The official last day of fall is Dec. 20. For many racing fans, however, the Cigar Mile Presented by NYRA Bets at Aqueduct on Dec. 4 marks the end of the autumn racing season. The one-mile contest is traditionally the final grade 1 race of the year in New York, and brings together some of the country’s top middle distance horses.
Tag: Racing
Oaklawn Park Kicks Off December Racing With Ten 2-Year-Olds In $150,000 Advent Stakes
Friday's $150,000 Advent, Oaklawn's first stakes race for 2-year-olds in almost 50 years, has drawn of a field 10, including unbeaten maiden special weights graduate Higher Standard for trainer Tom Amoss.
Probable post time for the 6-furlong Advent, is 3:46 p.m. (Central). It goes as the eighth of nine races for Oaklawn's first of 66 scheduled live programs during the expanded 2021-2022 season.
Higher Standard, a son of super sire Into Mischief, was a 5 ¾-length debut winner sprinting Nov. 14 at Churchill Downs for Amoss. Higher Standard recorded a 5-furlong bullet workout (:59.20) Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs in advance of the Advent.
“Getting him ready to run at the Churchill Downs fall meet, he did everything right,” the Fair Grounds-based Amoss said. “We were really excited about our first start with him. First-time starters, sometimes they don't perform up to standards and they need that race to learn from. He was a real pro. He broke very sharp. He took it to that field and he really won with ease. I don't usually come back with a horse that quick off a debut win. But assessing our options, and hoping to get black type, this seemed like a really good fit.”
Advent entrants from the rail out:
- Charter Oak, Luis Contreras to ride, 117 pounds, 5-1 on the morning line
- Kavod, Francisco Arrieta, 117, 6-1
- Forty Stripes, David Cohen, 117, 10-1
- Ruggs, Martin Garcia, 117, 10-1
- Oro Azteca, Ramon Vazquez, 117, 10-1
- B Sudd, David Cabrera, 117, 6-1
- Sonnyisnotsofunny, Cristian Torres, 117, 15-1
- Impulsus, Luis Quinonez, 114, 30-1
- Cairama, Ricardo Santana Jr., 117, 5-2
- Higher Standard, Florent Geroux, 117, 3-1
“I think outside posts at Oaklawn, the farther you get outside, the worse off you are,” Amoss said. “But I'm hearing the rumor that there will be a couple of scratches and it will be a more compact field, so I will say, based on that, it's a good post to have. We're an athletic and quick horse at the gate. There are a few others that are, also, and normally when you get into that situation, it's nice to have that outside post to be able to kind of look over and see what everybody's doing before you make your decision whether to continue forward or sit off the pace a little bit.”
Cairama, a supplemental nominee, will be racing on Lasix for the first time for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Cairama cuts back to a sprint after finishing fifth in the $150,000 Nashua Stakes (G3) at 1 mile Nov. 7 at Belmont Park.
Ruggs was a three-length debut winner Nov. 15 at Remington Park for trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs. Ruggs is the first scheduled Oaklawn starter for Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year and North America's leading freshman sire in 2021.
The inaugural Advent is among three 2-year-old races on Friday's card, which marks Oaklawn's earliest season opener in history. Oaklawn's last stakes race for 2-year-olds was the split Ballerina for fillies April 5, 1973. Oaklawn's last race for 2-year-olds was March 27, 1975.
First post Friday is 12:30 p.m. (Central).
The post Oaklawn Park Kicks Off December Racing With Ten 2-Year-Olds In $150,000 Advent Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Loves Only You: History Made And In The Making
No matter where she finishes in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m, or 1 1/4 miles), those watching will be witnessing both history in the making and a history maker, Japan's champion mare with an endearingly fetching name – Loves Only You.
The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup will be the final race for Loves Only You, capping a short, star-studded, and decidedly international career, which has seen the now 5-year-old daughter of Deep Impact land one of the most elusive overseas wins for Japan – its first Breeders' Cup victory, while her FWD QEII Cup (2000m, 1 1/4 miles) triumph at Sha Tin earlier this year came at her first Hong Kong sortie.
Debuting in late 2018, Loves Only You pocketed her first G1 the next year in the fourth start of her career, with a win of the classic Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, 2400m, 1 1/2 miles).
And she did it unbeaten.
She'd been the race favorite from her career second start through her run in Japan's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2200m, 1 3/8 miles) in the autumn, when Loves Only You failed for the first time to meet expectations. It was still a far-from-shabby third behind older females, as she finished 0.2 seconds off winner Lucky Lilac who, the following month, finished second in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m, 1 1/2 miles).
Six months passed without a race, after which Loves Only You was given five starts for 2020, none of them wins and three out of the frame. They ran the gamut from understandable to forgivable to downright inexcusable.
On paper alone, it looked like the filly's career was on the rocks. But, key to her inability to show her form, incredible spring and a nimbleness that assistant trainer Kazunari Yoshida likens to a cat, was to be found in those six months at the beginning of 2020. That key was the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, or more specifically, the wrench it threw into racing.
When it was announced in late March 2020 that the Dubai World Cup meeting would be cancelled after all, 20 horses from Japan – its biggest team yet and Loves Only You among them – were already on site and had to return to Japan without racing.
The stress of quarantine, travel, and strange surroundings apparently took its toll on Loves Only You. It wasn't until Japan's Queen Elizabeth II Cup that year that the then 4-year-old started to look like her old self, finishing in third place for the second year in a row, this time only 0.1 seconds behind repeat winner Lucky Lilac.
But at year-end, her 10th-place finish nearly a full second behind the winner in the G1 Arima Kinen seemed to bode poorly for the future. The distance of 2500m was her longest assignment yet and barrier four had seemed advantageous. But Mirco Demuro blamed her loss on the trip.
“The inside ground was torn up and I'd wanted to travel about 4 widths off the rail, but there was too much pressure on the outside and I couldn't find a way out,” he said.
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The start of 2021 brought a new rider and new hope. Most importantly, it brought fantastic results. Loves Only You has yet to figure out of the top three in her five starts this year, all graded stakes, three of them top level. And, despite the continuing pandemic, Loves Only You has done more flying than most humans.
She started with a win of the G2 Kyoto Kinen (2200m, 1 3/8 miles) at Hanshin in February under Yuga Kawada, and the next month flew off to Dubai, this time finishing third G1 in the Dubai Sheema Classic (2410m, about 1 1/2 miles) under Oisin Murphy. In April, she debuted in Hong Kong and, with Vincent Ho up, led a Japanese 1-2-3-4 over the finish line of the G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m, 1 1/4 miles).
“In one word, 'strong', is what she was,” said 60-year-old Yoshito Yahagi, currently only two wins from the top of Japan's trainers' championship. “She lost a shoe going into the first turn and, yet, was able to show the kind of speed she did in the stretch.
“Having kept her condition while training alone in Dubai before going to Hong Kong was quite an achievement. I think it shows how tough she is mentally.”
Ho agreed she was top notch.
“She was extremely calm and professional. She held on very strongly and won impressively,” he said.
Back home, after four months off, Loves Only You was given her first start for the campaign in the G2 Sapporo Kinen (2000m, 1 1/4 miles). She finished second, less than a length behind dual G1 winner Sodashi and, more importantly, was able to show her prowess over the specific grass unique to the Hokkaido tracks. And that was part of the plan.
The venue for this year's Breeders' Cup venue was of special interest to Yahagi.
“It is at Del Mar on the west coast, close to Japan. And, the turf at Sapporo is similar to the turf at Del Mar and I believe California turf will suit Japan horses,” he predicted leaving for the Breeders' Cup.
On Oct. 22, when Loves Only You departed Japan with stablemate Marche Lorrainel, Yahagi noted: “I think with two horses, it will make conditions very favorable. I think we have the best chances of success of any so far.”
The rest is history. Both horses won their respective races, Loves Only You with a gutsy, spine-tingling finish in the G1 Filly & Mare Turf (2200m, 1 3/8 miles) and Marche Lorraine in the Distaff, giving Japan not only its first long-coveted Breeders' Cup victory after 25 years of trying, but two wins for good measure.
“There's no words for how overjoyed I am,” Yahagi said post-race. “There were some difficult places, and I must admit I thought she wasn't going to make it.
“It was a very exciting race. There's nothing better than to be able to send that exciting news back home to Japan.
“I have nothing but gratitude for Loves Only You and wish to say to her, 'Thank you for bringing me here.' She is to me like a most-beloved daughter.”
The post Loves Only You: History Made And In The Making appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
2022 Kentucky Derby Hopeful Snapshots: Smile Happy
Welcome to 2022 Kentucky Derby Prospect Snapshots, where we’ll take a look each week at a recent winner on the Triple Crown trail, usually from the Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule from which the race horses earn points toward qualifying.
