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Casa Creed On Track For Al Quoz Sprint

LRE Racing LLC and JEH Racing Stable's four-time Grade I winner Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) has recovered from the fever that forced him to miss last weekend's G2 1351 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia and is now being prepared for an appearance in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup undercard Mar. 30, co-owner Lee Einsidler confirmed Thursday.

“You know, it's funny, if the Saudi race had been in Florida, we wouldn't have had to miss it,” Einsidler said of last weekend's contest, in which Casa Creed was beaten a neck in 2022 and a head in 2023. “He had a fever for one day and we were on the cusp, but we didn't want to put that stress on him of shipping halfway around the world if he wasn't 100%. We didn't want him to get off the plane in Saudi Arabia not feeling good. He's been training great, he'd been training up to the [Saudi] race great, but we had the fortunate alternative of going to Dubai, so we said let's just wait.”

Casa Creed was a close fifth behind A Case of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) in the 2022 Al Quoz.

Casa Creed, co-owned by New York radio personality Mike Francesa, returned to the worktab at Payson Park Feb. 23, breezing an easy half-mile in :50.20 for trainer Bill Mott.

“The plan was never to go to Saudi Arabia and then to Dubai,” Einsidler continued. “The plan was to go to Saudi and come home like we did last year, so we'll just go straight to Dubai instead. We're very excited. I've never been, so there's a good chance that my son Jeffrey, who is totally into it with me, is going to come with me.”

A two-time winner of the GI Jaipur S. over six furlongs and the two-time defending champion of the GI Fourstardave H. going a mile, the 8-year-old Casa Creed holds a special place in Einsidler's heart.

“He's meant so much to us in our lives. You think about a horse like Casa Creed every day,” he said. “He's just been so special to us. From the time we got him, he told us all that he loves to be a racehorse and for me, racing is the ultimate escape from the daily trials and tribulations of life. He's been a great separation from things you deal with in your life.”

Casa Creed has provided Einsidler, the CEO of the Casamigos brand of tequila, a measure of peace and joy after tragically losing his son Aaron in August 2020.

“Casa Creed brought us and continues to bring us so much joy and so much pleasure and excitement,” he said. “We're just thrilled to have him as part of our life. To be running at eight years of age and competing at the highest level, it's a dream come true for a horse owner, it's so rare. We've been truly blessed.”

Tentative plans call for Casa Creed to pass this year's Jaipur, as it has been shortened to 5 1/2 furlongs during the Belmont at Saratoga meeting and he is a candidate for the $350,000 GIII Poker S. on the Belmont S. undercard the same afternoon, June 8. The long-term goal would be the Fourstardave, where Casa Creed was third in 2020 and 2021 before winning the prestigious race the last two seasons.

“That would be just ridiculous,” Einsidler exclaimed. “Just to be in the race five times is incredible, to win it for a third time would be an amazing accomplishment.”

Luis Saez has ridden Casa Creed in his last 11 starts and has a return call for the 1200-meter Al Quoz.

The post Casa Creed On Track For Al Quoz Sprint appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Champion Elite Power to Return on Saudi Cup Undercard

Recently crowned champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) will launch his 5-year-old campaign in the $1.5-million G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on the Saudi Cup undercard Feb. 25.

The Juddmonte colorbearer capped a five-race winning streak with a powerful, come-from-behind victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland last out Nov. 5. Elite Power, a $900,000 Keeneland September graduate, has posted five workouts for Hall of Famer Bill Mott since the beginning of the new year at Payson Park, including a five-furlong breeze in 1:02.80 (4/8) Feb. 2.

“He had his program tailored out pretty much immediately after the Breeders' Cup that we would go to the Saudi Cup Sprint,” Juddmonte USA General Manager Garrett O'Rourke said.

“Bill [Mott] gave him a little break and has him back in full work now and everything is–touch wood–on target. The horse is doing well and looking good. He seems in great form.”

Looking further ahead this season, O'Rourke added, “I want to clarify it with [Juddmonte] first, but, at the moment, the plan is for him to come back [to the U.S. afterwards] and look to an end-of-the-season campaign. Give him a little break, target some of the summer races and work on up to Breeders' Cup.”

Juddmonte, founded by the late Saudi Prince Khalid bin Abdullah in 1980, was represented in all three prior runnings of the card's main event with MGSW & MGISP Tacitus (Tapit) (fifth, 2020; and seventh, 2021) and promoted GI Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun (Into Mischief) (ninth, 2022).

“It's building into a magnificent event and slotting right into the international racing schedule,” O'Rourke said. “By the time you finish with the Breeders' Cup, you're thinking about the Saudi Cup. It's nice to be able to share our best horses and be able to take on the elite of the world at international events like this. The Saudi Cup is firmly established now as that type of an event.”

Juddmonte homebred Laurel River (Into Mischief), meanwhile, scratched by regulatory veterinarians the day before last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, has been given the green light to resume training with Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. The 5-year-old was last seen recording a career high in Del Mar's GII Pat O'Brien S. last summer.

“We gave him 60 days of doing nothing and another 60 days of just bringing him back slowly and he's here on the farm now and galloping every day,” O'Rourke said. “We checked him out then, we've checked him out again now and everything checks out perfectly fine. He's going back to Bob Baffert in the next week. We always do the right thing by our horses and I'm very confident that the horse is absolutely 100 percent. He's a very capable and talented horse.”

He concluded, “The value of having scrutiny of horses going into big events has been a huge boost to the public's confidence that we're doing all the right things. We will always stand by and respect the decisions that the professionals make.”

The post Champion Elite Power to Return on Saudi Cup Undercard appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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APBs: McGaughey Troops Gearing Up in South Florida

A pair of highly regarded sophomores of 2021 are on the comeback trail for Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey.

Courtlandt Farm's homebred Greatest Honour (Tapit–Tiffany's Honour, by  Street Cry {Ire}) was a serious early contender for the GI Kentucky Derby following flashy wins in Gulfstream's GIII Holy Bull S. and GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. last winter. After finishing a flat third as the 4-5 favorite in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 27, however, McGaughey decided to hit the reset button on the bay.

“I wasn't really pleased with the way he was going after the Florida Derby,” McGaughey said. “So, we gave him some time. Then we gave him a little bit more time. He's been back training now. He was training at Courtlandt Farm then he came to Payson Park and we stepped it up a little bit when he got there. So, this is where we are.

McGaughey added, “He was always a tall horse and probably didn't carry as much weight as a 3-year-old that I'd like for him to. I think that's all come together now. I like everything he's been doing.”

Greatest Honour, produced by an unplaced daughter of bluehen mare Better Than Honour (Deputy Minister) and hailing from the same female family as Classic winners Rags to Riches and Jazil, has posted three workouts since late January at Payson Park, most recently completing a four-furlong breeze in :50.40 (21/24) Feb. 14.

“So far, he's doing really well,” McGaughey said. “He's been breezing weekly at Payson Park and hopefully he's probably a month or so away. I haven't gotten any timetable [for specific races] for him. I'm just sort of waiting to let him to tell me. But, so far, so good.”

Last year's GIII Dwyer S. 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin–America, by A.P. Indy), meanwhile, has begun gearing up at McGaughey's Gulfstream base. A disappointing well-beaten third while suffering his first career defeat making his two-turn debut in Saratoga's 1 1/8-mile Curlin S. July 30, he was subsequently freshened after bypassing a potential start in the GI Pennsylvania Derby in September. He's breezed six times so far this year, including a five-furlong move in 1:01.46 (6/14) in Hallandale Feb. 14.

“There really wasn't anything the matter with him, I just wasn't all together pleased of where I stood with him, so I thought, 'Well, let's just give him some time,'” McGaughey said. “Time helped him a lot. He was at Barry Eisaman's and he did a great job with him. He got out here and had a really good bottom in him and he's been breezing ever since. Hopefully, we can find a spot for him down the road somewhere along the lines.”

The $1.5-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling is campaigned in partnership by West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, breeder Bobby Flay and Woodford Racing. First Captain, the first foal out of Flay's GSW & MGISP America, is bred on the same Curlin over A.P. Indy cross responsible for recently crowned champion Malathaat as well as GISWs Global Campaign and Idol.

“I just want them to have a good summer campaign, so I'm not in any hurry,” McGaughey concluded of the duo.

 

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Shug Watch: Greatest Honour Returns To Worktab; Half Brother To Code Of Honor Graduates In Style

Courtlandt Farms' Greatest Honour returned to the worktab at Payson Park in Indiantown, FL Saturday morning in preparation for a scheduled start in the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill n' Dale Farm at Xalapa March 27 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, the 3-year-old son of Tapit was timed in 50.20 seconds, the third fastest of 21 workouts recorded at the four-furlong distance, while breezing for the first time since capturing the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

“He worked nice – his typical work,” McGaughey said. “I think he bounced out of the Fountain of Youth good.”

Greatest Honour is 3-for-3 during Gulfstream's Championship Meet, closing from well off the pace to break his maiden Dec. 26, capture the Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G2) and win the Fountain of Youth, all at 1 1/16 miles.

McGaughey is hoping that Greatest Honour will follow the example of Orb, whom the Hall of Fame trainer saddled for victories in the 2017 Fountain of Youth, the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby.

Saturday afternoon at Gulfstream, McGaughey saddled William S Farish's Bears Watching for an impressive 7 ¾ -length victory in Race 7, a seven-furlong maiden special weight race for 3-year-olds. The son of Karakontie, who finished a close third over a sloppy track in his six-furlong career debut Feb. 8 at Gulfstream, is a half-brother to Code of Honor, the $2.7 million earner who captured the 2019 Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream before going on to capture the Travers (G1) at Saratoga and the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park.

Bears Watching graduates from the maiden ranks at Gulfstream Park

Bears Watching, the 3-5 favorite in a field of 11, was well placed along the rail before making a four-wide sweep to the lead leaving the turn into the homestretch and drawing away under Jose Ortiz. The homebred colt ran seven furlongs in 1:22.95.

“He's my kind of horse, looks-wise and stuff,” McGaughey said. “All is good with him.”

Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger sent out his first starter since October 2019 for the well-stocked maiden race. Jim Tafel LLC's Sensible Jim finished sixth after acting fractious in the gate and getting away a step slowly.

The post Shug Watch: Greatest Honour Returns To Worktab; Half Brother To Code Of Honor Graduates In Style appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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