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Al Quoz In Dubai Could Be Next For Leinster Following Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Victory

Rusty Arnold-trained Leinster came through in the stretch for the bettors who made him their 2-5 favorite, adding the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3) to his growing list of graded-stakes victories.

The Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, a five-furlong dash for older horses, and the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3), a six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up, co-headlined a 12-race program that also featured a mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool.

Leinster broke alertly from the starting gate to contest the early pace between horses before being eased back by jockey Luis Saez, who was content to track pacesetter High Crime and Inter Miami during a :21.03 first quarter of a mile. Saez eased Leinster to the outside on the turn into the homestretch and the veteran turf sprinter responded with a powerful stretch drive to catch High Crime by a neck.

“That was the trip that we expected. I know we had some speed inside, but he's that kind of horse that you can't rush him early. You have to let him get his feet,” Saez said. “When he came to the stretch, he knows what to do. He was always responding and it was easy for him. When we came to the stretch, I knew we were going to be OK. I know [High Crime] was a pretty tough horse, but Leinster he came from the layoff, too, so we didn't want to push him early. He did his job.”

Making his first start since finishing third in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Keeneland, Leinster ran five furlongs on a 'good' turf course in :55.29.

“I liked the way he did it. They were going head and head; they were going so fast, [Saez] took him back and gave him a breather,” said Arnold, who trains Leinster for Amy Dunne, Brenda Miley and Westrock Stables LLC. “It looked for a second he might not get there, but he that gear.”

High Crime, the 3-1 second choice ridden by Julien Leparoux, held second 1 ½ lengths head of Harrysontheloose and jockey Junior Alvarado.

Leinster won back-to-back Grade 2 stakes, the Shakertown and the Woodford, over a fast Keeneland course before finishing just a length behind victorious Glass Slippers over a 'good' Keeneland turf in the Breeders' Cup.

“Since he started running sprints on the grass, he's missed the board once, and that was in the [2019] Breeders' Cup [Turf Sprint]. He didn't get a trip and maybe he was over the top,” Arnold said.

Arnold said that the 6-year-old son of Majestic Warrior would likely run next in the $1 million Al Quoz (G1) on the March 28 Dubai World Cup undercard or the April 3 Shakertown (G2) at Keeneland.

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Woodbine Cleared To Resume Live Racing With No Spectators At Mohawk

Following today's designation of the Halton Region being placed in the 'Red-Control' zone by the Government of Ontario, Woodbine Entertainment has announced plans to resume live racing, without spectators, at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Thursday, Feb. 18.

Halton Region will officially enter the 'Red-Control' zone as of 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Live horse racing, without spectators, is permitted in all phases of the province's current COVID-19 Response Framework except for 'Grey-Lockdown'.

With the resumption of racing on Feb. 18, Woodbine Mohawk Park will proceed with its regular schedule of live racing every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings starting at 7 p.m.

Condition sheets for the first several cards at Woodbine Mohawk Park are now posted at www.StandardbredCanada.ca. The draw for Thursday's card will take place Monday, Feb. 15, with the entry box closing at its usual time of 10:30 a.m. The full draw schedule is listed below:

Enter Monday for Thursday
Enter Tuesday for Friday
Enter Wednesday for Saturday
Enter Thursday for Monday

Woodbine Mohawk Park will host qualifiers on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 9:30 a.m. The entry box for qualifiers closes Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 10:30 a.m.

As per the Government of Ontario's restrictions, spectators are not permitted at Woodbine Mohawk Park at this time. Only those performing essential duties relating to the operating of live horse racing are currently permitted onsite. Woodbine Entertainment will provide an update to horse owners and the public over the coming days of opportunities to watch and wager.

Any horseperson coming to Woodbine Mohawk Park for training, qualifying or racing must complete the COVID-19 Daily Screening Form prior to arriving at the racetrack and must adhere to Woodbine Entertainment's COVID-19 Racing Protocols at all times.

Any horseperson that has been outside of Ontario must provide the Director of Racing (Bill McLinchey, bmclinchey@woodbine.com) with proof of their return date and be in Ontario for 14 days before coming to Woodbine Mohawk Park for training, qualifying or live racing. Any individual outside of Ontario must also provide a negative COVID-19 test taken 10 days into their quarantine.

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Needs Supervision Could Play Upset Card In Barbara Fritchie

Encouraged by her most recent effort, trainer Jerry O'Dwyer is giving Howling Pigeon Farms, Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Madaket Stables' multiple stakes winner Needs Supervision another shot at graded success in Saturday's $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park.

The 69th running of the Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 45th edition of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up co-headline a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

In addition to Needs Supervision, a 12-1 long shot on the morning line, Madaket's Sol Kumin also has an ownership stake in the Fritchie's 8-5 program favorite, five-time stakes winner Hello Beautiful. The two horses will break side-by-side respectively from Posts 7 and 8.

Needs Supervision, 5, ran fourth behind Majestic Reason in last year's Fritchie then was third in the Nellie Morse, held in mid-March prior to live racing being paused 2 ½ months in Maryland amid the coronavirus pandemic. Minor issues kept her from racing again for eight months.

“She's never had any major issues, just little niggly things,” O'Dwyer said. “She had a back issue that was bugging her and it was kind of causing her to break slow and she wasn't as comfortable as she could be. We seem to have a handle on that now.

“I think she's moving super now,” he added. “It's hard to find when there's something wrong with her because she's such a tough filly. She never shows any signs of distress or pain, but it's when she underperforms you know there's more there. That's when you really start going over her with a fine tooth comb to try and find something.”

Needs Supervision ran third to Fritchie contender Dontletsweetfooya, a winner of her last five races including two stakes, in the Nov. 28 Primonetta, then stretched out to 1 1/8 miles for the Allaire du Pont (G3) Dec. 26, where she tired to be fifth after setting the pace. Most recently, she closed to be second by a length behind Bella Aurora in the seven-furlong Interborough Jan. 18 at Aqueduct.

“She came out of her last race great. She ran a super race up there. I liked the way she finished up and came through horses. The winner got the clear path on the inside and she couldn't get out until the top of the lane,” O'Dwyer said. “We would have liked to get out a little bit sooner, but I was just glad to see her come back and run a race like that and finish up good.”

Needs Supervision won the seven-furlong Safely Kept in November 2019 at Laurel over next-out winners Hey Mamaluke and Victim of Love, the latter going on to win the Vagrancy (G3) and run second in the Fritchie and third in the Ballerina (G1) before going to the sidelines.

“She's won at seven furlongs, she likes the surface, and she seems to be training good and doing really well,” O'Dwyer said. “It's going to be a tough race, with lots of good fillies and mares in there. I think there's going to be lots of speed in there which should help us. We're not the quickest into stride, but I'd like to see her five or six lengths off them. That'd be nice. You're going to have Hello Beautiful and Dontletsweetfoolya, both of those are very fast fillies and I'm sure no rider will want to take their horse out of their comfort zone. So, I'm hoping it'll set up a little bit for us with something to run at.

“It's going to be a very nice race, very competitive. You just want to see the best horse win and everybody get a fair shake of the dice,” he added. “We still have a lot of faith in our filly, how she is right now. The owners have been great people to me. I'd just like to get her back in a bit of form and to get a graded-stakes win would be huge for her as a broodmare.”

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Irish Imports Majestic Steps, Going Global Headline Sunday’s Sweet Life Stakes

An impressive winner of her U.S. debut going six furlongs on turf on Jan. 2, trainer Phil D'Amato's Irish-bred Majestic Steps figures tough right back among a competitive field of 12 sophomore fillies going the same distance out of Santa Anita's turf chute in Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Sweet Life Stakes.

D'Amato will also be represented by another Irish-bred in the Sweet Life, Going Global, who has been idle since defeating 13 rivals in open company going seven furlongs on synthetic Nov. 11 in Ireland. Although she's an unknown, she gets the services of Flavien Prat, which will likely ensure she gets ample pari-mutuel attention.

A four length maiden winner over the course on Jan. 2, trainer Simon Callaghan's impeccably bred Freedom Flyer rates a huge chance in what will be her sixth start. Another very interesting commodity is John Sadler's speedy Five Pics Please, who shipped in from Mountaineer Park and sped to a three quarter length gate to wire allowance tally here on Jan. 10.

Owned by Michael House, Majestic Steps did everything right in breaking her maiden here in her fifth career start Jan. 2. Mid-pack early as a field of nine fillies came out of the turf chute, she was in tight quarters between horses at the 3 ½ pole, knifed her way through while into the bridle, cut to the rail and appeared to idle a bit while awaiting room three sixteenths out.

With Umberto Rispoli at the controls, she unleashed an impressive turn of foot and like so many of D'Amato's turf runners, made a successful transition from a steady series of training track drills to a big performance sprinting on turf. Off at 8-1 in her U.S. debut, she figures to be a much shorter price in the Sweet Life, which will be her first group or graded assignment.

With a consistent diet of dirt drills on Santa Anita's inner training track to her credit, Going Global looms a huge question mark in this deep and competitive field. Owned by Saul Gevertz, Michael Nentwig, Ray Pagano and John Rochfort, Going Global was off at 16-1 in her maiden win over synthetic on Nov. 11 and it'll be interesting to see how the betting goes in her U.S. debut.

A $450,000 2-year-old in training sale purchase last April, Freedom Flyer, who is by Constitution out of the Carson City mare Rebuke, was off as the 5-2 favorite in a field of 10 going six furlongs on turf Jan. 2 and registered a resounding gate to wire score under Ricky Gonzalez, who rides her back. Owned by James D. Branham and Marsha Naify, Freedom Flyer has been off the board just once in five starts and should be well supported in the Sweet Life.

Richard Mandella's Pizzazz, who has routed on turf in her last four starts, including a close fourth in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar two starts back on Nov. 28, would appear to have a big shot with Mike Smith riding back. A Bass Stables homebred daughter of War Front, she comes off a disappointing fourth in the one mile turf Blue Norther Stakes here on Dec. 31 and is one of several who figures to be rolling from off the pace.

Owned by Desert Sun Stables, Five Pics Please, who had not raced on turf in her previous three starts, was dismissed at 29-1 in her Southern California debut, but she sped to the lead with Rispoli and never looked back although she was tiring late. A Kentucky-bred daughter of the Indian Charlie stallion Cinco Charlie, she's out of the Congrats mare No Pictures Please. With Rispoli opting to stay with Majestic Steps, Sadler will look to Tyler Baze to execute a potential front-running heist.

Doug O'Neill's Plum Sexy, who closed much ground to be third, beaten 1 ¼ lengths by Five Pics Please on Jan. 10, would appreciate a fast pace and looms dangerous at a price with Heriberto Figueroa back aboard. Owned by C T R Stables, LLC, Wonderland Racing Stables, Bob and Sheila Bambauer and Steve Rothblum, Plum Sexy was a first-out maiden winner going 5 ½ furlongs on turf here and subsequently showed early speed before finishing eighth in the Jimmy Durante Stakes on Nov. 28 at Del Mar. With a hot pace likely, look or Plum Sexy to be back off the early pace on Sunday.

THE GRADE 3 SWEET LIFE STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 9 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

Nimbostratus—Joel Rosario—122
Freedom Flyer—Ricardo Gonzalez—122
Going Global—Flavien Prat—122
Go Greta—Juan Hernandez—122
Squared Shady—Edwin Maldonado—122
Royal Address—Mario Gutierrez—124
Five Pics Please—Tyler Baze—122
Pizzazz—Mike Smith–122
Majestic Steps—Umberto Rispoli—122
Magical Thought—Ruben Fuentes—122
Plum Sexy—Heriberto Figueroa—122
I'm So Anna—Jessica Pyfer–124

First post time for a nine-race card on Sunday is at 12:30 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com.

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