NYRA stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Eye Witness (City of Light) kept his win streak intact with a victory over the soaked turf at Belmont on Saturday afternoon in the Paradise Creek S.

After a debut third last fall against state bred company on the grass during the Belmont at the Big A meet, the bay colt went to the sidelines before coming back to his trainer's base at Turfway where he broke his maiden with a front-running score Jan. 1 by 1 3/4 lengths. Stepping up in class in the Animal Kingdom S. in Florence, he once again visited the winner's circle, this time after a 5 length-victory.

Off as the 5-2 co-second choice here, the Wesley Ward trainee was under a tight hold down the backstretch as a trio vied for the lead. Rounding the far turn, Eye Witness made his move to the outside, swept by them all and staved off a final push from Inflation Nation (Ire) (Speightstown) by a head at the wire.

“I didn't want to take the momentum away from him, and I felt like I probably moved a little sooner than I wanted to, but with the soft ground, sometimes if you stop the momentum, it's very hard to get it back,” Eye Witness's jockey, Jose Ortiz said. “I almost paid the price in the end, but I'm just glad we held on.”

Out of a female family which includes GII Swale S. hero Sharp Humor (Distorted Humor), the winner is a half-brother to SW More Mischief (Into Mischief). His dam is responsible for a 2-year-old filly by Practical Joke, who sold to Scott and Evan Dilworth for $220,000 at the '21 Fasig-Tipton Fall sale before she RND'd for $185,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York Bred Yearling sale last year, and also a yearling filly by Game Winner.

PARADISE CREEK S., $150,000, Belmont, 5-20, 3yo, 7fT, 1:25.32,
yl.
1–EYE WITNESS, 120, c, 3, by City of Light
1st Dam: Gracilia, by Mr. Greeley
2nd Dam: Bellona, by Hansel
3rd Dam: Basoof, by Believe It
($235,000 Wlg '20 FTKNOV; $650,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Jonathan Poulin, Derrick Smith and Michael B. Tabor; B-Anlyn Farms (NY); T-Wesley A. Ward; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-1, $205,740. *1/2 to More Mischief (Into Mischief), SW, $255,493.
2–Inflation Nation (Ire), 118, c, 3, Speightstown–Urban Ball (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). (58,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT; $100,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Louis Lazzinnaro LLC and Michael Dubb; B-Yeguada Centurion S.L. (IRE); T-Christophe Clement. $30,000.
3–Vacation Dance, 120, c, 3, The Lieutenant–Matinee Express, by Zensational. ($45,000 Ylg '21 EASOCT; $140,000 RNA 2yo '22 OBSMAR; $90,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-Sleeping Giant Stables, LLC, America's Pastime Stables and KimDon Racing, LLC; B-Harry Landry & James Hogan (NY); T-John C. Kimmel. $18,000.
Margins: HD, 5HF, 5 3/4. Odds: 2.85, 2.40, 12.30.
Also Ran: Hey Eugene, Joey Freshwater, Son of a Birch, Charging,
Devils Only Friend. Scratched: Golden Nugget.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Eye Witness Bears Down To Win Belmont’s Paradise Creek S. appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

There are better, faster horses in the sport, but there's not another one like Beverly Park (Munnings). In an era where five or six starts a year is considered a normal campaign for a horse and many trainers look for seven or eight weeks between starts, the 5-year-old made of blood, flesh and iron continued to laugh at conventional wisdom. In his 30^th start of the year, he won Saturday's third race at the Fair Grounds by 3 3/4 lengths, paying $3.80. The race was a starter optional claimer and it was his 15^th win on the year.

Beverly Park's 15 wins easily led the sport in 2022. Nine other horses are tied for second with eight victories. His 30 starts also led all horses. Pretty Loud (Boisterous) was next with 28. The Fair Grounds was the 14^th track Beverly Park has competed at this year.

“He is definitely an iron horse,” said owner-trainer Lynn Cash. “He's probably the horse of a lifetime. He travels well. He's been a fun horse. I just happened to grab onto his coattails while he was going by and he pulled me up. He's as sound a horse as has ever been. I've never had to do any work on him whatsoever.”

The story of Lynn Cash and Beverly Park began on Aug. 15, 2021 when he claimed the horse from trainer Dane Kobiskie for $12,500 out of a race at Belterra Park. Cash brought him back 13 days later and he won for his new barn. During 2021, he won seven of eight starts for Cash. His overall record for Cash's Build Wright Stables is 22-for-38.

Much of his 2022 campaign was spent in a starter allowances. Throughout the year, he was eligible for races where a horse had started for $5,000 or less in 2021 or 2022. Cash would take him around the country, shipping to wherever he could find a race at that level, traveling countless miles.

“I just love this horse,” he said. “Me and him, from the beginning, we have been the ones together on the road.”

What Cash learned early on was that while Beverly Park may not be a top-level horse when it came to talent, but he more than made up for that with his competitive spirit.

“He's just a competitor,” he said. “He's at the track, slow galloping or jogging and when a horse comes by that is working he wants to take off and go get them. He has so much heart. Every time, he leaves it out there.”

With a new year here, Cash will have a harder time finding races for Beverly Park as he will no longer be eligible for the starter allowance races at some tracks. He said if he can't find enough starter races he will try Beverly Park in allowance races. He also said it's not out of the question that he ventures into stakes company.

“At some point, I may give him his shot in stakes,” he said. “Maybe a Grade III in New York or something like that. They have a lot of small fields in stakes there. I think he deserves that chance.”

He said one goal for 2023 would be to again lead the nation in wins and added that he thought 11 or 12 victories next year was reasonable.

Cash wasn't sure where Beverly Park would run next but said a Jan. 11 race at Parx is a possibility. If not there, a return to the Fair Grounds for a Jan. 19 race could be in the offing. He could, of course, always run in both.

For now, there will be a few days rest and a chance to savor another big win.

“This one was really sweet,” Cash said. “They were very nice to us here at the Fair Grounds. A lot of people came up to us after the race. He's become a fan favorite. Just a special, special horse.”

The post Beverly Park Closes Out Year with 15th Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post