Tom Pedulla presents five key takeaways from the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes on Saturday at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park and other developments this past weekend.
Tag: Racing
‘Two Turns Is Better For Him’: Code Of Honor Tunes Up For Aug. 1 Whitney
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey breezed two-time Grade 1 winner Code of Honor over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday morning in his first work since running third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile on July 4 at Belmont Park.
Owned by William S. Farish, the 4-year-old chestnut son of Noble Mission went five furlongs in company with stable mate and first-level allowance winner Creed, with both horses completing their moves in 1:01.93.
McGaughey plans on running Code of Honor in the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney on August 1.
“They both worked excellent,” McGaughey said. “Code of Honor worked really, really well, I was really pleased. I was just looking to do a little something with Creed.”
McGaughey said that the Grade 2, $150,000 Jim Dandy on September 5 would be a target for Creed. Owned by Edward J. Hudson, Jr. and Lynne Hudson, the son of second-crop stallion Honor Code broke his maiden by 7 ¾ lengths on June 11 at Belmont Park before defeating winners over Big Sandy on July 2. Creed was purchased for $650,000 from the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
In the Met Mile, Code of Honor was a late-closing third, finishing a 1 1/2 lengths to Vekoma.
McGaughey believes that Code of Honor, winner of last year's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, is more suited for the Whitney's 1 1/8-mile distance.
“He didn't get the best trip,” McGaughey said of the Met Mile. “Two turns is better for him, especially now that he's older, but I thought he ran really well. They went really fast, he had a wide trip. The winner had a dream trip over a speed-favoring track, so I thought it was all good.”
Code of Honor will attempt to become the first horse to win the Travers and the Whitney since Medaglia d'Oro did so respectively in 2002 and 2003. McGaughey will go for his fourth Whitney triumph having saddled Honor Code (2015), Easy Goer (1989) and Personal Ensign (1988) to victory.
A Kentucky homebred, Code of Honor is out of the graded stakes-winning Dixie Union broodmare Reunited.
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Unbeaten Whistle Stop Cafe Finds ‘Perfect Path’ To Victory In $1-Million Rainbow Futurity
Whistle Stop Cafe broke clean and found another gear in the last 150 yards to win the Grade 1, $1-Million Rainbow Futurity by three-quarters of a length over morning line favorite Mister Illusion at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico on Sunday. Seven ran third, and post time favorite and Ruidoso Futurity champion Cyber Monday finished fourth taking away any chance of a Triple Crown winner in the Quarter Horse division in 2020.
Undefeated Whistle Stop Cafe, who ran the 400 yards in :19.492, returned $14.40 on a $2 win ticket. The race was run under partly cloudy skies on a fast track.
Whistle Stop Cafe is owned by the Whitmire Ranch/Lainie Whitmire et al and was bred in Texas by Bobby Cox. The gray filly by Freighttrain B out of Sinuous by Mr Jess Perry hails from the barn of Blane Wood and was purchased for $42,000 at the Heritage Place Sale.
“When they broke, both horses on either side of her sort of split and gave her a perfect path. She's a fast filly and knows exactly what to do,” said trainer Wood.
Jockey Rickey Ramirez was aboard for the win today, as he has been for all of her other victories, including her first place finish in the 2020 Heritage Place Juvenile.
“She been a terrific filly from the start. We knew we had something when she performed so well at Remington in the spring, but she's blossomed even more this summer,” said jockey Ramirez. “I saw a horse coming at me on the side and right at the same time I felt my horse re-break about half-way through. She's perfect so far. I hope we can keep her that way.”
In the other feature race of the day, the $100,000 Rainbow Juvenile Stakes, the barn of Sergio Ibarra had the first and second place finishers with For The Irony and One Eagles Delight who ran in the race as an alternate after Jess Cindy was scratched earlier in the day. For The Irony won handily by 1 ¼ lengths over the 400 yards with a time of :19.968 beating out his stable mate.
“He just keeps knocking on the door,” said trainer Ibarra. “He's been a little unlucky with his times in the trial races, but has done everything right. That's four in a row versus some very nice horses.”
Owned by Diamond Racing Stables/Julietta Torres et al, For The Irony by Valiant Hero out of Dare You To Beat Me by Tres Seis is a California-bred black gelding. He was ridden today by Ibarra's go-to jockey, Sergio Becerra, Jr., who also rode him to victory in the Ruidoso Juvenile earlier this summer.
“He gave me a little trouble in the starting gate but then settled down. Once he broke everything was okay,” said jockey Becerra, Jr.
Live racing continues next weekend at Ruidoso Downs Race Track with the Zia Festival and three days full of races dedicated to New Mexico-bred Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. Friday's race card features trials for the Rio Grande Señor and Rio Grande Señorita Futurities. Saturday's program includes the Grade II Zia QH Derby, and Sunday's highlights include the GI Zia Futurity along with six additional stakes races.
Post time is 1:00 PM MDT on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At this time, the Turf Club and the Jockey Club are limited to 50% capacity due to the Public Health Order from the State of New Mexico. For more information on how to watch online, place your bet with your favorite online wagering provider, or conduct drive-thru wagering, please visit RaceRuidoso.com.
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Hello Beautiful Breezes At Laurel With Eye On Saratoga’s Test
Multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old filly Hello Beautiful continued preparations for a possible start in next month's Test (G1) at Saratoga with a strong five-furlong breeze over Laurel Park's main track Sunday morning in Laurel, Md.
With jockey Jevian Toledo subbing for injured regular rider and work partner Sheldon Russell, Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stable and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful covered the distance in 1:01.20, the fastest of six horses.
It was the second work for Hello Beautiful since her front-running 8 1/4-length allowance romp June 20 at Laurel that improved her record to four wins, two seconds and a third with $199,360 in purse earnings from eight career starts.
“Toledo has worked some good ones and prepped for some big races, so he knows how to work a good horse,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “Toledo worked her beautifully, and she went excellent. She's just doing great.”
The connections have yet to settle on a next start for Hello Beautiful but are giving strong consideration to the Test, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies Aug. 8 on the undercard of the Travers (G1).
Wherever she runs next, Hello Beautiful will need a new rider. Sheldon Russell, the trainer's husband, is expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking his right wrist in a starting gate mishap July 16 at Delaware Park. He has been aboard for all of Hello Beautiful's races.
Due to the track's health and safety protocols, out-of-town jockeys are currently not allowed to ride at Saratoga this summer. Brittany Russell said two-time defending Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz Jr. would likely get the call if Hello Beautiful runs in the Test.
“It depends on where we decide to go,” she said. “but I think we're going to go with Irad if we go to New York.”
Though he couldn't be aboard, Sheldon Russell was at Laurel to see Hello Beautiful work, bringing along the couple's 11-month-old daughter, Edy.
“He did show up to watch. He wanted to supervise. He showed up with Edy. I don't know how he managed that with one arm,” Brittany Russell said. “He called me and said, 'I'm on my way.' I'm like, 'How are you on your way?' He got here with Edy and they watched her work, so that was great that he came out.”
Hello Beautiful has raced exclusively in Maryland since her unveiling last May at Pimlico Race Course. She captured the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship last fall at Laurel by a combined 15 ½ lengths.
The combination of a planned break and a 2 ½-month pause in live racing from mid-March to late May amid the coronavirus pandemic pushed Hello Beautiful's sophomore debut to a June 1 sprint over Laurel's world-class turf course, where she faded to seventh, her only time off the board. She rebounded impressively 19 days later on a sloppy and sealed main track.
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