Ricardo Santana | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ricardo Santana’s Grade 1 Triple Nets Jockey Of The Week Title

The Labor Day Weekend always signals the end of the prestigious Saratoga meet and the 2021 meet at the Spa is one jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. is likely to remember for a long time. His three Grade 1 wins closing weekend earned Jockey of the Week honors for Aug. 30 through Sept. 6. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 875 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

On Saturday, trainer Steve Asmussen called on Santana, Jr. to pilot Max Player in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Max Player broke from post position two and settled back and to the outside of Forza Di Oro. Advancing down the backstretch and reaching the top of the stretch, Max Player took command and drew off to win by four lengths in 2:02.49 for the 1 1/4-mile prestigious test for 3-year-olds and up.

“I was happy with him,” said Santana, Jr. “Today, he broke good so I was really happy with it. The trainer is doing all the work.”

In the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sunday, Asmussen again gave a leg up to Santana, Jr. on Echo Zulu. Off a step slow from post position three, race favorite Echo Zulu went straight to the front, leading the nine-horse field gate to wire to power home in a final time of 1:22.51 for the seven furlong test for 2-year-old fillies.

“I had so much confidence that I only wore two goggles for seven furlongs,” Santana, Jr, said. “She was working real nice and today she improved a lot. I had plenty in the tank.”

The Asmussen/Santana, Jr. combination struck again with Gunite in the Grade 1 Hopeful, the traditional Closing Day feature on Monday. Breaking from post position three in the field of 11, Gunite bumped with Kitodan but was rushed into contention. He opened up a ½-length advantage at the stretch and continued to find more, drawing off to win impressively by 5-3/4 lengths in 1:23.08 for seven furlongs. Santana, Jr. rode Gunite for his fifth Grade 1 of the meet – four for Asmussen and the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks earlier in the meet for trainer Rob Atras.

“I love Saratoga, it's one of the best tracks in North America,” said Santana, Jr., who won a personal-best 35 races at Saratoga. “To win five Grade 1s at one meet is unreal.”

Santana, Jr.'s weekly statistics were 49-8-5-8 for an in-the-money percentage of 42.8% and total purse earnings of $1,329,686.

Santana, Jr. out-polled fellow riders Julien Leparoux who won the Grade 1 Flower Bowl, Flavien Prat who won the Grade 1 TVG Del Mar Debutante and his third straight leading jockey title at Del Mar, Joel Rosario who put on a riding clinic at Kentucky Downs with 10 wins over two days and John Velazquez who won the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch.

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Super Stock Back On Top In Ellis Park Derby

The $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby appeared to be heavily favored Super Stock's race to lose, given that he was the winner of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. But that was if he ran to his Arkansas Derby form, rather than his pair of fourth-place finishes in the Texas Derby and Iowa Derby in his last two starts.

For trainer Steve Asmussen, the key was riding Super Stock like Ricardo Santana did in the Arkansas Derby: getting into the race as part of the pace. That happened, and Super Stock hounded the early pace before taking command and drawing off to a 3 3/4-length victory over There Goes Harvard.

Asmussen got be North America's all-time winningest trainer by caring about every race. But Super Stock also holds a special attachment to the trainer. His parents, Keith and Marilyn, own the son of Florida Derby winner Dialed In in partnership with Nashville talent mogul Erv Woolsey, a long-time client.

“He ran a very good race, and it's great to see him back in the winner's circle,” Asmussen said by phone following Super Stock's first victory since the Arkansas Derby, after which he finished 16th in the Kentucky Derby. “Obviously he's a very special horse for the whole family. He makes a lot of people happy when he wins.

“The Lone Star race, the racetrack was absolute sea of water, drawn 13, just was never in the right spot,” he said of the Texas Derby. “And I did not like his trip in Iowa at all, and that was the change in tactics.”

Which was: “To ride him like he did in the Arkansas Derby.”

Ellis Park allowance winner Colonel Bowman broke for the early lead, setting legitimate fractions into the stretch. Super Stock stalked in second place throughout before taking over the lead and pulling away for the clear win over runner-up There Goes Harvard. The final time over the mile and a sixteenth was 1:48.89.

“He broke good, and I was happy when he was in the place I wanted him to be,” said Santana, in from Saratoga to ride Sunday at Ellis Park for Asmussen. “When I was sitting second to that other horse, I knew he would be running hard at the end.”

Jockey Joe Talamo was pleased with runner-up There Goes Harvard's effort.

“We had a really good trip,” he said. “I really thought I had the winner turning for home. Hats off to them (Super Stock and Ricardo Santana). They kept running. But my horse ran a really good race.”

It was another two lengths back to Indiana Derby runner-up Sermononthemount and jockey James Graham. Colonel Bowman tired to fourth in the field of six 3-year-olds.

“He ran good, I thought,” said Graham. “They were just quicker than him early. I was trying to be aggressive. I just wasn't quick enough to hold my spot. He tried to run them down. They went fast the first quarter, backed it up and then went again. I just couldn't get back on terms.”

Super Stock went off as the even-money favorite and paid $4 to win. The colt now has three wins in 12 starts, with two seconds and two thirds, while increasing his career earnings to $957,677.

“He's trying, he's trying,” Asmussen said of Super Stock nearing millionaire status.

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‘I Wouldn’t Like It If It Were Easy’: Moquett Enjoys Challenges Of Training Strong-Minded Whitmore

Training the strong-minded reigning Champion Sprinter Whitmore comes with its challenges, but Arkansas-born conditioner Ron Moquett said he wouldn't have it any other way.

“I wouldn't like it if it were easy. It wouldn't mean as much if everything works out if it were easy,” Moquett said. “I think for me, at this stage in my career, it's good to get something that's a little quirky and a little different and show that you can handle those types and then hopefully get some of the easier ones down the road.”

Owned by Moquett in partnership with Robert V. LaPenta and Head of Plains Partners, Whitmore looks to add a third Grade 1 victory to his ledger in Saturday's Grade 1 $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga. The veteran 8-year-old gelding boasts a lifetime record of 41-15-13-4, which include triumphs in the Grade 1 Forego in August 2018 at the Spa as well as the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

Whitmore developed a good rapport with some of his previous pilots, with six jockeys having guided the talented veteran to the winner's circle, which include, Jose Ortiz, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Manny Franco, Didiel Osorio and Joe Talamo. Other jockeys of note to have piloted the 8-year-old veteran include Luis Saez, Joel Rosario, and Flavien Prat, as well as Hall of Famers Mike Smith and Victor Espinoza.

“He's quirky, but he's not hard to ride,” Moquett said. “These guys are professionals. When you look at the list of jockeys that have ridden this horse, those are some top riders. I've always said you ride riders for the comfort that they will get done what you want to get done, but it also has to do with the fact they're very sure and confident. If he catches a little glimpse of any thread, he can pick on you, he will pull that thread.”

Through a racing career which dates back to a 7 ¼-length debut win in November 2015 at Churchill Downs, Moquett has been able to spend more time with Whitmore than most trainers can say they've spent with some of their star pupils.

“He still deals with things that aren't easy. He hasn't had a nail in his shoe since he was a 3-year-old. He wears glue-on shoes,” Moquett continued. “He's not the easiest to be around at the gate. He likes to train backwards, he refuses to train by himself. He wants competition or he'll give you the middle finger. We have to soak his feed a certain way before he'll eat it. Everything is a collaboration of figuring out how to get along with him.”

Moquett credits his wife and assistant trainer Laura for being instrumental in coaxing the most from Whitmore.

“Laura is the master of that, and she has the patience of Job, which is probably how we're married,” Moquett said. “Being married to me has trained her to get along with Whitmore.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. appears to know Whitmore better than any other jockey, having finished in the money 15 of the 17 times he has been in the irons.

“Sometimes it works like that. Certain riders say, 'Hey we're doing this, let's go,' and Santana does that. They work well together,” Moquett said.

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Yaupon Gets First Win of 2021 in Lite The Fuse Stakes

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's multiple graded-stakes winner Yaupon made a triumphant return to historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. Sunday, putting away pacesetting Chateau and turning back Laki – both Grade 3 winners – to snap a two-race losing streak in the $100,000 Lite the Fuse Stakes.

The six-furlong Lite the Fuse for 3-year-olds and up, named for the two-time Grade 1Carter Handicap and Grade 2 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash winner, returned to the Maryland stakes calendar for the first time since being run in 2002 at Laurel Park.

Part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series, the Lite the Fuse was the last of four stakes worth $375,000 in purses on the Independence Day holiday program.

Yaupon ($2.80), sent off at 2-5 in a field reduced to four by the scratches of stakes winners Lebda, Threes Over Deuces, and Valued Notion, hit the wire in 1:09.42 over a fast main track to beat Laki by 1 ¾ lengths. Chateau was another 1 ¾ lengths back in third with Whiskey and You fourth.

Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who teamed up to win the Grade 2 Suburban with Max Player Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., Yaupon won for the first time since his last trip to Maryland, when he equaled the stakes record of 1:09.10 in the Chick Lang (G3) last fall.

Following that race, Yaupon was eighth as the favorite after a troubled trip in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., and finished eighth in his lone previous start this year, the Grade 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen March 27 at Meydan.

“Both my wife and I were glad to see him run his race and return to form,” Bill Heiligbrodt said. “He got banged around pretty good in the Breeders' Cup and I was a little worried about that, but today he ran like his old self. That was a really nice race, and there was some decent competition in there. We were really happy with that. He's a really nice horse, a beautiful horse.”

March 6 Grade 3 Tom Fool winner Chateau outran Yaupon to the front, leading after a quarter-mile in :22.86 seconds and a half in :45.49. Laki, the 2020 Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial winner, tracked in third with Whiskey and You trailing.

Laki moved off the rail on the turn to get after Chateau with Yaupon on his outside, and those two were able to get past the early leader after five furlongs in :57.36 seconds with Yaupon steadily edging away approaching the finish.

“Today he broke really sharp. He came from the layoff and I wanted to give him a little break,” Santana said. “I broke and he put me in a good position. I let him take a second deep breath and at the three-eighths pole when my horse felt the other horse, he took off back.”

The win helped ease the sting of May 15 Chick Lang winner Mighty Mischief having his three-race win streak snapped when second to Alwaysinahurry earlier on the card in the $100,000 Concern for 3-year-old sprinters.

“As long as the horse goes back to Kentucky safe, that's important,” Santana said. “He ran his race, he tried hard, and he was second-best today.”

Asmussen came into Sunday having gone 14-for-24 (41 percent) over the past five years in dirt sprints at both Pimlico and Laurel Park. Many of those races have come with Santana in the irons.

“I owe a lot to Mr. Steve. He put me in the position that I am right now. He's given me a lot of great opportunities and good horses,” Santana said. “Yesterday we had a really amazing win with Max Player and today we win another stake with Yaupon. I really feel blessed to be part of his team.”

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