Tag: Racing

Nashwa ‘Powerful’ In The Rain To Land Friday’s Falmouth Stakes

Last year's heroine, Nashwa, is back winning on the Group 1 stage after a storming performance to land the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Friday in the driving rain, after a fine ride from Hollie Doyle who was winning her seventh Group 1 in the saddle.

Persistent rain deemed to give the advantage to George Boughey's Via Sistina who went off at evens, but John & Thady Gosden's 4-year-old Nashwa proved too strong. Doyle kept her mount towards the rear of the field and as the pace quickened with Remarquee hitting the front, Hollie and Nashwa found a gap to put the race to bed in a matter of strides.

The devastating turn of pace showed huge potential as she looks to defend her Nassau crown next week.

Gosden senior said: “She has had a difficult spring. She didn't come to herself, but went over to France and it helped her by going there.

“This filly needs to race and so I phoned up Teddy (Grimthorpe), and Mr Imad Al Sagar was brilliant. I said I'd like to supplement this filly and he said, 'you believe that's right', and I said 'yes'. So he said, 'do it'. He is very trusting.

“The mile was no problem – she is a powerful filly with speed and it will set her up nicely for the Nassau, but it just happens to be a lovely Group One on the way.”

Doyle and Nashwa recorded back-to-back Group 1 wins last year in the Prix de Diane and Qatar Nassau Stakes, before a second placed effort in the Prix de l'Opera. Their return in 2023 had yet to go to plan following odds-on defeats in France and Newcastle, but her year looks just to have started.

The Qatar Nassau Stakes takes place at Goodwood next month, and Nashwa may take aim at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day in October.

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Becky’s Joker ‘Towers Over Everybody’: 16.3 Juvenile Filly Will Progress To Spinaway

Trainer Gary Contessa was still watching replays on Friday morning of Lee Pokoik's Becky's Joker, who launched what appears to be a promising career with a debut victory in the Grade 3, $175,000 Schuylerville on Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course.

Becky's Joker, a daughter of third-crop sire Practical Joke, entered the six-furlong Schuylerville off nothing more than a Saratoga work tab, breezing a sharp three furlongs in 34.88 seconds over the main track en route to Thursday's score.

Despite breaking slow, she recovered quickly and was a close fourth by the first point of call before splitting foes in upper stretch to draw away to a 3 1/4-length score to spring a 21-1 upset as the second longest shot in the seven-horse field. The effort garnered a 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

The sizable bay stands 16.3 hands high and, “towers over everybody” in the barn according to Contessa, who confirmed the filly for the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway on September 3 at the Spa.

“She came back sound and they tell me she looked great this morning,” said Contessa, who was catching a flight to Nashville to watch his son's baseball tournament. “She honestly can only get better. She's got a lot more left in the tank, so we're looking forward to seeing what she can come up with next. As big as she is, and as big as her stride is, she's going to get better as the distances stretch out. I think seven-eighths is going to hit her right between the eyeballs in the Spinaway.”

Contessa commented on the soundness and the good mind of his newly minted graded stakes winner.

“Knock on wood, she's been very, very sound and very healthy. Everything has gone our way so far, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that it continues,” Contessa said. “She's trained as well as any horse I've ever had as a 2-year-old. No matter what you ask her to do, she's push button and picks it up to another gear. Her mind is so good. She had it figured out and she's really a smart filly.”

Contessa's last graded stakes victory before the Schuylerville took place with Pokoik's Sippican Harbor, who pulled a 16-1 upset in the 2018 Grade 1 Spinaway.

Both Becky's Joker and Sippican Harbor were initially slated to be pinhooked before their racing careers, but ended up not being sold at public auction.

“With Lee Pokoik, we have a program where we buy well-bred fillies as weanlings and then we try to resell them as yearlings. This year, we sold an American Pharoah filly that we paid $200,000 for and sold her for $475,000. We sell them for profit, but they don't all get sold,” Contessa said. “We bought her and Sippican Harbor, tried to resell them. We just couldn't get them sold. Then, I won a Grade 1 with Sippican Harbor. I only get them to train if we don't get them sold. That's the game plan, but so far it's been very successful with the ones that we haven't been able to sell. They've turned out to be some of our best ones.”

For the past couple of years, Contessa has worked as private trainer and general manager for Nick Beaver's Belle Gable Stable.

“I had a two-year contract and I sat down with Nick and I told him that we could reduce our overhead by 25-35 percent if we just gave his horses to a public trainer and that's what we did. We gave his horses to Rick Sillaman, who has a public stable at Laurel and Delaware,” Contessa said. “A bunch of my owners asked me if I would come back and train their young horses, which is really my specialty.”

One can expect Contessa, who has 10 stalls on Saratoga's Oklahoma backstretch, to unleash more promising young talent throughout the meet.

“All these babies are ready to run, so we're going to have a real presence,” Contessa said. “This was a great win to start with and we have even more pretty nice horses awaiting their turn.”

Contessa added that he could have stalls at Belmont Park later this year.

“I'm sure I will, but I'm going to stay at Saratoga until the very end,” Contessa said.

Bred in Kentucky by Warren J. Harang, Becky's Joker is out of the Elusive Quality mare Becky's Best – a half-sister to graded stakes winner Vertical Oak- the dam of graded stakes-placed sophomore Giant Mischief.

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‘He Knows Where The Wire Is’: Forte Records First Saratoga Breeze In Preparation For July 29 Jim Dandy

Reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Forte logged his first breeze of the summer at Saratoga Race Course when covering a half-mile in 48.90 seconds over the Oklahoma dirt training track Friday with regular jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. up for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The son of Violence went in company with graded stakes-winner Grand Sonata in preparation for the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy on July 29 at the Spa.

“He jumped on the bridle a little early, so I kind of took a little hold away from the horse,” said Ortiz, Jr. “I allowed him to see the company and go after him. He did.”

Pletcher said he was pleased with the work, which he moved to the training track after heavy rains overnight led to the main track being sealed this morning.

“We fortunately had the option of coming over here on a harrowed track,” said Pletcher. “I thought he worked well. He's a pretty straightforward horse and he does what you ask him to do. I thought he was moving really well and he seemed happy. He usually sits a little off [his workmate] to keep him focused.”

Ortiz, Jr., who regularly works the colt, said Forte was as professional as usual.

“We went 48 and change. On this kind of track, it is really good,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “He is doing good. He looked good, he looked happy, so let's see what happens. The way he does things [excites me]. He knows where the wire is. He loves to win. You can see in the Belmont Stakes, I kept trying with him and he kept coming. He's a fighter.”

Forte, owned by St. Elias Stable and Repole Stable, recorded his second work since running a closing second in the 12-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, adding to a half-mile drill in 50.80 he posted on July 7 over the Belmont dirt training track.

“He's obviously a very fit horse and he just ran a mile and a half, so we don't feel like we have to do a lot with him leading up to this race,” Pletcher said. “We'll probably come back with another maintenance work next week.”

Forte had a five-race win streak snapped in the Belmont after beginning his sophomore season with wins in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby, both at Gulfstream Park. The Jim Dandy is likely to serve as a springboard to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26, a race Pletcher said would be meaningful to win after Forte was forced to scratch from the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby due to a bruised foot.

“I think you can see he's a little more laid back. He's an intelligent colt and takes everything in stride, and you can see he's matured that way,” said Pletcher. “Obviously it was a frustrating spring and he ran terrific in the Belmont considering what he was up against. To me, he's a deserving divisional leader, but like everyone else, he's got to continue to win to hold that spot.”

Pletcher also provided an update on 2-year-old filly Wine On Tap, who finished an even fourth in Thursday's Grade 3 Schuylerville as the post-time favorite. The daughter of Tapit raced a half-length off the pace through the first quarter mile under Ortiz, Jr., but backpedaled into the turn and was defeated 6 3/4 lengths by the victorious first-time starter Becky's Joker.

“She looks good. She was just kind of one-paced down the lane and I thought she recovered and galloped out really well,” said Pletcher. “She is a filly that we've always thought would be better going longer. It was just a little disappointing that she didn't finish up a little better than she did yesterday, but she came back well and looked good this morning.”

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Woodbine: Mattingly Taking A Swing In Victoria Stakes

Harlan Malter of Ironhorse Racing Stable travels to Toronto from New York this weekend to watch his 2-year-old Mattingly in Sunday's Victoria Stakes at Woodbine. With a name like Mattingly, as Malter explains, this was meant to be.

Mattingly's origin story began with Malter's royal dream.

“I have a stallion named Bucchero who we campaigned,” Malter said. “He stands in Florida and he ran at Royal Ascot in the King Stand back in 2018. Just through me being overly friendly, I've become friends with a lot of people there and I thought the idea of eventually trying to get a Bucchero to run back at Ascot would be fun.”

Malter purchased Mattingly, by Bucchero and out of Grand Slam mare Battingstar, at Ocala this past March. Debuting in the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes on May 13 at Gulfstream, Mattingly could've secured a trip to Royal Ascot, but finished second, putting the Ascot dream out of reach, for now.

The connection to baseball runs deep for Malter, so Mattingly's name came easily to him.

“[Mattingly's] dam is named Battingstar by Grand Slam. I played baseball at Columbia University in New York. My partner went there too. The greatest baseball player to play at Columbia University was Lou Gehrig, who played back in the 30s. Gehrig was known as the Iron Horse, which is the name of our racing stable. Who is the best baseball player ever in the state of Indiana? Don Mattingly, who also played for the Yankees just like Gehrig. Don Mattingly set the major league record for most grand slams in 1987. Legitimately the mare is by Grand Slam.”

Before planning to race at Woodbine this weekend, Malter wasn't aware Don Mattingly had become the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, though there is even more to the Toronto connection.

“Probably the most surreal Grade One winner in the history of Woodbine was Bullards Alley who won the Pattison [Canadian International] by [10 ¾] lengths at 42-1 about six years ago. The trainer, Tim Glyshaw, is the trainer of Bucchero also. Tim Glyshaw is in the Evansville Indiana Sports Hall of Fame. Do you know who else is in the Evansville Indiana Sports Hall of Fame? Don Mattingly.”

Watch out for Ironhorse Racing Stable's Columbia blue silks with a circle representing a baseball in Sunday's Victoria Stakes on Sunday, 5 ½ Furlongs on the Tapeta.

A compact group of five will clash in the $125,000 Victoria Stakes, which is carded as Race 3 on Sunday's 11-race card.

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Mattingly – Sahin Civaci – Joseph Orseno
​2 – Yacht Boy – Rico Walcott – Norman McKnight
​3 – Going Up – Ronald Allen, Jr. – Ron Potts
​4 – Gotts Got It – Erin Walker – Ron Potts
​5 – Pipit (S) ­– Patrick Husbands – Kevin Attard

The weekend's stakes action at Woodbine will begin Saturday afternoon with the $125,000 five and a half furlong Victoria Stakes for two-year-old fillies.

Mark Casse trainee Stormcast has been installed as the 2/1 morning line choice in a field of seven. The daughter of Mitole ran second in her career debut on June 17, coming up just half a length short for jockey Declan Carroll. ​ K E M Racing Stable own Stormcast.

The Casse barn also sends out Dancing Duchess, who bounced back from a seventh in her career debut on May 20 to post a game victory on June 17. Sahin Civaci retains the mount after riding Dancing Duchess to victory for owner Tracy Farmer.

Casse will be looking for his fifth victory in the My Dear, having last captured the race in 2021 with Diabolic (IRE).

Trainer Kevin Attard will send out a one-two punch Saturday in search of his first My Dear Stakes victory. Bolt Enoree and Pipit come out of the Attard barn with each having a start under their belt.

Bolt d'Oro filly Bolt Enoree was a winner at first asking on May 21, posting a victory of nearly two-lengths in a four and half furlong event. Emma-Jayne Wilson will ride for Attard and owners Al and Bill Ulwelling.

Pipit surrendered the lead late in her career debut on June 3, finishing second as the public's top choice. The Quality Road filly will team with jockey Patrick Husbands for the first-time, representing owners X-Men Racing 3, Madaket Stables LLC and SF Racing LLC.

The My Dear Stakes will go as Race 7 on Saturday's 10-race card.

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Party – Luis Contreras – Barbara Minshall
​2 – Crafty Oaks – Desean Bynoe – Keith Edwards
​3 – Dancing Duchess – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
​4 – Pipit – Patrick Husbands – Kevin Attard
​5 – Bolt Enoree – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Kevin Attard
​6 – Living Magic – Rafael Hernandez – Phil Schoenthal
​7 – Stormcast – Declan Carroll – Mark Casse

Post time on Saturday and Sunday afternoon is 1:05 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the races through HPIbet.com and the Dark Horse Bets app.

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