The day racing fans and horseplayers wait for all year for is almost here. The Breeders’ Cup Championship Saturday program will feature the international equine and human stars of horse racing, all ready to square off in nine championship races on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.
Tag: Racing
Surge Capacity Surges Late To Win Bank Grade 3 Valley View
Klaravich Stables' homebred Surge Capacity burst to the front along the rail and posted a three-quarter length victory in the 33rd running of the $300,000 Bank of America Valley View (Grade 3) on the final Friday of Keeneland's 17-day Fall Meet.
Ridden in the race for 3-year-old fillies by Joel Rosario for trainer Chad Brown, Surge Capacity covered 1 mile on firm turf in 1:35.80.
Finishing second was Heavenly Sunday, who was a half-length in front of third-place finisher Bling.
The victory was worth $169,725 to Surge Capacity, who now has won three of four races and has earned $338,975. At Saratoga this summer, the daughter of Flintshire (GB) out of the Warrior's Reward mare Strong Incentive captured the Lake George (G3) and was second in the Lake Placid (G2).
Surge Capacity paid $12.16, $5.62 and $3.96. Heavenly Sunday, ridden by Florent Geroux, returned $7.84 and $5.34. Bling paid $4.46 to show with Rafael Bejarano aboard.
Completing the order of finish were favored Sacred Wish, Safeen, Eternal Silence, Pride of the Nile, Speirling Beag (IRE), Secret Money, Flashy Gem, Abundancia and Yesternight.
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Quotes from the $300,000 Bank of America Valley View (G3)
Click here for a replay of the race and the post-race interview with winning connections.
Joel Rosario (winning rider of Surge Capacity)
“It was pretty good (going into the first turn). She got a good run out (of the gate) and got a good spot. It looked like it was pretty nice. She can be a little difficult with her head a little bit, but we got into the first turn really well. Turning for home, I was trying to continue in my spot, and those two horses kind of blocked me in and left me on the inside a little longer. But she proved she was the best horse and Chad Brown is an excellent trainer. She's a fighter all the time, a really tough horse, and she likes to run.”
Florent Geroux (rider of runner-up Heavenly Sunday)
“Good trip, she broke super sharp and put me in a good position. We just got a little unlucky to get run down at the end. It was a good pace. She was very content. I thought she ran a great race, just second best today.”
Rafael Bejarano (rider of third-place finisher Bling)
“I had good position in the right spot coming through the stretch. I thought I had won it, but the winner was much the best. The winner got through on the rail.”
The post Surge Capacity Surges Late To Win Bank Grade 3 Valley View appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Durante Goes Gate To Wire In Grade 3 Bold Ruler
JKX Racing and trainer David Jacobson's Durante broke sharp from the gate and never looked back en route to a gate-to-wire score as the 6-5 favorite in Friday's 48th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler for 3-year-olds and upward going six furlongs at Belmont at the Big A.
Durante, by Distorted Humor, entered from a close runner-up finish to fellow Bold Ruler contestant Cowan in a local six-furlong allowance optional claimer contested over a sloppy and sealed main track on October 14. That effort ended a four-race winning streak for Durante, who previously earned open-lengths sprinting scores at Penn National, Saratoga Race Course and Belmont at the Big A.
Breaking from post 2 under Manny Franco, Durante set a swift early tempo with dual stakes-winner Provocateur and Cowan keeping close company a respective second and third through an opening quarter-mile in 21.92 seconds over the fast main track. Around the far turn, Cowan crept closer to his familiar foe with Provocateur backpedaling in between horses from third through a half-mile in 44.87.
Durante kicked clear from Cowan with a four-length advantage at the stretch call. Multiple stakes-winner Twisted Ride and Grade 1-placed High Oak both launched late rallies in the final furlong, but there was no catching Durante, who crossed the wire a 2 3/4-length winner in a final time of 1:09.78. High Oak finished a head better than Twisted Ride, who finished third.
Completing the order of finish were the Jacobson-trained Stage Left, Cowan, Five Dreams, Jeff Fa Fa, and Provocateur. Pirate Rick was scratched.
Franco was piloting Durante for the fourth straight start, and said an off track last out may have hampered his chances.
“The last time on the wet track – he didn't like that at all – but he still wanted to win that race. Today, on a dry track, he was the horse that I know and he got it done,” Franco said. “He likes to run free. He's a speed horse and I just break from the inside running. I kept improving my position, and when I saw I put away those two horses, I knew I was going to be hard to beat because he was running in the stretch.”
Durante, who paid $4.40 for a $2 win wager, made his first graded stakes appearance since finishing fourth in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December 2021.
“We got him out in California and he's able to carry his speed – a lot of these California horses enjoy the East Coast. There's no getting around that.” said Jacobson. “I think it's a combination of the weather and the track. They seem to do well here and it just feels good to have a nice horse in my barn again.”
Durante made his first start for Jacobson on Aug. 2 at Penn National, winning a six-furlong allowance by six lengths. He was previously trained by Keith Craigmyle, who claimed him from original trainer Doug O'Neill last summer.
“We started him off against easier competition at Penn National the first time and graduated up,” Jacobson said. “His win at Saratoga was a tough race and I don't know how much he liked the slop last time. I don't know about running him in the slop again.”
Jacobson said the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight Handicap on November 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack would likely be Durante's next assignment. Jacobson previously won the six-furlong main track test with Salutos Amigos [2014] and Stallwalkin' Dude [2017].
Durante improved his record to 23-7-5-1 while banking $110,000 in earnings to enhance his lifetime bankroll up to $428,911.
The Bold Ruler honors the 1957 Champion 3-Year-Old and Horse of the Year, who went on to become one of the most influential stallions of all time. He sired the great Secretariat, who won the Triple Crown in 1973 – the same year Bold
Ruler was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Other prominent direct paternal descendants of Bold Ruler include A.P. Indy, Foolish Pleasure, Seattle Slew, Spectacular Bid, Ruffian, Bayakoa, Dust Commander, Cannonade, Rags to Riches, Tapit, and Flightline.
Live racing resumes Saturday at Belmont at the Big A with an 11-race card featuring the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose in Race 8, the $135,000 Awad in Race 9, and the Grade 2, $300,000 Forty Niner in Race 10. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.
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Steeplechase: Major Hurdle, Timber Stakes Highlight Saturday’s Eight-Race Great Meadow Card
For the third time this fall, the jumpers return to Virginia on Saturday, where they'll compete for $325,000 in purses at the International Gold Cup Races at Great Meadow Race Course in The Plains, the second richest program on the National Steeplechase Association autumn calendar.
The card consists of eight races – over timber, hurdles, and a mixed bag of obstacles – as well as events for runners at all levels of competition from maiden claiming to stakes. In all, 57 horses have been entered.
Six of Saturday's races will be run over hurdles, all at 2 ⅛ miles, the headliner being the Grade 2 $75,000 David L.“Zeke” Ferguson Stakes. The $30,000 maiden hurdle, the first race of the day, drew enough entries to be split into two divisions. Besides the stake and maiden special weights contests, other hurdle events include a $35,000 allowance event for non-winners of two; a $30,000 handicap for horses rated at 115 or less; and a $20,000 maiden claimer.
The eponymous International Gold Cup timber stakes, contested at 3 ½ miles for a purse of $75,000, has drawn a field of four, two of whom are stakes winners: The Hundred Acre Field's Cracker Factory captured the Brown Advisory at Shawan Downs in September and was a close second to Dolly Fisher's Schoodic in the National Sporting Library and Museum Cup at Virginia Fall two weeks ago. Schoodic, 13, is a past winner of both the International Gold Cup and its spring counterpart the Virginia Gold Cup at Great Meadow, and hasn't been off the board in eight starts since May 2021. An allowance winner over timber, Boudinot Farm's Elusive Exclusive finished a gutsy second to Cracker Factory in the Brown Advisory where he was caught at the wire. Irv Naylor's Stooshie, an allowance winner at the Old Dominion Hounds meet in the spring, was a distant third in the National Sporting Library & Museum Cup.
Six were entered in the $30,000 Steeplethon stakes over hurdles, natural brush, and water, including Sheila Fisher and Northwoods Stable's Storm Team, a multiple stakes winner over timber and hurdles, who triumphed by 14 lengths in the steeplethon at Great Meadow in May. Fat Chance Farm's Salamanca School is riding a two-race winning streak. After breaking his maiden at Shawan Downs by nine lengths, he came back two weeks later to score a 22-length allowance blowout at Genesee Valley in upstate New York. The field also includes two other entrants who finished behind Salamanca School at Genesee: Armata Stable's Our Friend was second while Ballybristol Farm's Mercoeur was fourth. Mercoeur, 12, has plenty of experience at Great Meadow having made six previous starts, and won a steeplethon over the course in 2020. Rounding out the field are Armata Stable's Fashion Line, who scored his third victory of the season at Virginia Fall, taking the steeplethon at Virginia Fall where he defeated Storm Team. Elizabeth Korrell's Don't Shout was second to Salamanca School at Shawan Downs, beaten nine lengths, in his first start in 14 months.
In the Ferguson, six horses will face starter Stirling Young, led by Bruton Street-US' mighty Snap Decision, who was pulled up after failing to mount a threat over the soft going in the Grade 1 Grand National at Far Hills last Saturday. The three-time Grade 1 winner, whose lone 2023 victory came in the G2 Temple Gwathmey at Middleburg Spring, will again be giving away a lot of weight under the race's handicap conditions, from 12 to 20 pounds. His stiffest challenge could come from fellow G1 winner Riverdee Stable's Awakened (150 pounds), who captured the Jonathan Sheppard stakes over the summer in Saratoga. Sonny Via's Welshman (146 pounds) has three wins in his last five outings, including the G2 David Semmes Memorial at the same distance over the same course in May. Upland Flats Racing and John Lewis' West Newton (142 pounds), a two-time winner this year, won the Daniel Van Clief Memorial at Foxfield in the spring, defeating Irv Naylor's Scorpion's Revenge, a stakes winner himself, who finished fourth in last week's Grand National. In his first NSA start after a career in Europe, Sharon Sheppard and Gill Johnston's Caramelised (140 pounds) was an impressive come-from-behind winner over Welshman in the Carolina Cup novice stakes. And after finishing third in the Queen's Cup, also a novice stake, he wasn't a factor in either the Jonathan Kiser or Jonathan Sheppard (G1) stakes.
For the complete entries, click here
Post time for the races is 12:00 noon., and you can watch via live stream from the NSA website. The live stream is sponsored by Brown Advisory.
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