Tag: Racing

Hungarian Princess and Sammy Bermudez rallied home to their second straight stakes victory Wednesday, June 29, in the 26th running of the $100,000 Checkered Flag Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The duo was unstoppable, winning by more than four lengths for the title.

Hungarian Princess drew an inside post and broke from post two in the eight-horse lineup. Bermudez had her focused early on and was able to get into position down the backstretch in second, following early race leader Everyotherwon and Marcelino Pedroza Jr.

Around the turn, Hungarian Princess began to make her move and took control of the race. She was well in hand heading into the stretch and was under a hand ride to the wire for the win in 1:11.00. Chandana and Rodney Prescott finished second over Wellington Wonder and Joe Ramos, who closed well for third.

Hungarian Princess paid $6.00 as the second favorite of the field. She is now two for two this year and is trained by Marvin Johnson for Tiffany Johnson and Nicholas Goings' Swifty Farms Inc. The 4-year-old Pataky Kid filly is now nine for 16 lifetime with earnings of more than $443,000. Bermudez has been aboard for every one of her starts and has now guided her to five career stakes wins.

“She's older and more mature, but she still has the same running style,” said Bermudez. “When she has a horse in front of her, she pins her ears and goes after them. That is her way of taking on the challenge. Once she gets on the lead then she will relax a little.”

Bermudez and Johnson talked before the race about the early speed and Johnson noted Bermudez followed the plans perfectly.

“I hated our post position we drew, but Sammy was able to maneuver her outside and not get caught in behind horses early on,” said Johnson. “He rode a super race. She is a very nice filly and super to be around. She does everything we ask of her. I'm very privileged to have her.”

Johnson had two in the race. He also trains third place finisher Wellington Wonder, who was a longshot in the race.

“I was very pleased with the way she ran, too” added Johnson. “A couple more jumps and she was getting to the second place horse in there.”

The 20th season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing extends through Wednesday, Nov. 23. Live racing is conducted at 2:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday with Thursday post times set for 2:10 p.m. A total of 12 Saturdays will feature live racing in 2022 highlighted by the 28th running of the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby and the 27th running of the Grade 3 $200,000 Indiana Oaks set for Saturday, July 9. For more information on live racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis.

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Just 17 days after his somewhat inconclusive Royal Ascot defeat, the Prince Of Wales's Stakes favorite Bay Bridge gets a second chance at a first Group 1 win this Saturday when he takes on five top-class rivals in what promises to be an enthralling running of Sandown Park's Coral-Eclipse Stakes.

The Coral-Eclipse, which is part of the 35-race QIPCO British Champions Series, is widely recognized as the season's first meaningful clash of the generations. With a field that includes two of this year's Classic winners and three older runners who are also already Group 1 winners, Saturday's race ought to give strong clues as to the relative merits of the different age groups, as well as offering 4-year-old Bay Bridge a quick chance of redemption.

Bay Bridge was still working his way up the handicap ranks at this time last year, but he was improving rapidly. He took another massive leap forward when he was a five-length winner of the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes over the Coral-Eclipse course and distance on his reappearance, and he was so impressive there that he went off at odds on to beat an international field when stepped up two grades at Royal Ascot. However, he could never quite get to grips with all-the-way winner State Of Rest, who was given an inspired ride.

Further improvement could well be on the cards for Bay Bridge, and if successful he will be a record seventh winner of the race for Sir Michael Stoute, whose six winners currently have him in a three-way tie as top trainer with Aidan O'Brien and Alec Taylor, whose last Eclipse winner was 99 years ago.

Owner-breeder James Wigan, who said he turned down substantial offers from abroad and sold a share in the colt to the Ballylinch Stud before the Brigadier Gerard Stakes to ensure that he continued to race in this country, believes Bay Bridge ran better than the bare result suggests at Royal Ascot.

Wigan said: “Bay Bridge came back from Ascot bouncing and seems to be in rude health. I think the winner there was very cleverly ridden and stole a march on the others.

“I'm not saying we would have won if the race had been run differently, but he was beaten only a length and was still inching closer at the finish. If the race was run again I think we could have been closer still. It's probably the best Eclipse we've seen for a while, but he seemed to enjoy Sandown when he won the Brigadier Gerard.”

While Bay Bridge has been the subject of strong support through the week, the Eclipse betting is still headed by the impressive Prix Du Jockey Club winner Vadeni, who was supplemented for the race on Monday at a cost of £50,000 and is following the path taken by last year's winner St Mark's Basilica, who had also won at Chantilly.

The colt's key weapon, besides his obvious class, is a devastating change of gear, and the 10lb weight for age that 3-year-olds receive from their elders cannot be underestimated. Christophe Soumillon, who has ridden at Sandown on only five occasions, without success, was lavish in his admiration for Vadeni after the Prix Du Jockey Club, telling reporters that Vadeni “swept past rivals between the 400 and the 300-metre marks and he completely took off.”

Soumillon added that he “certainly didn't expect what he did there,” which was “something totally out of the ordinary” – praise indeed from a rider associated with middle-distance horses as gifted as Almanzor, Cirrus Des Aigles, Hurricane Run, Shirocco and Zarkava.

Vadeni, owned and bred by HH Aga Khan, will be a first runner at Sandown for his trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, who has been at the top of his profession for the best part of 30 years and has been a previous QIPCO British Champions Series winner with Almanzor, Ervedya and Qemah. If successful, he would be the first French-trained winner of the race since Javelot in 1960.

In a press call hosted by the Jockey Club, the Aga Khan's racing manager Georges Rimaud said that the team believe that Saturday's mile and a quarter might prove Vadeni's optimum trip, hence the desire to press on now rather than give the colt a traditional French Prix de l'Arc De Triomphe preparation.

Rimaud said: “We don't necessarily know or think that this horse is made for a mile and a half. He has a lot of speed and we wanted to stick to 2000 metres (a mile and a quarter). This was very much in our team's mind rather than going to the Guillaume d'Ornano, which is a Group 2. We felt that we need to keep him at the top level and the decision was very quickly reached.

“I know he wasn't entered for this as such but he hadn't had the performance he put up at Chantilly and it was that run that led us to thinking that he could handle Sandown and the runners who would be in it. I know Jean-Claude always had a great belief in him and we need to exploit this now. Time will tell if it's a good idea!

“We don't know if he will manage Sandown but we certainly expect him to. He's a well-balanced type of horse and he's always had a lovely action. He doesn't mind any type of ground and the undulations of Sandown are a bit similar to Chantilly really in that they're both quite tough in the finish.”

Native Trail, who bids to give Charlie Appleby a third Eclipse win following Hawkbill in 2016 and Ghaiyyath in 2020, is also a Classic winner, having won the Irish 2000 Guineas after finishing only third when favorite for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

The Curragh form is unconvincing however, and unlike his two predecessors Native Trail has to prove himself over a distance his pedigree suggests he might not appreciate. However, his style of running offers encouragement on that score, and the same double was completed by Sadler's Wells back in 1984.

John Gosden, now training with his son Thady, has won the Coral-Eclipse four times since 2012, most recently with the brilliant Enable in 2019. The stable will be double-handed this time with Mishriff, another former Prix Du Jockey Club winner, who was only third of four 12 months ago but went on to a stunning six-length defeat of Alenquer in the Juddmonte International, and Lord North.

Both had valid excuses last time. An explanation for Lord North's last of five when bidding for a second Prince Of Wales's win was there for all to see, as the 6-year-old lost many lengths at the start when his blindfold wouldn't come off, and John Gosden can also account for Mishriff's last of 14, when he was attempting to repeat his 2021 win in the Saudi Cup.

Gosden said: “They went very hard in the Saudi Cup and he got a lot of dirt down his throat. The jockeys said that the consistency of the track had changed from the year before, when he won the race, and it was riding pretty much like an American track, with much greater kickback.

“He had a tough time there and it wasn't the most positive of experiences for him. He needed time to get over it, but he seems in good form now.”

The William Haggas-trained Alenquer completes a strong field. Alenquer beat the subsequent Derby winner Adayar in the Classic Trial over Saturday's course and distance last spring and gained a well-deserved first Group 1 win in a fiercely-run Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh last time, where he dug very deep under pressure and got up close home to beat High Definition narrowly, with Lord North fourth.

The post Two Classic Winners Face Three Older Group 1 Performers In Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Nimitz Class, yet to race outside of his native Pennsylvania, and fellow stakes winner Old Homestead, who suffered his first career loss in his last trip to Maryland, are among five shippers that will line up for the $100,000 Concern Saturday, July 2 at Laurel Park.

The sixth running of the six-furlong Concern for 3-year-olds, honoring the first Maryland-bred winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), co-headlines a 10-race Independence Day weekend program with the $100,000 Caesar's Wish for fillies and mares 3 and up going one mile.

First race post time is 12:40 p.m.

The Concern and Caesar's Wish are the first of 11 stakes worth $1.05 million in purses during the month of July at Laurel, where the 37-day summer meet began June 3 and continues through August 21.

Thomas Coulter's Nimitz Class, a homebred son of multiple Grade 2-winning sprinter Munnings, enters the Concern having won three straight races by 7 ½ combined lengths. He has run exclusively at Penn National, where trainer Bruce Kravets is based, but being out of the Flatter mare Five Diamonds is a younger full brother to Kaylasaurus, winner of the 2021 Willa On the Move and April 23 Primonetta at Laurel.

“It'll be the first time shipping, new track, different surface. You just hope for the best,” Kravets said. “He came out of the last race great, he's training great, and we expect him to run really big.”

Nimitz Class didn't get his career under way until December of his 2-year-old season, finishing fourth in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight. He graduated at second asking with a front-running six-length triumph Jan. 4, then ran fourth as the favorite his first time facing winners in a March 2 allowance.

Twenty days later Nimitz Class won a similar spot by 3 ½ lengths and has faced fellow Pennsylvania-breds in each of his last two starts, beating his elders in April 21 allowance before rallying to capture the June 3 Danzig in 1:09.82 for six furlongs.

“He broke just a hair slow and we tried to rush him up and got caught in between horses,” Kravets said. “He had to kind of fight his way through the pack there to get some running room, and then he just took off.”

Horacio Karamanos gets the riding assignment from outside Post 6 on Nimitz Class, who Kravets said has improved since an equipment change in the spring.

“I think in the last three [races] since we put blinkers on, that made a big difference, and I do think that seven furlongs this weekend will make a big difference, too,” he said. “That way you don't really have to rush him early.”

Marablue Farm and Pegasus Stud's Old Homestead arrived at historic Pimlico Race Course with a perfect 3-0 record heading into the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) on the undercard of the 147^th Preakness Stakes (G1). Ahead at every call of his first three races, the colt by Grade 1 winner Overanalyze found himself behind horses for the first time in the early going and wound up fifth, beaten 5 ¼ lengths by Lightening Larry.

“We got him back to the barn and went over him and watched him and nothing really jumped out. I think he just had an off day,” Louisiana-based trainer Brett Brinkman said. “It seemed like horses that were getting up there and getting to the lead on that racetrack were having success. I kind of chalked it up to him just not bringing his 'A' game that day.

“We've had him there at Delaware [Park] and we've got him back into a good rhythm since the race at Pimlico,” he added. “We've got to get him back started somewhere, so it seems like a good race to hit.”

Old Homestead went unraced at 2 before an 11 ½-length debut romp Jan. 28 at Delta Downs, where he returned to beat winners in a March 4 allowance, both races coming at five furlongs. A month later Brinkman sent him to Keeneland for the seven-furlong Lafayette, which he won by 3 ¾ lengths over a wet main track.

“He definitely had horses over a barrel in his maiden race and in the a-other-than. We got to Keeneland and he kind of skipped over that racetrack. Things kind of went his way as far as getting up there and getting to the lead,” Brinkman said. “I don't think he's a need-the-lead kind of horse. He stayed on but [jockey] Tommy [Pompell] said just from the gate he felt like he never really got into gear at Pimlico that day. He said he just wasn't the same horse away from the latches that day.”

Currently riding in Indiana, Pompell has been the only jockey on Old Homestead in his races but travel concerns means Charlie Marquez will be aboard Saturday from Post 5.

“I love Tommy and he's been great with this horse, but [we didn't want] to put ourselves in a pickle about trying to make arrangements since flights have been so crazy,” Brinkman said. “He's not a hard horse to ride. He's pretty straightforward and he's a real kind horse.”

Also in from out of town are Defend, Scaramouche and Tops the Chart. Nick Sanna Stables and Susan Montanye's Defend is a bay son of 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharaoh that has won three of four career starts, all over his home track at Delaware Park, including a six-furlong allowance June 8 in his sophomore debut. His only loss came in the Hopeful (G1) last summer at Saratoga where he lost his footing and was taken up, finishing 10^th.

Nicholas Cammarano Jr.'s Scaramouche, also by Munnings, raced once last year before opening 2022 with back-to-back open-length victories including the six-furlong Rittenhouse Square by 5 ½ March 8 for trainer Guadalupe Preciado. Fifth in the April 9 Bay Shore (G3) at Aqueduct, his only time away from home, Scaramouche rebounded with a front-running two-length allowance score May 21 at Parx.

Colts Neck Stables' homebred Tops the Chart is the most experienced Concern runner with eight prior runs including one other stakes attempt, when he finished sixth after dueling for the lead in the six-furlong James F. Lewis III last November at Laurel in his third start. The Macleans Music gelding had not raced beyond six furlongs before dead-heating for the win in a one-mile entry-level allowance May 29 at Monmouth Park.

“We stretched him out to two turns. It seems like the family wants to go more ground, but I feel like the seven-eighths will kind of hit him right between the eyes. It's one turn and it's not three-quarters. He's doing good. He's pretty honest. He tries every time. I think the track at Laurel will suit him,” trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. said. “He's raced and he's got a good foundation under him. He's been pretty sound and he's happy and he's thriving through his racing, so we'll see if he can step it up a little more.”

Completing the field is No Guts No Glory Farm's Alottahope, bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman and Dr. Brooke Bowman and based at Laurel with owner-trainer Jerry Robb. The Editorial gelding, second to dirt and turf stakes winner Joe in the seven-furlong Maryland Million Nursery last fall, ran fourth in each of his last two starts including the Chick Lang, where he beat Old Homestead by two lengths.

Concern, trained by the late Dickie Small, won seven of 30 career starts and more than $3 million in purse earnings from 1993-95. His 1994 season included wins in the Breeders' Cup and Arkansas Derby (G2), seconds in the Travers (G1), Super Derby (G1) and Ohio Derby (G2) and thirds in the Preakness (G1), Haskell (G1), Molson Export Million (G2) and Round Table (G3).

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CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's multiple Grade 1-winner Life Is Good will take on Godolphin's Grade 1-winning homebred Speaker's Corner in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 John A. Nerud, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses at Belmont Park.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Life Is Good, a 4-year-old Into Mischief bay, won 4-of-5 starts last year led by scores in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap in September at Belmont ahead of a 5 3/4-length win in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Del Mar.

Life Is Good launched his current campaign with a gate-to-wire 3 1/4-length victory over 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January at Gulfstream Park. He finished fourth last out in the 10-furlong Group 1 Dubai World Cup on March 26 at Meydan.

Pletcher said Life Is Good didn't appreciate the slow Meydan surface.

“It was the wrong racetrack for him,” Pletcher said. “We were a little concerned about that going in. I thought they would have it a little tighter on that night, but it didn't play to his style at all.”

Life Is Good has breezed five times over the Belmont dirt training track since returning to Pletcher's care in New York, including a half-mile effort in 49.49 seconds Saturday.

Pletcher, who won this event last year with Mind Control, said the talented colt will use the Nerud as a springboard to the nine-furlong Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on August 6 at Saratoga Race Course, which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Keeneland.

“We would like to have a prep before the Whitney and this seemed like the logical place,” Pletcher said.

Flavien Prat, who guided Flightline to victory over Speaker's Corner in the Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 11 here, will take over from the suspended Irad Ortiz, Jr.

“Flavien has proven he rides really well in any occasion,” Pletcher said. “There might be some similarities to Flightline and Life Is Good, but we'll have a talk about the horse a little bit. He's got kind of a quiet touch, so that should suit him well.”

Life Is Good will emerge from the inside post carrying 124 pounds.

Speaker's Corner, a 4-year-old Street Sense colt, has won 3-of-4 starts this year, including scores traveling one-mile at Gulfstream Park in the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper in January and the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile in March. His impressive 4 1/2-length win in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Carter Handicap in April at Aqueduct Racetrack garnered a 114 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest number recorded this year.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and piloted last out by Junior Alvarado, the talented bay set splits of 22.78 and 45.01 in the Grade 1 Met Mile but could not turn back the streaking Flightline, who drew off to a six-length score over Happy Saver with Speaker's Corner a further 2 3/4-lengths back in third.

Speaker's Corner breezed five-eighths in a bullet 59.60 Saturday over Big Sandy in his first breeze back. With Alvarado committed to riding Olympiad for Mott in Saturday's Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, Speaker's Corner will be piloted by Jose Ortiz from post 5 touting 124 pounds.

Ortiz has ridden Speaker's Corner on two previous occasions, including a 5 1/4-length allowance win in August at Saratoga.

CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Harvard [post 3, Kendrick Carmouche, 118 pounds] will return from a two-month layoff for trainer Rodolphe Brisset.

The 4-year-old Pioneerof the Nile gelding has posted a pair of front-running scores, graduating at third asking last May at Indiana Grand followed by a nine-furlong allowance score one month later at Churchill. He was last seen finishing last-of-7 in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claimer on April 30 at Belmont.

Out of the New York-bred Cat Thief mare Sambuca Classica, Harvard is a full-brother to 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Classic Empire, who notched three Grade 1 scores and banked more than $2.5 million in purse earnings.

Harvard has trained at Keeneland for his return, including a bullet five-eighths breeze in 1:01 flat on June 19.

The multiple graded-stakes placed War Tocsin [post 4, Dexter Haddock, 118 pounds], owned and trained by Uriah St. Lewis, enters from a third-place finish at odds of 69-1 in the Grade 2 True North on June 10 at Belmont. The 6-year-old Violence bay has hit the board in three of his last four starts, including a second in the Grade 3 General George in February and a third in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint in May at Pimlico.

Rounding out the field is Double B Racing Stables' Repo Rocks [post 2, Javier Castellano, 118 pounds], who sports a record of 6-2-1-1 over Big Sandy led by a sharp allowance sprint score on April 28 that garnered a career-best 99 Beyer.

Trained by Gregory DiPrima, the 4-year-old Tapiture gelding placed in a pair of graded events at the Big A this winter, finishing second in the Grade 3 Toboggan in February and third in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap in March.

The John A. Nerud is slated as Race 4 on Saturday's 10-race card, which also features the Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer in Race 8. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the spring/summer meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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