Tag: Racing

At the end of a grueling stretch duel with several potential victors, Never Explain gained a half-length advantage and set a new Pimlico Race Course track record on Saturday with an upset victory in the Grade 3 Dinner Party Stakes.

The 5-year-old son of Street Sense was placed in the middle of the pack a couple paths off the rail by jockey Flavien Prat, while Atone and Emmanuel battled for the early lead through an opening quarter in :23.85 seconds. Atone, who broke from the rail, held onto that position through the first turn, and emerged from the backstretch with a one-length advantage over Emmanuel.

Those two rivals continued to put distance on third-place Rising Empire through a half-mile in :47.40, and the order did little changing across the backstretch, and after three-quarters in 1:11.23.

Atone continued to benefit from the rail trip, and it appeared as if he was beginning to dispose of Emmanuel as they hit the top of the stretch, but that rival began coming back to the leader in the stretch, and he was joined by Speaking Scout, Never Explain, and post time favorite Hurricane Dream on the far outside.

Prat, who had settled on the rail behind the two leaders through the final turn, had swung three paths wide in the stretch, and under right-handed urging, Never Explain emerged at the front of the five-horse battle at the wire to win by a half-length. Hurricane Dream was second on the outside, while Emmanuel held on for third.

Never Explain stopped the clock in the 1 1/8 race in 1:46.14 over a firm turf course, bettering the previous record of 1:46.34 set by the Irish-born Mr. O'Brien in the 2004 Dixie Stakes, which was later renamed to the Dinner Party.

The colt paid $32.40 to win as the longest shot on the board in his stakes debut for owner Courtlandt Farm and trainer Shug McGaughey. It was his third straight victory after taking a pair of optional claiming races on the turf at Tampa Bay Downs in January and March.

Saturday's victory improved Never Explain's lifetime record to five wins in 15 starts for earnings of $242,062.

Never Explain was bred in Kentucky by Hidden Brook Farm and Godolphin, out of the stakes-placed Forestry mare Black Oak. He sold to Courtlandt Farm for $475,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, consigned by Woods Edge Farm. Before that, he sold as a weanling for $155,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, from the Hidden Brook Farm consignment.

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Juddmonte Farms' homebred filly Whitebeam got a picture-perfect trip under Irad Ortiz Jr., sitting just behind the early speed and then waiting for racing room before taking command in the stretch to win Saturday's Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Md.

Sent off the 4-5 favorite in the field of seven fillies and mares contesting the $100,000 contest, Whitebeam covered 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:41.67 and returned a $3.60 mutuel. The winning margin was 2 1/2 lengths.

Sopran Basilea, an Irish-bred making her U.S. debut after racing in Italy, finished second, with Bipartisanship a neck back in third and Princess Theorem fourth. Vergara, Traffic Song and Eminent Victor rounded out the order of finish.

Javier Castellano was aboard Sopran Basilea, subbing for jockey Luis Saez who was taken to a hospital after being thrown from his mount, Havnameltdown, in the previous race. Havnameltdown suffered a severe injury and was euthanized. Saez complained of leg pain after being loaded on a backboard and placed in an ambulance.

Bred in Great Britain, Whitebeam is a gray 4-year-old filly by Caravaggio out of Sleep Walk, by Oasis Dream. She compiled a record of three wins from six starts, with one second and one third while racing in England and France but did not compete in the highest level.

Sent to the U.S., Whitebeam trained at Payson Park last winter and had one prep before the Gallorette, finishing second in the one-mile Plenty of Grace Stakes on turf at Aqueduct April 16. She is trained by Chad Brown.

Traffic Song went to the front in the Gallorette, outrunning Vergara and Whitebeam in the early going. She set fractions of :23.62, :48.68, and 1:12.93 under some pressure from Vergara, one of three entries in the race from the stable of Graham Motion.

Traffic Song was overtaken by the time the field hit the top of the stretch, with a three-horse battle between Vergara toward the inside, Whitebeam between horses, and Princess Theorem to the outside. Whitebeam, who had to wait for racing room rounding into the stretch, outkicked her rivals down the stretch, holding a comfortable margin at the wire.

Post-race quotes

Winning Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Whitebeam): “Beautiful trip. She broke so good, broke on top actually. I let her go into the first turn to get position. I took a hold of her, and she came back to me right away. So, I just waited for the time to go, and she came on really well. She's a nice one.”

Trainer Graham Motion (Sopran Basilea, 2nd , Bipartisanship, 3rd , Vergara, 5th): “They ran well. I was very happy with them. Very encouraging for the European filly (Sopran Basilea) first time over here. Vergara was a little disappointing. But it was always a question coming off the layoff.”

Jockey Javier Castellano (Sopran Basilea, 2nd ) :  “I'm so proud of her today. She was very professional in the post parade. She came running at the end. I really liked the way she did it today.”

Jockey John Velazquez (Bipartisanship, 3rd): “Got to the first turn and everybody was checking back. We sat there and waited to the quarter pole to squeeze between horses, and then she came running nicely. Seems like the longer distance will suit her good.”

The post Whitebeam Scores First U.S. Win In Gallorette On Pimlico Turf appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's  Ryvit won the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) Saturday at Pimlico, but the race was marred by the fatal breakdown of favorite Havnameltdown in a horrific fall that sent jockey Luis Saez to the hospital.

Havnameltdown shattered his front ankle injury and fell on the stretch turn; he was be euthanized on the track, said Scott Hay, DVM, who is the AAEP's on-call veterinarian for Preakness Day.

Saez, complaining of leg pain, was put on a backboard and taken to a hospital.

An Uncaptured colt owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Havnameltdown was a multiple graded stakes winner trained by Bob Baffert.

Prince of Jericho was second, and Frosted Departure finished third.

Ryvit ($12.80), a Competitive Edge colt out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare She Is Bedazzling, posted a fourth straight win and first in a graded event for trainer Steve Asmussen. He came into Saturday's race off his breakthrough stakes victory in the Bachelor April 29 at Oaklawn.

This story will be updated.

 

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Zendan Racing Stables Inc.'s Arabian Lion kicked off the Preakness Day stakes program in style Saturday, rolling to a popular four-length victory in the $100,000 Sir Barton sponsored by Brandon and Diannah Perry to benefit the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance at historic Pimlico Race Course.

The 25th running of the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton for 3-year-olds was the first of 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.75 million in purses headlined by the 148th Preakness Stakes (G1), middle jewel of the Triple Crown.

Arabian Lion ($2.80) broke sharply and found himself in familiar position on the lead under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, chased by 25-1 long shot Feeling Woozy around the first turn in a :24.47  quarter of a mile, until Tapit's Conquest moved up to the stalking spot racing two wide after a half in :48.13.

Velazquez had yet to ask Arabian Lion at the top of the lane, but the son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify responded when roused in midstretch and drew clear to win in 1:41.43 over a fast main track. Tapit's Conquest was a game second, 6½ lengths ahead of Denington. Sheriff Ronnie and Feeling Woozy completed the order of finish. Masterwork was scratched.

It was the second Sir Barton win for Velazquez, following King for a Day in 2019. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert – who also trained Justify – earned his fourth Sir Barton victory after Fame and Power (2015), American Freedom (2016) and Ax Man (2018).

Arabian Lion fetched $600,000 at the 2022 OBS spring sale of 2-year-old in training last April and broke his maiden at first asking in October. He raced twice more as a juvenile, finishing fifth as the favorite in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2). This year he was fourth in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) Feb. 4 at Santa Anita and second by a half-length to First Mission in the April 15 Lexington (G3) at Keeneland.

Sir Barton won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 1919, becoming the first horse to sweep what wouldn't become known as the Triple Crown until Gallant Fox matched the feat in 1930. He won or placed in all 13 of his starts as a 3-year-old and retired in 1920 with 13 wins from 31 races. In 1957 Sir Barton was inducted into racing's Hall of Fame.

Arabian Lion was bred in Kentucky Bonne Chance Farm LLC. His dam is the Distorted Humor mare Unbound.

Sir Barton Quotes

Winning Trainer Bob Baffert (Arabian Lion): “I should have run him in the Preakness! I didn't think he could lose in the Lexington (when second behind First Mission). I was just, 'How did he get beat?' I think that race sort of helped him, and I wanted to give him one more time around two turns. He is such a beautiful horse. He is like a smaller version of Justify and I think he is just starting to wake up. What I saw today, and that time was pretty impressive, I think he [belonged] in the Preakness the way he ran today, and I probably should have put both of them in there. The Belmont is a possibility with him.

“He left there well. Johnny (Velazquez) got aggressive with him. When he came back, he was not blowing hard. He did it the right way and the time was really impressive. I don't know how far he is going to go, but, right now, it's all about if your horse is peaking and moving forward. When I first got him, he was sort of heavy and now he is getting fitter. What I saw today I thought I was going to see in the Lexington. If he would have won the Lexington, he would have definitely been in the Preakness. I would have had two (National Treasure being the other).

Winning Jockey John Velazquez (Arabian Lion): “I wanted to keep his mind on running because he got to the stretch and started drifting out. Obviously, he has changed a lot from two starts back when I rode him (fourth in Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita), because when I rode him, he was a bad fourth. It didn't seem like he wanted to go the two turns. He's a different horse from two starts back.”

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