Tag: Racing

Lothenbach Stables Inc.'s Bell's the One collared pacesetter Joyful Cadence and longtime rival Sconsin in deep stretch to win Saturday's 13th running of the $295,000 Open Mind at Churchill Downs by one length.

The victory in the listed stakes marked Bell's the One's 11th career stakes win and sixth overall at Churchill Downs, which is believed the most by any horse dating back to 1991 (Note: Statistics prior to 1991 are incomplete). Previously, Bell's the One prevailed in the Lady Tak in August at Churchill Downs.

Ridden by Corey Lanerie for trainer Neil Pessin, Bell's the One ran six furlongs over a fast track in 1:09.43.

As expected, Joyful Cadence dictated the pace in the compact field of three fillies and mares as she dashed down the backstretch through a first quarter mile in :22.17 with Sconsin two lengths back and Bell's the One another three behind.

Sconsin began to engage the leader on the turn for home and drew even with Joyful Cadence at the top of the stretch as the two clocked a half-mile in :45.16.

Bell's the One spotted the leaders multiple lengths but began to hit her best stride when she tipped outside in upper stretch. She responded readily at the three-sixteenths pole when she was shaken up by Lanerie, and ranged up to Joyful Cadence and Sconsin in the final furlong with a good kick and relentlessly drove past the duo in the final sixteenth of mile.

“She always gives it her all and I was very confident with her today,” Lanerie said. “It was a short field but we were still able to play into her tactics of running from off the pace. I gave her a few reminders late to keep going but she knew where the wire was and got the job done.”

Bell's the One banked the $205,000 first prize and improved her record to 13 wins, five seconds and a trio of thirds in 27 starts. Her career earnings total $2,000,675.

She is now 6-for-12 at Churchill Downs and 9-of-10 at the six-furlong distance.

“Originally I wasn't planning on running in this spot but (Bell's the One) told me she needed to run,” Pessin said. “So, we ran. She's run well wherever she goes but always likes to run here at Churchill. If she tells me she wants to run in three weeks, we'll go to the (Oct. 8) Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) at Keeneland and if she's ready to run after that, we'll look at the Breeders' Cup.”

Bell's the One returned $3.08 to win. There was no place or show betting after the field was reduced to three following the scratches of Cheetara and Club Car. Joyful Cadence finished three-quarters of a length in front of Sconsin for the runner-up honors.

Bell's the One is a 6-year-old daughter of Majesticperfection out of the Street Cry mare Street Mate and was bred in Kentucky by Bret Jones.

With six Churchill Downs' stakes wins since 1991, Bell's the One separated herself from five-time winners Limousine Liberal, Mr. Misunderstood, and Wise Dan.

Saturday's race saluted the late Eugene Klein's Hall of Fame filly Open Mind, the D. Wayne Lukas-trained winner of the 1988 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Churchill Downs who returned to the Louisville track the following spring to win the Kentucky Oaks. The New Jersey-bred filly was an Eclipse Award champion at ages two and three. A winner of 12 races and $1,844,372 in 19 starts, the daughter of Deputy Minister was enshrined in Racing's Hall of Fame in 2011.

The post ‘She Always Gives It Her All’: Bell’s The One Bests Two Rivals In Churchill’s Open Mind appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Played Hard grabbed the lead from pacesetter Crazy Beautiful midway around the final turn and kicked home for a comfortable 5 ¾-length win over that rival in Saturday's 38th running of the $393,000 Locust Grove (G3) for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs.

The victory gave owner Richard Rigney and trainer Phil Bauer their first career stakes wins.

Ridden by Joel Rosario, Played Hard sat just behind Crazy Beautiful, who led the compact field of five distaffers through comfortable early fractions of :24.16, :48.27 and 1:12.46. Rosario asked Play Hard to challenge for the lead while leaving the turn and Li'l Tootsie followed suit from the outside. Played Hard kicked away from the field in upper stretch as Li'l Tootsie attempted to keep up and Crazy Beautiful was able to sustain her run and re-rallied for the place honors.

“I can't really put into words how special this win is for our entire team,” Bauer said. “It's so special to have my family here, (owner) Richard (Rigney) and his wife (Tammy) here as well. This is our home track and it's my first graded stakes win here. This horse is getting really good at the right time. We'll see how she comes out of things in the morning and we'll leave it up to Richard to see where she takes us next.”

Played Hard's clocking for 1 1/16 miles over a fast track was 1:43.50.

“I just let her settle out of the gate,” Rosario said. “I was confident in her most of the way around there with how well she was travelling. When I asked her to go she just really responded like I thought she would. This was the first time I've been on her but I saw her form and looked at some of her previous races. It looked like she was coming into this race in really good form and showed it.”

Played Hard, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief out of the Tiznow mare Well Lived, returned $6.24 as the 2-1 second betting choice. Third-place finisher Li'l Tootsie was another 1 ½ lengths behind Crazy Beautiful.

Comebacker Gold Spirit was fourth and 9-5 favorite Envoutante was fifth. Princess of Cairo was scratched.

The victory was worth $246,000 to Played Hard and increased her earnings to $612,870 with a record of 4-5-1 from 12 starts. This was her first stakes win.

The Locust Grove is named after the 1790 Georgian mansion in Louisville that was home to ancestors of Churchill Downs founder Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark.

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Lady Speightspeare showed plenty of gumption in taking the $154,600 Seaway Stakes (G3) for fillies and mares Saturday at Woodbine.

The seven-furlong main track event was the third straight victory, all graded, for the 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown, who tallied by three-quarters of a length after battling for command on the home turn.

Ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson, Lady Speightspeare covered seven furlongs on the all-weather main track in 1:21.79.

Trained by dual Hall of Famer Roger Attfield, Lady Speightspeare, bred and owned by Charles Fipke, is now 7-1-2 from 12 starts. She paid $4.90 for the win.

Hazelbrook was second, a half length in front of third-place finisher Souper Sensational.

Lady Speightspeare came into Saturday's race off wins in the Nassau Stakes (G2) July 2 and Trillium Stakes (G3) August 13, both at Woodbine. The chestnut filly was bred in Kentucky from the Theatrical mare Lady Shakespeare, who was a two-time graded stakes winner for Fipke and Attfield.

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Webslinger is a maiden no more. In fact, the 2-year-old son of Constitution could well be headed to the Breeders' Cup next. That's how quickly fortunes can change in horse racing.

Coming off a troubled second-place finish in restricted maiden special weight company in a turf sprint at Saratoga on Aug. 31, Webslinger stormed by 2-5 favorite Oxymore in deep stretch and went on to a half-length victory in Saturday's $500,000 Nownownow Stakes for 2-year-olds at Monmouth Park.

The winning time for the mile over a firm turf course was 1:35.09.

“Mark wanted to try this because of his race at Saratoga in his last start,” said Shane Tripp, Casse's assistant. “He got in so much trouble that day and still closed strong the last quarter mile. He got put in the hedge and was last at the quarter pole and still finished strong.

“Mark felt like he deserved a shot at this off this race. It was a little bit of a gamble since this horse was a maiden, but the way he ran his last start, to get in all that trouble and still get second at 5½ furlongs, Mark felt good about trying him here.”

Ridden by Dylan Davis, Webslinger again showed the late run he only hinted at in his last start, roaring off the turn just as the Chad Brown-trained Oxymore was beginning to get away from the other eight freshman runners. But Oxymore's first try at two turns came up just shore because of Webslinger's strong rally.

Let's Go Big Blue was another 2½ lengths back in third.

“Mark said he really liked this horse and that he was training well,” said Davis. “He just had a lot of trouble in his last start, in a sprint, and Mark felt he had a lot more to show. That was enough for me. When Mark told my agent that he felt this was one of his good ones that was enough for me to come here. Oxymore was a difficult horse to beat. He's very talented. But my horse showed his ability.”

With Power Attack setting early fractions of :22.09 and :46.45 and Oxymore stalking him, Davis played a waiting game with Webslinger. When Oxymore emerged from the pack after the three quarters in 1:09.34, Davis asked his colt for more.

Bred in Kentucky, Webslinger is owned by Leonard Green's DJ Stable.

“I kept him covered up and was able to make that one run,” said Davis. “I thought there was a lot of speed on paper and they did go pretty fast early but I was able to tuck him in. He was aggressive and on the bridle all the way around. I wanted him to learn a little by tucking him in.

“At the half-mile pole I wanted to come outside to see what we had. I saw Oxymore was starting to inch away coming out of that second turn so I wanted to get him into a spot where he could make a clear run and really get his run going.”

Webslinger, off the board in his first career start on the dirt at Ellis Park on Aug. 6, paid $30.00 to win.

“The way he trains and crosses ground, and the way that race set up at Saratoga and the way he finished that race, there really weren't any concerns about him going two turns for the first time,” said Tripp. “This was just an incredible effort. To go that quick is very impressive at this stage of his career.”

Monmouth Park's 60-day meet wraps up Sunday with a 12-race card. Admission and parking are free. First race post time is 12:15 p.m.

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