Tag: Racing

Spielberg Gives Baffert Seventh Consecutive Victory In Los Alamitos Futurity

Trainer Bob Baffert ran his winning streak to seven in the Los Alamitos Futurity on Saturday, but it wasn't easy.

Spielberg, a $1-million yearling purchase by Union Rags, needed every inch of the 1 1/16 miles of the Grade 2 race at the Cypress, Calif., track to catch the front-running 30-1 long shot The Great One, but jockey Flavien Prat got him up in the final jump. The victory was the 13th in the Futurity for the Hall of Fame trainer since Real Quiet won in 1997, when the race was run at Hollywood Park. The Inglewood, Calif., track ran its last race in 2013 and is now the site of an NFL football stadium.

Spielberg ran the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.56. The Great One held second, with Petruchio a distant third and 4-5 favorite Red Flag fourth in the field of six 2-year-old colts and geldings.

Spielberg paid $5.80 as the second choice in the wagering.

In addition to the $120,000 earned for the win, Spielberg earns 10 qualifying points for the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The second- through fourth-place finishers get 4, 2, and 1 point, respectively. None of the six starters raced on Lasix, a new requirement set by Churchill Downs for horses to be eligible for Derby points.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard.

Spielberg is owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert Masterson. Out of the Smart Strike mare Miss Squeal, Spielberg was bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and purchased at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the consignment of Lane's End, which stands Union Rags.

The Great One, a Nyquist colt who came into the Futurity winless in three starts, went straight to the lead under Abel Cedillo and carved out fractions of :23.01 for the opening quarter mile, :47.76 for the half, and 1:10.66 for six furlongs. Red Flag raced along the rail as Weston chased the front runner from in between horses, and Spielberg was kept clear on the outside.

Into the far turn, Red Flag failed to enter contention as Spielberg began to make his bid and Weston, who was making his first start around two turns, faltered.

The Great One clung to the lead into the long Los Alamitos stretch, passing the mile marker in 1:35.81 and still in front. But Spielberg was eating into the margin as The Great One began to shorten stride and was just up in a desperate finish.

The victory was the second in six starts for Spielberg, who ran second to Dr. Schivel twice at Del Mar in an Aug. 8 maiden race and the Sept. 7 G1 Del Mar Futurity. He was still a maiden when third behind Get Her Number at Santa Anita in the G1 American Pharoah Stakes on Sept. 26, then defeated maidens at Del Mar Nov. 2, edging the highly regarded Parnelli by a neck. He came out of a fourth-place finish Nov. 15 going seven furlongs at Del Mar in the G3 Bob Hope Stakes. Red Flag won by 7 1/4 lengths for trainer John Shirreffs.

“I'd never ridden him before, but (trainer) Bob (Baffert) told me he was doing great,” said Prat. “The outside was a good draw for him. He broke well and was able to relax. I thought we had it all the way down the stretch but it was close.''

“That horse (runner-up The Great One) was tough to get by,” said Baffert. “We needed every bit of that stretch and we were fortunate to get there. I didn't know if I was going to run him here and I didn't decide until after he worked well this week (six furlongs in 1:13 2/5 Dec. 13 at Santa Anita). I knew he was going to run well because he had shipped well over here and he was really on it in the paddock. I'm just happy for everybody in the ownership group.

“Now we can start thinking (Kentucky) Derby,” Baffert continued. “It starts here for us. I thought it was an easy spot last time (fourth as the 3-5 favorite in the Bob Hope) and he didn't ship well. He got nervous when he got in the stall there and was just flat. We ran him back too quick. I asked Prat if there's more there and he said there's a lot more. I think he'll get better with maturity. He's a beautiful horse.''

Of Baffert's 13 winners of the Futurity, only Real Quiet, the 1997 winner, would go on to win the G1 Kentucky Derby.

 

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Always Shopping Shows Her Versatility With Via Borghese Triumph

Repole Stable's Always Shopping, a graded-stakes winner on dirt last spring, continued her success story since being moved to the turf this summer by rolling to a second straight grass stakes victory in Saturday's $100,000 Via Borghese at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The fifth running of the 1 3/16-mile Via Borghese for fillies and mares 3 and up served as a supporting stakes to the $100,000 Mr. Prospector (G3), where Sleepy Eyes Todd bested a field that included Grade 1 winners Firenze Fire and Mind Control and defending champion Diamond Oops.

Always Shopping ($7.40) was the third win of the day for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and first in the Via Borghese for both Ortiz and trainer Todd Pletcher. The winning time was 1:54.34 over a firm turf course.

Ortiz settled Always Shopping in third as Traipsing broke sharply and took the field through moderate fractions of 24.31 and 50.11 seconds, tracked by 99-1 long shot Lady Panda. Always Shopping tipped to the outside on the turn and took over the lead once straightened for home, powering through the stretch to win by three lengths.

“It worked out perfect,” Ortiz said. “I thought I was going to sit second but [Traipsing] broke sharp and I didn't want to use my horse to get position. So I stayed third. She was comfortable. I waited for the time to go and when I asked her she responded very well.”

Pletcher was impressed with the way Always Shopping finished up to earn her fourth career win and third in a stakes. She won the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle (G2) last April on dirt and the 1 1/16-mile Monroe Sept. 7 at Gulfstream in her second career try on turf.

“We anticipated [Traipsing] would be on the lead. I thought we might be laying second but Irad was in a comfortable spot and he said she was taking him wherever he wanted her to go throughout the race,” Pletcher said. “She really jumped in at the top of the stretch and kicked on hard. They weren't going very fast early, but they were late.”

Great Island outran Always Shopping's stablemate, Cap de Creus, to be second, but was disqualified for bearing out in the stretch and placed third behind Cap de Creus, ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

“I was delighted to get her stakes-placed. We've knocked on the door a few times, so that was big,” Pletcher said. “It looked like Johnny had to steady her pretty hard at one point but it was a good effort.”

Always Shopping, a daughter of Awesome Again out of multiple stakes winner Stopshoppingmaria, by More Than Ready, was bred by Repole. She now owns two wins from three tries over the Gulfstream turf and pushed her career bankroll over $400,000.

“She seems to like the course here,” Pletcher said. “There's a great program of stakes here so we'll look to keep her going in those.”

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Last-To-First Rally In Springboard Mile Sends Senor Buscador Onto Derby Trail

Senor Buscador means Lord Seeker in English. Jockey Luis Quinonez must have been saying some prayers in the early going when he was about 17 lengths behind in the field of 10 for the $200,000 Springboard Mile on Friday, Dec. 18 at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Senor Buscador and Quinonez made up every bit of their trailing deficit, and more, to win the Springboard, Remington Park's top 2-year-old offering and a Kentucky Derby qualifying-points race. After making the lead before mid-stretch, Senor Buscador pulled away with ease to win by 5 3/4 lengths.

“He broke bad, but that was good because he settled down on the backstretch,” said Quinonez. “On the turn for home, I thought, 'Oh my God, what a horse I have.' It feels like he can go farther.”

This 2-year-old colt by Mineshaft, out of the Desert God mare Rose's Desert, showed signs of his bloodlines from his 2003 Horse of the Year sire. Mineshaft finished his career that year with three Grade 1 wins in a row, sweeping the Suburban Handicap, the Woodward Stakes and the Jockey Club Gold Cup all at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Two of those races came at 1 1/4 miles and the other at 1 1/8 miles. Mineshaft won 10-of-18 starts lifetime for $2.2 million in earnings.

It sure looked like Senor Buscador wasn't stopping as he cleared the field and drove through the finish line without being asked to run by Quinonez.

On the dam side, Rose's Desert's sire was unraced, but she won 10-of-15 starts, albeit in New Mexico, winning $626,035 in her career. That's not easy to do on that circuit. Rose's Desert won most of her stakes sprinting, taking one at one mile.

“She had bad ankles and still did that,” said trainer Todd Fincher. “She did win one around two turns.”

The New Mexico circuit is one Fincher frequents and calls home. He said it doesn't look like their 3-year-old races are going to be a go this year, sending Senor Buscador in search of his next late-running effort.

“We'll see how he comes back tomorrow and then take him to Houston and possibly on to the Fair Grounds (in New Orleans) for their stakes schedule,” said Fincher. “We do what's best for the horse. That's my responsibility. So we'll see.”

Senor Buscador won his first race, a maiden event, at 5 1/2 furlongs by 2 1/2 lengths at Remington Park on Nov. 6, but he was very green in that race.

“The first time he won, he really didn't know what he was doing or what was going on,” said Fincher. “He was really ornery in the post parade. But he was impressive in that race even though he sure doesn't like breaking from the gate.”

Senor Buscador was 10 lengths behind in his career debut after a half-mile and still caught his opponents like they were standing still. He went off at 7-2 odds in that maiden race, and was amazing enough for his fans to knock him down from 15-1 morning line odds in the Springboard to go off at 7-2 again.

Senor Buscador paid $9.80 to win, $5.80 to place and $4.60 to show across the board. Cowan (7-2), a shipper from Keeneland out of trainer Steve Asmussen's barn, was a distant second and he was 3 3/4 lengths ahead of longshot Red N Wild (30-1), who finished the slimmest of noses ahead of fourth place Saffa's Day (9-1).

The 7-5 betting favorite, another shipper from Wesley Ward's barn, Outadore, could do no better than fifth. He had run third in the Grade 1, $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. in his last start before the Springboard.

The rest of the Springboard order of finish was Joe Frazier (9-1) sixth, Vim and Vigor (61-1) seventh, Number One Dude (9-1) eighth, Flash of Mischief (23-1) ninth and Gushing Oil (33-1) last. Game Day Play was a late scratch after he got loose in the walk over to the paddock before the race, hopping the outside rail on the backstretch, and then going back to his barn.

Senor Buscador wasn't in the same time zone with the Springboard field during the early part of the race. The pacesetters, Saffa's Day and Flash of Mischief, hit the timers in :23.52 for the first quarter-mile, :47.22 for the half-mile and 1:12.51 for three-quarters of a mile. Senor Buscador made the lead at the top of the stretch, reaching the time for seven furlongs in 1:25.69. He stopped the mile timer at the wire in 1:37.87 over the fast track.

Senor Buscador put up a quality time for the mile on the night compared to older horses earlier in the program. Dont Tell Noobody, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding, won the one-mile $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes in 1:39.50. Dipping In, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly, won the $70,000 Useeit Stakes at one mile in 1:40.69.

Senor Buscador earned $120,000 for owner Joe Peacock Jr., of San Antonio, and is two-for-two lifetime with $137,247 in earnings. He was bred in Kentucky by the owner and his father, Joe Peacock, Sr., both of San Antonio.

Senor Buscador was the second Springboard win for Quinonez who won aboard Louies Flower in 2013. He provided the first victory in the race for the rest of his connections.

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