Tag: Racing

Klaravich Stables' Technical Analysis gained an easy lead soon after the start and cruised to her third graded stakes victory in the $150,000 Gallorette Stakes (G3) Saturday at Pimlico.

Ridden by Jose Ortiz for trainer Chad Brown, Technical Analysis rolled through easy fractions of :24.37 and :48.54 for a half mile with Foggy Dreams in pursuit 1 ½ lengths back and Crystal Cliffs tracking from third along the rail.

Crystal Cliffs was eased out off the far turn and moved to second, 1 ½ lengths back, as the winner was timed in 1:12.26 for six furlongs. Crystal Cliffs loomed a brief threat approaching the lane, but Technical Analysis opened up by two lengths in early stretch and drew off for the victory.

The 4-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Kingman won by 3 ½ lengths from Crystal Cliffs and covered the 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:41.40. The 3-5 favorite, she returned $3.20.

Crystal Cliffs finished with good energy under Tyler Gaffalione but was no match for the winner. In a Hurry finished third, three lengths behind Crystal Cliffs.

“I was just a passenger,” Ortiz said said of Technical Analysis. “She was much the best today. She looked like it on paper, and she just went out there and did what she had to do. Chad had her ready.” 

“She's a little quirky. You don't fight with her. You just have to let her be happy and find a good rhythm. She was relaxed, is the main thing. She wasn't paying attention to the infield, and I was very happy down the backside.”

Technical Analysis won a pair of graded stakes last summer at Saratoga taking Lake George Stakes (G3) and Lake Placid Stakes (G2) and closed 2021 with a second in the Queen Elizabeth Challenge Stakes (G1) at Keeneland October 16. After six months off, she  was second in the Plenty of Grace Stakes April 16 at Aqueduct to launch her 2022 campaign.

“She keeps improving. Her speed and her turn of foot is dangerous in any race. I think she'll be a contender in the division. Chad has a lot of them. He'll decide where to place her next time.”

“She was able to take control of the race, which it looked like on paper, which made her the heavy favorite here,” Brown said. “So relieved to see her respond. Once she took control of the race going down the backside, I felt pretty good. She got tested, by, what I think, is really good filly [Crystal Cliffs] turning for home that made her move early and tried her.

“I  was very interested to see how she responded after her first race of the year [second in the Plenty of Grace Stakes ] where she got a wide trip and got beat. It was a good, solid race, but the second race off the layoff would really tell the story to me where we are headed, and it looks like we are headed some place good.”

With Saturday's victory, her record improves to 5-2-1 from nine career starts.

Technical Analysis was bred by Rabbah Bloodstock from the Sea The Stars mare Sealife.

The post Favorite Technical Analysis Wires Field in Easy Gallorette Triumph appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner's Jaxon Traveler, second to his stablemate over the same course last year, turned away all comers Saturday to register his first graded stakes victory in the $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The 35th running of the six-furlong Sprint for 3-year-olds and up, led off a blockbuster 14-race program featuring 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.75 million in purses, headlined by the 147th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. A. Leonard Pineau, Jaxon Traveler ($4.40) ran second to Mighty Mischief in the Chick Lang (G3) on Pimlico's main track and third in the Quick Call (G3) over the Saratoga turf in 2021. Two of his previous three stakes wins also came in his home state – the 2020 Maryland Juvenile Futurity at Laurel Park and 2021 Star de Naskra at Pimlico.

Jaxon Traveler broke sharply from the outside post under Joel Rosario and quickly established command, pressed to his inside by 17-1 long shot and Feb. 19 General George (G3) runner-up War Tocsin. War Tocsin began to drop back after they went a quarter-mile in :22.95, when multiple stakes winner Threes Over Deuces picked up the chase.

The half went in :45.55 as Threes Over Deuces ranged up on Jaxon Traveler's outside for the run down the stretch, but Jaxon Traveler found another gear under jockey Joel Rosario and crossed the wire 1 ¾ lengths in front. The winning time was 1:09.70 over a fast main track.

It was three lengths back to War Tocsin in third, followed by Sir Alfred James, Full Authority and April 16 Frank Y. Whiteley winner Disco Pharoah.

Rosario previously won the Maryland Sprint with Sandbar in 2015.

“He was going along pretty easy, and I was just going along for the ride,” Rosario said of Jaxon Traveler. “He showed speed from the start, so I let him go. He broke good, so I put him on the lead. I was in front off the inside on the turn. When he came to me off the turn, my horse really responded. He did great today.”

It was the third Maryland Sprint win in four years for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, following Switzerland in 2018 and New York Central in 2019. The race was not run in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think Jaxon Traveler has run extremely well here at Pimlico,” said Asmussen. “That's his third stakes win here [in Maryland]. So, we've been looking forward to this race for quite some time. When he breaks well, he runs well. He hit the ground running and proved best. That's who he's always been. This was a major target for him, a very good victory for him, his first graded-stakes win, so we'll sit down and discuss it with West Point to see where we'll run him next.”

The post No Place Like Home: Jaxon Traveler Proves Best In Maryland Sprint appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Interstatedaydream struck at the right time after a trip just off the pace, and she kicked on to earn her first graded stakes victory on Friday in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.

The 3-year-old filly from the first crop of Classic Empire left the starting gate on a loose rein by jockey Florent Geroux, and the pair settled in second, a length off early leader Beguine. Interstatedaydream was flanked by Divine Huntress on the rail and post time favorite Adare Manor on the outside.

Those four led the proceedings past the grandstand for the first time, and through an opening quarter in :23.34, and that group remained the field's top flight as they rounded the first turn and entered the backstretch. Beguine continued to lead after clocking the opening half-mile in :46.65, with Interstatedaydream close behind, about three paths off the rail. Geroux put Interstatedaydream on Beguine's outside hip as the backstretch bent into the final turn, and she was within a half-length after three-quarters in 1:10.46.

Jockey Jose Ortiz continued to ride Beguine confidently under heavy pressure on the outside from Interstatedaydream, and Ortiz began asking his mount with the whip at the three-sixteenths pole. However, it was not enough to counter their rival's momentum on the outside.

Under steady right-handed urging from Geroux, Interstatedaydream was firmly in command with a furlong to go, clocking the mile in 1:35.53, and the filly kicked away to cross the finish 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Adare Manor, who continued to run steadily on the outside. Radio Days, staging a late move from the rail, was a length behind the runner-up.

Interstatedaydream won the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan in 1:48.73 over a fast main track. She paid $14.20 to win as the betting public's third choice.

Friday's race marked the first Black-Eyed Susan victory for Geroux, as well as trainer Brad Cox and owner Flurry Racing Stables.

The Black Eyed Susan improved the filly's career record to three wins in five starts, for earnings of $351,225. It was her first graded stakes victory after a series of on-the-board efforts. After breaking her maiden in June of her 2-year-old season in 2021, she finished second in the G2 Adirondack Stakes before being put away for the year. She came back with a March optional claiming score at Oaklawn Park, then finished third in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland prior to her start at Pimlico.

Interstatedaydream was bred in Ontario by William D. Graham, out of the Uncle Mo mare Babcock, whose runners also include the multiple stakes-placed Emmeline.

Friday's winner sold at auction on three occasions. She initially brought $105,000 as a newly-turned yearling at the 2020 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, then she sold for $130,000 later that year at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Finally, the filly was picked up by her current owner for $175,000 at last year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

Quotes provided by the Maryland Jockey Club notes team:

Winning trainer Brad Cox, Interstatedaydream (by phone): “I'm just very proud of her. She stepped up and ran a huge race. I was very shocked to see she was the price she was going into the gate. She wasn't getting a lot of respect, and I really thought she fit well with this group. Congratulations to [owner] Staton Flurry. It was a big effort and I thought Florent did a good job of getting a good early position. Her last two works have been phenomenal, and she showed up and ran a big race.”

(On passing the Kentucky Oaks (G1): “She just wasn't ready for it. It would have been back a little too quick, throwing too much at her too quick. I thought this made the most sense.” 

Winning jockey Florent Geroux, Interstatedaydream: “That's good when they break like that and put you in a good spot, that helps a lot. She was very comfortable during the race and she had something left down the lane.

“There was no game plan. I thought there would be a couple of fillies, especially on the inside, who would have gone. I was really expecting Adare Manor to be a little bit forwardly placed. But when [jockey] Johnny [Velazquez] was content to sit right off me, I just took advantage of it. I was not going to pull too hard on my filly just to let him pass. I thought my filly was great where she was.”

“I'd say top of the lane, I could tell I put away Adare Manor. My filly took a nice breather twice during the race. So, I thought there was plenty of oxygen in her lungs.”

Trainer Sean McCarthy, Adare Manor, 2^nd: “She broke well and got in super position going into the first turn. We were really pleased with it. Down the backside she just kind of dropped the bridle a little bit. [Jockey] Johnny [Velazquez] asked her. She responded. Coming around the turn there was a little bit of the same. He asked her again and she responded. By that time, I think the leader had a pretty good jump on us, so it was harder for our filly to run her down. Our filly didn't stop, but the winner ran a great race, and we just couldn't catch up to her.”

Jockey John Velazquez, Adare Manor, 2^nd: “We had good position throughout, but I had to work hard for her to get there. There was a good pace. She was moving real good, I just couldn't get to the winner.”

Jockey Joel Rosario, Radio Days, 3^rd: “I saved ground on the first turn, and they went fast. On the backside, I was making up ground, but had to check a bit at the three-eighths pole. Turning for home, she was coming and moving really well to the end.”

Trainer Graham Motion, Divine Huntress, 4^th: “I thought the winner ran great. Turning for home, I thought we would get a piece of it, but I was very pleased with her effort. I was happy with her. It showed she belonged with these.”

Trainer/co-owner Hamilton Smith, Luna Belle, 11th: “It wasn't any good. The jockey [Denis Araujo] said she didn't pick it up at all. She didn't break well, and he said she was acting like she was a little flat and dull. I don't know why. She was doing great coming in.

“We will check her out and see. I don't have any excuse other than she got outrun. It was very disappointing. I was hoping she would have had a good showing, and to finish as far back as she did wasn't a good showing. She is better than what she ran today, I know that. We have a lot of opportunities in front of us, some Maryland-bred stuff, a lot of races we can choose from.

“This is her home track, she was born, bred and raised here in Maryland. We had a big following, so it's a disappointing effort. The main thing is that she comes back good. We'll be alright. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary other than she didn't break good. I expected her to be a lot closer earlier, sixth, seventh, something like that. But she was all the way back next to last almost. I told my partner [co-owner Deborah S. Greene] she is not going to run good today.”

Trainer Dan Peitz, pacesetter Beguine, 12th: “I'm not sure what happened. It looked like she might have been bothered around the three-eighths pole but I'm not sure until I watch the replay. It was disappointing.”

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First Captain, the only runner in the field of 10 to have a North American graded stakes victory on his resume, rallied late under Luis Saez to win the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special by a head over even-money favorite Vindictive, with pace-setting Untreated 1 1/4 lengths back in third on Friday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, the 4-year-old by Curlin ran 1 3/16 miles on a fast track in 1:56.24 and paid $12 for the win, his fifth in seen starts. He is owned by the partnership of West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm LLC, Woodford Racing LLC, and Bobby Flay. The latter bred First Captain and sold the colt through consignor Stone Farm for $1.5 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale.

First Captain was produced from the A.P. Indy mare, America, a graded stakes-winning homebred for celebrity chef Flay, who had a big day on the Black-Eyed Susan day program. Earlier in the afternoon, Flay's homebred Pizza Bianca, winner of the 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, scored her first victory of the year in the Hilltop Stakes and is bound for England's Royal Ascot next month.

Racing with blinkers for the first time and with Saez taking over from Jose Ortiz, who'd ridden him in all of his previous starts, First Captain settled into fifth position and well off the rail in the run down the stretch for the first time.

Untreated, one of two horses in the race along with Vindictive trained by Todd Pletcher, eased his way to the front under Joel Rosario and went the opening quarter mile in a leisurely :24.99 and a half in :49.80. Workin On a Dream was a little over a length behind with Vindictive and Irad Ortiz Jr. getting a ground-saving trip to his inside.

They continued that way down the backstretch, with First Captain still well off the rail and in fifth or sixth position approaching the  far turn after six furlongs in 1:14.27. Rounding the turn, Workin On a Dream put added pressure on the front-running Untreated, and Vindictive swung out to pose an even stiffer challenge after a mile was run in 1:38.46.

Saez, meanwhile, bided his time until swinging First Captain to the outside at the top of the lane and took aim at the Pletcher duo, needing the length of the Pimlico stretch to get the job done.

The complete order of finish: First Captain, Vindictive, Untreated, Workin On a Dream, Mohaafeth, Treasure Trove, Mischief Afoot, Excellorator, Capocostello, Forewarned.

First Captain won his first three races last year, beginning with an April 24 maiden race going seven furlongs at Belmont Park. He came back a month later, winning an allowance over a sloppy surface at Belmont, then took the G3 Dwyer going a mile. Favored at 13-10 in the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga on July 30, First Captain finished a well-beaten third and did not resurface until February of this year at Gulfstream Park. He won that optional claiming/allowance event by a head, then was a well-beaten seventh in the G1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 9.

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