Tag: Racing

Away since May 14 and in only his second career start, Terry Lovingier's homebred Thirsty John proved too much for six fellow California-breds on Saturday at Santa Anita as he went to the front and took the $200,000 California Cup Derby by a half length under Juan Hernandez.

Trained by Peter Miller, the 3-year-old colt by Stay Thirsty got 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.51.

The Cal Cup Derby is part of the lucrative CTBA-sponsored Golden State Series for eligible California-bred or -sired runners.

Based at San Luis Rey Downs, Thirsty John, who took his 4 ½-furlong debut by 3 ¼ lengths at Santa Anita when trained by Walther Solis, settled into a nice rhythm up the backside and had a half length advantage on a determined Giver Not a Taker leaving the quarter pole and kept him at bay the length of the stretch to win impressively.

Ridden back by Hernandez, Thirsty John was the second choice in the wagering at 2-1 and paid $6.60 for the victory.

Bred by Lovingier and out of his Discreet Cat mare Discreet Dee, Thirsty John is also owned by co-owned Tom London and Eugene Zondlo. With the winner's share of $110,000, Thirsty John has earnings of $150,200.

The 8-5 favorite with Flavien Prat up, Giver Not a Taker was getting to the winner on the money, but came up short in a gutty effort.

Golden Gate Fields-based Passarando kept to his task determinedly and finished 2 ¼ back in third.

Fractions on the race were :23.45, :47.68, 1:11.90, and 1:38.32.

CALIFORNIA CUP DERBY QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

JUAN HERNANDEZ, THIRSTY JOHN, WINNER: “On the dirt, that's a really comfortable pace for the horses, especially for a horse that is returning from a big layoff. I have to give a lot of credit to Peter Miller because he brought this horse ready to win, and my horse showed a lot of heart. He showed that he can run and get the job done. This horse won pretty easy the first time, and he was really comfortable today. For the last stretch I just used motion and hand riding. In the end, he got the job done.”

TRAINER QUOTES

PETER MILLER, THIRSTY JOHN, WINNER: “I told Terry Lovingier he's a good horse, but if he wins this race off of the layoff, he's a very good horse. I think he showed today that he's a really good horse. That's kind of what we thought about him, but I didn't know if we had him fit enough to do this off of an eight month layoff and only one start.

“Giver Not a Taker gives it every time, and he gave it again today. I'm proud of him as well, he ran another big race.”

OWNER QUOTES

TERRY LOVINGIER, BREEDER/PART OWNER, THIRSTY JOHN, WINNER: “I was confident that he's a good horse. With all the rain and stuff, we couldn't get works over this track with him. But I thought if he's good enough, he'd be able to get it done and he is a very, very good horse and visually to look at him he's a pretty horse. Really well put together.

“He hung in there and without working on this track. He worked one time and shipped in and after a7 1/2-month layoff to do this it's pretty impressive.”

The post Comebacking Thirsty John Shows No Signs Of Rust In Strong Cal Cup Derby Triumph appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Although he took intense pace pressure to the three sixteenths pole, heavily favored The Chosen Vron managed to dig deep and find more when it counted as he held off a late charging Big City Lights by a neck to win Saturday's $150,000 Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Hector Berrios and trained by Eric Kruljac, The Chosen Vron got six furlongs in 1:08.96.

The first of five state-bred stakes on Cal Cup Day at Santa Anita, the Cal Cup Sprint is part of the lucrative CTBA-sponsored Golden State Series for California-bred or sired runners.

Although Berrios said following the race that his intention was not to go to the early lead, that's where The Chosen Vron took him from his number four post position and he was immediately engaged to his outside by Resilient and the pair went head and head through scintillating early fractions of :22.07, :44.36 and :56.60.

Three sixteenths out, the winner eased clear by a half length, but Richard Mandella's Big City Lights, two off the lead at the quarter pole, was flying late under Juan Hernandez and with a sixteenth of a mile to run, the Sprint outcome was very much in doubt.

A 5-year-old gelding by Vronsky, The Chosen Vron, who had won his last three races, all state-bred stakes, was off as the 2-5 favorite in a field of six older horses and paid $2.80 to triumph as the heavy favorite.

Owned by Sondereker Racing LLC, Eric Kruljac, Robert Fetkin, and Richard Thornburgh, The Chosen Vron, who won a pair of graded stakes at age 3, now has a total of eight stakes wins to his credit. Bred by Tiz Molly Partners, The Chosen Vron is out of the Tiz Wonderful mare Tiz Molly.

With Saturday's winner's share of $90,000, The Chosen Vron increased his earnings to $612,678 from an overall mark of 9-1-2 from 13 starts.

Big City Lights, the second choice at 2-1, paid $2.20 and $2.10 while finishing 3 ½ lengths clear of Resilient.

Breaking from the far outside under Diego Herrera, Resilient, a lightly raced 6-year-old gelding, was the longest shot in the field at 21-1 and paid $3.40 to show.

DON VALPREDO CALIFORNIA CUP SPRINT STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

HECTOR I BERRIOS, THE CHOSEN VRON, WINNER: “Today he handled pressure from the inside and outside. Maybe at the end he was a little tired from the early pressure, but he showed a lot of heart.

“He's a good horse, and maybe with more distance he will be a bit more comfortable and it'll be much better.”

JUAN HERNANDEZ, BIG CITY LIGHTS, SECOND PLACE: “That was a little tight, but I knew I didn't catch the other horse. I liked my horse and the way he raced today. I can always trust him to go to the lead, but today he broke a step low. When I asked him to pull back a little bit with me, he responded, relaxed, and finished really well. We just couldn't catch the winning horse.”

TRAINER QUOTES

J. ERIC KRULJAC, THE CHOSEN VRON, WINNER: “It was kind of a different spot for him to be on the lead, and he was focusing on the other horse. I think he responded just in time not to get beat, but the rider (Hector Berrios) thought he had something left galloping out. It was just different tactics that Hector chose to use. We broke so well, and we avoided traffic, we hooked a horse (Resilient) that was very determined pretty much the whole way. And a little shout out to Richard Mandella, 'Richard, You're getting closer! That three-year-old is a nice horse.'

“Good 3-year-olds are hard to come by, they are very few and far between. I'm getting old and it's been a while since I've had a good horse. It is just a combination of physical talent and intestinal fortitude and intelligence too and he has it all.

“We plan to not put him up against too much, I mean eventually we will have to try again, but he is better now than he was when he ran in the Pat O'Brien, that was a deep loose track and he doesn't like that. So, we just enjoy them one at a time.”

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Lovely Ride, coming off a win in the Dec. 10 Mistletoe Stakes, won her second straight stakes in Saturday's $150,000 Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park and provided trainer Robertino Diodoro with his 3,001st career victory.

Earlier in the day, Diodoro won the second race with Arthurian to become only the 37^th trainer in North America to win 3,000 races.

Breaking from post position three under current leading rider Cristian Torres, Lovely Ride went right for the lead and proceed to set early fractions of :23.32 and :47.40  for the first half mile. Ice Orchid, who had tracked from second throughout the race, could not get to the winner and finished three-quarters of a length behind in the place spot. The 5-2 favorite La Da Vida finished third after closing from sixth.

The winning time was 1:44.04 for 1 1 1/16 miles over a fast track.

Lovely Ride, a Candy Ride filly out of Grade 2 winner Lovely Lil, by Tiznow, improved her record to 7-3-1 in 15 career starts and has earned $508,573 for owners John Holleman, Flying P Stable, and Jerry Nafe. She was bred in Kentucky by Allied Racing Stable LLC.

Lovely Ride returned $8.60 for the victory.

Pippin Stakes Quotes

Winning jockey Cristian Torres: 'There was a lot of speed, but the filly's been training beautifully. The way the track has been playing today, we had to (break) and go. She proved she can go any distance. She was beautiful. Today she proved she can run anywhere.”

Winning trainer Robertino Diodoro: “I kept saying she had to step it up a length or two to beat this field today. I thought it was a little tougher field. Said before she was going into the first race (Mistletoe) great and came out of the race better than we thought and was going into this race better than the first one. When things all work out like that, then the horses actually kind of make you look smart. It feels good. Like I said, she did step it up today.”

The post Lovely Ride Caps Diodoro’s Banner Day At Oaklawn With Gate-To-Wire Pippin Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Twin Creeks Racing Stables' Kentucky homebred Law Professor drew off to an impressive 7 1/2-length score in Saturday's $150,000 Queens County, a nine-furlong route for 4-year-olds and up, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Rob Atras and piloted by the red-hot Manny Franco, the graded stakes-winning son of Constitution proved to be much the best in a race originally scheduled for a December 31 Big A card that was canceled due to heavy fog.

Law Professor entered from a pair of Grade 1 starts, posting a game runner-up effort to multiple Grade 1 winner Life Is Good in the nine-furlong Woodward at Aqueduct in October ahead of a last-out fifth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland.

The emphatic score could propel Law Professor back to Grade 1 company in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park should the talented colt draw in as one of eight horses on the reserve list for the $3-million test.

“We were hoping this would be a race he could win and be a confidence builder because he had run against some real tough horses his last two,” Atras said. “We'll have to see how he comes out of the race. It is a little quick back, but I wouldn't rule out anything.”

Law Professor was bumped at the break but managed to settle comfortably in third position as the Jorge Vargas, Jr.-piloted Sea Foam marked the opening quarter-mile in :23.77  over the good main track with Thomas Shelby tracking in second under Jose Lezcano.

Sea Foam and Thomas Shelby continued to duel down the backstretch through a half-mile in :47.79 and three-quarters in 1:12.56 as Franco waited to give an eager Law Professor his cue.

Law Professor was asked for run approaching the far turn and was in front at the five-sixteenths, kicking on gamely under light urging from Franco and powering away to a comfortable score under wraps in a final time of 1:51 flat.

Naval Aviator rallied to complete the exacta by three-quarters of a length over Thomas Shelby with Bourbonic, Sea Foam, Plot the Dots, Unbridled Bomber, Shooger Ray Too, the defending race winner Forewarned and Grade 2 Kelso Handicap-winner Double Crown, who broke outward from the outermost post 10, completing the order of finish. Eloquist was scratched at the gate for precautionary reasons after getting his right hind leg caught in the gate according to NYRA's Senior Examining Veterinarian Dr. Sarah Hinchliffe.

Atras admitted to being a little nervous even as Law Professor took command.

“It's never over until it's over but the way everything unfolded, it was a very professional victory,” Atras said. “I wouldn't say we were expecting it, but the way he had been training, we were looking for this effort. I'm very glad we got it.”

Franco equaled a NYRA record with six wins on a single card on Friday at the Big A, and continued his winning ways on Saturday with Law Professor's effort marking the 28-year-old rider's fourth win on the card.

“I was able to stalk three-wide and that was it. He was dragging me the whole way,” Franco said. “I didn't want to move too soon. I knew I had a lot of horse under me. I just wanted to wait a little longer. The horse went on with it. I knew they would have to run fast to pass me. I knew how much horse I had.”

Franco credited his agent, John Panagot, as one of many reasons for his recent run of form.

“I can't believe it. I'm just grateful to be a part of these winning horses,” Franco said. “Thank you to my agent. He's been doing a great job and he's a part of it.”

Jockey Jeremy Laprida said Naval Aviator, who entered from a third-place finish in the Discovery on November 27 here, performed admirably to earn second money.

“He broke a little slow at the start, but he got good position and finished up strong,” Laprida said. “He had a lot of class today. Longer distances are good for him. Maybe next time.”

Law Professor started his career on the West Coast with conditioner Michael McCarthy, who captured the co-featured Jerome earlier on the card with Lugan Knight.

In December 2021, Law Professor won an off-the-turf edition of the Grade 2 Mathis Mile at Santa Anita ahead of three additional graded efforts for McCarthy topped by a runner-up effort in last year's nine-furlong Grade 2 San Pasqual over the main track at the Arcadia, California oval.

The versatile fellow made his first start for Atras a winning one, taking the restricted Tapit over firm turf at Kentucky Downs in September ahead of his recent graded efforts.

Bred in Kentucky by his owner from the Ghostzapper mare Haunted Heroine, Law Professor banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 5-2-1 from 14 career starts. He returned $4.20 for a $2 win ticket.

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