The path to the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar on Nov. 5-6 is a road with plenty of ups and downs as talented racehorses vie for a spot in one of 14 championship races and $31 million in purses and awards. This blog provides a capsule look at three horses who are heating up on the Road to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships and three horses whose Breeders’ Cup chances are not quite as strong as they were two weeks ago.
Tag: Racing
Canadian Champion Mighty Heart Headlines Saturday’s Seagram Cup
Mighty Heart, Canada's reigning Horse of the Year, is set to tackle 1 1/16-miles on the Tapeta, in Saturday's Grade 3 $150,000 Seagram Cup at Woodbine.
Trained by Hall of Famer Josie Carroll for owner-breeder Larry Cordes, Mighty Heart, a four-year-old son of Dramedy-Emma's Bullseye, will look to deliver his connections a second graded stakes score after taking the Grade 3 Dominion Day on July 1.
The one-eyed colt, who recorded wins last year in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two jewels of the Canadian Triple Crown, is in the midst of another fruitful campaign, having posted wins in the Dominion Day and Blame Stakes, a second in his most recent engagement, the Grade 3 West Virginia Governor's Stakes on August 7, and a third in his seasonal bow at Keeneland in April.
Mighty Heart brings a record of 5-1-2 from 12 career starts into his latest test.
“His tenacity [stands out],” said Carroll. “The one thing I've always said about this horse is that he's a little scrapper.”
Daisuke Fukumoto, aboard for the Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales and Dominion Day victories, gets the call again on Saturday.
“He made my dream come true so he is special,” said the graded stakes winning rider. “I don't have any particular tension when I ride him. I don't get scared or nervous when we race. I'm always very conscious that I make him run comfortably. I would just like to say one more thing… it's very fun to ride him.”
Mighty Heart launched his career with a pair of starts at Fair Grounds in early 2020. Those efforts, a fourth and a tenth, respectively, eventually led to a discussion between Cordes and a horse chiropractor.
“I knew there was something wrong in those first two races,” recalled Cordes. “The chiropractor was looking him over one day and thought something wasn't right with his jaw. The horse was uncomfortable when he was looking at his face area, so we had a vet come in. He found an inflamed tooth and we took care of it. The rest is history.”
Mighty Heart's next start, last July, resulted in a maiden-breaking performance in what was his first race at Woodbine. He soon grabbed headlines in Canada and beyond after his stirring scores in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales.
This spring, Mighty Heart was voted Canada's Horse of the Year for 2020, and champion Three-Year-Old Colt.
“This horse, he has a determination,” praised Cordes. “He is all heart. He started with a big handicap having no eye, but he didn't let it affect him. He has this fight and he has this grit, whether it's on the track or not.
“When he had his eye injury – and we're 90 per cent sure it was the mare who caused it – we took him to the veterinarian in Guelph (Ontario) and they told us they had to take out the eye. But they told us not too worry about it too much. At his age, less than two weeks old at the time, they said that he'll never know he could have had two eyes. When you watch him run – horses have good peripheral vision – he cocks his head just slightly to the left. Not badly, just enough so that he has that peripheral vision to see what's beside him and have a good view.”
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Mighty Heart's story has created a significant following, both on Mighty Heart's Instagram page (mightyheart.tb) and whenever he goes postward.
“He has a lot of followers,” said Cordes. “I get calls from the United States all the time and different media people from so many places. It's not attention that's just happening locally. Everybody likes an underdog and the fact he only has one eye makes it a compelling story.”
Cordes continues to receive correspondence from fans, young and old.
“I get letters from children, postmarked to Mighty Heart, not Larry Cordes. They draw pictures and share stories. I send horseshoes to them – everybody who sends something I return something to them along with a letter. Some people send Mighty Heart cookies. I don't know how many times people have sent these cookies, which I guess are supposed to be horse cookies. He has a big following and it just makes me so happy.”
The longtime horseman's biggest joy is in seeing the happiness his star brings to others, especially over the past year and a half.
“What's really fantastic is that during this pandemic, what this brought to people… when I go to the track, many people will stop me and say, 'This lifted us up a little bit.' It's done so much just to lift them up a little bit throughout this pandemic.”
Cordes is hoping there's more reason to celebrate come Saturday.
“When he won the Dominion Day, I was going down the escalator, and a gentleman, three people in front of me, threw up his arms up in the air as far as he could reach and yelled, 'You're great, Mighty Heart!' He didn't know that I was behind him, but it showed me what he has done for people. It's absolutely thrilling. I'm proud of him and I'm so happy. If he never wins another race, I'm still so proud. But he has plenty left in him. He's as sound as sound can be. He's just an amazing horse.”
The Seagram Cup is scheduled as race three of 10 on Saturday's 1:10 p.m. card, which also includes the $150,000 Vice Regent Stakes (race seven), a 5-furlong Inner Turf race for Ontario-breds, three-year-olds & upward.
Fans can also watch and wager on all the live action via HPIbet.com.
$150,000 SEAGRAM CUP STAKES
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Special Forces – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard
2 – Another Mystery – Antonio Gallardo – Chris Block
3 – Dolder Grand – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
4 – Mighty Heart – Daisuke Fukumoto – Josie Carroll
5 – Tap It to Win – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
$150,000 VICE REGENT STAKES
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Alacritous – Steven Bahen – Ashlee Brnjas
2 – Celebratory – Justin Stein – Ashlee Brnjas
3 – Circle of Friends – Patrick Husbands – Don MacRae
4 – Rockcrest – Keveh Nicholls – Nigel Burke
5 – Souper Hot – Kazushi Kimura – Mike Mattine
6 – Not So Quiet – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
7 – City Boy – David Moran – Michael Keogh
8 – Forester's Fortune – Daisuke Fukumoto – Rodney Barrow
The post Canadian Champion Mighty Heart Headlines Saturday’s Seagram Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Beginner’s Guide to the Breeders’ Cup
The Breeders’ Cup World Championships is the biggest event in global horse racing: if the Triple Crown is the equine equivalent of the College Football Playoff National Championship, then the Breeders’ Cup is the Super Bowl. If this is your first time tuning into the Breeders’ Cup, then we have everything you need to know below!
Fillies And Mares Take Center Stage Closing Day At Kentucky Downs
Fillies and mares have the stage to themselves Sunday, Sept. 12 in the 10-race final program, Greenbrier Whiskey Day, of the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.
The six-day turf festival features the highest purses in North America and draws horses from across the country. First post is 12:20 p.m. Central. All the races will be shown on TVG.
The headliner is the $550,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon for older fillies and mares at 1 5/16 miles. Preceding the Music City are a pair of $500,000 sprint stakes, the Ainsworth for 2-year-old fillies and the Nelson's Green Brier Whiskey Music City for 3-year-olds fillies.
In the Ladies Marathon, the final stakes of the season, Godolphin homebred Micheline will try to repeat her success in last year's Dueling Grounds Oaks. The daughter of Bernardini has a single win since her Oaks victory – in the G2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs on March 6 – but all her starts have been in graded stakes company. The Marathon will be her first start since was a well-beaten seventh in the G3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park on July 10. Joel Rosario, who rode her to victory in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, returns to the saddle. Micheline is a daughter of Panty Raid, who won two Grade 1s while earning over $1 million.
Catherine Wills' homebred Luck Money, trained by Arnaud Delacour, was third in last year's Dueling Ground Oaks at 29-1 and since has a listed stakes win and was second in the G3 Dick Memorial. In her last race, she was fourth after weakening late in the G2 1 ½ miles Glens Falls at Saratoga on Aug 7. War Like Goddess cruised in the Glens Falls and on Saturday captured the G1 Flower Bowl at Saratoga.
Cannon Thoroughbreds' Go Big Blue Nation ships in from California for trainer Michael McCarthy, who won this year's Preakness with Rombauer. Go Big Blue Nation stepped back from stakes company on July 18 to win an allowance/optional claimer at 1 3/8 miles at Del Mar.
The Graham Motion-trained Blame Debbie returns to Kentucky Downs where she finished first in an allowance race at the Ladies Marathon distance last year but was disqualified to third for interference. She was fifth in the G2 Dance Smartly at Woodbine on Aug. 22.
The Big Lick Farm homebred Cavalier Cupid is likely to get a lot of attention in the Ainsworth Stakes. Cavalier Cupid, a daughter of Quality Road won the $100,000 Keswick on August 2 at Colonial Downs for trainer Sarah Nagle. The Maryland-bred ran second in her debut on June 22 at Belterra Park. She broke her maiden at Colonial at five furlongs on July 19 and won the five-furlong Keswick by a length two weeks later. Nagle is a former assistant for retired trainer Buff Bradley.
Trainer Wesley Ward will saddle Arnmore Thoroughbreds' Poppy Flower, who most recently was second in the Bolton Landing at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 18. The speedy daughter of Lea led from gate to wire to break her maiden at Belmont Park on June 20. In her return after a two-month break between races, she set the pace over yielding ground but was overtaken in deep stretch. Regular rider Jose Ortiz has the mount.
Mystic Eyes steps up to stakes company for newly inducted Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher after winning her maiden debut impressively at Saratoga on Aug. 5. Sent off as the 3-5 favorite in the field of eight, she seized the lead out of the gate and won in hand by 4 ½ lengths.
The French-bred Cheerupsleepyjean owned by DJ Stable will make her North American debut for trainer Mark Casse from post 11. The daughter of Starspangledbanner has not raced since June but she has been battled tested against strong company. On June 16 at Royal Ascot, she was third by three lengths in the G2 Queen Mary at 50-1. Eleven days later at even-money, she was third in the G2 Arlie Stud Balanchine at the Curragh. Tyler Gaffalione, the 2020 Kentucky Downs riding champ, will be up.
Two-time stakes winner Tobys Heart will cut back in distance in the Music City after two solid performances at a mile. Jockey Joel Rosario, who won 10 of his first 19 starts at the meet this season, will ride for trainer Brian Lynch. Tobys Heart showed ability as a 2-year-old winning the Bolton Landing last summer at Saratoga. In April she prevailed at the favorite in the Limestone Turf Sprint at Keeneland. On July 23 at Saratoga she was third by 1 ½ lengths in a wide trip in the G3 Lake George at Saratoga.
Illegal Smile was a popular song by the beloved late singer-songwriter John Prine and the Camacho filly has proven to be a consistent runner for Hat Creek Racing and Wesley Ward. She broke her maiden in a stakes at Aqueduct in November and reaches the Music City after a pair of runner-up finishes. Last out, she was second by a head in the Galway at Saratoga on Aug. 15.
Peachtree Stable's paid $320,000 for Saranya as a 2-year-old and the daughter of The Factor, who is trained by Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox, has a record of 3-3-1 from eight starts. On June 23 she earned her first stakes victory in the Curtis Sampson Stakes at Canterbury Park.
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