restrainedvengence | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer Val Brinkerhoff Suffers Minor Injuries In Pre-Race Incident With Restrainedvengence

Veteran trainer Val Brinkerhoff suffered minor injuries in a pre-race incident with stable star Restrainedvengence on Saturday, reports the Daily Racing Form. The 6-year-old gelding was entered in the afternoon's G3 Thunder Road Stakes at Santa Anita Park, but was scratched after he reacted poorly to a pre-race blood draw and sent his trainer to the hospital.

Brinkerhoff, 64, said he was transported to the hospital because he takes blood thinners and doctors wanted to be sure he hadn't suffered internal bleeding. He was diagnosed with a cracked elbow, broken finger, and separated shoulder.

“I was more worried about my horse,” Brinkerhoff told drf.com. “He just don't like that needle. When he blows up, you might as well forget it.”

Veteran Hembree The Morning-Line Choice In Saturday’s Thunder Road

Fresh off a Grade 2 win sprinting and in the money in 26 out of 40 lifetime starts, Tom Kagele's 7-year-old Hembree heads a field of eight older horses going one mile on turf in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Thunder Road Stakes at Santa Anita.

Claimed for $62,500 out of a one turn mile win two starts back on Nov. 19 at Churchill Downs, Hembree rallied for an authoritative three quarter length score going 6 ½ furlongs on turf in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes here on Jan. 1. Trained by Peter Miller, Hembree, a two-time graded winner, is a full horse by Proud Citizen, out of the Langfuhr mare Knockatrina.

With lifetime earnings of $927,371, Hembree, who will be ridden back by Joel Rosario, is 40-8-10-8 overall, dating back to his first-out maiden win at Saratoga at age two in August of 2016.

Miller's “Avis Choice” is Sombeyay, who comes off a front-running 1 ¼ lengths allowance win on Jan. 15 as the 4-5 favorite under Flavien Prat, who appears to have opted for Border Town. Originally trained by Todd Pletcher, Sombeyay will be making his third start for Miller as he seeks his third graded stakes win. Owned by Swifty Farms, Inc., Sombeyay, a 5-year-old horse by Into Mischief, is 15-4-5-0 overall and will be ridden for the first time by Juan Hernandez.

Trained by Richard Mandella, Border Town comes off what appeared to be his best career race on Jan. 8, as he rallied from off the pace to take a one mile allowance by half a length under regular rider Prat. Owned by Ramona Bass and Perry Bass III, Border Town, a 5-year-old gelding by War Front, seeks his first graded stakes win in what will be his 12th start.

Trainer Dan Blacker's comebacking Hit the Road, who seeks his third consecutive win, lends further depth to the Thunder Road party. Idle since taking the restricted Oceanside Stakes at one mile on turf July 10 at Del Mar, Hit the Road was also a minor stakes winner going a mile on grass at Santa Anita in his third career start on Oct. 6, 2019. Owned by D K Racing, LLC and Radley Equine, Inc., Hit the Road, a 4-year-old colt by More Than Ready, would relish a fast pace to run at with regular rider Umberto Rispoli up.

THE GRADE 3 THUNDER ROAD, WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 10 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

Sombeyay—Juan Hernandez—122
Hit the Road—Umberto Rispoli—122
Restrainedvengence—Ruben Fuentes—122
Border Town—Flavien Prat—124
Campaign—Tyler Baze—122
Award Winner—Abel Cedillo—120
Bob and Jackie—Heriberto Figueroa—122
Hembree—Joel Rosario—120

Early first post time for a 10-race card on Saturday is at 12 noon. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com.

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Brinkerhoff’s ‘Best Horse’ Restrainedvengence Chasing Graded Win In City Of Hope Mile

Restrainedvengence, the “best horse” Val Brinkerhoff has ever trained, comes back in Saturday's Grade II City of Hope Mile on Santa Anita's turf in just over two weeks from his last race, a game head victory as the 4-5 favorite in the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque, New Mexico over a mile and an eighth on dirt Sept. 19. It was the richest race of the meet.

“The City of Hope is a short field and he came out of his race super-good, never lost any weight and never missed a meal,” said Brinkerhoff, a former jockey who rode at the bush tracks in the northwest before becoming one of the hardest-working horsemen in the game just over a dozen years ago.

Brinkerhoff, who turns 64 on Oct. 19, still gallops his own horses.

“I think getting the horse there took more out of him than the race itself,” said Val, whose wife and dedicated assistant, Kelly, and Bobby Grayson Jr. own the five-year-old gelded son of Hold Me Back, who has an 8-3-1 record from 25 starts with earnings of $625,222. He was second by a head in the City of Hope last year.

“I missed some training on him here but he ran good enough to win despite being bumped through the stretch. He should be fit now because I missed a bunch of time after I ran him at Golden Gate (in the Grade III San Francisco Mile June 14) because of a foot issue, then I missed time because of the smoke from the fires here, but he's fine now.

“He's won stakes on three different surfaces: Tapeta, dirt and turf, so he's very versatile.” While he's never won a graded stakes, the Kentucky-bred has competed in 12 straight added money races and earned Beyer speed figures of 100 or more in three of them.

The City of Hope, race eight of 10 with a 12:30 p.m. first post time: Sharp Samurai, Juan Hernandez, 5-2; Restrainedvengence, Ruben Fuentes, 8-1; Majestic Eagle, Ricardo Gonzalez, 20-1; Royal Ship, Mike Smith, 4-1; Bob and Jackie, Heriberto Figueroa, 12-1; Blitzkrieg, Abel Cedillo, 4-1; and Mo Forza, Flavien Prat, 8-5.

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Mo Forza Makes Sparkling Return In Del Mar Mile Handicap

Bardy Farm and OG Boss' Mo Forza, making his first start in seven months, looked like he'd never been away as he powered past a good field of turfers in capturing the $152,000 Del Mar Mile Sunday at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

The 4-year-old colt by top stallion Uncle Mo out of the Unusual Heat mare Inflamed, scored by 4 1/4 lengths under Flavien Prat in the good time of 1:33.27 for the mile and, as the 6-5 favorite, paid $4.40, $3.00 and $2.40 across the board. He is trained by Peter Miller.

This was the 34th running of the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile and it rewarded its winner with a purse of $90,000, pushing his bankroll to $614,460. The bay has now won five of his 11 starts, four of those victories coming in stakes races, including the Hollywood Derby last fall at Del Mar.

“Peter (trainer Miller) and I talked before the race and we noted that there looked like a lot of speed in the race,” said Prat. “That turned out true. He told me he took his blinkers off and he was hoping for the best. I had a good trip; my horse was relaxed. Then, when I say 'Go,' he had a really strong response.”

“That gave me goose pimples,” said Miller. “I was just hoping I had him tight enough and ready to perform. These were a good group of horses, but he's exceptional. To see this horse back in the winner's circle is really exciting. He had a tendency to get rank in his races last year and wanted to run over horses, so we thought we didn't want that problem this year so we took the blinkers off. He's been working without them and I thought that if it doesn't work out I'm going to look like an idiot, but thank goodness it worked out. We think the Breeders' Cup will definitely be the end of the year with one race in between.”

Bardy Farm is the nom du course for former trainer and breeder Barry Abrams, who raced horses for many years with great success on the Southern California circuit. He is home battling cancer these days but this horse – who Abrams also bred – had to pick his head up for sure. His partner in the colt is Onofrio Pecoraro of San Diego.

Finishing second in the feature was Kelly Brinkerhoff and Bog Grayson, Jr.'s Restrainedvengence and third was Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farm's Royal Ship.

The riding and training stars of the day were Prat and Miller, who combined to win three races on the 11-race card. Besides Mo Forza they also clicked with Querelle ($4.60) in the 2nd Race and Worthy Turk ($8.20) in the 7th. Prat is now second-leading rider at the meet with 34 wins after 19 days of racing. Miller leads the trainers' list with 18 firsts. Prat has been Del Mar's top rider on three different occasions, while Miller has been the leading conditioner seven times.

The stakes win was the 10th of the meet for rider Prat, but his first in the Del Mar Mile. He now has 54 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the third of the meet for trainer Miller, but his first in the Del Mar Mile. He now has 32 stakes wins at Del Mar.

Nobody could solve the Pick Six mystery on Sunday resulting in a $89,465 carryover and a $19,171 Jackpot carryover when racing resumes Friday at Del Mar starting at 2 p.m.

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