I backed off him a little bit, [with] a little bit more maintenance breezes. We weren't quite as aggressive with him, but I think he's ready.”

Joel Rosario, aboard for the first time in the Belmont, rides back from post 4 in a field of eight led by even-money program favorite Tiz the Law, the 3 ¾-length winner of the Belmont considered the top 3-year-old in training.

“I'm OK with post 4. I'd rather try to save a little ground in the first turn, on both turns, and not get caught too far outside,” Rice said. “Joel, this will be the second time that he's ridden the horse. It was a learning curve last time. He watched his previous races, he saw that the horse doesn't run into kickback very well, so I think based on the learning curve he was a little too far back [in the Belmont], had a little too much to do. I'd like to think that Joel will work a little more aggressively to keep him closer.”

The late-running Max Player will be stretching out to 10 furlongs for the first time. He has never been worse than third in any of his four starts, winning a one-mile maiden special weight last December at Parx in his juvenile finale, and Rice is hoping to see an honest pace for her closer.

“Racing's funny,” Rice said. “Sometimes when they run shorter distances they go faster early and you have a better chance to close with a horse like him that has a strong closing kick, so on occasion it works against you.”

The post Rice Hoping Rosario Keeps Max Player Closer To The Pace In Travers appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Big, Beautiful’ Uncle Chuck Was Always An Easy-Going Colt

Barry Eisaman boasts more than three decades of experience in training thoroughbreds under saddle and when it came time to hand off Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers contender Uncle Chuck to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, he suggested it best to take things slow with the sizable colt.

After not racing as a 2-year-old, the dark bay Uncle Mo colt is undefeated in two starts including a last-out score on July 4 in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby. He enters Saturday's 151st running of the $1 million Runhappy Travers as the 5-2 second choice on the morning line behind even-money favorite Tiz the Law.

Uncle Chuck was sent to Eisaman Equine in Williston, Florida after being purchased for $250,000 by owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman from the Summerfield consignment at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Baffert has sent many of his yearlings with promise to Eisaman including 2016 Champion Sprinter Drefong, as well as 2011 Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty and fellow Grade 1 winners McKinzie, The Factor, Midnight Lucky, and Lord Nelson among others.

Uncle Chuck spent just over a year with Eisaman following the September sale and did not ship out to southern California until that following November, he began breezing at Los Alamitos.

“He was one of the later horses of last year's crop to leave the farm,” Eisaman said. “He had various aches and pains during the breaking process that required some time off, but nothing serious. He was just a big, young guy that needed the time. He went to Los Alamitos to [assistant trainer] Mike Marlow, who picks up the baton and gets them ready to go to Bob at Santa Anita.

“Uncle Chuck needed the time and Bob was willing to give him the time,” continued Eisaman. “In a perfect world, one would hope that he had more experience under his belt before facing what he must face on Saturday, but Bob wouldn't be sending him out there if he didn't have a legitimate shot.”

Uncle Chuck is the most lightly raced horse in the field. However, Baffert sent Arrogate to Saratoga for a track record-setting performance in the 2016 Travers with only four starts under his belt.

Eisaman said any qualms he had regarding Uncle Chuck during the training-under-saddle process were physical rather than mental and noted that he was both well-behaved and quick to learn.

“He always was a big, beautiful Uncle Mo colt,” Eisaman said. “The breaking process went along nice and smooth. I've gotten horses ready for Bob for many years. He knows when they're here, we don't need to talk about every horse, every week. Those that need a slow track get a slow track and those that are ready get sent out sooner.

“He was very well behaved,” Eisaman added. “You could take him home for dinner and not have trouble with him at the table. He was easy to work with under tack, and he would learn things we would introduce to him at an above average rate.”

Eisaman said the strapping Uncle Chuck has a remarkable stride.

“When you watch him work or in his races, you don't get the impression he goes all that fast, but he covers ground like a creature of some sort,” said Eisaman.

Having worked with numerous progeny of Uncle Mo, Eisaman said the champion-producing stallion has the tendency to stamp his offspring and added that the same could be said for Uncle Mo's sire, Indian Charlie.

“They are usually dark bay or brown horses with a good body, good bone, good mind,” Eisaman said. “Sometimes, Uncle Mo can get people to think that his offspring can be on the fragile side. In the Thoroughbred horse world, there are young horses that really just need to develop more slowly. If you give them the time and let them get their act together and get sound, you can be well rewarded for it. The Uncle Mo offspring look like Indian Charlies and that stallion stamped his offspring, too. It's a strong line through the male lineage.”

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Uncle Chuck is out of the graded stakes-winning Unbridled's Song broodmare Forest Music, who produced graded stakes winner Electric Forest as well as American classic producing stallion Maclean's Music.

Uncle Chuck is not the only Eisaman Equine alumni in the Runhappy Travers as Max Player, third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, was also shown the ropes by Eisaman.

Eisaman has a long history with co-owner and breeder George Hall, who owns the son of second crop stallion Honor Code in partnership with SportBLX Thoroughbreds.

“We broke numerous Derby starters for George, like Pants On Fire [ninth in 2011 Kentucky Derby] who won the Louisiana Derby that year, so we've had a long relationship with him,” Eisaman said. “This one was a bit of a sleeper. He seemed more like a good, large, hunter prospect than a racehorse prospect when he trained. He was so quiet. He stayed on the pretty laid-back side.”

Max Player was a second-out maiden winner at Parx in December before winning the Grade 3 Withers on February 1 at Aqueduct for trainer Linda Rice.

“She's an excellent horsewoman,” Eisaman said of the 2009 leading trainer at the Spa. “Up to the first time she ran him, he was hard to gauge. He wasn't one to advertise himself in the morning. He's got a lot of closing capability and it seems like Uncle Chuck would be closer to the front than Max Player. But if there's a pace up front, he's capable of picking up the pieces.”

The post ‘Big, Beautiful’ Uncle Chuck Was Always An Easy-Going Colt appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post