Olympiad | Horse Racing Free Tips

Olympiad Tries to Keep Rolling in New Orleans Classic

Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods' Olympiad (Speightstown) announced himself as a player in the handicap division with a fast-finishing score in the GIII Mineshaft S. last out at Fair Grounds, and will look for an encore as the favorite in Saturday's GII New Orleans Classic S. on the GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby undercard.

Graduating at second asking in September of 2020 at Saratoga while besting future stakes winners Caddo River (Hard Spun) and Greatest Honour (Tapit), the $700,000 Keeneland September buy was laid up for 364 days and returned with a runner-up effort at the Spa Sept. 4 that earned him a 105 Beyer. Clearing his one-other-than allowance condition next out at Keeneland Oct. 14, he was a sneaky-good fourth with a wide trip in the GI Cigar Mile H. Dec. 4 at Aqueduct before running away with a Gulfstream allowance/optional claimer by 7 1/4 lengths Jan. 15. Returning to stake company in the Mineshaft, he kicked away to a 2 1/4-length score, clicking off his final five-sixteenths in a scorching :29.53 and setting a new track record for 1 1/16 miles.

Stretching out to nine furlongs for the first time, Olympiad's chief competition appears to come from Godolphin homebred Proxy (Tapit) and Woodford Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm and Rock Ridge Racing's Promise Keeper (Constitution). Proxy appeared to be a GI Kentucky Derby contender last winter when running second in the local GIII Lecomte S. and GII Risen Star S., but was shelved following somewhat disappointing fourth-place runs in the Louisiana Derby and GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. Making his first start in over 10 months in a local allowance/optional claimer Feb. 25 and rallied from off the pace to triumph going away by 3 3/4 lengths.

“I couldn't be happier,” trainer Mike Stidham said. “He's had three really good works since his last race. He ran against top quality horses last year as a 3-year-old. It's just a matter of seeing if he's good enough to compete with the top horses this year, but he's given me every indication that he can. Given the way he ran in his last race, nine furlongs should absolutely be better than 1 1/16 miles for him. He was very relaxed and came home finishing nicely. I'm very much looking forward to the added distance with him.”

Promise Keeper recorded three open-lengths wins in his first five starts last year, culminating with a 2 1/4-length success in the GIII Peter Pan S. at Belmont before finishing a close fourth in the GIII Ohio Derby in his 3-year-old finale June 26 at Thistledown. Returning off the bench in the GIII Razorback H. Feb. 12 at Oaklawn, the chestnut overcame a troubled start and a wide trip, closing well to be fourth.

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Olympiad Gets the Gold in Mineshaft

Bill Mott's patient handling paid off with the well-regarded Olympiad, who earned his graded stakes badge in the Mineshaft Saturday. Stalking Silver Prospector from second through early splits of :24.18 and :48.11, the even-money favorite turned up the heat on the backstretch run and jumped clear in the lane to win with ease. Silver Prospector held second and Miles D completed the trifecta.

Graduating at Saratoga in September of 2020, Olympiad checked in second behind GI Runhappy Malibu S. runner-up Baby Yoda (Prospective) in a Saratoga allowance exactly 364 days later. The $700,00 KEESEP buy captured a Keeneland allowance in October and was fourth next out to 'TDN Rising Star' Americanrevolution (Constitution) in Aqueduct's GI Cigar Mile H. Dec. 4. Olympiad ran away to a 7 1/4-length score in a two-turn optional claimer at Gulfstream Jan. 15, earning a gaudy 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Pedigree Notes:
Olympiad is the 63rd graded winner and 128th black-type scorer for the timeless Speightstown. The winner is also the 18th graded winner and 52nd black-type victor out of a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro. The Speightstown/Medaglia d'Oro cross is also responsible for Grade I winners Rock Fall and Competitionofideas. Olympiad is the second foal out of GSP Tokyo Time, who is also the dam of the once-raced 3-year-old filly Friendship Road (Quality Road); a juvenile filly by War Front, who brought $450,000 from Larkin Armstrong at KEESEP; and a yearling colt by American Pharoah. The half-sister to MGSW & MGISP Hungry Island (More Than Ready) and MGSW Soaring Empire (Empire Maker) is currently expecting a foal by Quality Road. This is also the family of GISWs Preservationist (Arch), Harmonize (Scat Daddy) and Keen Ice (Curlin).

Saturday, Fair Grounds
MINESHAFT S.-GIII, $247,500, Fair Grounds, 2-19, 4yo/up,
1 1/16m, 1:42.01, ft.
1–OLYMPIAD, 118, c, 4, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Tokyo Time (GSP, $249,177), by Medaglia d'Oro
2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($700,000
Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, LLC
and LNJ Foxwoods; B-Emory A. Hamilton (KY); T-William I.
Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $150,000. Lifetime Record: 7-4-1-1,
$348,440.
2–Silver Prospector, 118, h, 5, Declaration of War–Tap Softly,
by Tapit. ($50,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP; $190,000 2yo '19 OBSAPR).
O-Ed and Susie Orr; B-Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton & Silver
Fern Farm, LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $50,000.
3–Miles D, 122, c, 4, Curlin–Sound the Trumpets, by Bernardini.
($470,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Peter M. Brant and Robert V.
LaPenta; B-River Bend Farm (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $25,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1, NK. Odds: 1.00, 9.70, 3.30.
Also Ran: O Besos, Happy American, Untreated, Sprawl, Midcourt. Scratched: Big Dreaming, Fort Peck, Title Ready.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Deep Bunch Set for Mineshaft

Even with local heavyweights Mandaloun (Into Mischief) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) awaiting the $20-million Saudi Cup, there will still be plenty of talent on display in a loaded renewal of Saturday's GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds.

Miles D (Curlin), third at 18-1 in the GI Runhappy Travers S. last summer, closed out his sophomore campaign with a pair of wins, led by a promising decision in Aqueduct's 1 1/8-mile Discovery S. last time Nov. 27. The runner-up that day Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) resurfaced with a razor sharp win in the GIII Fred W. Hooper S. Jan. 29. Miles D completed his preparations for the Mineshaft with a four-furlong move in :48 3/5 (2/41) at Payson Park Feb. 12.

“This horse has done well,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He ran late in the year over at Aqueduct and put up a very nice win against a very talented horse [Speaker's Corner]. He's wintered well and now it's time to get his 4-year old season started. The race came up deeper than I thought it would. He's going to really have to fire off the layoff to beat these horses.”

Olympiad (Speightstown) looks primed for a career best following an eye-catching 7 1/4-length optional claiming victory for Hall of Famer Bill Mott in his two-turn debut at Gulfstream Jan. 15. The 3-1 Mineshaft morning-line favorite was previously a troubled fourth while making his stakes debut in a salty GI Cigar Mile H. Dec. 4.

Sidelined following a well-beaten eighth in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. Apr. 3, Untreated (Nyquist) has been perfect since returning to action, pairing up strong wins going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Nov. 19 and Dec. 31, respectively.

Last term's GI Kentucky Derby fifth-place finisher and GIII Matt Winn S. runner-up O Besos (Orb) brings a three-for-five record at Fair Grounds to the table, including a narrow win off the bench in an optional claimer Jan. 2.

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Equibase Analysis: Olympiad Should Get The Gold In Cigar Mile

The Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap is always a race to look forward to as we enter December, and the 2021 edition is no different. In terms of achievements, the field of eight is led by multiple graded stakes winner Code of Honor, with $2.9 million in career earnings. However, Code of Honor has run just four times this year and his only win came in the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes in August. Independence Hall enters the race off a win in the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes at the end of October, but similar to Code of Honor has just that one win to his credit in 2021 (from six races). Ginobili may be bringing the best recent credentials into this year's Cigar Mile as he just finished second in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile following a win in the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes.

Then there's a pair of horses untried at this level in Americanrevolution and Olympiad. Americanrevolution just won the Empire Classic Stakes by 11 ¾ lengths, while Olympiad won an allowance race in mid-October. Plainsman won the Grade 3 Ack Ack Stakes at the beginning of October before a disappointing third place effort as the favorite in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap at the end of the month. Following Sea won the Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes the second week of October then finished third of nine in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint and may find these opponents a bit easier. Pipeline rounds out the field as a colt who earned his first career win in September before a third place finish in the Perryville Stakes in October.

Top three win contenders:
Olympiad is the most lightly raced horse in the field, having run just four races to date. Two were in 2020 as a 2-year-old where he finished third before winning by nearly three lengths last summer at Saratoga. For whatever reason Olympiad was given a year off by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and similar to his career debut 13 months earlier the colt was a bit short of 100% as he finished second this September. His next race and his most recent on October 14 was telling, as Olympiad controlled the pace in front from start to finish but even more notably held off a dogged rival throughout the stretch to win.

Improving to a career best 106 Equibase Speed Figure from 103 one month earlier, Olympiad appears to be on a pattern to take a big step forward. Jockey Joel Rosario, who rode Following Sea to victory in the Vosburgh Stakes in October as well as rode Plainsman to win the Ack Ack Stakes that same month, has never ridden Olympiad but gets aboard for the first time. This is significant in my opinion because Rosario, whose 2021 earnings stand at $32.9 million, is on a path to break the all-time yearly record for a jockey which stands at $34.1 million. As such, every mount through the end of the year takes on added significance and so Rosario's choice of riding Olympiad in a race where the winner's share of the purse is $450,000 is yet another reason I think this colt can post the upset and win the Cigar Mile Handicap.

Ginobili enters the Cigar Mile out of the toughest last race of any in the field where he was not disgraced when second of eight in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile behind Life Is Good. In that race, Life Is Good was sent to the front on fractions that would be impossible for most horses to maintain but won by almost six lengths. Ginobili raced in fifth and fourth in the early stages before showing a burst of speed to get to second, and was even lapped on the winner before Life is Good drew off in the stretch. That effort earned a 111 Equibase figure which was rock solid. Previous to that, Ginobili earned a 110 figure effort winning the Pat O'Brien Stakes in August and shows this horse has what it takes physically and mentally to win this race.

Following Sea is another coming out of a big race, the Breeders' Cup Sprint, where he finished third of nine. Although passed in the stretch by winner Aloha West, Following Sea had some traffic issues in the race as he was on the rail on the far turn and early in the stretch but lost his path. Jockey John Velazquez, who rides again in the Cigar Mile, had to angle the horse off the rail to find a path and although the momentum Following Sea had lost earlier could not be totally regained, he did surge late to get third and earn a 107 Equibase figure. One race earlier in the Vosburgh Stakes, Following Sea earned a career-best 117 figure which is one of the best in the field. One slight question is whether he will like this one-mile trip he is running for the first time as much as those two six furlongs sprints. Other than that, Following Sea appears to have what it takes to contend for top honors in the Cigar Mile.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Americanrevolution (117), Code of Honor (120), Independence Hall (109), Pipeline (104) and Plainsman (107).

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Olympiad
Ginobili
Following Sea

Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets– Grade 1
Race 10 at Aqueduct
Saturday, December 4 – Post Time 4:13 PM E.T.
One Mile
Three Years Olds and Upward
Purse: $750,000

Ellis Starr is national racing analyst for Equibase.

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