Tag: Racing

Trainer Phil D'Amato is the dominant force in California turf racing and as such, he will have multiple live shots in Monday's two Grade 1 grass races.

In the Shoemaker Mile (G1), D'Amato has three of the 11 starters, including Hong Kong Harry, 7-2 morning-line favorite. D'Amato's other Shoemaker starters are Gold Phoenix (4-1) and Balnikhov (5-1), both multiple graded stakes winners.

Two races earlier in the Gamely (G1) at 1 1/8 miles on turf, D'Amato will saddle recent Wilshire (G3) winner Macadamia.

“Hopefully we can have a nice day,” said D'Amato, who leads all trainers at the current Hollywood Meet in both total wins and stakes wins.

Hong Kong Harry will be wheeling back 23 days after a trip to Churchill Downs where he ran second in the Turf Classic (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 6. The 6-year-old Irish-bred gelding by Es Que Love will break from post two under top rider Flavien Prat.

Hong Kong Harry has worked once since the Turf Classic, a four-furlong move in :48.60 at Santa Anita May 22.

“Ideally you'd like to have an extra week or two,” D'Amato said of the relatively quick turnaround. “But he came out of the race in good shape and he had a nice little drill for us. This is a distance he seems to excel at.”

Prior to the Turf Classic, Hong Kong Harry was fourth in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile(G1) behind winner Gold Phoenix, Du Jour, and Cabo Spirit, all of whom return in the Shoemaker.

Gold Phoenix followed his win in the Kilroe with a fourth-place finish as the favorite in the Charles S. Whittingham (G2) on April 8. The 5-year-old Irish-bred gelding by Belardo will have Kazushi Kimura in the irons, who was also aboard in both the Kilroe and Whittingham.

As for Gold Phoenix disappointing as the favorite in the Whittingham, D'Amato noted his horse was compromised when a rival slipped and fell at the top of the stretch. The chart notes he was “floated, bumped into the stretch”.

“That day the turf was a little funky,” D'Amato said. “Everyone was slipping and sliding. I give him the benefit of the doubt. He got bumped at the top of the lane when that horse slipped and it took a while to get back into gear.

“But he's come back to train well and I'm expecting a big effort.”

Balnikhov never threatened when seventh in the Kilroe, but came back in the an Francisco Mile (G3) at Golden Gate April 29 and finished with a flourish to win by a nose. Umberto Rispoli, who was aboard for both the Kilroe and San Francisco Mile, again has the call on Monday.

“In the Kilroe we had him up close to the pace and he doesn't like that,” D'Amato said. “He likes to just come up with his big late run. In the San Francisco Mile we just anchored him and he came with his run. We're going to do the same thing this time. Whether it's a slow pace or fast pace, he's going to be sitting back and come with his run.”

In the Gamely for fillies and mare, Macadamia will try and continue her ascent in the California female turf division. Macadamia cleared her second-level allowance condition here Feb. 3 and came back to be beaten just a half-length in the Buena Vista (G2) before winning the Wilshire, both of which were at a mile.

Macadamia is a 5-year-old Brazilian-bred mare by Hat Trick. The hot-riding Tiago Pereira will be aboard for the fourth time on Monday.

“She's a Southern Hemisphere horse and I think it took her a little bit longer to acclimate, to mature and be able to compete in her division. I think that's where the progression has come,” D'Amato said. “But I also give a lot of credit to Tiago Pereira. I think he's helped in developing her. He breezes her every week and has really gotten the most out of her.”

The Shoemaker Mile goes as the seventh race on Monday's 10-race card. Post time is scheduled for 4:13 p.m. (PT). The Gamely goes as the fifth race at approximately 3:12 p.m.

The post D’Amato Loaded With Live Shots For Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Turf Stakes Memorial Day appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

After a sharp comeback win off a 14-month layoff, California-based sprinter Dr. Schivel will take his talents to New York for the $250,000 True North (G2) on June 10, Belmont Stakes Day.

Trained by Mark Glatt, Dr. Schivel earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure when defeating fellow millionaire C Z Rocket – second in Saturday's Grade 2 Triple Bend at Santa Anita – by 4 1/4 lengths in a six-furlong allowance May 13 at Santa Anita. The win was the 5-year-old son of Violence's first start since finishing third in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) in March 2022.

“We were real happy with it. We didn't expect that, but he did it and he came back well, so now we're seriously looking at the True North,” Glatt said.

Dr. Schivel was a Grade 1 winner at 2 and 3 at Del Mar when he captured the 2020 Del Mar Futurity and defeated older horses in the following year's Bing Crosby. He was a close second to Aloha West in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), also at Del Mar.

“He just needed time. I've had him now for some time and he just gets a little jammed up at times,” Glatt said of the lengthy hiatus. “He's a good horse and we just take good care of him. When he starts getting a little jammed up, we've got to give him time and he tells us when he's ready to start doing things again.”

Dr. Schivel is owned by Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, and co-breeder William A. Branch. He is out of the Mining for Money mare Lil Nugget and comes from the same family as Grade 1-winning millionaire Ultra Blend.

The post Comebacking California Sprinter Dr. Schivel Pointed For Belmont’s True North appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's Grade 1 winner White Abarrio continues to train well for an anticipated start in the $1-million Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on June 10 at Belmont Park for trainer Rick Dutrow Jr.

White Abarrio, who won the Florida Derby (G1) last year, last worked a half-mile in :50.68 on May 21 at Gulfstream Park when in the care of previous conditioner Saffie Joseph Jr. He joined the Dutrow barn last week and is expected to breeze again at Belmont sometime in the coming days.

“He's doing OK,” said Dutrow. “He hasn't worked since we had him, but I hope we'll breeze him Tuesday. He seems to fit in to the barn nicely.”

The 4-year-old son of Race Day was last seen winning a March 4 optional-claiming event at Gulfstream where he earned a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure. His lone start in the Empire State came in December when finishing a gusty third in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Dutrow is looking forward to a start in stakes company for the stakes-placed Prince of Pharoahs in Monday's $200,000 Commentator, a 1 1/16-mile main track test for New York-breds. The son of American Pharoah was a 4 1/2-length winner against open optional claiming company going one mile on May 6 where he garnered an 85 Beyer Speed Figure. He earned his lone stakes placing when dead heating with Bourbon Bay for second in the 2020 Jerome when trained by Linda Rice.

“He's training good and we're happy with him,” said Dutrow. “He's been lots of fun to train and is fun to be around.”

The post White Abarrio Could Have First Breeze For Dutrow Tuesday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

By Leo Schlink

Russian Emperor underlined elite staying prowess to join a select band of multiple winners of the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (G1) under a masterful ride by Hugh Bowman Sunday at Sha Tin in Hong Kong as trainer Douglas Whyte reveled in one of the highlights of an extraordinary career.

Denying raging favorite Romantic Warrior by a neck in a stirring battle, Russian Emperor etched his name alongside a string of greats to win the final Group 1 of the Hong Kong season at least twice since 1990, joining River Verdon, Viva Pataca, Exultant, Indigenous, Oriental Express, and Blazing Speed.

Whyte, a 13-time champion jockey, snared his fourth Group 1 as a trainer and was clearly moved by the magnitude of 2022 winner Russian Emperor's latest feat after the regally bred gelding swept from fifth place on the turn to cut down Romantic Warrior, who led from the start and came under heavy pressure from Money Catcher 800 meters out in the 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2-mile) contest.

Clocking 2:26.87, Russian Emperor almost certainly clinched Hong Kong's champion stayer title for the second season in a row as Romantic Warrior staved off a charging Five G Patch to hold second.

“He's (Russian Emperor) a superstar of my stable and he's certainly given me one hell of a ride since he's joined me. We've had our ups and downs, but there's been a lot more ups than downs,” Whyte said, referencing February's successful sortie to the Middle East, where the 6-year-old gelding by champions Galileo and Atlantic Jewel, by Fastnet Rock, won the The Amir Trophy, a Group 1 race in Qatar.

“To travel with him and winning in Doha, and coming back now to repeat that effort on a firm track. You've just got to give it all to the horse. When he won in Doha that was probably the highlight of my career, both as a jockey and a trainer, to go abroad and do that.

“The issues he has to deal with, and then you get a win out of him in a race today on a track that doesn't suit him and it just takes you to another level.

“It's certainly one of the better performances he's done and one of the highlights of my career. But I don't stop there, there's the vets, there's the farriers – there's a whole bunch of people I should be thanking because they're the ones that do the day-to-day work to get this horse to the races and I take the glory and so does the jockey.”

Praising unflappable Bowman, Whyte said the Australian's ride was “patience personified, really.”

“He's a great jockey to have on a horse, especially in a big race like that. He makes a difference. They were getting cheap sectionals early, the favourite looked like he was just ambling along and dictating affairs.

“Hugh sussed that out and got rolling at the right time. He dug down deep and prevailed. It was a well-executed ride, a very heady ride. He put him to sleep and let things unfold and took advantage of that at the end.”

Jubilating in his second Champions & Chater Cup triumph after Werther's 2017 success, Bowman said: “I didn't have a plan, he's (Russian Emperor) a mile-and-a-half horse, and the one trap I didn't fall into was to be out there to beat Romantic Warrior because he's a class horse. I had to trust that it (2,400 meters) would find him out and that's exactly what happened.

“He bounced well from a good gate (five), I had a good run and I could come into it at my leisure without coming into it trying to challenge the favorite–I came in to allow my horse to run his race. Douglas prepared him superbly. He's had a wonderful season, the horse, as has Douglas, and he was just there as the right horse on the right day.”

Jockey Zac Purton claimed Romantic Warrior would have won if Money Catcher, who finished fifth, had not pressured him at the 800 meter (mark), also citing stamina issues.

“He (Romantic Warrior) showed today it's (2,400 meters) not his favorite distance, but he tried bloody hard–he was gone at the 600 meters,” Purton said. “Coming into the straight, Money Catcher actually headed me and I thought he was going to drop out, and to his credit, he tried as hard as he could. It was just not his distance.

“We had no choice but to lead. We played our cards and he would have won the race if he didn't get taken on half a mile from home.”

Russian Emperor, who was bred in Ireland by Coolmore and Lauri Macri & Partners, began his career with Aidan O'Brien and was a Group 3 winner at Royal Ascot in 2020 and subsequently finished seventh in the Epsom Derby (G1) before he was sold to Hong Kong connections.

The post Russian Emperor Vanquishes Romantic Warrior For Second Champions & Chater Cup Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post