Tag: Racing

Embattled trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Frankie Dettori each enjoyed a fourth victory in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) Saturday at Meydan Racecourse, with the latter timing his ride to perfection aboard the game Country Grammer.

Baffert, who is embroiled in ongoing legal battles following the disqualification of Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1), had Country Grammer prepared to perfection.

The Saudi Cup (G1) runner-up Feb. 26, Country Grammer hunted down longtime leader Life Is Good in the final furlong of the 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) dirt contest to win by a 1 ¾ lengths in 2:04.97 on a fast track.

Country Grammer, a 5-year-old son of Tonalist, has 4-2-1 record from 10 career starts. Saturday's victory marked his second graded or group 1 win; he took the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) last May, then was off 270 days prior to his second in the Saudi Cup upon his return to racing.

The Todd Pletcher-trained Life Is Good set the pace under Irad Ortiz Jr., with Steve Asmussen's charge Midnight Bourbon taking close orders.

Turning for home, Ortiz asked Life Is Good for an extra effort and started to kick clear. However, Country Grammer was not finished, and with Dettori urging him along the straight, he took command as Life Is Good faded into fourth. The rallying Hot Rod Charlie claimed second for Doug O'Neill with Flavien Prat up, while Ryuji Okubo's Chuwa Wizard, who was runner-up in last year's edition of the race, was a further half-length behind in third.

Amr Zedan, owner of Medina Spirit and co-owner of Country Grammer with WinStar Farm and Commonwealth Thoroughbreds, said: “I mean, I don't have any voice left after that! It was a project – we picked the horse and he has come here in the care of the best trainer in the world in Bob Baffert. Deep down in my gut I knew we had a shot. I have huge respect for all the others, especially Life Is Good who I know intimately as he used to train with Country Grammer when he was with Baffert.

“This win reminds me of Medina Spirit,” Zedan continued. “He was a champion and these horses are all heart. I hope Medina Spirit is reinstalled as the Kentucky Derby (G1) winner, God willing. I can't believe I'm sitting here and my silks are here!

“I am just very thankful to the entire team and Frankie, who gave him a perfect ride. He is one of the best, if not the best. Results speak louder than words. A trainer of that caliber is bound to produce such results. I am just dedicating this race to him.”

Jimmy Barnes, assistant trainer to Bob Baffert, said: “It's been a long trip, Frankie just rode him awesome. He couldn't have done any better. The speed worked out just as we thought it would, he put him in a close enough spot that when he called upon him, he's a true mile-and-a-quarter horse and it kicked in. I give a lot of credit to Bob Baffert for his ability to come back and perform, it's what we do, we're great off a lay-off. I'm just so excited. I was here when Arrogate won the Dubai World Cup, so this is my second with Bob and it is very, very special.”

Frankie Dettori, who first won the Dubai World Cup for Godolphin aboard the great Dubai Millennium in 2000, said: “I have equaled Jerry Bailey now. All my other three wins came on the Nad Al Sheba track so it's nice to have a winner at Meydan.

“When the draw came out, I had just wanted to put him on the fence. At the half-mile, I wasn't able to keep on with the front two but in the end they came back to me. At the furlong pole, it was surreal as I knew I was going to win. It's just unbelievable. It's like a dream!”

Produced by the Forestry mare Arabian Song, Country Grammer was bred in Kentucky by Scott and Debbie Pierce.

Doug O'Neill, trainer of runner-up Hot Rod Charlie, said: “He had a great run and congratulations to Bob Baffert for getting his horse ready the way he did. We're super proud, Leandro Mora and all the guys have been here the whole time and they've done a great job.

“We wanted to win of course but we're super proud and mid-race we were thinking it just wasn't Charlie's day. He then re-engaged and got up for second so it was a great night.”

“These are one of the few times that you wish horses could talk,” O'Neill continued. ”I think maybe blinkers might need to go back on – he broke okay but then when he got behind horses, maybe that was it. (Jockey) Flavien (Prat) said he took the kickback pretty well though, so we'll re-group and we'll give him plenty of time now and we'll huddle up and think of a game plan.”

Prat said Hot Rod Charlie broke well.

“I got myself into the rail,” he said. “Then we were travelling really well down the far side and he then needed to dig in and we got a nice run down the lane.”

Yuga Kawada, rider of third-placed Chuwa Wizard, said: “It was a good place. He was second last year and this year he was third so it was a very strong race and a very good run. He's matched last year's performance today and we're very happy.”

4th – Life Is Good, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr said: “We led like we wanted. It was just the distance. The extra distance told.”

5th – Midnight Bourbon, jockey Jose Ortiz said: “We raced on the pace in second. I was disappointed with how he finished.”

6th – Remorse, jockey Tadhg O'Shea said: “Great credit to him for that run. He came under pressure a fair way out but he kept responding for me.”

7th – Hypothetical, jockey Mickael Barzalona said: “I'm very happy with his run. He was still there at the turn but in the end he was beaten by better horses.”

8th – Aero Trem, jockey Vagner Leal said: “He didn't run like he did in Saudi. He wasn't the same.”

9th – Real World, jockey Christophe Soumillon said: “He didn't handle the dirt.”

10th – Magny Cours, jockey William Buick said: “He was never going.”

The post Baffert-Trained Country Grammer Soars to Dubai World Cup Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Many of the top Florida-breds in training are set to compete in Sunday's 19th annual Florida Cup at Tampa Bay Downs, with six races for registered state-breds offering $110,000 each in purse money.

The Florida Cup races, which are part of a 12-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m., are scheduled as races 6-through-11 and will comprise the day's 20-cent Ultimate 6 wager.

The field for Sunday's sixth race, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Sophomore for 3-year-olds at a distance of seven furlongs on the main dirt track, grew to seven colts and geldings with the supplementary entry of Dean Delivers, a gelding bred and owned by Stonehedge, LLC and trained by Michael Yates.

Antonio Gallardo has been named to ride the 8-5 morning-line favorite, who finished second in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes on Feb. 5 at Gulfstream and was fifth in that track's G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 5 after leading briefly.

Included in the field are the 1-2 finishers in Tampa Bay Downs's Inaugural Stakes on Dec. 4, Cattin and Lightening Larry.

The seventh race, the Equistaff Sophomore Turf, is for 3-year-olds traveling 1 1/16 miles on the Oldsmar grass course. Included in the eight-horse field is a lone filly, 3-year-old stakes-winner Lemieux, owned by D. J. Stable and trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse. The jockey for Lemieux has yet to be named.

The 5-2 morning-line favorite in the wide-open affair is C My Meister, owned by Wendell Yates, Carroll Boys Racing and Maritza Weston and trained by Kelsey Danner. Daniel Centeno is the jockey.

Also entered is the Todd Pletcher-trained Treasure King, who broke his maiden on Feb. 25 at Gulfstream in his first career start and will be ridden by Pletcher's Hall of Fame compatriot Javier Castellano, who won four Florida Cup stakes on the 2018 card.

The eighth race, the third leg of the Ultimate 6, is the Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies at a distance of seven furlongs on the main track. The field of seven is headed by Outfoxed, owned by LNJ Foxwoods and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Castellano has the riding assignment.

All three of Outfoxed's victories came in stakes races, including the Gasparilla Stakes here on Jan. 15. She took a step up in class in her most recent race, finishing fifth on March 5 in the G2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream.

Castellano again appears “well-seated” in the ninth race, the Grey Goose Turf Classic for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at the testing 1 1/8-mile distance on the grass. He is named to ride Pletcher's 5-year-old horse Shamrocket, established as the morning-line 8-5 favorite in the field of nine. Shamrocket, owned by Donegal Racing, won the Sunshine Classic Stakes on Jan. 15 at Gulfstream and captured the 1 1/2-mile Point of Entry Stakes on Oct. 24 at Belmont, both with Castellano riding.

The 10th race, the Pleasant Acres Stallions Distaff Turf, is for fillies and mares 3-years-old-and-upward at 1 1/16 miles on the grass. Lightly-raced 6-year-old mare Shifty She, owned by Pedigree Partners and trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., is the 3-5 morning-line favorite based on her 6-for-12 record that includes three stakes victories, topped by the Grade III Noble Damsel on Oct. 23 at Belmont. Edwin Gonzalez is the jockey.

And how is this for a possible Florida Cup piece de resistance: The six-furlong NYRABETS Sprint, the 11th race, which has drawn a field of nine older horses, including the Bobby Raymond-trained 4-year-old filly Night Cap, winner here on March 12 of the Manatee Overnight Handicap. Jesus Castanon has the return riding assignment.

The 2-1 morning-line favorite is the Joseph-trained 4-year-old colt Officiating, a homebred racing for owner Vegso Racing Stable and to be ridden by Gonzalez. Two of his last three starts have resulted in Grade 3 victories, on Dec. 11 in the Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream and on March 5 at Aqueduct in the Tom Fool Handicap.

Anyone wanting another hot prospect at a potential good price might consider Casse's 5-year-old Tap It to Win, who won this race last year and is a subsequent Grade 3 winner, or the Ralph Nicks-trained 5-year-old Shivaree, a two-time stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs.

The post Florida-Breds Get Their Day In The Sun At Tampa Bay Downs This Sunday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Godolphin's Speaker's Corner appears to have found his niche at the one-turn graded stakes level and will carry winning form into the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap presented by NYRA Bets on April 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 4-year-old son of Street Sense will arrive at the historic seven-furlong sprint off two sharp victories at Gulfstream Park going a one-turn mile. Five weeks following a triumphant seasonal debut in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper on Jan. 29, he captured the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile in similar frontrunning fashion.

Speaker's Corner made his stakes and two-turn debut in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby in September, finishing a distant sixth. He ran a career-best 109 Beyer in an allowance optional claimer one month later at Belmont Park, which he won by 6 3/4 lengths. His following effort, a second in the nine-furlong Discovery at Aqueduct, prompted his connections to cut back and focus on one-turn races.

“He showed plenty last year. We tried stretching him out, but it wasn't really what he wanted to do,” said Godolphin bloodstock director Michael Banahan. “We got him back out to one-turn miles and he was impressive in both of those. That's what it looks like he wants to do.”

A sharp Belmont maiden special weight victory in October 2020 put Speaker's Corner on the radar, besting subsequent stakes winners Caddo River, Greatest Honour and Miles D.

Sidelined until the following August, Speaker's Corner returned to action with vigor when defeating winners by 5 1/4 lengths going seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course. The victory garnered a 101 Beyer – his first of five triple-digit speed figures.

“We kept having small problems that came up and we had to take our time with him,” Banahan recalled. “When we saw those horses in his maiden do so well, we were excited to see what he could do.”

Speaker's Corner sports a record of 8-5-1-1 with earnings in excess of $400,000. His dam Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini, is out of 2006 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Round Pond.

Banahan said Speaker's Corner has matured.

“He's a bigger and stronger version of himself,” Banahan said. “Even as a foal and as a yearling, we always liked him on the farm. He's out of an unraced mare but has a very good pedigree. Once he went to Florida to get pre-trained, he showed plenty of talent. When he was sent to Bill, he said the same, so we were always hopeful of him.”

Banahan also spoke of Speaker's Corner's two-time winning stable mate Nostalgic, who is slated to return to New York for the Grade 2, $400,000 Gazelle, which offers 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

The Medaglia d'Oro bay was a 7 3/4-length winner of her career debut in October at Belmont Park followed by a fourth in the Grade 2 Demoiselle on December 4 at the Big A.

A strong turf work in January at Payson Park gave her connections confidence to try the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant on February 5 at Gulfstream, finishing a distant ninth as the lukewarm favorite. One month later, Nostalgic recaptured her winning form when defeating winners going a two-turn 1 1/16 miles over the Gulfstream main track.

“We like the distance and the timing of the Gazelle,” Banahan said. “She broke her maiden nicely and ran OK in the Demoiselle, but her last race gave us some encouragement.”

Godolphin will eye their fifth Gazelle victory following past success with Imperial Gesture [2002], Music Note [2008], Flashing [2009] and Dance Card [2012]. Nostalgic, a Kentucky homebred, is out of the stakes-placed Tapit mare Been Here Before, whose dam Connie Belle is a half-sister to 2006 Wood Memorial winner Bob and John.

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