Mike Smith | Horse Racing Free Tips

5th Annual PDJF Telethon Scheduled Apr. 23

Hall of Fame riders Sandy Hawley, Chris McCarron, Mike Smith and John Velazquez, among many others, will team with FanDuel TV, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA), Keeneland and Santa Anita on Sunday, Apr. 23rd for the fifth annual telethon to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF), presented by Lane's End.

The event will be broadcast on both FanDuel TV and America's Day at the Races in collaboration with NYRA and FOX Sports as well as livestreamed. Fans can participate by calling 1-844-884-7353 between 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET or can click here to donate directly. Callers who give via the telethon will be entered in a drawing to win assorted autographed memorabilia, which will take place each hour.

“We are proud of the way this event has grown each year and that is largely due to the collaborative efforts from the Guild and our partners at Santa Anita, Keeneland, NYRA and FOX Sports,” said FanDuel's Mike Joyce who also serves on the Board of Directors of the PDJF. “Every single day, jockeys assume incredible risk. This event raises important funding and showcases the work that the PDJF does to support these athletes.”

The 2022 edition raised $418,300 to support jockeys who have suffered serious on-track injuries, which was added to $1.2 million in support of the PDJF since the inaugural telethon in 2018.

The post 5th Annual PDJF Telethon Scheduled Apr. 23 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Bob Baffert: ‘Country Grammer Will Get Saudi Cup Job Done If Taiba Doesn’t’

Bob Baffert has issued an upbeat bulletin on his Saudi Cup contenders and said that, if for whatever reason his short-priced favourite Taiba (Gun Runner) does not get the job done, then stablemate and last year's runner-up Country Grammer (Tonalist) should be there to pick up the pieces in the world's richest race on Saturday.

The Saudi Cup is one of the only big dirt races that has eluded Baffert and, along with Country Grammer, the American handler has sent out Charlatan to fill the runner-up spot to Mishriff (Ire) in 2021.

This year's challenge is headed by three-time Grade I winner Taiba, who had to be put through the stalls on Friday morning after his antics at the track the previous day, and the battle-hardened Country Grammer. Mike Smith will partner Taiba while Frankie Dettori takes the mount aboard Country Grammer.

“He just has so much quality,” Baffert said of Taiba. “He will do what you want–he can go forward or come from off the pace–I don't worry about him. He'll fool you, because he's such a lazy work horse in the mornings and is so laidback, but when he gets in that gate and the lights turn on, that's when his light turns on.”

Taiba will line out for Saturday's race at Riyadh off the back of an easy win in the Malibu S. on December 26, the same Grade I Baffert's 2021 runner-up Charlatan won in preparation for his Saudi Cup effort.

“Charlatan was a brilliant horse with just brilliant speed, but he got into a speed duel with Knicks Go, which cost him the race, but this horse has speed and stamina. The Gun Runners want to run longer, mostly, and this horse–while not as brilliant speed-wise as Charlatan–has that same class and he can go longer.

“He is tough to ride and that's why Mike Smith had to really get him out and get him going last time in the Malibu. Once you put him into the race, he has the stamina, and that's why, when he missed the break [when third] in the Breeders' Cup [Classic], it hurt him. He wasn't going to beat Flightline, but it cost him second.”

Earlier on that December 26 card at Santa Anita, Country Grammer returned to the winner's enclosure impressively in the Grade 2 San Antonio. Thus far, he is two out of two with Dettori in the saddle.

“I think both horses are doing really well and Jimmy [Barnes, assistant] is really happy with how they look out there. Country Grammer is a horse who always runs his race. Frankie knows him really well and if the horse shows up, he'll get the job done if Taiba doesn't. This horse has never been better-he's a better horse this year, I think-and he likes this track, which is really key.

“The Saudi Cup is one of the toughest races to win,” Baffert continued. “I've never won it and I really want to. It's a long ship and a different surface and you have to keep them at their best the entire time.

“It's a challenge and that's what I love. I'd love to win it for these owners. Amr [Zedan] and the Troutts [owners of WinStar Farm] and the rest of the connections have been so loyal to me and we have won some great races together–a Triple Crown with Justify–but to win this one would be an honor and I'm just blessed to have two good horses in the race.

“Everyone can really run in this race and it's a tough field, but expectations are high and we have some owners with a love and passion for the horse, itself, and for horse racing, so we hope we can win it for them.”

The Saudi Cup will be broadcast on FS2 beginning at 8 a.m. ET Saturday morning. Equibase past performances can be found on page 2 of the newsletter.

The post Bob Baffert: ‘Country Grammer Will Get Saudi Cup Job Done If Taiba Doesn’t’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Sutherland Enters Jockey Challenge In Saudi

The Saudi Cup International Jockeys Challenge, led by defending champion Caitlin Jones, plus a mix of international female and male riders like Victoria Alonso, Joanna Mason, Frankie Dettori, Luis Saez, Joao Moreia, and Chantal Sutherland, is set for King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The jockeys will compete to receive 15% of prize-money for each of the four $400,000 races in they win with a further $100,000 going to the overall champion.

“It is my first time in Saudi Arabia and I'm actually blown away by the hospitality and the kindness people have shown” said the Florida-based and Canadian-born Sutherland.

The daughter of a Standardbred trainer, Sutherland is no stranger to making history. She was the first woman to win the GI Santa Anita H. and also the first to ride in the G1 Dubai World Cup, both aboard Game On Dude (Awesome Again). Sutherland also piloted him to a second-place finish in the 2011 GI Breeders' Cup Classic behind Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor), who was ridden by then-boyfriend Mike Smith.

“I was second in the Breeders' Cup Classic and I thought that was around the time to maybe have a child,” said Sutherland. I stopped racing and took about four years out and didn't ever get to have a kid. The marriage [to Dan Kruse] didn't work out either, so I went back to racing, got injured, then got back from the injury, then Covid happened.”

Sutherland's decision to return to the track was prompted by a move to the Sunshine State over the course of the winter in early 2021.

“I was going to ride just before Covid. I was going to ride Turfway [Park] and that was freezing,” she said. “I'd frozen for I don't know how long in my career, in Canada, at Aqueduct. I thought, 'I'm going to Florida,' and I just loved it. It felt like home.”

As far as her mounts for Friday in Saudi Arabia, Sutherland will be aboard the appropriately-named, Fighter (KSA) (Official Flame) in race two over 1600 meters and Inhimr (KSA) (Pomeroy) in race three going 1400 meters, both on dirt. Then in the pair of turf races, she will guide Go Fast Traou Land (Fr) (George Vancouver) in the 1200-meter race five and finish off with Billy Batts (City Zip) in race six over 2100 meters.

She added, “I'm really looking forward to the Jockeys Challenge. I've already worked out the races, watched all the replays and I've spoken to some key handicap people who have put the races together. I feel I am ready, physically, mentally and preparation-wise. I've done my homework. It's going to be exciting.”

Sutherland is looking forward to staying put at Gulfstream Park once she returns from the Middle East, especially since year-round racing continues to draw jockeys from all quadrants.

“I'm very happy in Florida and very happy to be doing what I'm doing again,” Sutherland said. It has been stop-start, but now everything, with the flow, I feel there is an alignment in my life and everything is going well.”

The post Sutherland Enters Jockey Challenge In Saudi appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Brad Cox Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

He just won the GII Risen Star S., has a strong pair entered in Saturday's GII Rebel S. and accounts for 10 horses being offered in the latest round of the Derby Future Wager. When it comes to 3-year-old talent, Brad Cox's lineup has tremendous quality and tremendous quantity. In the spotlight virtually every Saturday that includes a prep race for the GI Kentucky Derby, Cox found the time to join the team for this week's Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to discuss his Derby prospects. Cox was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

So far as the Rebel, in which he will start Verifying (Justify) and Giant Mischief (Into Mischief), Cox is optimistic he can pick up another major win on the road to the Derby.

“I think that Verifying is a very good horse,” he said. “The last time out at Oaklawn, he showed the ability to set close to the pace. I think the fractions [in the Rebel] will be similar, maybe even quicker. I don't expect to necessarily be on the lead but somewhat forwardly placed in a good stalking position. If he runs as well as he's training, I think he's going to be right there. He's a good colt. Giant Mischief is also a very good colt. I thought he ran a winning race at Remington [in the Springboard Mile], but, obviously, just didn't get away well. He made a big middle move and then kind of flattened out. This was by design to give him a little time after that race. He had three good runs at two, three positive races. And I thought he showed in his Remington race that he could stretch out. We're looking forward to getting him started at three.”

Like most trainers with top horses and clients, winning the Derby has become a focal point for Cox, who said he's living a dream with this many good horses.

“This has been my dream for a long, long time, to get into this position, acquire good colts from top outfits, top breeders, top owners throughout the country,” he said. “These horses, you need to have a lot of them to be on this stage. That we have so many at this point just proves that we've got a really, really good program. It's a team effort and it's years and years of training young horses and being able to stop on them when they need to be stopped on and then having them ready to go in the fall of their two-year-old year or to begin their three-year-old season to try to make that push for the Kentucky Derby because it is very, very demanding.”

Officially, Cox has won the Kentucky Derby. The Cox-trained Mandaloun (Into Mischief) was awarded the win in 2021 after Medina Spirit (Protonico) was disqualified due to a medication overage. But Cox said he doesn't really feel like he's won the race and wants to win it by sending out the best horse.

“It hasn't felt like winning the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “If you're awarded the race how do you explain that to people? I have to say, 'Oh, yeah, I've won it, but my horse didn't cross the wire first.' If I met a stranger and they didn't know much about horse racing, I'd have to explain how I won the Derby. I definitely don't feel that we've won the Kentucky Derby. We know the Kentucky Derby is not the richest race run in America, but I think it is without a doubt the most prestigious. All the eyes are on racing that day with the telecast, the crowd and everything. And it's the thrill of victory, bottom line. I haven't experienced that thrill and I look forward to it someday.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley reviewed last week's races at the Fair Grounds, including the Risen Star and the disappointing effort by Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Steve Asmussen's 10,000th win was also discussed with Finley predicting that Asmussen is setting records that will never be broken. To preview the G1 Saudi Cup, Cadman caught up with jockeys Mike Smith and Frankie Dettori in a new segment on the podcast, 1/ST things 1/ST at Santa Anita.

The post Brad Cox Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post