Tag: Racing

Daughter emulated mother in the $101,000 Bayakoa Stakes Friday.

Nine years after Tiz Midnight won the inaugural running of the race at Los Alamitos, Midnight Memories did the same, scoring as the even-money favorite in the Grade 3 test for fillies and mares at the Cypress, Calif., track.

Racing for the same owner-trainer combination as Tiz Midnight, the 4-year-old Mastery filly was ready after a layoff of more than nine months, running down 7-5 second choice Desert Dawn in the final sixteenth of a mile to win by one length.

Owned by breeders Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Midnight Memories earned her fifth win in eight tries and pushed her earnings to $424,680. Three of her victories have come in graded events and she's only been worse than third once.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Midnight Memories completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.84 and  paid $4, $2.60 and $2.20.

The win was the second in a row for Baffert in the Bayakoa as he took the previous renewal in 2021 with As Time Goes By. The race was not run in 2022.

Desert Dawn, who was seeking her first win since the 2022 Santa Anita Oaks, got the jump on the eventual winner around the turn, opening a clear advantage into the lane, but ultimately had to settle for second for the fifth time in her career while nearly six lengths clear of stablemate Turnerloose.

Desert Dawn returned $2.20 and $2.10 while the show price on Turnerloose, the fourth choice in the field of seven at nearly 8-1, was $3.80. Ganadora, Smoothlikebuttah, Trouville and Violent Runner completed the order of finish.

Mike Marlow, Baffert's assistant trainer at Los Alamitos, thought Midnight Memories, who hadn't raced since finishing third in the G1 Beholder Mile March 11, was in trouble when Desert Dawn moved away from her.

“She had trained well for this, but, in all honesty, I thought she was done on the turn,'' said Marlow. “(Hernandez) started riding her pretty hard and at the three-eighths pole I thought to myself she's not going anywhere.

“Then Juan got her outside and she came back. He just said she didn't want to run into the kickback. He did a great job riding her. She showed a new dimension today coming from off the pace.''

The stakes win was the second in less than a week for Hernandez, who captured the G2 Starlet last weekend for Baffert aboard Nothing Like You.

“She broke sharp, but I let her settle off the two leaders (stablemate Ganadora and Violent Runner),'' said Hernandez, the all-time daytime thoroughbred meet leader at Los Alamitos with 16 stakes wins. “She doesn't like dirt in the face, so I tried to avoid that as much as I could down the backside.

“(Desert Dawn) got the jump on us turning for home, but once I swung this filly out in the stretch she really took off.''

Jockeys Jose Valdivia, Jr. and Armando Aguilar both doubled Friday. The former swept the early double with favored Class Clown in the first and Creative Way in the second while the latter scored with first time starter Toledo Rocket in the fifth and Dancing Soul in the seventh.

Racing resumes Saturday at Los Alamitos. Post time is 12:30 p.m.

The last of nine races is the G2, $200,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos Futurity for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

Baffert entered a trio – Coach Prime, Wynstock and Wine Me Up – as he seeks to win the Futurity for the eighth time in 10 years at Los Alamitos.  Scheduled post time for the Futurity is 4:28 p.m. PT.

The post Like Mother, Like Daughter: Midnight Memories Captures Bayakoa At Los Alamitos appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Michael Maker has no worries about Saturday's wet-weather forecast at Gulfstream Park, where he will saddle Value Engineering for a title defense in the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Handicap.

Maker will go into the two-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up with confidence that Michael Hui and Phil Forte's Value Engineering will show up whether the race named in memory of the beloved Hall of Fame trainer is run on Tapeta or turf, as scheduled.

“He did OK on [Tapeta] last time,” Maker said.

Value Engineering did a lot better than OK when he captured last year's Jerkens after it was transferred to Gulfstream's all-weather surface from turf. Making his first start for his current connections after being bought for $35,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale, the son of Lemon Drop Kid made his all-weather debut in the Jerkens, rallying from off the pace to score by three-quarters of a length.

The prospect of running again over Gulfstream's all-weather course seems highly likely due to weather. He prepped for the Jerkens over Turfway Park's Tapeta track Nov. 30, finishing seventh in a mile optional claiming allowance in his first race since finishing off the board the May 13 Man o' War at Belmont.

“Last time, he had a horrible post and I think the mile was too short for him,” Maker said. “But we wanted the race to prepare for this one.”

Value Engineering showed his versatility last season at Gulfstream not only by winning the Jerkens on Tapeta but in his subsequent turf starts, a second-place finish in the McKnight (G3) and a victory in the Mac Diarmida (G2).

Jose Ortiz, who hasn't ridden Value Engineering since his Mac Diarmida score, will be reunited with the 7-year-old gelding.

Hometown favorite Tyler Gaffalione is scheduled to ride for the first time during the Championship Meet Saturday, when he is named to ride Graham Motion-trained Swore in the Jerkens among his seven scheduled mounts. The Davie FL native, who won his first race in 2014 at Gulfstream, has become a dominant force in Kentucky, where he has won four titles between Keeneland and Churchill Downs this year.

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The consistent Speed Bias (#4) has another chance to grab his first career stakes race victory Saturday in Oaklawn's $200,000 Tinsel Stakes. Probable post time for the nine-furlong Tinsel, the ninth of 10 races, is 4:14 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:30 p.m.

Speed Bias has lost eight consecutive starts since a front-running 5 ½-length allowance race victory at 1 1/16 miles last January at Oaklawn. During that span against top company, Speed Bias has four runner-up finishes and finished third twice.

Speed Bias finished second, beaten a nose by millionaire Rattle N Roll, in the 1 3/16-miles $250,000 G3-Pimlico Special in May; was second to future Grade 1 winner Bright Future in a 1 1/8-miles allowance race at Saratoga in July and exits a third-place finish, beaten a neck, in the nine-furlong $350,000 G2-Fayette Stakes in October at Keeneland.

“We're due,” said Ron Moquett, who trains the 4-year-old son of champion Uncle Mo for William Sparks and Keith Johnston. “He's a nice horse that's got a lot of ability and very consistent with effort and he's run against some really nice horses in every race. So, we believe that there's a stakes race win out there with his name on it somewhere and we'll keep leading him over there until he starts picking them up.”

Speed Bias (#4) had been previously based at Churchill Downs, but Moquett opted to pass its signature fall race, the $600,000 G2-Clark Stakes, in favor of the Tinsel.

“He ran so hard at Keeneland and we decided we wanted to give a little spacing,” Moquett said. “So, we decided with the connections being so fond of Oaklawn, we would skip the Clark and came to Oaklawn with this race in mind.”

Seize the Night (#3) is the first scheduled Oaklawn starter for trainer Jade Cunningham, who went out on her own last summer in Kentucky after previously working for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and trainer Dallas Stewart, a longtime Lukas assistant.

Cunningham started her first horse Sept. 3 and has had four other starters to date, with her best finish a fourth by Seize the Night in a turf allowance Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs. Seize the Night was a two-time allowance winner last season at Oaklawn for Lukas. One of the victories was a half-length decision over Speed Bias.

Like Speed Bias, Seize the Night is seeking his first career stakes victory after finishing sixth in the $400,000 G3-Ack Ack in September at Churchill Downs.

“Of course, there's some competitive horses, but he's training really good and it wouldn't be fair to not give him the opportunity to show me if he's got it or not,” Cunningham said. “I personally believe that he does.”

Program favorite Strong Quality (#2) exits a front-running 9 ¼-length off-the-turf allowance victory at 1 1/16-miles Nov. 18 at Churchill Downs for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Denington (#7), who has never faced older horses, began his busy 13-race 2023 campaign with a third-place finish in the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds New Year's Day at Oaklawn for trainer Kenny McPeek.

The seven-horse Tinsel field from the rail out: War Campaign (#1), Emmanuel Esquivel to ride, 125 pounds, 4-1 on the morning line; Strong Quality (#2), Florent Geroux, 125, 5-2; Seize the Night (#3), Francisco Arrieta, 125, 9-2; Speed Bias (#4), Ramon Vazquez, 122, 3-1; Double Crown (#5), Ricardo Santana Jr., 122, 10-1; Ardanwood (#6), Chris Landeros, 122, 12-1; and Denington (#7), Julien Leparoux, 122, 5-1.

The post Oaklawn: ‘Very Consistent’ Speed Bias Going For First Stakes Win In Saturday’s Tinsel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Led by the powerful Group 1-winning entry of Natan (ARG), Happy Happy Day (ARG), and Jazz Seiver (ARG), a 14-horse field has been entered for Saturday's 1 1/2-mile Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini Internacional (G1) at Hipodromo de San Isidro outside Buenos Aires. The winner of South America's most prestigious race will earn an automatic starting position in next year's $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the 2024 Breeders' Cup World Championships, which are scheduled to be held on Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar in Del Mar, California.

The Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini Internacional is the first Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race of the 2024 season.

Natan, trained by Juan Manuel Etchechoury, is the likely top-rated runner of the Stud Las Monjitas-owned trio based on his two Group 1 victories over the course. A 4-year-old son of Senor Candy (ARG), he won last year's Jockey Club by 25 lengths. This year, Natan has won once in three starts, taking the 1 1/4-mile Estrellas Classico (G1) by 1 1/2 lengths over Jazz Seiver. In his most recent start, he was third in the Oct. 7 Gran Premio Latino Americano (G1) at San Isidro, making a strong rush from far back to finish 3 lengths behind the winner.

On the same Oct. 7 card at San Isidro, Happy Happy Day, also trained by Etchechoury, made a bold statement in just his fourth start, winning the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club (G1) for 3-year-olds. A son of Hi Happy (ARG), who won the Carlos Pellegrini in 2015, Happy Happy Day finished third in the Dos Mil Guineas (G1) in the race before his Jockey Club win.

The 4-year-old Jazz Seiver finished sixth in last year's race. Trained by Daniel Bordon, Jazz Seiver, a son of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver, won the 2022 Dos Mil Guineas (G1) and opened this year winning the listed Regimiento de Granaderos a Caballo and the 1 1/2-mile Porteno (G3), both at San Isidro. However, he has lost his last four races, including his most recent start, a fourth-place finish behind Treasure Island (ARG) and Pepe Joy (ARG) in the 1 1/2-mile Copa de Oro-Alfredo Lalor (G1) at San Isidro.

Treasure Island, owned by Stud Bien de Abajo and trained by Nicolas Martin Ferro, has been a mark of consistency during the past year, finishing first or second in his last nine races. A son of Treasure Beach, Treasure Island won six races during that streak, including a last-out, 4-length win in the Nov. 4 Copa de Oro-Alfredo Lalor (G1).

The 6-year-old Pepe Joy won his first Group 1 at nearby Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo, taking the Sept. 2 Gran Premio General San Martin by 1 1/2 lengths over Treasure Island. Owned by Stud El Chuchi and trained by Gustavo Romero, the late-running son of Fortify was second to Treasure Island in the Copa de Oro in his last start.

Also of interest is Stud RDI's 3-year-old filly No Fear (BRZ), trained by Alfredo Gaitan Dassie, who has saddled the winner of the Carlos Pellegrini a record-tying six times. A daughter of Agnes Gold (JPN), No Fear won the Group 1 De Potrancas at 1 mile in May and ran third against males in the Jockey Club last time out, 1 3/4 lengths behind Happy Happy Day. The last filly to win the Carlos Pellegrini was Porti Pe (ARG) in 1992.

As a part of the benefits of the Challenge series, the Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winner of the Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini Internacional to start in the 1 1/2-mile Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. Breeders' Cup also will provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the pre-entry deadline of Oct. 21, 2024, to receive the rewards.

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