Pocahontas Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Hidden Connection Back To Work For 3-Year-Old Campaign

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies participant Hidden Connection put in her first work since a fourth-place finish at Del Mar on Nov. 5, reports The Blood-Horse. The daughter of Connect is preparing to start her 3-year-old campaign after working three furlongs at Fair Grounds Race Course in :36 ⅘ on Dec. 19.

Hidden Connection, trained by W. Bret Calhoun, will be pointing towards the Kentucky Oaks prep races at either Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park. Owned by Hidden Brook Farm and Black Type Thoroughbreds, the filly recently returned to Calhoun's stable after a break in Ocala, Fla.

“She looks like she's doing well. We just tried to give her an easy breeze today, we weren't wanting to go quite that quick,” Calhoun said to The Blood-Horse. “She's very willing, and obviously, she has a pretty high cruising speed. It was pretty easy for her today what she did. We had her under a pretty snug hold, that's what she did, and things went very well.”

Hidden Connection made her career debut a winning one by 7 ½ lengths at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va., on Aug. 17. The filly returned to the winner's circle on Sept.18 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., finishing 9 ¼ lengths ahead of her competition in the Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes. After winning at Churchill, Hidden Connection shipped to Del Mar for the Breeders' Cup where she finished fourth after stumbling at the start.

Pocahontas Win Nets Reylu Gutierrez Jockey Of The Week Title

Jockey Reylu Gutierrez stopped at Churchill Downs opening weekend, his 15th track so far this year, and made his first career Churchill Downs win even more special with the Grade 3 Pocahontas. His accomplishment earned Jockey of the Week honors for Sept. 13 through Sept. 19. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Trained by Bret Calhoun and with Gutierrez again in the saddle, Hidden Connection went into the Grade 3 Pocahontas for two-year-old fillies fresh off a dazzling 7-1/2 length win at Colonial Downs. Off as the 9-5 favorite from post 9 in a field of 11, Hidden Connection sat just off the leader, Lemieux ridden by Tyler Gaffalione. With three furlongs to go, Hidden Connection went to the lead and drew away to a dominating 9-1/2 length win while setting a stakes record for the 1-1/16th mile race over a fast track in a final time of 1:43.78.

“It is incredibly special to get my first win at Churchill Downs for these great people, in front of this amazing crowd and aboard this filly,” said the understandably excited Gutierrez. “She is unbelievable.”

Gutierrez, 25, a finalist for the 2018 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice, earned his first graded stakes win in 2019. He is the son of Finger Lakes trainer Luis Gutierrez and his uncle is retired Finger Lakes jockey Jose Gutierrez. Even with those close racing connections, Gutierrez did not intend to be a jockey. An injury playing Lacrosse in high school led him to rehabilitation and the idea of physical therapy as a profession. He graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2017 with a degree in exercise physiology.

A desire to pay off student loans and growing up in the racing industry led him to give riding professionally a try. He won his first race in 2017 at Finger Lakes and is considered one of the industry's most promising young jockeys. To date, the well-travelled Gutierrez has won 356 races from 2,808 starts and nearly $13 million in purses. He rode mostly in New York through 2020 but decided to give Texas a try this year riding at Sam Houston and Lone Star Park as well as Remington Park in Oklahoma. This week, he rides at Churchill Downs then Remington Park and back home to Finger Lakes for mounts in two-year-old stakes races for trainer Mike Maker.

Weekly stats for Gutierrez were 8-1-1-1 and purse earnings of $202,624.

Gutierrez out-polled Javier Castellano who won the Grade 3 Iroquois, Tyler Gaffalione with a stakes wins at Churchill Downs, Feargal Lynch with two stakes wins at Laurel and Jaime Rodriguez who had nine wins for the week.

The post Pocahontas Win Nets Reylu Gutierrez Jockey Of The Week Title appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Hidden Connection All Class In Pocahontas, Gets BC Juvenile Fillies Berth

Fresh off a win in her first career start, Hidden Connection had no trouble stretching out to 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, the 2-year-old daughter of Connect earns a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The field of 10 broke cleanly, with Lemieux away fastest from the gate, taking a one-length lead. Hidden Connection stayed with her, Reylu Gutierrez putting his filly a half-length behind Lemieux.

Around the far turn, Hidden Connection drew even with Lemieux, passing her as they entered the stretch. From there, the filly ran away with the G3 Pocahontas, stretching her lead out to eight lengths as she crossed the wire. Mama Rina closed late to take second with Goddess of Fire and Code for Success rounding out the top four.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.78. Find this race's chart here.

Hidden Connection paid $5.60, $4.00, and $3.20. Mama Rina paid $21.40 and $7.80. Goddess of Fire paid $4.20.

The G3 Pocahontas is a Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The winner earns a fees-paid, guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding race at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled for Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

As a race on the path to the 2022 Kentucky Oaks, Hidden Connection's win in the Pocahontas earns her 10 points toward a spot in the starting gate for that classic.

Bred in Kentucky by St. Simon Place, Hidden Connection is out of the Awesome Again mare C J's Gal. Trained by Brett Calhoun, the 2-year-old filly is owned by Hidden Brook Farm and Black Type Thoroughbreds. She is 2 for 2 lifetime, with $207,525 in career earnings.

The post Hidden Connection All Class In Pocahontas, Gets BC Juvenile Fillies Berth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Talented Maiden Winner Hidden Connection Steps Up In Pocahontas

Deuce Greathouse, Cindy Hutson, Madaket Stables and Thomas Romano's Ontheonesandtwos will be in search of her first graded stakes win in Saturday's 53rd running of the $300,000 Pocahontas (Grade 3) – the kickoff to the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks.”

Saturday's Pocahontas Stakes, which goes as Race 8 with a post time of 9:39 p.m., is part of the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” series where the winner will receive an automatic entry-fees paid berth to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

The 1 1/16-mile race also offers points to the Top 4 finishers on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).

The Pocahontas shares the Saturday spotlight with the $300,000 Iroquois, its counterpart for 2-year-olds that begins the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” along with the $400,000 Locust Grove (G3), $300,000 Open Mind and $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society. The first of 11 races will get underway at 6 p.m. for Downs After Dark presented by Budweiser.

Ontheonesandtwos, a 2-year-old Jimmy Creed filly trained by Norm Casse, won her debut in May at Churchill Downs by 1 ¾ lengths. The former $37,000 purchase from the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale finished second behind Behave Virginia in the $150,000 Debutante and sixth in the $200,000 Adirondack Stakes (G2) at Saratoga. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. will ride from post No. 4.

Among Ontheonesandtwos' rivals in the Pocahontas is Hidden Brook Farm's flashy debut winner Hidden Connection. Trained by Bret Calhoun, Hidden Connection won four weeks ago at Colonial Downs by 7 ½ lengths under jockey Reylu Gutierrez. Hidden Connection is among the first-crop of 2-year-olds from her sire Connect. She was purchased at the 2021 OBS June Horses of Racing Age Sale for $85,000. Gutierrez has the return call from post 9.

The complete field from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

Code for Success (Rafael Bejarano, Vicki Oliver)
Goddess of Fire (Javier Castellano, Todd Pletcher)
Mama Rina (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek)
Ontheonesandtwos (Santana, Norm Casse)
Majestic d'Oro (Martin Garcia, Brendan Walsh)
Kneesnhips (James Graham, Tom Amoss)
Miss Chamita (Gregory Romero, Michel Doulhy)
Hidden Connection (Gutierrez, Calhoun)
Lemieux (Tyler Gaffalione, Mark Cassse)
Joyrunner (Joe Ramos, Laura Wohlers)

The post Talented Maiden Winner Hidden Connection Steps Up In Pocahontas appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post