Tom Pedulla presents five takeaways from a major weekend of racing highlighted by action at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack.
Tag: Racing
Ready To Venture Wins Seaway To Cap Lael Stables’ Graded Stakes Double At Woodbine
Lael Stables' homebred Ready To Venture (GB) looked right at home in winning the $150,000 Seaway Stakes (G3) on Sunday at Woodbine.
It was a familiar result for the 5-year-old daughter of Kingman out of Wonderstruck, by Sea The Stars, who is now two-for-two at the Toronto oval after a stellar showing in the seven-furlong Tapeta race for fillies and mares. Last May, Ready To Venture romped to a 5¾-length score in a 6 ½-furlong race over the Tapeta.
Hai Bobbi, supplemented to the Seaway, emerged with the lead and was shadowed by Vantarsi, 3-1 choice Ticker Tape Home, and Il Malocchio through an opening panel in :23.11. Rafael Hernandez, aboard the Michael Stidham-trained Ready To Venture, settled the bay mare into fifth along the rail.
A head in front through a half in :45.48, Hai Bobbi remained under pressure by Vantarsi, while Ready To Venture moved into fourth position as the field of nine picked up the pace heading into the turn for home.
Hernandez had Ready To Venture rolling in early stretch and soon struck front but was then tasked with fending off Millie Girl, who was coming with her best run along the rail. On top by a head in early stretch, Ready To Venture continued on and reached the wire a 1¼-length winner in her graded stakes debut.
Millie Girl was second, followed by Il Malocchio and Ticker Tape Home.
Vantarsi, Hazelbrook, Talk to Ya Later, Hai Bobbi, and Purrfect rounded out the order of finish.
The final time was 1:21.60.
It was another satisfying result for Lael Stables, who one day earlier watched as She Feels Pretty won the Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (G1) for 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine and earned a fees-paid berth into the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), to be run at Santa Anita on November 3.
“It's not a great place to be,” said Hernandez, of having the rail post. “But when everything goes good, we ended up in the winner's circle. It doesn't matter how you start, it matters how you finish. At the three-eighths, I said, 'Man, I have horse.' I know my horse was running down the lane and I said whoever is coming is going to have to have run fast to get us.”
It was the sixth win, along with four seconds and three thirds, from 20 starts for Ready To Venture, whose first eight starts came in England, before starting the North American chapter of her career in March 2022 with a third at Fair Grounds. She broke her maiden in her second start, on September 16, 2020, at Great Yarmouth.
Ready To Venture paid $16.30 for the Seaway win.
The post Ready To Venture Wins Seaway To Cap Lael Stables’ Graded Stakes Double At Woodbine appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Former Claimer Accidental Hero Edges Sunbird In Spirited British Columbia Derby Duel
Accidental Hero collared pacesetter Sunbird midway on the turn, then battled that determined rival through the stretch to narrowly prevail in the CA$117,500 British Columbia Derby (G3) Saturday night at Hastings Racetrack.
Ridden by Kimal Santa for trainer Larry Grieve, Accidental Hero scored by a head while notching his first stakes victory. He completed the 1 1/8-mile main track event in 1:50.05 and returned $4.40 at the 6-5 favorite in the field of five. Early fractions were :23.18 for the opening quarter, :47.54 for the half, 1:12.64 for six furlongs, and 1:37.48 for the mile.
Sunbird outfinished Space for the runner-up spot by 5 3/4 lengths.
A Kentucky-bred Mo Town colt campaigned by WYN Racing Stables Corp., Accidental Hero entered off a creditable third in the Canadian Derby (G3), in which Sunbird was fifth, Aug. 26 at Century Mile Racetrack. With Saturday's triumph, his career line improves to 3-4-3 from 13 starts and $150,834 in lifetime purse earnings.
Accidental Hero, who was bred in Kentucky by Michael T. Barnett, is out of the Chatain mare Pardonmecomingthru. West Point Thoroughbreds landed the colt for $260,000 at the 2022 OBS March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, where Gene Recio consigned him.
In took six starts for Accidental Hero to break his maiden, which happened March 10 at Turfway Park. Trainer Michael Puhich subsequently claimed from him West Point Thoroughbreds for Mark DeDomenico for $40,000 May 5 at Oaklawn Park. The bay colt made his next start for his current connections June 10 at Hastings where he finished last in the Ross McLeod Stakes. He proceeded to go winless in three more starts, all stakes, including the Canadian Derby, before Saturday's thrilling stakes breakthrough.
The post Former Claimer Accidental Hero Edges Sunbird In Spirited British Columbia Derby Duel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘We’re Going To Talk About It’: Promising Maiden Winner Private Desire Possible For Champagne
A strong performance from second-out maiden winner Private Desire on Saturday at Belmont at the Big A will likely warrant an effort at stakes level, with the bay Constitution colt being a potential candidate for either the $500,000 Champagne (G1) on October 7 or the listed $150,000 Nashua on November 5 – both going a one-turn mile for 2-year-olds over the Aqueduct main track.
Owned by Stephen Brunetti Jr. – the son of Red Oak Stable owner Stephen Brunetti – and trained by Todd Pletcher, Private Desire was a 1 1/4-length winner of the 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Belmont at the Big A to kick off Saturday's program. There, he broke sharply from his outermost post 7 under Javier Castellano and engaged with post time favorite Hurricane Nelson on the front end. He took command midway down the backstretch with Hurricane Nelson switching to his outside in attempt to re-rally, but Private Desire kicked clear to victory and completed the distance in 1:16.68. The win produced a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.
Private Desire, who was bred by Wilbert Tan, was a $350,000 acquisition at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Knockgriffin Farm offered him. He is out of graded stakes-placed Wildcat Heir mare Brahms Cat, who is out of the graded stakes-placed Wildcat Heir mare Brahms Cat.
“We're pleased with his effort and with the colt. We've liked him all along,” said Rick Sacco – racing manager for the Brunetti family. “He's a beautiful horse with a beautiful pedigree. When we bought him at Keeneland as a yearling, we paid good money for the horse. I think his pedigree and the way he looks fit the bill.”
Private Desire exited a key debut race on July 29 at Saratoga, where he finished fourth behind victorious Seize the Grey – a colt for D. Wayne Lukas who finished fourth in Saturday's Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs – as well as Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage's half-brother Dornoch and the Chad Brown-trained next-out maiden winner Global Perspective.
“His first race at Saratoga was a good race. Lukas' horse won and the second horse is the half to Mage, the third horse of Chad's came back and won. It was a very tough maiden heat at Saratoga,” Sacco said. “Javier got off the horse and said to Todd, 'I really want to ride this horse back.' So he got positive feedback from Javier and our camp always liked him. After his first race, he really put it all together. He put in some very solid breezes and we skipped a race at Saratoga to point for this race. When the form came out, we kind of knew that he was the lone speed of the race. There were some unknown soldiers in there with some high price tags, but this horse has shown all along that he has very good speed.”
Sacco commented that Private Desire trained with some of Pletcher's promising 2-year-olds this summer.
“It's like playing for the University of Alabama – one All-American after another,” Sacco said of Pletcher's loaded stable. “He put in a string of good breezes and we were very confident going into the race that he would run well based off his first race. What Javier did was pretty remarkable, he took it to that speed horse and dropped over on him. We expected he would engage him and kind of sit off that horse, but we didn't expect him to drop over in front of him and turn it into a sprint after he did that. The gallop out in his race yesterday was extraordinary. We're pleased with everything. It's always a fun time when you have a well-bred 2-year-old in the barn.”
Sacco said he will discuss Private Desire's next start with Pletcher.
“I'm going to talk to Todd. The Nashua is Breeders' Cup weekend and right now everyone is excited after the big win,” said Sacco. “The Champagne is a little quick back for our liking, but we're going to talk about it.”
Sacco went on to talk about Brunetti– a recent graduate at the University of Kentucky, who is slated to carry on his family's legacy.
“He's a young guy that's getting into the game. He loves the horse racing business. He's one of the younger generation guys that's getting involved and he wants to carry on the tradition of the Brunetti family in horseracing,” Sacco said. “It was a slight change in the silks. The sleeves have chevrons on them instead of hoops, and the son is going to carry the banner of Red Oak Farm, so the cap had 'ROF' instead of 'ROS' for Red Oak Stable.”
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