Tom Pedulla presents five key takeaways from the $500,000 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park and other developments during the Fourth of July weekend.
Tag: Racing
Flat Out Speed, Night Ops Take Graded Stakes At Prairie Meadows
The two graded stakes presented on Sunday during the Prairie Meadows Festival of Racing in Altoona, Iowa, featured Iowa-bred filly Flat Out Speed registering a 9-1 upset in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks and solid favorite Night Ops proving too good for the competition in the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap.
Alex Canchari made his move aboard Flat Out Speed in the run down the backstretch of the 1 1/16-mile Oaks, taking command from the early pacesetter, Lagoon Falls, then having enough left in the tank to hold off a late run from Aurelia Garland and jockey David Cohen. Ocean Breeze, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Martin Garcia, finished third.
A 3-year-old daughter of Flat Out trained by Lynn Chleborad, Flat Out Speed covered the distance on a fast track in 1:42.79 after fractions of :23.92, :47.48, 1:11.57 and 1:36.39.
The win was the fifth in six starts for Flat Out Speed, racing for Poindexter Thoroughbreds LLC. Out of the Street Sense mare, Blue Gallina, Flat Out Speed was bred in Iowa by H. Allen Poindexter and Wynnstay LLC.
Flat Out Speed's only defeat came in an allowance race at Oaklawn in April, her first start of the year after an unbeaten campaign of three races as a juvenile at Prairie Meadows. Flat Out Speed was coming out of a 5 1/2-length win as a prohibitive favorite against Iowa-breds in the Bob Bryant Stakes on June 27.
Martin Garcia didn't leave Prairie Meadows empty handed, taking the Cornhusker aboard 7-5 favorite Night Ops for trainer Brad Cox and owner Steve Landers Racing LLC.
Third early behind pacesetter My Sixth Sense and Dunph most of the way, Night Ops made his move on the final turn and easily drew off, covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.30. My Sixth Sense held second, with veteran Rated R Superstar rallying for third.
A 4-year-old by Warrior's Reward out of Bear All, by Kitalpha, Night Ops was winning for the sixth time in 18 career starts. A winner of the $350,000 Essex Handicap earlier this year at Oaklawn, Night Ops was coming off a ninth-place finish behind By My Standards in the May 2 Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap.
Night Ops carried co-highweight 118 pounds under the handicap conditions of the race.
The Festival of Racing offered more than $450,000 in purses in eight stakes races on the Saturday and Sunday programs.
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Canadian Champion Curlin’s Voyage Wins Woodbine Oaks Prep In Frantic Finish
Canadian champion filly Curlin's Voyage nosed out 65-1 longshot Justleaveitalone in a photo finish to win the $125,000 Fury Stakes for Canadian-foaled 3-year-old fillies on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
Patrick Husbands guided the Curlin–Atlantic Voyage filly to victory in the seven-furlong stepping-stone to the Triple Tiara, which kicks off with the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks presented by Budweiser over 1 1/8 miles on August 15.
Trying Woodbine's Tapeta surface for the first time and putting her perfect five-race win streak on the line, Infinite Patience, co-owned by Edmonton Oilers player Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and breeder William DeCoursey, set a pressured pace through panels of :23.74 and :46.59 with the maiden filly Justleaveitalone in hot pursuit.
Curlin's Voyage stalked the top pair along the rail then fanned three-wide on the final turn with fellow Josie Carroll trainee Avie's Samurai joining the fray in a four-across battle down the stretch.
Curlin's Voyage ultimately persevered, edging out Justleaveitalone by a head in a final time of 1:23.91, with Infinite Patience settling for third, one length behind after her gutsy effort. Avie's Samurai finished fourth with Mizzen Beau and Gun Society completing the order of finish.
“Going down the back, it was a lot of 'cat and mouse' game,” said Husbands, who has won five previous editions of the Fury – all with Mark Casse trainees – including last year's race with Speedy Soul.
“About the three-eighths pole, I had enough of this, I just had to get in gear and get the job done.”
Sent postward as the 6-5 favourite, the winner returned $4.60.
Curlin's Voyage was voted Canada's 2019 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly for her $265,000 juvenile campaign in which she went 3-1-1 in six starts, including a pair of stakes wins over 1-1/16 miles (Grade 3 Mazarine and Ontario Lassie).
Husbands picked up the mount for her final start last year in the Ontario Lassie and also guided her to a runner-up finish in her sophomore debut in the six-furlong Star Shoot Stakes on June 13.
“To me, she's a better filly going two turns and we look forward to her next race,” said the Triple Crown-winning jockey.
Curlin's Voyage is co-owned by breeder Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Windsor Boys Racing. She is eligible to the Oaks as well as The Queen's Plate (September 12), assessed as the 3-1 third choice in the Winterbook.
Carroll, who trained the 2006 Fury champion Gumboots, has won the Queen's Plate twice, with Edenwold (2006) and Inglorious (2011) — also the winner of the Oaks that year.
Live Thoroughbred racing continues, without spectators, on Thursday at the Toronto oval with an eight-race program beginning at 3:45 p.m. Racing Night Live will feature action from Woodbine Racetrack and Woodbine Mohawk Park from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET on TSN1 and TSN3.
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‘It Just Gives Me Goosebumps’: Co-Owner Of Vekoma Recounts Big Win
Owner Randy Hill was still on cloud nine Sunday morning, the day after Vekoma went gate-to-wire in the Grade 1, $500,000 Runhappy Met Mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
“What a horse,” an emphatic Hill said. “I'll never own another horse like this. I've watched the race about 20 times and it just gives me goosebumps. I really wish I could have been there, but I'd rather win than be there and lose them.”
Owned by Hill in partnership with Gatsas Stables, Vekoma's win earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure. Vekoma controlled the pace before being confronted around the far turn. He shook off his competition when asked by Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano and drew off to a 1 1/4-length score, keeping his record as a 4-year-old unblemished in three starts for trainer George Weaver.
Prior to the Runhappy Met Mile, Vekoma won the Sir Shackleton at Gulfstream Park in his 2020 debut before an impressive 7 1/4-length win in the Grade 1 Runhappy Carter on June 6 at Belmont Park, netting a 110 Beyer.
The Grade 1, $300,000 Forego presented by America's Best Racing on August 29 at Saratoga Race Course could be the next start for Vekoma, Hill said.
Hill also mentioned the possibility of Vekoma training up to the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course.
Vekoma has earned an automatic entry into both the Breeders' Cup Sprint and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile when taking the Runhappy Carter and Runhappy Met Mile, which are both Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” events.
“I think he's the best older horse in the country,” Hill said. “George is thinking about the Forego or training right up to the Breeders' Cup and we leave all of that up to him. The horse will tell us. He's such a warrior.”
Blair Golen, who oversees Weaver's Belmont string, reported that the Runhappy Met Mile hero emerged from Saturday's triumph in good shape.
“He came out of it in good order,” Golen said. “What impressed me last time and this time was that he wasn't that tired. When he ran here at seven furlongs, he recovered fast and was really on the muscle, and it was the same again this time too.”
Bred in Kentucky by Alpha Delta Stables, Vekoma is by multiple-champion producing stallion Candy Ride out of the Speightstown broodmare Mona de Momma who, like Vekoma, also was a Grade 1-winner going seven furlongs.
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