A little less than a month after Jareth Loveberry sustained a fibula fracture in a starting gate accident at the Fair Grounds, the rider found himself in the winner’s circle March 25 at Turfway Park astride a colt bound for the
Tag: Racing
Key Of Life Wires Purple Martin Field At Oaklawn
Flurry Racing Stables LLC and Hoffman Family Racing LLC's Key of Life was the fastest out of the gate and was never headed, drawing off to easily win Saturday's $150,000 Purple Martin Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in front of a crowd of 32,500 Oaklawn Park.
With jockey Isaac Castillo in the irons, Key of Life set fractions for :22.27 and 45.68 for the first half mile. The winner was able to catch her breath around the turn for home and once in the stretch, she drew away from her competition to win by 3¼ lengths over Socially Selective, who had tracked from second throughout. Klassy Bridgette, the 8-5 favorite, was third.
The winning time for six furlongs over a fast track was 1:09.90 on a fast track.
Key of Life, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Mo Town out of Harlan's Holiday mare Longride to Wisdom, improved her record to 4-0-3 from seven career starts and has now earned $391,475. Bred by Moreau Bloodstock International Inc., she returned $7 for the victory.
Purple Martin Quotes:
Winning jockey Isaac Castillo: “She's a nice filly. Thanks to (trainer) Brad Cox and all his team for giving me the opportunity. Thanks to the owners (Staton Flurry and Gregory Hoffman). I just played the break. This filly is so fast out of the gate. So, I was able to make the lead.”
Winning owner Staton Flurry: “She got pinned on the rail; the track last out was muddy. Everything was coming from off the pace that day (Feb. 11 Dixie Belle Stakes). It was the perfect storm of bad luck. She's just a nice filly. I'm excited to see what the rest of the year holds. Hopefully, we can get a graded race or two with her and keep on rolling with the flow.”
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Southlawn Storms From Last For Fair Grounds Oaks Triumph
Robert E. Masterson's Southlawn uncoiled a strong rally from last, ran down front-runner Pretty Mischievous in the stretch, then shook free to a clear win in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) Saturday.
Southlawn, daughter of Pioneerof the Nile out of the Uncle Mo mare Mo d'Amour, won by 3 1/2 lengths and finished 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.38 on a fast track while earning her first stakes victory.
Christian d'Oro sprinted out to lead early and Hoosier Philly ran with her, pressing through the opening quarter mile in :23.65 while Southlawn bided her time at the back of the field.
Shaken up to lead as the half mile went in :47.20, Hoosier Philly was challenged for command around the turn by Pretty Mischievous, who easily dispatched her to take charge at the quarter pole. She opened a 1 1/2-length advantage but was reeled in by a determined Southlawn, who willingly drove clear under Reylu Gutierrez to get the victory.
Pretty Mischievous hung on for second, and The Alys Look was third. Hoosier Philly, the 6-5 favorite was fourth and Christian d'Oro faded to finish last of five.
Southlawn returned $17.40 for the win.
The Fair Grounds Oaks is a qualifier for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 5 at Churchill Downs, providing points on a 100-40-30-20-10 scale toward eligibility to the top five finishers.
Trained by Norm Casse, Southlawn won two of six starts last year but is perfect in both outings this year, entering off an allowance-optional claiming race Feb. 17 at the New Orleans track. The $240,000 winner's share of the Fair Grounds Oaks purse increased her career purse earnings to $318,369.
Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Southlawn was purchased from consignor Denali Stud for $290,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale.
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Rosario Teams With Spooky Channel To Win Muniz Memorial Classic
Spooky Channel, an 8-year-old English Channel gelding who gave Jason Barkley his first stakes and graded stakes victories as a trainer in 2021, rallied wide into the stretch under Joel Rosario to win Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes by a half length at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La.
Pace-setting Rising Empire finished second under Florent Geroux, with Gentle Soul and Reylu Gutierrez3 1/4 lengths farther back in third, and Flavien Prat and Another Mystery fourth in the field of nine older runners. Atone, the G1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational winner, was sent off the 4-5 favorite under Luis Saez but finished last after pressing the early pace.
Spooky Channel covered the about distance of 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:54.11 and paid $9.20 to win.
The complexion of the Muniz changed significantly when Two Emmys, a dyed-in-the-wool front-runner, was scratched by the stewards on the advice of the track veterinarian just prior to the field reaching the starting gate.
Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, Spooky Channel campaigns for John Ballantyne, Art Neuhedel and Daryl Shaw's 's NBS Stable, which claimed him for $80,000 out of an allowance/optional claiming race at Churchill Downs in April 2021. Spooky Channel began his career at Turf Paradise in 2018, winning six of eight starts at the Arizona track, then heading to the Midwest and East Coast. He won his first graded stakes, the G3 W.L. McKnight Stakes at Gulfstream, in January 2020 for trainer Brian Lynch, then added the G3 John B. Connally Turf Cup at Sam Houston in January 2021. Three starts later, he was claimed by Barkley, who took out his trainers license in 2015.
Four starts later, Spooky Channel gave Barkley his first stakes win in the Remington Green Stakes at Remington Park, then provided the conditioner with his first graded triumph in Keeneland's G3 Sycamore Stakes next out.
Spooky Channel was sidelined more than a year after that victory, then came back to win the Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds in his first start off the layoff on Dec. 26, 2022. He finished third in the Connally in a return trip to Sam Houston Jan. 28, then trained up to the Muniz at Fair Grounds.
Rosario, riding Spooky Channel for the first time, allowed the gelding to settle behind horses early as Rising Empire set slow fractions of :24.55, :51.44 and 1:15.34 for the first six furlongs. Spooky Channel had one horse beat in the run down the backstretch before rallying wide on the turn. He was seventh rounding into the stretch, but head and head with Rising Empire at the eighth pole, the mile clocked in 1:54.11, then took command in deep stretch.
The Muniz Memorial Classic, inaugurated in 1992 as the Explosive Bid Stakes, was renamed in 2003 in honor of the late Mervin R. Muniz Jr., the longtime racing secretary at the New Orleans track.
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