Tag: Racing

The juvenile fillies take center stage in the G3 Jimmy Durante, the second portion of the stakes feast at Del Mar Saturday. The Jimmy Durante is sandwiched between the $100,000 Stormy Liberal turf sprint and the G1 Hollywood Derby as the Turf Festival continues at the seaside oval.

Eleven fillies are expected to line up for the Jimmy Durante, a one-mile test on the turf. Trainer Chad Brown brings in the morning line favorite. Lady de Berry broke her maiden last out at Keeneland. It was her first time on the turf and her first time going two turns.

“Her only start on the turf was very, very good,” Brown says. “She ran like she's a stakes quality 2-year-old filly and it seemed like a good spot for her.”

Go With Gusto looks like the main threat. She was runner-up against the boys in the $150,000 Qatar Gold Mile at Santa Anita on the Friday Breeders' Cup undercard. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro is still looking for her first win. She broke her maiden in her debut but was disqualified. Instead of staying with maidens, trainer Mark Casse took a swing at the G1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine and she finished third.

Impressed with her race, Casse brought her out with his Breeders' Cup string and she didn't disappoint.

“I thought she kind of had a bit of a rough trip,” assistant trainer Shane Tripp says of her race in the Gold Mile. “Kind of got stopped there a couple of times. We thought she'd probably win so I think this will be a good time to give her a shot to win the money. She's young and I think they get better with racing. The distance will suit her.”

All of Go With Gusto's starts have been a mile on the turf.

Mo Fox Givin finished just a neck behind Go With Gusto in the Gold Mile. The daughter of Mo Town has done her share of traveling. She broke her maiden at Colonial Downs in August, ran second in a non-winners of two lifetime allowance race at Churchill Downs in September before her run in the Gold Mile at Santa Anita.

“She was a bit too sharp,” trainer Leonard Powell says. “She went a bit too fast early. But she was very courageous to run third. I think she'll relax a little more Saturday and we're going to ride her a little more conservatively.”

This will be Mo Fox Givin's fourth different racetrack in four career starts but Powell doesn't think it will be a factor.

“She's a very classy filly,” he notes. “She handles everything with class.”

Del Mar's leading trainer, Phil D'Amato, will bring two fillies to the dance. Circle of Trust broke her maiden last out up at Santa Anita, but was disqualified for a bumping incident in the lane.

“She had a breakthrough performance going long last time,” D'Amato says. “We were able to get Joel Rosario on her. You can't go wrong there.”

His other filly, Ms Brightside, is new to barn.

“I've never run her but I was very impressed with her maiden victory overseas,” D'Amato says.” She's had some really nice, spiffy works here in the morning and I think drew a good post for her so she can save all the ground on the rail and come with a good run.”

The G3 Jimmy Durante is Race 5 on the nine-race Saturday card. It's named after the popular comedian and actor who was a Del Mar regular. He's the same guy whose name you see when you drive to the track on “Jimmy Durante Boulevard” and the Del Mar turf course is named after him, too. Approximate post time for the stakes is 2:30 p.m.

Here's the field from the rail with jockeys and the morning line odds:

1. Ms Brightside (Geovanni Franco, 12-1);
2. Antifona (Tiago Pereira, 12-1);
3. Yatta (Umberto Rispoli, 6-1);
4. Circle of Trust (Joel Rosario, 8-1);
5. She Is Romantic (Antonio Fresu, 15-1);
6. Mo Fox Givin (Hector Berrios, 6-1);
7. Blue Oasis (Ramon Vasquez, 15-1);
8. Lady de Berry (Flavien Prat, 5/2);
9. Go With Gusto (Tyler Gaffalione, 4-1);
10. Feisty Mitole (Kyle Frey, 20-1), and
11. Zona Verde (Juan Hernandez, 8-1).

The post Del Mar: 11 Juvenile Fillies To Line Up In Saturday’s Jimmy Durante appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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They've traveled 3,000 miles in hopes of landing a coveted Grade 1 win. They hail from the barns of Chad Brown, Charles Appleby and Mark Casse and they're 'invading' Del Mar this weekend as part of the Turf Festival.

The Hollywood Derby is the first of two Grade 1 races scheduled for this weekend at Del Mar and Brown has brought the G1 Saratoga Derby winner, Program Trading, out west. The English-bred colt won the first three races of his career before running second in the G3 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs in September.

“He had a challenging post,” Brown says regarding his last start. “He was a little close to a fast pace. It might have did him in in the end where he got caught by a good horse. Hopefully he'll work out a better trip this time. A very consistent horse.”

Brown also will send out Redistricting, another English-bred, this one by Kingman. His lone venture into Grade I company ended in a forgettable seventh-place finish in the Belmont Derby in July. He rebounded with a win in an entry level allowance race three months later.

“He finished well,” Brown says, “and I think he's ready to step back up into a big race like this.”

Jockey Joel Rosario – a three-time shore riding champ – returns to Del Mar to ride Saturday and will be aboard Redistricting.

Charles Appleby will send out Silver Knott, a heartbreaking second in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf when he was nosed out by Victoria Rose. Appleby took the English-bred home for the winter and, following his 2023 debut in May, brought him back to the states.

Silver Knott has run four times since his return, but has yet to get back to the winner's circle. In his last, the G2 Twilight Agenda at Santa Anita, he finished second, a half a length behind the winner.

Webslinger comes out of the Mark Casse barn. He is an ultra-consistent son of Constitution who finished a nose behind Silver Knott in the Twilight Agenda. Of his 12 lifetime starts, he has won four wins, including the G2 American Turf on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. He finished in-the-money five other times, never more than two lengths behind the winner.

“He's very honest,” assistant trainer Shane Tripp says. “Mark has quite a few divisions and I've been blessed enough to have him (Webslinger) in New York. We really like the way he's been here.”

If all goes well for the connections, Webslinger will be running late.

“You don't ever want to put him in a position where he has a lot to do,” Tripp says. “But he's a closer and he needs to be up there close enough where he can strike because he has a big 3/8's mile turn of foot.”

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione will fly in to Del Mar to ride Webslinger.

The local contingent is led by Seal Team, the impressive winner of the Twilight Agenda last out at Santa Anita on the Breeders' Cup undercard.

“He's doing really good,” trainer Richard Mandella says. “We always thought he was a really good horse and he's proven us right.”

Others of note are Maltese Falcon, winner of the G3 La Jolla during the summer meet at Del Mar, and Reiquist, another nose back of Webslinger in fourth in the Twilight Agenda.

The 83rd running of the G1 Hollywood Derby goes off as Race 7 on the nine-race Saturday card. Past winners include Affirmed (1978); Royal Heroine (1983); Itsallgreektome (1990); Paradise Creek (1994), and California Chrome (2014). Approximate post time for the stakes is 3:30 p.m.

Here's the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds:

1. Silver Knott (Jamie Spencer, 6-1);
2. Maltese Falcon (Juan Hernandez, 20-1);
3. Reiquist (Ramon Vasquez, 10-1);
4. Watsonville (Antonio Fresu, 12-1);
5. Webslinger (3-1);
6. Santorini (Alex Achard, 15-1);
7. Redistricting (5-1);
8. Program Trading (Flavien Prat, 9/5), and
9. Seal Team (Umberto Rispoli, 5-1).

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Trainer Robert Falcone, Jr. operates a bustling operation with 28 horses stabled in New York at Belmont Park and another 15 head each at Fair Grounds Race Course in Louisiana and Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida.

The busy conditioner will be hoping that his Castle Chaos, listed at 30-1 on the morning line, will be able to wreak a little havoc in Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets before he hops a southbound plane.

“I'll be watching the Cigar Mile and then straight to JFK and getting on a plane at 5:30 to Florida. I've got one in at Gulfstream the next day,” Falcone, Jr. said. “I'll stay at Palm Meadows for a few days and then fly to the Fair Grounds to watch those horses train for a few days and then back to New York.”

Falcone, Jr. haltered Castle Chaos, a 5-year-old Palace Malice bay, for $75,000 out of a runner-up effort on debut in September 2021 at Saratoga Race Course on behalf of owners Sanford J. Goldfarb, Nice Guys Stables and Beast Mode Racing.

Castle Chaos would graduate two starts later in December 2021 at the Big A in a seven-furlong maiden special weight. He continued to race through that winter and finished third in a first level one-turn mile allowance here last February, but ended his 4-year-old campaign with a trio of off-the-board efforts.

“He had a couple bad races and then we tried the grass and it didn't work out. We gave him some time off and found a little issue with him and then brought him back,” Falcone, Jr. said. “It wasn't anything serious. He had a little bone bruising. He's been good since he came back.”

Castle Chaos returned victorious in June, a full calendar year later, to post a 1 1/2-length score in a six-furlong optional-claimer on June 3 at Monmouth Park and was a prominent third when stretched out to a two-turn mile next out in July at the New Jersey oval.

“We brought him back at Monmouth sprinting and he ran a big race that day,” Falcone, Jr. said. “He was probably too sharp to go the two turns back at Monmouth. He went a little quick around there and burned himself out early.”

Falcone, Jr. has since decided the gelding is more effective around one turn and was pleased to see Castle Chaos close from last-of-8 to finish second, defeated a neck at 36-1 odds, traveling seven-furlongs in August at Saratoga. He subsequently landed a troubled-trip third in September sprinting here.

“We always thought he was going to be a one-turn horse – one-turn mile, to be exact,” Falcone, Jr. said. “He just couldn't get up in time at Saratoga.”

Castle Chaos found an ideal local one-turn mile last out and edged clear to a 1 1/4-length score that garnered a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure. The runner-up in that event, Winit, is entered back on Saturday's undercard at the Big A.

“We finally got chance to run him a one-turn mile again last time and he ran a big race,” Falcone, Jr. said. “Obviously, this is a big step up but I'm taking a shot with him – he's doing good.”

Castle Chaos, out of the winning Flatter mare Queen Victoria, has breezed back twice, including a half-mile in 48.66 Saturday over the Belmont dirt training track. He will exit post 9-of-12 Saturday with Dylan Davis aboard.

“We'll let Dylan do his thing. He's a horse that sits and comes from right off them. It turns out pretty good when there's a lot of speed in the race, so drawn outside is fine,” Falcone, Jr. said. “In a one-turn mile, you have a long way to the turn so hopefully they can work out a trip. There should be some pace to close in to.

“He's doing really good and really coming into himself,” Falcone, Jr. continued. “He's acting like he's ready to go again. Hopefully, he can duplicate his effort from last time or better.”

And even though the workload may be heavy for the multiple graded stakes-winning trainer, the anticipation of a big race helps to keep him motivated.

“The excitement of having that many horses and always being active and running different places, it keeps you on your toes,” Falcone, Jr. said. “Any tiredness or exhaustion you get, the excitement helps push you through it.”

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