Tag: Racing

After Ivar encountered a couple of setbacks the past couple of years, trainer Paulo Lobo is happy that everything has been clicking for the 7-year-old Brazilian-bred horse heading into Gulfstream Park's $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) Jan. 28.

Ivar had his penultimate Pegasus Turf work Saturday at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky., tooling five-eighths of a mile in 1:02.

“Ivar is ready,” Lobo said. “His work [Saturday] was very good, in company nice and easy, like he likes to do. His final work will be next Saturday here, and then we're going to ship him either that Monday or Tuesday.”

Ivar has competed in the past three runnings of the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) on turf. He finished fourth by a total of one length at Keeneland this past fall, third in 2021 at Del Mar and another good fourth at Keeneland in 2020. Six of the eight horses that finished in front of Ivar in those races came from Europe.

“I think his race was very good,” Lobo said of the 2022 Breeders' Cup Mile won by European standout Modern Games. “He lost to a very top horse. Javier Castellano was riding him for the first time. He rode a very good race, and since then we've pointed for the Pegasus Turf and we've never missed a day and never had a bad day. Everything that we planned is happening, no problems.”

Ivar won Keeneland's 2020 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) in his fourth U.S. start after being a leading 2-year-old in Argentina. Lobo has had to adjust plans at times the past two years because of minor issues and turf cancellations. Ivar ran only three times in 2021 and four times last year, when he resumed competition off an eight-month layoff to win the Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial at Horseshoe Indianapolis. He was second in his two starts before the Breeders' Cup, in the Woodbine Mile (G1) won by Modern Games and Keeneland's Turf Mile (G1), a race Ivar won in 2020.

“We were ready to run last May and had a little foot problem that delayed his first race for 2022,” Lobo said. “But he's been doing very well since. If you look at his past performances, he's almost always running in Grade 1 races. It's always tough. The three times he ran in the Breeders' Cup, he ran very well. He has been representing America at a top level.”

Castellano will be back on board in the Pegasus, Lobo said.

Lobo said Grade 1 winner In Love will not run in the Pegasus Turf but that the 6-year-old Brazilian-bred mare Justify My Love will compete in the $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G1) on the undercard. Like Ivar, Justify My Love is owned by Bonne Chance Farm LLC and breeder Stud RDI LLC and was sired by the Japanese-bred and -raced Agnes Gold.

Justify My Love was a Group 2 winner and Group 1 placed in Argentina before being sent to Lobo last year. Off a nine-month layoff, she was sixth in her first two starts before capturing a Churchill Downs' turf allowance race Nov. 19, her last start.

“She's a very nice filly,” Lobo said. “It took a little while for her to adjust here, but she had a very nice win at Churchill Downs. She's in top form now, physically and mentally. I think she'll run well over there. The race is very tough, but I think she's going to enjoy a mile and an eighth. She's training super, this filly. Super.”

The post Lobo: Ivar In Fine Fettle For Pegasus World Cup Turf Bid appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kazushi Kimura, Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey of 2019, won his first-ever Santa Anita race in style on Sunday as he drove John Sadler-trained Kirstenbosch to a desperate nose victory over favorite Ganadora in the $200,000 La Canada Stakes (G3).

Owned and bred by Keith Abrahams, Kirstenbosch covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.19 on a track listed as good.

Attentive to the pace from her rail post, Kirstenbosch was about 2 ½ lengths off dueling leaders Ganadora and Angel Nadeshiko leaving the quarter pole. Three-deep through the lane, Kirstenbosch appeared to draw even with Ganadora, with John Velasquez aboard, inside the final sixteenth, but victory was very much in doubt as Kimura stayed busy with a powerful hand ride in a thrilling finish.

“It feels so amazing, my first win here and in a Grade 3; it's amazing,” said Kimura, 23, who was also Woodbine's leading rider this past season. “She's always a bit lazy, she always needs like a little bit of pushing. At the half mile last time I rode her in the La Brea ([G1] on Dec. 26), it was a seven-furlong race, and I was just pushing her to the wire. Today, I was more confident to say she would show up better than last time (when she finished third).

“John has given me opportunities since opening day. I'm really happy to win for him and I really appreciate it.”

Second in the Zia Park Oaks two starts back on Nov. 22, Kirstenbosch was off at 3-1 in a field of six older fillies and mares in the La Canada and paid $8.60 for the win.

“He just rode her beautifully, he tried hard until the end,” said Juan Leyva, assistant to Sadler, who watched the race today from London. “He is a really nice kid. I'd like to see him really get going because he is so polite and he's a good rider too. … Hopefully, this will open up some eyes and he can get a lot more opportunities.

“When she started running, I thought she was going to win by at least half a length, but then it looked like when she got to Ganadora, she kind of just hung with her and this filly just tends to do that. She does just enough to win, she's never been one to just pull away, so that's the only thing I was afraid of. … But she got the job done so that's the main thing. I'm really happy for Keith because they have been long-time clients of John and they are just good people.”

In notching her first stakes win, Kirstenbosch improved her overall race record to 3-3-1 from 10 starts. With the winner's share of $120,000, the 4-year-old Midnight Lute filly, increased her earnings to $334,480. Bred in Kentucky, she was produced by the Belong to Me mare Llandudno.

For her part, Bob Baffert-trained Ganadora did everything but win, as she was pressed early and late and just missed while finishing 2 ¾ lengths in front of Smoothlikebuttah.

Ridden by Tiago Pereira for Steve Knapp, Smoothlikebuttah rallied from last to pass a tiring Angel Nadeshiko by a half length.

Dating back to Santa Anita's opening day, Dec. 26, Kimura had been winless with his first 16 mounts through nine racing days.

Fractions on the race were :23.12, :47.18, 1:11.15, and 1:37.62.

The post Kirstenbosch Scores Last-Gasp Nose Victory In La Canada appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Perry and Ramona Bass's homebred Ice Dancing served notice in the 3-year-old filly division Jan. 8 when rolling to a dominant 3 ¼-length victory in the Santa Ynez (G3) going seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

The victory could set up a potentially juicy matchup in the Las Virgenes (G3) going one mile on Jan. 28 between Ice Dancing, Starlet (G1) winner Faizan, and highly regarded stakes winner Justique among others.

The Santa Ynez was originally scheduled to be run on Jan. 1 but was postponed a week when inclement weather forced the cancellation of that day's racing program. The delay may preclude Ice Dancing from wheeling back in the Las Virgenes, Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said.

“She is doing great and we will think about the Las Virgenes, but it might be too soon for her,” Mandella said.

In the Santa Ynez, Ice Dancing was last of five after an opening half mile in :45.12. She then proceeded to take aim at the leaders on the turn under Flavien Prat and surged to the front in the final furlong to win going away in a final time of 1:23.26.

Both the Santa Ynez and Las Virgenes are Kentucky Oaks (G1) qualifiers. Ice Dancing currently sits fifth on the Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard with 12 points.

The expectations for Ice Dancing have been high since her arrival in Mandella's barn last summer. After finishing third in her debut at Del Mar in August, she was sent straight to the Del Mar Debutante (G1) where she again finished third. The daughter of Frosted remained in graded stakes company when fourth in the Chandelier (G2) going 1 1/16 miles before returning to the maiden ranks and scoring at Del Mar on Nov. 25.

“She always gave us the feeling she's a pretty good filly and hopefully she's getting better,” Mandella said.

The post Mandella Considering Las Virgenes For Ice Dancing appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox says he's as expectant of a big performance on Jan. 28 by Gold Square LLC's Cyberknife in Gulfstream Park's $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) as he was with Knicks Go the past two years.

Knicks Go won the 2021 Pegasus to kick off what proved to be a Horse of the Year campaign and was second last year behind Life Is Good, a finalist for 2022 Horse of the Year.

“It's going to be a good race,” Cox said by phone from New Orleans. “We felt confident with Knicks Go both times. He ran two great races. Obviously, one was a winning effort and the other was second to a very, very good horse. I feel every bit as confident with this horse as I did with Knicks Go the two previous seasons.”

The 1 1/8-mile Pegasus World Cup for 4-year-olds and up headlines a program featuring eight stakes, seven graded, worth $5.3 million in purses including the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) and $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G1).

Cox loves what he's seeing in Cyberknife's training since the likely Pegasus favorite finished second by a head behind favored Cody's Wish in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland, including another powerful workout Sunday morning at the Fair Grounds.

With jockey Florent Geroux aboard, Cyberknife worked five-eighths of a mile alongside multiple stakes winner Warrant in 1:00.60 before working on past the wire to finish in 1:12.60 for six furlongs.

Cox said Cyberknife galloped out seven-eighths of a mile in 1:25.40. Warrant's official five-furlong time of 1:00.60 was the fastest of the morning among 44 works at the distance. Cyberknife was the only horse to work three-quarters of a mile.

“I feel we're right where we need to be for him to run a big race,” Cox said. “We've got one more work here at the Fair Grounds, and then we plan on shipping that following Monday.”

The Pegasus will be the career finale for Cyberknife, a son of 2017 Horse of the Year and 2018 Pegasus winner Gun Runner, before retiring to stud at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington. The 4-year-old colt will try to tack on another Grade 1 to go with victories in the Arkansas Derby and Haskell Invitational. He also was second in the Travers (G1) and third in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) while bankrolling $2,087,520 for the year.

The post Cox Confident In Cyberknife Ahead Of Pegasus World Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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