Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Code Of Honor Returns From Freshening In Saturday’s Kelso

W.S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, a multiple Grade 1-winner trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, leads a talented field of five in Saturday's 40th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Kelso Handicap, a one-turn mile on the main track for 3-year-olds and upward at Belmont Park.

The Kelso is one of five graded races on Saturday's card which includes the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational, a 10-furlong turf test offering a berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf; the Grade 1, $250,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at 12 furlongs on the turf for 3-year-olds and up; the Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at 6 ½-furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up; and the Grade 2, $150,000 Pilgrim for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16-miles on the turf.

Code of Honor enjoyed a tremendous sophomore campaign, capturing the 10-furlong Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga ahead of a dramatic stretch duel with Vino Rosso in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in which Code of Honor was elevated to victory. A standout 2019 season included graded scores in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park and the Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont, the latter following a game effort in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, where the talented chestnut was elevated to second.

The 4-year-old Noble Mission colt opened his current campaign with a half-length score over Kelso-rival Endorsed in the Grade 3 Westchester traveling 1 1/16-miles over a muddy Belmont main. The $2.5-million earner followed with a closing third in the Runhappy Met Mile on July 4 and was subsequently an even fourth in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Whitney on August 1 at the Spa, defeated five lengths to the victorious Improbable who came back to win the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Following a brief freshening, Code of Honor has breezed five times, including a half-mile effort in 48.45 seconds Monday on Big Sandy. McGaughey said the colt is training forwardly as he prepares for the second half of his 2020 campaign.

“He's doing really well and has trained well into this,” said McGaughey.

McGaughey, who won the 1993 Kelso with Hall of Famer Lure, said he preferred to bring Code of Honor back at a shorter distance rather than defend his title in the Grade 1, $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on October 10.

“After the Whitney I had to start over with him, so this is the restart,” said McGaughey. “I don't want to run him a mile and a quarter after I backed off on him.”

Code of Honor will exit post 5 under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, taking over from Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who will be piloting Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner Authentic in the Grade 1 Preakness at Pimlico.

Godolphin homebred Endorsed sports a record of four wins and three seconds from 11 starts as he looks for his first career stakes score for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott.

The regally bred Medaglia d'Oro colt, out of the 2012 Grade 1 Gazelle-winner Dance Card, opened his 4-year-old campaign in January with an optional claiming score at Gulfstream Park for former conditioner Kiaran McLaughlin. Following a fifth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March, Endorsed was transferred to the care of Mott and promptly won an optional-claiming tilt traveling 1 1/16-miles on May 2 at Oaklawn Park.

Endorsed proved stubborn down the lane with a prominent trip to be second in the Grade 3 Westchester ahead of a seventh in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile. Last out, the versatile bay completed the exacta behind Spinoff in the restricted nine-furlong Alydar on August 9 at Saratoga.

Mott, in search of his first Kelso win, said Endorsed will appreciate the turn back in distance.

“I think the one-turn mile is good for him,” said Mott. “I think that he's effective from a mile to a mile and a quarter, but he seemed to run real good here in the one-turn mile and a sixteenth in the Westchester.”

Junior Alvarado will have the call from post 3.

Klaravich Stables' lightly raced Grade 1-winner Complexity will look to give four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown a second Kelso score following Patternrecognition's winning effort in 2018.

The 4-year-old Maclean's Music bay won the 2018 Grade 1 Champagne at second asking at Belmont but was tenth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile to complete the campaign. Complexity made three sophomore starts with an optional-claiming score on Big Sandy sandwiched between off-the-board efforts in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont and the Grade 1 Malibu in December at Santa Anita.

Complexity kicked off his 4-year-old season with a smart 2 ¼-length score over Win Win Win in an optional-claiming mile on July 2 at Belmont, but had to settle for second to that same rival last out in the Grade 1 Forego contested through a rainstorm over a sloppy Saratoga main track on August 29.

Complexity will emerge from post 4 under Jose Ortiz.

Long Lake Stable's Stan the Man, trained by John Terranova, scratched out of last Saturday's six-furlong Grade 2 Vosburgh to enter the one-turn mile Kelso. Although cross-entered in Saturday's Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, he will compete at Belmont this weekend.

A veteran of 24 career starts, the Broken Vow chestnut boasts a record of 7-7-2 and enters from a last-to-first score in the restricted Tale of the Cat at six furlongs on August 20 at the Spa.

Stan the Man, who won the 2019 Queens County at the Big A, will be in search of a first graded stakes score in his fourth attempt. The gelding was sixth in the 2018 Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct; a front-running second in the 2019 Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont; and fifth in the 2019 Grade 2 True North.

Eric Cancel, aboard for the Cigar Mile effort, will guide Stan the Man from post 2.

Ron Paolucci Racing's Mo Dont No, a 7-year-old Ohio-bred son of Uncle Mo who is cross-entered in Friday's Grade 2 Phoenix at Keeneland, will instead make his New York debut in his 45th career start.

Trained by Anthony Quartarolo, the multiple stakes-winning Mo Dont No boasts a record of 20-10-3 with purse earnings in excess of $1 million. Two starts back, Mo Dont No captured the Governor's Buckeye Cup for the third time when traveling 10 furlongs against fellow Ohio-breds. He enters the Kelso off a flat sixth in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Charles Town Classic held August 28.

Manny Franco picks up the mount from the inside post.

The Kelso is slated as Race 8 on Saturday's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 12:40 p.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Code Of Honor Returns From Freshening In Saturday’s Kelso appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Frank’s Rockette Tries To Keep Her Streak Alive In Gallant Bloom

Frank Fletcher Racing Operation's sophomore filly Frank's Rockette will face elders after winning three straight races in Saturday's 26th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant Bloom for fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs over the main track at Belmont Park.

The Gallant Bloom, named in honor of the 1968 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly and 1969 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, is one of five graded stakes races carded for Saturday's action packed program which also features the Grade 2, $150,000 Kelso going a one-turn mile for older horses; the Grade 2, $150,000 Pilgrim for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf; the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational for 3-year-olds going 1 ¼ miles over the Widener turf and the Grade 1, $250,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic – a 1 ½ mile test for older horses over the Widener turf.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Frank's Rockette has gone off as the favorite in all nine of her lifetime starts and has never finished worse than second. She is 3-2-0 this year with each start at a different track.

Following a seven-length runaway win in the February 22 Any Limit at Gulfstream Park, the Into Mischief bay filly was second to Kimari in the Purple Martin on April 4 over a sloppy main track at Oaklawn Park. Frank's Rockette won her following three starts which took place in a Churchill Downs optional claiming tilt on May 25 followed by graded stakes triumphs in the Grade 3 Victory Ride on July 4 at Belmont Park and the Grade 2 Prioress on September 5 at Saratoga.

During her juvenile campaign, Frank's Rockette picked up Grade 1-black type with runner up efforts in the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga and Grade 1 Frizette over Big Sandy.

Frank's Rockette has trained forwardly for Mott since her last victory, recently working a half-mile in 48.80 seconds over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track on September 25.

“She's been doing really well,” said Mott who won the 2000 Gallant Bloom with Dream Supreme. “She had a couple of nice works; very workmanlike breezes. They've all been on point.”

Jockey Junior Alvarado will pilot Frank's Rockette from post 4.

Trainer Chad Brown will send out Royal Charlotte in attempt of her first victory this year. Owned by First Row Partners and Parkland Thoroughbreds, the 4-year-old daughter of Cairo Prince kicked off her career undefeated in her first four starts, including the Grade 3 Victory Ride last July at Belmont Park.

After a distant sixth in the 2019 Grade 1 Test at Saratoga, she made amends with a win in the 2019 Grade 2 Prioress at the Spa, which was her last victory. A last out second as the favorite in Monmouth Park's Regret on September 13, Royal Charlotte began her season when second in the Harmony Lodge at Belmont Park on June 5, which was contested over a muddy and sealed main track.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will ride from post 2.

Following a victory over Royal Charlotte in the Regret, 2W Stables' Bronx Beauty will attempt to best the dual graded stakes winner once more for trainer Anthony Margotta, Jr.

The Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Liaison was a 4 ¼-length winner of the six-furlong Regret, which she also won last year. A ten-time winner of 22 lifetime starts, Bronx Bomber is an eight-time stakes winner over four different tracks.
Jockey Eric Cancel picks up the mount from post 1.

Trainer John Kimmel will saddle Tobey L. Morton's Pacific Gale in attempt of her first graded stakes victory.

The Flat Out bay has not found the winner's circle since October 2018, where she defeated allowance optional claiming company going six furlongs at Belmont Park, but has acquired graded stakes black type five times since that effort.

Last spring, Pacific Gale was runner-up in the Grade 3 Distaff in April 2019 at Aqueduct behind Come Dancing and was subsequently a late-closing second beaten a neck to Heavenhasmynikki in the Grade 3 Vagrancy at Belmont Park. Three starts back, she was third beaten six lengths in this year's running of the Vagrancy, which was won by Victim of Love.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will ride Pacific Gale from post 6.

Completing the field are Bertranda [post 3, Manny Franco] and Honor Way [post 5, Jose Ortiz]

The Gallant Bloom is slated as Race 5 on Saturday's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 12:40 p.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Frank’s Rockette Tries To Keep Her Streak Alive In Gallant Bloom appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Doctor Mounty Headlines Pimlico’s Oldest Stakes Race, The Dinner Party

Already a four-time winner of the race, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will go after No. 5 with Maryland-loving multiple graded-stakes winner Doctor Mounty in the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) Saturday, Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

The 119th running of the Dinner Party for 3-year-olds and up on the grass is part of a Preakness Day program of 12 stakes races, seven graded, worth $2.7 million in purses featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) for 3-year-olds and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies.

Previously run as the Dixie, Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country was named the Dinner Party for its 1870 debut and contested at two miles. The distance has changed eight times over its history, settling at the current 1 1/16 miles in 2014.

Larry Pratt and Dave Alden's Doctor Mounty snapped a five-race losing streak when he returned from a brief freshening with a front-running 1 ¾-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Henry S. Clark Sept. 7 at Laurel Park. It was his first victory since his previous trip to Maryland, when the now 7-year-old gelding rallied to win the Prince George's County by a length last June.

The Clark was Doctor Mounty's sixth win from nine lifetime tries at Laurel, including the 2018 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3). Based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., where he breezed a half-mile in a bullet 47.40 seconds Sept. 26, Doctor Mounty has yet to race at Pimlico.

“He's doing fine. He's been there at Fair Hill and he's trained well there, so we'll take a shot,” McGaughey said. “He likes Laurel, so [the Clark was] a good spot to try and start him back again.”

In the Clark, Doctor Mounty was reunited with jockey Forest Boyce, who has ridden him to five of his Laurel wins including all three stakes. She and the 2019 Tropical Turf (G3) winner will team up again from Post 6 in a field of seven for the Dinner Party.

McGaughey's previous wins came with Hall of Famer Lure (1993), Parading (2009), Ironicus (2015) and Fire Away (2018), when it was rained onto the main track.

“Forest rides him really well, so I think that's one of the things that's helped, too,” McGaughey said. “He's made more than a half-million dollars, he's won some stakes and won some graded-stakes. He's been off and on a little bit but we gave him a little time this summer. We thought about taking him to Colonial [Downs] but when that fell through [the Clark] was the next logical spot, [and] here we are.”

Trainer Graham Motion, who won with Dr. Brendler in 2003 and Better Talk Now in 2006 and was third the past two years with Just Howard, counters with the pair of True Valour and Irish Strait. R. Larry Johnson purchased Irish-bred True Valour over the summer and the 6-year-old debuted for his new connections Sept. 5 in the 1 1/8-mile Turf Classic (G1), pressing the pace before fading to seventh.

True Valour has gone winless in seven tries since taking the City of Hope Mile (G2) last October, his first start in eight months after winning the Thunder Road (G3), both at Santa Anita. Winner of the 2018 Ballycorus (G3) at Leopardstown in Ireland, he will be ridden by Julian Pimentel from Post 1.

“I think the mile and an eighth in Kentucky was a little far for him. I think shortening up to a mile and a sixteenth is going to help him,” Motion said. “He's pretty straightforward; I just think distance is going to be a bit limited for him. Last time was just a bit too far.”

Isabelle Haskell de Tomaso's homebred Irish Strait is a half-brother to Irish War Cry, millionaire winner of the 2018 Pimlico Special (G3). Irish Strait earned his own graded triumph in the 2017 Red Bank (G3) and has run second or third four times since in graded company.

After more than a year between races, Irish Strait has started twice this year with a third in the 1 1/16-mile Oceanport Aug. 9 and a fourth to Analyze It in the one-mile Red Bank Sept. 5, both at Monmouth under jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. Trevor McCarthy will be aboard for the Dinner Party from Post 5.

“He's run twice this year and run pretty well. Just looking over his form, he almost never gets beaten more than four lengths. Since last January he's just been very consistent,” Motion said. “He's 8 now so at some point in time it's going to catch up to him, but I thought in the Red Bank [trainer] Chad [Brown] won it with a filly coming off a long layoff with a pretty nice horse, a Grade 1 type horse. Jorge felt like he made a mistake by taking back little bit, and he was only beaten 4 ¼ lengths.”

Also in with a pair of horses is trainer Mike Maker, Somelikeithotbrown and Hembree, who will break side-by-side from Post 2 and 3, respectively, under Paco Lopez and Daniel Centeno. Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable's Somelikeithotbrown, 4, captured the Bernard Baruch (G2) July 26 at Saratoga for his second career graded triumph, while Three Diamonds Farm's Hembree won the 2018 Nearctic (G2). The 6-year-old hasn't visited the winner's circle since the 2019 El Prado but placed six times in 13 tries, all stakes.

Gaining Ground Racing's Factor This, beaten less than a length after setting the pace in the Turf Classic, cuts back to a distance where the 5-year-old owns four wins from seven starts, the most recent coming in the June 20 Wise Dan (G2) for trainer Brad Cox. It was part of a three-race streak interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic following victories in the Muniz Memorial Classic (G3) and Fair Grounds (G3). An 11-time winner of nearly $1.1 million in purse earnings, Factor This drew outside Post 7 with Florent Groux.

Rounding out the field is O Dionysus, a stakes winner on turf and dirt for previous trainer Gary Capuano making his third start since being purchased by Irvin S. Naylor for $135,000 last December. The 6-year-old gelding has won stakes in each of his first four racing seasons but is 0-for-2 in 2020, finishing off the board in the United Nations (G1) and Henry Clark. This will be his third straight year in the race, running fourth in 2018 and fifth in 2019.

The post Doctor Mounty Headlines Pimlico’s Oldest Stakes Race, The Dinner Party appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Wicked Whisper Showed She ‘Still Wants To Play,’ Tops Saturday’s Miss Preakness Stakes

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Grade 1 winner Wicked Whisper, making just her sixth career start, looks to return to the winner's circle for the first time in nearly a year when she lines up against six rivals in the $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) Saturday, Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

The 35th running of the six-furlong Miss Preakness for 3-year-old fillies is part of a Preakness Day program of 12 stakes races, seven graded, worth $2.7 million in purses featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) for 3-year-olds and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies.

A $500,000 yearling purchase in September 2018, Wicked Whisper debuted last August at Saratoga with a popular front-running 6 ¼-length triumph. She was stepped right into stakes company by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and captured the one-mile Frizette (G1) in similar fashion at Belmont Park.

From there, Wicked Whisper ran fifth after pressing the pace in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), exiting the race with a minor leg issue. She didn't kick off her 3-year-old season until June 10, fading to be fourth behind Four Graces in the seven-furlong Beaumont (G3) at Keeneland.

“She's done well [but] she's had a couple issues. She had [one] out of the Breeders' Cup and we got that one up going and then I'll be darned if she didn't get another one on the other leg,” Alex Lieblong said. “So, we took it slow. When she ran back she ran into a very good filly but I think, knowing Steve, he probably hadn't squeezed on her much with what had happened. She seems to be over that.”

In most recent start Wicked Whisper rallied to be second by a half-length in the seven-furlong Charles Town Oaks (G3), contested around two turns at unique six-furlong track. She has trained forwardly since with Asmussen's string in Saratoga.

“She ran a pretty good race over at Charles Town, especially for being a new experience running at that track. She didn't get the greatest start but almost got there,” Lieblong said. “It showed me that she still wants to play. She seems to be training very well. I haven't heard any moans or groans out of Steve, so that's a good thing.”

Joe Bravo has the mount on Wicked Whisper from Post 2. Asmussen won the Miss Preakness with Heart Ashley in 2009 and Vertical Oak in 2017.

“I don't have any excuses. It looks like there's plenty of pace in the race, but pace has never really been her problem,” Lieblong said. “Charles Town, I think, tightened her up the right way. It'll be what it is. She shouldn't have any excuses at this point.”

Nearly half the Miss Preakness field comes from Laurel Park-based trainer Claudio Gonzalez, Maryland's champion trainer three years running who entered Charles Town Oaks winner Fly On Angel, Beyond the Wire winner Princess Cadey and multiple stakes-placed Ankle Monitor.

Gonzalez claimed Fly On Angel for $50,000 in August on behalf of owner Joseph Besecker, and the Palace Malice filly immediately paid dividends with her gate-to-wire triumph in the Oaks. It was the fourth win from nine career starts for Fly On Angel, who posted splits of 22.81 and 46.25 seconds.

“She looks like she likes to go in front, so that's why I told the jockey that day to make sure she was in front,” Gonzalez said. “She's fast. She went out front and she held on. She went fast for the first half of a mile and she held it. I think the six furlongs is only going to help her.”

Angel Cruz gets the call on Fly On Angel from Post 3.

Gonzalez considered running Magic Stable's Princess Cadey in Saturday's $100,000 Hilltop, contested at one mile over the Pimlico turf, but opted to stay on dirt with the Dialed In filly who was third in the Oaks just a nose behind Wicked Whisper. Princess Cadey was second in the Wide Country that preceded her Beyond the Wire win, both coming before live racing was paused for 2 ½ months in Maryland amid the coronavirus pandemic. She is winless in four tries since racing returned, finishing sixth in the about 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss Sept. 7 at Laurel.

Princess Cadey is another Gonzalez claim, haltered for $16,000 last December. She is twice Grade 3-placed in the Charles Town and July 4 Delaware Oaks, where she was beaten less than two lengths by Black-Eyed Susan contender Project Whiskey. Weston Hamilton has the riding assignment from outside Post 7.

“When I claimed her she had run better on grass than on dirt,” Gonzalez said. “After we came back from the break, she didn't break that sharp in all her races. In the Delaware Oaks, I believe if we break good we could win the race. Then at Charles Town, if we break good we can win the race. She lost only a half-length in that race. We've been working with her to break a little better and if we can get a good position, I think we can make it.”

Magic Stable also owns Ankle Monitor, fourth in each of her past two starts, the Charles Town Oaks and Weber City Miss, beaten 5 ½ lengths combined. She has never run at six furlongs but owns wins at five and seven furlongs and one mile, and will be ridden by Victor Carrasco from Post 6.

e Five Thoroughbred Racing's Sound Machine will be making her second straight start against graded company, having run fifth to Frank's Rockette in the six-furlong Prioress (G2) Sept. 5 at Saratoga, her first race in more than six months. Another $500,000 yearling out of the September 2018 sale, the Into Mischief filly won the 6 ½-furlong Glitter Woman Jan. 4 and was second in the six-furlong Any Limit and House Party, all at Gulfstream Park.

“Her first race back off a layoff was a tough place to start her back, but we had to get her started. I thought she ran credibly behind some nice horses,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “This spot is not going to be easy but it's going to be probably a little easier than the last spot. She's going to ship [Tuesday] from Gulfstream and hopefully she runs her race. I think she goes in with a nice chance.”

Mundaye Call, track record-setting winner of the seven-furlong Audubon Oaks Aug. 9 at Ellis Park, and Ain't No Elmers are also entered.

The post Wicked Whisper Showed She ‘Still Wants To Play,’ Tops Saturday’s Miss Preakness Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post