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The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Conquest Daddyo Comes Home

Chances are if you've been to Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, you've crossed paths with the entertainment and celebrity blogger/photographer who goes by the name of Mr. Will Wong on various social media platforms.

Will is an unabashed fan of Thoroughbred racing who began going to the track with his family at a very young age. Over the years, he's become friends with many of the men and women who care for the horses and he shares their passion for the animals.

Sarah Volpe, one of those friends, groomed a horse named Conquest Daddyo when he was trained by Mark Casse for the Conquest Stable. When the stable was dispersed in 2016, Volpe said goodbye to the Scat Daddy colt who the year before had won Woodbine's Grade 2 Summer Stakes and then finished fourth in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland.

After he was sold, Volpe and Wong watched with concern as Conquest Daddyo began a long slide down the claiming ranks over the next several years, eventually winding up racing at the bottom level of bush tracks in Montana and Alberta, Canada. Will and Sarah reached out multiple times to the horse's connections in hopes that they might entertain an offer from them to buy Conquest Daddyo, retire him from racing, and bring him back to Ontario, where Sarah would once again be his caretaker. It's taken four years and lots of perseverance and network building, but they finally succeeded.

Will joins Paulick Report publisher Ray Paulick and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth on this week's Friday Show to talk about his experience. The story is told in greater detail at his website. Ray and Chelsea review the Queen's Plate performance by the Woodbine Star of the Week, Safe Conduct.

Watch this week's show, presented by Monmouth Park, below:

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Silent Poet Dashes To Victory In Highlander Stakes At Woodbine

Trying Grade 1 stakes company for the first time, Caravel darted out to the lead early in the Highlander Stakes, but Silent Poet was fastest at the end in the last of the stakes races on the Queen's Plate card at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The Stronach Stables 6-year-old gelding hung back in third for the first five furlongs of the six-furlong Highlander and took over the lead in the stretch to find the wire first and get his first Grade 1 victory.

Chuck Willis was fastest out of the gate, but Caravel, fresh off her Grade 3 win in the Caress at Saratoga, took over in the first quarter of the Highlander, leaving Chuck Willis in second on the rail and Silent Poet in third on her outside. The filly held on to the lead through early fractions of :22.35 for the first quarter and :45.16 for the half-mile, but, as the field hit the top of the stretch, Silent Poet kicked into gear, passing the filly to take the lead with Admiralty Pier out toward the middle of the track mounting his challenge. At the wire, Silent Poet was a half-length in front, with Admiralty Pier passing Caravel for second, the filly holding off City Boy for third. Honey Won't, Chuck Willis, Old Chestnut, and Turned Aside rounded out the field.

The final time for the six furlongs over a firm E.P. Taylor turf course was 1.07.98. Find this race's chart here.

Silent Poet paid $21.90, $9.80, and $4.70. Admiralty Pier paid $9.60 and $5.20. Caravel paid $2.10.

Bred in Ontario by Adena Springs, Silent Poet is by Silent Name, sired by Sunday Silence, out of the unraced mare Cara Bella, by Ghostzapper. Trained by Nicholas Gonzalez, he was ridden by Justin Stein. The G1 Highlander is Silent Poet's first win in three starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of 11 wins in 21 starts.

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Tripoli Upsets Pacific Classic, Earns Return Trip To Del Mar For Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Classic

The owner-trainer team of Hronis Racing and John Sadler picked up their third victory in the last four runnings of the Grade 1, $1 million TVG Pacific Classic at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., on Saturday when Tripoli scored by 1 1/4 lengths from just off the pace under jockey Tiago Pereira.

Pacesetter Tizamagician – one of two runners for trainer Richard Mandella – finished second under leading rider Flavien Prat, 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner, with Todd Pletcher-trained East Coast invader Dr Post rallying to be third under Joel Rosario in the field of nine older runners. Sheriff Brown was fourth, followed by Independence Hall, 2-1 favorite Express Train, 5-2 second choice Royal Ship, Cupid's Claws and Magic on Tap.

Tripoli, a 4-year-old colt by Kitten's Joy out of Love Train, by Tapit, covered 1 1/4 miles on a fast track in 2:02.37. He paid $15 for his fourth win in 14 starts and first added-money victory.

The Pacific Classic is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series Win and You're In race, giving the winner automatic, fees-paid entry into the Breeders' Cup Classic, to be held at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

Sadler saddled his first Pacific Classic winner, Accelerate, in 2018, and won the 2019 edition with Higher Power. Both were owned by Kosta and Pete Hronis in the name of their Hronis Racing.

“It feels great to win it again, and you've got to give all the credit to the barn,” said Kosta Hronis. “Tiago rode a great race. It's the only race he rode today because he wanted to focus on it. This horse has matured and just keeps coming along and today he proved himself. We didn't know if he could go a mile and a quarter, but today we found out.”

The victory was the first in a North American Grade 1 race for Pereira, a 44-year-old native of Brazil who came to the U.S. in 2014. Winner of more than 2,000 races prior to his arrival in the U.S., his biggest win came in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in 2010 aboard Gloria De Campeao.

“(Trainer) John (Sadler) told me before the race to be careful, because there were a lot of runners who had a similar style of running, Pareira said. “So, I was okay running right behind the leaders. When it was time to run, I had plenty of horse. But once we got in front, he started looking around, waiting on other horses. I looked around and knew we were not going to get caught. This was my only mount today, so I was really focused. I am so happy.”

A $450,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, Tripoli raced on the turf for his first 11 starts, winning a maiden race at Del Mar last August and adding a Santa Anita allowance victory in May of this year.

Sadler put the colt on dirt for the first time in June at Santa Anita and Tripoli responded with a half-length victory going 1 1/16 miles. He ran a close second to Express Train last out in the G2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, beaten just a half length.

In the Pacific Classic, Tripoli tracked Tizamagician from the outset, following the Tiznow colt through fractions of :23.52, :46.98 and 1:11.73 for the first six furlongs. Independence Hall applied some pressure to Tizamagician, setting up a perfect trip to the eventual winner. Pereira shifted Tripoli to the outside into the far turn, engaged the front runner at the quarter pole after a mile in 1:36.88, then took command with a furlong to run.

“He looked good all the way,” said Sadler. “He broke on his feet so (jockey Tiago Pereira) was able to tuck him in there and he looked comfortable all the way around. When (Independence Hall) started to slow up we were in a good spot. He had a perfect trip, give the rider a lot of credit. He rode him perfectly.”

Tizamagician was 4 1/2 lengths clear of Dr Post, who came to the Pacific Classic of a come-from-behind victory in the G3 Monmouth Cup at Monmouth Park on July 18 in what some thought was a scouting mission for the Breeders' Cup Classic by Pletcher. The Quality Road colt had just won horse beaten for the opening mile of the Pacific Classic and closed well in the stretch to be third.

“Yeah, he ran a strange race today,” Rosario said of Dr Post. “He kind of lost interest on the backstretch, so I thought I had no horse. But when I wheeled him outside, he gave me a strong finish. I don't know how to explain it.”

Neither of the two favorites, Express Train or Royal Ship, offered a serious challenge.

Buoyed by a Pick 6 mandatory payout that included nearly $1.9 million carried over into a jackpot and drew $8,876,771 in new wagers on Saturday, Del Mar smashed its all-time, non-Breeders' Cup day handle record. A total of $36,005,613 was bet at Del Mar or on the 11-race card via simulcasting, bettering the old mar of $25,870,431 by more than $10 million. Attendance was 12,655.

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Astronaut Launches $50 Shocker In Del Mar Handicap, Ensuring Spot In Breeders’ Cup Turf

John M.B. O'Connor's Astronaut returned $50.00 for a $2 wager when he captured Saturday's Grade 2, $302,500 Del Mar Handicap Presented by the Japan Racing Association by half a length at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

The 4-year-old Quality Road colt out of the German-bred mare Armanda, by Acatenango, had Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza aboard as they tracked the early leaders, swung out entering the stretch, then outran his 10 rivals to take down a first prize of $180,000. He was winning only the second race of his career and he increased his earnings to $285,860. He's trained by John Shirreffs.

Fernando-Diaz-Valdez Stable, Baalbek Corporation and Don Alberto Stable's Master Piece ran second, a neck in front of Ellwood Johnson Trust, Timmy Time and Ken Tevelde's Acclimate. The winner covered the mile and three-eighths on turf in 2:15.97.

Astronaut paid $50.00, $21.20 and $10.60 for his upset. Master Piece returned $25.00 and $14.80, while Acclimate paid off at $8.00.

Besides his winning purse, Astronaut also earned his owner an all-entry-fees-paid admission to the $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf, scheduled to be run at Del Mar on Saturday, November 6.

The Del Mar Handicap was Espinoza's only mount of the day and his first ride since Aug. 12.

“This didn't surprise me,” Espinoza said. “I thought in his last race he was a little too close. And, I think the race (San Juan Capistrano) was a little too far for him, so we changed the way he ran a little bit today. I just let him break and get into rhythm. If he was happy, I was happy. He wasn't up on the bridle and running so easily that when we got to the half-mile pole, I started to get a little excited. When I asked him, he finished strong for me, and it makes me happy to win this race for John (trainer Shirreffs). We have a very good relationship. He's always been there for me and I've been there for him. He's been there for me a little more lately.”

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Shirreffs said the win “puts a nice bandage” on the defeat sustained by Express Train, the horse he saddled as the betting favorite in the G1 TVG Pacific Classic one race earlier on the day.

“I'm just so happy for Astronaut and his connections; they are really great owners and it's great to win for them. We wanted to run him long, but we weren't sure how long and when he ran so well going a mile and three-quarters (second in the San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita, June 19) it seemed like this was possible.”

Astronaut was making his ninth career start in the Del Mar Handicap and recording just his second victory. He began his career with trainer Steve Asmussen, racing once in an Aqueduct maiden sprint in December 2019, then was transferred to Tom Albertrani. He was winless in two starts on turf on the East Coast in 2020 for Albertrani before being moved to Southern California and Shirreffs' barn. He won his second start for Shirreffs going 1 1/8 miles, then was a close second to Tripoli in a May 1, 2021, allowance race at Santa Anita.

Tripoli won the Pacific Classic a half hour before the Del Mar Handicap.

Following another runner-up finish on turf at Santa Anita, Astronaut finished second behind Acclimate in the G3 San Juan Capistrano at 1 3/4 miles.

Acclimate set fractions of :25.24, :49.25, 1:14.28, 1:39.32 and 2:04.05 en route to Astronaut's winning time of 2:15.97 on firm turf.

United, the 2-1 favorite under leading rider Flavien Prat, lost a three-way photo for second, beaten three-quarters of a length while fourth. He lacked room on the turn for home and in upper stretch while Espinoza and Astronaut had clear sailing on the outside.

The win was the first stakes victory of the meet for rider Espinoza, but his third in the Del Mar Handicap. He now has 106 stakes wins at Del Mar, third most among all riders.

The win was the second stakes win of the meeting for trainer Shirreffs and his second in the Del Mar Handicap (After Market, 2007). He now has 19 stakes wins at Del Mar.

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