United Seeks Rebound In Saturday’s John Henry Turf Championship

A winner of three out of his last four starts and no worse than third in his last nine, Richard Mandella's classy United heads up a field of eight 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/4 miles over the Santa Anita Turf in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 John Henry Turf Championship.

Most recently second, beaten a diminishing head at 3-5 in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap, United will again use the John Henry as a springboard to the Grade 1, 1 1/2-mile Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland, a race in which he was a close second to eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar last year at Santa Anita.

The Richard Baltas-trained Next Shares, a late running Grade 1 stakes winner, BG Stables' Originaire, who charged from far back to be a close third in the Del Mar Handicap and fellow Irish-bred Oscar Dominguez, a close fifth in the same race, lend considerable depth to the John Henry field.

The John Henry is named in honor of the legendary gelding who garnered seven Eclipse Awards and was voted America's Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984. A Kentucky-bred gelding by Ole Bob Bowers, John Henry was trained by Hall of Famer Ron McAnally and was retired at age nine in 1984.

UNITED

Owner: LNJ Foxwoods

Trainer: Richard Mandella

Third in last year's John Henry, this 5-year-old Giant's Causeway gelding was subsequently a massive second, beaten a head by Bricks and Mortar at odds of 51-1 in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Turf, a race that he's once again prepping for. Although he was flying at the finish of the Aug. 22 Del Mar Handicap, the winner, Red King, had made an early run and was able to just prevail. A winner of three out of his four starts this year, United is in top form with an overall mark of 15-6-4-1 and earnings of $1,293,549.

NEXT SHARES

Owner: Richard & Debby Baltas and Michael Iavarone

Trainer: Richard Baltas

Back from Kentucky following a pair of unplaced starts in one mile turf stakes, including a 10th place finish two races back in the Grade I Makers Mark Mile at Keeneland July 10, Next Shares is a classy 7-year-old gelding that would appreciate a fast early pace. A solid second, beaten 2 ¼ lengths three starts back in the Grade I Shoemaker Mile (turf) here on May 25, he rallied well to be third, beaten a neck four starts back in the Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile (turf) on March 7. Although winless in five starts this year and “o-fer” in two tries at the mile and one quarter distance, Next Shares will hope to rebound on his home ground and will be ridden for the first time by top eastern rider Luis Saez. The leading money earner in the field with $1,808,571, he'll be making his 35th career start.

ORIGINAIRE

Owner: BG Stables

Trainer: Jeff Mullins

In what will be his fourth consecutive confrontation with United, this 4-year-old Irish-bred colt rates a legitimate upset chance. Most recently a fast finishing third, beaten a half length by United in the Del Mar Handicap, he was much closer to the pace in both the Grade II Eddie Read on July 26 and the Grade II Charles Whittingham Stakes here on May 23, races in which he was beaten 2 ¼ lengths and a half length by United, respectively. With Abel Cedillo set to ride him back for the second time, it would seem that Originaire's best chance for victory would be if he could again lag far off of a fast early pace.

OSCAR DOMINGUEZ

Owner: Nancy Messineo & Bruce Sands

Trainer: Richard Baltas

Another deep closer, “Oscar” was most recently a fast finishing fifth from far off the pace in the Del Mar Handicap Aug. 22, this 7-year-old Irish-bred gelding is winless in four graded starts this year, with his last win coming five races back in the Grade II, mile and one half Hollywood Turf Cup on Dec. 1, 2019. A winner of six out of his 41 career starts, he'll be ridden for the first time Jose Valdivia, Jr.

THE GRADE II JOHN HENRY WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS ON POST POSITION ORDER

Race 9 of 11 Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT

1. Proud Pedro—Juan Hernandez—122
2. Originaire—Abel Cedillo—122
3. United—Flavien Prat—126
4. Another Mystery—Drayden Van Dyke—122
5. Salvator Mundi—Umberto Rispoli—122
6. Kazan—Tiago Pereira—122
7. Next Shares—Luis Saez—124
8. Oscar Dominguez—Jose Valdivia, Jr.—124

First post time for an 11-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. Although there is no public admittance, fans can follow a live video stream, free of charge, at santaanita.com

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Del Mar Futurity Winner Dr. Schivel To Get ’90-Day Rest,’ Return As 3-Year-Old

Transferred to the barn of trainer Mark Glatt the day after his win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, Dr. Schivel is likely done racing for the year, reports the Daily Racing Form. The juvenile son of Violence will be turned out for three months before returning to training.

“We're going to give the horse a 90-day rest and bring him back as a 3-year-old,” Glatt told drf.com. “He does not have an injury or anything like of that nature, but he's had quite a few hard races, and we just thought if we want to have a 3-year-old next year we better back off and let him rest for a little bit.”

Bred in Kentucky by William A. Branch and Arnold R. Hill, Dr. Schivel was entered in the Keeneland November sale as a weanling but did not meet his reserve when bidding stopped at $37,000. His breeders retained the colt to race, and placed him with trainer Luis Mendez.

Dr. Schivel was third on debut, then second in his second start, and broke his maiden at third asking, defeating $1 million yearling Spielberg by 5 3/4 lengths. He was then sold privately to Tim Cohen's Rancho Temescal, his father Jed Cohen's Red Baron's Barn, and Dean Reeves, while co-breeder Branch retained an ownership interest.

The colt remained in Mendez' barn through his win in the Del Mar Futurity, and was transferred to Glatt the next day. Dr. Schivel goes to the bench with two wins from four starts and earnings of $197,000.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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Envoutante Tops Field Of Eight In Sunday’s Remington Park Oaks

Trainer Kenny McPeek has three of the eight horses entered for the Grade 3, $100,000 Remington Park Oaks on Sunday, including the heavy 7-5 morning-line favorite Envoutante.

The Remington Park Oaks tops the undercard on Oklahoma Derby Day this Sunday. The oaks is slated as race four with an approximate post time of 4:24pm.

McPeek is looking for his second victory in this race, having won the 2013 edition with Montana Native. His other two entrants also certainly have a shot Sunday with Jeweled Princess at 4-1 and Curls and Bows at 6-1. That gives him three of the top four favorites in this field.

The top trainer in the country by money earned this year with more than $14 million banked, Steve Asmussen, has won this race four times, including the last two. Asmussen, a Hall of Famer nationally and in Oklahoma, won last year with Lady Apple and in 2018 with She's a Julie. He has made two more trips to the winner's circle with More Than Promised in 2005 and Carlitta in 1999. Asmussen entered Seattle Slang this year and she was made 8-1 in the morning line.

Here's a look from the rail out on the eight fillies going to the gate in the 31st Remington Park Oaks at 1-1/16 miles:

1 – Trixie Racer, 10-1

Owner: Speed Racing 2018 of Cibolo, Texas

Trainer: Danny Pish

Jockey: Danny Sorenson

This Kentucky-bred filly by Orb, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Venetian Causeway, will carry the hometown flag as all three of her wins have come at Remington Park. She has won three-of-four tries in Oklahoma City, including a win in the $50,000 E.L. Gaylord Memorial Stakes, sprinting 6-1/2 furlongs on Sept. 29, 2019. She broke her maiden the race before that at Remington and returned to her favorite track with a win in her 2020 fall debut against conditioned allowance fillies and mares just eight days before the oaks, on Saturday, Sept. 19. Her only loss over this main track came in the $100,000 Trapeze last year, finishing fourth. She has three wins in eight starts for earnings of $101,283. Career mark of 8 starts-3 wins-2 seconds-0 thirds.

2 – Seattle Slang, 8-1

Owner: Phoenix Thoroughbred III LTD of Lexington, Ky.

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Jockey: Stewart Elliott

This Kentucky-bred filly by Tapit, out of the Quiet American mare Seattle Smooth, is making her first career stakes start after winning a maiden race at Fair Grounds in New Orleans on March 14. She also won her last race, an allowance for non-winners of two races lifetime at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. on July 25. She hasn't raced since then, but has had a series of works over Remington Park's main surface, including a bullet move at five furlongs on Sept. 14. She was the fastest at that distance of 15 horses that worked that morning. Earnings of $77,050. Career mark of 7-2-0-2.

3 – Curls and Bows, 6-1

Owner: Lucky Seven Stable (Mike Mackin) of Louisville, Ky.

Trainer: Kenneth McPeek

Jockey: Ramon Vazquez

This Kentucky-bred daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, out of the Peteski mare Trickski, has only won twice in her career, but the victories have come in her last two starts in Kentucky. She broke her maiden at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., two races back on July 12, sprinting six furlongs. McPeek stretched her out to a mile in her last race at Ellis Park in a first-level allowance race on Aug. 21 and she just got up at the wire to win. Unraced since, she has taken to the track at Churchill Downs in Louisville to prep for this, her first stakes try. Career mark of 8-2-0-0 for $56,603 in earnings.

4 – Envoutante, 7-5

Owner: Walking L Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm

Trainer: Kenneth McPeek

Jockey: David Cabrera

Kentucky-bred daughter of Uncle Mo has top money earnings in the field with $155,748. This filly, out of the Bluegrass Cat mare Enchante, has won two-of-seven starts lifetime. She won against maidens at the oaks distance at Gulfstream Park, romping by an open six lengths in wire-to-wire fashion. She then beat first-level allowance fillies easily at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., coming home by 2-1/4 lengths. Her connections thought enough of her following that race to try her against two of the top fillies in training, Swiss Skydiver and Speech, in the Grade 1, $400,000 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in July, and the Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in upstate New York in August. She finished a respectable third and fourth, respectively, in those Grade 1 races. Career mark of 7-2-1-2.

5 – Darlene Strong, 20-1

Owner: Probable Cause Racing Stable of Luther, Okla.

Trainer: Travis Murphy

Jockey: Lindey Wade

Another filly that gets into this race on a two-win streak. She won a six-furlong sprint at Prairie Meadows in Iowa on Aug. 13 against an allowance field of non-winners of two lifetime and then an allowance-optional claiming race for $30,000 fillies last time out in Iowa, stretching out to a mile. She won both races by daylight – 4-3/4 lengths and 4-1/2 lengths. She has run first or second in seven of her nine starts lifetime and will be making her stakes debut in this spot. Career mark of 9-3-4-1 with earnings of $70,393.

6 – Paige Anne, 9-2

Owner: Elie and Lori Feghali, and Kimberly and Mark Mathiesen

Trainer: Simon Callaghan

Jockey: Sophie Doyle

A Kentucky-bred filly by Take Charge Indy, out of the Milwaukee Brew mare Forbidden Brew, is third choice on the morning line at 9-2 odds and has hit the board in seven of nine tries. She is stakes-experienced, running in that kind of company in her last three starts while earning a paycheck in all three attempts. She finished fourth in the Grade 3, $100,000 Saint Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., at 1-1/16th miles on March 8, third in the $75,000 Cal Oaks in Northern California at Golden Gate on May 31, and third in the Grade 3, $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar near San Diego on Aug. 22. Her career mark is 9-2-1-4 for $94,540 in her bankroll.

7 – Hotasapistol, 10-1

Owner: Gary and Brenda Bergsrud of Rolla, N.D.

Trainer: Clinton Stuart

Jockey: Lane Luzzi

Stuart, a mainstay at Remington Park throughout the track's history, enters this filly by Flat Out from the Dayjur mare Alacazar while seeking his second victory in the Remington Park Oaks. He saddled standout War Thief to win the 1995 oaks, when it was contested at 1-1/16 miles over the turf. Hotasapistol has made eight starts in her career, three as a juvenile and five this summer, all in Minnesota-bred company at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. The winner of the $100,000 Minnesota Oaks on Aug. 19, Hotasapistol put in her first local work for the Remington Park Oaks on Monday, Sept. 21. She went a half-mile in :49.72, handily, on a fast track. Her career mark is 8-3-1-1 for $123,985 in earnings.

8 – Jeweled Princess, 4-1

Owner: Walking L Thoroughbreds of The Woodlands, Texas

Trainer: Kenneth McPeek

Jockey: Orlando Mojica

Jeweled Princess rides into the Remington Park Oaks on a three-race win streak, at three different tracks. Her first win in the streak came at Keeneland on a sloppy track, going 1-1/16th miles against maiden, $50,000 claimers, winning by 1-1/2 lengths on July 9. She followed that with a one-length victory at Ellis Park in the mud against allowance-optional $25,000 claimers on July 31, and then took a little time off before winning on Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs against conditional allowance-optional claiming $62,500 horses. She has not won or raced in stakes-company yet. Her career mark is 10-2-3-2 for $112,888 in earnings.

Remington Park racing continues this week through Sunday, with a first post Thursday-Saturday of 7:07pm. On Sunday afternoon, a special 11-race Oklahoma Derby card is presented with the first event at 3pm. All times are Central.

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2020 Vosburgh Stakes at a Glance

The Vosburgh Stakes lost its star power when Volatile suffered a career-ending injury earlier this week, but without him the six-furlong stakes added a few horses and became a much more competitive race. Even with just six starters, it should be an interesting betting race as some sharp sprinters battle for a free spot in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In program.

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