Tag: Racing

After avoiding a fallen horse in early in the Santa Anita stretch, longshot Offlee Naughty completed a last-to-first rally win the $200,000 Charles Whittingham (G2) Saturday at Santa Anita.

The race was marred when Midnight Jostar slipped and fell at the top of the stretch and unseated jockey Kent Desormeaux. The 6-year-old gelding quickly got to his feet and sprinted down the stretch before he was caught by an outrider. Desormeaux, apparently unhurt, walked off the track.

Sent off at 11-1 under John Velazquez while making his season debut, Offlee Naughty won by one length and posted his first stakes victory while covering the 1 1/4-mile race in 2:02.45 on firm turf.

Dicey Mo Charra was second, three-quarters of length in front of third-place finisher Opry. Favorite Gold Phoenix was fourth.

A 5-year-old son of Flashback out of the Offlee Wild mare Acting Naughty, Offlee Naughty is trained by Michael McCarthy for owners James M. and Donna Daniell. He has a 4-1-1 record from 16 career starts and $310,645 in purse earnings. He returned $25.20 for the win.

The bay horse was bred in Kentucky by Gary and Mary West.

Charles Whittingham Quotes:

JOHN VELAZQUEZ, OFFLEE NAUGHTY, WINNER: “He is showing a lot of talent but still kind of learning. Last couple of races he put it together what he needs to do. He broke a little slow so I waited until the backstretch to let everybody go, and finally picked it up at the three-eighths pole and went back to the inside. At the quarter pole down the stretch, he came running for me.
“I was able to avoid the horse (Midnight Jostar). He came out and I think he just stumbled. I pulled my horse outside and he responded right away.”
JUAN HERNANDEZ, DICEY MO CHARA, 2ND PLACE: “This horse loves the distance and the plan was to stay behind the speed, but then Dicey Mo Chara broke sharp and I decided to let him go. He was traveling well and had a nice pace, but the other horse got me outside. The winner was in the middle of the track and Dicey Mo Chara saw him too late. No excuses today, we'll get them next time.”
FRANKIE DETTORI, OPRY, THIRD PLACE: “My horse ran well. They were just going too slow for my horse.”
TRAINER QUOTES
MICHAEL MCCARTHY, OFFLEE NAUGHTY, WINNER: The fractions were pretty slow early. Johnny made a move at the 4 ½ (furlong pole) to get him in the game and make contact with the pack. He kind of stuck there. I'm not exactly sure what happened at the top of the lane. We were kind of uncorking a run and things got bottled up there for a second. Inside the eighth pole this horse found another gear.”

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Doppelganger forged his own identity on Saturday, running down four horses from the far outside in the stretch to capture the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap for 4-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Doppelganger, the longest shot on the board at 17-1, gave his connections milestone victories, earning trainer Brittany Russell her second career graded stakes score and first career Grade 1 win, while jockey Jevian Toledo notched his first Grade 1 victory in a career approaching 8,500 starts.

Breaking from the outside post, Doppelganger benefitted from Toledo's patient ride, content to sit in fifth as Today's Flavor led the six-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.40 seconds and the half in 44.84 on the fast main track, with Little Vic and Expressman in close pursuit and 4-5 favorite Repo Rocks in fourth position.

Out of the turn, Toledo angled his charge from the rail to the outside. When presented with daylight, the 4-year-old Into Mischief colt surged in the final furlong, overtaking Little Vic, Repo Rocks, Expressman and Today's Flavor, thundering home in a final time of 1:23.25. The effort bested Repo Rocks by 1 1/4 lengths as Doppelganger posted his first stakes win in seven attempts.

The 123rd edition of the Carter, the third of four stakes on a card highlighted by the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, saw Repo Rocks edge Expressman by a nose for second. Today's Flavor and Bold Journey finished fourth and fifth, respectively, while Little Vic, who was reported to have bled, completed the order of finish.

White Abarrio, who spiked a temperature after shipping up to New York from Florida, was scratched.

Doppelganger, owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable and Siena Farm, could now be on target for the Grade 1, $1 million Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, June 10.

“That seems like a great thought immediately after, but we'll get him home and see how he is and then talk to the group,” Russell said.

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Doppelganger returned $37.80 on a $2 win bet and improved his career earnings to $442,400. He earned a winner's circle trip in his first graded stakes appearance in 10 months, his last effort a third in the Grade 3 Affirmed in June at Santa Anita.

After being transferred to Russell's care, Doppelganger started his 4-year-old campaign with back-to-back allowance wins at Laurel Park before taking the step up in class.

“The fact that were able to run him in the 'a other than' and then he comes back in the 'two other than' – this horse thinks he's on top of the world,” Russell said. “He doesn't know what races he won in when he won at Laurel. He's just had a lot of confidence and trained well. I've been getting feedback in the morning from everyone that he's getting better and today it showed.”

Doppelganger improved to 4-1-1 in 10 career starts overall and 3-for-3 with Russell.

“It's huge. Especially this horse,” said Russell, whose lone previous graded stakes win came with Wondrwherecraigis in the 2021 Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park. “This is the first horse that the group sent me last year. We opted to give him some time and let him develop, and it's nice to see that it pays off. It's a job well done to the whole team and rewarding to see the patience pay off.”

Toledo, whose career started in 2013, had registered three Grade 3 wins from 2014-20 before his Grade 1 breakthrough.

“It feels awesome. I can't explain in words,” Toledo said. “It feels great. It's great to do it here against a tough colony like this one. Brittany gives me a lot of opportunities, so credit to her for getting the horse ready. Thanks to her for bringing me here and keeping me on the horse.”

Toledo has been aboard for all three of Doppelganger's starts this year.

“I know he wants to go further, but there was a lot of speed in the race and that helped,” Toledo said. “He's a good horse. He does whatever you want. Whatever you ask him, he'll do it. He had been running against less company at Laurel. But from the beginning, they thought he could run against nice horses and he proved that he could do it today.

“The couple times I rode him at Laurel, I always kept him in the clear,” he added. “That's what I tried today. When the turn came, I had to come over and save ground. I didn't want to keep him all the way to the outside. So I came over, saved ground and went into the clear into the stretch. When he saw the clear in the stretch, he just took off.”

Jockey Andrew Wolfsont said Repo Rocks, who entered on a four-race win streak topped by a last-out score in the Stymie here, was game to the wire.

“I was very impressed with him down the lane,” Wolfsont said. “He had every reason to give up. He was so much the best in his last four starts and today he really had to try. He still gave his effort to be second even though it wasn't his day.”

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Caravel, a grey Mizzen Mast mare who scored a shocking 42-1 upset over males in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland last November, returned to Lexington, Ky., for Saturday's Grade 2 Shakertown, beating the boys again with a narrow front-running victory under Tyler Gaffalione.

The Brad Cox-trained 6-year-old covered 5 1/2 furlongs on firm turf in 1:02.58 after setting fractions of :21.86, :44.77, and :56.45. She paid $6.30 as the 2-1 favorite in the field of 12 veteran sprinters – all colts or geldings with the exception of Caravel.

Bad Beat Brian lived up to his name, finishing a head back in second at 40-1 odds, appearing to have the momentum in midstretch after putting his head in front before falling short.

“Great trip,” said Emigh. “I knew I was on the outside of the big favorite. I was going to stalk her and try and get her, and I got by her. I was a neck in front most of the lane. She kept fighting back and just refused to lose and caught me right at the last jump. I wanted to cry.”

Wesley Ward-trained Arrest Me Red, the 9-2 second choice, finished a half-length back in third, a nose ahead of Oceanic in fourth.

“I loved it (when she came back after being headed by runner-up Bad Beat Brian in the stretch),” said Gaffalione. “She showed so much heart there. She's a tremendous filly. I'm just lucky enough to be able to guide her around there. (Whether she wants the lead) depends on her break. She's a very alert filly. She jumped well today, so I didn't want to take anything away from her.”

Caravel, winning for the 13th time in 21 starts, is owned by Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and Madaket Stables. She was bred in Pennsylvania by Elizabeth Merryman and was produced from the Contrats mare, Zeezee Zoomzoom.

Gaffalione gunned Caravel to the early lead, outrunning Artemus Citylimits and Mark of the Z, then was challenged by Bad Beat Brian and Chris Emigh entering the far turn. Those two raced as a team around the turn and down the stretch, with Arrest Me Red and Oceanic rallying late but never really threatening the top two.

Caravel is now a perfect 3-for-3 sprinting over the Keeneland turf, having won the G3 Franklin Stakes against fillies and mares last October before her wire-to-wire upset in the Breeders' Cup.

“It was nice to see her gutsy performance, said Qatar Racing owner Sheikh Fahad. “She did that in (winning) the Breeders' Cup (Turf Sprint-G1 at Keeneland last year), and she did it again today. It is very hard once you get headed to come back again, but it was nice to see and I think it bodes well for the future for her.

“It wasn't that difficult (to decide to come back this year after what she accomplished last season). My brothers and I had a chat and they want good horses running around the world. She fits the bill perfectly, so it wasn't that tough, to be honest.”

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Irish-bred Papilio was up in the final strides in the the $400,000 Appalachian (G2) to win by a neck and post her first U.S. victory while adding a first stakes triumph to her record Saturday at Keeneland.

Sent off at 5-1 odds, the Starspangledbanner filly was winning for the third time in seven career starts while rebounding from a runner-up finish in the Herecomesthebride (G3) March 4 at Gulfstream in her U.S. debut.

Papilio, who was ridden by Javier Castellano for trainer Mark Casse, returned $13.98 for the win after finishing the Appalachian's one mile in 1:36.32 on turf rated as good.

Cairo Consort was second, a length in front of third-place finisher Heavenly.

Papilio, who is campaigned by D. J. Stable LLC, Medallion Racing, Barry Fowler, and Parkland Thoroughbreds, earned $176,700 winner's share of the Appalachian purse to boost her lifetime bankroll to $258,700. Her dam is the High Chaparral mare Glafyra.

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