Tag: Racing

With a pair of Grade 3 victories among his first three starts this year – and a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Carter – it would seem as if Drafted is ready for bigger and better things.

Quite the opposite, said trainer David Duggan.

He's an 8-year-old gelding, after all – meaning his spots have to be selected with care. It's the main reason Duggan will send him postward in Saturday's $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes, the feature race on Monmouth Park's 12-race card.

“It's the same story with him. We've got nothing to prove because he is an 8-year-old gelding,” said the New York-based Duggan. “We're just trying to win races with him and this seemed like a perfect spot and the timing is okay. I'm a little concerned with him coming back so quickly (on three weeks of rest) but he has trained exceptionally well and he worked exceptionally well the other day.

“Things fall into place for a reason sometimes.”

They have this year for Drafted, a Florida-bred son of Field Commission owned by Dublin Fjord Stables LLC, Racepoint Stables, Kevin D. Hilbert and Thomas E. O'Keefe. After going 0-for-7 last year, Drafted won the Grade 3 Tobaggan Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 5 by 4½ lengths in his seasonal debut, was fifth in the Carter and then bounced back to win the Grade 3 Runhappy Stakes at Belmont Park on May 14.

“We dropped him into a couple of optional claimers last year and he ran well without getting the job done,” said Duggan. “We started to say `okay, he is destined to be a high claimer at this stage of his career.' After the layoff from last year he just started to come around and started doing well physically.

“Sometimes the smallest little shift can get these horses back right, just as the smallest little shift can send them the wrong way too. It was just a combination of little things that set him back last year. He's fit mentally and physically at this time.”

With eight wins in 27 career starts, Drafted is closing in on becoming a millionaire, needing $60,807 to reach the seven-figure mark for his career. A win in the Mr. Prospector would leave him $807 shy of that milestone.

Though Duggan said “Grade 2s are a little too tough for him at this stage of his career,” Drafted faces a daunting assignment in the Mr. Prospector. Speed abounds in the nine-horse field with Quick Tempo, Greeley and Ben, River Dog and Hollywood Jet. Duggan is hoping that plays nicely into Drafted's closing running style.

“There are no easy races,” said Duggan. “The challenge we're dealing with in New York is that you don't know if you will get pace to run into. You always worry that it will be a speed-favoring track.

“This race at Monmouth Park sets up perfectly for a closing sprinter.”

First race post time on Saturday is 12:15 p.m.

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Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of formidable contenders in Unanimous Consent and Napoleonic War in search of his third score in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Pennine Ridge, a nine-furlong inner turf test for sophomores at Belmont Park.

The Pennine Ridge is a key local prep for the Caesars Turf Triple series for sophomores which kicks off with the Grade 1, $1 million Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational on July 9. The Turf Triple continues with the Grade 1, $1 million Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 6 at Saratoga Race Course and concludes with the $1 million Caesars Jockey Club Derby Invitational in September at Belmont. Oscar Performance [2017] and Catholic Boy [2018] parlayed Pennine Ridge wins to Belmont Derby success.

Brown, who won the Pennine Ridge previously with Camelot Kitten [2016] and Peter Brant's Demarchelier [2019], holds a strong hand in Saturday's renewal.

Klaravich Stables' Unanimous Consent, by Almanzor, is undefeated in three starts, including a 1 3/4-length score in the Woodhaven at 1 1/16-miles last out over firm footing at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Manny Franco saved ground aboard Unanimous Consent in the Woodhaven as Chanceux, who finished third in Sunday's Paradise Creek at Belmont, set moderate splits. Franco gained position down the backstretch and made a five-wide move in upper stretch to sweep to a comfortable score that garnered a career-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure.

Unanimous Consent has breezed back four times out of the Woodhaven win, including a five-eighths effort in 1:02.11 on May 13 in company with Masen, who posted a comfortable score in last Sunday's Seek Again at Belmont.

The Brant-owned Napoleonic War might also be undefeated if not for a troubled trip in the Grade 3 Transylvania in April at Keeneland. The War Front bay was shuffled back to last through the far turn before launching a wide bid to finish fourth, defeated 1 1/2-lengths by the victorious Sy Dog.

Napoleonic War, a debut dead-heat winner in January over the Tampa Bay Downs turf, exited the Transylvania to post a narrow nose score in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming event on May 5 at Belmont.

Unanimous Consent will exit the outermost post 7 under Franco, while Flavien Prat will pilot Napoleonic War from post 4.

Stuart Janney III's multiple graded-stakes placed homebred Limited Liability enters from a visually-impressive allowance win on April 16 over good turf at Keeneland.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the Kitten's Joy grey rated last-of-12 in the 1 1/16-mile test before making an eight-wide move in upper stretch to arrive in the final strides for a narrow neck score.

“He ran good and you could kind of tell at the eighth pole that he was probably going to get there. It was a good race,” McGaughey said.

Limited Liability, piloted through all four career starts by Jose Ortiz, rallied to a sharp debut win in July at Saratoga ahead of third-place finishes in the Grade 3 With Anticipation in September at the Spa and the Grade 2 Pilgrim in October at Belmont.

McGaughey said he will look for Limited Liability, out of the Blame mare Hold Harmless, to make a similar late charge.

“We brought him back and our game plan was to get him back [off the pace] and make the one run and that's what he did. That's what we'll try to do here,” McGaughey said. “Any time they win, it helps their confidence. The older he gets, the better he'll get. He's by Kitten's Joy and out of a Blame mare.”

Ortiz retains the mount from post 3.

WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's graded-stakes placed Emmanuel will make his turf debut for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The More Than Ready bay posted a pair of front-running scores to launch his career, graduating in December at Gulfstream by 6 3/4-lengths and following in January with a 4 1/2-length optional-claiming win at Tampa Bay Downs.

Emmanuel tried his luck on the Road to the Kentucky Derby series in his next two starts, finishing an even fourth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in March at Gulfstream and a pacesetting third last out in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 9 at Keeneland.

Emmanuel has posted his last two breezes over the Belmont inner turf, including a half-mile effort in :48 flat Sunday in company with graded-stakes placed sophomore filly A Mo Reay [:48.40].

“He's had two breezes now over the course. I thought the one yesterday was particularly good,” Pletcher said. “He's got a lot of turf in his pedigree so it's something that's been on the back of our minds, but he had been doing well enough on the dirt that we felt like we had to continue on the Derby trail.

“He ran a solid race in the Blue Grass. That form held up pretty well,” Pletcher added. “But we want to see where he fits on the grass and open up some options with him.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call from post 6.

Rounding out the field are the stakes-placed Daunt [post 2, Trevor McCarthy] for conditioner Robert Ribaudo and Elizar [post 5, Joel Rosario], who makes his stateside debut for trainer Christophe Clement. Gilded Age is entered for the main-track only.

The Pennine Ridge is slated as Race 9 on Saturday's 10-race card. 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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Magdalena Racing's Tiz the Bomb, who has won over three different surfaces, will turn his focus to a turf campaign and a start in the Grade 1, $1 million Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational for sophomores travelling 1 1/4 miles over the turf on July 9 at Belmont Park.

“That's where we're headed,” owner and trainer Kenny McPeek said. “He should be set for the race on July 9.”

The Caesars Belmont Derby is the first leg of the Caesars Turf Triple series at NYRA and is followed by the 1 3/16-mile Grade 1, $1 million Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 6 at Saratoga Race Course and the 1 1/2-mile $1 million Caesars Jockey Club Derby in September at Belmont.

Tiz the Bomb was last seen finishing ninth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 7, defeated 12 1/2 lengths by upset winner Rich Strike after breaking slowly and finding his best stride late. The Kentucky Derby marked a return to dirt for Tiz the Bomb, who punched his ticket to Louisville with a 2 1/4-length win in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks over synthetic at Turfway Park.

“I thought he really needed to break clean and be positioned to run better in the Derby, but he didn't disgrace himself,” McPeek said. “It could have gone better, but we gave him his chance, which he deserved.”

The bay son of Hit It a Bomb broke his maiden at second asking in an off-the-turf maiden in July at Ellis Park, splashing home an impressive 14 1/4-length winner. He made his next three outings over the turf, earning wins in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile and Grade 2 Bourbon before finishing a game second to Modern Games in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar to close out his juvenile campaign.

McPeek said that while Tiz the Bomb has shown proficiency over the dirt, he will now focus on turf races going forward.

“I definitely think he's significantly better on the grass,” said McPeek. “We gave him his dirt try and he's a lovely horse. I'm excited. These next couple races are really good spots for him – great distances and surfaces.”

Tiz the Bomb, out of the winning Tiznow mare Tiz the Key, was a $300,000 purchase by McPeek at 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase. He boasts a consistent record of 9-5-1-0 and earnings in excess of $1 million, making him the leading progeny for his sire by earnings.

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Munnyfor Ro, Canada's champion three-year-old female of 2021, is set to make her 4-year-old debut in Sunday's $100,000 Belle Mahone Stakes, at Woodbine.
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​Trained by Kevin Attard for Raroma Stable Inc., the daughter of Munnings-Repartee arrives at the 1 1/16-mile main track Belle Mahone (for fillies & mares, four-year-olds and upwards) on a two-race win streak, along with a Sovereign Award crown.
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​Posting four wins, two seconds and a pair of thirds from 10 starts in 2021, Munnyfor Ro was money in the bank for her connections, picking up victories in the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser, the Wonder Where and Ontario Damsel, enroute to her nod as the country's top sophomore filly.
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​Three weeks after her Oaks victory, the chestnut took on 12 rivals in the $1 million Queen's Plate, finishing fourth, overcoming traffic troubles to wind up 1 ¾ lengths behind winner Safe Conduct.
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​Attard remains impressed by Munnyfor Ro's prosperous sophomore campaign.
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​“Obviously, winning the Oaks was pretty special, being my first one. That's something you won't forget. I think even the way she capped off her year in the final race, winning the Ontario Damsel. It was an open three-year-old filly race and to see her close it off and solidify that she was going to be the champion three-year-old in Canada, that was kind of the icing on the cake. She ran a good race in the Plate and certainly didn't disgrace herself. We had to give it a shot. Chances are, she would have won all three races in the Triple Tiara had she run in the Bison City, but we elected to take on the boys and give it a try. It didn't work out the way we hoped, but she still ran a very good race.” ​
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​Bred in Ontario by Daybar Ltd., Munnyfor Ro has been working steadily ahead of her first race of the campaign.
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​“Her last work, I was really happy with it,” said Attard, of the five-furlong breeze in 1:01.40 over the Woodbine Tapeta on May 27. “She needs to do something now. She's a little aggressive, a little sharper than normal, so it seems like she's itching to get into some racing action. She's running against older stakes horses for the first time in her career, which is always a bit of a challenge, so she's going to have to step up from three to four to compete in those type of races. From a physical standpoint, she's matured. She's bigger and stronger, so hopefully, she can put it all together. Last year was a special year. Could she replicate that? We're hoping so, but time will tell.” ​ ​ ​ ​
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​The Belle Mahone is scheduled as race seven of 10 on Sunday's 1:10 p.m. program.
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​Fans can also watch and wager on all the live action via HPIbet.com and the Dark Horse Bets app.
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​$100,000 BELLE MAHONE STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
​1 – Stand for the Flag – Declan Carroll – Gail Cox
​2 – Broadway Lady – Shaun Bridgmohan – Mark Casse
​3 – Munnyfor Ro – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard
​4 – Dreaming of Drew – Kazushi Kimura – Barbara Minshall
​5 – Alydiva – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
​6 – Il Malocchio – Eswan Flores – Martin Drexler
​7 – Skygaze – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
​8 – Silent Causeway – Sahin Civaci – Laura Krasauskaite
​9 – November Fog – Antonio Gallardo – Sarah Ritchie
​10 – Barkin – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Catherine Day Phillips

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