Tag: Racing

Steeplechase racing resumes this weekend after a four-month winter break, beginning with a six-race card in Aiken on Saturday and four sanctioned timber contests as part of the Cheshire Hunt Races in Unionville, Pa., on Sunday.

The meets are two of 16 on the National Steeplechase Association Spring calendar, which consists of approximately 75 races across seven states with purses totaling $2.335 million, about $300,000 more than last Spring.

First run in 1930, the Aiken Races have launched the season since the Little Everglades in Dade City, Fla., ended its run in 2009. And this year, Aiken takes on added significance. The Fall meet, run over the same course on Nov. 18, will replace Charleston as the 2023 finale, and serve as host of the National Steeplechase Association's year-end awards gala honoring the sport's champions.

Saturday's card, which offers $125,000 in prize money, consists of the featured $35,000 Imperial Cup, a Sport of Kings hurdle stake for four-year-olds at 2 1/16 miles; a $30,000 handicap for horses rated at 120 or less; $25,000 maiden hurdle; $20,000 handicap for horses rated at 110 or less; $15,000 maiden starter hurdle for horses that have been entered for a claiming price of $20,000 or less on the flat or over fences; and a training flat race. Post time is 1 p.m.

Both of last year's two top two trainers, leading conditioner Leslie Young, and Keri Brion, will be represented on the card. Brion, in particular, has a bevy of runners, saddling eight including all three entrants in the Imperial Cup. The field may be small in size, but it's packed with up-and-coming young talent.

Hudson River Farms, Madaket Stables, and R and K Racing's The Insider was the runaway 17-length winner of the prestigious Gladstone stakes at Far Hills in October. The Insider was poised to lock up the sophomore crown as top three-year-old in the season finale, the Alston Cup at Charleston, but lost all chance in a spill at the final fence that also took out Jordan Wycoff's filly, Clara Belle. Like The Insider, Clara Belle, who was making a strong bid before the mishap, looks to avenge that loss at Charleston to Topic Changer, who returns to prove that his victory was no fluke. Topic Changer, who runs in the colors of Wycoff, Upland Flats Racing, and Frank Mullins (who is president of the Aiken Steeplechase Association), gets the services of regular rider Barry Foley. For Topic Changer and Foley it'll be like old homecoming as the duo teamed up for a maiden victory over the course last fall. Leading 2022 jockey Parker Hendriks rides The Insider, while veteran reinsman Bernie Dalton pilots Clara Belle.

For complete Aiken entries, click here.

And at the 76th Cheshire Races…

A full day of action is scheduled for Sunday in Pennsylvania, where 11 races are on tap at Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds Point to Point at Plantation Field. The four sanctioned contests, all over timber at three miles, include the $15,000 Cheshire Bowl allowance; $10,000 Louis Neilson III allowance for apprentice riders; and two $10,000 maiden races. The sanctioned races begin at noon.

The rest of the day's events, which will take place before and after the sanctioned contests, include pony races, a lead-line trot, flat races, a side-saddle field master's chase, and a timber race.

The Cheshire Bowl is shaping up as a corker of a race that has drawn a talented field of six, led by the remarkable Mystic Strike. Now 14, Upland Partners' durable seven-time stakes winner of more than $300,000, is coming off an emotional score in the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup in November, a race he captured for the third time since 2019. Gerard Galligan rides for trainer Todd McKenna.

Though his connections toyed with the idea of retiring their star, McKenna said the Smart Strike gelding was out hunting earlier in the week and is doing “amazing.”

“'I hate to compare horses to humans, but if we did we would have to say he's a bit like Tom Brady; retirement is not an option,” McKenna quipped. “Imagine if Tom retired at the expected retirement age of footballers, he would have missed five of seven Super Bowl wins!”

With nice weather in the forecast for Cheshire, which is a local meet for Mystic Strike and his connections, the trainer made it his starting point for the season. If all goes well, he might make one or two additional starts this spring.

Mystic Strike's five opponents are veterans, and most have enjoyed their own moment or two in the spotlight. Kiplin Hall's Renegade River upset champion Schoodic in the 2019 Willowdale Stakes, while The Hundred Acre Field's Cracker Factory bested Mystic Strike and Storm Team, a duel stakes winner last season, in the National Sporting Library & Museum Cup at the Virginia Fall Races in Middleburg in October. Ballybristol Farm's Rakhaa makes his first start in more than a year, but was impressive when taking an allowance race by 32 lengths at the Genesee Valley Hunt Races in upstate New York in 2021. His stablemate, Leipers Fork Steeplechasers' Court Ruler, was a two-time winner over hurdles in 2022, romped by 37 lengths upon switching to timber at Callaway Gardens last fall. Both are trained by Leslie Young. Fat Chance Farm's Flaming Sword is a two-time allowance winner, with several thirds in stakes competition.

For full Cheshire entries, click here.

This year's Cheshire meet is being run in honor of Elizabeth Cromwell Bosley Bird. Betty Bird, as she was known, was an accomplished steeplechase trainer, avid rider and foxhunter, professional fashion model, and beloved member of the community. Her accomplishments as a trainer include winning the Maryland Hunt Cup with Marchized in 1954 and Fort Devon in 1976. Fort Devon was also named the NSA timber champion in 1974 and 1975 and was the winner of the 1975 Cheshire Bowl.

The post Weekend Doubleheader Jumpstarts Steeplechase Season With Aiken Races Saturday, Cheshire Hunt Sunday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Iowa-bred sensation Tyler's Tribe is being pointed to the inaugural $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for 3-year-olds at one mile April 1 at Oaklawn, the gelding's co-owner/trainer, Tim Martin, said Thursday morning.

Tyler's Tribe is unraced since a third-place finish in the $150,000 Advent Stakes for 2-year-olds at 5 ½ furlongs Dec. 9 at Oaklawn. The multiple stakes winner received approximately a month off after he bled through Lasix during the race, Martin said.

Tyler's Tribe moved closer to his 3-year-old debut by recording a five-furlong bullet workout (:59.40) over a fast track Thursday morning under regular rider Kylee Jordan. It was the gelding's fourth work since his break.

“He's been great all along,” Martin said. “No problem. Last time, clear, clean, no blood, no mucus. I'm working him on Lasix, obviously, but he's been good so far.”

Tyler's Tribe, who breezed alone immediately after the surface renovation break, recorded splits of :12 for his opening eighth of a mile, 23.80 for a quarter-mile and :35.80 for three furlongs before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.20 and 7 furlongs in 1:26.80.

Following the work, Martin said the Hot Springs is the target for Tyler's Tribe, who won his first five career starts, all dirt sprints at Prairie Meadows in Iowa, by a combined 59 ¾ front-running lengths before being eased after bleeding in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) Nov. 4 at Keeneland.

Although the use of race-day Lasix is prohibited in the Breeders' Cup, Tyler's Tribe will be able compete on the anti-bleeder medication in the Hot Springs. Tyler's Tribe has never raced around two turns.

“Kind of what I'm pointing to,” Martin said of the Hot Springs. “You never know, but you can change your mind. I think it will be easier on him. I've always thought he can go long. Matter of fact, the first time I ran him at Prairie Meadows, I told Kylee that I thought that 4 ½ furlongs is short and the horse is going to be a route horse. He can run short, too, but everything indicates he can go a distance.”

From the first crop of millionaire Grade 1 winner Sharp Azteca, Tyler's Tribe has a 5-0-1 record from seven lifetime starts and earnings of $320,169. A $34,000 yearling purchase, Tyler's Tribe is a four-time stakes winner for Martin and co-owner Thomas D. Lepic.

The Hot Springs closed March 17 with 44 nominations. Post positions will be drawn Monday.

The post ‘I Think It Will Be Easier On Him’: Tyler’s Tribe May Return In April 1 Hot Springs Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Bruce Lunsford's multiple graded stakes winner Art Collector ships in to Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots to headline a field of eight sharp older males in Saturday's 98th running of the $500,000 New Orleans Classic (G2).

The New Orleans Classic will go as Race 9 of 15 with a post time of 4:04 p.m. CT. It will be the first leg of the all-new Bayou Bluegrass 5, which combines five stakes from Fair Grounds' and Turfway Park's big Saturday cards. First post for the Louisiana Derby Day program will be noon (all times Central) and will feature the 110th running of the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) and the 56th running of the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). 100-40-30-20-10 Kentucky Derby and Oaks points are on the line for the top five finishers as the Championship Series begins in New Orleans with the 1 3/16 miles Louisiana Derby (Race 12, 5:42 p.m.) and the 1 1/16 miles Fair Grounds Oaks (5:08 p.m.).

Besides the New Orleans Classic, The Louisiana Derby Day stakes-laden card will also feature the $300,000 Muniz Memorial (G2), the $100,000 Tom Benson Stakes, the $100,000 Costa Rising Stakes (LA), the $100,000 Crescent City Derby (LA), and the $100,000 Crescent City Oaks (LA).

Ahead of Olympiad's second-place finish to Flightline in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic, trainer Bill Mott sent him to Fair Grounds where he first won the Mineshaft and followed that up with a win in the New Orleans Classic. Mott also won this race with Good Samaritan in 2018. This year he will be represented by the $4 million lifetime earner Art Collector. The 6-year-old's last win at the 1 1/8 miles distance came in January's Pegasus World Cup. In that race he showed a new dimension rating behind the speed, only to draw off, leaving 11 of the division's best 4 1/2 lengths behind him. Four of his Pegasus foes won in their next outing. In his race prior to the Pegasus, the 1 1/18 miles Lukas Classic (G2), Art Collector finished fifth, 6 1/2 lengths behind the winner Hot Rod Charlie.

“In (the Lukas) remember we were in the lead and we got passed,” Lunsford said. “Really that may not be his most comfortable way to run. When he was younger, he wouldn't break. When we put Luis Saez on him, Luis was able to get him to break, get him to go and run on the lead. Now I think (Art Collector) is smarter and runs differently. He had plenty left in the Pegasus, and I think he would have run another half mile if he had to.”

Atypical for modern racing, Art Collector was brought back to race as a 6-year-old by his sporting owner Lunsford.

“Part of the reason I decided to run him back is I like the game,” Lunsford said. “I like to race. I talked with Bill (Mott) about it, and we felt the horse had excuses with his foot and things like that and we could get him back in good order to run. I didn't think it would be fair for him to go out after that one (the Lukas Classic), and it worked out pretty well because he was really healthy (in the Pegasus).”

If not Art Collector, who will take the early lead in the New Orleans Classic? After entering Brad Cox's barn at the beginning of his 5-year-old season, Gary and Mary West's West Will Power soon developed a new running style as he moved up in class. His 5-2-3-0 record with the Cox barn, including a win in the Fayette (G2) at Keeneland, proves the success of the new tactics. He exits two strong on-the-board-finishes in the Clark (G1) behind Proxy and the Razorback (G3) behind Last Samurai, who recently returned to take the Essex (G3).

If West Will Power wants the lead, he will have to duke it out with one of Fair Grounds' fastest early speedsters over the past two meets in Robert Johnson and Britt Haselton's Treasury. The one-dimensional son of Speightstown is as honest as they come. In his races at Fair Grounds, he is 11-for-11 in the money with three wins, including last out in an allowance where he went all out at every call, saying catch me in the end, if you can. Trainer Grant Forster says the same strategy will be employed in Treasury's first stakes run.

“We're going to be in front,” Forster said. “You have to be in front at some point to win the race. He's doing fantastic. He loves it here, it's the perfect time to take our big swing with him and see what happens. He's just a horse that you have to let run. His thing is he can go fast and keep going. Obviously, these are top-class horses, but we're going to go out there and take it to everybody and see what happens.”

Among the other top competitors in the New Orleans Classic is Lothenbach Stable's Happy American. Winner of the Louisiana (G3) and the Tenacious, two of the three preps for the New Orleans Classic, last out in the Mineshaft Happy American finished a disappointing eighth.

“I was hesitant to run last time and I shouldn't have,” Pessin said of the poor performance. “I'm kicking myself for doing that. I wasn't going to run in this one but he is doing exceptionally well, like he was before the Louisiana. After we gave him a couple of weeks off, he's come back doing exceptionally well, bright and energetic, so we're going to see what happens. It's a little tougher race than before. There are a couple horses shipping in that make it pretty tough, but I need to see where he belongs. If he runs his race but gets beat five lengths I know I need to avoid those horses. If he runs his race and is right there, then I'll take them on again. We need to know if he fits in the upper echelon.”

There's no questioning Jon Lapczenski and JIL Stable Mr. Wireless' form. Trained by Bret Calhoun, the 5-year-old has finished second in each of the local preps. In the Mineshaft, it was Sumaya U S Stables' Pioneer of Medina who got the best of Mr. Wireless. However, Pletcher's trainee returns on Saturday, but he is winless in two starts at the New Orleans Classic distance of 1 ⅛ miles.

Here is the complete field for the New Orleans Classic in order of post position (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

1. Treasury (Corey Lanerie, Grant Forster, 20-1);
2. Art Collector (Junior Alvarado, Bill Mott, 8-5);
3. West Will Power (Flavien Prat, Brad Cox, 2-1);
4. Trafalgar (Mitchell Murrill, Chris Hartman, 30-1);
5. Rattle N Roll (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ken McPeek, 10-1);
6. Happy American (James Graham, Neil Pessin, 10-1);
7. Mr. Wireless (Deshawn Parker, Bret Calhoun, 8-1);
8. Pioneer of Medina (Luis Saez, Todd Pletcher, 9-2).

Looking to back up his win in the Fair Grounds Stakes (G3), Wolfe Racing Hugh Robertson's Two Emmys enters the 31st running of the $300,000 Muniz Memorial Classic (G2) poised to repeat after wiring last year's renewal. Nine other formful older turf males entered to end Two Emmys' reign at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, including last-out Pegasus World Cup Turf winner Atone and Two Emmys' nemesis in the 2021 Sycamore, Spooky Channel.

Going 1 1/8 miles over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course, the Muniz is slated as the 10th race on the stakes-laden 15-race program. Post time is 4:36 p.m. CT. The portable rail has been moved inside from 34 to 28 feet for all this weekend's turf races, and with that, field sizes are expanded to ten entries.

A win in the Muniz would put Two Emmys above $1 million in lifetime earnings. Trainer Hugh Robertson has been masterful with his 7-year-old gelded son of English Channel who keeps getting better with age. A multiple-graded stakes winner who often manages to get the lead and slow down the pace, Two Emmys will break from post No. 6 with regular rider James Graham aboard.

Three Diamonds Farm's Atone exits the best performance of his 6-year-old career, scoring in the Pegasus World Cup Turf. The 7-time winner made his first grade-stakes win count in scoring the lion's share of the $1,000,000 purse. Trainer Mike Maker is known for finding the best in his turf horses as they mature, and the 6-year-old Atone is no exception. Drawing post No. 1 and tabbed as the 5-2 favorite in the morning line, Luis Saez will climb aboard Atone for the first time since 2021.

Similar to Two Emmys, NBS Stable's Spooky Channel is an older English Channel seeming to be in career-best form. Trained by Jason Barkley, the 8-year-old missed most of 2022 with a minor setback, but in December of 2022 he reasserted himself winning the $100,000 Diliberto. His next start was over the soft going of Sam Houston Park in the Connally Turf Cup, where he tended to the pace in typical fashion but finished one length behind winner Scarlet Fusion and a neck shy of Muniz-foe Another Mystery.

“Right now, he is a monster,” assistant trainer Shelbi Barkley said. “Since he ran at Texas, he has been tough and on the bridle. Even more than before. He had his little issue last year and we had to give him time. Last year he trained well, but right now he is doing better than ever.”

In Spooky Channel's last race before the setback, he nailed Two Emmys at the wire in the Sycamore (G3) at Keeneland. Joel Rosario will pilot Spooky Channel, who drew immediately inside Two Emmys with post No. 5.

Russell Welch and Ran Leonard's Rising Empire has found new form since being pointed to the turf two races back by trainer Brendan Walsh.

“He's been working very well,” Walsh said. “Sometimes in the past he wasn't the greatest workhorse but recently he's been working great. I think he got a lot of confidence from his few grass starts. He likes it here, he likes this turf course. I don't think he'll be too far away.”

Made 20-1 in the morning line, Rising Empire finished a head shy of winning his first turf run but wheeled back for the open-length score against allowance ranks in February. Florent Geroux is signed on to pilot him from post No. 2.

Here is the complete field for the Muniz Memorial from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

1. Atone (Luis Saez, Mike Maker, 5-2);
2. Rising Empire (Florent Geroux, Brendan Walsh, 20-1);
3. Gentle Soul (Rey Gutierrez, Bret Calhoun, 5-1);
4. English Tavern (Deshawn Parker, 12-1, Michelle Lovell);
5. Spooky Channel (Joel Rosario, Jason Barkley, 9-2);
6. Two Emmys (James Graham, Hugh Robertson, 3-1);
7. Another Mystery (Flavien Prat, Chris Block, 6-1);
8. Tiz the Bomb (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ken McPeek, 10-1);
9. Risk Manager (Ricardo Santana Jr., Sarah Davidson, 20-1);
10. Native Thunder (Mitchell Murrill, Dallas Stewart, 30-1).

The post Pegasus Winners Art Collector, Atone Highlight Louisiana Derby Undercard Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Rick Dawson, owner of 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, announced on Facebook this week that the colt would not make his anticipated 4-year-old debut at Turfway Park this Saturday due to “a very non-serious issue.”

Trainer Eric Reed later told bloodhorse.com that the issue was a nicked quarter, a raw spot typically located just above the top of the horse's hoof which can be caused by a hind hoof stepping on a front hoof.

“He has a spot about the size of your fingernail that's a little raw that will take three or four days to toughen back up,” Reed explained. “So we are going to back off and make sure he is 100%. He was out on the track this morning and was fine.”

Now, Rich Strike will target a 2023 debut on April 22, in either the G3 Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland or the G2 Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas.

Rich Strike, the son of Keen Ice, has not raced since finishing sixth in the G1 Clark at Churchill on Nov. 25. The colt has not won a race since his 81-1 upset in the Run for the Roses, but did finish a hard-fought second in the G2 Lukas Classic (behind Hot Rod Charlie) and fourth behind Horse of the Year Flightline in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Overall, Rich Strike's record stands at 2-1-3 from 13 starts for earnings of $2,508,989.

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

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