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Maker Leads With 20 Horses Nominated For Claiming Crown At Gulfstream

Graded stakes-placed in his most recent start, Three Diamonds Farm's Doubly Blessed is among six Mike Maker-trained nominations for the $125,000 Jewel, the centerpiece of the $810,000 nine-race Claiming Crown Dec. 4 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Doubly Blessed, who finished third in the Sept. 21 Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., is among 27 nominees for the Jewel, a 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-olds and up who have started for a claiming price for $35,000 or less in 2020-2021. Maker, who has saddled a record 18 winners of Claiming Crown races, is also represented on the noms list by Auburn Hills, First Line, Healing, Malthael, and Mr. Tip.

Maker, who has saddled two Jewel champions, has nominated 20 horses for the Claiming Crown, the annual showcase for the blue-collar Thoroughbreds that are the day-to-day backbone of the racing industry throughout the country.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has nominated four horses for the Jewel, including John Fanelli and partners' Girolamo's Attack who most recently captured the Oct. 27 Miami Beach Handicap, and Sonata Stable's Calibrator, who most recently romped to a dominating optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream.

The Claiming Crown, which attracted a total of 267 nominations for nine starter stakes, will headline opening weekend of the 2021-2022 Championship Meet that will get underway Friday, Dec. 3.

The $95,000 Emerald, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up who have raced for a claiming price of $25,000 or less during 2020-2021, leads all Claiming Crown races with 50 nominations, including five trained by Maker, who has saddled a record seven Emerald winners. Bruno Schickedanz's War Bomber, who captured the $125,000 Toronto Cup Sept. 12 at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, in his first start after being claimed for $25,000, is also prominent on the noms list.

The $95,000 Tiara, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares who started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-2021, drew 30 nominations, including Mike Repole's Kitten by the Sea, whom Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher saddled for back-to-back optional claiming allowance races at Saratoga.

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The $90,000 Distaff Dash, a five-furlong turf sprint for fillies and mares who started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less, drew 27 nominations; the $90,000 Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial, a five-furlong turf dash for 3-year-olds and up who started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less, attracted 33 nominations; the $85,000 Rapid Transit, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up who ran for a $16,000 claiming price or less, got 27 nominations; the $80,000 Glass Slipper, a one-mile stakes for fillies and mares who ran for a $12,500 claiming price or less, attracted 24 nominations; the $75,000 Iron Horse Kent Stirling Memorial, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up who raced for a claiming price of $9000 or less, drew 25 nominations; the $75,000 Express, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up who have run for a claiming price of $8000 or less, received 24 nominations.

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Turf Festival At Del Mar Attracts Number of East Coast Trainers

The nomination deadline is not until Thursday night for the seven stakes races from Thanksgiving Thursday to closing day on Sunday, November 28, unofficially known as the “Turf Festival” at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

And New York-based trainer Chad Brown, who has shipped in nine winners from his deep bench of grass runners in the past, hasn't been heard from yet.

But several other prominent Midwest- and East Coast-based conditioners have, leading to expectations in the racing office of quality and quantity invaders for the main events on the Bing Crosby Season's final four days.

A sneak peek, with horse names being withheld until close of entries:

Hollywood Turf Cup, Friday, November 26th, Grade 2, $250,000, 1 ½ miles (turf), 3-year-olds and up: Trainer Mike Maker has placed five in nomination for a race Brad Cox won last year with Arklow.

Hollywood Derby, Saturday, November 27th, Grade 1, $400,000, 1 1/8 miles (turf), 3-year-olds: Wesley Ward, Dallas Stewart, Ken McPeek, Maker (2), Jack Sisterson (2), Graham Motion, and Gregory Sacco have nominees. Brown has won it three times, sending out Annals of Time (2016), Raging Bull (2018), and Domestic Spending last year.

Seabiscuit Handicap, Saturday, November 27th, Grade 2, $250,000, 1 1/16 miles (turf), 3-year-olds and up: One horse from Japan is listed while Maker has submitted two names and Motion one. Phil D'Amato has carried the locally-based trainer banner to wins with Midnight Storm (2015), Hunt (2017), and Count Again (2020). Add Richard Baltas' win with Next Shares in 2019 and this has been a good Festival race for the home team.

Jimmy Durante Stakes, Saturday, November 27, Grade 3, $100,000, 1 mile (turf), 2-year-old fillies: Maker and Motion (2) have nominees for an event dominated by shippers over the years. Brown-trained Fluffy Socks won last year. Mike Stidham won the two years before that and George Weaver, Motion, and Mark Casse have also scored in the seven editions at Del Mar.

Cecil B. DeMille Stakes, Sunday, November 28, Grade 3, $100,000, 1 mile (turf), 2-year-olds: Motion has an early nominee in an event that has been good for locals. Smooth Like Strait won for Mike McCarthy in 2019 and Beer Can Man for Mark Glatt last year. Both horses ran during the recent Breeders' Cup Week here.

Matriarch Stakes, Sunday, November 28, Grade 1, $400,000, 1 mile (turf), older fillies and mares: Trainer Joe Sharp has two nominated and Stidham one for the climactic stakes race of the meeting. Brown has shipped in three winners in seven meetings, among them Viadera in 2020.

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Somelikeithotbrown Holds Off Sanctuary City To Get Second Mohawk Win

In a postponed renewal of the 1 1/16-mile $200,000 Mohawk for New York-breds 3-years-old and up on the turf, which was washed off its intended surface earlier in the meet, odds-on favorite Somelikeithotbrown made all the running and fended off longshot Sanctuary City's menacing late rally to capture his second straight edition of the race by posting a half-length score at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Skychai Racing and David Koenig's Somelikeithotbrown, a 5-year-old son of Big Brown, was making his first appearance against state-bred company since winning last year's Mohawk in October 2020. The Mike Maker trainee had run exclusively against graded stakes competition in 2021 spanning his first five starts, including a win in the Grade 2 Dinner Party at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., in May and a third-place finish last out in the Grade 1 Keeneland Turf Mile at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., on October 9.

Keen on the class relief despite the quality New York-bred competition, bettors sent off Somelikeithotbrown as the prohibitive 1-2 favorite in the Mohawk. He looked the part, breaking from post and surging to the front under Jorge Vargas, Jr. With Klickitat providing only token pressure off his flank, the bay horse ambled down the backstretch through an opening quarter-mile in :24.23 and a half in :49.15 over firm going on the Widener turf.

Somelikeithotbrown and Vargas kept up the moderate tempo, going three-quarters in 1:13.49, and it wasn't until leaving the far turn that they received their first serious test in the form of the Christophe Clement-trained City Man, who ranged up on their outside leaving the bend. Shrugging that one off with little opposition, the pair again opened up a daylight lead in mid-stretch. A hard-charging Sanctuary City then picked up the chase. Coming with a burst of energy down the middle of the Widener Turf Course, Sanctuary City looked poised to go by the frontrunner in the final eighth of a mile, but Somelikeithotbrown was unrelenting and dug in late to hit the wire in 1:42.39.

“He was [originally] pointing to the Breeders' Cup so you had to feel confident,” said Vargas, Jr. of the suspenseful finish. “He was traveling easily throughout. When they got to me I asked a little bit and he jumped on them right away. When it was time to run he fought to the end.

“He's a nice horse,” the winning jockey added. “Nice horses make multiple moves. They know what they're capable of, and that's what he does. He still had something left; I could barely pull him up he was feeling so good.”

Somelikeithotbrown returned $3 on a $2 win wager, while his career earnings now stand just shy of $1.2 million.

Sanctuary City, trained by James Ferraro for the owner/breeder combo of Edward Messina and William Butler, came alive again in the Mohawk, having run shockingly well in this race last year at odds of 41-1, and finished a clear second ahead of City Man, who was 2 ½ lengths back in third. It was another 1 ½ lengths back to Therapist in fourth, who was followed home by Cross Border and Klickitat. Rinaldi was scratched, as was main-track only entrant Tiergan.

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Live racing resumes Sunday with Closing Day of the Belmont fall meet. The 10-race card, which features an 11:50 a.m. first post, will feature a pair of stakes in the $150,000 Zagora for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/2 miles on the turf in Race 4 at 1:18 p.m. and the Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua for 2-year-olds in a one-turn mile on the main track in Race 9 at 3:43 p.m.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Seven Two-Year-Olds Entered For Friday’s Atlantic Beach Stakes

Live Oak Plantation homebred Biz Biz Buzz took the step up in class last out with a third-place stakes debut in the Grade 3 Futurity on October 10 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The Michael Trombetta trainee will look to make the grade in a return engagement at the track as part of a seven-horse field of 2-year-olds in Friday's $100,000 Atlantic Beach contested at six furlongs over the inner turf course.

The Atlantic Beach is one of four stakes on Friday's packed card, which includes the $200,000 Ticonderoga for New York-bred fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the turf; the $150,000 Tempted for juvenile fillies going a one-turn mile; and the $100,000 Awad for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Biz Biz Buzz made a successful debut on September 10, rallying from fifth to post a three-length score in a 5 1/2-furlong sprint over the turf at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. Trombetta moved him up in class last out and the Fed Biz colt responded by earning black type in the six-furlong Futurity, finishing 1 1/2 lengths back to winner Slipstream over firm going.

“I was pleased with his effort last time against those horses; it was only his second time running,” Trombetta said. “He's worked well since. Hopefully, the weather cooperates and he gets a chance to run.”

Biz Biz Buzz has trained over the all-weather track at Fair Hill in Maryland since the Futurity, including a bullet four-furlong work in :47.80 on Saturday.

“He's been training exceptionally well and we're looking forward to seeing how he progress,” said Trombetta, who entered Sunday with 1,998 career wins. “He's a big, solid 2-year-old. He has a good attitude. He does everything right. He's certainly a nice horse to work with. It was good he got a race over the Belmont track, too, but the weather plays such a big part this time of year, so we'll have to see.”

Julian Pimentel will have the call from post 5.

James Horgan's Longshadow earned a stakes victory last out by edging Nobals by a nose in the 6 1/2-furlong Fitz Dixon, Jr. Memorial Juvenile on October 11 over the Presque Isle Downs all-weather track.

Longshadow, trained by Kelsey Danner and bred by Dede McGehee, made a strong debut with a win on August 5 at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., over the main track before running seventh in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile on September 6 for his turf debut.

Returning to the grass, Longshadow will retain the services of rider Rocco Bowen, drawing post 3.

Kendall Hansen's Pure Panic is already an experienced stakes horse and will make his fourth consecutive start at that caliber in the Atlantic Beach for trainer Mike Maker. The son of Summer Front, who won his debut in July at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., ran second in the Skidmore in his second start in a stakes moved off the turf on August 20 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Pure Panic returned to the grass for his next two starts, finishing ninth in the one-mile Nownownow on September 26 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and fifth last out when cutting back to 5 1/2 furlongs in the Indian Summer on October 10 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

Making his Belmont debut, Pure Panic will have Eric Cancel ride from post 7.

Michael Dubb and Michael J. Caruso's Doctor Jeff, who won an off-the-turf debut effort in July at Belmont, ran fifth in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special over the Spa main track on August 14 before trainer Rudy Rodriguez moved the Street Boss colt to turf for the first time in the Grade 2 Pilgrim on October 3 going 1 1/16 miles at Belmont Park.

Doctor Jeff will have his second go on turf, drawing post 4 with Jose Lezcano in the irons.

A trio of second-out maiden-breakers will comprise the rest of the field, including Double O Racing's Trust Daddy, who was victorious in his turf debut on October 10 at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., for trainer Jeremiah O'Dwyer [post 2, Manny Franco]; and Bright View Farm's Here Comes Billy, a winner at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., on October 9, for trainer Douglas Nunn [post 1, Wilmer Garcia]. Colts Neck Stables homebred Tops the Chart, a winner on September 25 at Monmouth, is entered for the main track only for trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr.

The Atlantic Beach is slated as Race 4 on Friday's 10-race card. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

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