Richard Baltas | Horse Racing Free Tips

Next Shares, Bordonaro Retired To Old Friends

Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, has welcomed two new retirees.

Next Shares, winner of the 2018 Old Friends Stakes at Kentucky Downs, and multiple graded stakes winner Bordonaro.

A Richard Baltas trainee and owned in partnership, Next Shares (Archarcharch – Two Dot Slew, Evansville Slew) retires after seven seasons with a record of seven wins from 49 starts and earnings of $1,891,971.

A multiple graded stakes winner, Next Shares also captured the 2018 G1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland, the G2 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita, and the G2 Seabiscuit at Del Mar in 2019.

Bordonaro (Memo – Miss Excitment, Rajab), comes to Old Friends through the United Pegasus Foundation in Tehachapi, CA. A William Spawr trainee, the now 20-year-old gelding won the 2006 G1 Ancient Breeders' Cup Stakes at Oak Tree and is a two-time winner of the G3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (2006 and 2007) at Oaklawn Park. He retired with 10 wins from 20 starts and earnings of $938,128.

“We're so thrilled to have both of these wonderful athletes,” said Old Friends founder and president Michael Blowen. “Richard Baltus, who entered Next Shares in the Old Friends Stakes because it guaranteed his retirement, and Bill Spawr, who trusted us with Amazombie, are two very special old friends.”

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Going To Vegas Pointed To Rodeo Drive Stakes After John C. Mabee Win

Soon after Going to Vegas crossed under the finish line 2 ¼-lengths in front to win the $200,000 Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Ca., on Saturday, what seemed like a tsunami of humanity descended from the grandstand to engulf the winner's circle for the picture and trophy ceremonies.

It was estimated that around 250 people – owners or friends of owners of the three partnership groups involved with the 4-year-old daughter of Goldencents — whooped, hollered, and smiled for the camera.

Bing Bush, founder and manager of Abbondanza Racing, figured that his 14-member group accounted for about 50 of the crowd, Medallion Racing about four, and the rest from MyRacehorse, the micro-shares organization that has had a large impact on racing in a short time.

There was plenty of joy to go around, and Bush, a Del Mar resident, was still savoring it this morning when he checked in at trainer Richard Baltas' barn to get the good news that Going to Vegas had come out of the race fine.

The Mabee victory, her sixth in 21 career starts, fueled thoughts of a Breeders' Cup start at Del Mar, where Going to Vegas has two wins and has only been out of the money once in seven starts on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

“We can always dream and this made that dream seem a step closer to reality,” Bush said. “We're going to be aiming her for the Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita. I think she'll like the distance.”

The Rodeo Drive, on October 2, is 1 ¼ miles, an eighth of a mile longer than the John C. Mabee but a distance at which the 4-year-old daughter of Goldencents won the Santa Ana there in March and was second in the Santa Anita Oaks last December.

A victory in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive carries with it a berth in the 1 3/8-mile, $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar on November 6. Otherwise, a six-figure supplemental entry fee would be necessary for Going to Vegas, who was not made Breeders' Cup eligible as a foal.

“To win here is so wonderful and to win the John Mabee Stakes, a man who was such an iconic figure here and such a major figure in the racing industry, is just great,” Bush said.

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Going To Vegas Proves Best In Del Mar’s John C. Mabee

Going to Vegas and Del Mar's leading rider Flavien Prat sat a perfect trip Saturday in the nine-furlong John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar, then pulled clear at the top of the stretch and could not be caught in scoring a 2 1/4-length triumph in the Grade 2 headliner at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif.

The winner, a 4-year-old filly by Goldencents, was winning the sixth race of her career and the $120,000 winner's share of the $201,000 purse increased her earnings to $454,151. The bay Kentucky-bred is trained by Richard Baltas.

Going to Vegas is owned by three racing groups – Abbondanza Racing, Medallion Racing or MyRacehorse. An estimated post-race crowd of 250 of her owners filled Del Mar's winner's circle to capacity, and then some.

Finishing second in the grass test was LNJ Foxwoods' Dogtag, who had a length and a quarter on Calvin Nguyen's Bodhicitta.

The winner, the 19-10 race favorite, returned $5.80, $3.20 and $2.60. Dogtag returned $2.80 and $2.40, while Bodhicitta paid $2.80 to show.

This was the 64th running of the Mabee, named for one of the founders of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Post-race quotes:

FLAVIEN PRAT (Going to Vegas, winner) – “I had a good post and a good break. I got right where I wanted to be and we weren't going that fast. When I asked her, she had a really good turn of foot. She was a winner all the way today.”

RICHARD BALTAS (Going to Vegas, winner) “She was where she wants (second, stalking position) from the start. She'll rate now, she used to not rate. I'm very proud of the horse coming back fairly quickly from the (allowance win) at the start of the meet to win a mile and an eighth graded stakes. (On the overflow crowd of owners in the winner's circle) This is great. They're all having fun and that's what it's all about.”

FRACTIONS: :24.20 :47.80 1:12.41 1:36.60 1:48.14

The victory was the 11th of the meet for rider Prat and his fifth score in the John C. Mabee. He now has 68 stakes wins at Del Mar, tied for 11th most in track history.

The victory was the third of the meeting for trainer Baltas, but his first win in the John C. Mabee. He now has 20 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owners are Abbondanza Racing (Bing Bush of Del Mar), Medallion Racing (Philip Shelton of Nicholasville, KY) and the large ownership group of MyRacehorse.

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Ginobli Win In Pat O’Brien A Slam Dank For Ownership Group

The colt by Munnings was a $35,000 purchase at the Keeneland September sale in 2018, a find that Richard Baltas first offered for purchase to the Slam Dunk Racing partnership headed by former jockey agent and basketball aficionado Nick Cosato.

“I loved him because even as an early 2-year-old he looked like a 3-year-old,” Cosato said this morning of the horse that produced a 1 ¾-length victory in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. “So we were in right away, and some other partners eventually came in as well.”

Cosato did the naming honors, coming up with the surname of Manu Ginobili, the native of Argentina who was a four-time NBA champion while starring with the San Antonio Spurs.

Unlike his namesake, Ginobili the horse wasn't a consistent winner. He came into the Pat O'Brien with two wins from 12 lifetime starts, a maiden score here in August of 2019 and a mile allowance tally on July 17, the second day of the current meeting, by an impressive 9 ¾ lengths.

“The Munnings line is kind of curious,” Cosato said. “He throws a variety (of runners); they tend to be good on the turf but that's not true for all of them.”

So finding the right surface and distance took some doing. But input from jockey Joe Bravo following a fourth-place finish in a 6 ½-furlong race at Santa Anita on June 19 led to a 9¾-length victory in a mile event here on July 17 that generated thoughts of bigger things.

“Did the mile wake him up? Possibly, but I think adding blinkers and a couple other things contributed too,” Cosato said.

Following the July 17 race, the partnership was ready for a step up to stakes, but not unified on just which one and where. The TVG Pacific Classic, the Charles Town Classic, and the Pat O'Brien were discussed before settling on the latter, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on November 6.

With Bravo committed to riding Flagstaff for trainer John Sadler, jockey Drayden Van Dyke got the call on Ginobili and executed a best-case scenario, positioning outside front-runner Brickyard Ride for the first half-mile, opening up 3 ½-lengths at the top of the stretch and holding on nicely from there.

Craig Lewis, trainer of Brickyard Ride, was disappointed that the stall gate, which should have been shut, was left open and his horse bolted through before the start. Brickyard Ride was reined in and deemed still worthy to race, but the premature exertion probably contributed to his tiring after a half-mile and finishing last.

“These are things we don't have any control over and you wish wouldn't happen,” Lewis said.

Ginobili reportedly came out of the race in fine fettle as did runner-up and 2-1 favorite C Z Rocket and third-place Flagstaff.

“The horse ran great, I have no fault with the horse or the rider,” said Peter Miller, trainer of C Z Rocket. “Hats off to the winner.

“But I'd like to have seen what they could have done on a (different) racetrack. Hopefully, we get that for the Sprint Championship (Stakes) at Santa Anita and for the Breeders' Cup. More importantly for the Breeders' Cup.”

Sadler on Flagstaff: “We thought he ran a good race. He didn't win but he ran a good race. Props to the winner, who ran a great race. (Flagstaff) might run again at Santa Anita and then come back for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.”

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