In 2020, you learn to expect the unexpected. So when the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve announced that it would run on Sept. 5 instead of the traditional first Saturday in May, the schedule of qualifying races included some new summer events that have never had Derby points attached to them before.
Tag: Racing
The Beat Goes On: Shepperton Win Gives Pink Lloyd 21st Stakes Triumph
The incomparable Pink Lloyd deployed his usual tactics, powering past the competition in the stretch to add more hardware to his collection as he won the 45th edition of the $100,000 Shepperton Stakes on Thursday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
Winning his third Shepperton title, Pink Lloyd ties Paso Doble with the most wins in the main track stakes event, which has been run at a distance of 6 1/2 furlongs for all but two editions.
The Robert Tiller trainee also won this race in 2017 and 2019, and finished third in 2018. Paso Doble took the 2011, 2013 and 2014 events.
Carrying a field height weight of 128 pounds, Canada's reigning three-time Champion Male Sprinter stalked the leaders along the rail before jockey Rafael Hernandez maneuvered him outside in the stretch and took off.
Stopping the clocked in 1:16.44 nearly two lengths in front, Pink Lloyd paid $2.60 to win as the overwhelming 1-9 favorite in the six-horse field. There was no place or show wagering.
Early trailer Silent Jimmie chased the champion home and got up for second just ahead of the front-runners, Dun Drum and Not So Quiet, who had set fractions of :23.25 and :45.88. Magical Man and Souper Success completed the order of finish.
“He's got the heart and desire to be probably the best sprinter in Canada the last 50 years,” said Tiller, who has won the Shepperton a record six times for a trainer. “He is amazing. He was in trouble all the way. We got the box trip with the one-hole, and it worked out well. Rafii waited and waited.”
“We're very proud of him and I love him dearly,” said the Hall of Fame horseman.
Bred by John Carey and owned by Entourage Stable, the 8-year-old Ontario-bred son of Old Forester now boasts 24 career wins from 29 starts and is approaching the $2 million mark in career earnings.
A 21-time stakes winner, Pink Lloyd previously put together an 11-race win streak in stakes action, beginning at the start of his 2017 Horse of the Year campaign. Pink Lloyd's current streak is now at eight after going six-for-six in 2019 and winning a record fourth Grade 3 Jacques Cartier Stakes in his season's debut on June 25.
“Last time, he gave me a little hard time – he had to work hard to get there – but after the race, I told Bob, 'Now he's ready 100 per cent,'” said Hernandez. “He showed up today. He just broke out of the gate, sat behind good and he just did the best thing he knows how to do… he just switched the lead in the stretch and 'let's go.'
“He knows how to do it, he knows how to win.”
And so does Hernandez, who is the leading rider at the 2020 Woodbine meet and won half of Thursday's eight races.
Live Thoroughbred racing continues, without spectators, on Friday at Woodbine Racetrack. Post time for the first of eight races is set for 1 p.m.
The post The Beat Goes On: Shepperton Win Gives Pink Lloyd 21st Stakes Triumph appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Woodbine’s Seagram Cup Looking Like Rematch Of Eclipse Stakes
Eclipse Stakes (G2) winner Skywire, runner-up Avie's Flatter, and third-place finisher Mr Ritz will square off in Sunday's $125,000 Seagram Cup Stakes (G3), at Woodbine.
Hall of Fame conditioner Josie Carroll will look to win her second straight Seagram crown when she sends out a pair of multiple stakes winners in Avie's Flatter and Mr Ritz, who took last year's running of the 1 1/16-mile main track race for 3-year-olds and upward.
The graded stakes victors meet up again with 4-year-old Skywire, the Mark Casse trainee who pulled off a 17-1 upset in the Eclipse on July 4 at Woodbine.
Ivan Dalos' homebred Avie's Flatter, a 4 year-old son of Flatter, fashions a record of 4-3-2 from 12 career starts. His last victory came in the Transylvania (G3) last April at Keeneland.
The Ontario-bred colt finished third in a 7 ½-furlong turf engagement to launch his 2020 campaign, following it up with the second-place effort in the Eclipse.
Avie's Flatter contested all three jewels in the Canadian Triple Crown, finishing second in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales, before a third-place performance in the Breeders' Stakes.
A bay son of Oasis Dream (GB) out of Que Puntual, Mr Ritz, bred and owned by Earle Mack, went off as the favorite in the Eclipse, crossing the wire third as the 3-5 choice.
Sporting a 5-3-2 record from 12 career starts, Mr Ritz, after taking his debut in 2017 at Kempton Park in England, came to North America, becoming a stakes winner in 2018 in Indiana before finishing third in the Ontario Derby (G3) at Woodbine.
In 2019, he posted two wins and two seconds in five starts. He won back-to-back stakes last August and September – both by 1 ¼ lengths – including an impressive showing in the Seagram on August 11.
“This is just a really nice horse that I believed was going to improve this year and he's proving us right,” said Carroll after the win.
One month after his Seagram triumph, Mr Ritz headed south and claimed his second consecutive stakes victory, this time in the $200,000 Presque Isle Mile. He stopped the clock in a track record 1:41.91 for the 1 1/16 miles.
Other Seagram contenders include Western Canadian invader Explode, a six-time winner from 12 starts, Jungle Fighter (3-2-1 from seven starts), a son of Animal Kingdom who will make his 4-year-old debut in the Seagram, and Chiefswood Stables' multiple graded stakes winner Tiz a Slam.
The complete field for the Seagram, which is scheduled as race seven of 10 on Sunday's 1 p.m. program, is listed below.
Fans can watch and wager on all the live action via HPIbet.com.
$125,000 SEAGRAM CUP
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Skywire – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
2 – Mr Ritz – Patrick Husbands – Josie Carroll
3 – Jungle Fighter – Davy Moran – Michael Doyle
4 – Cooler Mike – Kazushi Kimura – Nick Nosowenko
5 – Avie's Flatter – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll
6 – Tiz a Slam – Steven Bahen – Roger Attfield
7 – Explode – Justin Stein – Stuart Simon
8 – Perfect Tapatino – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
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Halladay Will Try To Keep Hot Streak Going In Bernard Baruch
Harrell Ventures' two-time stakes winner Halladay has done nothing but improve in his last two starts and will attempt to maintain his good form when taking on five others, including four stakes winners, in Sunday's 61st running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Bernard Baruch for 3-year-olds and upward over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, who saddled Dominus to a Bernard Baruch score in 2012, Halladay arrives at Sunday's test off a gate-to-wire triumph in the Sunshine Forever over a firm turf at Gulfstream Park, where he registered a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure over eventual Grade 1-winner Aquaphobia and stablemate Social Paranoia, who won the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont Park two starts later.
Prior to his last effort, he defeated allowance optional claiming company over the South Florida oval on April 4 in similar frontrunning fashion over multiple-stakes winner and next-out winner Kroy.
The consistent gray or roan son of War Front defeated stakes company for the first time in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park on December 28 and has put together a highly consistent record of 12-5-2-4. His only off-the-board effort was three starts back in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay on February 8, where he tracked the pace in fifth, appeared to be in a winning position from the three path coming around the far turn and was a bit green at the top of the stretch and flattened out in the final eighth of a mile.
“So far, the turf course has not been kind to horses close to the pace,” Pletcher said. “That's really my only concern. The horse is training super and we're excited about Sunday. He's in great form and seems to be steadily improving. Obviously, he took to the turf at Gulfstream quite well so I'm hoping that he can apply that to this turf course.”
Jockey Luis Saez was aboard for Halladay's last two winning efforts and retains the mount from the outermost post 6.
Trainer Chad Brown will saddle a pair of formidable contenders for the Bernard Baruch in the lightly-raced Good Governance and graded stakes winner Olympico.
Owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, Good Governance broke his maiden last August over the Spa's inner turf before finishing a close second to Global Access in the Grade 3 Saranac. The 4-year-old son of Kingman did not race again until June of this year, where he defeated winners by 3 ¾ lengths over the Widener turf course at Belmont Park and registered a career best 95 Beyer.
“He's lightly raced but he's very talented,” Brown said. “Hopefully he's up to the challenge. He has a nice race under his belt and he looks good.”
Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard in all three of his starts, will retain the mount from post 2 as he attempts a third Bernard Baruch triumph.
Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables Olympico will seek his first victory since lighting up the tote board at 18-1 in his North American debut in last year's Grade 2 Fort Marcy at Belmont Park.
The 5-year-old French-bred son of Rajsaman was fifth beaten 7 ½ lengths in last year's Bernard Baruch which was won by Qurbaan. He will be making his seasonal bow with his last start being a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Knickerbocker over the inner turf at Belmont Park on October 14.
“He seems to be doing fine,” Brown said.
Jockey Joel Rosario will seek back-to-back Bernard Baruch triumphs when piloting Olympico from post 5.
Trainer Mike Maker also saddles a pair of contenders in graded stakes winners Somelikeithotbrown and Mr Dumas.
Owned by Skychai Racing and David Koenig, Somelikeithotbrown, a 4-year-old Big Brown bay, was third in the Grade 2 Fort Marcy on June 6 last out.
“It was a shorter field [in the G2 Fort Marcy] and we had another horse [Temple] in the race and we didn't want them to get into a duel,” said Maker's assistant trainer Nolan Ramsey. “I thought he ran an amazing race. He probably went a little quicker than I'd have liked him to early and if he'd been able to back off the pace just a little bit, he might have been able to hang tough for the win.”
Somelikeithotbrown will seek a second graded stakes triumph after winning the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks over the all-weather surface at Turfway Park in March 2019. He boasts the highest amount of lifetime earnings in the field with $464,338 and has finished in the money nine out of 12 times.
“He's doing very well right now,” Ramsey said. “He's always been a barn favorite and he's a horse that just seems to show up every time. He's had a number of setbacks throughout his career, but he's tough as nails and I expect a big run from him on Sunday.”
Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who was aboard for his Jeff Ruby Steaks score, will be reunited with Somelikeithotbrown from post 3.
Maker also sends out Mr Dumas, who won last year's Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs while being trained by John Ortiz. The bay son of Majesticperfection defeated a salty allowance optional claiming group over the Churchill Downs turf two starts back which included graded stakes winner Casa Creed.
The WSS Racing and Hooties Racing owned four-time winner will break from post 4 and will be piloted by Manny Franco.
Completing the field is Juddmonte Farms' Seismic Wave for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who will attempt his sixth win in the Bernard Baruch.
The chestnut son of Tapit is a two-time stakes winner having won the English Channel on October 26 at Belmont Park in the final start of 2019, as well as the Cutler Bay last March at Gulfstream Park in his stakes debut.
Last out, Seismic Wave was second, beaten a length to Social Paranoia, in the Grade 3 Poker.
Jockey Jose Ortiz will pilot Seismic Wave from post 1.
The Bernard Baruch pays homage to the philanthropist, financier and thoroughbred owner who served as an advisor to late wartime presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt. As an owner, Baruch campaigned horses under the name Kershaw Stables, and won the 1927 Carter with Happy Argo.
The Bernard Baruch is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.
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