Michele Boyce | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bramble Queen, Mohs, Readthecliffnotes Capture Hawthorne’s Weekend Stakes

Stakes action was back on the Hawthorne turf course on Saturday as the return of the Illini Princess and Hawthorne Derby were run over the firm course. The Illini Princess was for Illinois-bred females at 1 1/16 miles while the Hawthorne Derby went at 1 1/8 miles. A wet Sunday washed The Pizza Man Stakes to the sloppy main track.

In the $60,000 added Illini Princess, 2019 race champ Bramble Queen made her return for trainer Mike Dini and was sent away as the 8-5 favorite. Leaving the gate quickly was talented three-year-old filly Katie M'Lady as jockey Julio Felix was able to clear the lead from the outside and carve out the early fractions. Chased by Cat Attack and Northern Alliance through quick fractions of :23.51 and :47.41, Katie M' Lady led the field into the final turn as favorite Bramble Queen and jockey Jareth Loveberry began to pick off horses. At the top of the stretch, Katie M'Lady held a three-length advantage while Bramble Queen had move into second. In the stretch, Katie M'Lady battled but Bramble Queen was too good, running by late to win by a length in 1:42.70. Katie M'Lady was a clear second while 21-1 longshot Embarrassing rallied to finish third.

Owned by Ballybrit Stable, LLC, Bramble Queen returned $5.40, $3.40 and $2.80. Katie M'Lady came back $5.00 and $4.20. Embarrassing returned $10.80 to show.

Following the race, jockey Jareth Loveberry was asked about his trip aboard Bramble Queen: “The race set up really well for her. I got to know her when I rode her a couple of times at Arlington Park. The filly, Katie M'Lady got away to a comfortable lead. I just tried to have as much horse left at the end and she did. The course seemed to be playing even, maybe even a little 'Good,' but I just tried to ride the horse, not the course. This was a good field, the 3-year-olds are getting better and better. This mare had a bunch of heart and just dug it out.”

Two races later, on the Saturday card, the 52nd running of the $100,000 Hawthorne Derby, presented by BetMakers, returned to the Hawthorne turf. With the scratch of morning-line favorite Last Samurai, the field of six saw Royal Prince, from the barn of Brad Cox, sent away as the 2-1 favorite. After the break in the 1 1/8 miles event, there was very little early pace as Temper Tantrum and Royal Prince guided the compact field through an opening quarter in :24.80 and a half in :50.32. With only three lengths separating the field from front to back on the run into the final turn, Modus Operandi and Grey Streak joined the due to challenge through three quarters in 1:14.41. Biding his time in the turn was Mohs and jockey Jareth Loveberry as the field turned for home. In the lane, Temper Tantrum grabbed a brief lead as Mohs split horses and raced into contention while Grey Streak battled on. At the wire, Mohs emerged three-quarters of a length ahead of Grey Streak for the victory while Temper Tantrum held third. Mohs covered the 1 1/8 miles on the firm turf course in 1:50.32.

Owned by ABL Stable, Dominic Bossone, Petter Donnelly and William Oberdorff and trained by Patrick McBurney, Mohs paid $6.20, $4.60 and $3.20. Grey Streak returned $5.40 and $3.40 while Temper Tantrum paid $3.60 to show.

With his second stakes win on the day, jockey Jareth Loveberry commented on Mohs victory: “I thought that there would be a lot more pace but nobody went. My horse settled nicely and we found a good trip and were fortunate to find a hold. I knew we needed to start picking things up because they were going so slow in front so I kind of just judged the horses in front of me and when they started picking things up, so did we. I was hoping we were going to find a hole and fortunately we did.”

On Sunday afternoon the rains began to fall at Hawthorne, washing The Pizza Man stakes off the grass to be contested at 1 1/16 miles on the sloppy Hawthorne main track. The original field of 11 scratched down to six as Hawthorne dirt specialist Readthecliffnotes was sent away as the 7-5 favorite for trainer Michele Boyce. Getting away well in the sloppy going for jockey Edgar Perez, Readthecliffnotes made the lead through an opening quarter in :24.91 as longshot Iwillpersevere chased in second. Down the backstretch, Richiesgotgame ranged up to challenge through a half in :49.88. After three quarters in 1:14.09, it appeared Richiesgotgame was going to give jockey Jareth Loveberry a weekend stakes sweep as he put a head in front. In the lane, Readthecliffnotes dug in gamely and fought back, drawing clear by three-quarters of a length at the wire. Richiesgotgame was a clear second while Iwillpersevere held third. The final time for the 1 1/16 miles on the dirt was 1:45.23.

Readthecliffnotes returned $4.80, $3.00 and $2.20 for owners Cherrywood Racing Stables, II, Terry Biondo and Laura Donohoe. Richiesgotgame returned $3.20 and $2.80 while Iwillpersevere paid $5.40 to show.

Hawthorne Race Course, Chicago's Hometown Track, races three meets in 2021. The spring thoroughbred meet concluded on April 25. The summer Suburban Downs at Hawthorne harness meet began Friday, May 7 and concluded on September 26. The fall thoroughbred meet opened October 8 and races through December 27. First post daily in October and November is 3:10 PM. In December, first post moves to 12:55 PM. For any information about Hawthorne Race Course visit the website www.HawthorneRaceCourse.com.

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For Arlington, The End Is Here

The ninth race Saturday at Arlington is scheduled to go off at 6:12 p.m. Central Time and that will be it. Barring an 11th-hour miracle, the plug will be pulled by Churchill Downs and the wrecking ball will soon be on its way. Considered one of the most beautiful tracks in the world and an important part of American racing since opening in 1927, Arlington Park will run its last-ever card Saturday.

On the racetrack, it figures to be a quiet afternoon. At the same track that has played host to Secretariat, Citation, Dr. Fager, John Henry and has been the site of the Grade I Arlington Million, the sport's first ever $1-million race, and a Breeders' Cup, the richest races of the day will be a pair of $40,000 allowance races.

“The mood here is one of sheer depression,” said trainer Mike Campbell, who is the president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. “This is as ugly as it gets. Churchill is so tone deaf that they are actually going to have fireworks on Saturday night after the races. More so than anything, that shows how tone deaf they are.”

The beginning of the end began in September 2019 when Churchill Downs declined to apply for a casino license for Arlington. The company committed to only two more years of racing at the suburban Chicago track.

That stunned horsemen, who had been led to believe that Churchill was on board when it came to opening a casino at Arlington, which would have guaranteed the track's future. Conventional wisdom is that Churchill does not want a casino at Arlington because it would compete with a highly successful gaming facility it owns in nearby Des Plaines, Illinois. The next step was Churchill announcing that the track was being put up for sale. The list of potential buyers includes a partnership led by former Arlington president Roy Arnold that wants to preserve racing, but it appears highly unlikely Churchill will sell to that group.

“It's corporate greed. That's all it is,” said trainer Michele Boyce, who has two entered for Saturday. “Churchill is obviously worried about making money for their shareholders, which they have done a very good job of. Somewhere along the line, though, you've got to have a little bit of compassion too, for history and for people and for the traditions a place like Arlington has. To see racing in Chicago reduced to basically nothing is downright cruel.”

“Churchill Downs wants to own casinos,” said leading trainer Larry Rivelli. “It's a lot more lucrative to own a casino than a racetrack. It's just unfortunate because they had the opportunity to open a casino here and they passed on it. That's why everyone is so angry. They lobbied for it for 20 years and in the end they said no.”

Thoroughbred racing moves to Hawthorne Oct. 8, the first day of a meet that will run through Dec. 27. Hawthorne has been given the green light to build a casino and is in no danger of closing. The problem is that it is the only racing facility left in the Chicago area and is required to divide its dates between Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing. There will be two Thoroughbred meets at Hawthorne next year, one that covers April, May and June and another that will be held in October, November and December. The Standardbreds will have the July, August and September dates, leaving a huge hole in the thoroughbred racing schedule.

For Rivelli, that's not a huge problem. He has a large stable and plenty of quality horses. He plans on having a division next year in Kentucky. But there are plenty of Illinois-based trainers who don't have the quality or quantity to pull something like that off.

“There are trainers here who are just sick about what is happening,” Campbell said. “There has been a gamut of emotions. I've got people who don't know how they are going to make a living. They don't know where they are going to go. The majority of the horsemen here are local guys who don't really have the quality to go somewhere else. They don't have that many options. We have trainers and owners here who are just ready to give up. This is going to take a terrible toll on the ranks of horse ownership.”

Boyce has already decided to move her operation to Indiana Grand. She will ship to Hawthorne on occasion, but says the truncated racing season next year in Illinois does not work for her. She doesn't see how a circuit can possibly make it when there is no racing during three keys months of the summer.

“It's not going to work until they can open up a new harness track,” she said. “I'm ready to sell my home and go elsewhere. The only thing that will save Illinois racing is if they can create a situation where both breeds can have their own track and have what they need. It's not shaping up that way right now. With the way things are, it's very hard to see a future in Illinois racing.”

Campbell and the horsemen have worked tirelessly to find a solution for Illinois's racing's problems. He said he is holding out some hope, only because the Arnold bid has yet to be formally rejected. But he's practical enough to know that there is very little hope and that 94 years after it opened Arlington is done.

When Arlington opened on Oct. 13, 1927, the Daily Herald called it “America's Greatest Race Course.” The weather was cold and the wind was biting but 20,000 fans showed up that day to welcome in Chicago's newest racetrack. The crowd was there to celebrate. That won't be the case Saturday. You don't celebrate at a funeral.

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Summer Assault Wins Mystic Lake Derby At Canterbury Park

Jockey Jareth Loveberry had a very good night at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. He won the $100,000 Mystic Lake Derby on the Summer Front gelding, Summer Assault, for trainer Michele Boyce and owners Kevin Marko, Last Call Racing Partnership, Union Park Thoroughbreds and Cherrywood Racing Stables II. He also won the $50,000 Honor the Hero Stakes, going gate to wire in 54.77 seconds aboard favorite Wellabled while setting the five furlong turf record.

Summer Assault beat favorite Angelus Warrior by one length, riding the rail to the finish line, covering one mile on the firm turf in 1:34.15, the fastest time in nine renditions of the race. “He sat nice and relaxed off the pace,” Loveberry said. “He was a little hesitant when we [turned] for home. But he took off and finished strong. He finished good.” Summer Assault paid $6.40 to win.

Wellabled, who paid $3.20 to win, is trained by Larry Rivelli for owner Carolyn Wilson. Chief Cicatriz finished second by one-half length while making his first turf start for trainer Shawn Davis.

Tut's Revenge and rider Roimes Chirinos tracked pacesetter Primo Touch before taking the lead in upper stretch and holding off challenges from favorite Temple and second-place finisher Giant Payday to win the $75,000 Mystic Lake Mile by a head in 1:33.17, a course record time for one mile on the turf. Tut's Revenge is trained by Clinton Stuart for Claim To Fame Stable. He paid $12.80 to win.

Streak of Luck wired the $75,000 Lady Canterbury field, ridden by Leandro Goncalves. The 5-year-old gray mare paid $14.80 to win. She is owned by Carrie Brogden, James Keogh and Roncelli Family Trust and is trained by Kelly Ackerman.

“She broke sharp. I couldn't believe I was going so easy and nobody came up to me,” Goncalves said. “I was thinking like, wow, they're going to be in trouble. When I called on her she took off. She was just much the best today.”

Ask Bailey won the one mile on the turf $50,000 Northbound Pride Oaks, charging from last to first and drawing away to win by 4 1/4 lengths under Francisco Arrieta for trainer Michael Maker. The betting favorite returned $4.60. Arrieta secured the mount when jockey Florent Geroux, sixth nationally in purse earnings, received a positive test for COVID-19 and was unable to travel to Shakopee.

Handle for the nine race program was $2,162,165, the largest total through 19 days of the race meet.

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