Easy Win for California Shipper Adare Manor in Apple Blossom

Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (m, 5, Uncle Mo–Brooklynsway, by Giant Gizmo), who so often shows her best on the front end, took her California tactics on the road with a 5 1/2-length score in Oaklawn's $1.25-million GI Apple Blossom S. Saturday while conceding between one and six pounds to her rivals. Flying Connection (Nyquist), who shipped in from Sunland Park after three straight stakes wins in New Mexico for the red-hot Todd Fincher barn, closed late to nab second over Mar. 24 Shantel Lanerie S. winner Free Like a Girl (El Deal). Last year's GI CCA Oaks winner Wet Paint (Blame), previously unbeaten in three stakes at Oaklawn, never got involved and finished sixth.

The 3-5 choice, Adare Manor showed old habits die hard as she went clear early under Juan Hernandez, running comfortably with her ears flicking back and forth, and set fractions of :23.68 and :46.95 while Honor D Lady (Honor Code) applied pressure to her outside. Even while Honor D Lady loomed and last summer's GIII Molly Pitcher S. winner Shotgun Hottie (Gun Runner) threw her hat into the mix, Adare Manor never looked seriously threatened. She quickened on the turn, kicked clear with ease and opened up by daylight to hasten home an authoritative winner while Hernandez took a peek under his right arm as the pair's distance on the field remained intact. She got the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.48.

“[Trainer Bob Baffert] had her ready today,” said Hernandez. “They had a lot of confidence in her. I just felt it right away when I jumped on her. She was so calm and she was ready to run great. She loves a mile and a sixteenth. If you saw her, she's huge. She's really a big filly, so she needs a lot of distance in her races.”

A $375,000 Donato Lanni purchase at the 2021 OBS June sale after working a furlong in :10 1/5, Adare Manor won the GIII Las Virgenes S. at three by 13 lengths, had a five-win streak going at four that included the GI Clement L. Hirsch S. and three other graded races, and kickstarted her 5-year-old campaign with a 102 Beyer as the runner-up in the GI Beholder Mile S. at Santa Anita Mar. 9. Seven of her eight career wins have been on the front end, with the lone exception being a stalking trip in last summer's Clement L. Hirsch.

Pedigree Notes:

Adare Manor is one of 49 graded winners and 100 black-type winners overall for exceptional Coolmore America stallion Uncle Mo, a regular among North America's leading sires. She is the second of her sire's progeny to win the Apple Blossom following Unbridled Mo's victory in 2018. She is, however, the lone stakes winner to date out of a Giant Gizmo mare. The latter was relocated to Panama following the 2019 breeding season after standing at Canada's Gardiner Farm. Uncle Mo does have four stakes winners out of mares by Giant Gizmo's sire, the late Giant's Causeway, who was a fellow Coolmore sire, as well as Mar. 30 GI Florida Derby third Grand Mo the First.

Stock in Brooklynsway has risen dramatically since Adare Manor's assent up the stakes ranks. Winner of the 2016 GIII Doubledogdare S. at Keeneland, she was a $170,000 RNA at Fasig-Tipton's November sale in 2017, then went through the same ring in 2020 at the Winter Mixed Sale, where Town & Country picked her up in foal to Into Mischief for $95,000. Adare Manor, then a short yearling, sold at the same sale to Walmac Farms and Gary Board for $180,000 before being pinhooked the next year. Brooklynsway has a 2-year-old filly by Ghostzapper named Nosleeptilbrooklyn, who went to Boardshorts Stables at Keeneland September for $500,000, and a yearling full-brother to Adare Manor. The mare was a $1.2-million RNA at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale; she has aborted her 2024 Tapit foal.

 

Saturday, Oaklawn
APPLE BLOSSOM H.-GI, $1,250,000, Oaklawn, 4-13, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:42.48, ft.
1–ADARE MANOR, 123, m, 5, by Uncle Mo
       1st Dam: Brooklynsway (GSW-USA, MSW &
                 GSP-Can, $724,597), by Giant Gizmo
       2nd Dam: Explosive Story, by Radio Star
       3rd Dam: Maya's Note, by Editor's Note
($180,000 Ylg '20 FTKFEB; $190,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL;
$375,000 2yo '21 OBSOPN). O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Town
& Country Horse Farms, LLC & Gary Broad (KY); T-Bob Baffert;
J-Juan J. Hernandez. $675,000. Lifetime Record: 16-8-5-0,
$1,736,600. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Flying Connection, 118, f, 4, by Nyquist
                1st Dam: Free Flying Soul (MSW & MGISP, $423,177),
                                 by Quiet American
                2nd Dam: Ruby Surprise, by Farma Way
                3rd Dam: Santa Rosalia, by Bold Bidder
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Brad King,
Randy Andrews, G. Chris Coleman, Jim Cone, Suzanne Kirby
and Lee Lewis; B-Liberty Road Stables (KY); T-Todd W. Fincher.
$225,000.
3–Free Like a Girl, 117, m, 5, by El Deal
                1st Dam: Flashy Prize, by Flashy Bull
                2nd Dam: Rich Peace, by Rizzi
                3rd Dam: Lockpeace, by Hold Your Peace
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($5,500 Ylg '20 ESLYRL). O-Gerald Bruno,
Jr., Chasey Deville Pomier and Jerry Caroom; B-Kim Renee
Stover & Lisa Osborne (LA); T-Chasey Deville Pomier.
$112,500.
Margins: 5HF, 3/4, 2. Odds: 0.70, 26.20, 58.30.
Also Ran: Shotgun Hottie, Taxed, Wet Paint, Bellamore, Misty Veil, Honor D Lady.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Easy Win for California Shipper Adare Manor in Apple Blossom appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Last Chance at the Big Dance: Hades Can Punch Kentucky Derby Ticket in Lexington

Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland, the final stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, offers a path to Churchill Downs for the first Saturday in May for D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran's Hades (Awesome Slew).

Currently on the outside looking in, Hades sits in 24th place on the leaderboard with 30 points. The GI Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters. The Lexington offers 42 points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale.

With a victory, Hades would be in the top 20. A runner-up finish would put him on the bubble.

Hades upset potential Kentucky Derby favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) (third) and next-out GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Domestic Product (Practical Joke) (second) with a game victory in the GIII Holy Bull S. Feb. 3. Hades suffered his first career defeat finishing a well-beaten fifth behind Fierceness after getting bumped at the start in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 30.

“We need the points. I'm not going to go there to be number 21 (on the also-eligible list),” trainer Joe Orseno said. “He didn't get a chance to run in the Florida Derby.”

Hades will race with first-time blinkers in the Lexington and will also receive a rider change to Jose Ortiz. Paco Lopez was aboard Hades in his first four career starts.

“I always thought he would be better with blinkers, but he kept winning and I couldn't make the change,” Orseno said. “He'll have blinkers here; little ones.”

Two other Lexington entrants could be on the Derby bubble with a victory: Encino (Nyquist) (20 points) and Liberal Arts (Arrogate) (19 points).

John Battaglia Memorial S. winner Encino, scratched from last weekend's GI Blue Grass S. in favor of this spot, tries dirt for the first time for trainer Brad Cox. Last year's GIII Street Sense S. winner Liberal Arts was an eventful sixth (disqualified and placed eighth for interference after getting rank on the first turn) in the GI Arkansas Derby Mar. 30.

The Lexington field of 10 also includes 5-2 morning-line favorite The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso), who makes his first start since finishing a very game second in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland Oct. 7.

Saturday's 11-race card at Keeneland also prominently features the GI Jenny Wiley S. Gina Romantica (Into Mischief), a two-time Grade I winner over the lawn in Lexington, held her own against the boys finishing a respectable fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile last time Nov. 4. The 3-1 morning-line favorite is one of four entered for Chad Brown, who has won five of the past six runnings of the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares and has six Jenny Wiley victories overall.

Brown will also saddle last term's GI Matriarch S. heroine Surge Capacity (Flintshire {GB}), MGSW Fluffy Socks (Slumber {GB}) and longshot Beaute Cachee (Fr) (Literato {Fr}). “With a lot of my good grass fillies, I like to target this and I like the mile and a sixteenth to start,” Brown said.

The field of 10 also includes: Didia (Arg) (Orpen), a game winner of the GII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational S. at Gulfstream Jan. 27; and the Charlie Appleby-trained English Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who captured the G2 Balanchine S. at Meydan last time Feb. 23.

Wet Paint (Blame), three-for-three against stakes company at Oaklawn last season, will face off against California invader Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) in the GI Apple Blossom H. in Hot Springs. Wet Paint, just up in time in last summer's GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, makes her first start since finishing eighth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Nov. 4. Adare Manor, winner of last summer's GI Clement L. Hirsch S. at Del Mar, crossed the line one spot better in seventh at the Championships and kicked off her 5-year-old campaign for Bob Baffert with a runner-up finish as the favorite in the GI Beholder Mile S. at Santa Anita Mar. 9.

Saturday's graded action is rounded out by the GIII Count Fleet H. at Oaklawn and GIII Giant's Causeway S. at Keeneland.

The post Last Chance at the Big Dance: Hades Can Punch Kentucky Derby Ticket in Lexington appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

HIWU Hits Diodoro With Provisional Suspension

Top trainer Robertino Diodoro has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after he was allegedly found to possess the banned substance Levothyroxine.

Levothyroxine is a thyroid medication. According to the National Library of Medicine the use of thyroid hormones for doping to enhance performance in human sports has long been controversial. There have been claims of abuse of these drugs, but they have not been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Diodoro declined to comment and referred questions to his lawyer, John Holleman. At deadline for this story, Holleman had not returned a phone call from the TDN seeking comment.

Horses that were entered by Diodoro before he was notified of the suspension are being allowed to run, but he will not be allowed to enter horses thereafter. Diodoro will not be allowed to saddle those horses or visit the paddock.

Diodoro's upcoming entries include the GII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn, a prep for the GI Kentucky Oaks. His stable will send out longshot Midshipman's Dance (Midshipman).

In the cases where a horse tests positive for a banned medication, HIWU has put off enforcing the suspension until the results of the B sample have been returned. But since Diodoro's suspension does not involve a failed drug test, his suspension will go into effect after his horses that have already been entered have run.

According to the HIWU website investigators found the drug to be in Diodoro's possession on March 13. The notice of his suspension was posted to the HIWU website Friday. HIWU spokesperson Alexa Ravit said she could not disclose why HIWU investigators undertook a search that allegedly led to the finding of the drug.

Diodoro faces a suspension of up to two years.

Diodoro was the leading trainer in 2023 at Oaklawn Park and is currently in second in this year's Oaklawn standings. Training since 1995, Diodoro has 3,184 career wins and a winning rate of 21 percent.

Diodoro was suspended for the first 15 days of the current Oaklawn meet after a horse he ran at the 2022-2023 meet had a carbon dioxide (TCO2) finding above the permitted limit.

The post HIWU Hits Diodoro With Provisional Suspension appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘TDN Rising Star’ Nash Wins Easily In Hot Springs S.

Nash, named a 'TDN Rising Star' after a 10 1/4-length romp in a 1 1/16-mile Churchill Downs maiden special weight Nov. 12, resumed winning ways after three straight placings at Fair Grounds this season. Nash was second behind Track Phantom (Quality Road) in the GIII Lecomte Jan. 20, then second again in a live optional claimer over a sloppy surface at Fair Grounds Feb. 17. Jockey Florent Geroux settled the even-money favorite four-wide behind Frost Free's pace set in fractions of :23.15, :47.64 and 1:12.56. Remaining four wide throughout, he swept past three of his six rivals entering the stretch and drew off to a comfortable win. Nash is out of MGSW Sara Louise, who defeated future champion Rachel Alexandra in the GII Pocahontas S. as a 2-year-old. Sara Louise is also the dam of Mrs. Hudson (Street Cry {Ire}), dam of SW Airosa (Uncle Mo) and Coronation Street (Street Cry {Ire}), dam of GSW Kalik (Collected). She has an unnamed 2-year-old Street Sense colt and was bred to Nyquist for this season.

HOT SPRINGS S., (NB) $200,000, Oaklawn, 3-23, 3yo, 1m, 1:38.49, ft.
1–NASH, 117, c, 3, by Medaglia d'Oro
                1st Dam: Sara Louise (MGSW, $400,435), by Malibu Moon
                2nd Dam: Kings Lynn, by Mt. Livermore
                3rd Dam: Til Forbid, by Temperence Hill
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux.
$114,000. Lifetime Record: GSP, 6-2-3-1, $264,500. *1/2 to
Sara Street (Street Sense), GSP, $216,100.
2–Carbone, 119, c, 3, Mitole–Treasure in Heaven, by Street
Sense. O-L. William & Corinne Heiligbrodt & Flurry Racing
Stables LLC; B-William & Corinne Heiligbrodt (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $38,000.
3–Frost Free, 119, c, 3, Frosted–D J's Favorite, by Union Rags.
($27,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $100,000 2yo '23 TTAAPR). O-Keene
Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Jackpot Farm (KY); T-Brett Creighton.
$19,000.
Margins: 5HF, 2 1/4, HF. Odds: 1.00, 2.20, 12.10.
Also Ran: Mr Fillip, Otto the Conqueror, Mena, Magic Grant. Scratched: Count Dracula, Footprint.

Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post ‘TDN Rising Star’ Nash Wins Easily In Hot Springs S. appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights