Tag: Racing

Eight-time Churchill Downs leading rider Tyler Gaffalione has never ridden in the $1 million Arlington Million (Grade 1), but hopes his debut in the storied race aboard Godolphin's Santin brings him to the winner's circle.

“Santin simply has a lot of talent,” Gaffalione said from his summer base at Saratoga Race Course. “He's been working well up here and we're looking for a big performance out of him. Going over the pace in the race, it looks like there will be more speed up front which I think will be beneficial to him.”

On July 30, Santin breezed a solid five furlongs in 1:00.60 on the turf at Saratoga inside his classy stakes-winning stablemate Temple City Terror (five furlongs, 1:00.40). Gaffalione was aboard fellow Brendan Walsh-trained Temple City Terror for the move and rode her to a runner-up finish last weekend in the $250,000 Glens Falls (G2).

Two starts ago, Santin recorded his first Grade I score in the $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (GI). In his last start, the $750,000 Manhattan (G1), Santin was caught wide on the course and finished a disappointing sixth as the 7-2 second choice.

Santin arrived at Churchill Downs Aug. 4 and galloped about 1 5/8 miles Friday morning. The 4-year-old Distorted Humor colt was made the 3-1 second choice on oddsmaker Mike Battaglia's morning line.

Here is the complete field for Saturday's Arlington Million (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

1. Set Piece (GB) (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 4-1)
2. Sacred Life (FR) (Manny Franco, Chad Brown, 9-2)
3. Field Pass (Rey Gutierrez, Mike Maker, 8-1)
4. Smooth Like Strait (John Velazquez, Michael McCarthy, 5-2)
5. Megacity (Gerardo Corrales, Mike Maker, 15-1)
6. Santin (Gaffalione, Walsh, 3-1)
7. Admission Office (Brian Hernandez Jr., Brian Lynch, 10-1)
8. Cavalry Charge (David Cohen, Dallas Stewart, 20-1)
9. Cellist (Corey Lanerie, Rusty Arnold, 15-1)

Saturday's first post at Churchill Downs is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) and the Arlington Million will go as the Race 11 finale at 6:25 p.m.

Fans can still purchase tickets for Arlington Million Day. For ticket options and more information, visit www.churchilldowns.com.

Wagering is available for the Arlington Million and every race from Churchill Downs on www.TwinSpires.com, the official wagering provider of Churchill Downs Inc. and the Kentucky Derby.

The post Arlington Million: Additional Early Pace Should Be ‘Beneficial’ For Santin appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A pair of Grade 3 events, the $150,000 Bold Venture and $150,000 Trillium, co-headline Saturday's 11-race card at Woodbine.

Set at 6 ½ furlongs over the Woodbine Tapeta, the Bold Venture, for 3-year-olds and up, has attracted 14 starters, including Candy Overload.

A 4-year-old son of Reload-Mini Candy, the bay, trained by Krista Cole-Simpson, who co-owns with Denny Andrews and Northern Dawn Stable Inc, brings a mark of 3-4-1 from 12 starts into his latest test.

The gelding, known for his strong stretch rallies, arrives at the Bold Venture off an impressive win at 7 furlongs, a victory that showcased his signature late turn of foot, yielding a 2 ¼-length win in a time of 1:22.14.

Cole-Simpson is hopeful her consistent charge, 2-3-0 in his past six starts, will have some speed to chase on Saturday.

“The key is to have something for him to run at. The last time when he won, it was really exciting. Just how he closes, he was so wide in the turn, but he just flew past everyone with ease. Keveh [jockey, Nicholls] said, 'I love this horse and he just gets better and better.' He loves how he does everything. He came back to the barn after the win and brought him two bags of carrots.” ​ ​

Cole-Simpson took notice of her stable star well before his first race, on July 12, 2020.

“His first race as a baby, we kind of threw that out because it was on the turf, and he got hit in the face with some grass and his whole face swelled up. I gave him time, gelded him, and he won his second start. I knew when he got off the trailer that he was going to be nice, when we got him from Florida. I thought, 'This is the horse.' He just looked the part.”

Candy Overload, bred by Andrews and Northern Dawn Stables Inc., also acts the part.

“He has a pretty big ego,” offered Cole-Simpson. “He knows he's a good boy. If the massage therapist or anyone comes by, he's like, 'You don't need to touch me. I'm perfect.' He acts like that. He's in good order coming into this race and he's happy. Turf and running long aren't his thing. He's definitely a closing sprinter. There are some good horses here, but he deserves to be in the race.”

Other starters include Josie Carroll trainees Avie's Flatter and Mason's Gamble, the Mark Casse trio of Helium, Souper Stonehenge, Tap It to Win, and multiple stakes winners Nobals and Outadore.

Sprint star Pink Lloyd, now retired, won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the race.

The 1 1/16-mile main track Trillium, for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, has drawn 13 hopefuls, a group that includes multiple graded stakes winner Lady Speightspeare, Grade 3 Hendrie stakes winner Hazelbrook, and Powder Break Stakes winner Kate's Kingdom.

The Bold Venture is scheduled as the eighth race while the Trillium goes as race seven. First post is 1:00 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the races via HPIbet.com and the Dark Horse Bets app.

GRADE 3 $150,000 BOLD VENTURE STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Secret Reserve – Eswan Flores – Mike Mattine
2 – Avie's Flatter – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll
3 – Candy Overload – Keveh Nicholls – Krista Cole-Simpson
4 – Tap It to Win – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
5 – Helium (S) – Justin Stein – Mark Casse
6 – Outadore – Gerardo Corrales – Wesley Ward
7 – Nobals – Rafael Hernandez – Larry Rivelli
8 – Clayton – Antonio Gallardo – Kevin Attard
9 – Last American Exit – Daisuke Fukumoto – Robert Tiller
10 – Mason's Gamble – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll
11 – White Flag – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
12 – Lucky Score – Leo Salles – Willie Armata
13 – Roaring Forties – David Carroll – Katerina Vassilieva
14 – Souper Stonehenge – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

*Also Eligibles*

15 – Red River Rebel – Antonio Gallardo – Kevin Attard

GRADE 3 $150,000 TRILLIUM STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Il Malocchio – Sahin Civaci – Martin Drexler
2 – Talbeyah (IRE) – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
3 – Alydiva – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
4 – Dreidel – Justin Stein – Josie Carroll
5 – Kate's Kingdom – Antonio Gallardo – Armando De La Cerda
6 – Hazelbrook – Jason Hoyte – Lorne Richards
7 – November Fog – Luis Contreras – Sarah Ritchie
8 – Inthewinnerscircle – David Carroll – Mark Casse
9 – Lady Speightspeare – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
10 – Lovely Ride (S) – Gary Boulanger – Robertino Diodoro
11 – Dreaming of Drew – Patrick Husbands – Barb Minshall
12 – Lake Lucerne – David Moran – Brendan Walsh
13 – Crystal Glacier – David Carroll – Mark Casse

The post Full Fields Of 14, 13 Runners Drawn For Saturday’s Grade 3 Stakes At Woodbine appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A pair of Grade 2 stakes for the distaff set will top a 10-race card at the seaside oval known as Del Mar Saturday. First post for the afternoon delights is 2 p.m. PT.

First up in the stakes ranks is the 70th edition of the Yellow Ribbon Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile spin on the turf course for fillies and mares, aged 3 and up. The race carries a $250,000 purse and has drawn a field of seven headed by the multiple-stakes winning 4-year-old Going Global.

The next stakes offering will be the 54th running of the Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. This six-panel dash has lured six runners and matches up a pair of dashing femmes in Absolute Zero and Procrastination seeking the largest share of the $200,000 prize.

The Yellow Ribbon goes as Race 6 on the program with a likely post time of 4:34 p.m. PT. The Sorrento will be Race 9 and is scheduled to go off at 6:04 p.m.

Going Global, who is owned by Dubb, Gevertz or Nentwig, et al, has won eight of her 14 lifetime starts and compiled a bankroll of $817,292. The Irish-bred by the Acclimation stallion Mehmas raced in her native land as a 2-year-old, winning one of two starts, then went right on a roll at age 3 in the U.S. She won four straight stakes, then ran second in one before winning two more. The bay has raced twice this year – winning the Grade 2 Royal Heroine at Santa Anita, then coming back there to finish a close-up third in the Grade 1 Gamely.

Trainer Phil D'Amato has named Umberto Rispoli to ride Going Global Saturday and they'll break from Post 2 in the lineup. Morning line maker Jon White has hung her a solid 6-5 favorite in the stakes.

In the Sorrento, which is seen as the major stepping stone to the meet's top offering for 2-year-old fillies – the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on Saturday, September 10 – the chestnuts Procrastination and Absolutely Zero loom large.

The former, a daughter of Not This Time foaled in Kentucky, has started only once, but it was a dandy. The Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' miss ran off and hid from a field of straight maidens in good time for five furlongs at Los Alamitos on July 4, finally reporting home eight lengths the best. She was handled that day by rider Ricky Gonzalez and trainer Mike McCarthy has named him back for the Sorrento.

Absolutely Zero, a California-bred by Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, has won both her outings, the most recent the Fasig Tipton Futurity at Santa Anita on June 18. Trainer Doug O'Neill has had rider Mario Guiterrez up for both the filly's scores, so you know he wouldn't go any other way for the Sorrento.

Procrastination is listed at 8-5 on the morning line with Absolutely Zero just a tick behind at 9-5.

Here are the full fields for both races from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Yellow Ribbon: Convergence Stable and Madaket Stables' Avenue de France (Juan Hernandez up, 4-1); Going Global; Godolphin's Javanica (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1); Branham, McClanahan or Papaprodromou's Rocking Redhead (Hector Berrios, 12-1); Hronis Racing's Park Avenue (Victor Espinoza, 4-1); Agave Racing Stable or Living the Dream's Burgoo Alley (Ramon Vazquez, 10-1), and G. Watts Humphrey, Jr.'s Flippant (Joe Bravo, 401).

Sorrento: Procrastination; Aldabbagh, Cady or Leatherman's Vegas Magic (Abel Cedillo, 6-1); Rick or Sharon Walter's Dazzlingdominika (Kyle Frey, 4-1); Javier Perez's Classymademoiselle (Tyler Baze, 20-1); The Del Mar Group's Satin Doll (Vazquez, 5-1), and Absolutely Zero.

The post Graded Stakes Doubleheader For Distaffers At Del Mar On Saturday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The top 3-year old filly on the grounds at Del Mar's 2021 summer meet returns to the seaside oval Saturday when she faces six rivals in the G2 Yellow Ribbon on Saturday.

Last year, Going Global finished second to Madone in the G2 San Clemente before running off with a popular win in the G1 Del Mar Oaks and earning end of the meet honors. The Irish-bred daughter of Mehmas, out of the Invasor mare, Wrood, is owned by a partnership headed by Michael Dubb and, according to trainer Phil D'Amato, doing very well leading up to the race.

“She likes Del Mar,” D'Amato said. “She's been training very well here on the turf course and I'm excited to run her.”

Going Global has run twice this year, winning the G2 Royal Heroine at Santa Anita in her 4-year old debut in April then finishing third behind Ocean Road and new stablemate Going to Vegas in the G1 Gamely on Memorial Day.

“She was in tight in certain spots and I think it compromised her chance late,” D'Amato says of her race in the Gamely. “She still had free run at them but was in between horses. She fought valiantly but it wasn't her day.”

Flavien Prat rode Going Global in the Gamely but trainer Phil D'Amato will stick with his hot hand in the Yellow Ribbon, jockey Umberto Rispoli.

“Prat's done nothing wrong on her,” D'Amato notes. “The only reason he's not back up is that he's at Saratoga. Umberto has won on her and he knows her well enough and Umberto and I are doing real well here so far.”

Rispoli was on D'Amato's pair of stakes winners earlier in the summer meet, Balnikhov in the Oceanside on opening day and Bellabel in the G2 San Clemente.

Last year, Going Global skipped the Breeders' Cup, the connections choosing instead to run her in the G2 Goldikova at Del Mar on the Breeders' Cup undercard. It proved a wise choice as she won handily. They brought her back for the G1 American Oaks on Santa Anita's opening day but she ran sixth.

“We'll take it race by race,” D'Amato says. “That's (the Breeders' Cup) probably our goal at the end of the year but she's gotta get us there and earn her way into the race.”

Hronis Racing's Park Avenue is back from Texas to contend in the Yellow Ribbon. The daughter of Quality Road won the Ouija Board Distaff at Lone Star Park at the end of May. This will be her first race since returning to California.

The horse Park Avenue beat that day, Benowitz Family Trust et al's Avenue de France, is also entered in the Yellow Ribbon. She's already won at the summer meet, capturing the $100,000 Osunitas opening weekend and encouraging trainer Leonard Powell to take the step up. She'll be ridden by leading jockey Juan Hernandez.

Shipping in for the Yellow Ribbon will be G. Watts Humphrey Jr's Flippant, winner of the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff at Horseshoe Indiana last month.

The Yellow Ribbon, a longtime staple of Southern California stakes racing dating back to 1976, will be run as the sixth race on the 10-race Saturday card at Del Mar.

The field from the rail with jockeys:

1. Avenue de France (Hernandez)
2. Going Global (Rispoli)
3. Javanica (Drayden Van Dyke)
4. Rocking Redhead (Hector Berrios)
5. Park Avenue (Victor Espinoza)
6. Burgoo Alley (Ramon Vasquez)
7. Flippant (Joe Bravo)

The post Going Global To Face Six Rivals In Del Mar’s Yellow Ribbon appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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