Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Saratoga Oaks Winner Antoinette Among 12 Going In Friday’s Pin Oak Valley View

Godolphin's Antoinette, winner of the Saratoga Oaks Invitational and recently runner-up in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1), tops a field of a dozen 3-year-old fillies entered for Friday's 30th running of the $150,000 Pin Oak Valley View Stakes (G3) at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

The Valley View, run at 1 1/16 miles on the Keeneland turf course, will go as the ninth race on Friday afternoon's 10-race program with a 5:30 ET post time. First post is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Bill Mott, the homebred daughter of Hard Spun will be ridden Friday by Manny Franco and break from post position 12.

Headlining the competition to Antoinette is Merriebelle Stable's Walk In Marrakesh (IRE), who came within a nostril of winning the Appalachian (G2) at Keeneland in July.

Trained by Ignacio Correas IV, Walk In Marrakesh has been on the wrong end of three photos in graded stakes company since coming to North America late last summer. She was beaten a nose in the Natalma (G1) at Woodbine in September and in her 2020 debut was beaten a head in the Florida Oaks (G3).

Sixth in the Edgewood (G2) at Churchill Downs in her most recent start, Walk In Marrakesh will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. and break from post position four.

Figuring to also attract support are Marc Detampel, TSK Thoroughbred Racing and Rebecca Hillen's Outburst (GB) and Paradise Farms Corp. and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Stunning Sky.

Winner of the aforementioned Florida Oaks in March, Outburst enters Friday's race off a fourth-place finish in the Music City at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 15. Trained by Eddie Kenneally, Outburst will be ridden by Florent Geroux and break from post position 10.

Stunning Sky comes into the Valley View off a solid summer that featured runner-up finishes at Saratoga in the Lake Placid (G2) and Saratoga Oaks Invitational. In her most recent start, she was fourth in the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs trailing Micheline and Harvey's Lil Goil, the top two finishers in Saturday's Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland.

Trained by Mike Maker, Stunning Sky will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. and break from post position 11.

The field for the Valley View, with riders and weights from the inside, is: Duopoly (Tyler Gaffalione, 118 pounds), In Good Spirits (Miguel Mena, 118), Princess Grace (Shaun Bridgmohan, 118), Walk In Marrakesh (IRE) (Hernandez Jr., 118), Witez (Julien Leparoux, 118), How Ironic (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Pranked (David Cohen, 118), Lucky Betty (Declan Cannon, 118), Sugar Fix (Adam Beschizza, 120), Outburst (GB) (Geroux, 120), Stunning Sky (Santana Jr., 118) and Antoinette (Franco, 120).

The post Saratoga Oaks Winner Antoinette Among 12 Going In Friday’s Pin Oak Valley View appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Tamahere Impressive In U.S. Debut For Brown, Wins Sands Point

Swift Thoroughbreds, Inc., Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables' French-bred Tamahere made her North American debut a winning one in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Sands Point at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, Tamahere entered the one-turn mile for sophomore fillies on the Widener turf off a nearly three-month layoff from a romping 7 1/2-length score in the Prix la Sorellina at La Teste De Buch in her native country.

Tamahere settled in seventh position as Pure Wow led the eight-horse field through splits of 23.87 seconds, 47.54 and 1:11.68 on the firm turf while being tracked by 2-1 post-time favorite Miss J McKay and longshot Drop a Hint.

Pure Wow maintained a precarious lead turning for home with Giacosa launching a four-wide bid and Tamahere following her run outside of rivals as Drop a Hint angled off the rail to stake her claim. Speaktomeofsummer, winner of the Grade 2 Lake Placid in July at Saratoga, was full of run but trapped behind rivals with a furlong to run as Tamahere, under urging from Irad Ortiz, Jr., demonstrated a powerful turn of foot and surged to a two-length victory in a final time of 1:35.21.

Speaktomeofsummer, with Joel Rosario up, arrived late to complete the exacta by three-quarters of a length over Drop a Hint.

Rounding out the order of finish were Pure Wow, a dead heat for fifth between Selflessly and Giacosa, Miss J McKay and Positive Power.

Brown said Tamahere, who was reluctant to load into the starting gate, performed to the potential she had shown in her morning workouts at Belmont and Saratoga.

“She trained brilliantly,” said Brown, who earned his fourth career Sands Point score. “As you can see behind the gate, there's still some work to do. She's a high-strung horse. She was a little bit keen early on, but Irad got her to settle and she showed us that turn of foot that she showed us in the morning. She's a really exciting horse to have for the future. We're lucky to have her. She gave us a lot of confidence that she would be a good horse.”

Brown's past Sands Point winners include Ball Dancing [2014], Uni [2017] and New and Improved [2019].

Ortiz, Jr., who guided Uni to her Sands Point score, said Tamahere settled nicely once away from the gate.

“She broke good and put me in a good position,” said Ortiz, Jr. “We got some pace in front of us and that worked out perfect because she settled down and relaxed so well. The trainer had told me 'she has a nice turn-of-foot, you're going to love her.' I just trusted Chad and waited as long as I could and when I asked her, she was ready.”

Rosario, aboard the late-closing Speaktomeofsummer, said his filly ran well once she saw daylight.

“It looked like for a second I had a hole to go through and then it just closed, so I had to wait a little longer,” said Rosario. “The other horse just got the jump. She ran well.”

Tamahere, bred in France by E.A.R.L. Elevage Du Sarai, banked $82,500 in victory while improving her record to 7-3-2-1. She paid $7 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Belmont Park with a 10-race card highlighted by the 130th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Futurity, a six-furlong turf sprint offering a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on November 6 at Keeneland. It is one of two turf stakes for juveniles on the 10-race card, with the Grade 3, $100,000 Matron for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs also on the docket. First post is 12:50 p.m.

The post Tamahere Impressive In U.S. Debut For Brown, Wins Sands Point appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Master Spy Leads All The Way In Cup And Saucer At Woodbine

Master Spy seized the lead in the 84th running of the $250,000 Cup and Saucer Stakes and never looked back to secure his first stakes triumph on Saturday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

The popular Mark Casse trainee led the field of nine gate-to-wire over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course in the 1 1/16-mile feature showcasing Canadian-bred 2-year-olds.

Jockey Patrick Husbands put Master Spy on top, warding off early inside pressure from second choice Credit River and setting fractions of :24 to the quarter, :48.11 to the half-mile mark and 1:12.71 to three-quarters over firm turf. Turning for home, Master Spy kept clear as Threefiftyseven launched an all-out charge in second and opened up 3 1/4 lengths down the stretch to score in 1:42.67. Giant Waters edged out Beyond My Dreams for third.

“The riders saw the first two races run on the turf today that the winners came from behind so I was telling myself, I hope the [other] riders stick with that plan and I can get an easy lead,” said Husbands after his astute front-end strategy landed him and the rising star in the winner's circle.

“It's amazing to see that every time I leave the gate, he was relaxed. He was never rank at all. It showed me that if anybody won't leave today, I didn't mind.”

Fresh off a maiden-breaking victory last month over one mile when making his E.P. Taylor turf debut, Master Spy was sent postward as the 5-2 bettors' choice here and paid $7.30 to win.

Now two-for-four in his career, the dark bay colt, who was a runner-up in the Victoria Stakes on August 2, earned his first added-money score for owner Tracy Farmer.

Bred in Ontario by Bernard and Karen McCormack, the Silent Name–Smart Catomine colt was a $72,000 yearling sale purchase from the 2019 Keeneland September sale and now boasts more than $235,000 in purse earnings. He is a half-brother to 2017 Prince of Wales Stakes champion Cool Catomine and Wild Catomine, who defeated 2014 Horse of the Year Lexie Lou in the Fury Stakes.

Husbands has won the Cup and Saucer a record six times and Casse has campaigned five winners in the event. They have joined forces for three of their wins including victories with Star Contender in 2012 and Conquest Enforcer in 2015.

The post Master Spy Leads All The Way In Cup And Saucer At Woodbine appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Harvey’s Lil Goil Prevails In Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup

The Estate of Harvey Clarke and Paul Braverman's Harvey's Lil Goil grabbed the lead at the top of the stretch and then held off all challengers to win the 37th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies by three-quarters of a length over Micheline at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

Trained by Bill Mott and ridden Martin Garcia, Harvey's Lil Goil covered the 1 1/8 miles on a turf course rated as good in 1:48.72. The victory is the second in the race for Mott, who saddled Crown Queen to victory in 2014.

Sweet Melania set the pace with Harvey's Lil Goil lapped on her outside through fractions of :23.89, :47.75 and 1:12.16. The two hit the top of the stretch as a team only to have Harvey's Lil Goil quickly spurt away and open a daylight advantage.

Favored Magic Attitude (GB) made the first run at her and then Micheline finished fastest of all to grab second but unable to catch Harvey's Lil Goil. The result reversed the finish of the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs Sept. 10 when Micheline prevailed by a neck.

“She has a lot of natural speed,” said Garcia. “She's fast – you can do whatever you want. After the break, I moved outside and she was really comfortable by herself. When it was time to go, I asked and she responded.”

Bred in Kentucky by Clarke, Harvey's Lil Goil is a daughter of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah out of the Tapit mare Gloria S. The victory was worth $300,000 and increased Harvey's Lil Goil's earnings to $561,529 with a record of 8-4-1-1.

“We were pretty confident with her,” said Kenny McCarthy, assistant to Mott at Keeneland. “She ran a super race for us at Kentucky Downs (finishing second to QE II runner-up Micheline in the Sept. 10 Dueling Grounds Oaks) in her last out and had trained really well in between. She's a little superstar. She pretty much goes on any surface for us. At least in my mind, I think the turf probably is a little bit easier for her to handle.”

Harvey's Lil Goil paid $9.20, $5.20 and $3.20. Micheline, ridden by Florent Geroux, returned $9.20 and $4.40 and finished a half-length in front of Magic Attitude, who paid $2.40 to show under Javier Castellano.

It was another half-length back to Red Lark (IRE), who was followed in order by California Kook, Hendy Woods and Sweet Melania.

Racing continues Sunday with a nine-race program beginning at 1:05 p.m. ET. Keeneland will offer a Pick 6 carryover of $34,998.45 and a Super High 5 carryover of $58,378.55.

The post Harvey’s Lil Goil Prevails In Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post