ode to joy | Horse Racing Free Tips

Catherine Wills' Luck Money could make a second consecutive appearance in a New York turf route, though trainer Arnaud Delacour said he has not yet decided on the 3-year-old Lookin At Lucky filly's next spot.

The Grade 3, $100,000 Long Island for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 3/8 miles on Aqueduct Racetrack's inner turf on Nov. 28 remains a possibility, though the Grade 1, $300,000 American Oaks at Santa Anita Park on Dec. 28 is also still in play.

“I'm not sure yet. I'm going to breeze her this weekend and decide. There's a possibility I'll skip that race and run her in the American Oaks a month later,” said Delacour on Luck Money, who continues to train at Fair Hill in Maryland.

Delacour said he initially thought Luck Money could use the extra time between starts after stretching out to 1 1/2 miles for the first time last out to win the Zagora on Oct. 31 over yielding Belmont turf.

The Kentucky homebred defeated a nine-horse Zagora field, besting Hungry Kitten by a neck, for a 91 Beyer Speed Figure that tied a personal best. It was Luck Money's first stakes victory in the longest race of her career, having won previously at 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/8 miles.

“I thought the last race was going to take too much out of her, but she's been training very well, so I'll get together with the owner and see what she wants to do,” Delacour said.

Luck Money has won over turf listed as firm, good and yielding, making her a versatile option for her connections.

“She's neat in that regard. She seems to run well on any type of track and everywhere; I've shipped her quite a bit,” Delacour said. “She hasn't really had a bad race. She's exceptional.”

Luck Money is 3-3-4 in 10 career starts with earnings of $224,200. After besting older horses in the Zagora, the sophomore could face the same conditions again in the Long Island, while the American Oaks is restricted to fellow 3-year-olds.

“Running her against older fillies, they have a lot more experience, especially going a mile and a half, but she just stepped right up, so that was interesting,” Delacour said.

Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's Ode to Joy could also be making a stakes appearance at the Big A, targeting the $100,000 Autumn Days for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going six furlongs on the outer turf on Nov. 29.

Nearing the end of her 5-year-old campaign, Ode to Joy could be looking to move into the next phase of her career on a high note, entering off a third-place finish in the five-furlong The Very One on Oct. 1 at Pimlico. The race before, she ran fourth in the Incredible Revenge moved off the turf on August 16 at Monmouth and will make her Aqueduct debut looking for her first stakes victory.

“Depending on the turf, there's a little bit of rain in the forecast next week, but if it's on the turf, I'll do that with her,” Delacour said. “She's been very consistent. She might not be the favorite, but I hope she can run well in there. I think the owners have in mind to breed her in the spring, so we're going to try and see if we can add to her resume this winter and she'll be a broodmare.”

While Ode to Joy's racing career could be winding down, Dame of Malta's is on an upward trajectory after a third-place debut finish on Oct. 21 at Keeneland in a one-mile maiden race moved off the turf.

Owned by Runnymede Farm and Catesby Clay, the juvenile daughter of Union Rags is slated to make her turf debut on Saturday at Aqueduct in Race 6. Her form on grass is intriguing to Delacour, as the promising bay filly is out of the multiple graded stakes winning mare Bizzy Caroline, who is a half-sister to 2017 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Female Lady Eli.

“I think it'll be interesting; she ran better than our expectations last time on the dirt,” Delacour said. “She was a little green with the kickback, but she really showed up and did it nice. I think the turf should be good. It remains to be seen, but I like the way she's been training. She's closely related to Lady Eli, so that's the type of horse you want to see on the turf at least once, right?”

The post East Or West? Delacour Keeping Options Open For Versatile Luck Money appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Brittlyn Stable, Inc.'s Wild About Star, winless in her only two starts this year, looks to get back on the winning track in a familiar spot when she returns to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., on Thursday to defend her title in the $100,000 The Very One.

Wild About Star, a 6-year-old daughter of multiple stakes winner Star Guitar, sprung a mild upset in last year's The Very One by 1 3/4 lengths over Jo Jo Air, who is the only other returnee from 2019. Five of her six career wins have come on the grass but she has not raced on the surface since last summer after her two starts this year were rained off.

Fifth in the Incredible Revenge Stakes at Monmouth Park following her Pimlico score, Wild About Star didn't return until running fifth to The Very One foe Mr. Al's Gal in an optional claiming allowance July 23 at Delaware Park. Most recently she tired to third after chasing the pace in a similar spot Aug. 20, also at Delaware.

“After the last race she ran at Monmouth, the owner and I decided to give her time off and see how she's doing and we decided to bring her back,” trainer Jose Camejo said. “She ran two races on the dirt because they came off the turf and now she's doing really good. We'll see if we can get lucky a second time and win again.

“I feel good about her. She's much better than she was before,” he added. “She's in the right shape right now, she looks really good and she's doing very well. I think we've got a good chance.”

Alex Cintron rides Wild About Star, the 124-pound co-topweight, from Post 5 in a field of 16 that includes main-track-only entrant Never Enough Time and also-eligible Philipine Cobra.

Among the challengers to Wild About Star will be Lael Stables' Chalon, a seven-time stakes winner less than $9,000 away from $1 million in career earnings who is entered to make her turf debut. The 6-year-old Dialed In mare has raced once previously at Pimlico taking last year's Skipat, contested at six furlongs on the main track.

Chalon opened her season finishing off the board in the 6 1/2-furlong Vagrancy (G3) June 27 at Belmont Park, her first start in nearly nine months. She followed up by registering back-to-back wins in the Dashing Beauty at Monmouth and Incredible Revenge Aug. 16 at Monmouth, a race that was originally carded for the turf.

In her last start, Chalon stumbled out of the gate and chased the pace before getting up to be second behind Never Enough Time in the six-furlong Alma North Sept. 7 at Laurel Park. She drew Post 14 with Trevor McCarthy up.

Chalon's stablemate, Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's Ode to Joy, is also entered with Sheldon Russell named to ride from Post 7. Ode to Joy, a 5-year-old daughter of Grade 1 turf winner Artie Schiller, was fourth to Chalon in the Incredible Revenge and has never won a stakes, also finishing fourth in the Feb. 22 Lightning City.

Wesley Ward-trained Jo Jo Air has won twice in five starts since coming up short in last year's The Very One, an optional claiming allowance last December at Gulfstream Park and the five-furlong Daisycutter Handicap July 24 on the Del Mar turf, her most recent race. Paco Lopez has the call from Post 8.

LC Racing's Captain Sam has respectively finished fourth and fifth in two stakes attempts, the 2018 and 2019 Power by Far at Parx, both times rained off the turf to the main track. The 5-year-old mare comes in off a 2 ¼-length optional claiming allowance win as the favorite sprinting five furlongs at Penn National, her first win in four tries on grass.

“She goes either way. If it rains off she loves the slop, too,” trainer Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr. said. “The main thing with her is the distance. She can't really get much past five-eighths so you have to run in those races when you have the opportunity. She's had two or three breezes that have been real nice so we'll go ahead and take a shot.”

Sophomores Foolish Humor, Giggling and Hear My Prayer and older horses A Great Time, Dendrobia, Tracy Ann's Legacy, Peaceful and Not In Jeopardy round out the field.

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