Tag: Racing

Stonestreet Stables' Twilight Gleaming made an impression across multiple continents as a 2-year-old last year, culminating with a victory in the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, and will make her Saratoga Race Course debut in Friday's $150,000 Coronation Cup for sophomore fillies sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon turf course.

The Wesley Ward trainee, who has posted four wins and three second-place efforts in seven career starts, received a five-month freshening following her half-length victory over Go Bears Go in the five-furlong Breeders' Cup contest over firm Del Mar turf in November. After finishing second in the 5 1/2-furlong Palisades in April at Keeneland, Twilight Gleaming earned a return winner's circle trip by edging Devine Charger by a head in the five-furlong Mamzelle on May 14 at Churchill.

Ward said he's excited to see the Irish-bred National Defense filly build on that effort as she ramps up for what he hopes is another memorable campaign for Stonestreet Stables owner Barbara Banke.

“She looks great in training and we're thrilled to get her back out there, and I'm especially excited for Barbara Banke,” Ward said. “She's had some great success so far and we're looking forward to building on that.”

Twilight Gleaming, a maiden winner at second asking in May 2021 at Belmont, followed with a runner-up effort in the Group 2 Queen Mary one month later at Ascot. She captured the Prix de la Vallee d'Auge in August at Deauville in France ahead of her Breeders' Cup coup.

Twilight Gleaming has breezed three times on Saratoga's Oklahoma turf training course, including a bullet five-furlong effort in 59.44 seconds on – fitting for her name – Independence Day.

“She looked very impressive in that breeze,” Ward said.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride from post 3.

Waterville Lake Stables' Derrynane, who ran a competitive fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in finishing just one length off the winner, will get a return engagement with Twilight Gleaming for trainer Christophe Clement.

The New York-homebred kicked off her 2022 with a third-place effort in the Limestone in April at Keeneland before running fifth in the Grade 3 Soaring Softly in May at Belmont Park. Last out, Derrynane ran third in the Stormy Blues on June 19 at Laurel Park while carrying a field-high 122 pounds.

“Even though she finished third last time, I thought it was a nice race,” Clement said. “She had plenty of weight on and ran a good race. I'm excited to run her back. I just hope the ground stays on the fast side. She's doing very well.”

Derrynane will return to Saratoga, where she won her debut last July before running fifth next out at the Spa in the Bolton Landing. Joel Rosario will have the call from post 6.

Paradise Farms and David Staudacher's Lady Scarlet is riding high off her first graded stakes win following a 3 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness on May 20 over the Pimlico main track.

Trained by Mike Maker, Lady Scarlet captured her stakes debut in the Cicada in March at Aqueduct Racetrack before stepping up in class and finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Beaumont in April at Keeneland. She finished eighth in her lone turf start in August, sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs at Saratoga.

Fresh off her win in Maryland, the Union Rags filly will pick up jockey Tyler Gaffalione's services as she exits post 9.

Silverton Hill's Static Fire will move up to stakes competition for the first time after winning her first two races for trainer Brian Lynch. A daughter of Speightster, she won on turf in her September debut at the Spa and made her seasonal bow with a 1 3/4-length win on the Churchill main track in May. Returning to grass, she will break from post 7 with Julien Leparoux aboard.

Four-time stakes winner Marissa's Lady, owned by the Boone Family Trust and the Tillema Family Trust, will make her turf debut. She has racked up victories in the Fern Creek, Gowell, Valdale and Cincinnati Trophy at both Churchill and Turfway Park, respectively.

Trainer William Morey moved Marissa's Lady up in class last out, where she ran fourth in the Grade 2 Eight Belles on May 6 at Churchill. She will break from post 1 in tandem with Kendrick Carmouche.

Arnmore Thoroughbreds' Poppy Flower, a chestnut daughter of Lea, won the Stormy Blues last out for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. She will make her first Saratoga appearance since finishing second in the Bolton Landing in August. Jose Ortiz will be in the irons from post 8.

Rounding out the field is the Irish-bred Artos, second last out in the Stormy Blues at Laurel Park after a third in the Mamzelle, for trainer Rusty Arnold [post 4, Jose Lezcano]; Sweet Solare, who is cross-entered in the $135,000 Wilton on Thursday at Saratoga for trainer Horacio De Paz [post 5, Ricardo Santana, Jr.]; the graded-stakes placed Mystic Eyes [post 10, Luis Saez] for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher; and a pair from trainer Jonathan Thomas in Empress Tigress [post 11, Hall of Famer John Velazquez] and Benbang [post 2, Manny Franco].

Everyoneloveslinda is entered for the main track only.

The Coronation Cup is slated as Race 8 on Friday's 10-race card, which co-features the Grade 3, $175,000 Forbidden Apple in Race 9. First post is 1:05 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.

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There are a range of emotions connections can experience while watching their horse in the stretch drive of a race, and All in Sync managed to elicit nearly all of them in the late stages of the $70,000 Dade Park Dash Overnight Stakes for 3-year-olds on Sunday at Ellis Park.

After snatching the lead at top of the lane only to be caught and briefly overtaken by graded stakes winner Call Me Midnight, All in Sync delivered a gritty counterpunch when he re-rallied in the final jump to get his head down at the wire, giving Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen a sweep of the stakes on the opening weekend of the Henderson, Kentucky track's 100^th anniversary meet.

Like the $60,000 Pea Patch Overnight Stakes on Saturday, the 5 1/2-furlong Dade Park Dash was contested over the main track after all races were moved off the turf Sunday following heavy rain the day before. And just as the Asmussen barn prevailed 24 hours earlier with Speedometer, Ed and Susie Orr's All in Sync would also not be denied with black type on the line as the son of Maclean's Music earned his first stakes win in eight career starts.

“I've worked with him since he was a 2-year-old since he came out of the OBS sale and…he's a big boy. He kind of gets cheeky and playful but he's got a great mentality, he's got a great personality,” Marissa Short, assistant to Asmussen, said of All in Sync. “He's a classy horse. He's a feel-good horse but he's a classy horse. He's got a great head on him.”

When the Dade Park Dash was moved to the main track, some key indicators strongly suggested All in Sync was in an ideal position to end a three-race losing skid. Each of the dark bay colt's prior two victories had come at sprint distances on the dirt, including an allowance optional claiming victory going six furlongs at Oaklawn Park on February 11, and with only three other rivals to contend with on Sunday, jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. knew he only needed to stay out of his mount's way in order to ensure they got the necessary set up.

Sent off as the 1-2 betting favorite, All in Sync indeed had a clear trip, rating a close up fourth as Emperorofthedark cut early fractions of :22.84 and :45.40 for a half mile with Sheltowee's Ball rating second.

With about a quarter mile to go, Hernandez let All in Sync start rolling to the outside and the pair overtook the pacesetter before being engaged by Call Me Midnight, who battled on along the fence and momentarily had a nose in front in the final sixteenth.

“Our biggest thing was just give him a good, clean trip,” Hernandez said. “It looked on paper like it was between him and (Call Me Midnight). All I had to do is be a good passenger and let him do his thing. When he put his head in front turning for home, he was pretty resilient in holding that horse off. When Call Me Midnight came to him, he was in for a fight and he knew what he was up to. He ran a big race.”

All in Sync covered the distance in 1:03.43 over a track rated fast as he collected his third career victory while improving his earnings to $220,588. He returned $3.40.

Call Me Midnight, winner of the Lecomte Stakes (G3) in January at Fair Grounds, was 3 1/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Sheltowee's Ball as Emperorofthedark faded to fourth.

Purchased by the Orrs for $310,000 out of the 2021 OBS April Two-Year-Olds in Training sale, All in Sync was bred in Kentucky by Philip Steinberg and is out of the Girolamo mare System Time.

In the Pea Patch for 3-year-old fillies, the rain that soaked the track Saturday did nothing to dull Speedometer's budding brilliance as the Steve Asmussen-trainee ran off to a five-length victory in the 5 1/2-furlong race contested the main track after all races were taken off the turf due to soggy conditions.

It took Winchell Thoroughbreds' homebred Speedometer some time to figure out the game with the chestnut distaffer losing each of her six starts during her juvenile campaign last year. Since opening her sophomore season with a maiden victory at Sam Houston on January 21, the Tapit filly has flaunted improved maturity to go along with her tactical acceleration as she came into the Pea Patch with a three-race win streak, highlighted by a triumph in the Goldfinch Stakes at Prairie Meadows on May 13.

Confident as Speedometer's camp was that she could handle the turf, adjusting to the Ellis Park grass proved a non-issue when rain prompted the surface change.

After racing along the rail while tracking pacesetter Blazing Summer through an opening quarter mile in :22.54 and a half in :44.95, Speedometer took command around the far turn and opened up daylight between herself and her rivals in the lane, cruising home under jockey Vincent Cheminaud to stop the teletimer in 1:02.95 over a sealed, muddy track.

“It was a really good ride by (Cheminaud),” Short said. “He just kind of put her where she needed to be and just kind of rode the race and it worked out well for us. It's incredible to watch this filly train in the morning and just watch her grow into this really nice filly. Watching her come off the turn, it was just incredible to see. It was everything we see in the morning with her.”

Blazing Summer held for second, 2 3/4-lengths clear of third-place finisher Mystique Saboteur, but was vanned off after the race and was to be evaluated, according to her trainer John Ortiz.

“Unfortunately, she didn't pull up well and had to ride back in the van. She'll be going to the farm for a bit of a vacation to heal,” Ortiz said of Blazing Summer. “But as far as the performance, she ran as well we expected. She's always worked fast on the dirt in the mornings.”

Devine Charger and Sunday Grace rounded out the order.

Sent off as the 2-1 betting favorite, Speedometer returned $6.40 while improving her overall record to four wins from 10 starts with $149,990 in earnings.

Bred in Kentucky, she is out of the multiple stakes-winning City Zip mare Speedinthruthecity, who was also trained by Asmussen and campaigned by Winchell Thoroughbreds.

The post Asmussen Sweeps Ellis Park’s Opening Weekend Stakes As All In Sync Wins Dade Park Dash, Speedometer Takes Pea Patch appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Legendary Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas is not done writing his storybook career just yet. At 87 years young, Lukas still has plenty of high-caliber horses to showcase his talents at the upcoming Saratoga Race Course summer meet, which starts Thursday.

For the first time since 2019, Lukas, a six-time leading trainer at the Spa, will have an expanded presence at Saratoga Race Course. He will have 16 stalls on the Oklahoma backstretch where he is sure to be seen out on his pony every morning during training hours. Among the squad Lukas is bringing to Saratoga is Briland Farms' Secret Oath, the winner of this year's Kentucky Oaks (G1).

“We're excited about being back,” said Lukas. “We've got Secret Oath coming in that group and we have a couple of 2-year-old colts that we think can run. We could have a decent meet. We're thrilled about being back up there. More importantly, we've tried to develop quality horses that we can bring to Saratoga.”

Secret Oath, an Arrogate filly, provided Lukas with his fifth Kentucky Oaks victory and his first since Overbrook Farm's Seaside Attraction captured the lilies in 1990. Fourth in the Preakness (G1) at Pimlico last out, Secret Oath has been training forwardly at Churchill Downs and is on target for the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) on July 23. The prestigious nine-furlong test has been won by Lukas twice, the most recent being in 1989 with champion Open Mind.

A winner of Oaklawn Park's Martha Washington and Grade 3 Honeybee earlier this year, Secret Oath faced colts for the first time when third in the Arkansas Derby(G1)  in April ahead of her Kentucky Oaks conquest.

“Secret Oath is doing absolutely super. She is really, really doing well. We couldn't be happier with her,” Lukas said. “What happened with her is she was kind of a gangly filly that didn't fill out her frame. She's filled in and looks really good now. She's putting it all together and she's really getting stronger. I love the way she's coming around and have been really pleased with her lately.”

Lukas could get things started off right on opening day Thursday when he saddles BC Stables' Summer Promise in the $175,000 Schuylerville (G3) for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs on the main track. The daughter of Uncle Mo is a half sister to Grade 1-winner and producer Creative Cause, Vexatious, winner of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign in 2020, and graded stakes winner Destin. All are out of the prolific Grade 1-winning millionaire Dream of Summer.

He also added that Aaron Sones and Julie Gilbert's Ethereal Road, winner of the Sir Barton on May 21 at Pimlico, will target the $600,000 Jim Dandy (G2) on July 31.

Lukas has plenty of fond memories at the Spa, including his Hall of Fame induction in 1999, the same year he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with eventual Horse of the Year Charismatic.

He saddled Eugene Klein's Lady's Secret to a victory against colts over muddy going in the 1986 Whitney en route to Horse of the Year honors. Eight years later, he campaigned Flanders to a championship-earning juvenile season, winning the Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga for the late William T. Young.

Lukas' other Saratoga accolades include winning three runnings of the Travers: Corporate Report [1991], Thunder Gulch [1995] and Will Take Charge [2013], two Whitneys, two Alabamas, and eight wins in the Hopeful.

“Every year up there is a special event and a special time,” Lukas said. “Every one of them has been excellent for us. I think the year I got into the Hall of Fame was a pretty special year, Lady's Secret winning the Whitney and assuring her Horse of the Year status was special, Flanders winning all three of the 2-year-old filly races in a row. These are special times and special events.”

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Trainer Chad Brown notched a record-extending seventh consecutive training title at the Belmont spring/summer meeting while Irad Ortiz Jr. secured the leading rider title and Michael Dubb led the owner standings.

The Belmont spring/summer meet was conducted for 44 days from April 28 through July 10.

Brown won the title with 47 victories, the record for most wins earned by a trainer at a Belmont spring/summer meet.

Ortiz had 48 wins to lead all riders for his 19th title on the NYRA circuit, and Michael Dubb paced all other owners with 16 wins.

The previous training record of 44 victories, set by David Jacobson at the 56-day 2013 spring/summer meet, was broken when 3-year-old filly Demandsrespect graduated at fourth asking in a July 4 maiden special weight over the main track.

“My team should be very proud of themselves and proud of what they did,” Brown said of setting the meet record. “Obviously, it's never been done and they deserve every bit of it.”

In total, Brown closed out the meet with a record of 47-30-22 from 153 starts and earnings of $5,776,633. He posted a win percentage of 30.72 and finished in-the-money at a 64.71% clip.

“This was a historic meet for me, my team, my clients and, most importantly, the horses, who do all the work,” said Brown. “I'm a very fortunate person to be around the horses, staff and owners. I'm so happy for all of them.”

Christophe Clement finished second with 33 wins and Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher finished third with 25.

The battle for leading jockey came down to the final day of the meet as Ortiz entered the card one win behind Dylan Davis.

Ortiz evened the score with a victory aboard Lady Yellen in Race 1 before coming away with a one-win advantage aboard First to Act in Race 5. With the top two riders slated to ride in two more races, Ortiz clinched the title—his 19th on the NYRA circuit—with  a thrilling finish in Race 7 aboard Queen Bourbon to post his 48th win of the meet.

“It feels great,” said Ortiz. “Honestly, we've been working so hard since the year started. Hard work, a lot of dedication. We've been out there every day that they ask for me. It feels good when you win a title. We love to win the meet; it's not easy, but thank God we got it done today. Thanks to my agent Steve Rushing for doing an amazing job. It was great. Dylan had a great meet also.”

Ortiz closed out with meet with a record of 48-32-20 from 174 mounts and total purse earnings of $5,149,496. He boasts a 27.59 win percentage and finished on-the-board in 57.47% of his starts.

Dylan Davis won the final race of the Belmont spring/summer meet aboard Dream of a Day to finish with 47.

Dubb finished the meet with 16 victories, two ahead of Klaravich Stables, to secure the leading owner title. Dubb enjoyed graded stakes success in the Grade 3 Victory Ride on Saturday with Hot Peppers, who also won the Jersey Girl earlier in the meet.

Dubb completed the meeting with a 16-10-7 record from 61 starts, posting a 26.23 win percentage and in-the-money rate of 54.10%. He collected $1,424,821 in total purses.

Live racing resumes on opening day Thursday of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course with a 10-race card, featuring the $135,000 Wilton in Race 7 and the $175,000 Schuylerville (G3) in Race 9. First post is 1:05 p.m. (ET).

The post Brown Takes Belmont Spring/Summer Training Title With Record Number Of Wins, Irad Ortiz Jr. Secures Riding Title appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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