Nova Rags | Horse Racing Free Tips

Longshot Exacta In Jaipur Highlight Of Successful Belmont Day For Hall Of Famer Mott

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott saddled a pair of longshot chances in Saturday's Grade 1, $400,000 Jackpocket Jaipur and ended up completing a personal exacta when Casa Creed [10-1] posted a two-length score over stablemate Chewing Gum [28-1] in the six-furlong inner turf sprint for 3-year-olds and up on Belmont Stakes day at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Owned by LRE Racing and JEH Racing Stable, the 5-year-old son of Jimmy Creed registered a career-best 105 Beyer for his first win since capturing the one-mile Grade 2 Hall of Fame in August 2019 at Saratoga.

While Saturday's victory came with a “Win and You're In” berth to the five-furlong Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November at Del Mar, Mott said the distance is likely too short for Casa Creed, who may have found a new niche after winning the seven-furlong Elusive Quality in April on the Belmont green after a long string of races at one mile or greater.

“We'd been looking for some races that would be appropriate, he's not necessarily the greatest miler, I suppose,” said Mott. “We've known he doesn't want to get over a mile.

“He ran the seven-eighths here and ran good,” added Mott regarding the Elusive Quality score. “We'd meant to try him in shorter races in the past but it didn't work out for one reason or another, but it worked out yesterday.”

Mott said he was pleased with the condition of the turf for the Jaipur, which was rated as 'good' despite a deluge of rain on Friday that led to a yielding turf on Day Two of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in which the Mott-trained Harvey's Lil Goil finished an even fifth in the 10-furlong Grade 2, $750,000 New York.

Over a drying-out course in the Jaipur, Bound for Nowhere rattled off swift splits of 22.06 and 44.65 to the half-mile, setting up Casa Creed for a sharp closing kick, stopping the click in 1:08.04.

“Given the New York handicap the day before, I thought they might go three-quarters in 11 or 12,” said Mott. “The course held up really well. They weren't kicking up anything. I'll give the NYRA turf man a pat on the back for that. It was in good shape and handled the water well.”

Mott said he has no immediate target for Casa Creed.

“Maybe we'll have a chance to shorten him up to 5 ½,” he offered.

Junior Alvarado, who engineered the winning Jaipur trip, was at the Mott barn Sunday morning and expressed his joy at seeing Casa Creed break through at the top flight.

“He's been right there knocking on the door for a Grade 1 and finally he got it,” said Alvarado.

The veteran rider said it was good to hear the roar of the crowd on Saturday with 11,238 fans in attendance.

“It makes it more exciting,” said Alvarado. “We're competitive athletes and to have the fans there screaming and yelling, it definitely gets you more excited. We needed that yesterday.”

Wachtel Stable, Pantofel Stable and Jerold Zaro's Chewing Gum rallied from last-of-9 to complete the exacta. The 6-year-old multiple graded-stakes placed son of Candy Ride earned a personal-best 99 Beyer.

“He ran a super race, take nothing away from him,” said Mott. “For me, he's the same [as Casa Creed]; a mile stretches him a little bit and five and a half [furlongs] is a little bit sharp – he's coming, it's amazing what they can do in that last sixteenth.”

The Mott-trained exacta returned $335.50 for a $2 wager.

Mott said the Estate of Harvey A. Clarke and Paul Braverman's multiple graded-stakes winner Harvey's Lil Goil, winner of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October at Keeneland, didn't handle the yielding turf on Friday.

Michael Shanley's Nova Rags, runner-up in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Peter Pan in May at Belmont, turned back to seven-furlongs and finished third behind winner Drain the Clock and runner-up Jackie's Warrior in Saturday's Grade 1 Woody Stephens.

“Grade 1 placed and got a check,” said Mott, with a grin. “He wasn't good enough yesterday, but we took our shot. We knew they'd go fast and hoped they would back up more than they did, but they didn't. They kept going, two good horses.”

Juddmonte Farms homebred Obligatory, a sophomore daughter of Curlin, closed five-wide down the lane to finish second, by a half-length, to Search Results in Saturday's Grade 1 Acorn.

Dayoutoftheoffice posted moderate splits of 23.50, 47.23 and 1:11 in the one-turn mile before giving way to the Kentucky Oaks-runner-up, who got the jump on Obligatory.

“She ran well; no pace,” said Mott. “It was a pace-less race. Didn't suit her, but she still ran good. Take nothing away from the winner.”

Mott indicated Obligatory, winner of the Grade 2 Eight Belles in April at Churchill Downs, would target the seven-furlong Grade 1 Longines Test for sophomore fillies on August 7 at Saratoga.

The post Longshot Exacta In Jaipur Highlight Of Successful Belmont Day For Hall Of Famer Mott appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Promise Keeper Gives Pletcher Another Potential Belmont Starter After Peter Pan Score

Staying true to form, 3-2 favorite Promise Keeper took the nine-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., by 2 ¼ lengths over a field of four other 3-year-olds in the traditional local prep for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, the third jewel of racing's Triple Crown.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for a partnership of Woodford Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, and Rock Ridge Racing, Promise Keeper has had an up and down start to his career. After finishing a well-beaten fourth in his debut on January 9 at Gulfstream Park, the son of Constitution returned to break his maiden impressively at Gulfstream before finishing last of 12 in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 6.

Undeterred, Promise Keeper came back with gusto in his most recent start, a 5 ½-length allowance win going nine furlongs at Keeneland on April 8, and sustained that momentum on Saturday.

Drawn in post 3 following the defection of Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking from the Peter Pan, who instead will run in next Saturday's Grade 1 Preakness, Promise Keeper broke well and assumed a stalking position as Wolfie's Dynaghost went straight to the front.

Second-time starter Wolfie's Dynaghost set sensible fractions down the expansive Belmont backstretch, carving out an opening quarter-mile in 24.53 seconds and a half in 48.62 on the fast main track as Promise Keeper sat perched just to his outside in second and Nova Rags in third, with the quintet fairly spaced out in the early stages.

The running intensified around the far turn, with three-quarters going in 1:13.20, and it wasn't long thereafter that Promise Keeper came calling for the lead, which Wolfie's Dynaghost ceded readily as Nova Rags moved up in kind and Promise Keeper's stablemate Overtook launched his rally from the back of the pack.

Those three lined up as the field turned for home, but neither pursuer was able to make much headway on Promise Keeper, who dug in fervently on the rail under Luis Saez and dashed to the line comfortably in front, stopping the clock in 1:50.71.

“He's a big mover and Luis was able to do a perfect job putting him in a stalking position and let him take advantage of the rhythmic stride he has,” said Pletcher. “Luis said he had a lot of horse in the end, so that's encouraging.

“I thought tactically that Luis rode a smart race and put him into a good spot and got into a good rhythm. When that horse came to him, he found some more and finished up well,” Pletcher added.

With the victory, Promise Keeper increased his earnings to $184,600 and the chestnut sophomore returned $5 even on a $2 win wager.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's Nova Rags continued his string of solid performances in stakes races with his second in the Peter Pan. He won the Pasco at Tampa Bay Downs four starts ago, which preceded a narrow runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa and a fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.

The Michael Shanley homebred checked in 1 ½ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Overtook, who was making his first start since the Grade 3 Withers on February 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack, in which he made a belated run to get second. Longshot I Am the Law and Wolfie's Dynaghost completed the order of finish.

“I thought he ran a great race,” said Junior Alvarado, jockey aboard runner-up Nova Rags. “It was a tricky race with a five-horse field. The winner had a better trip and he kind of drew away from me at the last sixteenth. We know where we are at least with him. He's a good horse and we're going to keep trying. Hopefully, we get one sooner than later.”

The Peter Pan invites questions as to who among the field will now target the Belmont Stakes on June 5, and it certainly seems like the connections of the winner are pointing in that direction.

“He's got a big bouncy, reachy stride and it seems like the further he goes, the better he gets,” Pletcher said of Promise Keeper. “Historically, the Peter Pan has been a good prep for the Belmont. I'll talk to the connections about it, but that was amongst the discussions leading into this.”

Racing returns on Sunday with a nine-race card beginning at 1 p.m. ET highlighted by the $100,000 Gold Fever for 3-year-olds going six furlongs on the main track.

Starting on May 1, Belmont Park re-opened to a limited number of spectators. All admission must be purchased in advance at nyra.com/belmont/tickets/.

For comprehensive information on health and safety protocols in effect for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/visit/plan-your-visit.

The post Promise Keeper Gives Pletcher Another Potential Belmont Starter After Peter Pan Score appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Small Field for Belmont Stakes Prep

With 7-5 morning-line favorite Risk Taking (Medaglia d'Oro) expected to scratch in favor of the GI Preakness S. per a report in Daily Racing Form, only five will remain for Saturday's GIII Peter Pan S., the local prep for the GI Belmont S.

Nova Rags (Union Rags), winner of Tampa's seven-furlong Pasco S. Jan. 16, followed a good runner-up finish in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 6 with a fourth-place finish in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 27. The chestnut's resume also includes a debut win sprinting over this track last fall.

Newly minted Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle a pair-last out GIII Withers S. Feb. 6 runner-up and impeccably bred $1-million KEESEP yearling Overtook (Curlin) and Promise Keeper (Constitution). The latter sandwiched a puzzling 12th in the GII Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 6 with a maiden win at Gulfstream Feb. 6 and a powerful optional claiming tally going 1 1/8 miles at Keeneland Apr. 8.

Wolfie's Dynaghost (Ghostzapper) makes his first start since posting a sharp debut maiden win-good for an 84 Beyer–over subsequent GIII Gotham S. upsetter Weyburn (Pioneerof the Nile) at Aqueduct Nov. 14.

The post Small Field for Belmont Stakes Prep appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘A Small Step Of 70 Years’: Mike Shanley Excited About Budding Star Nova Rags

His biggest success stories in parts of five decades owning and breeding Thoroughbreds have come on the grass, but Mike Shanley has a budding dirt star on his hands that just may well be the best horse he's had in nearly 20 years. Maybe ever.

“I hope so,” Shanley said. “We'll see more on Saturday.”

Shanley's stakes-winning homebred Nova Rags, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, will face the biggest test of his young career in the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa at Gulfstream Park.

The 1 1/8-mile Derby for 3-year-olds headlines a blockbuster program featuring 10 stakes, six graded, worth $1.85 million in purses. In its first 69 runnings, the Derby has produced a remarkable 60 Triple Crown race winners, the most recent being 2020 Belmont (G1) hero Tiz the Law.

Shanley would like to add Nova Rags' name to that list but, in keeping with a career spent in law as a real estate attorney and judge as well as his long association with racing, he matches that optimism with an equal dose of reality. He has never run a horse in the Triple Crown.

“We're obviously very excited with what he's done so far and looking forward to the Florida Derby. It's certainly a big step up, but Bill Mott feels comfortable with it and that's how we're going into it,” Shanley said. “Really all the credit goes to Bill and [son and assistant] Riley and the Mott team for bringing him along to this point.”

Nova Rags was a maiden special weight winner in his debut last October at Belmont Park, then ran fourth as the third choice in a field of seven in the Nashua (G3) at Aqueduct to cap his juvenile campaign.

By 2012 Belmont winner Union Rags out of the Smart Strike mare Wishful Splendor, Nova Rags has run twice at 3, both at Tampa Bay Downs, winning the seven-furlong Pasco Jan. 16 and finishing second by a length to stablemate Candy Man Rocket in the Sam F. Davis (G3) Feb. 6.

“Bill insists and I agree on proceeding a day at a time. I know it's trite, but proceeding a race at a time,” Shanley said. “If Nova Rags does well on Saturday, then I expect he'll be taking us to the Kentucky Derby. But to think about that now is just one step too far.”

Shanley is a native of upstate New York, growing up in the Binghamton suburb of Vestal in the Southern Tier region. He graduated from Albany Law School in 1972 and stayed in the area where he raised six children with wife, Lyn. “Pretty much retired” in recent years, the Shanleys now live primarily in Florida.

He got his first horse, a pony named Trigger, at the age of 4, but Shanley's introduction to owning Thoroughbreds came as part of a partnership group that purchased Grade 1 winner Ends Well from Greentree Stable in 1985. He and best friend Leonard Leveen were among a triumvirate that owned Turk Passer, winner of the 1995 Turf Classic Invitational now named for late Hall of Fame writer Joe Hirsch.

“It was really just a result of my interest in horses. Initially I got into one of the early racing partnerships and it just developed from there,” Shanley said. “There were three partners in Turk Passer, and I was the managing partner. We had great fun with him. He was our first Grade 1 winner and, believe it or not, Johnny Velazquez's first Grade 1 winner.”

Turk Passer also provided Shanley with his first of two trips to the Breeders' Cup before being retired in 1997 with eight wins and $735,320 in purse earnings. Velazquez has gone on to a Hall of Fame riding career that includes nearly 6,300 wins and a record $431.4 million in purses earned.

Shanley won another Grade 1 in the 2003 Sword Dancer at Saratoga with Whitmore's Conn, a horse he co-owned with his wife and named for both of their mothers. Whitmore's Conn also won the Bowling Green (G3) in 2002 and 2003 and retired with seven wins from 28 starts and a bankroll of $740,426.

“Whitmore is my mother's maiden name and Conn was Lyn's mother's maiden name, so Whitmore's Conn was the choice,” Shanley said. “Lyn's mom passed away a number of years ago at the age of 99 and my mother is still living by herself and taking care of herself in Bradenton at almost 97.”

Other top horses for Shanley have included Stormy Len, second in the Secretariat (G1) and third in the Northern Dancer (G1) in 2013 for he and Leveen; Grade 3-placed Freedom Rings, who ran in the inaugural 2008 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; 2006 New York-bred stakes winner Peg's Prayer, named after Shanley's late aunt and godmother; and fellow six-figure earners Dubliner and Aussie Prayer.

In 2002, when Leveen dispersed his bloodstock holdings and gave them the mare Dana's Wedding, the Shanleys began making the transition into breeding. They continue to own Wishful Splendor, a Grade 3-placed mare who was retired after winning her final start, the then-ungraded Suwannee River Handicap in 2004 at Gulfstream.

“We really shifted from focusing on the yearling sales and 2-year-old sales to a breeding program. That's what we've been focused on the last number of years. Nova Rags is a product of that program, which takes longer to develop than driving to Keeneland and buying a horse,” Shanley said. “We have a 2-year-old Nyquist filly with Niall Brennan in Ocala and a yearling More Than Ready colt who's with Sarah Sutherland at Indian Creek Farm in Kentucky.

“To me, it's more interesting because you get the opportunity to race or purchase a mare, hopefully with a pedigree that will carry on,” he added. “Then you have decisions every year on how you want to breed the mare. You get the most beautiful colt or filly in the world every spring, which is great fun. You watch them grow up and eventually, hopefully, get to the racetrack and do well.”

Nova Rags was consigned to Keeneland's 2019 September yearling sale but did not meet his $275,000 reserve. The Shanleys plan to be at Gulfstream Saturday to cheer on their young star and continue a lifelong love affair.

“My mother and father bought a horse for me, a riding pony, when I was 4. Since then I've been in love with horses,” Shanley said. “It transitioned from a 4-year-old having a riding pony to the Florida Derby on Saturday. A small step of 70 years.”

The post ‘A Small Step Of 70 Years’: Mike Shanley Excited About Budding Star Nova Rags appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post