Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

CCA Oaks Winner Wet Paint On Course For Alabama

Godolphin's Kentucky homebred Wet Paint equaled a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure for her rallying neck triumph in Saturday's Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), a 1 1/8-mile test for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Brad Cox, Wet Paint notched the first Grade 1 victory of her career with a last-to-first rush under Flavien Prat to collar a game Sacred Wish in deep stretch and complete the distance in 1:50.68.

“She came back pretty tired and jogged up the road good,” said Blake Cox, Brad Cox's son and assistant. “She ate up great and she was hitting snooze a little bit this morning. She ran hard and she kept coming. She didn't get much pace, but it's always good when it works out.”

Wet Paint entered from a runner-up effort to Hoosier Philly in the Monomoy Girl on June 17 at Ellis Park and was due to face that rival again before the Tom Amoss trainee scratched Saturday morning due to a foot issue. Wet Paint now boasts three graded stakes triumphs after taking a pair of Grade 3s this winter at Oaklawn Park in the Honeybee and Fantasy.

Cox added that the $600,000 Alabama (G1) going 1 1/4 miles on August 19 at Saratoga remains the logical next race for Wet Paint.

The post CCA Oaks Winner Wet Paint On Course For Alabama appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mandella Keeping Options Open For Haskell Victor Geaux Rocket Ride

By Lynne Snierson

On Sunday morning, trainer Richard Mandella was a man with a lot to think about.

Though his charge Geaux Rocket Ride decisively won Saturday's $1-million TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park going 1 1/8 miles, earning a guaranteed spot in the $6-million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at 1¼ miles at Santa Anita on Nov. 4 via the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series “Win and You're In”, the pathway to get him there remains undecided.

“We'll be making plans as he tells us,” the Hall of Famer said in the immediate aftermath of Geaux Rocket Ride's 1¾-length victory over Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage.

After the long flight home to Southern California and in the light of day, nothing had changed.

Nevertheless, the $1-million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles at Parx Racing on Sept. 23 and two Grade 1s open to 3-year-olds and older are in the mix: Del Mar's $1-million Pacific Classic at 1¼ miles on Sept. 2 and Santa Anita's $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 30.

“I'll think about all of those races and about running against older horses,” said Mandella, who reported that Pin Oak Stud's Geaux Rocket Ride came out of the Haskell in good shape.

Nonetheless, the $1.25-million Travers Stakes (G1) at 1¼ miles for 3-year-olds at Saratoga on Aug. 26 remains a non-starter.

“I think it's too much to think about, taking him to Saratoga,” Mandella said. “He's young and he's not raced very much and we've pushed him along to get to this point.

“I don't like the idea of bringing him to Monmouth, bringing him back to California, and then coming back for the Travers. We pushed him to this point and we don't want to keep pushing. The Travers doesn't seem like the right thing to do.”

With his Haskell score under Mike Smith, Geaux Rocket Ride became a graded stakes winner and improved his record to three wins and one second in four starts and $780,200 in earnings.

The Kentucky-bred Candy Ride colt also gave Mandella his second win in the Haskell – 23 years after his first one in his only other appearance. He won the 2000 edition with Dixie Union.

Geaux Rocket Ride, who was bred by OXO Equine LLC from the Uncle Mo mare Beyond Grace, had been on the Triple Crown trail via the Santa Anita Derby (G1) in early April. But when he came up with a fever and a high white cell count on the morning of the race, it was back to the drawing board.

The bay colt won the June 4 Affirmed Stakes there, which set him up perfectly for the Haskell.

“He had us dreaming pretty high and still does,” said Mandella.

Having the Breeders' Cup right in the stable's backyard at Santa Anita could give Geaux Rocket Ride homefield advantage.

“It does if you're fast enough,” Mandella said. “We think he's fast enough, and so far he's passed every test. But that's another step up to get to the Classic and it's against older horses, so we'll just have to wait and see if he leads us there.”

Geaux Rocket Ride and the Bob Baffert-trained Arabian Knight, the third-place Haskell finisher, were scheduled to be flown back to Southern California on Tuesday.

The post Mandella Keeping Options Open For Haskell Victor Geaux Rocket Ride appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Anisette Rallies Late Under Rispoli For San Clemente Score

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Anisette, making her second U.S. start and only her fifth overall, put in a powerful late run under Umberto Rispoli and zoomed away to a 2 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes Saturday at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

The British-bred daughter of the Irish stallion Awtaad covered the mile on grass in 1:34.84 and picked up a check for $120,000 from the gross purse of $204,500. She now has $166,871 in total earnings.

French transplant Leonard Powell trains the well-made filly, who had captured her American bow in an allowance race at Santa Anita on May 29 where she turned in a similar late move to win by three-quarters of a length in the one-mile turfer.

Finishing second in the San Clemente was Glen Hill Farm's Ocean Club, who had a length and a quarter on Peter Redekop's And Tell Me Nolies.

Rispoli, who was winning his third race on the afternoon, won the San Clemente last year with Bellabel.

Anisette was the race favorite at $2.10 to the dollar and returned $6.20 for the win.

Earlier on the program, Benjamin or Sally Warren's won the $100,000 Osunitas Overnight Stakes, a mile on the turf for fillies and mares. Ramon Vazquez was aboard the 5-year-old Cal-bred as she clicked by one length for trainer Craig Lewis and returned $22.20 for a $2 ticket.

Racing resumes at Del Mar Sunday with a first post of 2 p.m.

UMBERTO RISPOLI (Anisette, winner) – “Good trip for me. I had to use her a little bit on the backside to get her into the spot where I wanted her so we could wait. Then when it came time to go wide, she was there. Terrific closing kick. And I absolutely believe the farther they go, the better she'll be.”

LEONARD POWELL (Anisette, winner) – “I was very happy with the way the race was unfolding. There was plenty of speed and we were looking for the same kind of run as last time. She was very impressive again and a fast time, 1:34 and four. Olders earlier went 1:35.”

FRACTIONS: :22.33 :456.68 1:10.88 1:23.40 1:34.84

The stakes win was the first of the meet for both rider and trainer.

The stakes win was the 19th at Del Mar for rider Rispoli and his second in the San Clemente (He won with Bellabel last year).

The stakes win was the ninth at Del Mar for trainer Powell. It was his first in the San Clemente.

The winning owner is Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which is headed by Aron Wellman of Rancho Santa Fe, CA.

The post Anisette Rallies Late Under Rispoli For San Clemente Score appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Here Mi Song Holds Back O Besos To Win Ellis Park’s Jeff Hall Memorial

Nathan Hayden's homebred Here Mi Song made a bold mid-race rally and gamely held off O Besos to win Saturday's $125,000 Jeff Hall Memorial at Ellis Park.

Trained by locally based Billy Stinson Jr., Here Mi Song was ridden to victory by Alex Achard and completed 6½ furlongs in a sharp 1:16.06

Go West and Tut's Revenge shared the early lead out of the starting gate while Here Mi Song tracked to the outside in third, just one length off the lead. As the dueling leaders completed a quarter-mile in :23.27, Here Mi Song made an early move to their outside and took command of the field into the far turn. At the quarter pole, Here Mi Song had a clear margin on his rivals but had to hold off a three-wide bid from O Besos. At the wire, Here Mi Song continued to find more and held off the late-charging O Besos by a neck.

Here Mi Song is now a six-time winner from 21 starts. His victory in the Jeff Hall Memorial added $75,880 to his overall purse earnings and brought his career mark to $675,073.

Here Mi Song is a 5-year-old gelding by Cross Traffic out of the Dehere mare Mi Vera.

The Jeff Hall Memorial is run in honor of Ellis Park's former director of racing operations who died on 2022 at the age 75.

The post Here Mi Song Holds Back O Besos To Win Ellis Park’s Jeff Hall Memorial appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post