Tag: Racing

Prosperous Voyage Shocks In Falmouth; Rob Hornby Rides First British Group 1 Winner

A surprise result in Friday's Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes saw Ralph Beckett trainee Prosperous Voyage get the better of the talented Inspiral to secure her first Group 1 victory at Newmarket's July course.

A small field lined up for the Group 1, largely due to the presence of Inspiral who had dominated the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and was most people's banker for the whole weekend.

The pace set from the start was a steady one. Prosperous Voyage took up the early running with Rob Hornby setting steady fractions on the July course's straight mile. Rob Hornby, who had been so unlucky when losing the ride on Westover in the Irish Derby, would have been itching to get a Group 1 under his belt.

“It's crazy isn't it how things can change,” Hornby told racingpost.com. “I'm just so pleased for the filly and the whole team. It's bonkers isn't it? I'm in a very privileged position thanks to Ralph and the owners and connections, to be riding in these Group 1s is where all jockeys want to be and days like this make everything worthwhile.”

Entering the closing stages of the race, Inspiral the 1/7 favorite crept alongside and briefly passed Prosperous Voyage, as did Sandrine. All looked to be going well for Frankie Dettori and his reunification with John Gosden.

However the slightly longer trip of the Falmouth Stakes appeared to tell for Inspiral's challenge as she weakened in the latter stages. The same couldn't be said for Prosperous Voyage who found a second wind the further she went.

In the end Prosperous Voyage ran through the line strongly to secure a comfortable victory and turn the tables on Inspiral.

According to racingpost.com, Inspiral is the joint shortest-priced runner to be beaten in a group race in Britain or Ireland since the organzation's database began in 1988.

Inspiral's trainer, John Gosden, later said: “It's quite tight between Ascot and the July meeting, this was just a little bit too tight for her. She certainly didn't reproduce her form.”

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‘She Breathes Different Air’: Haughty Stretches Out In Saturday’s Belmont Oaks

Grade 1-placed Haughty will stretch out in distance when aiming for her first graded victory in Saturday's Grade 1, $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/4-miles over the inner turf at Belmont Park.

The sophomore daughter of Empire Maker is trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, who pursues his sixth Belmont Oaks conquest and also sends out Belmont Oaks aspirants Consumer Spending and McKulick.

Haughty captured her 2022 debut in the Penn Oaks over soft going last out on June 3. The 4 3/4-length victory in the one-mile turf test was her first start since a close third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November at Del Mar, a race that produced four other next-out winners at stakes level.

Haughty's third-place finish in the Juvenile Fillies Turf came less than three weeks after breaking her maiden going 1 1/16 miles over the Keeneland turf.

“It was probably a little too much to do, but she handled it. Even though she didn't win, she ran a tremendous race,” said co-owner Peter Bradley of her Breeders' Cup effort. “The form that has come out of that race has just been unbelievably good, so it was a pretty key race. She's a filly that's improved since then in size and maturity. She had one good, easy race and it's a step up, but I think she's ready for it.”

Bradley, whose Bradley Thoroughbreds owns Haughty with Belmar Racing and Breeding, Cambron Equine and Team Hanley, said he was impressed with her Penn Oaks triumph.

“She probably wasn't in the best spot early on, but it looked like the proverbial walk in the park,” Bradley said. “You don't see those kinds of performances very often. There were some solid fillies in there, but she breathes different air. I think this is the next step in line and it will tell us a lot about how good she really is.”

Haughty crossed the finish line first in her September debut but was disqualified to third.

“It may be her best race with how she quickened and what she did. Unfortunately, she was taken down that day,” Bradley recalled.

Purchased for $310,000 out of Julie Davies' consignment at the 2021 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Haughty is out of the two-time winning Kingmambo mare Soaring Emotions. She is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner and graded-stakes placed Souper Stonehenge.

“She looked like a filly that had all the parts,” Bradley said. “She had the balance you look for, a stride that you don't always see. We pressed for her; I was happy she sold on the first day. I think she would've brought 50 percent more later in the sale when people get more aggressive on how they bid. I couldn't have been happier. There were no secrets with her, she looked like the right kind and she's done what she's supposed to do.

“She's out of a Kingmambo mare, obviously he was a miler from the Mr. Prospector line, but her bottom side should have some stamina to it also,” Bradley added. “I don't think the ten furlongs should be a problem. The first time they go that distance, they tell you whether it's a problem or not. I don't see it being a factor.”

Flavien Prat, aboard Haughty in the Penn Oaks, has the return call from post 3 as the 5-1 co-second choice.

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Full Fields Set For Steeplechase Summer Kickoff At Colonial Downs

The National Steeplechase Association summer schedule at the flat tracks gets underway on Monday at Colonial Downs, with two rich $40,000 maiden special weights hurdle races, including one for fillies and mares, in New Kent, Va., about a half-hour East of Richmond.

Here's a link to the overnight entries: https://nationalsteeplechase.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Colonial-July11-WedEntries.pdf.

The races are the first of 24 summer contests, with purses totaling $1.3 million, scheduled through Sept. 5, with two additional stakes, the $150,000 Lonesome Glory (Grade 1) and $75,000 William Entenmann novice stakes, on tap for opening day at Belmont Park on Sept. 15.

In yet another sign that the sport is inching back toward normalcy following two challenging years precipitated by the pandemic, the summer horses in training list includes 170 runners, from maidens, claimers, allowance and handicap horses to novice and open stakes stars. That's substantially more than the 117 on the list at the same time in 2021. The numbers are a solid indication that owners and trainers have been able to restock their barns and are ready to run.

Steeplechase racing at Colonial Downs will consist of two races every Monday through Labor Day, to be run at the beginning of the card. Wagering is not available. You can live stream for free via the NSA website, www.nationalsteeplechase.com, at 12:15 p.m. and 12:50.

Steeplechasing commences at historic Saratoga Race Course on July 20, with the $150,000 A.P. Smithwick (Grade 1), one of seven jump races carded for the Spa. All will be run as the first race on Wednesdays, with a 1:05 p.m. post time. NYRA races are broadcast live on Fox2 TV, with replays available on NYRA website, https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/replays. You can also live stream via the NSA website..

Steeplechasing's biggest names are all targeting stakes at either Saratoga or Colonial.

Leading 2022 trainer Leslie Young has heavy hitters in Sharon Sheppard's Redicean, winner of the G2 David Semmes Memorial at Great Meadow in May, and recent European import Pistol Whipped, owned by Anthony and Mark Speelman. Pistol Whipped, a National Hunt Cup winner for legendary trainer Nicky Henderson, shipped stateside and finished second to Snap Decision in the G1 Iroquois in Nashville in May. Young has both primed for the Smithwick. Young has another newcomer, Song For Someone, a highly accomplished 7-year-old German-bred, who runs in Gil Johnston's orange and brown silks. Song for Someone is likely to run in the Sheppard or at Belmont, according to Young.

Keri Brion, who trains last year's Eclipse Award winner, The Mean Queen, said that the mare is recovered from a minor injury that kept her sidelined this spring, and plans to run her in August, either in the Sheppard, or at Colonial (possibly the Randy Rouse filly and mare stakes). Brion also has 2022 stakes winners in Hudson River Farm's Iranistan, who upset Snap Decision in the G2 Temple Gwathmey, Irv Naylor's French Light, (Queen's Cup), and Atlantic Friends Racing's Historic Heart, (Carolina Cup), who are expected to start in the Smithwick.

Jack Fisher said he's pointing stable superstar, Bruton Street-US' Snap Decision, winner of the Iroquois, to the $150,000 Colonial Cup, a flat race on the turf at 1 ½ miles at Colonial on July 25, followed by the G1 Jonathan Sheppard at Saratoga, the meet's crowning jewel, on Aug. 17. Fisher's other Bruton Street juggernaut, the 2020 Eclipse-Award winner Moscato, is now 11, and thus ineligible to compete at Saratoga under NYRA rules.

Trainer Kate Dalton is considering runs at both Colonial and Saratoga for Joseph Fowler's magnificent mare Down Royal, recent winner of the Margaret Currey Henley filly and mare stakes at Iroquois. She'll be nominated to the Smithwick, and “if she's all well and happy she'll probably try the Rouse (a $100,000 filly and mare stake on Aug. 22), also.”

Cyril Murphy is nominating Irv Naylor's Chief Justice, winner of the $50,000 Green Pastures novice stakes at Iroquois, to the Smithwick, while stablemate Belfast Banter, a graded stakes-placed winner of $186,000 who finished second in his U.S. debut in the Semmes, is aiming for the Sheppard.

The full summer schedule can be found on the NSA website: https://nationalsteeplechase.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/SummerSchedule-062422.pdf

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