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Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features Races From Aqueduct, Turfway Park

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a stakes-laden edition of the Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack and Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky.

Live coverage will be available with America's Day at the Races on FOX Sports. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Opening the action-packed sequence is the $150,000 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park [Race 9, 5:10 p.m. Eastern] for 4-year-olds and upward going nine furlongs on the all-weather surface. Juddmonte Farm's Set Piece boasts a perfect record in two starts over the northern Kentucky oval. The Brad Cox-trained son of Dansili won his last Turfway start over Grade 1-placed Signalman in the Prairie Bayou on New Year's Eve. Breaking just to his inside from the rail is dual graded stakes winner Skywire for Hall of Famer Mark Casse. The Gary Barber and Lucio Tucci-owned son of Afleet Alex won last year's Eclipse and Autumn, both Grade 2, on Tapeta at Woodbine Racetrack and seeks to rebound after finishing seventh last out in the Prairie Bayou beaten 8 ½ lengths to Set Piece.

The Big A hosts the second leg where a dozen older horses will assemble for the $75,000 Stud Muffin, a 1 3/8-mile starter stakes. Trainer Rob Atras will saddle Michael Dubb's multiple stakes placed Musical Heart, who arrives off a sharp third-place effort to Mr. Buff in the Stymie on February 27. The son of Maclean's Music has finished on the board in his last seven starts. Carded as Race 9 on New York Claiming Championship Day at Aqueduct, the Stud Muffin has a scheduled post time of 5:34 p.m.

Action returns to Turfway for the middle leg where ten sophomore fillies chase Kentucky Oaks points in the $150,000 Bourbonette Oaks [Race 10, 5:45 p.m.] at a two-turn mile. The 20-8-4-2 Oaks qualifier features Susan Moulton's Oliviaofthedesert, who won the Trapeze at Remington Park two starts back for trainer Kenny McPeek. The gray or roan daughter of Bernardini is the lone horse in the field with a six-figure earning mark with a bankroll of $196,822. Hartwell Farm and SF Racing's Wait for Nairobi will defend her home territory after notching a stakes win in the Cincinnati Trophy at Turfway. The Rey Hernandez-trained Carpe Diem filly boasts a consistent 3-2-0-1 over all-weather surfaces.

The penultimate leg is the $45,000 Dads Caps, a starter stakes for older horses going seven furlongs in Race 9 at 6:10 p.m. at the Big A led by A. Bianco Holding's Skyler's Scramjet, who will look to build off a February 27 triumph over a sloppy track. Trained by A.C. Avila, the 7-year-old Creative Cause gray or roan gelding won the Grade 3 Tom Fool in 2018 and boasts the highest bankroll in the field with over a half-million in lifetime earnings. Also arriving off a win is Irving Rodriguez's Town Jak, who ships from Parx Racing for trainer Alan Bedard. The six-time winner has finished in the money in his last dozen starts, the most recent of which was a half-length victory on March 16 at Parx, where he defeated starter allowance company.

Concluding the stakes-filled Cross Country Pick 5 is the Grade 3, $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. The 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier has produced winners of the 'Run for the Roses' in Lil E. Tee [1992] and Animal Kingdom [2011]. This year, the nine-furlong event features Grade 1-winner Gretzky the Great for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse and owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber. The bay son of second crop sire Nyquist broke his maiden over the Woodbine Tapeta before taking the Grade 1 Summer over grass at the Toronto oval. Trainer William Morey will saddle New York-bred Hush of a Storm, who seeks back-to-back stakes wins after taking the John Battaglia Memorial on February 26 last out. The Jeff Ruby Steaks is carded as Race 11 on Turfway's program with a 6:25 p.m. post.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool. The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday March 27:
Leg A: Turfway Park – Race 9, Kentucky Cup Classic (5:10 p.m.)
Leg B: Aqueduct – Race 8, Stud Muffin (5:34 p.m.)
Leg C: Turfway Park – Race 10, Bourbonette Oaks (5:45 p.m.)
Leg D: Aqueduct – Race 9, Dads Caps (6:10 p.m.)
Leg E: Turfway Park – Race 11, G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks (6:25 p.m.)

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Canterbury VP Andrew Offerman Joins Writers’ Room

With smaller tracks gradually disappearing over time, it takes a concerted effort to build a fan customer base that can sustain your business in a non-marquee racing state. Minnesota's Canterbury Park is one of those outliers, a track whose management has put in the work to run a profitable enterprise while managing to attract novice fans and satisfy horseplayers alike, all without the buttressing revenue of slots.

Wednesday morning, Canterbury's VP of Racing Operations Andrew Offerman joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about the track's blueprint for standing out on a lesser circuit. Calling in as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Offerman discussed the track's decision to drop its Pick 5 takeout to an industry-low 10%, what it's trying to do to attract new owners and trainers and how to still bring fans to the track in 2021.

“We've had a couple different forays into takeout reduction,” Offerman said regarding the successful Pick 5 experiment. “We did some more across-the-board cuts a few years ago, and that didn't work as well as the Pick 5 takeout reduction did. Last year, when we were kind of forced to change our business strategy from being really on-track centric to trying to focus more on off-track betting markets, we knew we had to do something to become more attractive, beyond just running through the middle of the week. So looking at our Pick 5 and trying to do something unique with that wager as it continues to grow in popularity seemed like a good opportunity. The results were great. It enhanced our visibility, did a lot for our other pools around those races and really showed us a new ability to generate interest in a pool that ended up averaging around $80,000, which for us is pretty substantial.”

Faced with the difficulty of drawing owners, trainers and horses to a relatively remote part of the country, Offerman laid out some new incentive programs Canterbury is trying out for the 2021 meet, which starts May 18.

“We've always tried to come up with unique things,” he said. “We realized that when you look at the normal areas that race across the country, Minnesota's not necessarily on their map. So we came up with an early-meet incentive program that gives everyone who starts in an open overnight race an extra $1,000 throughout the month of May to try to help offset the costs of shipping, because we acknowledge that most people have a long van ride to get here from wherever they might be during the winter. We also guarantee stipends per starter over the course of the meet. It's tiered by purse level, but starts at $200 and works its way up from there. We've also been able to offer an interest-free loan program for qualified applicants where people can basically sign a zero-interest shipping loan that they can pay back over the course of the summer.”

Elsewhere in the podcast, the writers responded to the reaction from Bill Finley's critical op/ed about horsemen's groups' suit over HISA, and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, analyzed the delinquent Ramseys story and positive returns from OBS March. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

The post Canterbury VP Andrew Offerman Joins Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Cross Country Pick 5 Features Racing Action From Aqueduct, Oaklawn

The New York Racing Association [NYRA] will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack and Oaklawn Park.

The sequence will commence at Oaklawn with the $500,000 Essex [Race 7, 4:08 p.m. Eastern], a 1 1/16-mile test for older horses. Multiple graded stakes winner Tax [14-4-3-1, $982,060] will look to secure millionaire status, seeking his fourth career stakes win for trainer Danny Gargan. The 5-year-old son of Arch, owned by R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Hugh Lynch, arrives off an unplaced effort in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 23. Two starts back, Tax earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure for a gate-to-wire score in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Harlan's Holiday on Dec. 12 at the South Florida oval.

Silver State provides steep opposition as the consistent son of Hard Spun seeks his fourth consecutive triumph for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. Last out, Silver State captured the Fifth Season at Oaklawn, a one-mile test for older horses on Jan. 23.

Action shifts to the Big A for the second leg of the sequence when a field of eight older horses assemble for a 6 ½-furlong optional-claiming event in Race 8 with a 4:24 p.m. post. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will send out the consistent Secret Rules, who has never finished off the board in eight lifetime starts. The son of Secret Circle arrives off a third-place finish going six furlongs as the beaten favorite on Feb. 15 at Aqueduct. McCourt Racing's Big Engine faces open company after finishing second in the Hollie Hughes against his New York-bred counterparts. Trained by Linda Rice, the son of Not For Love boasts a consistent 19-7-6-2 lifetime record, having never finished worse than second at Aqueduct.

The third leg will switch back to Hot Springs, Arkansas for Oaklawn's Race 8 [4:41 p.m.] – a six-furlong optional claiming event for older horses. Breaking from the rail for trainer Cipriano Contreras, One for Richie seeks a third straight win after previously racing for a $10,000 tag and tackling starter allowance company. Doubledown Stables' Royal Daaher will attempt to keep his consistent ways afloat for trainer Jimmy DiVito. The son of Daaher has finished in the money in his last four starts, including the last two at Oaklawn over off tracks.

The penultimate leg will be Saturday's featured event at Aqueduct – the $100,000 Correction for fillies and mares at seven furlongs. Hall of Famer Richard Mandella shipped in Amuse from southern California for her last start before retirement and a broodmare career. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro has garnered stakes black type on four occasions but looks to become a stakes winner in her final career finale. Awesome Debate, bred, owned and trained by Charlton Baker, seeks her third triumph in a row in her stakes debut. The Correction is carded as Race 9 with a 4:55 p.m. post.

The $150,000 Temperence Hill going 12 furlongs at Oaklawn Park will conclude the sequence. A 10-horse field was drawn for the dirt marathon event, which attracted graded stakes winners Tenfold and Campaign. Trained by Asmussen and owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Tenfold, a son of Curlin, seeks his first win since taking the Grade 3 Pimlico Special in 2019. Woodford Racing's Campaign was a late-closing second in last year's Temperence Hill over a sloppy and sealed track. The Temperence Hill, carded as Oaklawn's ninth race, has a scheduled post of 5:13 p.m.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, March 13:
Leg A: Oaklawn Park – Race 7, $500,000 Essex (4:08 p.m.)
Leg B: Aqueduct – Race 8 (4:24 p.m.)
Leg C: Oaklawn Park – Race 8 (4:41 p.m.)
Leg D: Aqueduct – Race 9, $100,000 Correction (4:55 p.m.)
Leg E: Oaklawn Park – Race 9, $150,000 Temperence Hill (5:13 p.m.)

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Aqueduct, Tampa Derby Preps Feature In Saturday’s All-Stakes Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host an all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday, featuring Kentucky Derby qualifiers from Aqueduct Racetrack and Tampa Bay Downs.

The sequence begins at 4:25 p.m. Eastern at Tampa Bay with the Grade 2 Hillsborough, a nine-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares headlined by last year's Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational-winner Magic Attitude. The 4-year-old Galileo bay, trained by Arnaud Delacour for Lael Stables, will face steep opposition from Grade 1-placed opponents Micheline and Court Return.

Action then switches to the Big A for the Heavenly Prize Invitational [Race 8, 4:36 p.m.], a one-turn mile for older fillies and mares featuring a well-balanced field of eight. Godolphin homebred Lake Avenue, a 4-year-old Tapit chestnut trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, has won 2-of-3 starts at Aqueduct, including a score in the 2019 Grade 2 Demoiselle. Trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero sends pace threat Portal Creek, who just missed in the Grade 3 Go for Wand two starts back when second to Sharp Starr over a sloppy and sealed Aqueduct main track at the Heavenly Prize distance.

The middle leg will see sophomore fillies contest 1 1/16-miles on the Tampa Bay turf in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks [Race 10, 4:55 p.m.]. Delacour and Lael Stables team up once more with the multiple stakes placed Be Sneaky, who makes her turf debut following a runner-up effort in the Suncoast on Feb. 6. Be Sneaky, an Into Mischief bay, is out of the Big Brown mare Bella Castani who won the 2013 Tweedside on the Belmont turf.

Four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle Domain Expertise, fresh off a third in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant at Gulfstream Park; while Graham Motion will send out a pair of undefeated contenders in Mia Martina and Oyster Box, a royally-bred daughter of Tapit out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Dynaformer mare Starformer.

Kentucky Derby points will be on the line in the penultimate leg, the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham [Race 9, 5:07 p.m.] at a one-turn mile offering 50-20-10-5 points to the top-four finishers. Brown will send out a strong duo for Klaravich Stables in last-out Nyquist champ Highly Motivated and impressive maiden winner Crowded Trade. West Coast-based shippers include Freedom Fighter, runner-up last out in the Grade 2 San Vicente at Santa Anita for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert; and Wipe the Slate, a maiden winner who will remove blinkers and cut back in distance while looking to make amends for an off-the-board effort last out in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita for trainer Doug O'Neill.

Closing out the sequence is the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby [Race 11, 5:25 p.m.], which drew a field of 12 to contest 1 1/16-miles with 50-20-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on the line.

The Mott-trained Candy Man Rocket will look to build on an impressive one-length score last out in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis on Feb. 6 at Tampa Bay Downs against returning rivals Hidden Stash [third] and Boca Boy [fourth]. Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will saddle undefeated Helium, last out winner of the Display in October at Woodbine for his two-turn and dirt debut.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, March 6:
Leg A: Tampa Bay Downs-Race 9, G3 Hillsborough (4:25 pm)
Leg B: Aqueduct-Race 8, Heavenly Prize Invitational (4:36 pm)
Leg C: Tampa Bay Downs-Race 10, G3 Florida Oaks (4:55 pm)
Leg D: Aqueduct-Race 9, G3 Gotham (5:07 pm)
Leg E: Tampa Bay Downs-Race 11, G2 Tampa Bay Derby (5:25 pm)

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