Tag: Racing

Brilliant Cazoo Derby Winner Desert Crown Seals Sixth Epsom Classic For Trainer Stoute

Sir Michael Stoute notched his sixth Cazoo Derby (G1) triumph Saturday when owner Saeed Suhail's 5-2 favorite Desert Crown scored by 2 ½ lengths in a tour de force performance from 150-1 longshot Hoo Ya Mal.

Ridden by Richard Kingscote, Desert Crown led from more than a quarter mile out and from there, the outcome was never in question. He finished 1 ½ miles in 2:36.38.

Hoo Ya Mal outfinished late-running Westover by a head for second in the field of 17.

Kingscote was overjoyed to win his first Derby, which was part of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

“I can't put it into words, when I was a kid I was useless,” he told England's Press Association. “I have had a lot of support.

“Obviously (Desert Crown) has a huge amount of class, he jumped out great, got in position, travelled great, turned in going in really well.”

Desert Crown, a son of Nathaniel out of Desert Berry, by Green Desert, is the second Derby winner Stoute has trained for Suhail, the first being Kris Kin in 2003.

Stoute's other Derby winners are Shergar (1981), who rolled home by a record 10 lengths, Shahrastani (1986), North Light (2004), and Workforce (2010).

Bred by Strawberry Fields Stud, Desert Crown scored an eye-catching 5 ½ length win on debut at Nottingham last November and took the Dante Stakes by 3 ½ lengths May 12 at York in just his second career start, sealing Derby favoritism.

“His performance delighted me because he had it won a long way out,” Stoute said after the Derby “He has such a good mind to go with his abilities. He was having little niggles (last year) and that's why he didn't run until the backend. He had a foot problem (earlier this year).

“I was very happy when he got to the top of the hill, he was really (well) positioned, he travelled and floated down the hill.”

Kingscote noted Desert Crown's class.

“Gave me a lot of confidence; it's all about him and Sir Michael,” he said.

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Wow Whata Summer Springs $168.60 Penn Mile Surprise

Benefitting from a savvy mid-race move to the lead by jockey Tyler Conner, Jeremy Brooks' homebred Wow Whata Summer posted an 83-1 upset over odds-on favorite Annapolis in Friday's Grade 2, $400,000 Penn Mile Stakes at Penn National racecourse in Grantville, Pa.

Trained by James Lawrence II, Wow Whata Summer – a 3-year-old by the War Front stallion Summer Front – paid a whopping $168.60 on a $2 wager after covering one mile on soft turf in 1:42.39. Annapolis, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., finished second as the 1-2 favorite, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, with Uncaptured and Angel Suarez third in the field of eight 3-year-olds. Completing the order of finish were Red Danger, Fort Washington, Ohtwoohthreefive, Witty and Noneedtoworry.

The Penn Mile was one of six stakes offering $950,000 on the 11-race card at Penn National, and Wow Whata Summer gave Conner the second of three stakes wins on the night.  The leading rider at the current meet teamed with Erin McClellan-trained Maldives Model to win the first stakes of the program, the $100,000 Lyphard Stakes, then completed his triple aboard Nimitz Class for trainer Bruce Kravets in the Danzig Stakes. Both Maldives Model and Nimitz Class are owned by Tom Coulter.

The other three stakes went to Joseph Imbesi's odds-on favorite Buy Land and See for trainer Anthony Dutrow and jockey Flavien Prat in the With Anticipation; Chad Brown-trained, Prat-ridden Haughty, the odds-on favorite in the Penn Oaks for a partnership of Bradley Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding LLC, Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron, and Team Hanley; and Joseph Besecker's  7-5 favorite Bazinga, trained by Timothy Kreiser and ridden by Horacio Karamanos, in the New Start Stakes.

Conner hugged the rail throughout the Penn Mile after breaking from the two post. He settled into fourth early as  Uncaptured Spirit set fractions of :24.08 for the opening quarter mile and :49.50 for the half.  Moving boldly along the rail to take on the front-runner in the run down the backstretch, Conner and Wow Whata Summer seized command before hitting the far turn and held a 1 1/2-length advantage with a quarter of a mile to go after six furlongs in 1:14.43.

Annapolis and Ortiz raced to the outside of  Uncaptured Spirit in third position for much of the way, but had too much to do after Wow Whata Summer took over the lead and cruised to the wire without ever being seriously challenged.

The victory was the second in seven starts for Wow Whata Summer, whose only previous victory came via disqualification in his career debut at Colonial Downs last July 20. He's been stakes placed since then, and was third in his only 2022 start, an allowance race sprint at Laurel on April 23.

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‘All Our Hopes Riding On The Big Horse’: Flightline On Track For Big Test In Met Mile

The promising Flightline, trained by John Sadler, is owned by West Point in partnership with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine and Woodford Racing.

Expected to make his next start in next Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, the speedy son of Tapit has won all three of his starts by a combined 37 1/2 lengths. Most recently Flightline recorded a 118 Beyer Speed Figure with an 11 1/2 length win in the Grade 1 Malibu on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

A competitive Met Mile field includes Grade 1 winners Speaker's Corner, who registered a 114 Beyer in the G1 Carter, and last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Aloha West.

“Mentally, we think he's advanced quite a bit. He's a lot more settled in his work and he's such an exciting horse,” said West Point's Terry Finley. “We hope everything stays on track. Obviously, those two horses will be the best horses he's run against to date, so it'll be a step up. We'll see what happens on the racetrack. We got all our hopes riding on the big horse.”

Aloha West recorded his final workout for the Met Mile at Churchill Downs on Friday morning, speeding five furlongs in 58.60 seconds.

“That's not with company or sticking him,” trainer Wayne Catalano told the Daily Racing Form. “That's pretty damn good.”

The 5-year-old son of Hard Spun began his 2022 campaign with a third-place finish behind Jackie's Warrior and Reinvestment Risk in the G1 Churchill Downs on May 7.

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