Red Danger | Horse Racing Free Tips

Classic Causeway Could Be Missing Piece for Trainer and Sire

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL–Brian Lynch has already proven he is a talented trainer, conditioning the likes of Grade I winners Oscar Performance, Heart to Heart, Grand Arch and Coffee Clique. While he has won several graded events on dirt, all of his top-level scorers were on turf and the main thing missing from his resume is a Triple Crown contender.

Lynch finally has that this year in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby contender Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), who already has enough points to be his trainer's first GI Kentucky Derby starter.

“It's very exciting,” Lynch said. “I come from a small, country town in Australia, so to think I could ever have a horse who could be competitive in the Kentucky Derby is a dream. It's a great personal accomplishment for me.”

He continued, “I've been lucky to come up with some good turf horses. I've never really had the opportunity to have one this good on the dirt. He is going to show us on Saturday just how good he is.”

Classic Causeway is two-for-two this season, winning the GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 12 and the GII Tampa Bay Derby exactly one month later.

“He bounced out of those races like they were races that were getting him ready for this one,” Lynch said. “We hope he is ready to fire a big one. He seems like he's in good order. He is carrying great weight. His last race was enough to give me the confidence to say, 'Let's run him here and then give him five weeks to the Derby.'”

Several past winner of the Tampa Bay Derby have trained right up to the First Saturday in May.

When asked if that option was ever under consideration, Lynch said, “I think he is the sort of horse that would benefit from another race in him. The [Kentucky] Derby is such a grueling race. You have to be able to handle traffic. You have to be able to handle bumps and grinds. The more racing experience we can get into him, the more it will help on a big day like that.”

The competition Classic Causeway will face at Gulfstream Saturday is tougher than what he has faced in his last two efforts.

“He has to be tested at some stage,” Lynch said. “We are going to find out what we've got. I think this is a good place to give him a test. I am hoping the weather stays good.”

Thunderstorms are expected to hit Hallandale Beach Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, so there is a chance Classic Causeway could be running on a wet track for the first time Saturday. While Lynch hopes for nice weather, he said he is not concerned about track condition.

“He's just a runner,” the Australia native said. “He is going to run whether it's wet, turf, dirt or down a gravel road.”

Classic Causeway is one of just three foals from the final crop of the late, great Giant's Causeway, whose legacy as a racehorse and sire speaks for itself. However, the one thing missing from that Coolmore's stallion impressive resume is a Triple Crown race winner.

“He is the son of a great horse,” Lynch said. “Giant's Causeway was the Iron Horse. We hope a little of that is in Classic Causeway.”

Lynch also has two other stakes runners Saturday with Phantom Currency (Goldencents) in the GIII Appleton S. and Red Danger (Orb) in the Cutler Bay S.

Phantom Currency was last seen 13 months ago when winning Gulfstream's GII Mac Diarmida S. in February of 2021.

“He is a lovely old horse,” Lynch said. “Coming off of a year layoff is never easy. The mile is probably a bit short for him, but he is training lights out and goes into the race in good order. This race will set him up for the [GII] Elkhorn going 1 1/2 miles at Keeneland later in the month.”

Winner of the Pulpit S. last term, Red Danger was fifth after a wide trip in this venue's GIII Kitten's Joy S. Feb. 5 and rallied to be fourth after another wide journey in the local Palm Beach S. last out Mar. 5.

“He has had two troubled trips his last two starts down there,” Lynch said. “He never had a chance to get into the race. He is drawn out wide again, but I feel like he is doing well enough that if he just needs a little bit of racing luck. He is going into the race in as good of shape as we could have him.”

Rain or shine, the Lynch barn is primed to have a big day at Gulfstream Saturday.

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Coinage Looks to Rebound in Kitten’s Joy

Looking to start off his 2022 campaign in the winner's circle, Coinage (Tapit) will be facing a competitive field of sophomores in Gulfstream Park's GIII Kitten's Joy S. on Saturday.

Stakes-placed on dirt in Saratoga's NY-bred Rick Violette S. in July, the $450,000 KEESEP purchase took to the turf and two turns with ease, capturing the GIII With Anticipation S. at the Spa in September in his first try over the surface and a route of ground. The colt was a bothered third in the Sept. 26 Nownownow S. at Monmouth Park and was last seen finishing ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Nov. 5 after breaking outwardly and weakening late. The Mark Casse runner enters off a bullet work at Palm Meadows Jan. 28, going five furlongs on grass in 1:00 flat, and has picked up the services of Luis Saez.

“At Monmouth, he had some trouble at the start. He kind of stumbled and didn't get away from there,” Casse said of his colt's recent bout of bad racing luck. “In the Breeders' Cup, it was probably just more about post position. When you go around at Del Mar going a mile and you draw outside, it's kind of brutal. He just had a tough trip. We're just trying to get him back and, hopefully, he'll have a little luck this time.”

Grand Sonata (Medaglia d'Oro) looks to spoil those plans from the rail, last seen winning the Jan 1. Dania Beach S. at this venue after a slow start. The Whisper Hill homebred checked in second to next-out GIII Futurity S. winner Slipstream (More Than Ready) on debut at Belmont in September and broke his maiden next out in an off-the-turf event going two turns at Keeneland Oct. 16. Bumped around at the start of Aqueduct's Central Park S. on the grass Nov. 27, the dark bay was checked hard and asked to close from last to grab fifth. He is joined in the gate by stablemate and Nownownow runner-up Royal Spirit (Into Mischief), who enters off a 1 1/4-length graduation last out in Hallandale Jan. 2.

On the far outside, Red Danger (Orb) looks to pick up his first graded stakes victory and third black-type score overall. A winner sprinting on the turf in both his maiden breaking score Aug. 11 at Saratoga and when winning the Sept. 9 Global Tote Juvenile Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs, he'll be looking to break through at this distance after previously finishing fourth in the GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. Oct. 10 at Keeneland and second in the Oct. 31 Street Sense S. on the main track underneath the Twin Spires. He was last seen closing his 2-year-old campaign in winning style in the Pulpit S. at Gulfstream Park, a race where Speaking Scout (Mr Speaker) finished second for the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.

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Howling Time Gets First Stakes Win In Street Sense

After stalking the pace set by Sport Pepper throughout the 1 1/16 miles, Howling Time took over the lead midstretch to win Sunday's Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. In only the second start of his short career, the 2-year-old son of Not This Time draw off for a 3 1/4-length victory.

Through early fractions of :24.65 and :49.31, Sport Pepper held a one-length lead over the field of seven, with Red Danger and Skippylongstocking in second and third on the backstretch. Howling Time sat fourth, starting his move as the field entered the far turn.

Around the Churchill Downs bend, Howling Time went three-wide, looming up on the outside of Sport Pepper as they hit the stretch. After pulling even with the frontrunner briefly, Howling Time poured on the speed, taking over the front and pulling away in the last furlong. Red Danger was second with Red Knobs third.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:44.65. Find this race's chart here.

“Turning for home I could feel I had a lot of horse underneath me,” said Talamo. “Around the turn, I smooched at him and he just took off. It's always special to win for these connections. This horse was very impressive today and really ran well around two turns for the first time.”

Howling Time paid $5.80, $4.00, and $2.80. Red Danger paid $5.40 and $3.40. Red Knobs paid $2.80.

“It's pretty fitting a horse with a Halloween theme wins today,” said Romans. “I'm just glad it was ours. He won impressively in his debut last month. He's shown us in his training and his pedigree that he should like stretching out in distance. So, winning at six furlongs on debut was very impressive. Then, to come back and do that today showed how talented he is.”

Bred in Kentucky by Springhouse Farm, Howling Time is out of the Arch mare Werewolf. Trained by Dale Romans, the 2-year-old colt is owned by Albaugh Family Stables. Consigned by Paramount Sales, Howling Time was sold to the Albaugh Family for $200,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. With this win in the Street Sense, the colt has career earnings of $190,600.

“This horse was a later purchase at Keeneland last year,” said Jason Loutsch, racing manager for Albaugh Family Stable. “We have to give the credit to Dale because he was in the back ring at the time and called us to say we had to have this colt. We knew what he did on his debut was impressive because Dale doesn't necessarily have them cranked all the way to win first out. Then, he worked well out of it and was really impressive today going two turns for the first time.”

The post Howling Time Gets First Stakes Win In Street Sense appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Turf 2-Year-Olds Make a Splash in Bourbon

A field of 14 juveniles look to sort themselves out in Sunday's GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. at Keeneland, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) is one of two stakes-winning juveniles in the field, following up a spectacular 14 1/4-length off-the-turf maiden special weight at Ellis Park July 2 with a hard-fought score in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile S. Sept. 6. As a $330,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling, he remains the highest-priced yearling–by nearly $200,000–by his sire and was picked out of the sale by that astute judge of horseflesh, Kenny McPeek. Tiz the Bomb owns the highest Beyer (76) among these young runners and has bulleted in two of his last three works, one bullet each on turf and dirt.

As the only other black-type winner among these nascent runners, Red Danger (Orb) also has a two-race win streak. He overcame bumping and steadying to break his maiden at the Spa, then also came back at Kentucky Downs to edge to a win in the Sept. 9 Global Tote Juvenile Sprint S. Both his victories are on the lawn, but he hasn't gone farther than 6 1/2 furlongs for trainer Brian Lynch.

If Tiz the Bomb falters, McPeek also sends Lucky Boss (Street Boss), who won a July 17 off-the-turf Ellis maiden, then was runner-up Aug. 15 at the same track in the Runhappy Ellis Park Juvenile S. The Bourbon will mark his first start on the grass. Rocket One (Into Mischief) kicked off his career in the deep end, losing on the dirt to eventual GISW Gunite (Gun Runner), then lost to re-opposing Play Action Pass (Cairo Prince) on the turf before winning handily while closing late in a Sept. 6 Kentucky Downs maiden special weight. Play Action Pass was in that same Gunite maiden, beat Rocket One when moving to the lawn, and grudgingly yielded the lead and the win to Tiz the Bomb in the Juvenile Mile S. Heaven Street (Street Sense) has the most starts under his belt with five, and has won two of his last three, all on the grass, with a placing in Woodbine's Soaring Free S.

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