Mineshaft S. | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bill Mott's patient handling paid off with the well-regarded Olympiad, who earned his graded stakes badge in the Mineshaft Saturday. Stalking Silver Prospector from second through early splits of :24.18 and :48.11, the even-money favorite turned up the heat on the backstretch run and jumped clear in the lane to win with ease. Silver Prospector held second and Miles D completed the trifecta.

Graduating at Saratoga in September of 2020, Olympiad checked in second behind GI Runhappy Malibu S. runner-up Baby Yoda (Prospective) in a Saratoga allowance exactly 364 days later. The $700,00 KEESEP buy captured a Keeneland allowance in October and was fourth next out to 'TDN Rising Star' Americanrevolution (Constitution) in Aqueduct's GI Cigar Mile H. Dec. 4. Olympiad ran away to a 7 1/4-length score in a two-turn optional claimer at Gulfstream Jan. 15, earning a gaudy 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Pedigree Notes:
Olympiad is the 63rd graded winner and 128th black-type scorer for the timeless Speightstown. The winner is also the 18th graded winner and 52nd black-type victor out of a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro. The Speightstown/Medaglia d'Oro cross is also responsible for Grade I winners Rock Fall and Competitionofideas. Olympiad is the second foal out of GSP Tokyo Time, who is also the dam of the once-raced 3-year-old filly Friendship Road (Quality Road); a juvenile filly by War Front, who brought $450,000 from Larkin Armstrong at KEESEP; and a yearling colt by American Pharoah. The half-sister to MGSW & MGISP Hungry Island (More Than Ready) and MGSW Soaring Empire (Empire Maker) is currently expecting a foal by Quality Road. This is also the family of GISWs Preservationist (Arch), Harmonize (Scat Daddy) and Keen Ice (Curlin).

Saturday, Fair Grounds
MINESHAFT S.-GIII, $247,500, Fair Grounds, 2-19, 4yo/up,
1 1/16m, 1:42.01, ft.
1–OLYMPIAD, 118, c, 4, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Tokyo Time (GSP, $249,177), by Medaglia d'Oro
2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($700,000
Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, LLC
and LNJ Foxwoods; B-Emory A. Hamilton (KY); T-William I.
Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $150,000. Lifetime Record: 7-4-1-1,
$348,440.
2–Silver Prospector, 118, h, 5, Declaration of War–Tap Softly,
by Tapit. ($50,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP; $190,000 2yo '19 OBSAPR).
O-Ed and Susie Orr; B-Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton & Silver
Fern Farm, LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $50,000.
3–Miles D, 122, c, 4, Curlin–Sound the Trumpets, by Bernardini.
($470,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Peter M. Brant and Robert V.
LaPenta; B-River Bend Farm (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $25,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1, NK. Odds: 1.00, 9.70, 3.30.
Also Ran: O Besos, Happy American, Untreated, Sprawl, Midcourt. Scratched: Big Dreaming, Fort Peck, Title Ready.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Even with local heavyweights Mandaloun (Into Mischief) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) awaiting the $20-million Saudi Cup, there will still be plenty of talent on display in a loaded renewal of Saturday's GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds.

Miles D (Curlin), third at 18-1 in the GI Runhappy Travers S. last summer, closed out his sophomore campaign with a pair of wins, led by a promising decision in Aqueduct's 1 1/8-mile Discovery S. last time Nov. 27. The runner-up that day Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) resurfaced with a razor sharp win in the GIII Fred W. Hooper S. Jan. 29. Miles D completed his preparations for the Mineshaft with a four-furlong move in :48 3/5 (2/41) at Payson Park Feb. 12.

“This horse has done well,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He ran late in the year over at Aqueduct and put up a very nice win against a very talented horse [Speaker's Corner]. He's wintered well and now it's time to get his 4-year old season started. The race came up deeper than I thought it would. He's going to really have to fire off the layoff to beat these horses.”

Olympiad (Speightstown) looks primed for a career best following an eye-catching 7 1/4-length optional claiming victory for Hall of Famer Bill Mott in his two-turn debut at Gulfstream Jan. 15. The 3-1 Mineshaft morning-line favorite was previously a troubled fourth while making his stakes debut in a salty GI Cigar Mile H. Dec. 4.

Sidelined following a well-beaten eighth in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. Apr. 3, Untreated (Nyquist) has been perfect since returning to action, pairing up strong wins going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Nov. 19 and Dec. 31, respectively.

Last term's GI Kentucky Derby fifth-place finisher and GIII Matt Winn S. runner-up O Besos (Orb) brings a three-for-five record at Fair Grounds to the table, including a narrow win off the bench in an optional claimer Jan. 2.

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