Tag: Racing

Muth, runner-up to upset winner Fierceness in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) Nov. 3 at Santa Anita, is among the nominees for trainer Bob Baffert for the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2).

The race at 1 1/16 miles for 2-year-olds – won last year by Practical Move – will be run for the 10th time at Los Alamitos on Saturday, Dec. 16, the next-to-last day of the upcoming Winter Thoroughbred meet.

Owned by Zedan Racing Stables Inc., Muth, a son of Good Magic, won the American Pharoah (G1) prior to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and hasn't been worse than second in four career starts.

Other Futurity nominees for Baffert, who won the race seven consecutive times at Los Alamitos between 2014-2020, include Prince of Monaco, a Los Alamitos graduate and winner of the Del Mar Futurity (G1), Mirahmadi, second in the Del Mar Futurity, and impressive maiden winners Coach Prime and Wynstock.

The Winter meet will also feature the $200,000-guaranteed Starlet (G2) for 2-year-old fillies. Run at the same distance as the Futurity, the Starlet, which last year was captured by Faiza, will be offered for the 10th time at Los Alamitos Saturday, Dec. 9.

Among the nominees are Dua, a Baffert-trained daughter of Arrogate who was third in both the Sorrento (G3)  and Chandelier (G2), recent Santa Anita maiden winner Don't Bring Crazy, and first out graduates Iscreamuscream, Pinecone, and Tap Your Dream.

The six-day Winter Thoroughbred meet will begin Friday, Dec. 8 and continue through Sunday, Dec. 17.

The post Muth, Prince Of Monaco, Mirahmadi Among Baffert Nominees To Los Al Futurity appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The $100,000 Jean Lafitte provided race fans at Delta Downs with plenty of fireworks Friday evening when Lynne M. Boutte's Spinning Aces just edged out Awesome Ruta and Good Like Magic to win the seven-furlong test for  2-year-olds in a thriller.

The Jean Lafitte was one of two stakes for juveniles carded and was followed three races later by the $100,000 My Trusty Cat for fillies, which unlike the Jean Lafitte, turned into a runaway for Willis Horton Racing's homebred Tapit Jenallie.

In the Jean Lafitte, Spinning Aces broke well before stalking the early pace set by longshot Gone Elvis, who covered the opening quarter mile in :22.95  while pressed by Good Like Magic. Nearing the half-mile mark Good Like Magic put away Gone Elvis, who clocked the half mile in :47.58 but then had to deal with the eventual winner. Good Like Magic and Spinning Aces ran side-by-side turning for home before Spinning Aces forged a narrow lead under Joel Dominguez after going six furlongs in 1:14.18.

Through the homestretch a late challenger appeared on the scene in the form of 42-1 longshot Awesome Ruta, who launched a stout rally before coming up a neck short of the winner at the finish line. Good Like Magic held the third spot another neck behind the runner-up in the field of nine.

Spinning Aces covered the distance in 1:27.86 on a sloppy (sealed) track while making his stakes debut.

The Louisiana-bred Hard Aces gelding has won two of his three career starts. He earned $60,000 for his win against open company in the Jean Lafitte and has a bankroll of $99,540.

Bred by Gerald L. Averett Jr., Spinning Aces is out of the Afternoon Deelites mare Just Alex. He is conditioned by Allen Landry.

Sent to the starting gate at odds of 8-1, Spinning Aces paid $19.80 to win.

In the My Trusty Cat, even-money favorite Tapit Jenallie was ridden to victory by Richard Eramia. The Eddie Milligan Jr. trainee came from off the pace to score a decisive 5 1/2-length victory, her first in stakes company after winning her debut Sept. 30 at Remington Park.

After breaking cleanly from post position two, Tapit Jenallie took back off the early pace set by Kant Resist It, who covered the opening quarter mile in :22.91 and the half mile in :47.27. As the field entered the second turn Tapit Jenallie started gaining on the leader and eventually slipped through a gap at the rail to take command turning for home. She hit the three-quarter mark in 1:14.13 while widening her margin through the lane.

At the finish line Tapit Jenallie was all by herself while Kant Resist It settled for second. Noriskit Nobiscuit was no threat to the top pair, finishing another two lengths behind the runner-up.

Tapit Jenallie covered seven furlongs in 1:27.91.

With first-place prize of $60,000, Tapit Jenallie raised her lifetime bankroll to $80,094.

Bred in Kentucky by her owner, Tapit Jenallie is a chestnut filly by Tapit out of the War Front mare Take Charge Tressa.

Tapit Jenallie paid $4 to win.

The post Spinning Aces, Tapit Jenallie Sparkle In 2YO Stakes At Delta Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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When asked to expound on his indefatigable mare, Sweet Willemina, trainer Scott Lake doesn't have to think long.

“She's a beast. There's no other word to describe her,” Lake said. “She's a beast. She loves getting on the van. She's shipped all over the country since I've had her. She's been everywhere. She just does her job, and she loves her job.”

The latest stop for Richard Clavardone's Sweet Willemina comes Saturday in the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go at Laurel Park, her 49th career start and 34th for Lake, a winner of more than 6,300 races over 3 ½ decades that has seldom seen a mare maintain her form into her 6-year-old season.

“Not like that, especially shipping everywhere and doing it,” he said. “They're very rare.”

Sweet Willemina fetched just $1,100 as a yearling in the fall of 2018 but has gone on to earn $605,020 in purses with a record of 17 wins, two seconds and 16 thirds. Sixteen of those wins – including stakes victories in the 2021 PTHA President's Cup and Claiming Crown Glass Slipper – have come since being claimed for $32,000 in the summer of 2021 after winning just one of 15 starts.

“I had someone tell me that it was the worst claim in America when I took her,” Lake said. “I remind him about it all the time.”

The short-term plan Lake had when he claimed Sweet Willemina has turned into a long-term love affair for a horse that has become a barn favorite.

“I took her with an idea. Parx wrote those [$16,000] starter races, never won two lifetime and never won three lifetime, so you knew if she could go through those two conditions then she's paid for. And then if she could win the never won four starter and the a-other-than, you're ahead on her and you can run her for anything you want,” Lake said. “She just kept getting better. She's won at nine different distances if you count the one-turn mile, the two-turn mile and a three-turn mile. She's been unbelievable.”

Sweet Willemina debuted in May 2019 at Churchill Downs and has raced at 15 tracks in 10 states in the East and Midwest, registering wins at Churchill, Parx, Delaware Park, Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct, Mahoning Valley, Mountaineer Park and the Maryland State Fair Meet in Timonium. She has raced once previously at Laurel, finishing 10th in the one-mile Heavenly Cause last April.

“I ran her the one time there and she really wasn't at her peak. She was kind of in a little bit of a lull which, for her, has never really lasted long,” Lake said. “She runs one or two mediocre races and then she jumps back up again. That really was kind of in her lull period. She didn't run her best race that day, for sure.”

Sweet Willemina takes a three-race win streak into the 1 1/16-mile Thirty Eight Go Go, where she drew Post 8 under jockey Angel Cruz in a field of 10 that includes multiple stakes winners Hybrid Eclipse, Malibu Beauty and Intrepid Daydream, Argentinian group-stakes winner Milagrosa Surena, Grade 3-placed Opus Forty Two and two-time Maryland-bred champion filly Luna Belle.

“She's kind of risen to the occasion for what she runs against,” Lake said. “She shows up. We looked at like she's earned a shot at something like this, so let's go do it.”

The post ‘She Loves Her Job’: Laurel Park Next Stop For Sweet Willemina appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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It's the track. Not the weather, or the beach or the restaurants (though they come in close behind) but the track that attracts horsemen and women to Del Mar in the fall. Many of the trainers who have set up shop at the seaside oval for the next four weeks will tell you they choose to bring their horses to Del Mar, rather than shuttling them in for the races, because of the racing surface.

“November at Del Mar is probably the best track we have,” trainer Peter Miller says. “because there are so few horses, the surface is great and the weather is cool. It's the best track we have all year on this circuit in my opinion.”

Miller has brought a string of 20 horses to Del Mar this fall and he plans to shuttle in horses from the San Luis Rey Training Center in nearby Bonsal, much like he does during the summer meet. Miller also owns a home 10 minutes from the track so he has a personal affection for Del Mar.

But he's not alone in his opinion. Phil D'Amato is back to defend his training title at Del Mar and he echoes Miller's sentiments.

“It's a track where there's not a lot of traffic,” he says. “It's fresh and horses seem to get over it better. And you can race horses on the grass as well. It suits my barn very well.”

Both D'Amato and Miller will have horses running in the $75,000 Kathryn Crosby, the feature race on Saturday. Nine fillies and mares have been entered in the one mile test on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. D'Amato's Dolce Zel is the morning line favorite.

“She's a new filly into my barn,” D'Amato says. “I've had her for a couple of months and she's training very well. I think it's a good race to get her started.”

D'Amato also brings Turnerloose back to Del Mar. The 4-year old daughter of Nyquist ran twice at Del Mar over the summer, finishing fifth in the G2 Yellow Ribbon and second to Closing Remarks in the G2 John Mabee. She subsequently ran last in the G2 Rodeo Drive up at Santa Anita.

“She came out of the race a little sick so she had a valid excuse there,” D'Amato says. “She's run well on the Del Mar surface, so with a class relief and a happy filly hopefully we'll get a better performance.”

Miller brings Free and Humble into the Kathryn Crosby. She ran three times during the Del Mar summer meet, finishing third in an entry level allowance before winning at that level in her next race. She then ran sixth in the John Mabee. The 3-year old daughter of Free Drop Billy was third last out in the $100,000 Unzippped at Santa Anita behind Ruby Nell, who won the G3 Autumn Miss last Sunday.

“It's a tough spot again for her but she's doing well,” Miller says. “We gotta run her. She still has the two-X allowance condition but that race doesn't come up until the end of the meet and we don't want to wait another month with her. So we're going to give it a go.”

He expects Free and Humble to stalk third or fourth in the race which features two entries from trainer Bob Baffert. Ganadora returns to the turf. She has 10 career starts but only one on the grass. Baffert also brings Lucky For You, a daughter of Uncle Mo, who hasn't raced since August at Del Mar when she ran sixth in a non-winners of two allowance race.

The Kathryn Crosby is the seventh of nine races on the Saturday card. It's named after the popular actress of the 1950's and wife of Del Mar founder Bing Crosby. Post time for the stakes race is 3:30 p.m.

Here's the field from the rail with the jockeys and morning line odds: Linda's Gift (Tiago Pereira, 5-1); Nadette (Hector Berrios, 6-1); Very Scary (Kent Desormeaux, 15-1); Turnerloose (Antonio Fresu, 7-2); Dolce Zel (Flavien Prat, 5-2); Ganadora (Juan Hernandez, 6-1); Free and Humble (Mike Smith, 12-1); Lucky For You (Kyle Frey, 12-1), and Yerwanthere (Umberto Rispoli, 6-1).

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