Tag: Racing

Swayin To And Fro Makes Grade In Barbara Fritchie, Hybrid Eclipse Takes Nellie Morse

Baxter Racing Stable's Swayin to and Fro sat off long shot pacesetter Liscolvin for a half-mile before taking the lead, turned back Grade 1-placed shipper Pass the Champagne and held off late-running Fille d'Esprit to become a graded stakes winner in Saturday's $250,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park.

The 71st running of the Barbara Fritchie for older fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs was the fifth of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses on a Winter Carnival program co-headlined by the 47th renewal of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up.

Earlier in the day, Stonewall Star won the $100,000 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies, Coffeewithchris won the $100,000 Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds, Nimitz Class led all the way in the $100,000 John B. Campbell for 4-year-olds and up and Hybrid Eclipse took the $100,000 Nellie Morse for older fillies and mares.

Swayin to and Fro ($14.40) completed the distance in 1:23.75 over a fast main track to provide trainer Mario Serey Jr. and jockey Richard Monterrey with their first graded-stakes victories. Serey claimed the 4-year-old filly for $16,000 last May at Pimlico Race Course and won eight of 13 subsequent starts including four stakes.

“I told everybody when I claimed this filly and I saw the potential and I saw the talent, every race she proved it. I'm so proud of her. This is a great, great filly,” Serey said said of the South Carolina-bred daughter of Straight Talking out of Jungle Lady, by Warrior's Reward. “When I claimed her, I talked to the owner and [said], 'This is a stakes winner.' The class and the talent of the horse, they tell you right away.”

The speedy Swayin to and Fro was content to let 21-1 shot Liscolvin take the early lead, going the opening quarter-mile in 22.44 seconds. Monterrey, aboard for the first time, sat chilly in second until taking over the top spot following a half in 45.20 tracked by Pass the Champagne, making just her seventh start and second in 12 months.

Swayin to and Fro extended her lead after going six furlongs in 1:10.47 having put away Pass the Champagne and fellow graded-stakes placed shipper Union Lake. Multiple stakes winner Fille d'Esprit, who snapped Swayin to and Fro's two-stakes win streak in the Jan. 21 What a Summer, was beginning to roll on the far outside and make a strong late bid but came up a half-length short.

Moody Woman finished third, followed by Pass the Champagne, Prodigy Doll, Quiet Imagination, Union Lake and Liscolvin.

“I told Richie, 'Break her good, get in a good position and make her comfortable. If nobody follows you, she's OK. She can go to the lead. When you come to the straight and you feel a ton of horse in your hands, just wait and at the quarter pole let her go,'” Serey said. “All the good horses make it easy. She doesn't need much. She's a sweet filly. Today she showed she can win the Grade 3.”

Monterrey, who turns 39 next month, is a native of Venezuela who won his first race in the U.S. in 2003 at Gulfstream Park. A Mid-Atlantic regular who did not ride between 2017 and 2020, he owns 775 career victories.

“I have a lot of emotions and feelings going on in my heart and mind. So much joy and gratitude for the opportunity Mario and the owners gave me to ride this amazing filly. From the get-go, she wanted to go. To win my first graded stakes with her and Mario, I am blessed,” Monterrey said.

“Five years ago I was watching this race from home and I told my wife, 'I'm going to be riding that race one day,'” he added. “Turns out I am the winner. I lost my passion when you struggle. But that time I was away showed me so much gratitude for the things I love, and that's riding horses. I appreciate every horse I ride.”

Hybrid Eclipse Opens Season With Nellie Morse Win

The Elkstone Group's Hybrid Eclipse kicked off her 5-year-old campaign in style Saturday by driving away from Award Wanted and Pistol Liz Ablazen to win the $100,000 Nellie Morse.

Ridden by Jevian Toledo and trained by Brittany Russell, Hybrid Eclipse ($4.60) covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.96 and was a 4 ½ length winner over Award Wanted. Pistol Liz Ablazen was third.

A distant third in the Beldame (G2) at Aqueduct last fall and winner of the Thirty Eight Go Go at Laurel in November, Hybrid Eclipse was rated off the pacesetters Runaway Monet and Pistol Liz Ablazen down the backstretch past fractions of :23.92 and :48.23. Fifth just two lengths away from the leaders entering the far turn, Toledo guided Hybrid Eclipse to the outside and moved four wide around the turn before taking the lead inside the final eighth.

Hybrid Eclipse, a Kentucky-bred 5-year-old Paynter mare out of Super Plan, by Valid Wager, has won seven of 19 starts, including Caesar's Wish last summer at Laurel. It was the third straight win on the card for Toledo and second in a stakes following Nimitz Class in the $100,000 John B. Campbell.

The Nellie Morse pays tribute to the fourth of just six fillies to win the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, a feat she accomplished in 1924 just three days after capturing the Pimlico Oaks, now run as the Black-Eyed Susan (G2). As a broodmare her daughter, Nellie Flag, was the champion 2-year-old of 1934 and beaten favorite in the 1935 Kentucky Derby (G1). Descendants of Nellie Morse, through Nellie Flag, include three-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Forego, 1976 Kentucky Derby winner and 3-year-old champion Bold Forbes, and 1943 champion handicap mare Mar-Kell.

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‘It Was Pretty Easy’: Regally Bred Frost Point Scores Convincing Stakes Breakthrough In Heavenly Prize

Godolphin's Kentucky homebred Frost Point secured her first career stakes win with a prominent effort in Saturday's $125,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational, a one-turn mile for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and expertly handled by Jorge A. Vargas Jr., the regally bred daughter of Frosted out of Grade 1-winner Balletto, by Timber Country, rushed up the rail from her inside post to take command from the Jose Lezcano-piloted Falconet and drew away to win by 6 1/4-lengths.

“I saw there was no pace in the race and only Lezcano could make some pace,” said Vargas. “I didn't want to be too far from it [the pace]. I warmed her up [well] and she opened the gate and came out of there running. We went from there and it was pretty easy.”

The Heavenly Prize was billed as a rematch between Falconet and Battle Bling, who ran one-two last out in the nine-furlong Ladies on New Year's Day here in which the former took command at the stretch call and powered away to win by two lengths over a muddy and sealed main track.

Falconet broke alertly from the outermost post 4 in the Heavenly Prize and was briefly in front before allowing Frost Point to take charge through splits of :25.31, :49.07, and 1:13.14 over the fast main track.

Frost Point maintained her advantage through the turn as Falconet surged to her outside with Battle Bling angling off the rail to make her bid, but there would be no catching a rampant Frost Point, who powered away and stopped the clock in 1:37.24. Falconet completed the exacta by 1 3/4-lengths over Battle Bling with Piece of My Heart completing the order of finish. Mommasgottarun was scratched.

The victory provided Mott a record third Heavenly Prize score, adding to past success with Isabelle [2017] and Lake Avenue [2021].

“There wasn't any speed, so I told Jorge to break and see what happens. They were walking up front,” said Leana Willaford, assistant to Mott.

Frost Point, a winner on debut in December 2020 at Tampa Bay Downs, was winless in three sophomore starts. She boasted a perfect in-the-money record last year of 5-2-1-2, besting winners on two occasions as well as completing the trifecta twice at nine-furlongs in the Top Flight Invitational in April at Aqueduct and the Allaire DuPont Distaff (G3) in May at Pimlico Race Course.

“She had a little break after the race at Pimlico last spring and she's been doing well since. She just needed a bit of a break,” Willaford said. “Now, she's moving really well and handling things really well. Her weight and her coat is probably the best I've ever seen it.”

Falconet, unraced as a 2-year-old, enjoyed a productive sophomore season, winning twice and placing second on three occasions, including in the Iowa Oaks (G3) at Prairie Meadows and the Seneca Overnight at Churchill Downs. She completed her 2022 campaign with a fourth-place finish after stumbling at the start of the nine-furlong Grade 3 Comely in November at the Big A.

Lezcano, who guided Falconet to her Ladies score, said his filly may have been hampered by the turn back.

“The other filly is a nice filly. My filly might want more distance – she's kind of one-paced,” Lezcano said. “We went very easy in the first part but when I asked her, she stayed the same and the other filly took off.”

Bred in Kentucky by her owner, Frost Point banked $68,750 in victory, while improving her record to 10-4-3-2. She returned $9.10 for a $2 win bet.

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Adare Manor Returns To Action In Saturday Allowance; ‘Plan Is To Have Her Ready For All The Big Races This Summer’

Adare Manor, sidelined since a disappointing sixth in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Sept. 24, returns to action Saturday in a second-level allowance going seven furlongs at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

Winner of last year's Grade 3 Las Virgenes for Bob Baffert, Adare Manor was sent to the farm to regroup following the Cotillion and returned to training in December. She has worked six times for her 4-year-old bow, which includes a bullet five-furlong drill in 59.00 seconds on Feb. 3 at Los Alamitos. While Baffert is happy with how she's trained, he indicated this is meant as simply a starting point for bigger things ahead.

“I just got her over here and she could probably use another work or two. But I saw that race come up and those can be hard to fill, so I figured I'd rather give her a race. She's doing well and has worked well. This will set her up for a stakes.”

Last year, Adare Manor was second by a neck in the G2 Santa Anita Oaks and again was runner-up in the G2 Black-Eyes Susan at Pimlico. In the Cotillion, Adare Manor briefly pressed the pace before dropping anchor and finishing 19 ¼ lengths adrift. The decision was then made to turn her out.

“She came back (from Parx) and was just tired,” Baffert said. “These horses sometimes they go through a phase where they just lose interest. So I freshened her up, turned her out and gave her some time.”

By Uncle Mo, Adare Manor will be ridden by Santa Anita's leading rider Juan Hernandez for the first time. She'll also race without blinkers for the first time.

“The plan is to have her ready for all the big races in the summer,” Baffert noted.

Adare Manor will have to deal with some accomplished rivals in her comeback, which goes as the eighth race on Saturday with an approximate post time of 4:06 p.m.

Ain't Easy, a Grade 2 winner, drops into the allowance ranks for trainer Phil D'Amato following a sixth in the G1 La Brea going seven furlongs on Dec. 26. Trainer Mark Glatt also sends out a pair of comebackers in Ironic Twist, who last year won her only two career starts at Santa Anita; and Teddy's Barino, who had won four straight before finishing third in the G3 Chillingworth going 6 ½ furlongs on Oct. 12. Teddy's Barino is the 5-2 second choice on the morning line behind Adare Manor.

The field in post position order:

  1. Classical Romance, Ryan Curatalo, 30-1;
  2. Ain't Easy, Ramon Vazquez, 4-1;
  3. Ironic Twist, Kazushi Kimura (6-1);
  4. Shared Future, Tiago Pereira (8-1);
  5. Adare Manor, Juan Hernandez (8-5);
  6. Malibu Marie, Jose Valdivia Jr. (30-1);
  7. Teddy's Barino, Frankie Dettori (5-2);
  8. Una Chiquita, Hector Berrios (8-1).

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City Of Light Filly Mimi Kakushi Captures UAE Oaks; ‘Kentucky Oaks For Sure Will Be On Her Agenda’

Salem Bin Ghadayer is enjoying an excellent season and he celebrated his second G3 UAE Oaks (Presented by DP World) win when Mimi Kakushi took her winning spree to three in a row at Meydan on Friday.

Facing fresh opposition in the form of the Doug O'Neill-trained Ami Please, the daughter of City Of Light sat just on the heels of that rival and was well-placed to challenge her at the top of the straight. A brief battle ensued, but Mickael Barzalona had a bit to spare on Mimi Kakushi, who won by a length and a quarter.

“She's a very classy filly and she does everything we ask her to,” said Barzalona. “The longer trip was in her favor. [Ami Please] was much faster away than us and my filly was happy to sit behind. At the end I felt like I had plenty in hand.”

Bin Ghadayer added: “She was my favourite filly and she improved again tonight,” he said. “To be honest, I thought this race would be even easier than the Guineas as she wouldn't be under pressure the whole way.

“She was a professional filly from the beginning, especially in her mind, and she's very easy to train. She knows she must give everything in a race.”

“The UAE Derby and the Kentucky Oaks for sure will be on her agenda but we need to discuss it with [owner] Sheikh Hamdan [bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.]”

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