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Surfer Girl Stakes Win Puts Madone On Track For Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

Next to last, about five lengths off the lead with a half mile to run, Flavien Prat stepped on the gas heading into the far turn aboard heavily favored Madone, who kicked into gear and despite being fanned six wide turning for home, battled gamely to hold off the late charge of Irish-bred Tetragonal to win Sunday's $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., by a neck. Owned by Kaleem Shah and trained by Simon Callaghan, Madone got one mile turf in 1:34.93 and extended her unbeaten streak to three.

“They went fast, which we thought could happen, so Flavien just let her settle back early and let her get comfortable,” said Callaghan. “He made a big move with her and thankfully she had enough to hold off (Tetragonal)…She is professional, she has really grown up a lot. She took a little bit of time to come around, but she's really developing into a real professional. The Breeders' Cup (Juvenile Fillies Turf Nov. 6 at Keeneland) is the plan now.”

A first out one mile maiden turf winner July 31, Madone's most recent score came in the one mile Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Sept. 6. Off at even money in a field of nine 2-year-old fillies today, she paid $4.20, $2.80 and $2.40.

“I liked where we were after the first quarter, it seemed like they were going fast enough up front,” said Autumn Meet leading rider Prat, who made the lead a furlong out and notched his third win of the day. “The fractions don't say it, but down the backside, it seemed like they slowed it down a little, so I moved and I think I moved a little too soon. When she makes the lead, she pulls herself up a little. In all of her races, she doesn't win by much, but she's got a lot of talent.”

A $125,000 Ocala Breeders March 2-year-old in Training Sale purchase, Madone, which means beautiful woman in Italian, picked up $60,000 for her efforts. By the Medaglia d'Oro stallion Vancouver, she's out of the Cherokee Run mare Indian Love Call. A perfect three for three, she has earnings of $141,300.

Trained by Richard Baltas, Tetragonal saved ground while last early, wheeled four-deep turning for home and just missed in a thriller. Off at 25-1 with Juan Hernandez, she finished 3 ½ lengths in front of Pizzazz and paid $11.20 and $6.40.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Pizzazz stalked the pace while fourth early and just held off Closing Remarks by a nose for third money. Off at 8-1, Pizzazz paid $4.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.30, 45.91, 1:10.61 and 1:23.06.

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Miller Thinking Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf After Ebeko’s Zuma Beach Score

Irish-bred Ebeko rallied through the lane for a hard fought nose victory in Sunday's $100,000 Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as leading trainer Peter Miller continued to hold a red-hot hand. Ridden by Ricardo Gonzalez, Ebeko, in his second stateside start, got one mile on turf in 1:36.55.

Breaking from post position four in a field of seven juveniles, Ebeko was much closer to the pace today than he had been in his one mile turf U.S. debut at Del Mar on Sept. 7. Fourth, about two lengths off of dueling leaders a quarter mile out, he swept four-wide turning for home and was just up as he narrowly outdueled Bob Baffert's Tarantino to the wire.

“This is a very nice colt…He gives you his all,” said Gonzalez. “The first time, we were in the 10-hole, so we just kind of made one run and he had just come from Europe. It's different now that he's been here. He puts himself in the race and finished really strong.”

A fast finishing second, beaten one length by today's race favorite Big Fish, Ebeko was off as the third betting choice at 3-1 and paid $8.80, $4.80 and $3.40.

Owned by Altamira Racing Stable, CYBT, Marc Lantzman and Michael Nentwig, Ebeko, who was one for three in his native Ireland, provided Miller with his meet leading fifth stakes win and his eighth win overall. With the winner's share of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $106,430 and improved his overall mark to 5-2-2-0.

“We've been on an incredible run,” said Miller by phone from his home in Cardiff. “We've won with our last four, just everything is falling into place right now. I thought Ricky rode an incredible race. We knew this horse was doing well and Ricky saw that the pace was pretty slow, so he had him closer today.

“To be honest, there's no doubt in my mind that he could've won much easier today if we didn't have the new rules…I'm just being honest…We're definitely going to look at the Breeders' Cup (Juvenile Turf on Nov. 6 at Keeneland) with this horse. He deserves it and we're looking forward to going.”

Ridden by Tiago Pereira, Tarantino laid second throughout and lost a heartbreaker while finishing three quarters of a length in front of Cotopaxi. The actual second choice at 3-1, Tarantino paid $4.80 and $4.00.

Ridden by Abel Cedillo, Cotopaxi made the lead a furlong out, but had to settle for third money, a neck in front of Caisson. Off at 6-1, Cotopaxi paid $4.20 to show.

Big Fish, the 2-1 post favorite with Victor Espinoza, appeared poised to make a run at the top of the stretch, but flattened out through the drive to finish fifth.

Fractions on the race were 23.66, 48.42, 1:13.10 and 1:24.92.

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It Can Be Done Among Ferrer’s Five Winners Sunday At Monmouth Park

The stakes were considerably higher but the tactics were exactly the same for jockey Jose Ferrer on Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Get to the lead, slow down the fractions and steal off with a grass route race.

The veteran rider did that in a Maiden Special Weight race early on the card at Monmouth Park from an outside post on Sunday at odds of 18-1 and the repeated the strategy with 6-1 shot It Can Be Done in the inaugural running of the $150,000 Nownownow Stakes, scoring a comfortable 2½-length victory over Mischievous Dream in the one-mile turf feature for 2-year-olds.

Ferrer won five races on the 12-race card.

“Jose is a master of getting to the lead and slowing it down on the turf,” said winning trainer Gregg Sacco. “He had to go a little fast the first quarter but he slowed it down the second quarter and when that happens if you have horse you have horse.”

Neither Sacco nor Ferrer was sure about It Can Be Done's lasting power since he had only sprinted his first three career starts, including a 41/2-length victory in a Maiden Special Weight race in his last start on Sept. 20.

Though Ferrer had to use the Kentucky-bred son of Temple City to get the lead from the outside post in the eight-horse field, going :23.38 for the first quarter, he backed down the half to :48.33 and was able to lope to three-quarters of a mile in 1:13.52.

The final time over the firm turf course was 1:37.57.

Sapling winner Mischievous Dream, a closer and the only filly in the field, could never make up ground in the stretch because of Ferrer's ability to control a leisurely pace.

“The game plan was just what happened – get to the lead and slow it down,” said Ferrer. “That was the intention, to walk the dogs. Coming from races at three-quarters to this I knew he was going to want to show some speed. The first quarter was a little quick but once he made the lead he settled down and I was able to nurse him on the backside. In the stretch he took off like a jet.

“I was a little worried about going two turns the first time with him coming from three quarters. Of course I was. But the race worked out the way we wanted it to and needed it to.”

Sacco said taking off the blinkers, worn by It Can Be Done his first two starts but not his past two victories, has made the difference for the gelding.

“We only sprinted him before this but the first two starts we had blinkers on him. The key was taking them off,” said Sacco. “He's bred to run all day. He's a medium-sized horse with a great length of stride. From his gallops in the morning we didn't think distance would be a limitation but we were jumping from a Maiden Special Weight race to a stakes race and there were some talented horses in the race so we knew were coming into a tough heat.

“He ran dynamite on the turf in his only grass start (prior to this). He ran right up to the leader but he wouldn't go by him with the blinkers. He put it all together in his last start. You don't know about two turns until you stretch them out but it was really nice.”

It Can Be Done, owned by Red Oak Stable, paid $14.00 to win.

Mischievous Dream held off No One To Blame for second by a nose.

Racing resumes for the Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet with a 10-race card on Wednesday, Oct. 7. First race post time is 12:50 p.m.

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Wet Your Whistle Avoids Loose Horse, Wins Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational

David Palmer's Wet Your Whistle had already registered a Grade 1 win on the grass in addition to a stakes win on a synthetic surface. On Sunday, the versatile 5-year-old again produced a professional effort, powering home a 3 1/4-length winner in the Grade 3, $150,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Out of the gate, Backtohisroots stumbled and unseated rider Jose Lezcano running loose at the front of the pack. Under jockey Jose Ortiz, Wet Your Whistle was still forwardly placed, staying in second position behind Battle Station before taking command with the opening quarter-mile in 22.47 seconds on the firm outer turf. Ortiz kept pressing his charge, with the half-mile going in 45.15.

The Michael Trombetta trainee maintained the edge out of the turn, with five furlongs going in 56.03, before outkicking Chewing Gum to complete the six-furlong course in a 1:07.87 final time.

“The loose horse broke and kind of kept the two speed horses, Big Wonder and Battle Station, way out on the track,” Ortiz said. “My horse broke very sharp out of the gate, so I just played it by ear. I'm just really glad it worked out.

“He was doing it very nicely the first half-mile, he was just on the beat,” he added. “Past the quarter pole, I asked him to go and had the loose horse right next to me and he just engaged with him. He started running. I think 1:07 and 4 is pretty fast for this kind of track. It's been a little heavy all day.”

Wet Your Whistle did not make his first graded stakes start until his 4-year-old campaign, when he won in his first attempt in the 2019 Grade 1 Highlander at Woodbine. Off an 11-month break, the gelded son of Stroll won the Karl Boyes over the synthetic track at Presque Isle Downs in August in his seasonal bow.

After an off-the-board finish in the Laurel Dash last month, he won his first race at Belmont in three tries.

“He had been training well. When I ran him last time the turf was soft, and he just didn't enjoy it at all,” Trombetta said. “He jumped on the bridle and had a little bit of a target. Jose took advantage of the situation. A lot of times in these races, you want to try to get the best trip possible. One thing about putting them up there, is your either good enough or you aren't.”

Off at 8-1, Wet Your Whistle returned $19 on a $2 win bet and increased his career earnings to $420,653.

“When Mike Trombetta ships here, he doesn't come here to play games,” Ortiz said. “His horses are 100 percent ready.”

Wet Your Whistle could potentially target the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on November 7 at Keeneland, though Trombetta did not commit to that spot yet.

“I'll have to talk to the owner and see what's involved. In these kinds of races, especially the turf sprinters, it's a select group that all run against each other and all beat each other here and there,” Trombetta said. “If you're going to take a chance, these are the kind of horses to do it with.”

Chewing Gum, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, edged Archidust by a nose in his first start since running off the board in the Grade 1 Fourstardave on August 22 at Saratoga Race Course.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who rode Chewing Gum, was second in all three of Belmont's graded stakes races, with Caldee the runner-up in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo in Race 7 and Point of Honor in the Grade 2 Beldame in Race 8.

“I had a beautiful trip,” Castellano said. “I have no complaints. I felt like they didn't go that fast because everyone was screaming 'Loose horse' and everyone had to control their race and take a hold. I wish there could've been more pace, but it is what it is. We still finished up strong and well.”

Fog of War, Holiday Stone, Battle Station and Big Wonder completed the order of finish. Pulsate was scratched, as was main-track only entrant Chateau. Lezcano, aboard Backtohisroots, said he was in good order following evaluation by EMS after the race. Backtohisroots was apprehended by the outrider and walked home under his own power.

Live racing will resume Thursday at Belmont with a 10-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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