No one can say it's been a smooth, tranquil 3-year-old season for Taiba. He did not make his first start until March 5 and immediately was playing a game of catch-up with the division's best sophomore runners.
Tag: Racing
“He Does Not Want To Give The Lead Up When He Gets It’: Ridin With Biden Cruises Gate To Wire For Greenwood Cup Triumph
By Anthony Affrunti/Parx Racing
Cash Is King and LC Racing's Ridin With Biden took his seven foes gate to wire in the 15th running of Saturday's $200,000 Greenwood Cup Stakes (G3) at Parx Racing. The 4-year-old gelding by Constitution notched his first graded stakes victory, finishing the 1 1/2 miles on the fast main track in 2:32.92 under jockey Paco Lopez.
Trainer Butch Reid's plan was to take control of the race on the front end after noticing a lack of early speed in the race. Lopez followed orders and piloted Ridin With Biden to the front under a stout hold, setting moderate fractions of :24.73 and :49.51, with Brooklyn Strong and The Reds giving chase.
Ridin With Biden and Lopez took the field to the quarter pole with Magic Michael and jockey Frankie Pennington launching a challenge to their outside. They proved no match for the winner as he bested Magic Michael by a length at the finish with Brooklyn Strong checking in third. Western River, Forewarned, Bossmakinbossmoves, Fearless, and The Reds completed the field.
The Greenwood Cup was the fourth career graded stakes start for the Kentucky-bred gelding, who recently finished fourth in the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park. Ridin With Biden returned $19.20 as the 8-1 fifth choice.
Winning trainer Butch Reid: “He really likes Paco's feel. You can't take too much hold of this horse, because he'll run off with you, but Paco just did a tremendous job putting them to sleep down the backside and that was it. I thought after looking at the race that he was going to make the lead. I was pretty comfortable about that once he slowed down and I saw close to 50 (seconds) for the half. Then I felt good.”
On being gelded this winter as a 4-year-old: “He's a new horse now. He's really changed personally. For all the owners out there watching, if you ever question yourself about gelding a horse, do it. Even if its late, you do it. I don't geld too many 4-year-olds.”
Next race: “We haven't really looked at the next spot. It would've been the Breeders' Cup Marathon years ago, but they don't have that anymore, so we'll find something.”
Winning jockey Paco Lopez: “I was very happy. I saw the scratch. Butch said to go and do what you decide. He is no easy horse to ride, he is very strong. He rated very good. I didn't see no other speed and I took the lead and got very good position. He gives me a lot of heart attacks to ride this horse. He is a classy horse, though. He does not want to give the lead up when he gets it. I liked my chances and Butch said he was ready to go.”
Trainer Jamie Ness (Magic Michael, second): “I thought I was going to get him, but there was just no pressure on (Ridin With Biden). The other speed (Double the Heart) scratched out and we knew there was probably going to be no pressure on him and it was going to take a heckuva run to get him. We couldn't get him. We tried. We had a perfect trip. We were just second best. Our horse tried. I am proud of him. Wish we had a little more pace to run at, but that is the way the chips lay. As soon as I saw the scratches and the other speed was out, I said this 5 is going to be tough to catch. Hats off to them.”
Jockey Frankie Pennington (Magic Michael, second): “He tried his heart out. The horse in front got an easy lead and kind of kept on going with it, but he tried hard all the way around. He always tries so hard every time. I figured once we hit the stretch that was going to be our best shot, he was just second-best.”
The post “He Does Not Want To Give The Lead Up When He Gets It’: Ridin With Biden Cruises Gate To Wire For Greenwood Cup Triumph appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
DQ Elevates Mind Control To Repeat Win in Parx Dirt Mile
by Tom Law/Parx Racing
Mind Control needed a call from the stewards stand but successfully defended his title in the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile to kick off the open stakes portion of the betPARX Pennsylvania Derby Day card Saturday at Parx Racing.
Second and a neck behind Far Mo Power at the finish, Mind Control and jockey John Velazquez were elevated to first because of interference in the stretch. Far Mo Power and jockey Dexter Haddock were placed second.
Mind Control won last year's Parx Dirt Mile with a similar prolonged stretch battle, prevailing at the finish by a head over Silver State for one of two victories on the season. He improved to 2-for-5 in 2022 with this year's Parx Dirt Mile for trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables.
Far No Power took the early initiative and led Mind Control into the first turn and to the backstretch, holding a half-length lead through splits of :24.06 and :47.54. Velazquez edged Mind Control closer around the far turn and they were just a head back through 6 furlongs in 1:11.50. Mind Control and Far Mo Power raced side-by-side into the lane, with the latter coming a few paths off the inside as the former took the lead.
Mind Control took the lead briefly in the lane before losing it again when brushed by Far Mo Power, who hit the finish in 1:36.59. Dontmesawithme, the second longest shot on the board at 30-1, finished 11 3/4 lengths back in third. New Commission, Derby House, Too Boss, and Milton the Monster completed the field.
Mind Control, a 6-year-old son of Stay Thirsty out of Feel That Fire, by Lightinin N Thunder, improved to 11-for-28 in his career and boosted his earnings to $1,773,334.
Winning assistant trainer Byron Hughes: “He's been a pleasure to train, such a fighter. You hook him up down the stretch and he's going to give you everything he's got. He's just fun to be around. I saw that second bump that he got there near the wire, he really lost his momentum. Just showing that he fought back and only got beat a little at the wire shows that he really did lose momentum.”
Winning jockey John Velazquez: I had a good trip until that moment at the top of the stretch. My horse is a fighter but when he came out and touched him, I was OK, but he got a little intimidated, but my horse got head and head with him again. Then I thought, 'I got him.' Then at the sixteenth pole he hit him back left-handed and he touched him, kind of got him off balance. That really got my horse intimidated and off balance and I couldn't get back on it. I came out running.
“I wanted to be at least 1-2 the first part of the race. I rode the race before and obviously the horse went to the lead real easy and I couldn't go by. So I said let me come out running, get a good position where I'm close to the lead.
“He's such a nice horse. He gives you everything whenever he can. When he gets in a good position and he's fighting, that's when he does his best.”
Trainer Louis Linder Jr. (Far Mo Power, second): “It was a great effort, and I expected the effort. I figured he'd show up and run big today. That's horse racing. It hurts, but we'll live to fight another day. From the minute this horse has been in the barn I knew he was special. The more distance, the better he was getting, so I was really pleased.”
Jockey Dexter Haddock (Far Mo Power, second): “He (Mind Control) was coming right. I don't know. My horse tried hard. I am sad. I get on him in the morning every day. I am sad for me; I am sad for the trainer. No, I don't agree with the decision.”
The post DQ Elevates Mind Control To Repeat Win in Parx Dirt Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘She Gave Me A Great Kick’: Ortiz Brings Love And Thunder From Last To First In Athenia
Lightning finally struck for John D. Gunther and Tanya Gunther's Love And Thunder, who captured her first graded stakes win with a last-to-first move, storming down the stretch to collar pacesetter Evvie Jets in Saturday's $175,000 Athenia (G3) for fillies and mares going nine furlongs on the inner turf at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.
The 45th edition of the Athenia saw Love And Thunder earn her first graded stakes victory in her 11th start for trainer Chad Brown, who successfully sought a record-extending seventh Athenia conquest as well as his third straight triumph in this race. Love And Thunder arrived off a pair of troubled third-place efforts in one mile turf stakes, rounding out the trifecta in Belmont Park's Perfect Sting on July 3 and the Fasig-Tipton De La Rose on August 7 at Saratoga.
“I want to thank the owners John and Tanya Gunther for their patience, they've always stuck with this filly and took some of the frustrating trips with a positive attitude and kept moving forward to get this filly a graded win. Their patience was rewarded today,” Brown said. “She's had several frustrating trips, this filly. She seems to find trouble. She was very deserving today to get up in time and get this great win because it's been more frustration than celebration exiting her races over the couple years we've had her. But to her credit, she's fired every time and she's always tried – she just hasn't had clear paths.
“Sometimes with turf racing and with particular turf horses and the way they run, you're going to get that,” Brown added. “With her, she's had it probably more than her fair share, so for her to overcome slow fractions and not get impeded today in a short field was really nice to see.”
After a slow break from post 3, Love And Thunder took to the rear of the five-horse field as three-time winner Evvie Jets set an even tempo into the first turn through an opening quarter mile in :24.35 over the firm turf. Tass, a 17-1 longshot, took to her outside in second while stakes-winner In a Hurry saved ground in third.
Positions remained unchanged as Evvie Jets led through a leisurely half-mile in :51.10 and three-quarters in 1:15.66 around the far turn. The Brown-trained Kalifornia Queen launched a three-wide bid in pursuit in upper stretch while Love And Thunder, still last at the quarter pole, was tipped a path wide under Jose Ortiz and came under a drive with her usual late kick. With Evvie Jets still to catch in deep stretch, Love And Thunder confronted her foe in the nick of time, winning by a neck in a final time of 1:50.07.
Evvie Jets finished another three lengths ahead of Kalifornia Queen, who picked up graded stakes black type for the fourth straight time, while making her first start in 11 months. Tass and In a Hurry completed the order of finish. Main track only entrant W W Fitzy was scratched.
Ortiz, who teamed up with Brown for previous Athenia scores aboard Pianist [2013] and Tapit Today [2020], admitted some concern in being forced to chase slow fractions.
“They went :24 and got away from me a little bit and then the second half they slowed it down a lot. I had my hands full down the backside until they picked it up again at the half-mile and I was able to drop my hands again,” Ortiz said. “She was cruising the whole way around there. By the three-eighths pole, I was following the other Chad [Kalifornia Queen]. I knew the pace was slow but she likes it better on the outside, so I went wide and she gave me a great kick.”
Brown expressed satisfaction in a third-place finish from Madaket Stables, Michael J. Caruso, Michael Dubb, and First Row Partners' Kalifornia Queen, who made her first start since finishing third in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor in October 2021 at Woodbine. He added that a start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Long Island on November 25 at Aqueduct could be in her future.
“I entered her about two breezes short of where I wanted her off the layoff but we're running out of time in the turf season,” Brown said. “So, I told the ownership group I'd run her a little bit short and hopefully hit the board is the best she can do and use the race as her last piece of fitness. She did exactly what I thought she would do.”
Brown said he will take some time to consider a next start for Love And Thunder, an Irish-bred 5-year-old daughter of Siyouni.
Returning $4 as the odds-on post time favorite, Love And Thunder banked $96,250 in victory, bringing her lifetime earnings up to $340,591 through a consistent 15-4-5-3 record. Her only off-the-board stateside effort was in last year's Grade 3 Noble Damsel at Belmont Park, when fifth.
Bred by Papillon Stables Sarl, Love And Thunder is out of the unraced Medaglia d'Oro mare Pretty Pink, who is out of graded stakes winner Take the Ribbon.
The post ‘She Gave Me A Great Kick’: Ortiz Brings Love And Thunder From Last To First In Athenia appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
