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Can Li’l Tootsie Continue Amoss And Politi’s Roll With Sophomore Fillies?

Should Tom Amoss win his 12th trainer's title at Fair Grounds, he'll have an arsenal of 3-year-old fillies to thank. The New Orleans native currently sits atop the standings with the help of a talented group of sophomore fillies, and the streaking Li'l Tootsie could cap a banner meet should she handle the class rise in the March 20 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2).

Joel Politi's Li'l Tootsie has been busy at the meet for Amoss. The daughter of Tapiture was second on debut in November before breaking her maiden in January. On February 12 she won her two-turn debut in an optional-claiming allowance and it was that effort that got Amoss thinking Oaks. Li'l Tootsie closed stoutly along the rail and won going away and that wasn't necessarily the way it figured to play out on paper after she had raced close up in her two sprints.

“It was a very impressive two-turn debut for a number of reasons,” Amoss said. “Anybody that was handicapping and watching the race, knowing what she is, seeing her break, fall back, and then getting into stride late in the race. I don't think that was expected by anyone. It was an unusual race in the sense that she was totally out of position of where I thought she would be, based on what she accomplished in her other races sprinting. Having said that, it was a very enjoyable outcome.”

Amoss and Politi teamed up and had some historic success with the since-retired Serengeti Empress, who won five graded stakes, including the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs in 2019 before ending her career when second in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland in November. Li'l Tootsie is far less accomplished at this point, and would be making her stakes debut in the Fair Grounds Oaks, but Amoss knows you have to take a shot to see where you fit, since options can become limited.

“This time of year, if you have a horse that has won two races, boy or girl, it's either stakes competition or sit in the barn,” Amoss said. “Allowance races don't go beyond that first condition. Joel and I have already spoken, and we think with that successful transition to two turns, we think the Fair Grounds Oaks is going to be our next start, provided she stays healthy.”

Mineola Farm II and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Save won her debut here on New Year's Day and made it 2-for-2 with an optional-claiming win February 16. The daughter of Violence got tested early and often in her second start and responded nicely to win going away by 1 ¼ lengths. Like Li'l Tootsie, Save is also likely in line for a rise in class for her next start.

“With Save, I think certainly we're looking at stakes competition next but whether we stretch out to two turns or stay at one-turn, that's still to be determined,” Amoss said. “Her race was certainly workmanlike but you have to look beyond that and what's going into these races and what these horses are trying to accomplish.”

Amoss already tested the best 3-year-old fillies on the grounds with a trio from his barn in the February 13 Rachel Alexandra (G2), though the results were a mixed bag. Politi's Littlestitious was best of the lot, running fourth, about seven lengths behind the top two – Clairiere and Travel Column – while Cosmic Racing's Zoom Up was seventh, and B.C.W.T.'s Off We Go was well-beaten and last of eight. As with all lightly race horses, Amoss knows there will be ups and downs, and a lot of adjustments, while trying to figure out where they all belong.

“Littlestitious finished the best of the three and she showed she's a good horse, but she's not where those other fillies are that ran in front of her at this stage, particularly the top two finishers,” Amoss said. “It's a growing process, a developmental process. A lot could change in the next few months from where they are right now. Each of those horses will stand on their own merits and what we do with each of them will be a decision between the owners and myself (about where they will run in the next).”

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11 Strikes And You’re Out Of Luck: Egan Socked With $75,000 Fine For Overuse Of Whip In Saudi Cup Victory

Jockey David Egan, the 21-year-old who guided Mishriff to a surprise victory over Charlatan in Saturday's $20-million Saudi Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will have to forfeit 10% of his slice of the $10-million winner's purse for violating the country's whip rules, according to HorseRacingPlanet.com.

The website reports Egan exceeded the Saudi Jockey Club's 10-strike limit, leading to both a two-day riding suspension and a fine of an estimated $75,000.

Stipendiary steward Phil Tuck told HorseRacingPlanet.com: “We took into account that two hits were down the shoulder in the backhand position and considered that he used the whip 11 times behind the saddle. He had 10% of his prize-money deducted.”

The website also reports that Charlatan's jockey, Hall of Famer Mike Smith, was suspended two days for allegedly interfering with Sleepy Eyes Todd about 100 meters from the start of the one-turn, nine-furlong race. Smith was hit with a nine-day ban and heavy fine in the inaugural running of the Saudi Cup in 2020, having to lose approximately $210,000, or 60% of his earnings from Midnight Bisou's second-place finish.

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‘They All Have A Place In My Heart’: Flavien Prat Celebrates 1,000th Career Victory

A budding superstar, French-born Flavien Prat, Santa Anita's reigning Winter/Spring Champion Jockey and current meet leader, registered his 1,000th North American victory in Friday's second race, a 6 ½ furlong starter allowance for fillies and mares, aboard the Jonathan Wong-trained Clockstrikestwelve. Santa Anita's leading Winter/Spring jockey in both 2019-20 and 2016-17, Prat, 28, in an amazing span of roughly six years, has amassed 11 Southern California riding titles and is currently tied for 13th with retired Hall of Famer Donald Pierce on Santa Anita's all-time Winter/Spring stakes-won list with 99 added money victories through this past Monday.

With a three-win day on Monday and 11 wins that included two stakes over the four-day Presidents' Day holiday, Prat entered Friday's festivities with 998 career wins. Victorious in today's opener aboard Bob Baffert's 2-5 favorite Du Jour, Prat wasted little time in reaching number 1,000 as he guided Wong's 3-5 favorite Clockstrikestwelve to a last to first triumph in race two, winning by 2 ¼ lengths.

Born Aug. 4, 1992 in Melun, France, Prat, the son of a trainer, won the 2019 Kentucky Derby via disqualification aboard the William Mott-trained Country House and is currently atop the Santa Anita rider standings with 32 wins, three more than Juan Hernandez, with 25 full days of racing completed. Also in 2019, Prat also became only the third jockey to ever win the Kentucky Derby and Canada's championship race for 3-year-olds, the Queen's Plate, in the same year, joining Bill Hartack (1964) and Kent Desormeaux (1998).

“It means a lot, it's a big achievement,” said Prat following today's second race. “I wasn't dreaming of that when I came here (from France) to be honest with you and I didn't think it would happen so quickly. It felt like yesterday that I got here and started riding…

“(Looking to the future) I hope to do as good as I have done. I don't want to be satisfied with what I've done, I want to try to improve. I think there's room for improvement…It's nice, it's been a lot of support from my family and the trainers and owners, all the connections. It's something I share with everybody. I've been lucky to have been on a lot of good horses…They all have a place in my heart.”

Clockstrikestwelve, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by New Year's Day who had won her last four starts, three of them at Golden Gate Fields, was saddled by trainer Kristin Mulhall and paid $3.20 to win.

Prat, who as a teenager, worked full-time during the winter mornings for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella and split riding time between Santa Anita and his native France, registered his first Santa Anita win at age 17 on Jan. 15, 2010 aboard the Suzanne Rodriguez-trained Heavenly n' Free, who paid $103.40 to win.

In a move that surprised many in the racing industry, Prat announced last week that he was parting company with his longtime agent Derek Lawson and that he had hired veteran agent Brad Pegram, who will now represent both Prat and Mike Smith.

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Trainer Lacey Gaudet Hoping To Add Another Chapter In Family’s Success Story

Carrying the mantle for one of Maryland's best known and respected racing families, trainer Lacey Gaudet has been proud to continue the tradition her late father, Eddie, began in the 1950s.

Saturday, the 33-year-old Gaudet is hoping to add another chapter to the family's legacy and join her father as a graded-stakes winner.

Gaudet will send out Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park, co-headliner with the $250,000 General George (G3) on a nine-race Winter Sprintfest program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses. Post time is 12:25 p.m.

One of Eddie Gaudet's three career graded victories came with Star Touch in the 1991 General George, the first year it carried graded status, then Grade 2. He also won the 1985 Anne Arundel Handicap (G3) with Classy Cut and 1994 Garden State (G3) with Alleged Impression.

Overall, Eddie Gaudet won more than 1,700 races before retiring at the end of 2011, passing away at age 87 in January 2018. Two years earlier Gaudet and her mother, Linda, herself a noted horseman, owner and trainer, combined their stables into Team Gaudet with great success.

They turned John Jones, a $25,000 claim in the summer of 2018, into a multiple stakes winner and track record holder at Colonial Downs before he was retired. They broke Double Crown's maiden at Laurel in 2019 before the horse was sold and became a multiple stakes winner and twice graded-stakes placed including runner-up in the 2020 Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.

The new stable star is Dontletsweetfoolya, a winner of five consecutive races by 28 ¼ combined lengths, the last two wins coming in stakes – the Nov. 28 Primonetta and Dec. 26 Willa On the Move. By multiple Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty, she will be making her season debut in the Fritchie for Gaudet, four wins shy of 200 for her young career.

“We're going into the race confident and we know that we have a nice filly, and I think that it's just going to be fun from here on out,” she said. “If she wins, great. It's not going to take anything away from her if she gets beat, but to go for six in a row and get a graded stakes under her belt? That would be fantastic.”

The connections remained patient as Dontletsweetfoolya matured from her high-strung juvenile days. She went winless in two starts at 2, and needed two more races before breaking her maiden last July. Following an allowance win at Laurel in September, Gaudet resisted the temptation to step up in a race like the Miss Preakness (G3), part of the rescheduled Preakness Day program in October.

Instead, Dontletsweetfoolya went to Pimlico anyway for an optional claiming allowance two days earlier, overcoming an eventful ship and a troubled start for a three-length triumph that earned her a shot at stakes company.

“She matured a lot as a 3-year-old from her 2-year-old season, and that showed on her form last year. So, hopefully she can start off her 4-year-old season the right way,” Gaudet said. “She's doing everything right. We stayed the course and we went through the races that we hoped to hit and we said that this was going to be our ultimate goal. We're here, she's ready and she's doing great, so it's time to test her.”

Dontletsweetfoolya drew Post 3 in a field of eight and was made the 7-2 third choice on the morning line for the Fritchie behind 8-5 favorite Hello Beautiful and Grade 3 winner Sharp Starr. Hello Beautiful, a five-time stakes winner including each of her last three starts, will break from the far outside.

Gaudet's last graded-stakes attempt came with long shot Chauncey, second by a neck at odds of 42-1 in the 2018 Charles Town Oaks (G3).

“We drew inside of a lot of the speed,” Gaudet said. “The last couple of races I've left it up to [jockey Jevian] Toledo, and she just does whatever he wants her to. So, I think I'm just going to leave it up to him.

“I know Hello Beautiful has a lot of speed. I don't think she's the only one, but I do think that we'll definitely be the pace, the two of us, and we'll see how they fare,” she added. “It takes a little bit of the pressure off, because we know where she's going to be. We're not going to change our tactics in this race.”

Gaudet and Five Hellions will have another stakes starter Saturday, Fraudulent Charge, in the $100,000 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies. Making her season debut, she is fourth choice of nine at 6-1 behind 2-1 program favorite Street Lute, a winner of four straight stakes and five overall. Fraudulent Charge nearly ended that streak in the Dec. 26 Gin Talking, her late rally coming up a nose short.

“We always liked her, but she definitely ran huge last time. She's matured since then, she's grown since then and she's just going into this race fantastic,” Gaudet said. “I know there's speed. I don't think that she'll be speed, she's kind of a little different from [Street Lute]. [Jockey] Johan [Rosado] says that she's very push-button, so I think that he'll be able to rate her a little bit behind the speed and if she can make that run like she did last time, I think she'll be very dangerous.”

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