Tag: Pat O’Brien

Anarchist Punches Breeders’ Cup Ticket Via Del Mar’s Pat O’Brien

Seven times second in his 11 previous trips to the post and still eligible for a second-level allowance, Anarchist (Distorted Humor) earned an all-expenses-paid berth into the field for this year's GI BigAss Fans Dirt Mile with a hard-fought success in Saturday's GII Pat O'Brien S. at Del Mar.

Beaten for speed from his high draw, Anarchist settled about four paths off the rail and in centerfield as Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride) and Vivir Con Alegria (Chi) (Flyer {Chi}) matched motors through a sizzling opening quarter that was posted in :21.49. The well-backed Spirit of Makena (Ghostzapper) came after Brickyard Ride with a two-wide run around the turn, but Anarchist had the move covered and moved simultaneously three deep before poking his head in front nearing the stretch. Shoved over onto his correct lead by Ramon Vazquez at the eighth pole, Anarchist opened a clear advantage and held sway late as Bye Bye Bobby (Quality Road) flashed home from a distant last. C Z Rocket (City Zip) was third.

Anarchist joined the Doug O'Neill barn this past winter, having broken his maiden at Ellis Park for Chris Davis last summer, and was second in his first four outings for the barn, including the GIII San Simeon S. sprinting down the hill Mar. 5 and the Apr. 22 GIII Kona Gold S. on the main track. A 3/4-length winner of the GIII Jacques Cartier S. at Woodbine May 13, the bay was runner-up to champion Elite Power (Curlin) in the GII True North S. at Belmont June 10 and again in this track's GI Bing Crosby S. July 29.

Pedigree Notes:

Anarchist is one of five winners from six to race out of a multiple stakes-placed daughter of Win With a Wink, a stakes winner in New York-bred restricted company. Vicarious Won was sold for $20,000 in foal to Runhappy at the 2020 Keeneland November Sale, and the resulting produce–a filly named Won Happy Mama–broke her maiden at first asking by 5 1/2 lengths in an Iowa-bred maiden at Prairie Meadows July 31. Vicarious Won has a yearling filly by Kantharos and was bred to Blame this season.

Saturday, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club
PAT O'BRIEN S.-GII, $252,500, Del Mar, 8-26, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:23.21, ft.
1–ANARCHIST, 121, c, 4, by Distorted Humor
                1st Dam: Vicarious Won (MSP, $138,339), by Elusive Quality
                2nd Dam: Win With a Wink, by Dixieland Band
                3rd Dam: With a Wink, by Clever Trick
($75,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Ilium Stables, LLC; B-Centaur Farms, Inc. (KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill; J-Ramon A. Vazquez. $150,000. Lifetime Record: GISP-US, GSW-Can, 12-3-7-0, $460,508. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Bye Bye Bobby, 121, c, 4, Quality Road–Revel in the Win, by Red Bullet. ($870,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-B4 Farms, LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd W. Fincher. $50,000.
3–C Z Rocket, 121, g, 9, City Zip–Successful Sarah, by Successful Appeal. ($800,000 2yo '16 OBSOPN). O-Altamira Racing Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Tom Kagele; B-Farm III Enterprises (FL); T-Peter Miller. $30,000.
Margins: 3/4, 1, 1 3/4. Odds: 2.50, 33.40, 15.60.
Also Ran: Sir Atticus, Spirit of Makena, Hoist the Gold, Moose Mitchell, Brickyard Ride, Vivir Con Alegria (Chi), Go Joe Won. Scratched: Visitant.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Beat Ray At Del Mar: Hanging Out At Quigley’s Corner

The Beat Ray Everyday Beach Boss contest rolls into closing weekend at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., with analyst and television host Tom Quigley joining Michelle Yu and me to handicap Saturday's Grade 2 Del Mar Derby presented by Caesars SportsBook.

Quigley – whose paddock observations and handicapping tips from Southern California racetracks are a mainstay on Twitter at @Quigleys_Corner – points out that the Del Mar Derby was first run in 1945 as the Quigley Memorial. No, Tom Quigley is not THAT old; the race was named in honor of William A. Quigley, a former college football player and coach who lived in La Jolla, just a few miles south of Del Mar.

Inspired by Santa Anita's opening in December 1934, Quigley brought the idea of a racetrack at Del Mar to singer Bing Crosby in 1936 and was a founder of the seaside oval with Crosby and entertainer Pat O'Brien.

So there's the history of the Del Mar Derby's original name.

More importantly, who will win this year's renewal? Watch the video below to see who Tom, Michelle and I like in the 2021 Derby.

Beat Ray Everyday is a season-long free to play handicapping contest offering as first prize two VIP tickets to the 2021 Breeders' Cup world championships, to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 5-6. Contestants have had the opportunity to wager a mythical $100 in win, place and show bets on a selected race each day of the meet, and the winner will be the person who has the highest bankroll after Monday's closing day. Here are the current standings.

Beach Boss will be back for the Bing Crosby meeting that opens on Nov. 3 and runs through Nov. 28. Details will be available here.

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Trainers’ Concerns ‘Surface’ On Eve Of ‘Win And You’re In’ Pat O’Brien

It's a common, everyday factor in Thoroughbred racing magnified by the size of the purse and the importance of the event.

How will the track be playing? Will it favor speed horses or come-from-behind types? Because one trainer's “too fast” is another's “not fast enough.”

Case in point, Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes, the seven-furlong follow-up to the Grade 1, $300,000 six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes four weeks ago in Del Mar's handicap division sprint graded event series.

The Crosby victory having assured a spot in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint here on Nov. 6, winner Dr. Schivel is not entered in the O'Brien. But three of the next four Crosby finishers are set to run, fully aware that the O'Brien is a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fan Dirt Mile on the same day.

And for two of them – defending race champion C Z Rocket trained by Peter Miller and California-bred speedster Brickyard Ride trained by Craig Lewis – how the track plays on Saturday is of foremost concern.

In the immediate aftermath of the Crosby, in which C Z Rocket closed from fifth to third in the stretch, nearly making up a four-length deficit to lose only by a neck, Miller said he'd pass on the O'Brien. Which, the trainer said this morning, could still happen.

“We're still not 100 percent sure,” said Miller, who has consistently expressed concerns over what he considers a speed-favoring track throughout the meeting. “We're going to keep an eye on the track and see how it's playing. The post (No. 9) is good. I just don't want to run him if it's not a fair track. I'm just trying to be fair to the horse, and the public, that's all.”

Claimed for $40,000 in April of 2020, the O'Brien win, followed by a victory in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Sprint were keys to a nine-race campaign in 2020 that produced $651,901 in earnings. The seven-year-old gelded son of City Zip has added $536,000 from four 2021 starts for career earnings of more than $1.4 million.

Brickyard Ride overcame a bobble at the break to go straight to the lead in the Bing Crosby through early fractions of :21.80 and :44.60 on a track that the Daily Racing Form analysts rated as favoring closers, before being passed by four horses in the stretch.

The 4-year-old son of Clubhouse Ride, an Alfred Pais homebred, has career earnings of $470,477. Of that, $300,200 has been accumulated via three wins in six starts this year, highlighted by a victory in the Grade II San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita in March.

“I'd like to see a little better start and a little more glib track (than the Crosby), but you can't control that,” Lewis said of his O'Brien hopes. “Certain horses like it certain ways and he (Brickyard Ride) wants to go the speed route. We'd like a quick track, that's the bottom line.

“Other than that, he's good to go. We just need things to go our way, which is asking for a lot. There's a lot of nice horses in a very competitive race.”

The field for the Pat O'Brien from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Ginobili (Drayden Van Dyke, 6-1); Howbeit (Kyle Frey, 6-1); Surfing Star (apprentice Jessica Pyfer, 30-1); Mo Mosa (Ramon Vasquez, 10-1); Eight Rings (Abel Cedillo, 6-1); Classier (Mario Gutierrez, 12-1); Brickyard Ride (Juan Hernandez, 8-1); Flagstaff (Joe Bravo, 3-1); C Z Rocket (Peter Miller, 5-2), and California Street (Wayne Barnett, 30-1).

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C Z Rocket Faces Off With Flagstaff In ‘Win And You’re In’ O’Brien

A field of 10 stout sprinters will travel seven furlongs Saturday at Del Mar in the 36th edition of the Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes.

The extended dash offers extra incentive to its participants: it is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge race providing an all-fees-paid admission to the $1-million Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile on Saturday, Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Foremost among the runners is the defending O'Brien champ, Madaket Stables, Barber or Kagele, et al's C Z Rocket, a veteran gelding who found a new lease on life when he was haltered for $40,000 16 months ago and took up residence in the barn of trainer Peter Miller. All the 7-year-old has done since is win seven races, four of them stakes, and place in three other added-money tests to bank more than $1.1-million for his new connections.

His regular rider of late, Florent Geroux, will come into town to accept the mount Saturday and they'll break from Post 9 in the seven-furlong chute. C Z Rocket has been made the 5/2 morning line favorite by Del Mar's morning line maker Jon White.

Here's the full field for the O'Brien from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

  1. Slam Dunk Racing, McClanahan or Nentwig, et al's Ginobili (Drayden Van Dyke, 6-1)
  2. Little Red Feather Racing, It Pays to Dream Racing Stable or Kawahara, et al's Howbeit (Kyle Frey, 6-1)
  3. Barnhart, Foxx or Naify, et al's Surfing Star (apprentice Jessica Pyfer, 30-1)
  4. Martin or Martin's Mo Mosa (Ramon Vazquez, 10-1)
  5. Coolmore Stud, Madaket Stables or Starlight Racing, et al's Eight Rings (Abel Cedillo, 6-1)
  6. SF Racing, Starlight Racing or Madaket Stables, et al's Classier (Mario Gutierrez, 12-1)
  7. Alfred Pais' Brickyard Ride (Juan Hernandez, 8-1)
  8. Lanes' End Racing or Hronis Racing's Flagstaff (Joe Bravo, 3-1)
  9. C Z Rocket
  10. Gilbert and Sones' California Street (Wayne Barnett, 30-1)

Chief threat to C Z Rocket appears to be another classy veteran, the 7-year-old Flagstaff, a winner of seven races and $1,011,585. The gelding by sprint champion Speightstown has made five starts this year, but this will be his first in his California home base. He's run at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in Kentucky and Belmont Park in New York, winning a pair of Graded stakes and placing in another. Flagstaff ran second in the O'Brien last year, a half length behind C Z Rocket.

Trainer Bob Baffert has a pair in the dash in Eight Rings and Classier. The former, a 4-year-old colt by Empire Maker, was second beaten only a neck in the Grade I Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs earlier in the meet. Classier, a 3-year-old colt also by Empire Maker, shortens up off a score in the Los Alamitos Derby at nine furlongs on July 4.

Ginobili comes into the heat of a romping nine and three-quarter lengths triumph in an allowance race at Del Mar on July 17. He was running a mile that day and will be looking for his first stakes victory Saturday.

Howbeit is another coming into the race off a smart allowance score – two of them, in fact. The Secret Circle 4-year-old has six wins and $230,956 in earnings.

Brickyard Ride, one of only two California-breds in the field, sports a record of eight wins with earnings of $470,477. Much of his money making has been accomplished against state-breds, but he has won against open company, including a tally in the Grade II San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita this past March.

Post time for the Saturday 11-race card is at 2 p.m.

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