Tag: Racing

Daryl Abramowitz's Grade 3 winning-sprinter Greeley and Ben, still going strong at the age of 9, chases a second straight victory and 25th overall against 11 rivals in Saturday's $100,000 Dave's Friend at Laurel Park.

The six-furlong Dave's Friend for 3-year-olds and up is the second of four $100,000 stakes on the final pre-Christmas program at Laurel, preceded by the 6 ½-furlong Willa On the Move and followed by the 1 1/8-mile Carousel, both for fillies and mares 3 and older, and 1 1/16-mile Robert T. Manfuso for 3-year-olds and up.

Post time for the first of nine races is 12:25 p.m.

Greeley and Ben won stakes at Remington Park, Delta Downs, Sam Houston and was third in Oaklawn Park's Whitmore (G3) in 2021-22 before breaking through with his first graded triumph in the six-furlong Fall Highweight (G3) last November at Aqueduct.

It took nearly a year and a switch to trainer Horacio DePaz before Greeley and Ben ran again, finishing sixth in a 5 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance on a muddy Laurel track Nov. 10. He came back Dec. 2 to run down Johnyz From Albany and win a similar spot by a nose sprinting six furlongs.

Laurel is one of 15 venues where Greeley and Ben has raced since his October 2016 debut, in Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Texas

“He's doing good. He's an old, hard-knocking war horse. Just a very cool horse,” DePaz said. “He's had quite the career and basically run at every racetrack. He came back in good form. We figured that first race he was going to need it and I was encouraged by the way he ran. Going into the next one it looked like he got a lot more fitness out of it and he showed up. It was good to see.”

Claimed three times over the years, most recently for $40,000 last September out of a front-running win at Saratoga, Greeley and Ben joined DePaz over the summer. The gelded son of Greeley's Conquest is 24-for-41 overall with $921,138 in purse earnings.

“With his back class you always hope that horses can come back and continue on, especially after winning the Fall Highweight last year. As trainers, we're always optimistic that we're going to be able to get back to that form,” DePaz said. “When we first started bringing him back we didn't know what kind of form he'd come back in, but it was good to be able to get in those two races and, date-wise, it was good this one came up.”

Greeley and Ben drew Post 10 of 12 and will be ridden by Jevian Toledo, up for both his races this year.

“The owner gave him some time off and let him do some R and R and brought him back slowly. It worked out to be a decent claim,” DePaz said. “He's a really cool horse [with a] really good personality to him.”

Just to the outside of Greeley and Ben is Michael Scheffres' Factor It In, the defending Dave's Friend champion that beat Greeley and Ben in his comeback race last month. The 7-year-old Factor It In is 3-for-6 this year including a win in the 6 ½-furlong Fire Plug Jan. 21 as well as his last-out triumph.

James Wolf's Dollarization has run fourth in back-to-back starts at Parx and Laurel after capturing historic Pimlico Race Course's six-furlong Lite the Fuse Sept. 16. Isabelle de Tomaso and Hope Jones' No Cents won a pair of 2-year-old stakes at Laurel in 2020 but has won just one of 10 starts since, finishing third in his most recent effort Sept. 30 behind Sir Alfred James, who also returns in the Dave's Friend along with Built Wright Stables' stablemate Cowan.

Completing the field are 2022 Phoenix (G2) winner Manny Wah; multiple stakes winners Stage Left and Threes Over Deuces; He'smyhoneybadger, Mystic O'Shaunesie and Nico.

The post ‘Hard-Knocking War Horse’: 9-Year-Old Greeley And Ben To Defend His Title In Saturday’s Dave’s Friend appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Off a convincing four-length maiden breaker over seven furlongs last out at Churchill Downs, Gary and Mary West's West Omaha will look to prove her merits over a route of ground against five rivals in Saturday's Untapable. In addition to the $100,000 purse, the Untapable will offer 2-year-old fillies, soon to be three, 10-5-3-2-1 points on the Road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks.

Installed as Mike Diliberto's lukewarm 5-2 morning line favorite, the homebred daughter of West Coast ran into all sorts of trouble in her career debut on September 21 at Churchill. Losing several lengths when crowded at the start, she raced in the clear near the back of the pack early on. Five-wide off the far turn, the Brad Cox-trainee rallied off heels and finished strongly to be third (placed 2nd following DQ of the winner), ¾ of a length. Over the same seven-furlong trip in her next start, West Omaha enjoyed a much cleaner start. She made the lead, but despite being pressured every step of the way, she drew off in the end to win by four convincing lengths.

“I think she'll stretch out based on her pedigree,” Cox said. “And physically she looks able to handle two turns. We like her. She had a good work this past weekend. Hopefully she can get a good trip.”

With Joel Rosario in the saddle, West Omaha will break from post 6.

Unlike her Cox-trained stablemate West Omaha, Full of Run Racing & Madaket Stable's Alpine Princess already has a two-turn win on her resume. Third in advance of a maiden win in a pair of Saratoga sprints this summer, the daughter of Classic Empire stretched out for the first time in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. Six-wide on the first turn and four-deep on the backstretch, she would finish a distant seventh of eight.

“She reared up in the gate prior to the start which I think threw her off her game a little bit (in the Alcibiades),” Cox said. “She didn't break as well as we thought she would the first time going two turns. That was something we had never seen from her and have not seen since. Hopefully she can get a clean trip from the one hole.”

Dropped back down for her subsequent start at Churchill on November 26, Alpine Princess broke from the rail and raced from the pocket on the backstretch. Held up late on the far turn, she split horses at the top of the stretch and proved two lengths better than fellow Untapable starter Sistina Chapel.

“She rebounded after we gave her around seven weeks between her runs,” Cox said. “I thought she responded really well. She's always been a really good workhorse, that's a big reason why we took her to Saratoga over the summer. We liked her first time out and she didn't get away well. She finished up well and was able to get the job done in her second start.”

At the co-second choice at 3-1 in the morning line, Alpine Princess will break from post 1 with Florent Geroux back aboard.

With four graded stakes wins, including their first grade one, and nearly $4 million in purse earnings, it's already been a banner year for Rigney Racing and trainer Phil Bauer, and they look to end their 2023 on a high note with Untapable contender Legadema.

“We feel like this filly is all quality,” Bauer said. “Early on in the summer we thought this horse would be our Breeders' Cup horse for the Juvenile Fillies. But we had a couple hiccups and just lost all momentum.”

A $590,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, this daughter of Arrogate served notice in her November 23 debut at Churchill. Away alertly in the 6 ½ furlong sprint, she went right to the lead with Martin Garcia aboard, swatted away the pace pressers, and held firm for a convincing 2 ¼ length score.

“On Thanksgiving it was just one of those deals,” Bauer said. “The race was put up as an extra, and we were going to work her out of the gate again that weekend, so we thought what's another half-furlong. If that extra hadn't been there, she might not have run at the Churchill meet. I thought that day she was good enough. It was just a matter of if she was tight enough. I think this is an extremely big ask for her in this race, but the important thing is stepping stones and getting a good read on her moving forward. We're trying to keep some of these fillies separated. We could have run two in the sprint but we felt this filly really has a lot of upside so let's go ahead and try her in here.”

By Arrogate, there is reason to believe Saturday's two-turn distance won't be an issue.

“I like horses that have natural pace but the thing that's nice about this filly is she is very easy to get along with,” Bauer said. “So I think she'll avoid trouble with her tactical speed, but she's one that if you reach up and grab her she'll listen to the rider, so we're excited to see where she goes from here.”

At the co-second choice at 3-1 in the morning line, Legadema will be reunited with jockey Martin Garcia and the team will leave from post 5.

With a post time of 4 p.m. CT, the Untapable is scheduled as the 9th race on Saturday's 12-race “Road to the Derby Kickoff Day” card. The program also features the Gun Runner, a points race on the road to the Kentucky Derby 150 presented by Woodford Reserve, and six other stakes. First post is noon CT.

Here is the complete field for the Untapable from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): 1. Alpine Princess (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 3-1); 2. Band of Gold (Brian Hernandez, Jr., Ken McPeek, 8-1); 3. Sistina Chapel (Corey Lanerie, Ken McPeek, 5-1); 4. Fibber (Mitchell Murrill, Bret Calhoun, 4-1); 5. Legadema (Martin Garcia., Phil Bauer, 3-1); 6. West Omaha (Joel Rosario, Brad Cox, 5-2).

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