Tag: Racing

Trainer Bret Calhoun had a banner day at Lone Star Park on Sunday, sending out Free Drop Maddy to win the filly division of the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity and Vietnam Victory to take the colts and gelding division. Each race offered a $150,000 purse to Texas accredited and TTA Sale graduates.

The James Stodola-owned Vietnam Victory was a $30,000 TTA Yearling Sale graduate last year who entered the Sunday's race off a gutsy performance in his maiden debut May 15 at Lone Star Park. That maiden race saw the Texas-bred Klimt colt post a one-length victory at first asking.

In the TTA Futurity, Vietnam Victory met six other rivals in the 5½- furlong contest.

With jockey Jose Alvarez aboard, Vietnam Victory dueled front-running Steve Asmussen-trained Bling Bling Bling through a half-mile before another Asmussen stablemate, Village Way, ranged up along the outside to make it three-horse battle across the track.

At the top of the stretch, both Vietnam Victory and Village Way darted away from the pacesetter to make it a two-horse race by midstretch, with Village Way leading by a half length. On cue, Vietnam Victory dug in and rallied to grind out the effort to surpass Village Way in deep stretch and go on to post a two-length victory in 1:06.13.

Village Way held for second, six lengths in front of Little Jony.

“We are delighted with how this colt ran today in the Futurity,” Calhoun said. “I am happy to get the win for my owner James Stodola, who is a Vietnam war veteran and named this horse accordingly. This colt really has just checked all of the boxes since we've had him, and I am looking forward to seeing just how capable he is moving forward.”

With the victory at 9-1 odds, Vietnam Victory moved his career earnings to $109,620 from only two career outings. He returned $21.40.

Bred by CJ Thoroughbreds, Vietnam Victory was produced by the Smart Strike mare Real Strike.

Calhoun also sent out Landon Jordan's Louisiana-bred Free Drop Maddy to a decisive victory in the filly division of the TTA Futurity.

With Kentucky-based jockey Gabriel Saez making the trip to ride the daughter of Free Drop Billy, Free Drop Maddy led at every point of call and won by 1 ¾ lengths from 23-1 longshot Guitar Woman. Cajun Gumbow 1 ½ lengths back in third in the 12-horse field.

Time was 1:06.02. Free Drop Maddy returned $5.60 at the 9-5 favorite.

“We've been feeling for a while that we were going to be live in this spot with this filly at Lone Star,” Calhoun said. “We had a lot of confidence in this filly, and it was great to see her step it up on this big day.”

Free Drop Maddy, who brought a winning bid of $10,500 at the 2021 TTA Yearling Sale, broke her maiden in the TTA Futurity to move her career earnings total to $102,700.

With Free Drop Maddy a Louisiana-bred, Calhoun is contemplating running her possibly against state-bred company in her next start.

“There are some Louisiana bred 2-year-old filly races coming up that we could possibly look at,” said Calhoun. “The Shine Young Futurity at Evangeline is possible for us to look at, depending on how she comes out of this effort and gets back to training.”

Free Drop Maddy was bred by Clear Creek Stud from the Half Ours mare Solo Bueno. She is the first stakes winner for Spendthrift Farm's first-crop sire Free Drop Billy, a Grade 1-winning son of Union Rags who stood for $5,000 in 2022.

The post Calhoun Runners Vietnam Victory, Free Drop Maddy Sweep Divisions Of Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity at Lone Star appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and trainer Christophe Clement visited the Saratoga Race Course winner's circle for the second time at graded stakes level at the current Saratoga meet when Big Invasion kept a win streak afloat Sunday in the $175,000 Quick Call presented by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (G3).

Clement and Reeves captured three stakes events last summer at Saratoga and are already in good position to equal last year's accolades just four days into the meet. The owner-trainer team collaborated Friday in Forbidden Apple (G3) with New York-bred City Man.

Big Invasion secured his fifth consecutive victory and first graded score in the 5 1/2-furlong test for sophomores over the Mellon turf course after winning his previous four starts by at least two lengths. Cutting back from the seven-furlong Paradise Creek on May 29 at Belmont Park, the Declaration of War bay solidified his distance versatility, splitting rivals around the far turn and was hand ridden to victory in the final strides under Joel Rosario.

Big Invasion, who broke from the outermost post 6, dropped back to fifth in the early stages as Surprise Boss was hustled out the gate by Kendrick Carmouche and led the opening quarter mile in a torrid :21.41 over the firm going with Run Curtis Run keeping close company in second.

Making his move in between horses around the far turn, Big Invasion was in third nearing the quarter pole and was on even terms with Surprise Boss and Run Curtis Run through a half-mile in :43.83. Big Invasion was already one length in front by the stretch call and powered home a 2 3/4-length winner in a final time of 1:00.80.

Run Curtis Run held second a half-length ahead of Surprise Boss.

Completing the order of finish were Sky and Sand, also owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Asymmetric, and Nobals. Dance Code, One Timer, and main track-only entrants Senbei and Hagler were scratched.

Big Invasion, who returned $3.70 for a $2 win wager as the favorite, has now won his fourth stakes race over as many ovals. He previously captured the Texas Glitter on March 26 at Gulfstream Park nearly six weeks before capturing the William Walker at Churchill Downs.

“He's a very good horse and he keeps winning. That's what good horses do, they win more often than the lesser ones,” said Clement, who won the 2014 Quick Call with popular turf sprinter Pure Sensation.

“He was impressive last time and impressive the time before that. Today, I told Joel to be comfortable with whatever he wanted to do. We know he can rate now. He's still a bit immature. He was perfect, but he got a little bit rank in the turn. But he's so good, he just goes away from them in the stretch. He's very exciting.”

Clement noted the horse's versatility in terms of both distance and pace tactics.

“He's better than just the setup [of the race]. He can do different things,” Clement said. “If there's no pace, he can go to the lead. He showed the other day he could go seven-eighths at Belmont. He's becoming very versatile. He's becoming more mature and a very serious horse.”

Big Invasion's best days could still be ahead of him, according to Clement.

“If I keep him sound, he should be even better from three-to-four because he's still a touch immature,” Clement said. “You can see it in the way he runs. But he's very fast and if you can just control that speed, he's a major horse.”

The win was also business as usual for Rosario, who now boasts three graded stakes victories through the past three days of the Saratoga meet. After winning aboard City Man, he captured the Diana (G1) on Saturday when piloting In Italian.

Rosario earned a third Quick Call conquest, previously piloting Listing [2019] and eventual New York leading sire Central Banker [2013].

“He broke very well and it looked like it was a little speed in front, and we set up nice in behind them,” said Rosario. “I kind of made a move into the turn and continued his move. He did great. Turning for home, I was just a passenger on the best horse in the race. Going forward, his races look like they're getting better and better. That's exciting.”

Clement said either the $150,000 Mahony on August 14 at Saratoga or the Franklin-Simpson (G2) on September 10 at Kentucky Downs are both viable options for Big Invasion's next start.

Big Invasion now boasts a bankroll of $361,545 through a 5-1-0 record from six starts. His lone defeat was his career debut on January 7 where he was second beaten two lengths over the Gulfstream turf.

Purchased for $72,000 by agent Taproot Bloodstock out of the Vinery Stables consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Big Invasion is the third offspring out of the Curlin mare Curls in Place, whose other two progeny of racing age are both stakes-placed.

Big Invasion was bred in Kentucky by John O'Meara.

The post Big Invasion Extends Win Streak With Breakthrough Graded Stakes Score In Quick Call At Saratoga appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Jockey Andy Hernandez says there's no secret to the success That's Right has had since being switch to the grass three starts ago.

“With him, it's ring and go,” said Hernandez. “If you want to catch me, okay. Good luck with how fast this horse is on the grass.”

That's Right made the transition to stakes company look almost as effortless as he did the rise from the maiden special weight ranks to an allowance, out-breaking the field by two lengths and then scampering off unchallenged for 3¼-length victory in the $100,000 My Frenchman Stakes Sunday at Monmouth Park.

After starting his career 0-for-6 on the dirt, trainer Michael Moore tried the 3-year-old son of Goldencents sprinting on the grass for the first time on May 20 at Pimlico. He won that race by five lengths to break his maiden, then easily handled allowance company with a 5¼-length romp at five furlongs on the grass.

Sunday was more of the same, with That's Right covering the 5½ furlongs over a firm turf course in 1:02.46.

“He always showed speed on the dirt but he frustrated us because he would always quit at the end,” said Moore. “We thought he was better than he was showing. We finally got him on the grass at Pimlico and he ran off the screen, so obviously we are keeping him on the turf.

“He is a totally different horse on the turf, the way he moves, everything about him. This race was another test with better horses, but as I told the owner (James Shannon Jr.) after the race: 'He came off the turn like he did in the allowance race in his last start.' He was four or five lengths in front of them. And there were some good horses in this field.”

The 7-2 third choice in the field of seven 3-year-olds, That's Right never gave favorite One Timer or second choice Too Many Twizzlers any hope. One Timer closed for second, a head better than Grooms All Business.

That's Right is now 3-for-3 on the turf, all sprints.

“There was speed in the race and he got to the lead pretty easily. At this point in his career no one can catch him on the grass,” said Moore. “You look at him on the grass now and you say, 'How good can he be?' ”

Hernandez, a 22-year-old native of Matanzas, Cuba, has been aboard for all three grass sprints. The victory was his first stakes win at Monmouth Park.

“He broke sharp today,” said Hernandez. “I put him on the lead and he did what he has been doing since he tried the grass – he took off and no one could stay with him.

“I kept looking around for someone to make a run at us but after a while I just said, 'He is going to win a stakes race.' ”

That's Right led the field through a :22.29 opening quarter and reached the half in :44.21 before cruising home.

That's Right, who was bred in Kentucky by Edward A. Seltzer, is out of the Greatness mare Cat Ten. He has a 3-1-2 record from nine career starts and $154,150 in lifetime earnings.

The post Turf-Loving That’s Right Aces First Stakes Test With Gate-To-Wire Romp In My Frenchman At Monmouth Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Four-time Eclipse Award winner and meet-leading trainer Chad Brown will send out stakes winners Dolce Zel and Eminent Victor in pursuit of his sixth victory in in the $175,000 Lake George (G3) Friday at Saratoga Race Course.

Brown has captured the last three editions of the one-mile inner turf test for sophomore fillies, including with 2019 winner Regal Glory, who earned her first graded stakes victory on the path to winning six more graded stakes races, four of which were Grade 1s.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, and Robert V. LaPenta's Dolce Zel is the lone graded stakes winner in the field, having won the Grade 3 Florida Oaks on March 12 at Tampa Bay Downs in her North American debut and first start for Brown.

The daughter of Zelzal commenced her career in her native France and won second time out at Longchamp one start before capturing the Florida Oaks. She earned additional graded stakes black type in her next two starts when a respective second and third in the Appalachian at Keeneland and the last out Edgewood at Churchill Downs, both Grade 2 races.

“I let her catch her breath a little bit after her race at Churchill,” Brown said. “She had done a lot of training and running all winter, and she ran well down at Tampa, so I let her catch her breath. She's going to be a little fresh in this race, so we'll see. I think the distance will suit her at a mile.”

Distance was also a factor in entering Michael Dubb and The Elkstone Group's Eminent Victor, who exits a triumph in the one-mile Wild Applause at Belmont Park, where she defeated dual-winning stable mate Oakhurst and graded stakes-placed Breeze Easy.

Privately purchased following a victorious debut last summer at Arlington Park, the daughter of Mr. Z earned Grade 1 black type in her first start for Brown when a late-closing third in Woodbine's Natalma.

Following her Wild Applause coup, Brown said she would be under consideration for the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3) on August 7. He ultimately decided to keep Eminent Victor at one mile for the time being, but said she could stretch out in the fall for Keeneland's Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) on October 15.

“She's training great, but I don't feel entirely comfortable moving her up three-sixteenths of a mile quite yet,” Brown said. “She only ran one time this year. I'll try to stretch her out a little later in the year. I think she's an interesting horse later on in the year to possibly get to the Queen Elizabeth at a mile and an eighth if we can get there. I'm building her up to that distance rather than just throwing her out too far.”

Dolce Zel will emerge from post 5 under Irad Ortiz Jr., while Eminent Victor will exit post 6 under Flavien Prat.

Emerging off an eight-month hiatus is stakes winner Koala Princess, who last raced when seventh as the lukewarm favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Del Mar.

Owned by breeders Runnymede Farm and Peter Callahan in partnership with Chris Zinkhan and John C. Oxley, Koala Princess captured the Ainsworth at Kentucky Downs en route to her Breeders' Cup effort. A victory would make Koala Princess the sixth horse to win their next start exiting the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Delacour expressed no concern with the long time in between races.

She worked a bullet half-mile in :49 flat from the gate at Fair Hill Training Center on Thursday.

“I think she'll be fine. Last year when she ran, she was ready to fire right away. She's the kind of filly that was very genuine in the mornings,” Delacour said. “She's not the kind of filly that needs a race, I think she can run well right away. I've been very happy with what she's done in the morning. Her last three breezes were pretty impressive. That's what it takes to run races like that and I've been pretty happy with what she's done.”

Delacour said his filly should relish the Lake George distance.

“I like coming back to a mile and we'll take it from there. She's breezed every week and no problem so far,” Delacour said.

Trevor McCarthy will pick up the mount from post 4.

Andrew Rosen's British homebred Skims will attempt to make her third graded stakes effort the charm for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. The bay Frankel filly enters from two third-place finishes against Grade 2 company. After finishing 2 1/2 lengths behind Spendarella in the Appalachian at Keeneland, she rounded out the trifecta over a yielding Belmont inner turf last out in the nine-furlong Wonder Again.

McGaughey said Skims will appreciate a cutback in distance.

“It will give her a little more pace and we'll see if she can relax back there,” McGaughey said. “Not that she wasn't before, but she was kind of fighting a bit in the longer races. We'll see if she can't relax back there and finish.”

McGaughey said Skims, who drilled through a bullet half-mile in :47.81 on Friday over the Oklahoma turf, could use the Lake George as a springboard to the $200,000 Lake Placid (G2) on August 20 at the Spa.

“She worked really well the other day and she's coming into it well,” McGaughey said. “I think she'll get better as we go along, too. Hopefully, she runs good there and we can come back in the Lake Placid.”

Skims captured her second lifetime start over the Aqueduct inner turf before defeating winners in a first level allowance optional claimer in February at Tampa Bay Downs.

Joel Rosario will pick up the mount aboard Skims from post 8.

Trainer Robert Falcone Jr. will saddle Irish-bred Spirit And Glory, who made her stateside debut a victorious one in a June 16 allowance optional claimer over Belmont's inner turf.

Owned by Falcone in partnership with Michael Nentwig, John Rochfort, and Beast Mode Racing, Spirit And Glory sprung a 24-1 upset with a deep-closing victory in the 1 1/16-mile race, where she defeated Canisy, who came back to win on Opening Weekend at the Spa.

Breaking from the outside in the eight-horse field, the daughter of Cotai Glory shied at the start with two horses to her inside breaking outward. In last position from the start until the final stretch call, Spirit And Glory made a devastating last-to-first move to win by a half-length.

“She shows a lot more speed in the mornings,” Falcone said. “I've popped her out of the gate a couple times and she's really fast from the gate. But it was a different thing for her to go out there in the afternoon and run. We drew the outside post going a mile and a sixteenth with the temporary fence over there and she had never been there before.”

Spirit And Glory will break from the outside once more under return rider Dylan Davis.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will provide Helen Alexander and Helen K. Groves homebred Al Qahira with her first start at stakes level. The bay daughter of Cairo Prince broke her maiden when stretching out to nine furlongs for a May 4 Churchill Downs turf maiden, which she won at fifth asking.

Al Qahira finished second on debut over the Churchill Downs main track in November before finishing second to next out winners Beechnut Trophy and Spendarella over the Gulfstream Park turf.

Jose Ortiz will ride from post 3.

Completing the field are Heavenly Hellos [post 2, Abel Lezcano], who sprung a 36-1 upset in the last out Horseshoe Indianapolis on May 18, and the Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained duo of Sister Lou Ann [post 7, Javier Castellano] – winner of the Martha Washington at Gulfstream Park last out; and two-time winner Republique [post 1, John Velazquez], who makes her turf debut.

The Lake George, named after the popular neighboring town just 25 miles north of Saratoga Springs, New York, is carded as Race 9 on Friday's 10-race program.

The post Brown’s Stakes-Winning Duo Dolce Zel, Eminent Victor To Meet Seven In Lake George appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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