Tag: Racing

Last year, Todd Pletcher brought unbeaten Malathaat to Keeneland to win the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes, then four weeks later sent the Curlin filly out to win the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. On Friday's chilly and wet opening-day spring meet program at the Lexington, Ky., track, Hall of Famer Pletcher made it back-to-back Ashlands with another filly by Curlin, the once-beaten Nest, who like Malathaat had won the G2 Demoiselle  as a 2-year-old at Aqueduct the previous year.

Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. for the partnership of Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Michael House, Nest raced just a few lengths off the pace while in fourth, made a four-wide move on the far turn, then drew off to win by 8 1/4 lengths, covering the 1 1/16 miles on a muddy track in 1:44.16. Nest paid $5.40 as the favorite.

Finishing second by a nose was Cocktail Moments, with 9-5 second choice Interstatedaydream third and Awake at Midnyte fourth in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies. Sterling Silver, Happy Soul, Miss Mattie and Heavenly Hellos completed the order of finish

The Ashland is a qualifying points race for the May 6 Kentucky Oaks, awarding 100 points to the winner, 40 to second, 20 to third and 10 to fourth.

Updated Kentucky Derby/Oaks leaderboard

Nest, produced from the stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Marion Ravenwood, was bred in Kentucky by Ashview Farm and Colts Neck Stables and purchased for $350,000 as a yearling from Ashview Farm as consignor.

This was Nest's fourth win in five starts, her only defeat coming in her second start when third in the Tempted at Belmont Park Nov. 5. She followed that up with a victory in the Demoiselle, then won her 2022 debut in the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 12.

Interstatedaydream set the pace in the Ashland under Florent Geroux, clocking fractions of :24.24, :48.82 and 1:13.25 for the opening six furlongs. Nest took command into the stretch, passing the mile marker in 1:38.16, then pulled away in the final furlong. Cocktail Moments edged Interstatedaydream for second in the final jump.

“Irad got her into a good, comfortable rhythm going down the backside, and we didn't want anyone to get away from us with the short run to the finish line,” said Pletcher. “I knew when he had her revved up she was doing it pretty easily. Then she kicked on down the lane and he wrapped up on her late. So it was everything we could have hoped for.

“She's a filly that's improved all the time. She was able to win her debut going a mile and a sixteenth, which you don't see many horses do. We've always felt like as she matured and the races got longer, she was going to get better. I really liked the way she's been training since the Suncoast. She's just kept getting better and better.”

“I was a little shocked that we were on the lead,” Cox said of Interstatedaydream. “We were in a good spot, with comfortable fractions and well within herself. The race quickened, but she stayed on. Just no match for the winner. I will talk with (owner) Staton Flurry, but probably we will skip the (Kentucky) Oaks and shop around for a Grade 2 or 3 race. We will have her ready for the Oaks if there are some defections.”

The post ‘Getting Better And Better,’ Nest Overpowers Ashland Stakes Competition appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Grade 2 winner Dream Lith suffered a heat stroke following her fifth-place finish as the favorite in the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies April 2, trainer Robertino Diodoro said Friday morning at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

[Editor's note: According to Accuweather, the high temperature on April 2 in Hot Springs was 74 degrees Farenheit.]

Diodoro said Dream Lith initially collapsed near the test barn following the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy, which was Oaklawn's final major prep for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 6 at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Oaks is the country's biggest race for 3-year-old fillies.

Diodoro said Dream Lith sustained cuts after falling on the concrete and emerged with a “knee that looked like a football.”

“Between the test barn and our barn, she got down a couple of more times and got her hock and her knee,” Diodoro said. “All superficial, but it blew up pretty good.”

Diodoro said Dream Lith is recovering from her injuries, adding he'll have to watch her train a few days before targeting another race. A daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, Dream Lith scored her biggest career victory to date in the $400,000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs to close her 2-year-old campaign.

“She's got some turf in her breeding,” Diodoro said. “Probably see her on turf, When, I'm not sure.”

Diodoro said millionaire multiple Grade 2 winner Lone Rock emerged in good shape from his victory in last Sunday's $150,000 Temperence Hill Stakes for older horses at 1 ½ miles and is pointing for the $160,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes May 3 at Churchill Downs. Lone Rock won the 1 ½-mile Isaac Murphy last year.

Diodoro's other stakes runner last weekend was Market Analysis, who finished eighth in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) for older horses. Diodoro said he'll look at an easier spot for Market Analysis, who recorded two powerful allowance/optional claiming victories earlier in the meeting.

The post Dream Lith Recovering From ‘Heat Stroke’ After Oaklawn’s Fantasy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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With jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. biding his time in last place until rounding the final turn, Head of Plains Partners LLC's Sy Dog rallied in the stretch to win Friday's Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes by three-quarter of a length on chilly and wet opening day program of the spring meet at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

Winning for the third time in as many starts while making his 2022 debut, the Graham Motion-trained colt by Slumber covered 1 1/16 miles on a good turf course in 1:45.38 and paid $13.40 for the win.

Grand Sonata, with Tyler Gaffalione aboard, was up late to finish second, just ahead of third-place finisher Coinage, who led into the stretch. He was followed by Napoleonic War, Verbal and Credibility in the field of six 3-year-olds.

Bred by his owner, Sy Dog was produced from the Scat Daddy mare My Love Venezuela.

Sy Dog won his debut on firm turf at Belmont Park by four lengths last October, then captured the Central Park Stakes second time out on Nov. 27. He trained at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla., over the winter for his 3-year-old debut.

The post Sy Dog Keeps Perfect Record Intact With Last-To-First Transylvania Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Godolphin's Speaker's Corner has kicked off his 4-year-old campaign the right way with two graded stakes victories at Gulfstream Park. But he'll have his work cut out for him when contesting a salty group of older horses in Saturday's seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap presented by NYRA Bets at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Speaker's Corner enters off a pair of wins going a one-turn mile. Following a gate-to-wire triumph in the G3 Fred W. Hooper on Jan. 29, the bay son of Street Sense displayed frontrunning tactics once more in the G2 Gulfstream Park Mile on March 5. In both starts, he defeated Fearless, who came back to win the G3 Ghostzapper at the South Florida oval by six lengths.

Speaker's Corner, who will exit the outermost post 8 under Junior Alvarado, will have to pass a rigorous test in the Carter, where all but one of the entrants will arrive off a victory. The field includes last out stakes winners Green Light Go, Mind Control, Bank On Shea, and Drafted, as well as First Captain and Reinvestment Risk whose recent coups came at allowance level.

“They don't give Grade 1s away,” said Godolphin bloodstock director Michael Banahan. “It'll be a challenge. He's dropping back in distance, and he has the widest draw in the field. But we're happy with him. He's in great shape and he had a great work down at Payson Park last week. We're excited to have him there and looking forward to seeing if he can step up to the Grade 1 level.”

The Carter will be a second start at Grade 1 level for Speaker's Corner. A sharp triumph in his sophomore debut in August at Saratoga Race Course prompted his connections to try the G1 Pennsylvania Derby, where he finished a distant sixth in his two-turn debut.

He cut back to one turn for a 1 1/16-mile second-level optional claimer at Belmont, winning by 6 3/4 lengths and registering a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure – one of five triple digit numbers recorded by the talented colt.

His following effort in the two-turn Discovery at Aqueduct, where he finished a pacesetting second, encouraged his connections to stick to one-turn races for his 4-year-old campaign.

Banahan said it's possible Speaker's Corner could be in close stalking range, as he was in his maiden victory in October 2020 and his triumph against winners at Saratoga the following August.

“When you drop back in distance, maybe things will be a little different than what he had to do his last couple of races,” Banahan said. “He could drop back in behind a few horses. Junior has confidence in the horse, he's ridden him more times than anyone else. We'll just have to see what happens and where the speed comes from. He should be fine, but Junior will have to play the break.”

Godolphin also will be represented by Mott-trained Nostalgic in the Grade 3, $300,000 Gazelle, the final local qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks.

The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro finished fourth in the G2 Demoiselle in December at Aqueduct after a 7 3/4-length maiden victory at Belmont, where she registered a 48 Beyer.

Banahan said he was not discouraged by the effort.

“We were perplexed by that number, but I'm more visual than number driven,” Banahan said. “When we ran her back in the Demoiselle, she ran OK and finished up OK, but she was a little too far out of it. She maybe needed to be a little closer to the pace that day.”

Nostalgic breezed once over the turf while wintering at Payson Park in Florida, subsequently finishing ninth in the G3 Sweetest Chant on Feb. 5 over the Gulfstream Park green. She found the winner's circle next out when beating winners over the Gulfstream main track by 6 3/4 lengths.

“She worked well on the grass but was disappointing in the Sweetest Chant. She showed us she didn't like the turf, even if she worked well over it,” Banahan said. “I do think she likes the distance and we like our spot in here.”

Nostalgic will be ridden by Jose Ortiz, the pilot in both of her wins, from post 3.

On Sunday, Godolphin has entered Frost Point for her stakes debut in the $100,000 Top Flight Invitational.

The 4-year-old daughter of Frosted, out of Grade 1-winner Balletto, defeated winners at Laurel Park in her 2022 debut before finishing second in an allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct in February for Mott.

“Balletto was a nice filly. She's produced a nice horse in Villanesca who was Grade 1-placed,” Banahan said. “This filly has continued to improve in her races and we're looking forward to stretching her out. We're hoping she can get a stakes placing, that's our first goal with her for the year.”

Manny Franco will pilot Frost Point for the first time from post 3 in the six-horse field.

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