Pat O'Brien Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ginobli Win In Pat O’Brien A Slam Dank For Ownership Group

The colt by Munnings was a $35,000 purchase at the Keeneland September sale in 2018, a find that Richard Baltas first offered for purchase to the Slam Dunk Racing partnership headed by former jockey agent and basketball aficionado Nick Cosato.

“I loved him because even as an early 2-year-old he looked like a 3-year-old,” Cosato said this morning of the horse that produced a 1 ¾-length victory in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. “So we were in right away, and some other partners eventually came in as well.”

Cosato did the naming honors, coming up with the surname of Manu Ginobili, the native of Argentina who was a four-time NBA champion while starring with the San Antonio Spurs.

Unlike his namesake, Ginobili the horse wasn't a consistent winner. He came into the Pat O'Brien with two wins from 12 lifetime starts, a maiden score here in August of 2019 and a mile allowance tally on July 17, the second day of the current meeting, by an impressive 9 ¾ lengths.

“The Munnings line is kind of curious,” Cosato said. “He throws a variety (of runners); they tend to be good on the turf but that's not true for all of them.”

So finding the right surface and distance took some doing. But input from jockey Joe Bravo following a fourth-place finish in a 6 ½-furlong race at Santa Anita on June 19 led to a 9¾-length victory in a mile event here on July 17 that generated thoughts of bigger things.

“Did the mile wake him up? Possibly, but I think adding blinkers and a couple other things contributed too,” Cosato said.

Following the July 17 race, the partnership was ready for a step up to stakes, but not unified on just which one and where. The TVG Pacific Classic, the Charles Town Classic, and the Pat O'Brien were discussed before settling on the latter, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on November 6.

With Bravo committed to riding Flagstaff for trainer John Sadler, jockey Drayden Van Dyke got the call on Ginobili and executed a best-case scenario, positioning outside front-runner Brickyard Ride for the first half-mile, opening up 3 ½-lengths at the top of the stretch and holding on nicely from there.

Craig Lewis, trainer of Brickyard Ride, was disappointed that the stall gate, which should have been shut, was left open and his horse bolted through before the start. Brickyard Ride was reined in and deemed still worthy to race, but the premature exertion probably contributed to his tiring after a half-mile and finishing last.

“These are things we don't have any control over and you wish wouldn't happen,” Lewis said.

Ginobili reportedly came out of the race in fine fettle as did runner-up and 2-1 favorite C Z Rocket and third-place Flagstaff.

“The horse ran great, I have no fault with the horse or the rider,” said Peter Miller, trainer of C Z Rocket. “Hats off to the winner.

“But I'd like to have seen what they could have done on a (different) racetrack. Hopefully, we get that for the Sprint Championship (Stakes) at Santa Anita and for the Breeders' Cup. More importantly for the Breeders' Cup.”

Sadler on Flagstaff: “We thought he ran a good race. He didn't win but he ran a good race. Props to the winner, who ran a great race. (Flagstaff) might run again at Santa Anita and then come back for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.”

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Ginobili Slam Dunks Pat O’Brien Foes, Earning Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Slot

Getting a perfect trip under Drayden Van Dyke just off pace-setting Brickyard Ride, Ginobili took command at the top of the stretch and cruised to a 1 3/4-length victory over 2-1 favorite C Z Rocket in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Flagstaff, second choice in the wagering, finished third, with Eight Rings fourth in the field of nine sprinters going seven furlongs on dirt.

Ginobili, a 4-year-old gelding by Munnings out of Find the Humor, by Sharp Humor, completed the distance on a fast track in 1:22.36. He paid $12.80 for the win, his first in a stakes race in his 13th career start.

The win gave Ginobili an all fees paid spot in the starting gate for the G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, as part of the Breeders' Cup Win and You're In Challenge Series. This year's Breeders' Cup world championships will be held Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.

Owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Jerry McClanahan, Michael Nentwig and trainer Ricard Baltas, Ginobili was a $35,000 purchase by Baltas at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was consigned by his breeder, Hinkle Farms.

Brickyard Ride delayed the start by running off as horses were loading, then once loaded grabbed the early advantage, setting fractions of :22.05 and :44.38 for the opening half mile. Ginobili was on Brickyard Ride's right flank, then put that one away on the far turn. Eight Rings pursued from third, with Flagstaff in fourth and C Z Rocket – the 2020 O'Brien winner – in seventh position with three-eighths of a mile to go.

Ginobili opened up a 3 1/2-length lead at the furlong pole, the six furlongs clocked in 1:09.36, and he was never seriously threatened down the lane.

The win was Ginobili's third from 13 career starts. His connections said they would point the gelding to the Dirt Mile.

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Beat Ray At Del Mar: For Joaquin Jaime, It All Began At The Fair

Joaquin Jaime is a living example of why small tracks matter.

The TVG host, analyst and reporter was fascinated by horse racing when his family first took him to the Big Fresno Fair on the Northern California fair circuit as a child. It wasn't long before Jaime latched onto an uncle who taught him to read Daily Racing Form past performances and explain how pari-mutuel wagering worked.

Attending Saint Mary's College of California brought him closer to San Francisco and the Bay Area tracks of Golden Gate Fields, Bay Meadows and Pleasanton, and his first job out of college was as a researcher for TVG. He's been with the racing network now for 15 years.

Jaime is this week's guest handicapper in the Beat Ray Everyday Beach Boss competition, focusing on Saturday's Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar – a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series Win and You're In event for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. While we both have respect for the two Pat O'Brien favorites, C Z Rocket and Flagstaff, each of us went in a different direction.

Beat Ray Everyday is a season-long online contest that is free to enter and calls for players to wager a mythical $100 each racing day at the seaside track. The player with the biggest bankroll at the end of the competition wins two VIP tickets to this year's Breeders' Cup world championships, to be held at Del Mar Nov. 5-6. It's not too late to enter. More details and registration can be found 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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