Tag: Racing

Two very different, but very interesting, stakes races will highlight the Sunday Labor Day weekend card at Del Mar.

The first test brings out 3-year-old fillies, seven of them, for the 45th edition of the Torrey Pines Stakes, a Grade 3 offering that carries a purse of $125,000 and goes at a mile on the main track.

The second is for 3-year-olds and up on the turf course at five furlongs. It's called the Green Flash Handicap, provides a $150,000 purse and also carries Grade 3 status. Its 20th running has drawn 11 fast turfers. Additionally, the race is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” event, guaranteeing the victorious horse admission – with all fees paid – to the $1-million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, which will be run at Keeneland in Kentucky in November.

Of the seven in the Torrey Pines, three of them are previous stakes winners, two of those out of the Bob Baffert barn – and it is noted that the Hall of Fame trainer has won this race six times.

The Baffert pair are Magnier, Tabor or Smith's Under the Stars and Willow Grace Farm and Petersen's Grace Adler. The conditioner also has entered Pegram, Watson and Weitman's promising Midnight Memories.

The horse they might all have to beat, though, is the H & E Ranch's Desert Dawn, a good second against older fillies and mares at Del Mar on August 6 in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.  Earlier this year she captured the Santa Anita Oaks, then ran third in the prestigious Kentucky Oaks and third again in the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita. Phil D'Amato trains Desert Dawn, who is an Arizona-bred daughter of the Tapit sire Cupid.

The Green Flash is topped by last year's winner of the grass dash in Nick Alexander's homebred Lieutenant Dan. The 6-year-old gelding is by Alexander's home stallion Grazen, a fast horse who gets fast horses. Lieutenant Dan won the Green Flash by 2 1/4 lengths in 2021, then came back to run a good second to champion Golden Pal in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, also at Del Mar on November 6. The bay horse hasn't been out since, but has been training steadily for conditioner Steve Miyadi.

His chief opponent in the sprint appears to be Grandilla's Dubai Key, who is three for three in the U.S. since coming north from Chile. The 5-year-old horse by the Deputy Minister stallion Key Deputy has won eight of 13 career outings and is at his best in turf sprints.

Here are the full fields for the two races with riders and morning line odds:

Torrey Pines Stakes – Desert Dawn (Umberto Rispoli, 9-5); Keith Abrahams' Kirstenbosch (Tyler Baze, 15-1); Midnight Memories (Ramon Vazquez, 3-1); Paula Capestro's Malibu Marie (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 15-1); Under the Stars (Juan Hernandez, 5-2); Bobby Flay's Cinnamon Cat (Abel Cedillo, 10-1), and Grace Adler (Mike Smith, 3-1).

Green Flash Handicap – Dubai Key (Hector Berrios, 3-1); Little Red Feather Racing and Veranda Stable's Yes He Can (Kyle Frey, 15-1); Agricola Matriarca's Super Ocho (Armando Ayuso, 6-1); MyRacehorse's Lane Way (Smith, 15-1); Thor-bred Stables' Nero (Ryan Curatolo, 15-1); Hailey or Wood's Chasin Munny (Cedillo, 20-1); Rockingham Ranch or Bernsen's Barristan The Bold (Joe Bravo, 15-1); Jay or Julie Manoogian's Coulthard (Vazques, 15-1); Lieutenant Dan (Hernandez, 5-2); Sterling Racing's Whatmakessammyrun (Rispoli 5-1) and Hanson, Kayajanian or Mouradick's Maven (Edwin Maldonado, 8-1).

While Baffert has won the Torrey Pines six times, he's outdone by trainer John Sadler, who has visited the winner's circle after the race on seven occasions. Sadler has Kirstenbosch in the mile and the daughter of Midnight Lute sports a straight maiden win and a stakes placing to her credit so far and, as noted, her trainer certainly knows how to win this race.

Among the champions who have won the Torrey Pines are Stellar Wind (trained by Sadler) in 2015 and Beholder (trained by Richard Mandella) in 2013.

The Torrey Pines is Race 5 on the 11-race Sunday program. The Green Flash goes as Race 9. First post Sunday is 1 p.m.

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Winchell Thoroughbreds' Kentucky homebred Wicked Halo made a triumphant return to the site of her lone previous graded stakes victory to capture Friday's Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress for sophomore fillies going six furlongs on the Saratoga Race Course main track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and piloted by Tyler Gaffalione, the gray daughter of leading second crop sire Gun Runner captured last year's Grade 2 Adirondack at the Spa, defeating eventual graded stakes winner Interstatedaydream by 3 1/2 lengths. She entered the 75th renewal of the Prioress off Churchill Downs stakes scores in the seven-furlong Leslie's Lady on June 12 and the one-turn mile Tepin on July 2.

Breaking from post 1, Wicked Halo maintained her rail position in fifth while graded stakes winner Hot Peppers utilized her usual frontrunning tactics through an opening quarter-mile in 21.97 seconds and a half-mile in 44.99 over the fast main track with two-time winners Mischievous Diane and Union Lake tracking just to her outside.

Gaffalione continued to bide his time around the far turn in search of racing room, and swung his filly four wide at the quarter pole. Hot Peppers maintained her lead at the top of the stretch with Union Lake continuing to give her all to her outside. But Wicked Halo's late burst of energy proved superior as she fended off a late rally from 37-1 New York-bred longshot Sterling Silver to win by a neck in a final time of 1:10.16. Sterling Silver finished another 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Union Lake.

Completing the order of finish were Hot Peppers, Half Is Enough, Angitude, Mischievous Diane and Lady Scarlet. Bank On Anna and Smash Ticket were scratched.

The triumph was a collaborative fifth stakes victory of the meet for Asmussen and Winchell, who captured the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers last Saturday with Epicenter, who also won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy. Headed by Ron Winchell and managed by David Fiske, Winchell Thoroughbreds scored previous success this meet with Gunite in the Grade 2 Amsterdam as well as reigning New York-bred Champion Older Horse Bankit in the Evan Shipman.

The trainer-owner combo also campaigned Wicked Halo's sire Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year.

“[For Wicked Halo] to have a nice break and come back and still be such a quality filly is very rewarding,” Asmussen said. “Last year with the Gun Runners, we tried to prove [Gun Runner as a stallion] and were extremely aggressive with them. We were rewarded for it, but Ron and David run a considerable amount of horses and just felt it was best for them [to have some time off].”

Gaffalione, who piloted the Asmussen-trained and Winchell-owned Gunite to victory in the Grade 2 Amsterdam, was full of praise for North America's all-time winningest trainer.

“All the credit goes to Steve and his team. They brought her over here ready to fire a big one,” Gaffalione said. “I was very confident coming into today's race. We were planning on going to the Test with her, but she had a little bit of a hiccup and got pushed to this, but I thought the race suited her well. There was plenty of speed for her to get a good trip and when I asked on her, she gave me everything she had.”

Asmussen noted that Wicked Halo's 2022 campaign has been something of a work in progress.

“We were a little off track early [in the year]. She's very laid back and it took her a few races to get sharp, but I think when we got back to Churchill [Downs], she dialed it up,” Asmussen said. “Her last three runs were really solid. We did plan on running in the Test, but she had a little bit of a [minor] hind foot thing. It was easy to pass knowing this was on the calendar and she made this race easily.”

Asmussen said Wicked Halo is likely to make her next start in the Grade 3, $275,000 Dogwood on September 24 at Churchill Downs.

“With her having success at seven-eighths, [against] 3-year-olds; it seems very obvious,” Asmussen said.

Returning $10.80 for a $2 win bet, Wicked Halo, out of 2015 Adirondack winner Just Wicked, upped her lifetime earnings past the half-million mark to $574,050 while bragging a consistent 9-5-0-3 record. Her lone off the board placing came when fourth in her 2022 debut in the Dixie Belle on February 19 at Oaklawn Park.

Tom Albertrani, trainer of runner-up longshot Sterling Silver, said a change of tactics made all the difference for the two-time stakes-winning daughter of Cupid.

“She ran really well today. We're really happy with the performance,” Albertrani said. “We tried to change our strategy by taking her back and making one run and it looked like it might've helped. She would like to go seven-eighths more preferably, but today, we had no choice but to go three-quarters and it worked out well. That was a good place.”

The Prioress honors the first American-born racehorse to win in England. Owned by Richard Ten Broeck, Prioress won the Great Yorkshire Stakes and the Cesare Witch Handicap in 1858. Inaugurated at Jamaica Race Course in 1948 and later run at Aqueduct and Belmont, it has been run at Saratoga since 2012.

Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga with a 13-race program, featuring the Grade 3, $200,000 Saranac, the Grade 2, $600,000 Flower Bowl – a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf – and the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup – a “Win And You're In” for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Callie Witt, the 20-year-old exercise rider who died last spring after being thrown by a young horse, is being memorialized by a pair of 2-year-old fillies. That includes Callie's Grit, who runs in Saturday's $500,000 Aristocrat Juvenile Fillies at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.

Callie's Grit and Callie's Passion are co-owned by Brad Grady and Carl Moore and trained by Joe Sharp. Grady became close to Witt's parents, Tim and Jennifer, after their daughter's death. Grady has a daughter the same age as Witt and, as one of Sharp's long-time clients, is close to much of the trainer's staff.

“Brad made a connection with the family,” Sharp said. “We had talked about naming a couple of horses in honor of Callie. Callie's parents actually came up with the names of a couple of horses, Callie's Grit and Callie's Passion. It's a pretty neat deal, and it's nice to see that one of the fillies can actually really, really run.”

Callie's Grit has raced once, finishing second in a Saratoga maiden race on turf. She's 6-1 in the morning line in the field of nine, with the meet's early riding leader, Tyler Gaffalione, back on board.

“We were going to go in a mile maiden special weight,” Sharp said. “The Juvenile Fillies looked like it was coming up pretty similar. The other horse in there that is favored (Janis Joplin) is a maiden. So we went ahead and said we'd take a shot.”

If Callie's Grit would win, “it would be incredible for so many reasons,” he said. “It would be great. Her family has been amazing. We've gotten really close. Obviously tragedy brings people closer together. They're just really quality people, and hopefully we can do more to honor them and to honor her.”

Witt, who was from Rogers, Neb., attended the Bluegrass Community and Technical College's North American Racing Academy as she worked toward becoming a jockey. Her obituary read in part: “Callie loved horses, she was born with them running through her veins….. Callie worked harder than anyone you would ever know, constantly raising the bar to be better, be stronger and at the top of (her) craft. She always knew the risk of her passion and she left us living out her dreams.”

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Nasser Bin Omairah's undefeated Mo Strike will vie for his second graded stakes win of the meet in Monday's Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful for juveniles sprinting seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, Mo Strike was last seen defeating a 12-horse field in the Grade 3 Sanford on July 16 at the Spa, pouncing from a half-length off the pace under Florent Geroux to draw away to an impressive 3 1/2-length victory. He completed the six furlongs in 1:11.35 and earned an 85 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“We didn't get a work before the Sanford and shipped in about five days before the race, but he handled it fine,” said Brad Cox's son and assistant, Blake Cox.

The Sanford was Mo Strike's first outing against winners after a determined debut score sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs in June at Churchill Downs. There, he delivered a similar performance to his Sanford score and rallied from just behind the pacesetter to take the lead and hold off Summonyourcourage in the stretch. It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to Disarm, who went on to post a strong 6 1/4-length victory in his next start at the Spa.

“He's doing great. He's been feeling really good and came out of the Sanford in good order,” said Cox. “He's been working every seven days.”

Mo Strike will leave post 5 with Geroux aboard.

Trainer Chad Brown will look to secure his second win in this event with promising maiden winner Blazing Sevens, a dominant open-lengths winner of his July 24 debut at Saratoga in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden sprint. The runner-up in that race, fellow Hopeful aspirant Bourbon Bash, returned to break his maiden next out by eight lengths at the Spa.

Owned by Rodeo Creek Racing, the son of Good Magic was a $225,000 purchase at last year's Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale from the Eaton Sales consignment. The first foal out of the Warrior's Reward mare Trophy Girl, Blazing Sevens' second dam, Storm West, produced Grade 1 winner King David.

Blazing Sevens breezed a half-mile in 1:01.95 on August 28 over the main track in his final preparation of the Hopeful.

“The form looked good in his last race,” said Brown. “He had his last breeze [on Sunday] for the Hopeful, so we'll see.”

Manny Franco has the call again from post 6.

Stakes-winner Gulfport will return to the scene of his first career loss when he finished a troubled second in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special behind Damon's Mound on August 13. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for owners William Heiligbrodt, Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm, Whispering Oaks Farm and Coolmore Stud, Gulfport was an emphatic 12 1/4-length winner of the Bashford Manor in his stakes debut on July 4 at Churchill Downs.

In the Saratoga Special, Gulfport raced one length off the pace in third and traveled well throughout the first half-mile, but was checked and steadied in the turn and lost position before re-rallying to come up 3 1/4 lengths shy.

Flavien Prat will ride for the first time from post 4.

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte will hope to regroup from an even fourth-place effort last out in the Sanford. A 7 3/4-length winner in his May 27 debut for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher at Belmont Park, Forte closed from seventh-of-12 in the Saratoga Special, but could not catch up to a runaway Mo Strike.

Pletcher said Forte should benefit from the extra furlong in the Hopeful.

“The track was probably a little deep for his liking [in the Sanford]. The pace didn't come back much,” said Pletcher. “I think he should appreciate the added distance.”

The son of Violence will exit post 2 with returning rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons.

Completing the field are Bourbon Bash and stablemate Western Ghent, who will try to give their Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas a record-extending ninth Hopeful victory and first since Sporting Chance took down the 2017 edition.

Campaigned by BC Stables, Bourbon Bash scored his last out maiden victory with ease, leading the field of nine at every point of call and widening his margin down the stretch to coast home eight lengths in front. A son of City of Light, Bourbon Bash was a $280,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Bourbon Bash recorded a bullet half-mile breeze in 47.30 over the Oklahoma training track on August 23.

“He woke up in that race,” Lukas said of his maiden effort. “That was a pivotal race I think for him. He came around and since has trained really strong. It'll be interesting to see if he can step up in the Hopeful.”

Western Ghent wheels back on 11 days rest after graduating by a head for a $75,000 tag here on August 25. The dark bay American Pharoah colt will be making his fourth start of the Saratoga meet after two non-threatening maiden special weight efforts and his maiden claiming score. Owned by Lukas with Bob Ghent, Ann Ghent and Laurie Lukas, Western Ghent was an $80,000 buy at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Tyler Gaffalione will ride Bourbon Bash from post 3 while Western Ghent will emerge from post 1 in rein to Luis Saez.

The Hopeful is slated as Race 11 on Monday's Closing Day card, which also features the Grade 3, $200,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap in Race 3. First post on the 12-race card is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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