Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mott: Maturity, Blinkers Contribute To Improvement By Suburban Winner Tacitus

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott enjoyed a successful Saturday afternoon in taking two of the five graded stakes carded for Runhappy Met Mile Day at Belmont Park.

Mott sent out Frank's Rockette and now three-time graded stakes winning multimillionaire Tacitus to respective victories in the Grade 3 Victory Ride and Grade 2 Suburban. He reported that both of his graded stakes heroes exited their triumphs in good order.

“They both ran really well and really hard, but the good thing is they look great this morning,” Mott said.

Owned by Juddmonte Farms, Tacitus registered a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the 8 3/4-length victory under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, which ended a seven-race slump for the 4-year-old Tapit gray. During his sophomore campaign last year, Tacitus won the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs and Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct en route to placings in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

Mott made an equipment change with Tacitus for the Suburban, adding blinkers.

“It seemed to help quite a bit. The maturity and the blinkers all kind of seemed to come together,” Mott said.

Mott said Tacitus would target “one or the other” between the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney at nine furlongs on August 1 or the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward at ten furlongs at Saratoga on Sept. 5.

Named after an ancient Roman senator, the Kentucky homebred Tacitus is out of 2014 Champion Older Filly Close Hatches and is a direct descendant of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best In Show.

Mott reported that the Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test on August 8 at Saratoga is an option for Frank's Rockette.

“We had talked about that as a plan, it will be based on how she comes out of this. It will take two or three days,” said owner Frank Fletcher. “She had been training really well and was at the top of her game and that's always the Test. She'll face some of these same horses again and more.”

Fletcher knew that Saturday's race would be no easy task for his Into Mischief filly.

“I have a lot of respect for the other horses in the race. I knew it was going to be tough, but she had to fight,” Fletcher said. “She came out of the gate a little slow for her, and she was not on the lead, had to fight to get her head in front and it appeared to be that she was in constant pressure the whole way. That's what I was scared of and worried about. There was never a chance for her or the other horses to catch a breath. She was running her heart out from the time she stepped out of the gate.”

Fletcher watched the Victory Ride from his home in Little Rock, Ark., alongside his family as well as his 5-year-old longhaired German Shepherd Rocket, who is the namesake behind all of Fletcher's horses.

“He was in there with us when we were watching. He goes crazy when we all go crazy. He was barking a lot,” Fletcher said. “We were like 5-year-old children running around hugging each other. We had a steak dinner to celebrate. We wish we could have been there.”

Frank's Rockette, a Kentucky homebred, is out of the graded stakes winning Indian Charlie broodmare Rocket Twentyone, who won the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie in 2011.

The post Mott: Maturity, Blinkers Contribute To Improvement By Suburban Winner Tacitus appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Saratoga Derby Targeted By Clement For Kent Stakes Winner Gufo

Otter Bend Stables' Gufo (by Declaration of War) won for the fourth consecutive time and improved to 3-for-3 in his 3-year-old campaign after winning the Grade 3 Kent on Saturday at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

Gufo ran third in his debut in November at Aqueduct Racetrack and has gone undefeated since, including a 1 1/2-length score in the 1 1/16-mile English Channel on May 2 at Gulfstream Park before a half-length score in his graded stakes debut going 1 1/8 miles on the Delaware Park grass. Gufo covered nine furlongs on firm turf in a track record 1:46.94, lowering the previous course record of 1:47.19 set by American Patriot in the 2016 Kent.

Trainer Christophe Clement said the Kent effort, which resulted in a 90 Beyer Speed Figure, could set up a potential start in the $500,000 Saratoga Derby on August 15 at Saratoga Race Course.

The second running of the Saratoga Derby is part of NYRA's Turf Triple series for 3-year-olds and is contested at 1 3/16 miles.

“He's a nice horse and getting better,” Clement said. “He'll be trained for the Saratoga Derby. We'll try to train him for that and go from there.”

Before heading up to the Spa, Clement saw a plethora of turf workers breeze Sunday morning at Belmont Park.

Eight-time graded stakes-winner Pure Sensation breezed four furlongs in 50.55. The 9-year-old veteran posted his first work since running seventh in the Grade 1 Jaipur on June 20, Belmont Stakes Day, that marked his seasonal bow and first start since running fifth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November at Santa Anita.

“He looked good and worked well,” Clement said. “He was very willing. The main thing is to go one step at a time. It was good to get a race. He seems to be sound and willing, so if everything goes well in the next week or two, we'll be looking for another race. There's a race in mid-July [Wolf Hill, July 18] at Monmouth.”

Owned by Patricia Generazio, Pure Sensation is 14-5-7 with earnings of more than $2 million in 37 career starts.

Wegetsdamunnys and Olympic Games breezed four furlongs in 50.33 in company Sunday, setting up potential starts for both of them in the $80,000 River Memories on Closing Day of the Belmont spring/summer meet on Sunday, July 12.

Clement said they are both looking at the 1 ½-mile turf route in the River Memories. The French-bred Olympic Games, owned by Martin Schwartz, made her first North American start and first for Clement by running second by a neck to La Australiana, in the Treasure Coast on June 7 at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old daughter of Olympic Glory made her first five starts in France and raced once in Italy in November for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget before shipping over and being transferred to Clement's care.

Wegetsdamunnys, owned by Scott Krase and Peter Stokes, returned off a near seven-month layoff to beat optional claimers going 1 1/8 miles over the Belmont turf on June 8. She will look to start her 5-year-old year 2-for-2 and win her first stakes in the process.

“They are both coming into the race good and worked well this morning,” Clement said.

Sophomore filly Logic N Reason made her first start of 2020 on June 14 at Belmont, running seventh against allowance company as she wiped off the rust in her first start since a sixth-place finish in the Tepin on December 5 at Aqueduct that was moved off the turf.

The Declaration of War filly, owned by The Elkstone Group, put in an impressive solo work, going five furlongs in 1:02.48 and galloped out strong. Clement said he hasn't decided on a firm target for her next start.

“I'm not sure yet, we're keeping the options open,” Clement said.

The post Saratoga Derby Targeted By Clement For Kent Stakes Winner Gufo appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Tacitus Overpowers The Competition In Belmont’s Suburban

Juddmonte Farms' Tacitus rewarded the patience of Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott with a smashing return to the winner's circle in the 134th running of Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban for older horses over the Belmont Park main track.

The 1 1/4-mile event rounded out an action-packed program of five graded stakes on Runhappy Met Mile Day at beautiful Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., which was spearheaded by a wire-to-wire triumph from Vekoma in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile.

Tacitus, a gray or roan son of multiple champion-producing stallion Tapit, arrived at the Suburban off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on May 2, where he chased a leisurely pace over a speed-favoring track and made a four-wide move at the top of the stretch, closing enough ground to get fourth. Guided by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who piloted E Dubai to a 2002 Suburban score, Tacitus broke sharply from his inside post and took back off a tepid pace set by 57-1 longshot Parsimony, who produced an opening quarter-mile in 24.68 seconds with eight-time stakes winner Mr. Buff just to his outside in second over the fast main track.

Parsimony and Mr. Buff raced alongside one another and extended their advantage to two lengths through a half-mile in 48.36 seconds with Tacitus in fourth just to the inside of Moretti. Around the far turn, Tacitus began making up ground under no urging from Velazquez and made a three-wide move through three-quarters in 1:10.82.

At the quarter-pole, Mr. Buff gave way while Parsimony was under an all-out drive by jockey Kendrick Carmouche. Velazquez remained cool, calm and collected aboard Tacitus who effortlessly went by the pacesetter around the three-sixteenths pole and glided home to a 8 ¾-length score in a final time of 1:59.51. Moretti closed to get second, a neck to the better of Parsimony in third.

Just Whistle, Mr. Buff and 2019 Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston completed the order of finish. Forewarned was a late scratch in the post parade.

“He was going comfortable the whole way,” said Velazquez, who notched a fifth stakes victory this meet aboard Tacitus. “We had a little pressure in the first part of the race and little by little we kept reaching back and reaching back. I just wanted to be a little further back. Once we passed the five-eighths pole, I put my hands down and he got into a great rhythm. From there on, I knew he was comfortable, and in a position to win.”

The Suburban was a first trip to the winner's circle for Tacitus since taking the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in April 2019 at Aqueduct. He followed that victory with five straight placings against graded stakes company, including a third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers. Tacitus also owns a graded stakes triumph in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby last March at Tampa Bay Downs.

In his 4-year-old debut, Tacitus ran fifth in the inaugural edition of the Group 1 Saudi Cup on February 29 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.

“We've put a lot into this horse,” said Mott, who previously won the Suburban with Wekiva Springs (1996) and Flat Out (2013). “We took him to some big races, and he's run some good races. We took him halfway around the world earlier this year looking for something like that [winning effort] in Saudi and in Dubai before they canceled the race [Dubai World Cup].”

Perhaps it was a change of equipment that made a difference for Tacitus, who raced with blinkers on for Saturday's race.

“It seems to make him level off a little more and stay in the bridle a little more,” Mott said.

The win marked a second stakes triumph on Runhappy Met Mile Day for Mott and Velazquez, who teamed up earlier on the card with Frank's Rockette to a victory in the Grade 3 Victory Ride.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano had no complaints regarding his trip aboard runner-up Moretti.

“Beautiful trip. That's just where we wanted to be; behind the two speeds. The race set up beautifully. We were just second-best today. Tacitus is a great horse,” Castellano said.

Returning $4.20 for a $2 win bet, Tacitus banked $110,000 in victory while enhancing his lifetime earnings to $2,817,500.

Named after an ancient Roman senator, the Kentucky homebred Tacitus is out of 2014 Champion Older Filly Close Hatches and is a direct descendant of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best In Show.

Live racing returns on Sunday afternoon with a 10-race card. First post is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

The post Tacitus Overpowers The Competition In Belmont’s Suburban appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Sneaking Out Upsets Bellafina In Great Lady M. At Los Alamitos

Sneaking Out, at 7-1 odds, upset heavily-favored Bellafina in the Grade 2, $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif., on Saturday.

Owned by breeder KMN Racing LLC and trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Sneaking Out earned her fifth win in her 11th start, but it was the first in a graded event for the 4-year-old California bred daughter of Indian Evening.

Positioned outside pacesetter Artistic Diva by jockey Martin Garcia, Sneaking Out took over inside the final quarter of a mile and prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Bellafina, the 1-2 choice who was seeking her eighth graded win.

Out of the Kitten's Joy mare Maddie's Odyssey, Sneaking Out completed the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.62 and paid $16.40 and $4.40 as the fourth choice in the field of seven. There was no show wagering.

Bellafina returned $2.20 while finishing two lengths clear of 16-1 shot Amuse. Artistic Diva, Hang a Star, the 4-1 second choice, Zusha and Donut Girl completed the order of finish.

The win was the second in the Great Lady M. for Hollendorfer, who captured the inaugural running in 2014 with another Cal bred – Doinghardtimeagain for owner-breeder Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.

“That was nice,'' said Hollendorfer. “She was laying outside and she got a little breather around the turn and when (Garcia) asked her to go she had a lot left. She finished up really well.

“I thought she could be the speed if she wanted, but we learned at Oaklawn Park that she didn't have to have the lead. She ran a huge race there (April 25) where she got passed, then came back on and won the race.''

Sneaking Out, who has been worse than second only twice, increased her earnings to $431,441.

Racing resumes Sunday at Los Alamitos. Post time for the final day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival is 1 p.m.

Through six days, Juan Hernandez tops the jockey standings with six wins, one more than Edwin Maldonado, who doubled Saturday. Bob Baffert leads the trainers with four victories.

Apprentice Alexis Centeno, a native of Puerto Rico, earned his first U.S. win with Love Your Life in Saturday's second race.

The post Sneaking Out Upsets Bellafina In Great Lady M. At Los Alamitos appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post