Tag: Racing

Ten Strike Racing homebred Looms Boldly made every pole a winning one to secure his first career stakes victory in Sunday's $100,000 Damon Runyon, a six-furlong sprint for New York-bred sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Brad Cox and piloted by the Big A winter meet's leading rider Manny Franco, bay colt by Spendthrift Farm sire Goldencents entered from a stalking third-place finish to returning rival What's Up Bro in a local state-bred optional-claimer on February 20 while racing off a three-month layoff.

Franco, who guided Looms Boldly to a gate-to-wire graduation at second asking in November at Aqueduct, said he took advantage of a quick break from post 2 in the Damon Runyon.

“He broke so sharp and I went with him because I won on the lead with him before,” said Franco, who has 61 wins at the meet which concludes next Sunday. “That's what I did and he took me all the way to the wire. In the stretch, my horse was getting a little tired in the end, but at the same time he was giving me all he had. I'm glad we got it done today.”

Looms Boldly led through fractions of :22.39 and :46.42 over the fast main track with the Trevor McCarthy-piloted Andiamo a Firenze stalking a close second. What's Up Bro, the lukewarm 9-5 mutuel favorite under Dylan Davis, was angled off the rail from third position for the stretch run as Looms Boldly clung to the rail and the lead.

Andiamo a Firenze and What's Up Bro rallied wide down the lane but only the former could threaten Looms Boldly, who prevailed by a half-length in a final time of 1:13.75.

Andiamo a Firenze completed the exacta by 4 1/4-lengths over What's Up Bro. D'ont Lose Cruz, who bobbled at the break and was sandwiched between the awkward-starting Bobby Ride and outward-breaking Andiamo a Firenze, finished fourth with Bobby Ride completing the order of finish. East Coast Girl was scratched.

Dustin Dugas, the New York-based assistant for Cox, said a prominent trip was the plan.

“I expected him to be on the lead or near it, but I didn't expect it to be that quick,” Dugas said. “Manny was really confident in the horse and has breezed him a bunch of times – he knows him really well. He rode him last time and he needed the race a bit off the layoff. He wasn't that comfortable sitting off the pace, so Manny made sure to be really aggressive today and it panned out.”

Dugas said Looms Boldly has matured with racing.

“He's always been a big, chunky boy and we always thought he was unfit, but he's shown us that he just is [this way],” Dugas said. “He never lost his baby fat and he's just this big boy. He's definitely grown mentally and physically. His whole family is happy-go-lucky and they love to race and train.”

Mr. Amore Stable's Andiamo a Firenze was in flying form at Saratoga Race Course as a juvenile, finishing third in the Sanford (G3) and winning the state-bred Funny Cide. The Kelly Breen trainee entered the Damon Runyon from a pair of distant off-the-board efforts here against open company in the one-mile Jerome on January 7 and the nine-furlong Withers (G3) on February 11.

McCarthy, aboard Andiamo a Firenze for the first time in the afternoon, said he was pleased with the trip.

“He gave me a good run but I feel like he didn't give me everything,” McCarthy said. “He was drifting in when I needed him the most and he didn't really lay his head down and give me his all. Once I did push him, it gave him a second gear. He was just kind of spotty that's all. I like the horse a lot. I got a great position, no excuse for him.”

Looms Boldly, out of the Forestry mare See the Forest, is a half-brother to multiple stakes-winner Critical Value and was bred by Marshall Gramm and Clay Sanders. He banked $55,000 in victory and improved his record to 2-1-1 from four starts while returning $13.40 for a $2 win bet.

The post Looms Boldly Sprints Wire To Wire To Land Damon Runyon appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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First by the slimmest of margins, heavily favored The Chosen Vron found a way to get it done in Sunday's $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes at Santa Anita as he had show punters looking for a bridge to jump from before the photo finish came down.

Owned in-part and trained by Eric Kruljac, The Chosen Vron nosed out a game Kings River Knight while getting about 6½ furlongs down the hillside turf course in 1:12.97 under Hector Berrios as the pair posed for their sixth consecutive win in what was The Chosen Vron's 10th career stakes victory.

The Sensational Star is part of the lucrative CTBA-sponsored Golden State Series for eligible California-bred or -sired horses.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Kings River Knight took the lead from Fast Buck at the half-mile pole and these two went head and head for the front approaching the dirt crossing at the top of the lane as The Chosen Vron, who was bothered by an erratic Jack Sixpack, was caught four-deep and about two lengths off the lead.

With Fast Buck falling out of it approaching the furlong pole, Kings River Knight opened up two lengths on Jack Sixpack as both The Chosen Vron and Indian Peak got rolling late. In a thriller, it was The Chosen Vron winning by a nose from Kings River Knight, who was a head in front of third-place finisher Indian Peak.

Fresh off a romping 6½-length win going a mile on dirt in the state-bred Tiznow Stakes Feb. 20, The Chosen Vron was off at 1-5 in a field of five older horses and paid $2.60 for the win. (There was $128,123 bet to show on the winner, creating a minus show pool of $27,590).

“I had to wait a bit to assure my position and I went a little wide on the turn, but I knew what I had under me and we got it done,” said Berrios. “There was a little doubt that we won, but I'm glad we did.”

A 5-year-old gelding by now-deceased sire Vronsky out of the Tiz Wonderful mare Tiz Molly, The Chosen Vron was bred in California by Tiz Molly Partners and is owned by Eric Kruljac, Sondereker Racing LLC, Robert Fetkin, and Richard Thornburgh.

With Saturday's win, The Chosen Vron picked up $60,000, increasing his earnings to $732,678.

“I thought we got it by a nostril, a very thin one,” said Kruljac. “Maybe a nasal hair. He came (on) when he needed to. He had a little trouble early and it cost him some momentum (but) he kicked back in. Maybe he likes to scare you, you know?”

Kings River Knight, in his first start for John Sadler, ran a tremendous race at 7-1 to get second.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez for Peter Miller, Indian Peak made a solid run from off the pace but came a head short for second.

Fractions on the race were :22.22, :44.60, and 1:06.96.

The post Cal-Bred Star The Chosen Vron Extends Win Streak In Sensational Star Thriller, Notches 10th Stakes Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Linda Rice's strong run of form was catapulted by a decisive victory from Lady Sheila Stable New York homebred Downtown Mischief in Saturday's Cicada, a six-furlong open company stakes for sophomore fillies. The Into Mischief bay could now target the seven-furlong $125,000 Bouwerie against fellow state-breds on May 29 at Belmont Park.

In capturing Saturday's engagement, Downtown Mischief kept a flawless record intact having now won all three of her lifetime starts. She was a 7 3/4-length winner of her January 14 debut before defeating winners on February 17 by 1 1/4 lengths. Both efforts were local six-furlong tests.

Downtown Mischief was asked to overcome several circumstances in the Cicada, breaking a step slow before feeling added pressure in between horses on the front end. Nevertheless, she was able to shake off the challenges and cross the wire a 1 1/2-length winner under Jose Lezcano while recording a career-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure.

Rice said Downtown Mischief could run once prior to the Bouwerie.

“Frankly, I'm a little undecided. That race is a ways off. I may choose to run her before then. She came out of the race great and we're really pleased with her,” Rice said.

Downtown Mischief appeared to tire a bit during the final furlong of the Cicada, but Rice said she was not the least bit discouraged.

“She actually galloped out pretty well despite that,” Rice commented. “She broke a step slow, had to overcome some fast fractions and got pace pressure on both sides of her. She's still learning and maturing, but she keeps stepping through each hurdle very nicely.”

Downtown Mischief is out of the Speightstown mare Downtown Mama, a three-time winner campaigned by the same connections and a half sister to graded stakes winner Alpha Kitten.

Downtown Mischief's victory provided Rice with her ninth triumph in the past 11 races she was entered. She increased that number to 10-of-12 in the Saturday finale when D.J. Stable's Lifetime of Chance romped to a 16-length conquest to break his maiden at sixth asking. The bay son of The Lieutenant earned a 91 Beyer for his triumph going seven furlongs against fellow New York-breds.

Rice said Lifetime of Chance, bred in the Empire State by Destiny Oaks of Ocala, will likely target the $200,000 NYSSS Times Square on April 22 going 6 1/2 furlongs at the Big A.

Prior to breaking his maiden, Lifetime of Chance finished in the money four times, including a third in the NYSSS Great White Way in December. He was an uncharacteristic distant fourth on February 9 going six furlongs.

“When he ran poorly last month, he had gotten sick after the race,” Rice said. “I think he might have been coming down with something before the race that we were unaware. But he certainly bounced back and ran great.”

Rice spoke of her red-hot run of winning form, which she could build into Sunday's program. Before scratches, she has nine entrants across seven races on the card.

“Everybody wants to win races. When you're in racing for a long duration, you're going to experience highs and lows,” Rice said. “You just have to enjoy the highs because it's a game that fluctuates pretty quickly. It certainly helps the morale when things are going well.”

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Trainer Jorge Abreu is enjoying a solid start to his 2023 campaign with a record of 10-3-4 from 34 starts, including an impressive score by John Gunther's Kentucky homebred Howe Street in an 11-furlong optional-claimer on March 5 at Gulfstream Park.

The 4-year-old Honor Code colt closed to finish second in his April debut here before a successful return off the layoff in January traveling one-mile under Jose Ortiz at Gulfstream.

Abreu said Howe Street will make his stakes debut in the 12-furlong Elkhorn (G2) on April 22 at Keeneland.

“I think he's a really nice horse. He ran really well,” Abreu said. “He always looked like a horse that wanted to go farther, but the first time we ran him a mile and he had a tough trip and got beat right on the wire. In his first race back, the only race for him was at a mile and Jose told me after that this horse really wants to go long, he was just starting to get warmed up.”

A number of Abreu runners breezed over the Belmont Park dirt training track this weekend, including Lawrence Goichman's multiple graded-stakes placed New York homebred Runaway Rumour.

The 4-year-old Flintshire mare breezed twice this month at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida before heading north and covering a half-mile in :49.04 Saturday at Belmont.

Runaway Rumour, who was last seen posting a head score over fellow state-breds in the Ticonderoga at Aqueduct, will target the $100,000 Plenty of Grace on April 16 at the Big A spring meet.

“I gave her a little break for the winter. She's had three breezes and I'm going to point her to the Plenty of Grace,” Abreu said.

NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds' multiple graded stakes placed New York-bred Venti Valentine breezed a half-mile in 49.65 Sunday at Belmont in her second work back since winning the one-mile Bay Ridge in December at Aqueduct.

Abreu said Venti Valentine benefitted from some time off at Brandon Rice's RiceHorse Stables Thoroughbred Training Center in Florida.

“We sent her to Brandon Rice for 60 days and she just came back. She put on a little weight and grew. Hopefully, she has a good year,” Abreu said. “She came back and had her second half-mile, so she's a little ways from running, but she's doing really well.”

A long-term target for Venti Valentine, bred by Final Furlong Racing Stable and Maspeth Stable, is the $200,000 Critical Eye Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile test for state-bred fillies and mares on May 29 at Belmont Park.

Lawrence Goichman's multiple graded stakes-placed Irish-bred Star Devine, a 5-year-old Fastnet Rock mare, worked five-eighths in 1:01.90 Saturday in preparation for the Giant's Causeway, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint on April 15 at Keeneland.

“She had a good breeze. She's doing really well right now,” said Abreu.

Star Devine posted a record of 6-1-2-1 last year, completing the campaign with a 1 1/4-length score in the six-furlong Autumn Days here in November. She entered the Autumn Days from a close third in the Franklin (G3) at Keeneland won by Caravel, who exited that effort to win the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1).

Farone Stables' New York-homebred Awesome Native, a 4-year-old Practical Joke colt, won his first two starts here against fellow state-breds, graduating in December ahead of a 6 1/4-length allowance score in a seven-furlong sprint on January 14 over a good main track.

Last out, on February 19 in a one-mile state-bred optional-claimer, he contested the pace from the inside post before fading to fifth in a race won by the stakes-placed Overstep with Ouster, who garnered a 100 Beyer here in an optional-claiming win Saturday, finishing second.

“I think being on the inside, stretching out and being close to the pace got him beat. He got tired at the eighth pole,” Abreu said.

Awesome Native breezed back a half-mile in 49.25 on March 10 and put in a sharp half-mile in 48.11 this morning.

“Last week, he worked just OK and got a little tired in the gallop out. But today he breezed really well. He went out in 1:01 with a strong gallop out,” Abreu said.

While Awesome Native is likely to target an allowance event, another option could be the $100,000 Affirmed Success, a six-furlong state-bred sprint on April 30 at Aqueduct.

“I'll work him next week again and if he worked like he did today, I'll probably point him for that,” Abreu said. “If not, I'll keep him in an allowance race. He's a young horse and he's lightly raced.”

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