michael stidham | Horse Racing Free Tips

Princess Grace Overcomes Slow Start To Win Ladies Turf At Kentucky Downs

Over a firm course at Kentucky Downs, Susan and John Moore's Princess Grace broke last from the starting gate, patiently waited for an opening in the stretch, and held off challengers to win the Grade 3 Ladies Turf at the Franklin, Ky., racetrack.

The 4-year-old filly went into the gate as the post time favorite, but broke a step slow from the second post to run toward the back of the field of nine early. Florent Geroux kept the filly on the rail as Sara Sea set early fractions of :23.02 for the first quarter and :46.06 for the half-mile. As they approached the last bend, Princess Causeway pulled even with Sara Sea, Princess Grace behind them on the rail.

Into the stretch, Sara Sea held on to a short lead over Princess Causeway, the field spread five wide across the straight, as Geroux took advantage of an opening between horses, angling Princess Grace out from the rail. The favorite accelerated, taking over the lead, and putting space between her and challengers rushing up on her outside.

As they closed in on the wire, Geroux was able to keep Princess Grace clear of the field, with Dalika closing fast on her outside. At the wire, it was the favorite by a half-length, with Dalika second and Abscond third.

The final time for the one-mile Ladies Turf was 1:34.25.

Princess Grace paid $4.20, $2.60, and $2.20. Dalika paid $4.40 and $3.00. Abscond paid $3.40.

By Karakontie out of the Silent Name mare Masquerade, Princess Grace was bred in Kentucky by her owners. She is trained by Michael Stidham. Her win in the G3 Ladies Turf gives her a perfect 3 for 3 record in 2021, for a lifetime record of six wins in seven starts.

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Red-Hot Rosario Teams With Pixelate To Win Mint Million At Kentucky Downs

Monday was officially WinStar Day at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. To bettors across the country, it was Joel Rosario Day. The jockey won on five of his eight mounts, including the featured $1 million, Grade 3 WinStar Mint Million as Godolphin's late-running Pixelate blew past Somelikeithotbrown for a 2 1/2-length victory.

On Sunday's opening card, Rosario went 5-for-11, including winning the $500,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks aboard Godolphin's 3-year-old filly Adventuring. He would appear to have the Kentucky Downs riding title sewn up, with four days remaining (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).

Rafael Bejarano holds the record for victories on a single card at Kentucky Downs when he went 6-for-8 on Sept. 21, 2004, while en route to the riding title with 12 wins, still the most by a rider at a meet. While quite the feat back then, Rosario is competing against arguably the strongest jockey colony in the country as riders from all over migrate to the track in pursuit of some of the largest purses in the world.

No rider has dominated the meet for two days since Florent Geroux won five races twice in 2015 en route to taking the riding title with a record-tying 12 victories that he matched in 2016.

Rosario rode eight races on Labor Day, taking the second aboard Heaven Street ($7.20) for Steve Asmussen, the fourth on Super Divine ($11) for Wesley Ward, the seventh on Honor Hop ($5.80) for Brian Lynch, the eighth for Ward on Gypsy King ($5.60) and then the 10th on Pixelate. After Rosario's quintet Sunday, horseplayers were pounding his mounts. Pixelate was 10-1 in the morning line and bet down to about 9-2, paying $11.20. For the two days, Rosario has gone 10 for 19, with his horses earning $1,683,731.

“When you got a rider who's won 10 races in two days on a track, he's the guy you want,” said Mint Million winning trainer Michael Stidham. “This has got to be some kind of record.”

Jimmy Bell, president and racing manager of owner-breeder Godolphin, said he felt “all the confidence in the world” with Rosario aboard.

“We were joking in the paddock, any one of your previous (nine) ways of winning would work here,” Bell said. “He just rides with confidence. In our case, he just said the horse fit the course very well. Pixelate continued to find more, find more and just that slow momentum he built up to the rising ground and the long stretch. He said (Pixelate) relished the going. So that was fantastic.

“What a great weekend it's been for Sheikh Mohammed and the breeding program, obviously with Adventuring winning and to come back today with another homebred today in Pixelate,” he added of Godolphin's owner and the Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum. “It's just been magical.”

Bizzee Channel set a sizzling pace of 21.83 seconds for the first quarter mile and 44.95 for the half, with Somelikeithotbrown in closest pursuit and taking command turning for home. But Flavius, last year's winner and the 7-5 favorite, kicked into gear to go after Somelikeithotbrown before giving way to fifth.

Meanwhile, Pixelate came seven-wide down the late, swooping to the lead in the final sixteenth-mile while covering the mile in 1:34.04. Somelikeithotbrown and jockey Jose Ortiz held off his Mike Maker-trained stablemate Monarchs Glen, who closed from last of 10 older horses to finish another two lengths back in third under 2020 meet-leader Tyler Gaffalione.

“With the speed in front of me, it looked like they were going good,” Rosario said. “The key for me was trying to find a way through the track. He kept building, building, building, and with the long stretch, that helped get him there.

“He was in a nice gallop, he kept going and getting better, and I could see it when we caught up to the horses on the lead. I started thinking that we're going to get it.”

“It was a fast pace, I was aware of it,” said Ortiz, Kentucky Downs' 2018 and 2019 riding champion. “I was trying to wait as long as I could. But at the eighth pole, the favorite came up outside of me, so I had to go with him. I was able to beat him, but I wasn't able to hold on. Pixelate got by me. I set up a good trip for him.”

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Pixelate won for the sixth time, with another six seconds and four thirds, in 20 starts, earning $1,098,850 with the $509,850 payday. It was his second graded-stakes victory, having won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby exactly a year ago.

“He deserves it because he finally got his day in the sun and got to make up for some of those times when we reached out and ran in some of the big races and he was only beaten 2-3 lengths,” Stidham said. “And today was his day. It was a beautiful thing. I'm so proud of the horse and what he's accomplished.

“Certainly when I looked up at the time and saw 21-and-change and 44-and-change and we were sitting back about nine or 10 off of it, I thought, 'Well, that's the perfect spot to be in.' And I think that helped us. But this horse, if you look at his form, he goes out and runs his heart out every time we run him, no matter what type of spot we pick. He's always trying. Today things set up nicely for him. And he tried like he always does and it put him in the winner's circle.”

As a New York-bred, Somelikeithotbrown was racing for the base purse of $550,000 with the Mint Million's remaining $450,000 paid out only to Kentucky-bred horses. He still picked up $104,500 for second, enough to put him over $1 million in earnings.

“He ran his butt off, didn't he?” said Dr. Harvey Diamond, co-founder of the Skychai Racing partnership that is majority owner in Somelikeithotbrown. “It looked like in mid-stretch that he was going to make it, and I saw this horse moving on the outside. We ran a good race. I think the pace was a little too quick for us.”

Agreed Rosario: “It was a fast pace, I was aware of it. I was trying to wait as long as I could. But at the eighth pole, the favorite (2020 winner Flavius) came up outside of me, so I had to go with him. I was able to beat him, but I wasn't able to hold on. Pixelate got by me. I set up a good trip for him.”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Princess Grace Brought Moores ‘Back Into The Fold’

New York native Susan Moore's tenure as a Thoroughbred owner and breeder began with a love of animals and a penchant for handicapping — two passions that, even after 30 years and several road bumps, keep her coming back for more.

After a near seven-year hiatus from the business — during which Moore and her husband John packed up and moved from their prior home base in New Jersey and New York to The Land of Lincoln and Illinois — Moore is back to gracing winner's circles across the continental United States.

And it's all thanks to a flashy dark bay filly named Princess Grace.

Bred by the Moores and trained by Mike Stidham, Princess Grace, a daughter of Karakontie (JPN), sealed her second Grade 2 win Aug. 7 in the Yellow Ribbon Handicap. The trip to the West Coast was the first for the 4-year-old, who has won five of her six lifetime starts, all of which have been run at different tracks.

“I was concerned because you can't ship the grooms with them any longer,” said Moore. “She had never done that. It was a long ship, and it took around 15 hours to get her there. But they kept saying to me, 'Susan just think, Goldikova had a 30-hour trip before the Breeders' Cup. She will be fine.'

“It's nerve-wracking thought because she was also going up against G2 winners. When she went into that race she had won a grade 2 (Mrs. Revere Stakes), but it was on the dirt, and she had only won another G3 (Pin Oak Valley View Stakes) by a neck because she was trapped for a lot of that race. 'You're throwing her to the wolves!' is what I said to Mike when he shipped her to California. But Mike loves her disposition, and he trusts her. He said she deserved the shot. To go out there to Del Mar … she had to run a 100 Beyer to win that race and she did it.”

Princess Grace is just the latest in a long line of stakes winners to be bred, campaigned, and sold by Moore and her husband. It was a business they got in to quite by chance, thanks to Moore's love of the racing for and a weekly, Friday night ritual at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

“I was a workaholic and the only thing that would distract me from work was handicapping and the numbers on the page,” said Moore. “Every Friday on the way home from work we would stop at Meadowlands and one night a couple sat down next to me. They said they had never seen a woman so interested in horses, but they explained they had a breeding farm and invite me to come up and see them.

“I went up and I ended up giving them $100,000 to buy three horses, but they were probably only worth about $10,000. After that, I was determined to figure out how to survive in the business and not get screwed. I've spent many years talking to people and working with people learning how to manage my horses. I've had a long, productive run at it.”

For years, the Moores were disciples of the Thoroughbred industry's tried and true formula to success: they bought nice yearlings, develop them into stakes winners, and later sell them as broodmare prospects. The couple kept about a half dozen horses in training at any given time. Those that couldn't be sold were either folded into the broodmare band or rehomed by Moore personally.

But when the bottom dropped out of the market in the mid-2000s, Moore, who works primarily as the CEO of the e-commerce company Winston Brands, decided to make the move to Illinois and cut back on their stock.

The Midwest proved less lucrative for the couple. As the purses at Arlington Park began to decline, there was a congruous decline in the Moore's willingness to play the game. The Moores sold a good portion of their mares and took a step back. For close to seven years, the couple existed on the periphery of the industry, until Susan — who had never lost her love for horses — decided she couldn't stay away any longer.

“We kept a couple of inexpensive mares and then bred a couple of the offspring, so that's what we have now,” said Moore, whose current broodmare band of three lives at Cobra Farm in Lexington, Ky. Among those is Masquerade, a daughter of Silent Name (JPN) who was purchased by Moore for $15,000 through bloodstock agent Cecil Seaman at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.

Trained by Stidham, Masquerade never achieved stakes-level prowess on the track. But Moore liked her spunk and made her a member of the broodmare band. The mare soon rewarded Moore's confidence by producing Princess Grace.

“Princess Grace is bringing us back into the fold. She's been phenomenal,” said Moore. “She digs in and can do anything you ask of her and is absolutely amazing.

“She's so docile. She's a puppy dog and she's such a sweetheart. She's very nice in the stalls and easy to handle. Mike says nothing but nice things. You wouldn't think she's this determined racehorse, but she is, and she is just brave. Going through all those holes in those last races like she did … I think the Del Mar race was hard on her. She got in trouble, had to go through a hole, and pushed horses aside in doing that. It was tough but she did it and she never balks.”

Princess Grace and jockey Kent Desormeaux win the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

With Princess Grace's conditioning well in hand, Moore made her first trip back to the sales at the end of 2020. Including Princess Grace, she now has six horses in training, including another potential turf star in the filly's 2-year-old brother by Kitten's Joy.

“I missed the horse business because I love the horse business,” said Moore. “My husband is not very mobile and is now in a wheelchair most of the time, so it's hard to get him to be able to travel and see the horses any longer. But this year I just really missed the races and the animals, so here I am back with six horses in training. Masquerade is also in foal to American Pharoah, so I'm sure I'll be back at the sales grounds.”

In the downtime between races and sales, Moore continues to share her love of animals through The Moore Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 1999 that operates a division known as Caring for Racetrack Cats. The program provides care and feeding to the barns cat who winter at Saratoga when the track is closed for business. Caring for Racetrack Cats also offers veterinary visits and helps with adoptions for cats and kittens born on the property who need good homes.

As for Princess Grace, Moore said there is plenty to look forward to in the coming months.

“What they're thinking of right now is the (Oct. 9) First Lady at Keeneland,” said Moore. “If she does well, I don't think she will go into the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf because she's really a miler.

“Watching Got Stormy beat the boys this weekend in the Fourstardave Handicap, it's a question of how Princess Grace can run. Got Stormy is very, very talented and so she'll likely go into the (Breeders' Cup FanDuel) Mile (G1T) for sure. Whether we go into the Mile will depend on how we do at Keeneland, but it's a possibility. There is nothing to say we can't continue to improve and obviously the filly loves Del Mar. That last trip was a long trip, but she came out of it great. We just want to give her time since it was such a big, forward move. We will let her tell us what she wants to do.”

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Prat Wins On East Coast, Veterans Take Del Mar Stakes Saturday

Del Mar's leading rider Flavien Prat notched another stakes victory in the second of his three-day soiree to Saratoga Race Course, the upstate New York track known as The Spa, for major race assignments.

Prat took the $200,000 Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes on Friday aboard Public Sector ($3.80) for trainer Chad Brown. Saturday, the same combination scored in the $120,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure Stakes with Flavius ($4.70).

Prat was fourth, beaten 6 ¾ lengths by Bella Sofia, aboard Always Carina for Brown in the $500,000 Grade 1 Longines Test Stakes. One race later on the card, Del Mar-based Hall of Famer Mike Smith was fifth, beaten 4 ½-lengths by 21-1 long shot State of Rest, aboard Secret Protector for English trainer Charles Appleby.

Meanwhile, Del Mar's pair of Grade 2 events on Saturday were won by riders with a combined total age of 100 and combined total experience of 62,819 races and 11,591 wins.

Joe Bravo, 49 for another month, took the first of the back-to-back stakes, the $200,500 Best Pal, getting Pappacap to settle nicely behind dueling front runners then swooping to a 4 3/4-length score. According to Equibase statistics, Bravo ended the day with 30,507 career races and 5,505 wins.

“His (only previous) race in Florida, he was just pure speed,” Bravo said. “You don't know if that's the way they like to go. I was glad to see how well he settled in behind those two up front. He showed another dimension today.”

Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux, 51, won the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon on Princess Grace for trainer Mike Stidham. At Desormeaux's urging, the 4-year-old filly shot through a gap between horses at the top of the stretch to take the lead and was never headed in winning by 1 ¼ lengths.

“Michael told me one thing before the race that I used to advantage,” Desormeaux related. “He said, 'She's brave.' When that hole opened turning for home, I sent her through and she went right on with it.”

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Desormeaux, who missed much of 2020 while addressing personal issues, has 32,312 career starts and 6,086 wins according to Equibase statistics.

“I'm so happy for Kent,” Stidham said. “He's so talented, an amazing rider, and the way he came through that hole with (Princess Grace) was terrific.”

Bravo stands fifth in the Del Mar rider standings with nine wins from 53 mounts. Desormeaux is in seventh place with seven victories in 45 starts.

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