Tag: Racing

When 1-2 favorite War Like Goddess tried to take jockey Joel Rosario for a ride in the early stages of Thursday's Grade 2 Glens Falls Stakes at Saratoga, it opened the doors for an upset in the 1 1/2-mile turf contest. In the final eighth of a mile, it was the second choice McKulick (4-1) who was able to pick up the pieces and run down the favorite, crossing the wire a neck ahead of War Like Goddess.

Seth Klarman's 4-year-old daughter of Frankel completed the 12 furlongs over the firm turf in 2:27.05, giving trainer Chad Brown his first victory in the Glens Falls. Irad Ortiz, Jr. piloted the winner for her first win in nearly 11 months.

“She's dancing,” said Ron McKulick, husband of the late Mary McKulick, the filly's namesake and Brown's first employee when he left Bobby Frankel's barn. “She would be humbled and honored and full of joy.”

Drawn on the inside of the seven-strong field, favored War Like Goddess was allowed to settle into stride before Rosario tried to take hold of the two-time Glens Falls winner (2021 and 2022). Turning into the stretch run for the first time, however, War Like Goddess was boxed in from the outside and took offense to the rating attempt; she became extremely rank, tossing her head about and trying to pull Rosario to the front of the field.

At the front of the field, Elegant Taste and Vergara held the top two spots while Virginia Joy kept War Like Goddess against the rail in a joint third. McKulick and Sopran Basilea followed in a compact formation, while Amazing Grace brought up the rear. The early fractions were mild: :24.84, :50.01, and 1:15.29.

Vergara and Virginia Joy were at the front heading into the stretch for the final time, but War Like Goddess made her move and was able to take over from those leaders. Ortiz, meanwhile, looked like he was out of horse along the rail at the head of the lane, but he angled McKulick to the outside and the filly dug in gamely. McKulick put in a big late run down the center of the course to defeat War Like Goddess by a neck at the wire. Amazing Grace closed to finish third, and Sopran Basilea was fourth.

Bred in Great Britain by Essafinaat UK Ltd, McKulick is out of the unraced Makfi mare Astrelle. Mike Ryan selected the filly at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for $245,369; she won on debut, and won two legs of last year's Fillies' Turf Triple in New York. The Glens Falls is just her fourth lifetime win, but it improves her overall record to 4-4-2 from 11 starts and earnings of over $1.4 million.

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Lee Pokoik's Becky's Joker flew under the radar in her winning career debut in the Grade 3 Schuylerville in July, but enters the Grade 3, $200,000 Adirondack three weeks later as a prime contender in Sunday's 6 1/2-furlong main track test for juvenile fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Gary Contessa, Becky's Joker provided a stunning upset in the six-furlong Schuylerville, making her career debut off a series of local breezes and facing a seemingly impossible task in squaring off against graded competition for her first afternoon outing. The daughter of Practical Joke responded to the tall order with aplomb, rallying from one length off the pace to coast home geared down under returning Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano and 3 1/4 lengths clear of returning rival Saratoga Secret.

“I didn't think anybody was better than her physically, and I really thought she could win that race,” said Contessa. “I just didn't know what to expect mentally, because we can't recreate a field of horses in the morning with her getting dirt in her face or a break in the flow or having to overcome traffic. You just don't know how a horse is going to handle that, but I had a very strong belief that mentally she was very sound, and physically she was very talented. It was a combination of the two.”

The $130,000 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale purchase has worked back twice since her Schuylerville coup, including a bullet half-mile in 47.40 seconds on July 26 over the Spa's Oklahoma dirt training track.

“She's incredible because we don't ask her to work,” said Contessa. “We just let her break off at the pole and I tell the rider to just sit on her. She does it all on her own and with her ears up. She's happy to train and her works are well within herself.”

Contessa expressed deep respect for the talented bay, who gave him his first graded score since Sippican Harbor won the Grade 1 Spinaway in 2018. Contessa had planned to wait for the $300,000 Spinaway on September 3 with Becky's Joker, but decided to give her another run after she exited the Schuylerville in exceptional form.

“She's just so level-headed about everything,” said Contessa. “She doesn't get stressed out about anything and she's very cool, calm and collected. She's the perfect horse and ready to run back. I was going to wait for the Spinaway, but she's doing so well and watching her train, I thought it would do well to run her. And, we still have 28 days until the Spinaway after this race, so it's not like we're for want of time.”

Becky's Joker will emerge from the outermost post 10.

Clearsky Farms' Kentucky homebred Here U Come Again [post 3, Florent Geroux] boasts a field-high 86 Beyer Speed Figure for a professional debut victory sprinting five furlongs on July 7 at Ellis Park.

Trained by two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, the Liam's Map grey tracked in second close to pacesetter Pinotslilgirl before taking charge at the three-eighths call and drawing off down the lane to cross the wire 2 1/4 lengths the best in a final time of 57.27.

“She's doing really good,” said Cox. “She ran really good in her first run and I think she's a good filly – fast filly. She's been pretty good out of the gate and we were hoping to have a bit of a target. She was able to break and sit a nice trip, get herself in good position and finish up well. It was five-eighths and she was meant to run three-quarters the week before but the race didn't go. We put her there and she obviously responded well. I'm pretty happy with what we've seen from her since.”

Cox said he expects Here U Come Again to relish the added ground in the Adirondack.

“I think it's a good thing for her,” said Cox. “I'm not saying she's a mile and a sixteenth filly, but I think she's got a good mind and can sit a good trip and finish up. I've liked her from Day One. The first time I saw her, she was one who stamped herself as really good.”

Here U Come Again is out of the multiple stakes-winning Euroears mare Euro K Shotgun, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Shotgun Kowboy. Her immediate family also includes Maysville Slew, a graded stakes-winning millionaire.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas vies for a record-extending eighth Adirondack victory and a successful title defense after taking last year's running with Naughty Gal. This year, the veteran conditioner saddles BC Stables' Saratoga Secret [post 6, Flavien Prat] as she attempts to turn the tables on Becky's Joker.

A daughter from the final crop of Arrogate, Saratoga Secret graduated on debut in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden tilt in June at Ellis Park before making the step up to the graded ranks for her first try against winners in the Schuylerville. There, she vied for early command under Luis Saez before racing three-wide into the turn and briefly had the lead before fading down the lane.

“She ran really well,” Lukas said. “I thought she may have needed that race and she's improved a little bit. But the winner was too much, let's be honest. I'd like to take mine out again.”

Lukas acknowledged the feat Becky's Joker accomplished to graduate on debut in a graded event.

“I really think that horse will be a legitimate favorite for her to rope down through there like she did in that last race, that was pretty impressive,” said Lukas. “Gary deserves a good one.”

The undefeated Brightwork [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] looks to keep her perfect record intact for conditioner John Ortiz after earning her first stakes coup with a narrow score last out in the six-furlong Debutante on July 2 at Ellis Park.

Campaigned by WSS Racing, the Outwork bay impressed on debut in a 4 1/2-furlong sprint in April at Keeneland, winning by three lengths over a field that included Crimson Advocate, who finished third ahead of wins in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream Park and Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. Brightwork stretched out to six furlongs in the Debutante and led at every point of call to gamely fend off V V's Dream.

A half-sister to the stakes-placed Quiet Company, Brightwork is out of the Malibu Moon mare Clarendon Fancy, a half-sister to graded stakes-placed Dubini and stakes-winner What a Catch. Clarendon Fancy is also a full-sister to Catch the Moon, who produced multiple graded stakes-winning millionaires Girvin and Midnight Bourbon, as well as graded stakes-winners Cocked and Loaded and Pirate's Punch.

Completing the field are debut maiden winners Cara's Time [post 1, Dylan Davis], Magic Cross [post 2, Jose Lezcano], Princesa Celina [post 5, Jose Ortiz], who races with blinkers off, Princess Indy [post 7, Manny Franco], Streaming Now [post 8, Joel Rosario] and Copper Em [post 9, Tyler Gaffalione].

The Adirondack is slated as Race 8 on Sunday's 10-race program. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

The post 2-Year-Old Filly Becky’s Joker ‘Just So Level-Headed,’ Runs Back Off Three-Week Break In Sunday’s Adirondack appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Spooky Channel, running in Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup for the second time, is an example of money talking.

NBS Stable's gelding, an $80,000 claim in April of 2021, finished second in his third start for his current connections in the KDP Turf Cup, then worth $125,000. As a Kentucky-bred, Spooky Channel will compete for the full $250,000 offered in Sunday's stakes.

Trainer Jason Barkley, who grew up in Evansville and is the son of retired trainer Jeff Barkley, has horses this summer at Ellis Park and Saratoga, with a few at Churchill Downs' Trackside Training Center. He kept Spooky Channel at Ellis with an eye on Kentucky Downs' $1.7 million FanDuel Kentucky Turf Cup, a Grade 2 race on Sept. 9 whose winner will get a free spot in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

“I don't like to ship him around too much,” Barkley said. “We were able to stay home and run here for $250,000 as a stepping stone to Kentucky Downs. And if he, hopefully, were to win that, then on to the Breeders' Cup.”

Spooky Channel comes into Sunday's 1 1/4-mile stakes off a three-month freshening since he was a rallying third in Churchill Downs' $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic, the Grade 1 race before the Kentucky Derby.

Naturally Barkley is a fan of what Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend has become, including serving as fees-paid qualifiers for the corresponding Kentucky Downs stakes.

“The locals, it gives them a shot to be ready for Kentucky Downs without having to ship around,” he said of the Ellis stakes. “It keeps horses in the state. Just like Spooky. He ran in a Grade 1 last time and we're staying here. We could have gone to the Bowling Green at Saratoga for the same $250,000, but why ship for the same money when you could stay home? If this race had been a $100,000, I think we'd have had to change our options. The added money definitely keeps people around.”

Spooky Channel had just given Barkley the first graded-stakes score of his career in Keeneland's Grade 3 Sycamore two races after the Ellis stakes in 2021 when the English Channel gelding suffered a tendon injury. While such soft-tissue injuries often send a horse into retirement or racing at a cheaper level, Spooky Channel has thrived since his return 14 months later this past Dec. 22. He won the Fair Grounds' $100,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial in his first start back, was third in Sam Houston's John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3) then returned to New Orleans to take the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Classic for his 13th career victory in 29 starts. Barkley said the three-month layoff since the Old Forester was planned.

“Win, lose or draw, we were going to give him two or three weeks at the farm and then set him up for the summer,” he said. “He had a long winter, coming off an injury. He shipped to New Orleans, then he shipped over to Houston, back to New Orleans and shipped back up here. He can get a little light, so we just wanted to let him get a few weeks in a paddock and have him ready for a summer-fall campaign.

“I think he's better than before he went out” with the injury, Barkley said. “He's doing really well. His last couple of works have been pretty sharp. Time-wise on him, he's never been a horse that's going to work in a minute. But a mile-and-a-half turf horse doesn't need to work a minute. But he's been finishing up well and his gallop-outs have been pretty strong.”

James Graham has the mount.

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Al Husn (9/1) lowered the colors of some high-profile rivals in the feature Qatar Nassau Stakes on Thursday at Goodwood, providing Shadwell jockey Jim Crowley with a second G1 prize in under a week after Hukum's success in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes.

Making her debut at G1 level, Al Husn enjoyed a perfect trip on the heels of the leader Above The Curve (7/1) before working her way to the front and holding off all challengers in the straight to score by half a length. Above The Curve stuck to her task well to hold second, just ahead of Nashwa (11/4), who looked a big danger before her run flattened out.

The 10/11 favorite Blue Rose Cen, a dual Classic winner in France this year, could never land a blow after meeting trouble and finished fourth.

Al Husn has now won seven of her last eight starts for Roger Varian, with today's success following victory in the G3 Hoppings Stakes at Newcastle in June.

Varian said: “Al Husn is a remarkable filly. I think she has won seven of her last eight now. The truth is none of us really knew how good she was, because she is one of those who just beats what is in front of her and is never particularly flashy. She has such an admirable attitude. We thought we would come here and run very well, but I am obviously delighted, and delighted Sheihka Hissa is here. To have a Group One for her and with a homebred filly like this, it's fantastic.

“The Nassau is a fantastic race, steeped in prestige and history. It is one of the magical races for fillies to win. It will be forever in her stud book and hopefully when she's done racing, she can go to the farm and be a great mare for them. It is very special for us – we went very close a couple of years ago in the same colors with Zeyaadah. So it's nice to go one better today.”

On where the filly may go next, he added: “Well let's enjoy today and see how she is tomorrow. She is in the Prix Jean Romanet in two-and-a-half weeks' time in Deauville. She is in the Yorkshire Oaks, if we fancy going up to a mile and a half, although I'm not sure about that. Later in the year, races like the Prix de l'Opera I'm sure will be considered and who knows, perhaps something at Santa Anita for her.”

He added: “All she does is keeps beating what is in front of her. She never seems to beat them by three or four lengths, she just does enough. We were all very impressed with Nashwa at Newmarket, so we thought she would be very tough to beat today. But I guess looking back at Newcastle, the distance is about the same so maybe that form line is as true as it can be.

“Twelve months ago, I don't think I would have said she would be stood here in the winners' enclosure after the Nassau Stakes, but we have always really liked her. She is not the biggest filly, but she is very well made. We trained her mum, Hadaatha, who was third in the Prix de l'Opera, so we always had faith that Hadaatha would breed a very good one.”

Crowley said: “Al Husn was so tough there. You can see how big she is, she is not a big filly, but she is a little terrier who tries and is so tough. She has improved with every run and it's just great to nick a race like that with her.

“She is a very good filly and we were in the right place at the right time. It is the nature of the track – when I saw the French filly [Blue Rose Cen] get that draw, I thought they were going to need a bit of luck, and we had the luck today. I had to commit on her a long way out.

“It was a steady, tactical affair and she was in the right place, but she still had to kick on two out and fend them off, which she did. It was a great performance.

“She beat Nashwa last time – Nashwa probably over-raced in that race at Newcastle, but Nashwa then came out and won at Newmarket.

“Roger's done a fantastic job with Al Husn, and she's just kept on improving all season. Coming here today on the figures, she still had to step up and she did. She might possibly get further, but we have never really thought about it. It is something we can talk about.”

Thady Gosden said of Nashwa: “She has run a very good race. They went a slow pace and it's very difficult to pick up in this ground. She travelled into the race well but you can't quicken on ground like this, and that has sucked the class out of her. She won last time over a mile and showed a brilliant turn of foot in ground that was soft but obviously not as soft and easier to quicken through. Today she has run a very good race but couldn't quite show that brilliance we have seen before.”

Hollie Doyle added: “There was no pace early on but Nashwa relaxed beautifully. They got racing early enough coming down the hill. I was just trying to hold on to her for as long as I could and I went there with a double handful at the two-furlong pole. A furlong and a half out I went to win my race, pushed the button and she quickened. I just think in the final furlong I lacked a bit of stamina. It has happened a few times now, and even today I rode her the opposite way and it confirmed what we might have thought. Take nothing away from the winner, who is very good.”

 

Christopher Head said of beaten favourite Blue Rose Cen: “It was a very tactical race so of course it was a possibility that kind of thing could happen. She ran a nice race, she did her race, and for sure would have been closer in a different position. I still think Blue Rose Cen ran a very nice race and she will get into the rest of the programme at the end of the season.

 

“It's different here, so we need to respect and go into the racing with the fact that, even with a strong possibility of winning, there is still a possibility to fail.

 

On Aurelien Lemaitre having not ridden at Goodwood before: “The Yeguada Centurion team and Leopoldo [Fernandez Pujals – owner] are always interested in working with the young ones for the future because it's important for them to build a team that follows them and we are still working together. Of course, Aurelien was part of the team.

 

“We will have to discuss with Leopoldo and we will come back with a programme. I need to talk to see what the team want to do with her. This was a nice opportunity because we need to exist at that type of race. It hasn't been won by France since the beginning, so it was still a challenge.”

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