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Performer Chasing Encore In Gulfstream Park Mile

Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer, who captured the Jan. 23 Fred W. Hooper (G3), will seek to produce an encore performance in Saturday's $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2).

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the 5-year-old son of Speightstown is slated to top a field of seven older horses in the one-turn mile event on Saturday's 14-race program with nine stakes, headlined by the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2).

Joel Rosario worked out a winning trip aboard Performer after breaking from the rail post position in the Hooper, also run at a one-turn mile. Pinned down on the rail along the backstretch, Performer was swung to the outside on the turn into the homestretch and out-battled Eye of a Jedi to the wire to win by a neck.

“He gutted it out pretty good,” McGaughey said. “He was down on the inside. Joel looked up and saw those horses on the lead were going easy, so that's when he eased him to the outside. I don't think it killed him to win, but that horse that finished second is a pretty darn horse.”

The Hooper was Performer's sixth victory in eight career starts.

“He seems to have come out of the race good. He had a very good work the other day,” McGaughey said.

After finishing third in his November 2018 debut, the Phipps Stable's homebred won five races in a row, including the 1 1/8-mile Discovery (G3) at Aqueduct. His streak was broken with a third-place finish over a sealed sloppy track in the Dec. 5 Cigar Mile (G1) at Aqueduct before getting back to winning form in the Hooper.

Performer has demonstrated the versatility to win at distances from 6 ½ furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, but McGaughey favors the longer distances for the Kentucky-bred.

“I'd like to run him around two turns. I kind of thought about that, but the race here [March 27 Ghostzapper (G3)] would be over two months and run him back a mile and an eighth. I could have taken him to New York for the [April 3] Excelsior, but that would be 11 weeks almost,” McGaughey said. “I thought, 'Well, I'll get a solid race in him here going a mile and can use either one of those for a mile and an eighth. I'll feel a lot better about his fitness level going a mile and an eighth.”

Jose Ortiz, who will ride McGaughey-trained Greatest Honour in the Fountain of Youth, is scheduled to ride Performer for the first time Saturday.

R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Hugh Lynch's Tax is scheduled to return to action in the Gulfstream Park Mile after finishing 10th in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup International (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream.

The Danny Gargan-trained 5-year-old gelding previously captured the Harlan's Holiday (G3) by 4 ½ lengths at Gulfstream in his previous start.

Junior Alvarado has the call aboard the son of Arch.

Trainer Steve Budhoo's Eye of a Jedi, an ultra-consistent 6-year-old gelding who seems to be getting better with age, will seek to turn the tables on Performer. The son of Eye of the Leopard had finished a late-closing second behind Tax in the Harlan's Holiday prior to his narrow loss to Performer.

Marcos Meneses has the return mount aboard Eye of a Jedi.

Gelfenstein Farm LLC's Avant Garde, who has won six of eight starts since being claimed for $10,000, is set for a return in the Gulfstream Mile after closing from last to finish third, 1 ½ lengths behind Eye of a Jedi, in the Hooper. Trainer Gustavo Delgado is also scheduled to saddle Gelfenstein Farm's homebred Summer Kid, a 4-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid who is coming off a victory in a first-level optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will ride the son of Tonalist for the first time, while Edgard Zayas has the return call on Summer Kid.

WinStar Farm and China Horse Club International's Fearless is scheduled to make his first start since finishing sixth in the June 20 Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old Ghostzapper gelding launched his career with two straight victories during the 2019-2020 Championship Meet.

Trainer Todd Pletcher named Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride Fearless.

Phat Man, who finished second in last year's Gulfstream Mile, is set for a return Saturday for owners Marianne Stribling, Force Five Racing LLC and Two River's Racing Stable LLC. The Kent Sweezey-trained 7-year-old gelding finished an even fifth in the Hooper after checking in third in the Harlan's Holiday.

Paco Lopez is scheduled to ride Phat Man for the first time Saturday.

Daniel Alonso's Wind of Change, a Brazilian import who finished a distant fourth in the Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) last time out, rounds out the field.

The post Performer Chasing Encore In Gulfstream Park Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Got Stormy ‘Good And Ready’ To Debut For Spendthrift In Honey Fox

Seeing the price go up as multiple Grade 1-winning mare Got Stormy went through the sales ring last fall, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse got a sinking feeling.

“I knew that there was a reserve on her. My wife and I watched from our office that night, and when she went well over the reserve, I said, 'Well …'” Casse recalled. “There was a sad moment.”

The feeling didn't last long. Shortly after the hammer fell, Casse's phone rang. At the other end was Ned Toffey, general manager since 2004 of Spendthrift Farm, which spent $2.75 million to acquire the multi-millionaire daughter of Get Stormy.

“I got a call about 15 minutes later from Ned Toffey and he said, 'I'm going to ask you a real dumb question. We bought her and we're going to run her another year, do you want to train her?'” Casse said. “I just laughed and I said, 'Yeah, that is a dumb question.'”

Got Stormy won 10 of 26 starts and more than $2 million in purses for Casse and previous owner Gary Barber. Eight of those wins came in stakes, five of them graded, including the Fourstardave (G1) over males and Matriarch (G1) in 2019.

“I had a conversation with Mark really right after we signed the ticket,” Toffey said. “Mark was really happy to have her rejoin his stable and he assured me that he felt like she would be more than ready to move forward and have a good year this year. Of course, we won't put her in a spot to do anything she can't do, and Mark's a great caretaker. Certainly the way she's worked has only heightened our excitement for what we'll see from her this year.”

Got Stormy will begin her fifth and final season of racing Saturday in the $125,000 Honey Fox (G3) at Gulfstream Park. The 36th running of the one-mile Honey Fox for fillies and mares 4 and up is among nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.475 million on a spectacular 14-race program.

Headlining the card is the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds on the road to the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, and the $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) for 3-year-old fillies, featuring the season debut of 2020 juvenile filly champion Vequist.

First race post time is 11:30 a.m.

Got Stormy will be returning to Gulfstream for the first time since winning an optional claiming allowance in March 2019. It is where the daughter of Grade 3 turf-winning mare Malabar Gold broke her maiden in her third lifetime start in February 2018.

“We're very pleased with her. Last year I felt like maybe I didn't have her quite as ready for her first start when we ran her, and the one thing I did was I tried to get her ready on the dirt,” Casse said. “So, this year I changed my mind and I sent her down and she's been breezing over the turf. She loves to breeze on the turf. She should be a good and ready.”

Given a freshening following her fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) Nov. 7, and a pair of dirt workouts at Casse's training center in Ocala, Get Stormy joined his string at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training center in Palm Beach County, where she has breezed five times since mid-January. Two of them were bullets, a five-furlong move in 57.35 seconds Feb. 5 and a half-mile work in 47.45 Feb. 12.

“She's doing well. She got a little break after the Breeders' Cup and Mark's just gradually brought her back along,” Toffey said. “In all of our conversations he's just been thrilled with how she's been working, so we're as excited as everybody else is to see what she does.”

Got Stormy raced eight times in 2020 with two wins and two seconds, finishing fourth in the Endeavour (G3) in her debut. She continued to race between a mile and a mile and a sixteenth without success, including a runner-up finish in defense of her Fourstardave title, before Casse cut her back to sprinting.

She responded by winning the 6 ½-furlong Ladies Sprint (G3) over a soft course at Kentucky Downs and the 5 ½-furlong Franklin County (G3) at Keeneland leading up to the Breeders' Cup, where she raced in mid-pack and wound up fifth, beaten two lengths.

“I'm anxious to see what the year brings for her [because] 2020 was a crazy year for a lot of reasons,” Casse said, “but for her, it was about weather, bad weather, and so many times running her on a track that she didn't care for. And she now has a new dimension; she can sprint, as well. So it opens up some options.

“The biggest thing for her is, I don't want to run her over a mile,” he added. “If she is going to run a mile, it has to be very fast.”

Got Stormy was not the only big-ticket purchase for Spendthrift last fall. They also went to $9.5 million for Monomoy Girl, the champion older mare of 2020 and champion 3-year-old filly of 2018 who is also back in training for one more year.

“We just thought it was a great opportunity for us to acquire some really good mares that eventually will wind up in our broodmare band. [Got Stormy] was one of a group that we bought that we felt could really upgrade our broodmare band and that we'd have a little fun with running for one more year before they come to Spendthrift. These kind don't come around very often,” Toffey said. “She's a pretty exciting type of mare, that's for sure.”

Regular rider Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard from Post 2 in a field of nine that includes main-track-only entrant Nomizar.

Casse also entered D. J. Stable's three-time graded-stakes placed Art of Almost. The Dansili mare will be opening her 5-year-old season after capping 2020 running second in the 1 ¼-mile Maple Leaf (G3) Nov. 7 at Woodbine and third in the 1 1/16-mile My Charmer Dec. 12 at Gulfstream. Hall of Famer John Velazquez rides from outside Post 9.

Heider Family Stables' Zofelle returned from 211 days between races to be a popular winner of the one-mile Marshua's River (G3) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream. It was the 5-year-old mare's first start since finishing fifth on the Just a Game (G1) last June at Belmont Park, after which she was given a break. Second in the one-mile Sand Springs last winter in her only other Gulfstream race, she will be ridden from Post 6 by Irad Ortiz Jr.

Three Diamonds Farm's Jakarta will be stretching out to a mile for the first time since winning the Powder Break last May at Gulfstream. Third to Got Stormy in the Franklin County, the 6-year-old Bustin Stones mare won the Claiming Crown Distaff Dash Dec. 3 and was fourth in the Abundantia Jan. 1, both five furlongs over Gulfstream's turf.

“She's stretching out a little bit, but she's doing well so we're looking forward to it,” Nolan Ramsey, assistant to trainer Mike Maker, said. “She's one of those horses where she always finds herself on the front end. I don't know that she's necessarily quick enough to go five-eighths down here. Speed seems to hold down here, so we're kind of hoping we might get things our way. We'd like to try her at least going a mile down here.”

Kendrick Carmouche, in from New York to ride Fire At Will in the Fountain of Youth, has the assignment on Jakarta from Post 8.

Completing the field are multiple stakes winner Feel Glorious; Bienville Street, neck winner of the 1 1/16-mile Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf Jan. 16 at Gulfstream; Secret Time, runner-up in the Cellars Shiraz Nov. 7 at Gulfstream Park West last out; and Ricetta, Group 3-placed in England last summer.

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‘Acting Like He’s Three’: Ageless Mr. Buff Returns In Saturday’s Stymie

Chester and Mary Broman's New York-bred legend Mr. Buff will attempt to notch his 11th career stakes victory in Saturday's 65th running of the $125,000 Stymie contested at a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 7-year-old son of Friend Or Foe has put together a notable resume, which includes back-to-back wins in the Alex M. Robb at Aqueduct in 2018-19 and Empire Classic at Belmont Park in 2019-20 as well as victories in the 2019 Saginaw and Evan Shipman and the 2020 Haynesfield at the Big A, which he won by an astounding 20 lengths while recording a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

Mr. Buff arrives at the Stymie off a seven-length romp in the nine-furlong Jazil on Jan. 23, which he won for the third straight year in a stellar 2021 bow. The sizable homebred, who sports a 43-16-8-4 lifetime record, has banked $1,295,786 in earnings while boasting a highly consistent 16-9-4-0 ledger at Aqueduct.

Mr. Buff has trained forwardly for conditioner John Kimmel since earning a 102 Beyer for his Jazil score. He has breezed three times over the Belmont training track, most recently a half-mile move in :48.40 on February 20.

“He's doing fine and even though he's seven he's acting like he's three. He's handling everything really well right now,” said Kimmel, who won the 2001 Stymie with Windrush.

Kimmel said that Mr. Buff's optimal conditions include the freedom to get into his own rhythm and avoid being forced into speed duels.

“He's got good tactical speed, but the times he's gotten in trouble is when he's been pushed past his comfort zone and intent on going to the lead,” Kimmel said. “As he has shown in races past, he has been able to sit behind horses that have shown a little more speed. That's key to this race being an eighth of a mile shorter. There might be a little more pace in there. He's always been a good gate horse. The most important thing is getting him to find his rhythm in the first part of the race.”

Jockey Manny Franco will ride Mr. Buff from post 3.

Runnymoore Racing's Alwaysmining ships to New York from Laurel Park for trainer Austin Trites, who saddled the son of Stay Thirsty to a one-mile optional-claiming score on January 30 at Laurel Park. The 10-time winner of 24 starts has won at least two stakes races in his last three seasons, which began with a pair of juvenile victories in the Maryland Juvenile Futurity and the Heft in December 2018 at Laurel while under the care of trainer Kelly Rubley.

Alwaysmining's sophomore campaign encompassed victories in the 2019 Miracle Wood, Private Terms and the Federico Tesio at the Maryland oval before a distant 11th in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

In 2020, Alwaysmining kicked off his 4-year-old campaign with two more stakes victories, beating fellow Maryland-breds in the Jennings before stepping to open company in the John Campbell, where he garnered a career-best 101 Beyer.

Despite capturing most of his stakes wins in frontrunning fashion, Alwaysmining registered his most recent victory coming from fifth, four lengths off the pace, and was in command inside the eighth pole kicking clear to a three-length win last month.

Jorge Vargas, Jr. has the mount from post 5.

Michael Dubb's Musical Heart will try and build on stakes black type from his last two efforts for trainer Rob Atras.

The 6-year-old Maclean's Music chestnut was claimed by Atras for $62,500 following a close second to Backsideofthemoon going nine furlongs on November 13 over a sloppy and sealed Aqueduct main track. He followed up with a more distant second to his familiar foe in the Queens County on December 19 before finishing third in the Jazil behind winner Mr. Buff.

Musical Heart, who has placed in seven of his last eight starts, will break from post 2 under Dylan Davis.

Completing the field are Brian and Kerry Novak Inc.'s Limonite [post 4, Eric Cancel], who is fresh off a five-length allowance score going nine furlongs at Aqueduct for trainer Amira Chichakly; and John O'Connor's Tintoretto [post 1, Trevor McCarthy], a German-bred who seeks his first triumph in North America for trainer Tom Albertrani.

The Stymie is slated as Race 3 on Saturday's nine-race card. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

The race honors Ethel D. Jacobs' 1945 Champion Older Horse, who captured some of New York's marquee events such as the Whitney, the Metropolitan Handicap and the Manhattan. Campaigned by Hall of Famer Hirsch Jacobs during his prosperous years, Stymie retired with $918,475 in earnings and a record of 131-35-33-28. He was elected to the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1975.

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American Pharoah, Pletcher Headline 2021 Hall of Fame Nominees

Six racehorses, three trainers, and one jockey account for the 10 finalists that will comprise the National Museum of Racing's 2021 Hall of Fame ballot, as chosen by the Museum's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.