Saturday’s $400,000, Grade 2 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs is an important qualifying points prep for the 2023 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.
Tag: Racing
Forbidden Kingdom Looks To Regain Winning Ways In San Carlos
An A-List Derby prospect a year ago, Richard Mandella's Forbidden Kingdom, a solid second in the opening day Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, heads a field of six older sprinters going seven furlongs in Saturday's G2 San Carlos Stakes presented by FanDuel TV at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.
Well beaten as the even-money favorite four starts back in the G1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby April 9, Forbidden Kingdom went to the sidelines and showed good speed in his comeback, a fifth-place finish in the G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 1.
Third, beaten a half-length by Get Her Number as the 8-5 favorite in a six-furlong classified allowance at Del Mar Nov. 20, Forbidden Kingdom was most recently beaten 4 ¼ lengths by the talented Taiba in the Malibu Dec. 26.
A 4-year-old colt by 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Forbidden Kingdom is owned by MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm, LLC. Winless in four starts since taking the G2 San Felipe on March 5 of last year, Forbidden Kingdom will be reunited with leading man Juan Hernandez. With an overall race record of 9-3-2-2, Forbidden Kingdom has earnings of $507,500.
Owned by Gary Barber and trained by Peter Miller, Get Her Number, who followed his classified allowance win over Forbidden Kingdom Nov. 20 with a huge second-place performance over a sloppy track at Aqueduct in the G1 Cigar Mile Dec. 3, returns to Santa Anita following a ninth-place finish going 1 1/8 miles in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.
A 5-year-old full horse by Dialed In, Get Her Number is based at San Luis Rey Downs and will be reunited with Flavien Prat for the first time since his classified win at Del Mar Nov. 20. With an overall mark of 16-5-2-1, Get Her Number has earnings of $725,661.
Trainer Mark Glatt will be well represented by a pair of horses, his G2 winning Howbeit, who has been supplemented and will be ridden by Mike Smith, and Holden the Lute, who marched to an emphatic 3 ½-length score going seven panels in a second condition allowance on Feb. 19.
Although ridden to victory by Flavien Prat, Holden the Lute, a 6-year-old gelding who was claimed six starts back for $40,000, will be ridden for the first time by Frankie Dettori, as Prat has opted for Get Her Number.
Holden the Lute, who earned a career-top 98 Beyer Speed Figure on Feb. 19, is 29-6-9-2 overall and will be trying stakes competition for only the second time.
Bruce Chandler's speedy homebred Spirit of Makena, a head shy of being unbeaten in three starts, comes off a scintillating first condition allowance score going six furlongs here on Feb. 11 and will be ridden back by Joe Bravo.
A 5-year-old full horse by Ghostzapper, Spirit of Makena is trained by George Papaprodromou and will be making his first stakes appearance on Saturday on the heels of earning a career-best 98 Beyer.
GRADE II SAN CARLOS
WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 5 of 9, Approximate post time 2:30 p.m. PT
Holden the Lute—Lanfranco Dettori – 120
Forbidden Kingdom—Juan Hernandez—124
Spirit of Makena—Joe Bravo—120
Clem Labine—Kyle Frey—120
Get Her Number—Flavien Prat—124
Howbeit—Mike Smith—124
First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. PT with admission gates opening at 10:30 a.m.
The post Forbidden Kingdom Looks To Regain Winning Ways In San Carlos appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Streaking Fun To Dream Leads Eight Distaffers In Saturday’s Beholder Mile
A Grade 1 winner in search of her fifth consecutive win, California-bred Fun to Dream heads an outstanding field of eight older fillies and mares in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
By 2016 Eclipse Champion 3-year-old Colt Arrogate, Fun to Dream took the opening day G1 La Brea Stakes at seven furlongs and dominated five rivals at the same distance in taking the G2 Santa Monica Stakes here on Feb. 4 in a performance that suggested she'll have no problem taking on top competition at a flat mile.
Bred in California by her trainer, Bob Baffert and Connie Pageler, Fun to Dream, who is out of the Maria's Mon mare Lutess, is owned by Connie Pageler and Jill Baffert.
A winner of her only two-turn assignment, a mile and one sixteenth first condition allowance four starts back on Oct. 1, Fun to Dream has won six out of her seven starts and is building a resume that has her on-track to perhaps being considered one of California's best-ever distaffers. With earnings of $546,590, Fun to Dream will be ridden for the eighth consecutive time by Juan Hernandez.
One of two prominent eastern shippers in the Beholder lineup, the Steve Asmussen-trained Pauline's Pearl, a Grade 1 winner who comes off a solid win over a muddy surface going 1 1/16 miles at Sam Houston Race Park on Jan. 28, rates a huge chance with John Velazquez taking over for the first time.
A four-time overall graded stakes winner, Pauline's Pearl, a 5-year-old mare by Tapit out of the Dixie Union mare Hot Dixie Chick, is owned by her breeder, Stonestreet Holding, LLC. Based at Fairgrounds in New Orleans, Pauline's Pearl, who is 16-7-3-3 with earnings of $1,873,400, will be making her first Southern California start on Saturday.
Another talented shipper with a big chance is the Brad Cox-trained A Mo Reay, who will be ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat. A 4-year-old filly by Uncle Mo, she's won two in a row, and ungraded stakes at a mile and 70 yards two starts back on Dec. 31 in New Orleans and in her first graded victory, a half length win going 1 1/16 miles in the G3 Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park Feb. 4.
Owned by Hunter Valley Farm, A Mo Reay, who also ships west for the first time, is 11-4-1-3 overall with earnings of $392,650.
Fourth as the 2-1 favorite in the G` La Brea on Dec. 26, Baffert's Midnight Memories, a galloping 3 ¼ length winner of the G2 Zenyatta Stakes at a mile and one sixteenth on Oct. 2, will hope to bounce back as she stretches out on Saturday.
A 4-year-old filly by Mastery out of the Midnight Lute mare Tiz Midnight, Midnight Memories is owned by her breeders, Mike Pegram, Paul Weitman and Karl Watson. Favored in five out of her six starts, she has four wins and a third place finish with earnings of $304,680. A winner of the G3 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar three starts back on Sept. 4, Midnight Memories will be ridden for the fourth consecutive time by Ramon Vazquez.
Third at 31-1 in the G1 La Brea, Keith Abrahams' homebred Kirstenbosch unfurled an impressive turn of foot stretching out to 1 1/16 miles in the Grade III La Canada Stakes, winning by a nose under a patient ride from Kuzushi Kimura.
Trained by John Sadler, Kirstenbosch is a 4-year-old filly by Midnight Lute who is on the improve and will again be ridden by Kimura, who's looking for his fourth stakes win of the meet. Out of the Belong to Me mare Llandudno, Kirstenbosch is 10-3-3-1 overall with earnings of $334,480.
Arizona-bred Desert Dawn, idle since Sept. 4, and an upset winner of last year's G2 Santa Anita Oaks, adds considerable depth to the field for red-hot trainer Phil D'Amato, who bagged six victories last weekend, including two stakes.
A 4-year-old filly by Cupid owned and bred by H & E Ranch, Desert Dawn is out of the Honour and Glory mare Ashley's Glory. In addition to her Santa Anita Oaks win, Desert Dawn has been graded stakes placed on five occasions and with an overall mark of 11-2-2-4, she has earnings of $621,150. She'll be reunited with regular rider Umberto Rispoli in the Beholder Mile.
THE GRADE 1 BEHOLDER MILE WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT
- Kirstenbosch—Kazushi Kimura—122
- Pauline's Pearl—John Velazquez—122
- Awake At Midnyte—Mario Gutierrez—120
- Midnight Memories—Ramon Vazquez—122
- A Mo Reay—Flavien Prat—122
- Ganadora—Edwin Maldonado–120
- Desert Dawn—Umberto Rispoli—122
- Fun to Dream—Juan Hernandez—120
First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. with admission gates opening at 10:30 a.m.
The post Streaking Fun To Dream Leads Eight Distaffers In Saturday’s Beholder Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘We Train Her Barefoot’: Drifaros Looks To Put Best Foot Forward In Hurricane Bertie
My Purple Haze Stables' Drifaros is scheduled to step into graded-stakes company in Saturday's $125,000 Hurricane Bertie (G3) at Gulfstream Park, where the 4-year-old daughter of Kantharos will make a bid for her fifth consecutive victory.
“There are a couple of really nice fillies in the race, but she's going to show up,” trainer Terri Pompay said. “She's going to be a contender, definitely.”
The Hurricane Bertie, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, will headline a 12-race program that will also feature the $100,000 Captiva Island, a five-furlong turf dash for older fillies and mares.
Pompay has had to tread softly while training Drifaros, who has experienced foot issues throughout her career.
“She doesn't grow much foot, so it's been a bit of a challenge,” Pompay said. “We train her barefoot. We put the shoes on about a week out. We'll usually do an open gallop, breeze her a little, with the shoes on. We leave them on her and she runs in them.”
Her feet may be a little tender, but she has been tough to beat. While presenting Pompay with the challenge off protecting the Kentucky-bred filly's feet while properly training her for a peak effort, Drifaros has won four straight races following a third-place finish in her debut. She graduated at Monmouth by 2 ¾ lengths last June despite trouble at the start and game back three weeks late to capture an allowance race by 3 ¼ lengths while rallying from off the pace.
“She's a nice filly. She wants to do it and she loves to do it. She is getting better and better,” said Pompay while stressing that Drifaros is very sound. “She had a few issues with her feet last summer at Monmouth. Her feet, they don't grow a lot. Walking on the concrete there back and forth to the barn, they were just killing her. We tried putting glue-on shoes on her, but it didn't really work with her.”
Drifaros was turned out with the hopes that her feet would grow a little more. She returned at Gulfstream Jan. 22 with a dominating 2 ¼-length optional claiming allowance victory before going on to win the Feb. 11 Minaret Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
“She's a medium-sized filly. She's not big. She's not little. She's kind of non-descript, but when it comes to a race, she's there,” Pompay said.
Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano is scheduled to ride Drifaros for the first time Saturday.
Frank Fletcher Racing Operations Inc.'s Frank's Rockette is expected to be heavily favored for the Hurricane Bertie. The 5-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, who has been first or second in 19 of 25 starts, is coming off a 12 ¼-length victory in the six-furlong Sugar Swirl (G3) Dec. 31 at Gulfstream Park.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has named Junior Alvarado to ride his multiple graded-stakes winner.
St. Elias Stable's Colorful Mischief enters the Hurricane Bertie off a pair of runner-up finishes at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief ran second behind Maryquitecontrary in both the mile Rampart and seven-furlong Inside Information (G2) with late rallies.
“She's been doing well; she's been running well. It looks like she's going to be competing against a heavy favorite in there, so she's going to have to step up,” trainer Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “She would definitely benefit from a fast pace, so we'll hope that develops.”
Jose Ortiz is scheduled to ride Colorful Mischief for the first time.
Diamond Racing Club LLC, Amy Dunne and trainer Patrick Biancone's Diamond Wow, who rebounded from a ninth-place finish in the Inside Information with a sharp three-length optional claiming allowance win; Albaugh Family Stables LLC's Fire On Time, third in the Inside Information; and Averill Racing LLC, and ATM Racing's R Adios Jersey, fourth in the Inside Information; round out the field.
The post ‘We Train Her Barefoot’: Drifaros Looks To Put Best Foot Forward In Hurricane Bertie appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
