Parx | Horse Racing Free Tips

Haskell Rematch Highlights Saturday’s Graded Stakes Slate

After putting on a show on the Jersey Shore earlier this summer, the Gun Runner-sired GI TVG.com Haskell S. exacta of Cyberknife and 'TDN Rising Star' Taiba co-headline a loaded renewal of the GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Saturday.

Was it a tale of two trips or did the best horse just win that day at Monmouth Park? You be the judge.

While subsequent GI Runhappy Travers S. runner-up Cyberknife awaited racing room leaving the quarter pole, the hard-ridden Taiba began to wind up beneath Mike Smith with a four-wide blitz. Florent Geroux, meanwhile, found a seam aboard the GI Arkansas Derby winner along the rail as favored 'Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) began to back out of it at the furlong marker. Cyberknife ran to daylight from there and outbattled the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner by a game head in a race that didn't deserve a loser.

“He's a Grade I horse and it's a Grade I race,” trainer Brad Cox said of Cyberknife and Saturday's $1-million affair. “And look, I'm excited about matching up with Taiba. He's a very good horse, a Grade I winner in his own right. There are some other very good horses in the race. It looks like a really good group of horses.”

That “really good group of horses” also includes the rail-drawn GISW Zandon (Upstart), who should appreciate the turnback to nine furlongs following a third-place finish in the Travers; the Cox-trained GIII Ohio Derby winner and GII Jim Dandy S. third Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile); the top three finishers of the GIII West Virginia Derby–Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator), 'Rising Star' We the People (Constitution) and Simplification (Not This Time); and GI Curlin Florida Derby winner and Ohio Derby runner-up White Abarrio (Race Day), who finished a puzzling seventh last out in the Haskell.

Saturday in the Parx…

The loaded 13-race program at Parx also features four other graded events, led by the GI Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies.

In addition to seeking a record fourth Pennsylvania Derby victory with 5-2 morning-line favorite Taiba, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert will also ship in Cotillion second-choice Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) from his Santa Anita base. The runaway GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine has been training lights out since finishing second as the favorite in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. May 20.

“She is training really well,” Baffert said. “I could have run her in a softer spot. This will be a class check for her.”

After chasing home runaway division leader Nest (Curlin) in Saratoga's GI Coaching Club American Oaks and GI Alabama S., the classy Secret Oath (Arrogate) seeks her first win since capturing the GI Kentucky Oaks. She is the 2-1 morning-line favorite.

“She is only getting stronger,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. “She sure is filling out and getting better and holding a lot of weight. She is probably maturing into the filly that we wanted her to be.”

Todd Pletcher will be represented by a formidable trio in Alabama third Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft), streaking local Cathryn Sophia S. winner and 'Rising Star' Green Up (Upstart) and GIII Monmouth Oaks heroine and 'Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings).

The card also features wide-open renewals of the GII Gallant Bob S. and GIII Turf Monster S., while a field of nine marathoners will line up for the GIII Greenwood Cup.

The day's graded stakes action is rounded out by Saturday evening's GIII Dogwood S. at Churchill Downs, featuring the return of champion and 'Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), who was a vet scratch at the gate prior to Belmont's GI Acorn S. June 11; and Belmont at the Big A's GIII Athenia S.

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Ness Receives Six-Month Suspension in PA; Has Appealed

Jamie Ness, a prolific winner in the Mid-Atlantic states and the third-leading trainer in the country in wins, has been handed a six-month suspension by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after a horse he trained tested positive for Bufotenine.

Ness was also fined $5,000. The suspension is scheduled to begin Sept. 5 and runs through March 3, 2023.

Ness, who is being represented by attorney Andrew Mollica, has appealed the suspension.

“We are in the process of appealing,” Mollica said. “We will take this the whole way. He obviously vehemently denies any wrongdoing. The law and the facts are on our side.”

The positive test occurred in a Feb. 23 race at Parx and involves the horse Crabs N Beer (Blofeld). The 3-year-old gelding won the race, a starter-optional claimer by 2 1/2 lengths as the 3-5 favorite.

According to britannica.com, Bufotenine is a “weak hallucinogenic agent active by intravenous injection, isolated from several natural sources or prepared by chemical synthesis. Bufotenine is a constituent of toad poison, the poisonous, milky secretion of glands found in the skin on the back of the animal.” Bufotenine is often referred to as a toad venom and, in humans, is used as a hallucinogen with properties similar to mescaline and mushrooms.

Mollica provided the TDN with a document issued by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) that lists Bufotenine as a substance that has “no effect on the physiology of a racing animal except to improve nutrition or treat or prevent infections or parasite infestations…”

The document also notes that the substance is found in reed canary grass and may be found in the urine of horses eating this grass.

“We already know it's a contaminant, not because I say so, but because ARCI says so,” Mollica said, “ARCI went out of their way to carve it out and say it should not result in a positive. I thought this was pretty straight-forward. I am shocked we are here. How this got to this level is unfathomable to me. Our position is quite clear.”

Mollica also questioned why Pennsylvania regulators were relying on a blood test but did not conduct a urine test. He said that if the substance had shown up in a urine test, that would not have resulted in a positive.

Ness is enjoying another banner season. Through Friday, he had 198 wins on the year from 711 starters, for a winning rate of 28%. He has been particularly dominant at Parx, where he has run away from the pack in the race for leading trainer. Ness's 107 wins at Parx puts him 67 wins in front of runner-up Louis Linder, Jr. Ness also runs regularly at Laurel, where he six wins on the meet.

Ness, who been training since 1999, has 3,703 winners and a career winning percentage of 25%.

In 2012, his Tampa Bay Downs barn was searched. It appears that nothing illegal was found.

“It's something I'm not used to, but it comes with the territory of being on top, I guess,” he told the Paulick Report at the time. “The higher your win percentage is, the more detractors you get. But I sleep well at night, and not because I'm tired. I know everything gets done right and it doesn't bother me when I walk through the grandstand and hear people say, 'Oh, they're cheating,' but it bothers the people who work for me, and that's what I care about. I'm used to it, but some of my grooms get very defensive when somebody says, 'You guys are cheaters,' or something like that.”

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Pennsylvania Day at the Races Draws 142 Entries

A total of 142 entries were taken for Pennsylvania Day at the Races, the 13-race extravaganza for Pennsylvania-breds worth over $1 million, including seven $100,000 stakes, to be run Monday, Aug. 22 at Parx Racing.

This year's card of stakes offerings was expanded from five to seven with the addition of two restricted to Pennsylvania-bred and sired 2-year-olds, each of which attracted 12 entries. Going off as the ninth and 10th races, the first up will be the $100,000 Miss Blue Tye Dye for fillies, followed by the $100,000 Whistle Pig for open company.

Chub Wagon, the 2021 Pennsylvania-bred Horse of the Year, headlines the six-furlong $100,000 Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial, going off the seventh race at 3:47 p.m. The only loss of her 13-start career came in last year's Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial where she finished second.

The rest of the day's stakes are the $100,000 Banjo Picker Sprint S. at six furlongs for males three years old and up, the $100,000 Marshall Jenny H. at five furlongs on the turf, the $100,000 Mrs. Penny S. for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on grass and the $100,000 Storm Cat S. routing on the dirt. Two $70,000 allowance races and four $60,000 maiden special weights round out the card. To view a complete list of the stakes action, click here.

First post is 12:55 p.m.

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Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings: Aug. 1-7

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky.

Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where.

With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week.

CALIFORNIA

Track: Del Mar

Date: 08/07/2022

Licensee: Kent Desormeaux, jockey

Penalty: Sixty-day suspension

Violation: Disorderly conduct

Explainer: Having now appeared for a formal hearing held at Del Mar Race Track on July 29, 2022, LATS Ruling #55 issued at Santa Anita Park on March 4, 2022 is set aside. Jockey Kent Desormeaux is suspended for 60 days (August 8, 2022 thru October 6, 2022, inclusive) for violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1874 (Disorderly Conduct – aggressive behavior in RV park – [second offense]) at Del Mar Race Track on November 23, 2021 and violation of CHRB Rule #1485(d) (License Subject to Conditions and Agreement – failure to abide by written agreement with the Winners Foundation).

Furthermore, Kent Desormeaux shall sign a testing agreement with the California Horse Racing Board while licensed in California and is ordered to be evaluated by the Winners Foundation and shall abide by the recommendations of that organization. Failure to do so may result in a suspension of his license. During the term of this suspension all licenses and license privileges of Kent Desormeaux are suspended and pursuant to California Horse Racing Board Rule #1528 (Jurisdiction of Stewards to Suspend and Fine) Kent Desormeaux is denied access to all premises in this jurisdiction.

FLORIDA

The following were only recently posted on the Association of Racing Commissioners International's “Recent Rulings” website and are not timely.

Track: Gulfstream Park

Date: 06/21/2022

Licensee: Teresa Pompay

Penalty: $1000 fine