It took 17 long years of waiting, but the moment was everything Jack Knowlton expected. Maybe it was even better. As Knowlton held a box with a trophy in reward for Tiz the Law’s decisive victory in the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes, the founder and operational manager of the group that owns the son of Constitution, had a smile that even a facial mask could not hide.
Tag: Racing
The Saratoga Special for Aug. 8: A New Day
Excited for Travers Day 2020? Don’t miss Issue #8 of the digital edition Saratoga Special, sponsored by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners! We preview the Travers Day card, including Tiz The Law's run at history for Sackatoga Stable, Barclay Tagg and Manny Franco, plus the Ballerina, Test, Waya, and Troy. Tune in for another check-in with two-time Travers winning trainer Todd Pletcher for the Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour. We also reminisce about Travers of the past, and recap Jackie's Warrior's big win in Friday's Saratoga Special.
My Girl Red, Prat Team For Sorrento Stakes Victory
Erich Brehm's homebred filly My Girl Red showed speed from the start and won the 52nd edition of the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes for juvenile fillies by 4 3/4 wide open lengths Friday at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.
The bay daughter of 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red – owned in part by Brehm and trained by My Girl Red's conditioner, J. Keith Desormeaux – covered six furlongs in 1:12.12 in eased-up fashion and picked up a check for $90,000 from the $150,500 total purse.
My Girl Red is the first stakes winner from the first crop by Texas Red.
Flavien Prat, Del Mar's leading rider with 20 firsts in 11 days of racing, rode My Girl Red for his seventh stakes win of the meet, far and away the most by any jockey at the shore session.
“I didn't have any special instructions; just ride her with confidence,” said Prat. “She showed speed away from there, then we got a nice breather on the turn. From there she just went on and won in hand.”
Finishing second was Reddam Racing's first-time starter Get On the Bus and running third was Tricar Stables' Exchange Vows.
My Girl Red, a Kentucky-bred, paid $3.80, $2.40 and $2.20 across the board as the 9-10 favorite in the field of six fillies.
Desormeaux indicated that his charge would point next for the meet's top offering for young fillies, the Grade 1, $250,000 Del Mar Debutante on Sunday, September 6.
“I know it's still early and the time is average,” said Desormeaux. “But I think she can go even quicker and I sure don't want to complain. She has always shown signs of class and it's nice to see one duplicate in the afternoon what we see in the mornings.”
Prat won two races on the afternoon, as did riders Umberto Rispoli and Juan Hernandez.
In the Pick Six, a lone ticket holder had races 4 through 9 tabbed correctly and picked up a score of $181,849 for his/her efforts. The $9,216 winning ticket was sold to a Player Management Group wagering through Xpressbet at their Oregon hub.
The winning horses were: Race 4 – #2 Madame Barbarian ($8.40); Race 5 — #10 Nero ($7.60); Race 6 — #10 Tripple Shake ($8.00); Race 7 — #5 Solitaire ($36.40); Race 8 — #4 My Girl Red ($3.80), and Race 9 — #6 Leggs Galore ($12.20).
Racing resumes at Del Mar Saturday with an 11-race card starting at 2 p.m.
The post My Girl Red, Prat Team For Sorrento Stakes Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Jackie’s Warrior Outlegs The Competition In Saratoga Special
Kirk Robison's Jackie's Warrior broke sharply from the gate and never looked back, making the grade in the 115th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The son of Maclean's Music joined the likes of champions Colin (1905), Regret (1914), Morvich (1921), Blue Larkspur (1928), Top Flight (1931), Whirlaway (1941), Native Dancer (1952), Nearctic (1956), Bold Forbes (1975), Conquistador Cielo (1981), and Favorite Trick (1997) as winners of the historic six-furlong event for 2-year-olds.
Piloted by Joel Rosario, Jackie's Warrior was swift in breaking from his outside post and was sent straight to the lead, recording fractions of 22.06 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and the half-mile in 44.85.
At the top of the stretch, Jackie's Warrior was still in command with Therideofalifetime unleashing a bid to his outside. But Jackie's Warrior prevailed and crossed the wire under a hand ride to win by three lengths in a final time of 1:09.62 on the fast main track.
Therideofalifetime finished another four lengths ahead of third-place finisher Momos.
Completing the order of finish were Garoppolo, Cazadero, Papetu, Market Alert, Pickin' Time and Hold the Salsa. Roderick and Caramel Chip were scratched.
Returning $8.20 for a $2 win ticket, Jackie's Warrior arrived off a 2 ½-length debut win at Churchill Downs over subsequent Saratoga Special runner-up Therideofalifetime. He boosted his earnings to $127,564.
The victory was a fifth triumph in the Saratoga Special for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who is just one short of Hall of Famer James Rowe Sr.'s record six Saratoga Special wins.
“With babies, I just wanted a clean break as he did in his first race and let his talent take over,” Asmussen said. “Being Saratoga, there were a lot of nice forms coming into it but when you get to Saratoga, not everybody likes the circumstances. I'm glad to see that he does. Good final time. Watching today's races, I think the track played fair. I don't think it [the lead] was anywhere he had to be, it's just where he was.”
The victory marked the meet-leading seventh stakes score for Rosario, who said he felt confident throughout aboard Jackie's Warrior.
“He [trainer Steve Asmussen] wanted me to get him out of there where he put himself,” Rosario said. “He broke well and we were just hanging on the lead, so I just rode it from there. He was looking really nice and he was enjoying that. He had his going ears back and forth and he looked like he was going easy even though the fractions were fast. He was having no problem with that. When they came close to him he wanted to go, and I felt even more confident at that point. I knew he had something left.”
Bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables, Jackie's Warrior is out of the A.P. Five Hundred mare Unicorn Girl.
Live racing returns on Saturday with an action-packed 12-race program for Runhappy Travers Day. Spearheaded by the 151st running of the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers, the enticing undercard includes the Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test for sophomore fillies; the Grade 1, $300,000 Ballerina presented by NYRA Bets, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint; the Grade 3, $200,000 Troy for 4-year-olds and up on Mellon turf and the Grade 3, $150,000 Waya for older fillies and mares on the inner turf. First post is 12 p.m. Eastern.
The post Jackie’s Warrior Outlegs The Competition In Saratoga Special appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
