Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Keepmeinmind Gets 99 Beyer Speed Figure For Fourth In Travers, Dream Lith, Lone Rock Breeze

Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith, and Spendthrift Farm's Keepmeinmind posted a career-best 99 Beyer in finishing fourth in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Robertino Diodoro and piloted by Joel Rosario, the Laoban bay was off a step slow from post 3 and raced behind horses as Midnight Bourbon set a moderate pace before being overtaken by Essential Quality, who prevailed by a neck.

“Nothing really went our way from the break. It was a very slow pace and we got trapped and never really got a clear run until it was way too late,” Diodoro said. “He ate dirt for a long ways and when things did open up at the top of the lane, you couldn't expect him to sprint home against those two horses after they went ;24, ;49 and 1:14. There was no pace to run at, at all.

“I think that's why Essential Quality had such a tough time getting by Midnight Bourbon down the lane; he walked everyone to sleep,” Diodoro added. “I thought we had him ready to go, but you need racing luck. He cooled out good last night. We'll let the horse tell us how he is and come up with a plan.”

Cypress Creek Equine and Arnold Bennewith's maiden-winner Dream Lith worked a half-mile in :48.25 in company with 2-year-old gelding Paynt Your Wagon, who Diodoro claimed for $40,000 out of an off-the-board effort in his August 15 debut at the Spa.

“They were rolling right along,” Diodoro said. “We gave her something to run at and made sure she was in front at the wire. I thought she worked really well. She galloped out strong.”

Dream Lith, by Medaglia d'Oro, is pointed to the $300,000 Grade 1 Spinaway on September 5 at the Spa.

Flying P Stable's Lone Rock breezed a half-mile in :50.85 Saturday on the Oklahoma dirt training track.

The 6-year-old Majestic Warrior gelding has won seven of his last eight starts, including wins in the Grade 2 Brooklyn presented by Northwell Health in June at Belmont and the Birdstone last out on August 5 at the Spa.

Lone Rock is pointed to the 1 5/8-mile $300,000 Grand Prix American Jockey Club Invitational on September 18 at Belmont.

“Lone Rock is doing great. He'll ship down to Belmont next week and be ready for the 18th. He breezed great,” Diodoro said.

Diodoro boasts a record of 30-5-6-6 at the Spa summer meet heading into Sunday's card and will look to close strong with a number of stakes runners, including Dreamer's Disease who is entered in today's Better Talk Now.

“We'd like to pick off another win or two for sure, but it has been a good meet,” Diodoro said.

The post Keepmeinmind Gets 99 Beyer Speed Figure For Fourth In Travers, Dream Lith, Lone Rock Breeze appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Wit, Happy Saver Work In Preparation For Upcoming Saratoga Starts

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, and Gainesway Stable's 2-year-old Wit, dominant winner of the Grade 3 Sanford July 17, put in his final preparation for the $300,000 Grade 1 Hopeful on September 6 with a half-mile breeze Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Wit, with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, went four furlongs in :49.22 over a main track rated fast, ranking 16th of 24 horses at the distance. It was the fifth work in Saratoga since an eight-length triumph in the six-furlong Sanford for Wit, who went five furlongs in 1:01.42 on the Oklahoma training track August 23, the fastest of five horses.

“[It was] a good maintenance work,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He had a really solid work last week so we were just kind of looking for the final prep, and it went smoothly.”

By Practical Joke out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Numero d'Oro, Wit fetched $575,000 as a yearling last fall at Keeneland. He was a six-length winner of his June 5 debut at Belmont Park, where he did all his prep work for the Sanford.

Wit's sire won the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens in 2017, formerly the King's Bishop, in the first year it was renamed for the late Hall of Fame trainer. The Hopeful for 2-year-olds, like the Jerkens contested at seven furlongs, will be run on Labor Day, September 6 – closing day of the Saratoga meet.

“He's a really easy horse to train. He's very professional. He's very responsive to whatever you want him to do,” Pletcher said. “He'll sit off a horse and he'll accelerate on command. He's really been push-button so far.”

Wit worked in company with Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Power Agenda, purchased for $120,000 out of the same sale. A gutsy front-running nose winner of his debut, a six-furlong maiden special weight August 4 at Saratoga, Power Agenda was timed in :49.25 and is also under Hopeful consideration.

“Power Agenda worked well also. We'll see how he bounces out of it, but right now we're leaning toward running both,” Pletcher said. “He showed that he's got some fight to him. He had trained well leading up to it, so we weren't surprised, but we've been happy with the way he's come out of it.”

Pletcher said he was thrilled with the efforts of both Life Is Good and Following Sea, who respectively ran second and third in Saturday's Jerkens. CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Life Is Good set blazing fractions of :21.97 and :44.16 and dug in through a protracted stretch duel with Jackie's Warrior before coming up a neck short.

Life Is Good joined Pletcher's stable earlier this summer and was racing for the first time since a victory in the Grade 2 San Felipe March 6 at Santa Anita for previous trainer Bob Baffert. The Jerkens marked his first loss in four career starts.

“Both horses came out of it in good order this morning,” Pletcher said. “[Life Is Good] ran a spectacular race off the layoff. [He] went really fast and just got nipped by a really good horse.”

Pletcher said there is no specific race yet picked out for Life Is Good following the Jerkens.

“We're kind of surveying all of our options,” he said. “We'll give it a little time just to digest the race and assess how he comes out of it. I think he's versatile enough that there's a lot of potential options.”

[Story Continues Below]

Spendthrift Farm homebred Following Sea made a late run to be third, 8 ¾ lengths behind the top two. In his prior start, he finished third in a three-way photo finish in the Grade 1 Haskell July 17 at Monmouth Park but was elevated to second following the disqualification of top finisher Hot Rod Charlie.

“I thought he ran on well,” Pletcher said of the Jerkens. “He got a little confused when he got hit by dirt. He hadn't had a whole lot of experience with dirt in his face, but once he got going I thought he put in a nice run down the lane to get up for third.”

Wertheimer and Frere homebred Happy Saver, unraced since suffering his first loss in five career starts in the Grade 2 Suburban July 3 at Belmont, remains on track to defend his 2020 victory in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Previously held at Belmont, the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and up going 1 ¼ miles was moved to Saratoga this year and will be run Saturday, September 4.

Happy Saver, whose other stakes win came in the 2020 Federico Tesio last September at Laurel Park in Laurel Md., has experience racing over at Saratoga, winning a 1 1/8-mile allowance last July in his second career start. He breezed five furlongs in 1:00.66 Saturday on Saratoga's main track.

“He worked well yesterday and looked good this morning,” Pletcher said. “We've kind of been pointing for this for a little while.”

The post Wit, Happy Saver Work In Preparation For Upcoming Saratoga Starts appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Letruska ‘In Good Order’ After Personal Ensign Win, Looks Toward Spinster Next

Keeping watch over trainer Fausto Gutierrez's stable star Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., groom Jose Diaz reported St. George Stable homebred Letruska emerged from her thrilling victory in Saturday's $600,000 Grade 1 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti in good order.

Diaz said Letruska will leave Saratoga Monday bound for Monmouth Park, where the South Florida-based Gutierrez also maintains a string of horses. The trainer said Letruska would be pointed to the $500,000 Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster October 10 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., as a final prep for the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff November 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Letruska led from start to finish and turned back several challengers in the final furlong to capture the 1 1/8-mile Personal Ensign by a half-length, her fourth consecutive victory and 16th in 21 lifetime starts. Nine of her wins have come in graded stakes, five of them against Grade or Group 1 competition.

“She has ability, but more she has a big heart. This a special horse,” Gutierrez said following the win. “To have this speed and to be able to run long distances, and to have the big heart is special. Not for nothing, I think this is one of the best horses in the country.”

The Personal Ensign was Letruska's third victory this year in a “Win and You're In” challenge race for the Distaff, following the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps June 5 at Belmont Park and Grade 2 Fleur de Lis June 26 at Churchill Downs. She has won five of her six starts in 2021, including a defeat of champion Monomoy Girl in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom April 17 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. Her lone loss this year came by a head in Oaklawn's Grade 2 Azeri March 13.

The post Letruska ‘In Good Order’ After Personal Ensign Win, Looks Toward Spinster Next appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Asmussen Still Smiling After Travers Day Wins With Yaupon, Jackie’s Warrior

Steve Asmussen was already back on the road scouting for new talent at the Texas yearling sales on Sunday morning, but there still were plenty of bright smiles lighting up the barn of the Hall of Fame trainer in the wake of Saturday's back-to-back wins in the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego by Yaupon and the $500,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial by Jackie's Warrior, followed by Midnight Bourbon's runner-up finish in the $1.25 million Runhappy Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“I was so proud of how our horses ran yesterday. It was a great day of racing,” said Scott Blasi, Asmussen's longtime assistant. “To win two Grade 1s in a row at Saratoga on Travers Day is a great feeling. There are certain days of the year that are incredibly competitive. There's Derby Day, Preakness Day, Belmont Day, Travers Day, Breeders' Cup. With that level of quality racing, it's the best of the best. On those kinds of days to do well, it's a special feeling.”

At this stage of the season, the two fastest sprinters, arguably, in North America, are stabled in this barn.

J. Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, who won the Grade 1 Hopeful at the Spa and the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont in 2020, notched the first top-level victory of his sophomore season by beating the highly regarded Life Is Good in the ninth race on the 13-race card. In the eighth race, William and Corrine Heiligbrodt's Yaupon beat Firenze Fire in a race filled with drama.

As the two battled in deep stretch almost stride-for-stride with Yaupon to the inside under Ricardo Santana, Jr., Firenze Fire bared his teeth, turned his head to the left, and tried to savage his rival with no fewer than seven attempts. Afterward, Asmussen said that Firenze Fire was even trying to grab Santana.

“He [Yaupon] came out of it unscathed. No marks or anything. Luckily, Ricardo was able to continue to encourage him, although he was getting pretty close to the inside rail, which I was more worried about than the horse getting bit,” said Blasi. “I think it was a really hard thing for him [Jose Ortiz, up on Firenze Fire] to correct. The thing about it is those guys are riding hard, so they were going forward and it's not like you have the bit in their mouth. They're trying to persevere, and that's a hard to thing to correct when you're in that position. I've seen pictures of horses being savaged, and I've seen horses savage, or try to bite, but I've never seen any horse do it for that long. I've never seen it go on for that long.”

Blasi said even all that commotion could not dim the brilliance of these two sprinters.

“Yaupon is a special horse. It was a great win for him,” said Blasi. “Jackie's Warrior gave another game effort. He's a special talent. The horse he beat [Life is Good] is as well. You saw how they separated themselves from the rest of the field, and that just goes to show you the class and the quality of those two horses. It was a great race. Jackie is so consistent. At one turn, he's back to doing what he wants to do.”

The Heiligbrodts' Mitole won the 2019 Forego, the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the Grade 1 Met Mile at Belmont Park, and a fourth Grade 1 on the way to championship sprinter honors that year for the barn.

Does either Yaupon or Jackie's Warrior resemble Mitole?

[Story Continues Below]

“They're just really fast horses and we've had some quality sprinters like Volatile [winner of the 2020 Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga] and Mitole. I mean they were great sprinters. These horses all have the same qualities. Both of these guys, you couldn't be any better to be around and to train. Yaupon and Jackie's Warrior are professionals,” said Blasi.

Though Winchell's homebred, Grade 3 winning Midnight Bourbon, didn't give Asmussen his first Travers victory, he finished only a neck behind 2020 Juvenile champion and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality.

“It was by far the best race of his career. We were a little bit unlucky to lose but that horse [Essential Quality] is a champion. Once that horse gets by you, he's not going to let anybody pass him, and he proved that time and time again. Hats off to the winner, but our horse is definitely improving. I think with the time that they ran and how they came home in the last quarter, you have to have quality to be able to do that,” Blasi said.

The effort is particularly gratifying considering his last race in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in July. That day he clipped heels with Hot Rod Charlie in the stretch and fell.

“I've got to give the credit to our team here. Everybody worked so hard on that horse after coming out of the Monmouth race. The whole barn did a great job getting him to come back around,” Blasi explained. “He was able to spend time in the round pen and we let him just be a horse up here in Saratoga, which is the great thing about Saratoga. You've got the environment. It's all good.

“I'm proud of how he acted going over to the paddock. We led the pony in front of him, which I think that made a big difference,” he continued. “He was a total professional yesterday. We really are happy with how he's progressing.”

The post Asmussen Still Smiling After Travers Day Wins With Yaupon, Jackie’s Warrior appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post