More Than Ready | Horse Racing Free Tips

Slipstream Punches Ticket to BC in Belmont’s Futurity

Jump Sucker Stable's Slipstream backed up a sharp maiden victory earlier in the meet with a score in the GIII Futurity S. Sunday at Belmont, a Win and You're In qualifier for the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Debuting locally over six furlongs on grass, the $170,000 Keeneland September purchase ran an even fifth after hitting the gate at the start, then faced more early trouble in a Saratoga off-the-turfer July 30 before finishing a distant third. Cruising to a 5 1/4-length graduation going seven panels here Sept. 18, the dark bay was made the second choice here and was checked several times in the opening furlong to be relegated to last behind a :22.39 quarter. Advancing while saving ground on the turn, he awaited room in early stretch, squeezed through at the rail at the furlong grounds, tipped into the two path soon after and overhauled pace-dueling longshot Run Curtis Run in deep stretch to prevail. Even-money favorite Chi Town Lady (Verrazano) was a no-factor sixth.

“I'm very happy,” said winning trainer Christophe Clement. “He belongs to Jump Sucker–a partnership that belongs to [NYRA board member] Stephen Duncker and three of his friends. I haven't had a really good horse for them since Governor Malibu a few years ago. I thought he would be a bit closer to the pace, but I train and let Joel [Rosario] ride. He rides better than I do and I train better than he does. He said he got really slammed coming out the gate. Otherwise, I thought he was cruising and going well. I love the way he finished. He was very impressive when he broke his maiden here last time.”

Clement also said that his preference is to run in the one-mile GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf despite now having a fees-paid berth to the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“If it's up to me, yes. We have to see how he comes out of it and be sure the owners are on board and that everything goes well. I'd like to go [Juvenile Turf Sprint] with Derrynane, who won [the Woodbine Cares] at Woodbine last month. I still don't know if they'll invite her or not. I prefer six [furlongs] going into a race that's a mile at Del Mar on firm than a mile and a sixteenth and drop back to a mile. I always like when you go to California, the idea of pushing that sprinter speed going six or seven furlongs to a mile.”

Pedigree Notes:

With the victory, Slipstream becomes the 211th stakes winner and 96th graded stakes winner for WinStar's 24-year-old stalwart More Than Ready. He is the second foal to race out of his stakes-placed dam, following Too Sexy (Quality Road), who scored in an allowance/optional claimer with a career-high 89 Beyer at Belmont Sept. 25. His second dam was an Illinois-bred stakes winner. Cake Baby, a $110,000 Keeneland November pickup by McKenzie Bloodstock in 2016, produced a colt by Catalina Cruiser this term before being bred to Game Winner.

Sunday, Belmont Park
FUTURITY S.-GIII, $150,000, Belmont, 10-10, 2yo, 6fT, 1:08.36, fm.
1–SLIPSTREAM, 120, c, 2, by More Than Ready
                1st Dam: Cake Baby (SP), by Stormy Atlantic
                2nd Dam: Dharma Girl, by French Deputy
                3rd Dam: Cashelmara, by Key to the Mint
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($170,000
Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Jump Sucker Stable; B-Burleson Farm &
McKenzie Bloodstock (KY); T-Christophe Clement; J-Joel
Rosario. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 4-2-0-1, $147,600.
Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Run Curtis Run, 122, c, 2, Summer Front–My Magic Moment,
by Forest Wildcat. ($45,000 Ylg '20 EASOCT). O-Michael Dubb
& Michael J. Caruso; B-Larry Goichman (NY); T-Michael J.
Maker. $30,000.
3–Biz Biz Buzz, 120, c, 2, Fed Biz–Our Candy Striper, by Candy
Ride (Arg). O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Live Oak Stud (FL);
T-Michael J. Trombetta. $18,000.
Margins: 1, HF, 3/4. Odds: 2.30, 20.50, 10.50.
Also Ran: Midnight Worker, Poppy Flower, Chi Town Lady, Kavod, Ready to March. 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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Bubble Rock Best In Matron At Belmont

Shortleaf Stable's homebred Bubble Rock reeled in pacesetter Mystic Eyes and staved off the late-running Gal in a Rush to secure a half-length score in Saturday's $150,000 Grade 3 Matron, a six-furlong inner turf sprint for juvenile fillies, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by Brad Cox and piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr., who captured his 3,000th career win here on Thursday, Bubble Rock entered from a dominant 3 1/4-length maiden score sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs over the Mellon turf on September 3 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Mystic Eyes, with Manny Franco up, broke alertly and led the field through a half-mile in :44.24 over the firm going with Makin My Move tracking her early foot from second position.

Bubble Rock, who settled outside rivals in third, advanced four-wide through the turn and gradually picked off Makin My Move before surging past a stubborn Mystic Eyes to secure the win in a final time of 1:08.01.

Gal in a Rush, who exited the outermost post 9 under Dylan Davis, saved ground in the early going before tipping out and rallying strongly down the lane to complete the exacta by a half-length over Mystic Eyes.

The victory marked the second Matron score for Ortiz, Jr., who captured last year's edition aboard Royal Approval.

“She's nice. Last time she won and finished well, too,” said Ortiz, Jr., who has piloted Bubble Rock in all three starts. “I just did the same thing today. I waited for my time to go and when I asked her, she finished up really strong again. She's got a really good size to her and she always finishes well, so I think she'll be alright.”

Dustin Dugas, the New York-based assistant for Cox, said Bubble Rock has matured over the course of her campaign.

“She's progressed a lot mentally,” Dugas said. “She's been a very nervous filly to work with and she's kind of taken some time. She's really progressed mentally and physically she's a very big, good-looking filly and moves great.”

Rounding out the order of finish were Makin My Move, The Club, Lady Danae, Dufresne, High Arabian, and Mainstay. Benbang was scratched along with the Wesley Ward-trained duo of Poppy Flower and Chi Town Lady, who are both slated to take on the boys in Sunday's Grade 3 Futurity.

Bubble Rock is out of the Giant's Causeway mare Reef Point, who is a half-sister to millionaire Blue Chipper – winner of the 2019 Group 1 Keeneland Korea Sprint in Seoul and third-place finisher in that year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

A Kentucky homebred, Bubble Rock banked $82,500 in victory while improving her record to 3-2-1-0. She paid $7 for a $2 win wager.

Live racing returns Sunday at Belmont Park with a nine-race card featuring the $250,000 Grade 2 Beldame for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward going nine furlongs; the $150,000 Grade 3 Futurity for juveniles going six furlongs on the turf, a “Win And You're In” for the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint; and the $150,000 Grade 3 Knickerbocker going nine furlongs on the turf for 3-year-olds and upward. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

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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More Than Ready Filly ‘Rock’ Solid in Matron

Bubble Rock ran to the money and earned her black-type badge with a decisive victory in the GII Matron S. at Belmont. Runner-up to the re-opposing Lady Danae (Klimt) on debut sprinting on the Saratoga lawn Aug. 13, she broke through next out with a 3 1/4-length graduation over that course and distance Sept. 3. Favored to repeat in this step up in class, the dark bay ran two wide in a joint fourth through a swift first quarter. Ranging up three wide turning for home, Bubble Rock tugged her way clear late to score. Gal In A Rush closed resolutely for second.

“She's progressed a lot mentally,” said trainer Brad Cox's assistant Dustin Dugas. “She's been a very nervous filly to work with and she's kind of taken some time. She's really progressed mentally and physically she's a very big, good-looking filly and moves great.”

“She's nice. Last time she won and finished well, too,” said winning rider Irad Ortiz. “I just did the same thing today. I waited for my time to go and when I asked her, she finished up really strong again. She's got a really good size to her and she always finishes well, so I think she'll be alright.”

Pedigree Notes:

Bubble Rock is the 96th graded winner and 211th black-type scorer for the timeless More Than Ready. The filly is also the 92nd graded victress and 170th black-type winner out of a daughter of the late, great Giant's Causeway. She is bred on the same More Than Ready/Giant's Causeway cross as MGISWs Verrazano and Say the Word. The winner's dam Reef Point's most recent produce is a yearling colt by Candy Ride (Arg). She aborted her 2021 foal and was bred to Twirling Candy this spring. Bubble Rock's second dam GSW Dixie City (Dixie Union) is also responsible for Korean champion sprinter Blue Chipper (Tiznow). This is also the family of MGSW & GISP young sire Unified (Candy Ride {Arg}).

Saturday, Belmont
MATRON S.-GIII, $150,000, Belmont, 10-9, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:08.01, fm.
1–BUBBLE ROCK, 120, f, 2, by More Than Ready
1st Dam: Reef Point, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Dixie City, by Dixie Union
3rd Dam: City Sister, by Carson City
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Shortleaf
Stable, Inc.; B-Shortleaf Stable (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Irad Ortiz,
Jr. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $157,500. Werk Nick
Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Gal in a Rush, 120, f, 2, Ghostzapper–Hudson River Gal, by
Dynaformer. ($130,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $375,000 2yo '21
OBSMAR). O-West Point Thoroughbreds, Chris Larsen and
Titletown Racing Stables; B-Tom & Mary Lou Teal & Adena
Springs (KY); T-Christophe Clement. $30,000.
3–Mystic Eyes, 120, f, 2, Maclean's Music–Cloudburst, by
Storm Cat. ($40,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-MeB Racing Stables LLC
and Vincent D. Esopi; B-Pursuit of Success LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $18,000.
Margins: HF, HF, HF. Odds: 1.50, 29.75, 3.50.
Also Ran: Makin My Move, The Club, Lady Danae, Dufresne, High Arabian, Mainstay. Scratched: Benbang, Chi Town Lady, Poppy Flower.
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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Koala Princess Wins Ainsworth, Adds To Win Total For Leading Rider Rosario

Koala Princess followed up her maiden victory with her first stakes victory in the Ainsworth Stakes at Kentucky Downs. As the Franklin, Ky., track finishes up its 2021 meet, the 2-year-old filly adds another win to Joel Rosario's record-breaking total.

After an even break, Mystic Eyes went to the front first, with Poppy Flower challenging on her outside and J.L.'s Rockette in third. Koala Princess settled in toward the back of the pack early in eighth.

The top three kept their positions around the final bend. Mystic Eyes entered the long stretch on the front, but Poppy Flower challenged from the outside and Koala Princess found room on the rail to mount her own bid for the lead. As they approached the wire, Rosario had Koala Princess on the lead, drawing away to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Mystic Eyes was second, followed by Poppy Flower and Cavalier Cupid.

The final time for the 6 1/2 furlongs was 1:15.25. Find this race's chart here.

Koala Princess paid $12.00, $5.60, and $4.40. Mystic Eyes paid $6.60 and $4.60. Poppy Flower paid $4.80.

Koala Princess is by More Than Ready out of the Lonhro mare Koala Queen. She is bred and owned by Runnymede Farm Inc., Peter J. Callahan, and Frederick C. Zinkhan, and trained by Arnaud Delacour.

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