Tag: Racing

‘Late Bloomer’ Starship Nterprise Headlines Gulfstream’s Miss Gracie

Fresh off a stakes victory with Choose Joy in Sunday's Village of Biscayne Park, owner/trainer Steve Dwoskin is hoping that Starship Nterprise can take him back in the Gulfstream Park winner's circle in Saturday's $75,000 Miss Gracie, a 7 ½-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

The daughter of Honor Code, who had gone winless in her first eight starts, has emerged as a very promising stakes performer during the Spring/Summer Meet in her last three starts.

“She's a lot like Choose Joy,” said Dwoskin, who owns Starship Nterprise with long-time client Starship Stables. “She's also a late bloomer.”

Unlike Choose Joy, strictly a turf sprinter, Starship Nterprise has done her best running going long, both on turf and dirt.

Starship Enterprise was on the board in five of her first eight starts but didn't break through until winning a $50,000 maiden claiming race at a mile on turf May 23 at Gulfstream. The Kentucky-bred 3-year-old filly came right back to pull off a 33-1 upset victory in the Martha Washington at a mile on turf. She went on to show versatility in the off-the-turf Monroe, a mile stakes in which she led late before falling a neck short of holding off Key Biscayne, who's been competitive in Grade 1 and 2 races.

“I ran her in a claimer for $50,000 and she got her confidence there,” Dwoskin said. “She's working excellent. She worked Saturday very good, and we expect her to run good. She's ready to run.”

Miguel Vasquez, who was victorious aboard Starship Nterprise in the Martha Washington the only time he has ridden her, has the call Saturday.

Karl and Cathi Glassman's Restofthestory is entered to make her turf debut in the Miss Gracie after finishing first, second or third, in seven of eight career starts on dirt. The Eddie Plesa Jr.-trained daughter of Jess's Dream, who finished second in the $400,000 FSS My Dear Girl last year, is coming off a second-place finish in the seven-furlong Azalea.

Hector Berrios has the mount on the Florida-bred filly.

Leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is represented by three entrants in the Miss Gracie field – Peachtree Stable's Champagne Ivy, Sayjay Racing LLC and Greg Hall's Cultured, and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Tik Tok Famous.

Champagne Ivy, who finished fifth in the Martha Washington, is coming off an Aug. 6 maiden special weight score at a mile on turf; Cultured will be making her first start since finishing off the board behind Grade 1 winner Con Lima in the May 1 Honey Ryder; Tik Tok Famous finished eighth in the Martha Washington following a slow start.

Edgard Zayas, Edwin Gonzalez and Emisael Jaramillo will ride Champagne Ivy, Cultured and Tik Tok Famous, respectively.

Philip DiCosmo's Sunshine City, Stephen Screnci's Kate's Kingdom and Clap Embroidery's Frankie's Girl round out the field.

Saturday's 12-race program has a 12:20 p.m. first race post and includes six races scheduled on the turf.

Racing returns to Gulfstream Friday with a guaranteed pool in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 of $600,000.

The Rainbow 6 kicks off with the fifth race, a claiming event for 3-year-olds and up at a mile on the main track. The sequence will include three turf races, a maiden special weight event at six furlongs for 2-year-old fillies, and a $62,500 allowance optional claimer at six furlongs featuring 2020 Gotham (G3) runner-up Untitled, Hutcheson winner Willy Boi, third-place Nashua (G3) finisher Isolate, and Challenger (G3) winner Trophy Chaser, making his first start in 16 months.

First race post is 2 p.m.

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O’Conner Has High Expectations For 2-Year-Old You Look Cold In Monday’s Sorority

There's a unique sense of excitement that consumes even the most grizzled of trainers when they have a promising young horse just starting out. Or, as veteran conditioner Rob O'Connor II put it: “Nobody ever dies when they have a good 2-year-old.”

O'Connor hopes to know Monday if he does indeed have a good one in You Look Cold, sending her out in the $200,000 Sorority Stakes for 2-year-old fillies that will serve as the feature race on the Labor Day card at Monmouth Park.

The early indications have already caused some giddiness: You Look Cold, a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Frosted-Lucky Draw by Lookin at Lucky, ran off the screen in her debut on Aug. 7, cruising to a 6½-length victory in Maiden Special Weight company at Monmouth Park.

Now comes the next step and next test.

“It's always ambitious when you go from breaking your maiden to a stakes race,” said O'Connor. “But most everybody is in the same situation.

“In her first start we actually thought she was the horse to beat (You Look Cold won at odds of 6-1). She has shown a lot of potential. We're very excited about her. She's got the look, she's got the temperament and she does everything right.”

Owned by Kinsman Stable and FLI Racing, You Look Cold faces the added challenge of going two turns for the first time in the 66th edition of the one-mile Sorority after winning her debut at six furlongs.

The 62-year-old O'Connor, who has been training since 1985, isn't overly concerned about the added distance, calling it part of the growth process.

“If you look at her training format going into the race she has shown some speed in all of her works,” O'Connor said. “I've really tried to back up on her and get her to relax. So we've tried to concentrate on that.

“We haven't put any real speed works into her. With that being said, her fitness is not in question. She is plenty fit.”

O'Connor said the Sorority Stakes became an appealing option as the next race in part because You Look Cold is stabled at Monmouth Park.

“Mrs. Jessica Steinbrenner and her group, along with Christian Black, are the owners of the horse. We talked about moving forward and what our options would be,” said O'Connor. “They want to give her the opportunity to be a good horse.

“Saratoga was a possibility. We discussed it and felt it was in the best interests of her development to let them come to our home track and she could walk out of her stall and race. We felt it would be an advantage to us.”

O'Connor, who has been based at Monmouth Park the past three years, is keeping his plans short-term for You Look Cold, waiting to see how she responds to her next challenge on Monday.

“She thinks she's a pretty good horse and she acts like a good one,” he said. “Every horse in the race is really going into new territory, so we'll see how it plays out. But I can tell you we're very excited about her potential.”

 

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Coinage Carries ‘High Cruising Speed’ To Victory In With Anticipation

D.J. Stable and Chester and Mary Broman's Coinage made his turf, open-company and two-turn debut a winning one in Wednesday's Grade 3, $150,000 With Anticipation, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for juveniles at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Bred in New York by the Bromans, the Tapit chestnut is out of the Grade 1-winning Medaglia d'Oro mare Bar of Gold, who captured the 2017 Yaddo on the Saratoga turf ahead of a victory in that year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on the Del Mar main track.

Chester Broman said he was surprised by the ease of the gate-to-wire score, despite jockey Junior Alvarado relaying their strategy pre-race.

“When we were in the paddock, [Alvarado] said he was going to put him on the lead and said, 'They'll have to catch me,'” Broman said. “That's easy to say, but they couldn't catch him. Those were pretty good horses, too.”

Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Coinage broke sharp from the outermost post 6 under Alvarado and set splits of 25.66 seconds, 50.65 and 1:15.59 on the firm going with Gooch Go Bragh in second and a keen Portfolio Company on the rail in third.

Coinage led the field into the final turn with Portfolio Company, piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr., advancing up the rail and angling into the two path for the stretch run with Limited Liability, the 4-5 post-time favorite under Jose Ortiz, following his run.

Portfolio Company tried in vain to reel in the pacesetter but the regally-bred chestnut would not be denied a two-length victory in a final time of 1:43.69.

Coinage, a maiden winner at second asking on June 17 at Belmont, followed up with an even third in the Rick Violette at six furlongs on July 21 at the Spa. Casse breezed the chestnut twice on the Oklahoma training turf last month in preparation for his turf debut.

“I told my wife Tina this morning, 'We'll see if they can catch him.' I seldom say this, but I told Junior to take no prisoners and go,” Casse said. “He's a good horse. He has a high cruising speed. We breezed him over the turf a couple of times as we like to do. Training horses is like putting a puzzle together. You have to keep trying the pieces until figuring out where they fit. We figured it out today.

“[I liked] his works, and his pedigree, and two of their wonderful owners bred him and gave us the privilege of training him,” Casse added. “He's a serious horse.”

The victory marked the second stakes score of the meet for Casse following Got Stormy's Grade 1 Fourstardave coup last month.

Alvarado, whose previous Spa stakes wins this summer include the Grade 2 Saratoga Special with High Oak and the Summer Colony with Horologist, said he felt confident throughout.

“Mark told me he's been sharp and to get out of there running. I was only worried a little about the 2 [Silipo] because I thought he might try to go to the lead and get something out of it,” Alvarado said. “But [Coinage] broke out of there that sharp and was so comfortable on the turf the first time; he took it all the way.

“Turning for home, I asked him and he started moving very quick and I said, 'there's no way anybody can go by me,'” he added. “Going for home from the quarter-pole to the wire, I was pretty confident with what I had at that point.”

Portfolio Company, an impressive maiden winner for leading trainer Chad Brown, completed the exacta by 3 1/2-lengths over Limited Liability. Gooch Go Bragh, Kavod, and Silipo rounded out the order of finish. Ready to March was scratched.

Coinage, a $450,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record 4-2-0-2. He returned $15.80 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a 10-race card featuring the $120,000 P. G. Johnson for juvenile fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

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