Tag: Racing

Horse No One Wanted: Pyledriver Wins Fairytale Edition Of The Coronation Cup

It was a battle for the ages in the Coral Coronation Cup which saw underdog Pyledriver and rising star Al Aasy fight it out for Group 1 glory at Epsom Downs.

It was Pyledriver, a horse who couldn't be sold for £10,000 (about US$12,000) two years ago, who won the war in the end for trainer William Muir. Having lost the lead with two furlongs to go, he showed incredible heart to knuckle down and deny Al Aasy at the wire. William Haggas' runner looked to have done enough in the closing stages but was just denied victory.

Things hadn't gone to plan early doors for Al Aasy having missed the break. He was settled in at the rear and the strong pace helped him find a rhythm.

The eventual winner Pyledriver was happy enough in midfield in the opening stanzas. Rounding the turn the race began to take shape, and it was Martyn Dwyer who seized the initiative down the straight. He opted to send his mount on and had all his rivals beat, bar the closing Al Aasy, at three furlongs out.

Al Aasy made effortless ground coming down the straight, with Jim Crowley's urgings sparking rapid progress as they came to the two furlong marker. He breezed past Aidan O'Brien's Japan, and it became a two horse race.

The crowds returning to Epsom for the first time this year were not disappointed. As Al Aasy moved to within a neck of his rival with seemingly plenty to give. He took a narrow lead and this looked for a moment to have settled the race.

However, Pyledriver was in no mood for settling for 2nd and knuckled down in the final stages to get his head back in front in the final strides to claim the Coral Coronation Cup.

Welcome cheers rang around Epsom, and nobody was more delighted than jockey Martyn Dwyer, who said after the race: “I'm so proud of the horse. On a personal level, there's times when I've hated racing. But days like this I can't describe in words.”

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Elevated Temperatures Knock Swiss Skydiver And Valiance Out Of Ogden Phipps

Trainer Kenny McPeek announced on Twitter Friday morning that Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020, would be scratched from Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

“Unfortunately Swiss Skydiver had a 104 fever this morning,” McPeek Tweeted. “We are a scratch. We've treated her to knock down the fever and will regroup later in the season. Never easy.”

The scratch reduces the Phipps field to five starters following Daily Racing Form's report on Thursday that Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin Schwartz and CHC Inc.'s Valiance, winner of the G1 Spinster at Keeneland and second to Monomoy Girl in the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff for trainer Todd Pletcher, was also knocked out by an elevated temperature.

Swiss Skydiver was the 5-2 co-second choice on the morning line behind 8-5 favorite Letruska, with Valiance listed at 4-1.

Swiss Skydiver's fever came after she vanned from Churchill Downs in Kentucky to Belmont Park. An experienced traveler, the daughter of Daredevil has competed over nine different tracks in a 14-race career.

On Thursday, DRF's Mike Welsch first reported the scratch of Valiance, a 5-year-old Tapit mare who would have been making her first start since the Breeders' Cup. “We're dealing with a temperature issue,” Pletcher told Welsch. “It's frustrating, She never trained better. Bad timing.”

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Juvenile Happy Soul Much The Best In Thursday’s Astoria

Gayla Rankin's Happy Soul was hustled out of the gate by Hall of Famer John Velazquez and never relinquished control en route to an 11 1/2-length score in Thursday's $150,000 Astoria, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies at Belmont Park on Day One of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Trained by Wesley Ward, the bay daughter of Runhappy entered from a similarly dominant score on May 13 at Belmont when 11 3/4-lengths the best in a five-furlong maiden special weight.

Velazquez urged the $50,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase from the gate and quickly established command as American Bound, under Luis Saez, applied pressure to her outside through an opening quarter-mile in 21.92 seconds on the fast main track.

Happy Soul extended her advantage into the turn through a half-mile in 45.74 as Constitution Gal moved up along the rail into third. In hand and in command at the top of the lane, Happy Soul enjoyed a 6 1/2-length lead at the stretch call and continued to fine more en route to a facile score in a final time of 1:05.69.

Constitution Gal completed the exacta by 1 1/4-lengths over She's So Shiny. Rounding out the order of finish was American Bound and Midsummer Nights. Mainstay was scratched.

Velazquez said he had to ask the speedy filly from the moment the latch sprung.

“She fell asleep in the gate. She wasn't paying attention,” said Velazquez. “I had to use her coming out of there, which normally I don't want to do with [Wesley Ward's] horses because they go so fast, but I had to do it.

“Once I got out of there, I got into the position she wants,” he continued. “I just let her take her speed wherever she wanted to go.”

Ward said the improving filly will step up to graded company next out in the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies on August 8 at Saratoga.

“She was 1-9, so obviously we were in the right spot,” said Ward. “We'll have to step up in class and company next. She'll get back to Keeneland and prepare for the Adirondack at Saratoga.”

Bred in Kentucky by Harris Training Center, Happy Soul banked $87,000 in victory. She paid $2.30 for a $2 win ticket.

Day Two of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival continues Friday at Belmont with an 11-race card, featuring five stakes, including the Grade 2, $750,000 New York, a 10-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares; the Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup at two miles on the Widener turf for older horses; the Grade 2, $300,000 True North, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for older horses; the Grade 3, $300,000 Bed O' Roses, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares; and the $150,000 Tremont for juveniles. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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