Tag: Racing

After Sharp Aza Tack's solid first-out maiden special weight turf score at Santa Anita, trainer Doug O'Neill was looking for a race as a set-up for the $500,000 Global Tote Juvenile Sprint at Kentucky Downs on September 8.

That race was Saturday's $100,000 Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park, and it turned out to be little more than a public workout for the 2-year-old son of Three Chimneys' Farm resident sire Sharp Azteca.

Flashing impressive speed early and then even more dazzling power late, Sharp Aza Tack rolled to a 7¼-length win in the 81^st edition of the Tyro Stakes to improve to 2-for-2 lifetime.

The winning time for the five furlongs over a turf course labeled as firm was :55.71.

“I decided to ship the horse to Monmouth Park after talking to owner Ron Arakelian (of Rr3 Racing),” said O'Neill. “We circled the Global Tote Juvenile Sprint at Kentucky Downs (at 6½ furlongs on the grass) for him and we thought `what is a good spot between the win at Santa Anita and the Kentucky Downs race?' The race at Monmouth Park was perfect. I have horses at Keeneland now and we thought the Tyro Stakes would be a good middle ground.”

Sent off as the even-money favorite in the field of seven juveniles, Sharp Aza Tack needed only minor early urging from jockey Jairo Rendon before dusting his rivals.

The decision to try the colt on the grass at the outset of his career, O'Neill said, was because “I didn't know if he was good enough to stay with some of the top baby sprinters on the dirt in California.”

He won his debut June 10 by 2¼ lengths on the turf at Santa Anita.

“I would be lying if I didn't say I was shocked at how well he raced that day,” said O'Neill. “He came out of it great so why would we mess around with surfaces? We didn't over-think it. It's not brain surgery.”

Rendon, who has 13 grass wins among his 21-win total for the year, said the only thing he knew about Sharp Aza Tack was from his one running line.

“I didn't know much about this horse since his only race was in California,” said Rendon. “I knew from the past performances that he is very quick from the gate. So I was expecting the same from him today – and that's what he did.

“The only thing Doug O'Neill said to me was, 'He's a quick horse. Just go.' Once he got into stride he took off. He won very easily in his second start and he won easily in his first start so it looks like he could be a good one.”

O'Neill said Sharp Aza Tack, a $100,000 purchase from RiceHorse Stable at the OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, took another step forward with his performance at Monmouth Park. Power Attack, who tried staying with Sharp Aza Tack through fractions of :21.49 and :44.12, was second, 1¾ lengths ahead of Bart's Dream.

Sharp Aza Tack returned $4.

“There were some good runners in there. I couldn't have been more impressed or more proud of the way he ran,” said O'Neill. “It's hard to be more impressive than he was.”

Sharp Aza Tack was bred in Kentucky by Joe Cowles and Emily Cowles. He is out of the Bernardini mare Que Chulo.

The post Budding Turf Star Sharp Aza Tack Dominates Rivals In Monmouth’s Tyro Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Sunday's 49th edition of the $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar has proven a popular nine-furlong spin on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, drawing the maximum number of runners with 11 and one more besides who sits and waits on the also-eligible list.

The Grade 2 Read is named for the seaside track's first director of public relations, a role he filled exceptionally well for several decades. He helped get the track off the ground and flying high soon thereafter. His son, Tim, worked at the track for 50 years with the last few decades in the role of chief of operations. The Reads certainly have left their mark at turf and surf central.

Sunday's renewal has a likely favorite in C R K Stable's multiple-stakes winner Beyond Brilliant, a quick-footed son of Twirling Candy who has shown an affinity for the turf and comes into the feature off a smart score in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita on April 30.

Trainer John Shirreffs has named Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza to handle the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred and they'll break from Post 3 in the lineup coming out of Del Mar's diagonal infield chute.

Here's the full field for the Read from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:  Rockingham Ranch's Masteroffoxhounds (Juan Hernandez up, 8-1); Madaket Stables, Dubb or Strauss' Cash Equity (Florent Geroux, 12-1); Beyond Brilliant (5-2); Wertheimer & Frere's Ecrivain (Hector Berrio, 15-1); Calumet Farm's Tango Tango Tango (Declan Cannon, 8-1); Cannon Thoroughbreds' There Goes Harvard (Diego Herrera, 4-1); Nice Guys Stables' King Cause (Joe Bravo, 20-1); Team Valor International's Homer Screen (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1); Anastasai, Ukegawa or Valezza's Hong Kong Harry (Ramon Vazquez, 7-2); Steve Moger's Tarantino (Armando Ayuso, 15-1); and Sterling Stables, Nentwig or CYBT's Cathkin Peak (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1).

The also eligible is Diaz, Valdes Baalbek Corporation or Don Alberto's Master Piece (Able Cedillo, 15-1).

Chief threats to the likely favorite appear to be Hong Kong Harry, There Goes Harvard and Cathkin Peak.

Hong Kong Harry is a 5-year-old gelding by the Irish stallion Es Que Love who has a perfect three-for-three record since coming over to the U.S. from Great Britain this year. Trainer Phil D'Amato won the Grade 3 American Stakes with him on the grass at Santa Anita on June 19 and is now stepping up to take on tougher.

There Goes Harvard comes out of a smart score in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 30. The Will Take Charge 4-year-old colt has been first, second or third in 11 of his 12 lifetimes starts and sports a bankroll of $455,090. He's trained by Mike McCarthy.

Cathkin Peak, another Irish-bred, won an allowance race at the feature's distance on June 18 at Santa Anita in his first start of 2022. He, too, is trained by D'Amato and has made all of his nine lifetime starts on the lawn.

The Read goes as Race 9 on the 11-race Sunday card. First post is 2 p.m.

The post Overflow Field Enters Del Mar’s Eddie Read; Beyond Brilliant Likely Favorite appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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It was an old-fashioned throw down between two extra fast Thoroughbreds Friday at Del Mar – the gray mare Leggs Galore and the young bay filly Twilight Gleaming. They hooked up out of the gate in the five-furlong turf test and ding-donged it all the way around the bend until the 3-year-old began to inch clear in the straight before going on to a half-length victory in the $104,100 Daisycutter Handicap.

The winner, a 3-year-old Irish-bred by National Defense owned by Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables of Lexington, Ky., was winning her fifth race in her eighth start (she was second in her other three) and earned $60,000 in the process to fatten her bankroll to $781,867. The extra quick miss had won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at the same five-furlong distance at Del Mar last November.

Twilight Gleaming is trained by Wesley Ward, who shipped her in from Saratoga for the race, then deputized west coaster Blake Heap to saddle her. She was ridden by Del Mar's leading rider, Juan Hernandez, who won another race on the card and now has nine first through the first five days of the session.

Twilight Gleaming's chief rival in the Daisycutter, William Sims' Leggs Galore, hung on gamely through the stretch but was outnodded for second at the wire by the 29-1 shot Xmas Surprise, who is owned by Marsha Naify.

The fractions in the heat were  :21.90, :44.91 and :56.90.

Twilight Gleaming paid $4.80, $3.60 and $2.40 across the board. Xmas Surprise returned $12.80 and $4.80 and Leggs Galore, who actually went favored in the dash at 13-10, paid $2.40 to show.

The track's Pick 6 Single Ticket Jackpot Wager carried over for the fifth consecutive day and its pool will start with $284,651 in the pot Saturday.

First post for the Saturday program, which features two excellent stakes in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby and the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap, is 2 p.m.

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JUAN HERNANDEZ (Twilight Gleaming, winner) — “She broke a step slow, but she's got speed. I kept her outside a little bit away from that speed horse inside us (Leggs Galore). But when we started to go for home, she was pulling on me; she wanted to go. She changed leads at the quarter pole and she really ran. She's a good one.”

BLAKE HEAP, assistant trainer to WESLEY WARD (Twilight Gleaming, winner) — “I was hoping they (would) break slow. But we're on the outside, doing what we have to do, and she's a runner. ”

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The stakes win was the third of the meet for rider Hernandez, but his first in the Daisycutter. He now has 18 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer Ward and his third in the Daisycutter. He now has 12 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The post Twilight Gleaming Zips To Daisycutter Score For Wesley Ward appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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