Tag: Racing

Got Stormy Turns Back, Faces Males In Jackpocket Jaipur

MyRacehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm's multiple Grade 1-winner Got Stormy joins defending race-winner and fellow mare Oleksandra in taking on the boys in Saturday's Grade 1, $400,000 Jackpocket Jaipur, a six-furlong turf sprint on Belmont Stakes Day.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival runs from Thursday through Saturday, June 5, culminating with the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown. First post on Belmont Stakes Day is 11:35 a.m. Eastern.

The 35th running of the Jackpocket Jaipur is a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November at Del Mar.

Got Stormy, a 6-year-old Get Stormy chestnut trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, boasts a record of 28-11-5-3 with purse earnings in excess of $2.1 million. The fan-favorite enjoyed a memorable summer campaign in 2019, besting the boys on one week's rest in course-record fashion in the Grade 1 Fourstardave, covering the mile in 1:32 flat over the firm inner turf at Saratoga. She completed her 2019 campaign with a win in the one-mile, Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar.

Last year, Got Stormy, made her first three starts at distances of one mile or greater before turning back to 6 1/2-furlongs to win the Grade 3 Ladies Sprint in September over soft going at Kentucky Downs. She followed with a win in the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County at 5 1/2-furlongs on “good” Keeneland turf in October ahead of a close fifth, defeated two lengths by the victorious Glass Slippers, in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November at Keeneland.

Got Stormy launched her current campaign with a nose win in the one-mile Grade 3 Honey Fox in February at Gulfstream, but was an even fifth last out in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Casse said the cut back in distance should benefit his charge.

“She likes to have a target,” said Casse. “A lot of times in these mile races, the pace isn't fast enough for her to have a target and we're hoping that won't be the case going three quarters.”

The veteran conditioner noted Got Stormy has proven comfortable on soft going at sprint distances.

“If there's some give in the ground, she won't mind it going six furlongs,” said Casse. “The give in the ground only bothers her going a mile, when she has some distance limitations.”

Tyler Gaffalione will ride Got Stormy from post 11.

Team Valor International's Oleksandra rallied to win last year's Jaipur by a neck over Kanthaka. The 7-year-old daughter of Animal Kingdom, who sports a ledger of 19-7-4-3 with purse earnings of $568,248, is winless in three starts this season.

Last out, the Neil Drysdale trainee rallied from 10th to finish fifth in the Unbridled Sydney at 5 1/2-furlongs over “good” Churchill Downs turf on April 29.

Joe Bravo has the call from post 9.

Multiple graded stakes-winner Bound for Nowhere, owned and trained by Wesley Ward, has flashed brilliance through a career record of 15-7-2-2 and purse earnings just shy of $1 million.

The 7-year-old son of The Factor garnered a 107 Beyer Speed Figure winning the 2018 Grade 2 Shakertown at Keeneland ahead of a close third in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee at Ascot.

In 2019, Bound for Nowhere narrowly missed defending his Shakertown title when second, by a neck, to Imprimis. Last year Bound for Nowhere made just two starts, including a pacesetting third in the Shakertown, when a neck back of the victorious Leinster.

Bound for Nowhere made his seasonal debut by winning the Shakertown in dramatic fashion, besting familiar foe Imprimis by a nose over good Keeneland turf on April 13

Ward said Bound for Nowhere, a former workmate of multiple Group 1-winning mare Lady Aurelia, has turned a corner both physically and mentally as he looks to secure a first Grade 1 win.

“He's had a lot of minor issues along the way that's taken a lot of time to get to the races, which is why he's only had 15 total starts in his career, but this year he really turned the corner,” said Ward. “Each and every work is better than I've ever seen. He's always been the type of horse that wouldn't put much effort into his works. He used to be Lady Aurelia's workmate and he would get outworked every week.

“I know she was great, but this guy is a completely different work horse in the morning,” added Ward. “He's not letting anyone outwork him when he's in company. His times are significantly better than in the past. As you go into these big races, you're always dealing with issues. This time we're dealing with zero issues.”

Bound for Nowhere will exit post 6 under Joel Rosario.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will saddle a pair of contenders in Casa Creed and Chewing Gum.

LRE Racing and JEH Racing Stable's Casa Creed [post 2, Junior Alvarado], a 5-year-old Jimmy Creed bay, made the grade in the one-mile, Grade 2 Hall of Fame in August 2019 at Saratoga. A veteran of 19 starts with a record of 4-3-3 and purse earnings of $535,408, Casa Creed rallied to a smart score in the Elusive Quality in his third start of the campaign.

Wachtel Stable, Pantofel Stable and Jerold Zaro's graded-stakes placed Chewing Gum [post 1, Jose Ortiz] closed to finish second in the six-furlong Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational in October at Belmont. The consistent 6-year-old son of Candy Ride boasts a record of 17-3-3-6 and purse earnings of $308,288.

Mott also entered the stakes-placed Secret Rules for the main-track only.
Swifty Farms' Sombeyay, a 5-year-old son of Into Mischief trained by Peter Miller, has attracted the services of Flavien Prat from post 12.

Previously conditioned by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Sombeyay captured the six-furlong 2018 Grade 3 Sanford on the Saratoga main track and added a win in the one-mile Grade 3 Canadian Turf in February 2020 at Gulfstream.

Sombeyay has made five starts for Miller since November, including an optional-claiming score on the Santa Anita turf in January. He has finished second in his most recent two starts in turf sprints, missing by a neck in the six-furlong Grade 3 San Simeon in March at Santa Anita and by a half-length to Fast Boat last out in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Turf Sprint on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Robert D. Bone's multiple stakes winner Completed Pass, a 7-year-old Indiana-bred son of Pass Rush, has enjoyed turf sprint success on the Midlantic circuit, taking the Laurel Dash in September and the King T. Leatherbury in April at Pimlico.

Trained by Claudio Gonzalez, Completed Pass will exit post 3 under Angel Cruz.

Completing the field are Fast Boat [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], Greyes Creek [post 5, Ricardo Santana, Jr.], Gregorian Chant [post 8, Luis Saez], and Stubbins [post 10, Javier Castellano].

The Jackpocket Jaipur is slated as Race 6 on the 13-race card.

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Streaking Flagstaff Chasing Third Straight Win In Friday’s True North

Grade 1-winner Flagstaff bested Eclipse award-winner Whitmore in a thrilling finish last out and will look to win his third consecutive stakes race as part of a seven-horse field in Friday's Grade 2, $300,000 True North for 4-year-olds and up sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs over the main track at Belmont Park.

The 43rd running of the True North is one of five stakes on the Friday card as part of the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival that commences Thursday and runs through Saturday, which will be highlighted by the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

The True North will see Flagstaff, owned by Lane's End Racing and Hronis Racing, enter off his first career Grade 1 score, when he edged both Lexitonian and Whitmore by a head in a blanket finish in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs on May 1.

The John Sadler trainee started his 2021 campaign with a fourth-place effort in the King Cotton before earning his first black type as a 7-year-old when third in the Hot Springs. The son of Speightstown then posted a 1 1/4-length score in the Grade 3 Commonwealth going seven furlongs on April 3 at Keeneland before topping a 12-horse field last out.

“It was great, he ran two dynamite races in Kentucky,” Sadler said. “Both of those races were seven furlongs, but we think that 6 1/2 furlongs should be good for him, also.”

Unraced until his 4-year-old year, Flagstaff has made up for lost time, winning stakes at ages 5, 6, and 7. After making the bulk of his starts in California, Flagstaff will ship to New York for the first time, drawing post 2. Luis Saez, aboard for the Churchill Downs victory, will have the return engagement.

“He almost has no bad races on his form,” Sadler said. “He's just a nice honest horse and has run with top class horses all the time. He's well-bred and he's a gelding so we try to take good care of him and make him last.”

Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire, winner of the Grade 3 Runhappy going six furlongs at Belmont on May 8, has recorded Beyer figures of 90 or better in six of his last seven starts for conditioner Kelly Breen.

Firenze Fire won last year's edition of the True North, topping Stan the Man, and is 6-1-0 in nine career starts at Belmont, including three straight wins at the track, and has not lost in Elmont since running fourth in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap last June on Big Sandy.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. won the race aboard Firenze Fire in 2020 and will ride again, breaking from the rail.

Long Lake Stable and Madaket Stables' Looking At Bikinis bested optional claimers going seven furlongs last out on April 24 at Belmont and will be returning to stakes company for the first time in four starts for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown.

The son of Lookin At Lucky ran 11th in the 2019 Grade 1 Travers last year and capped his 3-year-old year with a fourth-place effort in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile that December at the Big A. After racing just twice in 2020, Looking At Bikinis earned a 94 Beyer last out in his 5-year-old bow. He will now look to improve to 4-for-4 running at Belmont.

“It's one of those things where he was able to knock out an allowance win there and has no more conditions to work with and you try a stakes with him,” Brown said. “I thought, between this and the Met Mile, it was an easier spot for him. With the cutback, hopefully he gets a strong pace and a clean outside trip where he can make a run.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will be in the irons from post 5.

“He's a funny horse,” Brown said. “Sometimes he shows up and runs great races and other times he's left us scratching our head. A wet track should be fine for him if it happens.”

Phat Man, fifth in the Churchill Downs last out, will be looking for his first stakes win since the 2020 Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper in January at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Kent Sweezey, Phat Man has not run at Belmont since 2017.
Owned by Marianne Stribling, Force Five Racing and Two Rivers Racing Stable, Phat Man will break from the outermost post 7 with Joel Rosario aboard.

American Power, trained by Rob Atras, won the Caixa Eletronica in March at Aqueduct and will be returning to stakes competition after running second against optional claimers on April 24 at Belmont. Kendrick Carmouche rides from post 4.

Trainer Linda Rice will send out a pair of contenders in Big Engine, third in the Affirmed Success on April 23 at Belmont, and Wicked Trick, who ran fourth in last year's True North and ran second in his first stakes appearance of 2021 last out in the Grade 3 Westchester on May 1 at Belmont, finishing behind 2020 Belmont Stakes runner-up Dr Post.

“Hopefully, he can improve off his last effort; he's going to have to with this class,” Rice said. “But we thought this would be an interesting spot for us.”

Eric Cancel will ride Big Engine from post 3, while Jose Lezcano has the call on Wicked Trick aboard post 6.

“Big Engine, like Wicked Trick, has experience on this track, so that helps, for sure,” Rice said.

The True North is named for the 1945 winner of the Fall Highweight Handicap and on Friday will be contested as Race 7 at 4:07 p.m. Eastern. First post is 12:50 p.m.

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Mean Mary Back For More Mayhem In Friday’s New York Stakes

A top-class field of turf fillies and mares has assembled for Friday's Grade 2, $750,000 New York at Belmont Park, a 1¼-mile inner turf test that has been won by the likes of Soaring Softly and Perfect Sting en route to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and year-end championships.

The New York is one of five stakes on Friday's card, Day Two of the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival [June 3-5] that culminates with the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

Friday's diverse 11-race offering kicks off with a 12:50 p.m. Eastern first post and also features the Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup for turf marathoners; Grade 2, $300,000 True North for dirt sprinters; Grade 3, $300,000 Bed o' Roses for filly and mare sprinters; and $150,000 Tremont for juveniles.

Looking to defend her New York title will be the popular Graham Motion-trained mare Mean Mary, who is owned by Alex G. Campbell, Jr. and will be ridden by Luis Saez from post 7. The daughter of Scat Daddy seeks her seventh career victory in her 11th start and enters off an impressive gate-to-wire victory three weeks ago in Pimlico's Grade 3 Gallorette, her first start since finishing seventh in November's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. A dominant 5¼-length winner of last year's New York, she faces an arguably tougher field in 2021 and the possibility of more cut in the ground.

“I nominated her to both the New York and the Manhattan,” Motion said. “It's coming back a little quick, but I felt she had an easy go of it last week and we can use that as more of a prep to get us to this race. Her win was impressive, although we sort of had it handed to us. For me, it was perfect for her to have an easy go of it in her first race back. It worked out really well.”

Last year's New York runner-up My Sister Nat is one of two runners owned by Peter Brant and trained by Chad Brown, with the other being recent German import Virginia Joy. My Sister Nat, a half-sister to champion Sistercharlie and Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass, is making her second start of her 6-year-old campaign, following a fourth in the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay on May 1. She was second in last fall's Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational over this course and distance and—despite solid form at the top level—has one win in 10 stateside starts.

“With a bunch of other horses retiring, Mr. Brant wanted to give her another year to come back because she's been lightly campaigned, so far,” Brown explained. “It was a tough beat in the Flower Bowl, just missing a Grade 1 for this wonderful family, so we wanted to try again in a Grade 1 at some point this year. In her past, she has needed a race to get going and seems to get better as the year goes on. I'm not totally surprised by her last effort that she sort of needed one. She's come back and worked well and is going to move forward, but she's going to need to.”

Virginia Joy was eye-catching in her American bow, a course and distance allowance win. Last year, she was third in the Group 1 Henkel-Preis der Diana (German Oaks) and won the Group 3 Mehl-Mulhens Trophy—both over 11 furlongs.

“She's doing well,” Brown said. “She ran really well here in April in her first start, winning over a mile and a quarter. She is talented.”

My Sister Nat breaks from 4 under Jose Ortiz, while Virginia Joy will have Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons from post 2.

The first three home in last year's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup—Estate of Harvey A Clarke's Bill Mott-trained Harvey's Lil Goil (post 5, Junior Alvarado), Godolphin's Mike Stidham-conditioned Micheline (post 3, Florent Geroux) and Lael Stables' Arnaud Delacour-trained Magic Attitude (post 1, Trevor McCarthy)—meet again and all three boast graded victories this season.

Magic Attitude, in particular, has proven potent over the local turf, landing last year's Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, part of NYRA's Turf Triple series for fillies, and May's Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay in her two Belmont runs. Group 1-placed in France for initial trainer Fabrice Chappet before transferring mid-2020 to Delacour, she has impressed her connections coming into the New York.

“She is in very good order right now,” Delacour said. “It's been an uneventful prep and she came back very well from the Sheepshead Bay. She's on schedule, training very well and I'm very happy with how she's coming up to the race. There's a question mark on the ground if it is too soft and I always feel that a fast track is what she prefers.

“A lot depends on the pace scenario,” he added. “Mean Mary and Harvey's Lil Goil will be very tough, but our filly likes Belmont and is comfortable there because she's very European in the way she runs, still. She needs a long stretch to get balanced and if we can get good or good-to-firm turf, I think she's going to be OK. It's definitely a good race.”

Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf third-place finisher Harvey's Lil Goil is one of two entered for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, joined by Godolphin's Antoinette, and enters off a smart tally in the Grade 3 Beaugay on May 8. Antoinette won last August's $500,000 Saratoga Oaks, a Turf Triple series event last August, and enters off a fifth in Magic Attitude's Sheepshead Bay.

Fellow Godolphin color-bearer Micheline seeks to rebound from a lackluster sixth in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland on April 10, one race after defeating Magic Attitude in Tampa Bay Downs' Grade 2 Hillsborough.

The in-form yard of Christophe Clement seeks its fifth New York with a pair of runners, Al Shira'aa Farms' Sheepshead Bay runner-up Mutamakina (post 11, Javier Castellano) and Stone Farm's local allowance victress Traipsing (post 10, Kendrick Carmouche). While Traipsing arguably must step up her form to factor, Mutamakina had strong class lines in Europe prior to joining Clement in the fall, chasing home the aforementioned Arc winner Sottsass, Group 1 English Oaks winner Anapurna and Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Audarya.

“When they're running in New York and they're training well, don't make it too complicated—just run,” Clement said. “Both of them are training well. Mutamakina was very unlucky in her first race with the trip she got, but she ran well the last time. I think she's really improved since then. Traipsing has been an unlucky filly, but she's training well. She did not do all that well in Florida this winter. A filly like her, there aren't any conditions. We are shortening up a little bit to a mile and a quarter, but I do think that she is a wonderful galloper.”

Shipping in from Ireland is Shapoor Mistry's Joseph O'Brien-trained Thundering Nights, a daughter of Night of Thunder who enters off a strong second to Broome in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes over 1¼ miles at The Curragh. Broome went on to win the Group 2 Mooresbridge Stakes and finish second in last week's Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup, backing up the form.

“She's a really nice filly,” O'Brien said. “Night of Thunder has been a great stallion in Europe. She ran a really big race at The Curragh last out. She's performed well on heavy surfaces and soft ground, as well, so she's quite versatile from a ground standpoint.”

Thundering Nights will exit post 9 under Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

Todd Pletcher-trained Repole Stable homebred Always Shopping seeks a return to form after failing as the favorite in the Sheepshead Bay, but picks up the services of in-demand rider Flavien Prat from outermost post 12.

Joseph Allen homebred Civil Union returns to the course and distance of her greatest triumph, last October's Flower Bowl, in her second race of the season. The Shug McGaughey pupil was a disappointing fifth in the Beaugay, her first run since finishing a close fifth in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Joel Rosario rides from post 6.

Both Antoinette and Magic Attitude are eligible for the “New York Stakes Turf Bonus” which will provide $315,000 to the owner and $35,000 to the trainer of any previous winner of the Belmont Oaks, Saratoga Oaks or Jockey Club Oaks, who captures the 2021 edition of the Grade 2 New York, which is slated as Race 9 at 5:15 p.m. on Friday's card.

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