Tag: Racing

Lee Pokoik's Becky's Joker, making her career debut, rang up a $44.40 surprise in Thursday's Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on the opening day of Saratoga's 2023 meet on Thursday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Ridden by Javier Castellano for trainer Gary Contessa, Becky's Joker – a daughter of Practical Joke bred in Kentucky by Warran J. Harang – rallied from just off the pace to by 3 1/4 lengths while covering six furlongs on a fast main track in 1:12.52. She earned the $96,250 winner's share of the Schuyerville's $175,000 purse.

Saratoga Secret and Luis Saez finished second, with Closing Act and Tyler Gaffalione third. Favored Wine On Tap, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., finished fourth in the field of seven juveile fillies.

“She was very professional,” said Castellano. “I liked the way she did it today. She was right behind the horses and she covered up a little bit. She got an education and dirt in the face.

“I liked that move at the quarter pole when she split horses and took off. She leveled off a little bit near the top of the stretch and she did it the right way today. Very professional. She has a lot of potential. To do it like today in her first time, very impressive. She did it the right way.”

Pokoik purchased Becky's Joker as a weanling for $130,000 at the Keeneland November Breeder Stock Sale and she was RNAed for $50,000 when re-offered as a yearling at Keeneland the following September. Pokoik opted to keep the filly and turned her over to his longtime trainer, Contessa.

“We bought her as a weanling and my game plan was to sell all the horses that I can and if I don't sell them, I race them,” said Pokoik. “I tried selling this one twice. Nobody wanted it and she was a good horse. This happened before when I won the Spinaway several years before with Sippican Harbor. No one wanted her either.

“We've been together for 35 years. Even when he was working in Delaware, he was still buying and selling horses for me.”

“I knew that physically she was as good as anything in this race,” said Contessa. “She trained like a stakes horse, but you don't know what's going to happen once the gate opens. I ran a filly that I thought couldn't lose at Belmont and when the gate opened, she started getting hit in the face with dirt and was in full retreat. So you never know, but she told me from Day One, 'I'm the right horse, and I'm good enough for a race like this.' With Lee Pokoik, it's easy because he always wants to run in stakes races. I didn't have to do much convincing to the owner and I would have to just eat a little crow if I was wrong.

“When she broke a little slow, I wasn't surprised because she's so big. She's 16.3 [hands], so I expected her to break slow and I was hoping she would engage immediately and she did. She got right behind the leaders and I loved her position. I felt we had a big chance turning for home.

“I don't have a horse in the barn that can work in company with her, so I started having to work her on her own and she's still working three-quarters [fast]. She's that kind of horse.

“I bought her as a weanling right after she was born and with Lee, we always try to sell them as yearlings. If they don't sell as yearlings, we sell them as a 2-year-old. When she went to the yearling sale, everyone said she was too big. Then we took her to the March 2-year-old sale in Ocala this year and everyone that looked at her said she was too big. I'm thinking in the back of my mind, 'This is good, I may get to keep this one.' That's exactly what happened, and the same thing happened with Sippican Harbor, who won the Spinaway a few years ago. Nobody wanted her at the yearling sale or the 2-year-old sale and we got to win a Grade 1 with her, so hopefully we get to win a Grade 1 with this one.”

The Schuylerville was the first win from seven starts for Contessa, a longtime leader on the NYRA circuit who backed away from trainer for a spell.

“This is the way to come back,” he said. “I've tried the real world, but this side of the fence is the happier place for me. I like the other side of the fence, but I love this side of the fence.”

The post Becky’s Joker Debuts With Opening-Day Schuylerville Score At Saratoga appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gold Standard Racing Stable's graded stakes-winner Hoosier Philly recorded her first work at Saratoga Race Course on Wednesday in preparation for the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 22 for conditioner Tom Amoss.

The daughter of Into Mischief logged a half-mile breeze over the main track in 49.49 seconds with regular pilot Edgar Morales up in her second move since winning the Monomoy Girl on June 17 at Ellis Park.

“It was a typical work for her and Edgar Morales flew up to work her,” said Amoss, who is in pursuit of his first CCA Oaks victory. “It was a good work with a strong gallop out. That's her M.O. She's doing fine and she came out of it in good shape. Our plan is to run in the Coaching Club.”

Hoosier Philly will vie for the second graded coup of her career after scoring in the Grade 2 Golden Rod in November at Churchill Downs, which capped a three-race win streak to kick off her career. She followed with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds Race Course and a fourth in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks before a brief respite and subsequent runner-up performance in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan on May 19 at Pimlico Race Course.

“She's done a great job of getting back on track,” said Amoss. “She had two sub-standard races at the Fair Grounds, and each of them had their excuses. Since then, she's really been herself.”

Hoosier Philly cut back to one-mile in the Monomoy Girl, the shortest distance she had run since graduating in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden tilt on debut in September at Churchill. She set the pace under Morales and drew off in the stretch to win convincingly by 3 1/2 lengths, garnering an 80 Beyer Speed Figure.

Other upcoming Saratoga stakes starters for Amoss could include My Racehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm's Sixtythreecaliber, who is nominated to the Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee on July 23. The Gun Runner bay was last seen posting a third-place finish in the Lady Jacqueline on June 24 at Thistledown where she stalked the pace and fought down the lane, but could not best her rivals as Le Da Vida crossed the wire first 3 3/4 lengths in front.

“She's doing good and was in today as an main-track only, but that didn't work out,” said Amoss. “The Shuvee is a possibility, but it would have to be a race that has a very small field, so we're monitoring it.”

Sixtythreecaliber's biggest win came in November at Aqueduct Racetrack when scoring a half-length triumph in the Grade 3 Comely at odds of 11-1. Her best result this year was a game runner-up effort to Idiomatic in the Grade 3 Shawnee on June 3 at Churchill.

“That race showed she's back in form,” said Amoss. “I really liked that race and her last two races, she's shown she's rounded back into form as well.”

A new face in Amoss' barn is 2019 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Storm the Court, who has not raced since finishing a distant fifth in the Grade 3 Tokyo City on October 2 at Santa Anita Park when in the care of conditioner Peter Eurton. The 6-year-old son of Court Vision won the 2020 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile en route to Champion 2-Year-Old honors.

As a sophomore, he placed in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby and Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap on turf before an off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and a subsequent move back to turf so close out the year, including a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile when beaten just three-quarter lengths by Smooth Like Straight.

Last year, he ended a more than year-long respite with a pair of off-the-board efforts in optional claiming company and did not hit the board in five outings. He returned to the work tab in May at Keeneland and trained throughout the spring at Churchill before making his way to Saratoga to breeze a sharp half-mile in 47.69 seconds over the main track Wednesday.

“That was a work where we asked him to be sharp and there's many ways to get a horse fit – sometimes the workouts are based on stamina and sometimes they're based on showing quickness and a turn of foot,” said Amoss. “He's in the process of doing both those things and he's doing well.”

Amoss added Storm the Court has made a positive first impression in his barn and that he will likely return to the races sometime at Saratoga.

“I put him about two or three weeks away from a race, but I we've made no determination what we're going to do,” said Amoss. “I've had him almost two months and he's a real physically imposing horse – a very pretty, masculine horse. He moves well over the track, and those kind are always a pleasure to train.”

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Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has confirmed Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's 2022 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Forte for the nine-furlong Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course.

The dark bay Violence colt was a late-closing second in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 10 at Belmont Park, where he was seven wide in upper stretch and rallied to grab runner-up honors from stablemate Tapit Trice – who is targeting the Grade 1 Haskell on July 22 at Monmouth Park.

Forte won Gulfstream's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on March 4 and Grade 1 Florida Derby on April 1. He entered the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs as the morning-line favorite, but was scratched the morning of the race with a bruised foot. His Championship-earning season saw Forte capture three Grade 1 races in the Hopeful at Saratoga as well as the two-turn Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland.

Forte will use the Jim Dandy as a prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26 at Saratoga. Pletcher noted past success in using the Jim Dandy as a springboard to the Travers, having swept both races with Flower Alley [2005] and Stay Thirsty [2011].

“It was a tough call,” said Pletcher. “We just felt like shipping up here, getting him used to the track, two Travers winners we previously had have done that.”

Pletcher added that Forte will likely breeze on Friday morning over the Saratoga main track following the renovation break.

On Saturday, Pletcher will saddle Bass Stables' Kentucky homebred Annapolis in the Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso going one mile over the inner turf. The son of War Front last raced when making his 4-year-old debut with a victory in the Opening Verse on May 4 at Churchill Downs, where he defeated next out graded stakes winners Set Piece and Stitched.

“It was a good comeback. The horses that ran in that race have come back and run well,” Pletcher said.

Annapolis was initially targeting the Grade 3 Poker in June at Belmont, which was won by stablemate Emmanuel, but was withdrawn due to a frog injury on his right front.

“He's been training very forwardly for this,” Pletcher said. “He didn't really miss too much time because we were able to put a pad on it to protect it and continue training. I just didn't feel comfortable running him with a pad.”

Annapolis made his career debut in September 2021 at Saratoga with a 4 1/2-length triumph going 1 1/16-miles on the inner turf. He raced at the Spa twice last season when second in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational and first in the Grade 3 Saranac before a 1 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland.

Although there is a high chance of precipitation in the Saratoga region, Pletcher said he is confident the turf can maintain favorable condition for Saturday's race.

“He broke his maiden here and he's run well here. He runs well pretty much every time he runs,” Pletcher said. “We prefer firm-ish ground, but the course looks like it's in good condition to start the meet. Hopefully, even if we get that storm tonight, it won't affect things too much.”

Annapolis is out of the graded stakes winning Unbridled's Song mare My Miss Sophia, who Pletcher saddled to a runner-up finish in the 2014 Kentucky Oaks.

“He's a very cool horse to train and he's got a good disposition. He's willing but also relaxed. She [My Miss Sophia] was pretty professional as well,” Pletcher said. “He's gotten a bit bigger and stronger, but he's always been a good-sized War Front. He's bigger than most War Fronts, I suppose he gets some of that size from the Unbridled's Song part of his pedigree. He trained well for his 2-year-old debut and has always done the same.”

Pletcher said Annapolis' ultimate goal is the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap on August 12 here which also will be a likely landing spot for WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s Emmanuel.

Repole Stable's New York-bred Gambling Girl is on target for the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 22. The Dialed In bay has not raced since a late closing second to Pretty Mischievous in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 5 at Churchill Downs and has remained at the Louisville oval to train towards her next race. Her last victory took place in September in the Joseph A. Gimma at Belmont at the Big A.

“I thought she ran huge,” Pletcher said. “When we got to Churchill, I thought she had trained the best she had ever trained. For whatever reason, she really seemed to like that surface. She ran a huge race and we decided that we would freshen her up a touch and try to keep her at a mile and an eighth. That's why we skipped the Acorn and pointed for this. Hopefully, she performs well there.”

Bred in the Empire State by Gallagher's Stud, Gambling Girl is out of the Empire Maker mare Tulipmania.

Pletcher will saddle Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Dreamlike in a Friday maiden special weight going nine furlongs on the main track. The highly-regarded Gun Runner colt has not raced since a close third in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 8 at Aqueduct. He was previously second in two Gulfstream Park maiden tests.

“He ran big in the Wood. He's a horse that's always trained well. Hopefully, he's able to put it all together,” Pletcher said. “We'll have to see how he does. I'd love to have some success in the maiden race, an allowance race and maybe something like the Pennsylvania Derby if everything were to fall into place.”

Pletcher said Spendthrift Farm's Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns has been turned out with an eye on a fall return. The son of Uncle Mo finished second in Monmouth's Pegasus after finishing 14th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

“We stopped on him,” Pletcher said. “We sent him to Spendthrift the day before yesterday. He just lost a little bit of weight and we felt like he had been going pretty steadily. We just wanted to give him some time off and turn him out and get him back in training in the fall.”

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