Tag: Racing

Ascendant Farms' homebred Galaxina displayed tactical speed to secure a 24-1 victory in Sunday's $200,000 Park Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a 6 1/2-furlong main track sprint for eligible New York-sired sophomore fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Galaxina, by Giant Surprise, was sent to post as the longest shot in a six-horse field and rewarded her backers with a cool $50 for a $2 win wager.

The dynamics of the race were altered at the break when 1-5 favorite Yo Cuz broke poorly from the inside post and was unable to secure her usual front-running style. With Yo Cuz in last, Starship Laoban secured control of the pace, leading through an opening quarter-mile in 23.49 seconds over the fast main track. Galaxina tracked right off the flank of the pacesetter in second and came under a drive by Trevor McCarthy around the far turn with Yo Cuz in pursuit from the four path.

Galaxina and Starship Laoban engaged in battle in the stretch run with Bank On Anna keeping close company 3 1/2 lengths back in third. Galaxina inched past a stubborn Starship Laoban at the sixteenth pole to win her stakes debut by a length in a final time of 1:18.08.

Starship Laoban finished another 2 1/2 lengths to the better of third-place finisher Bank On Anna. Yo Cuz, Celebrity News and Kisses for Emily completed the order of finish. Gris Tormenta was scratched.

“She warmed up really well and broke really sharp,” said McCarthy, who also piloted Kazmike to victory in Saturday's NYSSS Times Square. “I was able to get her to turn off nice and sit second. When she made that burst turning for home, she gave me everything she had.”

Galaxina cut back in distance for trainer Jimmy Bond, arriving at the NYSSS Park Avenue off a gate-to-wire maiden score at seven furlongs on February 26 at Aqueduct. The maiden victory came five weeks after finishing second on debut to eventual dual stakes-placed Stone Creator on January 16.

McCarthy piloted the filly in both of her previous starts and said she was well prepared for the race.

“She has been training really good and feeling really good coming into this,” McCarthy said. “I give a lot of credit to the Bonds. She's a filly that probably looked a little under class, but with the right trip today and the way she's been training, I expected her to run really good.”

Yo Cuz, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott for Dream Maker Racing, entered off a trio of stakes scores at the Big A. She captured the NYSSS Fifth Avenue in December ahead of scores against fellow New York-breds in the Maddie May in February and the East View in March.

Jose Ortiz, aboard Yo Cuz, said his filly's chances were hampered at the break.

“She broke the first jump good, but the second jump she grabbed her quarter a little bit. It happens,” Ortiz said. “The main thing is to get her right. I still think she's the best horse in the division. She's a very nice filly. She was just unlucky today.”

Galaxina banked $110,000 in victory and over tripled her lifetime earnings which now stand at $162,500 through a 3-2-1-0 record.  A New York homebred, Galaxina is out of the Lawyer Ron mare Strange Magic, whose dam, Lokoya Red, is a half sister to 2008 champion turf female Forever Together.

The post Galaxina Pulls 24-1 Upset In Park Avenue Division of NY Stallion Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Chad Brown-trained Consumer Spending made her seasonal debut a winning one, prevailing narrowly over last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) heroine Pizza Bianca to take Sunday's $100,000 Memories of Silver Stakes on closing day of the spring meet Aqueduct Racetrack.

Not seen since finishing sixth, beaten 1 3/4-lengths by Pizza Bianca in the Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar to close out her juvenile campaign in November, Consumer Spending served notice in the Memories of Silver that she's an improved filly.

In the Juvenile Fillies Turf it was Pizza Bianca who got the upper hand despite finding herself dead last leaving the far turn and having to rally through traffic in the stretch, but with no such impediment on Sunday there was no doubt who the superior filly was as Consumer Spending came out three-quarters of a length on top in the 1 1/16-mile outer turf race for 3-year-old fillies.

“This filly has really done well over the winter,” Brown said of Consumer Spending. “I'm really proud of my team that got her ready. I was really pleased every week that I saw her to keep moving forward over the winter. Trainers will say it, but she really did do what you want to see from two-to-three, both physically and mentally, almost to the point I was surprised how much she improved.

“I wasn't sure off the Breeders' Cup if she was the type to train on,” he added. “I was torn between if she was a juvenile that got there early, or is she going to show some good quality down the road. It was pretty apparent from February that this filly was really going the right way and doing everything you need to do to have a nice career ahead of her. She certainly proved it today.”

Pizza Bianca, also making her 3-year-old debut under returning rider Jose Ortiz, broke well and flashed newfound early speed in the Memories of Silver, sitting a close fourth as longshot Sail By seized control of the early lead.

Consumer Spending, meanwhile, took up position just off the favorite's flank in fifth as the leader carved out sensible fractions of :24.38  for the opening quarter-mile, :50.22 for the half, and 1:15.26 for three-quarters on the firm going, with positions remaining unchanged until the field departed the backstretch.

It was the more tactical Pizza Bianca that made the first move, ranging up to the leaders while three wide on the far turn, but Consumer Spending and jockey Manny Franco didn't let her out of their sights as they commenced a slightly wider rally on the outer turf course.

The two favorites inevitably hooked up at the top of the stretch and surged by the pacesetter, with neither conceding an inch until inside the final sixteenth when Consumer Spending put her head in front for good, completing the distance in 1:43.59.

“I really had a great trip and followed the favorite the whole way around,” said Franco. “I was able to save ground in the first turn, and then in the backside I followed the right target. When my filly was clear, she just took off.

“I expected a little more of a fight,” Franco added. “I just hit my filly two times with the stick and my filly came running. I thought the other one (Pizza Bianca) was going to give me a little more (of a challenge), but my filly ran hard to the end.”

The win marked Consumer Spending's third from five career starts for owner Klaravich Stables, who, along with Brown won spring meet titles at Aqueduct on Sunday. As the second choice in the betting, Consumer Spending returned $6 and increased her bankroll to $240,000.

Pizza Bianca, trained by Christophe Clement for celebrity chef Bobby Flay, ran valiantly in defeat in what was only her fourth career start. The Breeders' Cup champ, who also placed second in last year's Grade 1 Natalma at Woodbine, finished second, 3 3/4-lengths ahead of Sail By.

“I had a very good trip. I don't have any excuses,” said Ortiz. “Chad's filly ran a good race and beat us today. She ran a good race in the Breeders' Cup, also. She's not a bad filly.”

Consumer Spending is a gray or roan daughter of More Than Ready out of the Scat Daddy mare Siempre Mia. She was bred in Kentucky by Forging Oaks Farm. Offered by Eaton Sales at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select yearling sale, she sold to Northway Bloodstock for $200,000.

Miss You Ella, Alittleloveandluck, and On Alert completed the order of finish.

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It was a business trip and Letruska took care of business – again – Saturday at Oaklawn, becoming just the fourth horse to capture multiple runnings of the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) with a 1 ¼-length victory in the $1 million event for older fillies and mares.

Trainer Fausto Gutierrez said Letruska, the reigning champion older dirt female,  emerged in good order from her Apple Blossom victory and the immediate plan is to target the $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles June 11 at Belmont Park.

Letruska capped a roughly seven-week stay last year at Oaklawn when she edged two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl to win the Apple Blossom by a nose. Letruska rode the momentum of that victory into divisional honors.

Letruska's 2022 Apple Blossom itinerary was straight to the point. She arrived Wednesday, jogged two laps the wrong way, schooled in the gate and paddock Thursday morning, polished off four rivals Saturday, including Eclipse Award winner and 2020 Apple Blossom victress Ce Ce and Grade 1 winners Clairiere and Maracuja, and departed Sunday morning for her base at Keeneland.

Before leaving, the speedy Letruska was assigned a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 103 for her front-running victory over a fast track. Favored at 4-5 under Jose Ortiz, Letruska ($3.80) ran 1 1/16 miles in a meet-best 1:42.22. The time was the fastest for an Apple Blossom winner since Havre De Grace (1:42.19) during her 2011 Horse of the Year campaign. Clairiere finished second, a half-length ahead of Ce Ce, with Maracuja 17 ½ lengths farther back in fourth.

“This was a race that had a very easy form to read,” Gutierrez said Sunday morning. “The complicated part was the quality of the horses. Okay, we are the speed and the other ones come from behind. Ce Ce nearer to us than Clairiere and both are very strong horses. Really, when we entered the stretch I had a sensation, like those two were coming very strong. Very, very dangerous, Ce Ce and then Clairiere. But again, she (Letruska) ran with the class that helped her win an Eclipse, all the races that she won. She ran a very nice race and the top three runners finished very near each other in a very good time. Faster than last year in comparison to other races.”

Letruska coasted to a front-running 2 ¾-length score in last year's Phipps, which was among her four Grade 1 victories in 2021. Gutierrez said the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) this fall at Keeneland is the year-end goal for Letruska, who finished a leg-weary 10th in the 2021 running at Del Mar.

Gutierrez reiterated Sunday morning that Letruska's post-Apple Blossom racing schedule in 2022 won't be as taxing as last year. Letruska's only other loss in a grueling eight-race cross-country 2021 campaign was a runner-up finish in the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn's final major prep for the Apple Blossom. Letruska opened her 2022 campaign with a front-running three-length victory in the $150,000 Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 26 at Gulfstream Park.

“It's complicated sometimes to speak about a plan, but the idea is to have less races than last year, especially less trips,” Gutierrez said. “You never know because you can have surprises, but the idea is to go to Belmont (Stakes) Day, to the Phipps.”

Saturday's victory, Letruska's 19th in 25 starts, pushed her career earnings to $2,948,529. Gutierrez trains the 6-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Super Saver for breeder/owner St. George Stable (German Larrea). Letruska began her career in Mexico and won her first six starts there, including four in 2019 when she was that country's champion 3-year-old filly.

Paseana (1992, 1993), Azeri (2002, 2003, 2004) and Zenyatta (2008 and 2010) are the only other multiple Apple Blossom winners. All are members of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

“To win the Apple Blossom twice is great,” Gutierrez said.

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George Krikorian's War Like Goddess, a finalist for the Eclipse Award as 2021 champion turf female, headlines a field of seven fillies and mares entered for Friday's 60th running of the $300,000 Bewitch Stakes (G3).

The Bewitch, at 1 ½ miles on the turf, serves as the closing-day feature for the 15-day Spring Meet and will go as the eighth race on the 10-race program with a 4:07 p.m. (ET) post time. First post Friday is 12:30 p.m.

Trained by Bill Mott, War Like Goddess will seek to become the first horse to win the Bewitch in consecutive years. Her Bewitch victory last year was the second in a string of four consecutive graded stakes triumphs during a campaign that concluded with a narrow third-place defeat as the favorite in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) at Del Mar.

Joel Rosario will be aboard War Like Goddess in her 2022 debut and will leave from post position four.

Hunter Valley Farm, Debra O'Connor, and Marc Detampel's Family Way looms as the major threat to War Like Goddess.

Trained by Brendan Walsh, Family Way won the Orchid (G3) over the Bewitch distance April 2 at Gulfstream Park with Tyler Gaffalione aboard. Gaffalione retains the mount and will break from post three.

The field for the Bewitch, with riders and weights, in post-position order:

1. Core Values (Rafael Bejarano, 118 pounds)
2. La Lune (GB) (Adam Beschizza, 118)
3. Family Way (Gaffalione, 120)
4. War Like Goddess (Rosario, 118)
5. Stand Tall (Florent Geroux, 118)
6. Luck Money (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118)
7. Breeze Rider (E.T. Baird, 118)

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