Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Super Stock Headlines Asmussen Brigade For Zia Park’s Land Of Enchantment Card

Hall of Famer and North American Thoroughbred racing's all-time leading trainer Steve Asmussen and three-time Eclipse Award winner as the country's outstanding jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., will be well represented at Zia Park on its Tuesday, Nov. 23 Land of Enchantment stakes card. The duo sends out horses in six of the seven stake races, including the odds-on morning line favorite in three of them.

First post for the 10-race card will be 12:00 PM Mountain Time.

Headlining the $250,000 Zia Park Derby is Grade 1 winner Super Stock, winner of the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn in April. Super Stock finished 16th in this year's Kentucky Derby and will be making his twelfth straight start in stakes company. Last out, the son of Dialed In checked in third in the Oklahoma Derby (G3) on Sept. 26. Super Stock is the 1-5 morning line favorite in the field of five 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles.

Asmussen also sends out heavy favorites Casual (3-5 morning line) in the $75,000 Zia Park Distaff at six furlongs and multiple stakes winner Tenfold (8-5 morning line) in the $75,000 Zia Park Championship at a mile and one-eighth.

Assmussen will also saddle graded stakes winner Pauline's Pearl (9-5 morning line) in the $200,000 Zia Park Oaks at one mile and one-sixteenth, Optionality (3-1 morning line) in the $50,000 Zia Park Princess at six furlongs and Much Better (4-1 morning line) in the $75,000 Zia Park Sprint at six furlongs.

Ortiz, Jr., who took home his three Eclipse Awards in 2018, 2019 and 2020 is currently 2021's leading jockey in North America by wins and will have the mount on all of Asmussen's entrants in his debut at Zia Park.

Asmussen is seeking his first win in both the Zia Park Derby and the Zia Park Oaks.

A contingent from two California based trainers will be formidable in several of the stake events. Peter Miller sends out the morning line favorite Aquitania Arrival in the $50,000 Juvenile, A Paycheque Smile in the Princess and None Above The Law in the Derby. Top California rider and Kentucky Derby winning jockey Flavien Prat is named to ride Miller's three starters. Also in from California will be Lady Mystify from the barn of Peter Eurton. The winner of the Remington Park Oaks (G3) in her last start has been tabbed as the 6-5 morning line favorite with Prat in the irons.

Local hopes in the Zia Park Oaks may rest with the 3-year-old filly Slammed, trained by Zia's leading trainer in 2021 Todd Fincher. Slammed will go into the gate on Tuesday with a resume that includes 6 wins from 7 lifetime starts but has remained in New Mexico-bred events until now. Her last win was an emphatic score in the one-mile New Mexico Cup Championship versus older females on October 31.

2019 Zia Park Derby winner Mr. Money Bags makes his return to Zia Park in the Sprint. Mr. Money Bags has been in the money in 19 of 22 lifetime starts earning over $529,000.

The post Super Stock Headlines Asmussen Brigade For Zia Park’s Land Of Enchantment Card appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Horse Of A Lifetime’: 8-Year-Old Lord Glitters Delivers Fairytale Performance In Bahrain International

Shouldering a three-pound penalty for winning a Group 1 in Dubai, the 8-year-old grey Lord Glitters produced a remarkable performance to claim a thrilling renewal of the £500,000 (about US$565,000) Group 3 Bahrain International Trophy for trainer David O'Meara, owners Geoff & Sandra Turnbull and young jockey Jason Watson.

With his usual jockey Danny Tudhope injured, Jason Watson stepped in for the ride and judged the pace to perfection. With a frenetic early gallop set by Pogo, Watson and Lord Glitters sat at the rear of the 13-strong field before picking off his younger rivals one by one. It looked as though it would be yet more big race international success for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin, as Barney Roy got the better of Magny Cours in the final two furlongs, but the oldest horse in the race knuckled down and accelerated past the pair to win by a half-length, with Magny Cours a neck back in third.

An ecstatic David O'Meara paid tribute to “a horse of a lifetime” after the race.

He said: “There are no words! He is a fantastic horse; I might have been quoted in the past saying that he is a horse of a lifetime and I think he is for us. He has proved it once again and we don't have loads of horses like him, so he is very special to us. His last two runs weren't ideal, but the races hadn't work out for him. His run in August in the Strensall Stakes gave us confidence that he would be competitive in this race. He did well in Dubai last year and that is the plan again if he comes out of this race well. The Saudi Cup meeting is an option now so we will bring him home and see how he is and start planning for that.”

O'Meara was also full of praise for his jockey after the race.

On Watson, he said: “Jason is a hell of a talent. He has given him a fantastic ride; it is the first time he has ridden the horse in a race so he couldn't have had a better start!”

Watson himself was pinching himself after the race, he said: “I'm delighted. We went hard early on, and the main job was to get him to relax, and he relaxed very well for me. At halfway, they slowed right up to give the horses who were making the pace a breather, but that also enabled us to have a breather. Turning in, I could see a couple of horses starting to come under pressure including Zakouski. The best horse to follow in my opinion was Barney Roy, so I tracked him through and once we found clear daylight, we just mowed them down. He kept going right to the line. He's such a genuine horse, and I'm just really, really happy.”

Watson is no stranger to big race international races and has won Group 1 races in Italy and Germany, but he admitted to feeling the pressure of riding a horse like Lord Glitters.

He continued: “It's truly special. I'm just very fortunate that I've had a lot of success when I've gone abroad. I've won quite a few prestigious races now, but every time you do, you just have to pinch yourself. There was a big amount of pressure on me coming out here to ride a horse like Lord Glitters, who is such a legend of the sport and so well supported back home. I'm just pleased that he pulled it out the bag for me today.”

After being elevated to Group 3 status for the first time, it was the two Group 1 and Royal Ascot-winning horses that filled the first two positions which delighted the Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club's Executive Director Shaikh Salman bin Rashed Alkhalifa.

He said: “To have had two Group One winners fighting out the finish was very special. On paper, it looked a very strong renewal for a Group Three and so it proved. Lord Glitters and Barney Roy are very well-known horses who have won Group One races in multiple countries. It was a thrilling race to watch, and we are very excited to see how the race can progress in future years.”

Final Finishing Positions:

1. Lord Glitters

2. Barney Roy

3. Magny Cours

4. Fev Rover

5. Cadillac

6. Penja

7. Pogo

8. Dubai Future

9. Zakouski

10. Emperor Of The Sun

11. Victory Chime

12. Naamoos

13. What A Welcome

The post ‘Horse Of A Lifetime’: 8-Year-Old Lord Glitters Delivers Fairytale Performance In Bahrain International appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘So Effortless’: Maxfield Completes Final Preparations For Clark Swansong

Godolphin's multiple graded stakes-winning colt Maxfield completed his major preparation Friday for next week's Grade 1, $750,000 Clark presented by Norton Healthcare with a five-furlong move at Churchill Downs in 1:01.20.

Under the watchful eye of trainer Brendan Walsh, Maxfield completed his final work before the Nov. 26 Clark under assistant trainer and exercise rider Tom Molloy. The seven-time winner is set to retire from racing following the Clark and stand at Godolphin's Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky.

“We'll certainly all miss him around the barn,” Walsh said. “This horse just cruises over this racetrack. He simply loves it at Churchill. He's doing everything great leading into this race and we'll be ready to go come Friday.”

Molloy, who regularly gallops and works some of Walsh's top horses, is set to begin his own training career following the Clark. The Ireland-native and former jockey has worked as an assistant trainer since 2015 and is poised to make his first start at Turfway Park in December.

“I've been on Maxfield at various racetracks around the country and I've never seen a horse that likes it at Churchill as much as he does,” Molloy said. “He's just so effortless when he hits the ground here.”

Maxfield holds a perfect record from four starts at Churchill Downs. The Street Sense colt won the $600,000 Stephen Foster (G2) in June and the $400,000 Alysheba (G2) on the undercard of the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Entries for Friday's 1 1/8-mile Clark will be taken Sunday. The 147th renewal of the race is expected to include a talented field of colts and geldings such as Winchell Thoroughbreds' Grade 3 winner and multiple Grade 1 placed colt Midnight Bourbon. The Steve Asmussen runner has been training consistently at Churchill Downs following his eventful runner-up effort to Hot Rod Charlie in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) where he was forced very wide into the final turn.

The post ‘So Effortless’: Maxfield Completes Final Preparations For Clark Swansong appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Not Like The Dirt Tracks In America’: Group 1 Winner Pyledriver Targeting Saudi Cup After Hong Kong

British trainer William Muir is aiming recent Lingfield winner Pyledriver towards The Saudi Cup meeting where his options include the $20 million Group 1 Saudi Cup and the $1.5 million Group 3 Neom Turf Cup.

The 4-year-old landed the Listed Churchill Stakes at the all-weather track on Saturday on his first run since winning the Group 1 Coronation Cup on Oaks Day at Epsom in June.

Muir, who trains in partnership with Chris Grassick, will now send Pyledriver for the Hong Kong Vase on Dec. 12 before a possible tilt at the world's most valuable race at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Pyledriver missed his intended big-race summer targets with a pulled muscle, meaning he heads into a worldwide campaign as a relatively fresh horse.

Muir said: “His Lingfield win was exactly what we wanted to happen, probably a little bit more.

“Our plan, to start with, was to go to Germany for the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Bayern the previous week. We knew he would be competitive but we also knew he wasn't 100 per cent fit. With the long journey on a horse box and the race, it might just have taken the edge off him.

“The Churchill Stakes wasn't ideal – we had to give away a 7lbs penalty – but we thought it would be better as a prep race. The race went perfectly – it was a great performance. He's taken it well and come out of the race fantastically.”

The frustrations of his summer campaign – when he was ruled out of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes just days before the prestigious Ascot Group 1 contest – could turn out to be a blessing in disguise as Pyledriver embarks on his globetrotting adventures.

Muir added: “It was frustrating but it wasn't worrying because it wasn't really an injury, it was more of a niggle. Because he's such a good horse, you could have turned a niggle into a big problem if we hadn't done exactly what was right to do.

“I think he'd have gone very close in the King George. The last piece of work he did before the race was unbelievable, the way he looked and travelled. Maybe, it was meant to be, and this winter campaign is where it happens.

“We had planned in our minds that we would give him a break after the King George but it would've still been very tight. If we'd have won that, we would've probably said 'we'll have a go for the Juddmonte International at York', so we'd have had to stop then in August to give him a break. Would we have got back for Hong Kong? I don't know. This way, we're definitely on target, we're in great shape and we're ready to go.”

Pyledriver had a successful season last year. He won the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot before landing the Group 2 Great Voltigeur at York in August.

His trip to York is the furthest he's travelled from Muir and Grassick's base in Lambourn, but the co-trainer has few worries about jetting across the globe to take in the The Saudi Cup.

Muir added: “I don't think the travelling will bother him one little bit. Everything we've done with him over the years, nothing's phased him. I can't say for certain because he hasn't done it but he'll probably think it is good fun.

“After he won at Lingfield I walked round to see him back in his box before we left and he had his head over the door when a jumbo jet flew over. He was staring up at it and I said to him 'look closely son, that's where you're going next'.”

Pyledriver's biggest victories have come over distances around 2400m but he had little trouble dropping down to 2000m for the Churchill Stakes. The Saudi Cup, at 1800m on dirt, is shorter still, but Muir is not overly concerned about a possible switch of surface.

He revealed: “They reckon it's the nicest dirt track in the world. I talked to David Egan and Ted Voute (Prince Faisal's racing manager) who was out there last year and they both said it was a lovely surface. It's not like the dirt tracks in America and Ted said our horse would love it.

“Everything we've thrown at Pyledriver, he's taken, so I would be confident enough that he'd handle it. The nine-furlongs (1800m) of The Saudi Cup is the only sort of nagging concern.

“After we finished third in the St Leger last year, I was at pains to say that we would have rather dropped back to a mile-and-a-quarter (2000m) than step up to a mile-and-three-quarters (2800m). He's got so many gears, but we had a go, it was a British Classic and we had a go.

“The Saudi Cup meeting fits in with our time plan. At this moment in time, we're looking to go to Hong Kong, Saudi, then we'll go on to the Sheema Classic in Dubai. The Saudi Cup is attractive as it's the richest race in the world but it's one step at a time.”

Pyledriver gave Muir his first Group 1 victory when landing the Coronation Stakes. Now he could take him to the world's most valuable races.

Muir added: “It's fantastic. This is what we've strived for since I started training in 1990. Early on we had Averti, who was touched off in the Nunthorpe when he was unlucky in running and was runner-up in the Abbaye.

“We've had other very good horses but Pyledriver is the best we've had as he's won a Group 1. This is what all small yards are looking for. Having this horse is a privilege as he's just a very special horse.”

The post ‘Not Like The Dirt Tracks In America’: Group 1 Winner Pyledriver Targeting Saudi Cup After Hong Kong appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post