Tag: Racing

Botox Katie and Santo Sanjur were not even part of the conversation in the pre-race analysis, but they certainly became the headline story at the end. The duo scored the upset in the 20th running of the $100,000 Shelby County Stakes on Wednesday, June 7 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Botox Katie began her six-furlong sprint from post two and was in last place as Forever Noted and Fernando De La Cruz and Betcha with DeShawn Parker aboard held down the top spots. Bella Bolle and Malcolm Franklin were also in the early mix with a swift pace setting up. Horses began to make their move in the turn as the leaders held on gamely to their advantage. Botox Katie was behind the outer flow of traffic.

In the stretch, Botox Katie moved into contention and was fourth as Bella Bolle took control of the lead. Once she had clearance, the six-year-old kicked into a closing gear that drove her right pat Bella Bolle for the win by one and one-quarter lengths. Lil Evie and Rodney Prescott closed in for third.

“There was a lot of speed in this race, so we just wanted to let the speed go because I knew she (Botox Katie) has a kick,” said Sanjur. “We wanted to get away from the break as well as we could and play it by ear from there. The race set up perfectly for her and when she came out, she was running.”

Botox Katie lit up the tote board, paying $185.00 for the win. The daughter of Domestic Dispute is owned by Thirstyacres Racing LLC and trained by owner Tianna Richardville. The mare was bred and raised by Richardville, who owns a farm complete with a breeding operation in Shelbyville, just minutes from Horseshoe Indianapolis.

“She (Botox Katie) is a pretty special mare to us,” said Richardville. “She didn't even start racing until she was five (last year). She had a slight tendon problem and we turned her out at three. She had a great year last year and proved just giving her the time she needed paid off.”

Botox Katie earned her first win of 2023 and her fourth overall. She now has more than $160,000 on her card in only two years of racing. It was the first time Sanjur had been aboard the mare in a race.

“I thought she needed a couple races to get fit this year,” added Richardville. “She ran well for us last year and had a good year, making almost $100,000. Santo (Sanjur) was actually supposed to ride her in her last race, but he was sick that day and we had to make a rider change. Santo has been breezing her in the mornings. I thought she would be better running longer, but she ran a great race today. This is so exciting to get this win today.”

The 21st season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing extends through Friday, Nov. 17. Live racing is held Tuesday through Thursday with Saturday racing added in during the summer months. First post Tuesday and Wednesday is 2:30 p.m. Thursday racing begins at 2:10 p.m. The Summer Saturday Racing Series includes five all-Quarter Horse dates July 1, July 22, Aug. 12, Sept. 2, and Oct. 7 beginning at 10:45 a.m. Indiana's featured event, the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby is set for 12 p.m. Saturday, July 8. For more information on live racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis.

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Lightly raced and a recent graded stakes winner of the Santa Anita turf, Phil D'Amato's Irish-bred Paris Secret is the horse to beat among a field of eight sophomores fillies going a mile and one eighth on turf in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Honeymoon Stakes.

A winner of the G3 Providencia Stakes at a mile and one eighth on turf April 29, Paris Secret looks tough right back for D'Amato, Santa Anita's leading Hollywood Meet trainer with 14 wins and five added money victories.

A first-out winner going one mile on a turf listed as heavy in her native Ireland Oct. 31, Paris Secret made her U.S. debut here on March 18 going one mile on grass in the ungraded China Doll Stakes.  Breaking slowly, she lacked room around the far turn and finished an even fourth.

Reserved off the early pace in the Providencia, Paris Secret rallied to prove best, winning by three quarters of a length at 3-1.  With Kazushi Kimura now back at his Woodbine Racecourse base, top jock Juan Hernandez picks up the call.

Owned by Strand Beach, LLC, Paris Beach posted a solid 83 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Providencia and will now be seeking her third win from four overall starts.

Dismissed at 19-1, Pleasant Wave rallied well to be second, beaten three quarters of a length by Paris Secret in the Providencia and with Diego Herrera riding back for trainer George Papaprodromou, she'll hope to run down the top selection on Saturday.

Owned by Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, Pleasant Wave, a Kentucky-bred filly by More Than Ready out of the Forestry mare Oak Trees Dancing, will be trying a route of ground for the second time as she tries to improve upon an overall mark of 5-1-1-0.

D'Amato's second Honeymoon entrant is Irish-bred Comanche Country, a two-time turf stakes winner at age two who returns from Churchill Downs following a ninth place finish going a mile and one sixteenth on turf in the G2 Edgewood Stakes May 5.

With Umberto Rispoli back at the controls, Comanche Country would be flattered by a quick early pace.  Owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables, LLC and Marsha Naify, Comanche Country has three wins and two second place finishes from eight starts.

Third, beaten a length by second place finisher Comanche Country in the China Doll March 18, trainer Michael McCarthy's Tea N Conversation has been freshened and will be ridden for the first time by Kent Desormeaux, in what will be her ninth career start.

A respectable fourth going one mile on turf here in both the Lady of Shamrock and the Blue Norther Stakes on Feb. 12 and Dec. 30, Tea N Conversation is owned by Spendthrift Farm, LLC.  By Candy Ride out of the Rock Hard Ten mare Lady Ten, Tea N Conversation broke her maiden four starts back going a mile on turf at Del Mar Dec. 3 and will be seeking her first stakes win in what will be her ninth career start.

A 2 ¼ length maiden winner in her second start going one mile on turf at Meadowlands Sept. 24, Irish-bred Selenaia makes her Southern California debut on the heels of a solid first condition allowance score going a mile on grass at Indiana Downs May 10, a race in which she rallied from well off the pace while earning an 82 Beyer.

Trained by Jonathan Thomas and owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stables, LLC, Selenaia appears to be a solid fit and will be ridden by Joe Bravo.

THE GRADE III HONEYMOON WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 10   Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT
Broadway Girls – Antonio Fresu – 124
Comanache Country – Umberto Rispoli – 124
Pleasant Wave – Diego Herrera – 120
Selenaia – Joe Bravo – 122
Tea N Conversation—Kent Desormeaux—120
Paris Secret – Juan Hernandez – 124
Fast and Shiny – Tiago Pereira – 120
Una Palabra – Ramon Vazquez – 124

First post time on Saturday, Belmont Stakes Day, is at 1 p.m. with admission gates opening early to accommodate wagering on a tremendous undercard from Belmont Park at 8 a.m.

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With two sharp recent wins to her credit, Bob Baffert's Adare Manor looms large in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita as she faces four rival fillies and mares going a mile and one eighth over the Santa Anita main track.

Although a disappointing second as the 4-5 favorite three starts back in a classified allowance at seven furlongs, Adare Manor bounced back with a game head victory going a flat mile at the same condition on March 31, and her rousing 4 ¾ length triumph in the G2 Santa Maria at a mile and one sixteenth may've been the best race of her career.

A 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo out of the Giant Gizmo mare Brooklynsway, Adare Manor is owned by Michael Lund Petersen.  Blessed with an abundance of natural speed, Adare Manor will be extremely tough to beat with regular rider Juan Hernandez back aboard.

A G3 stakes winner here at age three, Adare Manor has earnings of $501,600 and is 10-4-4-0 overall, with all of her wins coming on the Santa Anita main track.

Talented Arizona-bred Desert Dawn, winner of last year's G2 Santa Anita Oaks, returns from Kentucky where she finished fifth, beaten six lengths in the G1 La Troienne Stakes at a mile and one sixteenth on March 5.

A 4-year-old filly trained by Phil D'Amato and owned by her breeder, H and E Ranch, Inc., Desert Dawn has been winless in six starts since her Santa Anita Oaks score, but has been in the money in four of those starts—all graded stakes, including a third place finish in the Kentucky Oaks.

By Cupid out of the Honour and Glory mare Ashley's Glory, Desert Dawn, with regular rider Umberto Rispoli up, will hope to get a stalking trip and be able to run down the top selection late.  The leading money earner in the field with $672,525, Desert Dawn is 13-2-2-4 overall.

John Sadler's Kirstenbosch, a game nose winner of the G3 La Canada four starts back, will be making her fifth start of the year as she tries to improve upon a fifth place finish behind Adare Manor in the G2 Santa Maria, a race in which Kirstenbosch bobbled at the break and was never a factor.

Ridden by the now-departed Kazushi Kimura in her last five starts, Kirstenbosch will get the first-time services of Hector Berrios, who with four stakes wins at the current Hollywood Meet, ranks second to Juan Hernandez, who has nine added money victories.

Owned and bred in Kentucky by Keith Abrahams, Kirstenbosch, a 4-year-old filly by Midnight Lute out of the Belong to Me mare Llandudno, is 13-3-3-2 with earnings $372,480.

THE 83RD GRADE II SANTA MARGARITA WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 4 of 10 Approximate post time 2:30 p.m. PT
Desert Dawn – Umberto Rispoli – 122
Adare Manor – Juan Hernandez – 126
Smoothlikebuttah—Tiago Pereira—122
Tiz a Macho Girl – Kyle Frey – 122
Kirstenbosch—Hector Berrios—124

First post time for a 10-race card on Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday is at 1 p.m., with admission gates opening early at 8:00 a.m. to accommodate a tremendous undercard from Belmont Park.

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