Tag: Racing

For those lamenting that horses today don't run enough, meet Beverly Park.

If ever there was a horse that the Claiming Crown was meant to showcase it's the 5-year-old Beverly Park, who runs in the $100,000 Claiming Crown Ready's Rocket Express in Saturday's eighth race at Churchill Downs.

Blue collar? Check. Work horse? Check. Helping to fill America's racing cards? Check. Iron horse? Are you kidding me?

Beverly Park has raced 25 times in 2022, winning 12 with five seconds and three thirds. Those dozen victories are the most in North America, four more than the four horses in second at eight apiece. He has raced at 14 tracks this year alone. For his career, Beverly Park is 22-6-4 in 42 starts, earning $490,930.

“He's just a blue-collar horse. He's a tank,” said owner-trainer Norman L. Cash, who goes by his middle name of Lynn. “If you leave him in the stall, he's mad. He just wants to get out and go. He's the most healthy horse I've been around or seen. I think he won once on four days rest and a couple of times on five. Granted those were softer spots, but he puts it out there every time. With a couple of exceptions, he's always right there.

“He's just an amazing animal.”

The six-furlong Ready's Rocket Express is for horses that have run for a claiming price of $8,000 or cheaper at any time in their career. The Express is one of eight Claiming Crown races, which are at Churchill Downs for the first time. The series is a production of the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (NHBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), with Churchill Downs and the Kentucky HBPA the hosts.

Cash — who only began training in the spring of 2021 and campaigns his horses with wife Lola in the name of Built Wright Stables — claimed Beverly Park on Aug. 5, 2021, out of a “non-winners of three” lifetime race with a $12,500 claiming tag. The horse's win that day proved the second of eight straight and nine out of 10 for last season.

Beverly Park clearly has thrived in Cash's care. Only once has the horse been worse than fourth, and that came at Turfway Park in his only race over a synthetic surface. He comes into the Claiming Crown nine days after winning a seven-furlong $5,000 starter-allowance race at Charles Town in West Virginia by 4 1/4 lengths in a field of eight. Nineteen days before that, he narrowly lost a $20,000 starter race at Keeneland, which came three weeks after he won just such a race at Churchill Downs.

Beverly Park has never competed in a stakes race, and that doesn't change Saturday with the Claiming Crown staged as big-money starter-allowance races rather than stakes. But Cash has stakes horses in his stable of about 50 based at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington and Maryland's Laurel Park. Double Crown recently won New York's $300,000, Grade 2 Kelso at 42-1 odds in his 12th start of the year. Sir Alfred James is a multiple stakes winner who was fourth in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes won by champion sprinter Jackie's Warrior on the Kentucky Derby card.

“If I could put the perfect on the perfect date for every horse I have, every race would probably be 11 or 12 days apart,” Cash said. “I just believe you can get 95 to 97 percent of what the horse has on 10 to 12 days rest. I just won a Grade 2 on seven days rest with Double Crown, the first graded stakes I'd won. …  If I have to choose between nine and 19 days, I'd choose nine every time. Every horse, every time.”

Cash's other career is as a roofing contractor that goes into underserved regions following hail storms, a business he said is now run by his sons. The family was working in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2012 and on a whim they came to Churchill Downs and saw I'll Have Another's Derby victory.

“We'd never been on this side of the country,” Cash said. “We thought, 'Wow, we can just drive to the Kentucky Derby. How exciting.' Then it came out that I'll Have Another was bought at auction for $35,000. I said, 'You know, we've got 35 grand. Let's buy a racehorse! How fun would that be?'”

He and his wife owned a handful of horses for several years before Cash decided he wanted to train his own claiming operation. He prepared by working for Kellyn Gorder, who was training the Cashes' horses, before taking out a couple of loans and going it alone in the middle of the COVID outbreak.

Does he ever think that he could just be repairing roofs and not have to worry about a horse getting in a race or spiking a temperature or the races not going?

“I've made the statement before: the worst day at the track is better than any day on the roof,” Cash said with a laugh. “This racing horses just pulls you in.”

Beverly Park is not an automatic single in the Ready's Rocket Express, for those playing multi-race wagers. He's the tepid 7-2 favorite in a capacity field of 12 that includes 4-1 co-second choices Silver Moon Road, winner of five straight in Indiana and New Jersey shipper Powerfully Built, who earned a 102 Bris speed figure in his last start. Also in the race is Belterra Park-based Joyful Heart, an 11-time career winner who beat Beverly Park in July.

“I don't know if we'll win; I hope we do,” Cash said. “And I don't know that I deserve to win. But that horse deserves to be the Claiming Crown winner. He's a fan favorite and a blue-collar worker. He just goes to work every time.”

The post ‘Just An Amazing Animal’: Beverly Park Eyes 13th Win Of Year In Claiming Crown appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Lloyd Madison Farm's growing broodmare band will add another member to its roster with homebred Sconsin, who has a date with 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner in a few months. The six-time winner could compete for the final time in Sunday's $300,000 Dream Supreme (Listed) for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

“Like we've done for her entire career, we'll let her decide if Sunday is it,” trainer Greg Foley said. “If you judge her by the way she's been training, you'd love her chances in the Dream Supreme. Then, you see her last few races and sometimes Mother Nature can catch up with mares and they're ready for their next career. She still shows us every sign she wants to run and worked great last week. She has a date with Gun Runner lined up and we'll still leave things open depending on the result Sunday.”

With a victory in the six-furlong Dream Supreme, Sconsin would become Foley's top earning horse in his 42-year training career, surpassing Lloyd Madison Farms' Champali, who earned $1,073,794 over his 22-race stand.

“She's simply a great mare,” Foley said of Sconsin, who's earned $990,537. “She's been tremendous to have in the barn.”

Sconsin's career began Aug. 17, 2019 when she finished fourth at Ellis Park. She returned as a 3-year-old at Fair Grounds where she broke her maiden and, following her runner-up effort to Ain't No Elmers in her third-career start, the COVID-19 pandemic halted Foley's plans.

Sconsin was one of the first horses to return to Churchill Downs on May 11, 2020, following the delayed opening of the barn area. One-month later she cruised to a five-length victory in first-level allowance event beneath the historic Twin Spires.

Arguably, Sconsin's most notable win came later that year on Kentucky Oaks Day in 2020 when she bested a field of 3-year-old fillies by 2 ¼ lengths in the Grade 2, $300,000 Eight Belles.

Among her other highlights, Sconsin won back-to-back runnings of the Winning Colors (G3) at Churchill Downs and was nearly victorious against champion Gamine when she finished second by 1 ½ lengths in the $500,000 Derby City Distaff (G1).

Sunday's Dream Supreme will go to post as Race 8 at 4:33 p.m. (all times Eastern). The program is co-highlighted by the $300,000 River City (G3) in Race 10 and the $300,000 Bet On Sunshine (Listed) in Race 9. First post is 1 p.m.

Here's the complete field for the Dream Supreme from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): Sharp Hero (Adam Beschizza, Bradley Ross, 8-1); Club Car (Corey Lanerie, Ben Colebrook, 5-1); Sconsin (Tyler Gaffalione, Foley, 5-2); Joyful Cadence (Rey Gutierrez, John Ortiz, 2-1); Palm Cottage (Gerardo Corrales, Paulo Lobo, 3-1); and Coppelia (Martin Garcia, Phil Bauer, 5-1).

The Dream Supreme is named after the six-time graded stakes winner who won the Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs in 2011. Trained by Bill Mott, Dream Supreme won two Grade I sprints in her 16-race career and earned $1,007,680 between 1999-2001.

The post Dream Supreme Could Be Sconsin’s Last Dance Before Date With Gun Runner appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Tom Albertrani will look to pull off a Sunday stakes sweep at the Big A when he saddles half-siblings Wolfie's Dynaghost in the $135,000 Artie Schiller and Hail To in the $135,000 Winter Memories for owner-breeder Woodslane Farm.

The Kentucky homebreds are out of the prolific Dyanformer mare Dynaire, who produced the Albertrani-trained Sadler's Joy – a multiple graded stakes winner, who banked more than $2.6 million in purse earnings.

Hail To, by Kitten's Joy, is a 3-year-old full-sister to Sadler's Joy. The chestnut boasts a record of 10-2-1-0 for purse earnings of $148,725, while the 4-year-old Wolfie's Dynaghost, a multiple graded stakes-placed bay gelding by Ghostzapper, sports a ledger of 17-5-2-4 for purse earnings of $349,005.

“Sadler and Hail To resemble each other,” Albertrani said. “She's not as big and robust as him but they have almost the same body style, and the markings on their head are close. Wolfie is opposite from both of them – different color and frame.”

Hail To graduated in August 2021 at Saratoga traveling 1 1/16 miles over firm turf, but has focused on longer distances recently, including a rallying score against older company when posting a half-length win at 1 3/16 miles on Sept. 2 at Saratoga over next-out allowance winner Transient, who is entered in Saturday's Grade 3 Maple Leaf at Woodbine.

Albertrani said he is hopeful that Hail To can make amends for her off-the-board effort last out when on the pace in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Sands Point on October 15 here.

“We're hoping she'll come back and run that same race she did at Saratoga, which was really impressive running with the older fillies,” Albertrani said. “She probably wants to go a lot further than a mile and a sixteenth, but we're limited with our options at the moment.”

Hail To, listed at 15-1 on the morning line, will exit post 1 under Jose Lezcano in a field led by a trio of contenders for trainer Chad Brown in Eminent Victor [5-2], Salimah [9-2] and Veronica Greene [6-1].

The consistent Wolfie's Dynaghost will exit post 4 under Lezcano in the one-mile Artie Schiller with a morning-line assessment of 8-1. The omni-surface star boasts wins on dirt, turf and synthetic, but has found his best success in one-mile turf events led by runner-up efforts in the Grade 3 Appleton in April at Gulfstream and the Grade 3 Poker in June at Belmont.

He captured the 1 1/16  mile Bert Allen in September over firm footing at Colonial and enters from a third-place finish in an off-the-turf renewal of the nine furlong Bucks County on October 3 at Parx where he set a pressured pace to finish eight lengths back of the victorious Shooger Ray Too and runner-up Tax.

“Coming off the turf last time probably wasn't his best race, but he always tries and this could be a race that sets up nicely for him,” Albertrani said. “He's always consistent and the mile suits him. The mile and an eighth last time was maybe a little too far for him and he took a little pressure on the front end. Things could be different here.”

Wolfie's Dynaghost has breezed back four times, including a bullet half-mile in 47.80 over Big Sandy on November 6.

“He's doing well and in good form. Hopefully, the work will relate to the run this weekend,” Albertrani said.

With heavy rain expected Friday and Saturday, precipitating the move of the Artie Schiller from Saturday to Sunday, Albertrani said he is hopeful the turf won't be too soft.

“Both of them would probably prefer firmer turf, but we'll have to wait and see the outcome of this rain storm,” Albertrani said.

The post Albertrani Sends Half-Siblings To Post Sunday In Hopes Of Stakes Sweep appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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When Tom Van Berg runs in the Claiming Crown Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., it will be the culmination of a plan that started two years ago.

Van Berg had just formed his Grit To Glory Racing syndicate. He thought an achievable goal would be to get his partners to the Claiming Crown, launched 24 years ago to serve as a championship of sorts for claiming horses – a day to celebrate the workhorses and stalwarts that fill out racing programs on a daily basis across America.

The Claiming Crown became an even bigger aspiration when it was announced in July that the eight-race event would come for the first time to Churchill Downs, Van Berg's home track, after spending a decade in Florida.

“We were building for this,” Van Berg said Thursday morning. “When they announced it was coming to Churchill, it got us more excited and we tried to target it even more, to try to have a horse for each race. Unfortunately we had four of them that didn't make their spots and we have two pairs that are in the same race. But I think we still have some pretty good chances, and it should be a fun day for the group.”

Van Berg has five horses in the Claiming Crown entries for three races:

— Decision Maker (winner of eight races and $408,569) and Chicken Fried Racing's Tiz Rye Time ($290,703) in the $175,000 Jewel at 1 1/8 miles for horses that started for a claiming price of $35,000 or cheaper in 2021-2022;

— Petit Verdot (winner of a Keeneland $10,000 starter-allowance in his last start) in the $150,000 Tom Metzen Memorial Canterbury at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf for horses that started for $25,000 or less in 2021-2022;

—  Lt. Junior Grade (a $40,000 claim a month ago) and The Queens Jules (11-time winner, $361,342) in the $125,000 Rapid Transit at seven furlongs for horses that raced for $16,000 or less in 2021-2022.

Van Berg is enjoying a banner year, with career-best purse earnings of $1.15 million. He's in his fifth season with his stable since returning from a 10-year hiatus from training to help his late father, the legendary Jack Van Berg, before the Hall of Famer's death at age 81 in late 2017.

Regardless what happens Saturday, it will be a festive occasion for Van Berg, who with wife Angi rented a Churchill Downs suite to throw a client appreciation day for their owners.

“Just a thank you for supporting us and being part of this program the last two years,” Van Berg said. “It's been one of our better years. It's a fitting end. Hopefully the horses show up Saturday and help us make it that fairytale ending.”

The Claiming Crown was created by the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (NHBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) to provide a big day for trainers and owners (and their horses) who don't play at the top end of the game. Mission accomplished, said Van Berg, who winters at Oaklawn Park and is on the board of the Arkansas HBPA.

“The way we set our syndicates up, it's a smaller group of people,” he said. “We try to keep it at 4 1/2-percent shares so we don't have to do all the licensing stuff. But we don't have access to the high-dollar horses. So what we have to do is a lot of ground work and find potential horses that fit these conditions. Then we see if they work out over the long term, and if we can improve them enough to where we have a shot in these races. It's kind of our Breeders' Cup. It's more of a blue-collar, working-class race day, and that's the kind of stable we have.

“It's a very big deal. We started (Grit To Glory) and the first horse we claimed was the last of October two years ago. I think we've pursed out nearly $1 million on an original investment of $220,000 and we still have a lot in the bank to target more horses. This could be a really big capstone at the end of this year.”

While the Claiming Crown horses ran in a certain level of claiming race at some stage, Van Berg said that certainly doesn't mean there aren't stakes-caliber runners in the fields.

“It's tougher than you think when you listen to what the concept is,” he said. “Some of these horses, they're really proven racehorses. It makes the excitement of a big day accessible to the smaller outfits — the horsemen who are in it 365 days a year and don't get the chance or the opportunity to run for those big purses or those exciting races like the larger outfits do. It's a very big compliment to the HBPA to say, hey, we're going to give back to some of the smaller outfits and smaller horsemen. They put their work in, too, so let's give them a little bit of a reward and a little chance at some excitement.”

The post ‘It’s Kind Of Our Breeders’ Cup’: Van Berg’s Plans For Claiming Crown Come To Fruition appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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