ricky giannini | Horse Racing Free Tips

Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Texas, closed out its 2021Thoroughbred racing season on Saturday, April 3, with Houston Showcase Night. Three exciting finishes on the newly formed racing event capped a very successful meet on a high note!

Sky Ride Returns to the Winner's Circle in the $75,000 Bucharest Stakes

The $75,000 Bucharest Stakes featured just five runners, with a solid showing once again by Triple V Racing LLC's Sky Ride to clinch back-to back stakes this meet.

The Kentucky-bred son of Candy Ride won the $75,000 Stonerside Sprint on January 31 in a dead heat with Hollis. Jockey Leandro Goncalves was aboard in two very different finishes. Sky Ride won the Stonerside with a powerful closing effort, but this evening, the bay gelding pretty much did it on the front, and was able to hold off his rivals, covering seven furlongs in 1:24.28.

Goncalves, who notched his 2,000th career win here on March 27, took command at the half-mile mark, which was completed in :45.72. Heading into the final turn, he was able to build a commanding lead over his stablemate Good Scout, drawing off to an impressive eight length score.

“Last time he made up ground, but today we had a different plan,” explained Goncalves. “He just galloped around the track; I never hit him, just asked him and he responded. J.R. (trainer J.R. Caldwell) could have ridden him tonight.”

“Maybe I could have ridden him for the first 25 yards,” quipped Caldwell. “He's a great horse, won three races here, including two stakes. We pointed him to this meet, and we couldn't have asked for more. He was a little fresh today; I was a little surprised to see him on the lead, but it was a good win.”

Good Scout ridden by Ezequiel Lara, held for second. Gold Street ran third and Trumps Revenge completed the superfecta.

Sent off as the heavy favorite, Sky Ride ($2.80), has won five of his 16 starts and will be pointed to Lone Star Park, according to Caldwell.

The stakes is named in honor of the late Thoroughbred sprinter Bucharest, owned by Israel Flores and trained by Amos Laborde, who set three track records at Sam Houston Race Park, including the lightning fast six furlong time of 1:08.88 on May 11, 1994, as well as his 1:12.29 seven furlong clocking on May 4, 1996.

Raven's Cry Takes the $75,000 Miss HoustonTurf Stakes with a Powerful Closing Kick

The popularity of the Connally Turf Course at Sam Houston Race Park has grown in unprecedented fashion and attracted a very classy field of fillies and mares to the $75,000 Miss Houston Turf.

Raven's Cry (IRE) drew in from the also eligible list. The 4-year-old daughter of Raven's Pass had won three of her eight turf starts for owner Martin S. Schwartz. She's trained by Eclipse Award winning condition Brad Cox who gave the call to Louisiana-based jockey Diego Saenz.

Saenz guided the bay filly through fractions of :22.48; :46.19 and 1:11.48 before gaining the lead at the top of the stretch. She was able to hold off a late charge by Valentines Day, crossing the wire of the one mile turf feature in 1:36.09.

“I knew she was a nice filly,” said Saenz. “The pace set up very well for her today.”

Cox was in Kentucky winning the Grade 2,Toyota Blue Grass with Essential Quality, so assistant Ricky Giannini saddled Raven's Cry at Sam Houston.

“She drew pretty wide, but after her win at Fair Grounds, this was a good fit for her,” said Giannini. “Diego got her into a very good striking position.”

Love Partnership Interests LP's Valentines Day ran third in the $75,000 Jersey Lilly on January 31 for trainer Bret Calhoun. The 4-year-old daughter of Summer Front closed gamely for second under rider Lindey Wade. Brandon's Babe completed the trifecta with Iram Diego in the saddle. Our Iris Rose ran fourth, followed by Quick, Quick, Quick, Palio Flag, Curlin's Journey, After Red Son, Good Fight, Simple Pleasure, Miss Perfecta and early pacesetter Believe In Beauty (IRE).

Raven's Cry ($5.00) improved her career record to four wins from nine starts and purses of $116.748.

Royal Prince Makes Sam Houston Debut a Winning One in $75,000 Bayou City Stakes

In the final stakes race of the 2021 Sam Houston Thoroughbred meet, Royal Prince ($2.80) captured the $75,000 Bayou City Stakes for trainer Brad Cox and owner Steve Landers Racing LLC.

Jockey Diego Saenz gave Royal Prince a confident and well-timed ride in the final stake of the night. The pair stalked the pace and dueled with Holy Vow and Sophie Doyle in the stretch before pulling away to win by three-quarters of a length.

“I was trapped for a little while, but I got the chance to get out and he responded for me,” said Saenz.

The 1 1/16 miles event for 3-year-olds was contested on a firm turf course with a final time of 1:43.88.

Royal Prince was the heavy post-time favorite after winning his last out, the $75,000 Black Gold Stakes at the Fair Grounds in late February. The well-traveled colt had previously raced at Del Mar, Keeneland and Kentucky Downs before arriving at Sam Houston.

The 3-year-old son of Cairo Prince is out of Rose and Shine, by Mr. Sekiguchi, and was bred in Kentucky by Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm.

“We wanted to take a logical step forward before we run him in a graded stakes,” added Gianinni. “This was a nice race after the Black Gold; he needed every inch, but got the job done.”

Holy Vow finished in second for trainer Scott Young, with Drivehappy closing to gain third for trainer Steve Asmussen. Texas Bad Boy, War Falcon, Red N Wild and I'm Money completed the field. Stans Hookin Bull was scratched.

The post Cox, Saenz Take Two Of Three Stakes On Sam Houston’s Closing-Night Program appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Brad Cox has feasted on the supporting stakes on Indiana Derby Day, winning two stakes each of the past two years and one in 2016. Throw in some seconds and thirds and the Indiana Derby card has been very good to the Cox stable.

“Yeah, but I've never run a horse in the Indiana Derby,” Cox said with a laugh.

That will change Wednesday with Godolphin's Shared Sense the 4-1 third choice in the field of ten 3-year-olds. Cox also has the 9-5 favorite in the co-featured $200,000, Grade 3 Indiana Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Both horses will be ridden by Florent Geroux.

Cox's deep and talented stable has its main base at Churchill Downs with satellite divisions at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino and in New York. With the operation overseen by assistant trainer Ricky Giannini, Cox has won 38 races at Indiana Grand each of the past two meets with his winning percentage generally over 30 percent. That's been on display on the track's signature day of racing.

Coincidentally, now that Cox has his first Indiana Derby starter, he does not have any horses in those undercard stakes in which he's been so successful.

“It's been a good day for us in the past,” he said. “We've never won the Indiana Oaks or the Derby, so we're looking forward to it. We've got two live shots, for sure.”

Shared Sense certainly has the breeding to go the classic distances. He is a son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, who is a stallion at owner-breeder Godolphin's Darley America in Lexington. Shared Sense's mom, Collective, is a daughter of 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini, another Darley stallion.

Shared Sense blitzed to a career-best 95 Bris speed figure in his last start, a Churchill Downs allowance race. The only problem was that Art Collector ran even faster, beating runner-up Shared Sense by 6 1/2 lengths. It was only a four-horse field, but Art Collector and third-place Finnick the Fierce are headed to Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Saturday, with Shared Sense and fourth-place Necker Island in the Indiana Derby.

“He got beat by a very nice horse,” Geroux said. “It was a very fast race, looked like one of the fastest 3-year-old speed figures in America so far this year. So that's exciting. But it was a long way between myself and (the winner). But the horse is doing great. It looks like a good spot for him.”

The Indiana Derby will be Shared Sense's first start in a graded stakes. He was sixth in two prior stakes, one in the mud and one grass.

“He's got to get a set up,” Cox said of the late-closer. “We need some speed in there to get his best effort. He's going to show up. He's been training well, continues to get better. And I think he'll get better with more ground. The mile and an eighth should be a positive. He's bred to run all day. I think he'll be in the mix.”

Cox said Shared Sense is reminiscent of a late-blooming 3-year-old he had last year in Owendale, who took a while to hit his best stride but then won a trio of Grade 3 stakes last year while also finishing a fast-flying third in the Preakness Stakes.

“He's got that Owendale running style and getting better with age, for sure,” he said.

Cox has rocketed to the top echelon of horse racing in recent years. Monomoy Girl, who earned her first victory at Indiana Grand, won the 2018 Kentucky Oaks and Breeders' Cup Distaff to be the trainer's first champion. He added two more Eclipse Award winners last year with Covfefe taking the 3-year-old filly and female sprint titles and British Idiom the 2-year-old filly championship after capturing their Breeders' Cup races.

He has yet to run a horse in the Kentucky Derby, however.

Cox is painfully aware of the attrition at the top end of the 3-year-old crop this year. He won the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby with Wells Bayou, now sidelined with bone bruising. He won a division of the Fair Grounds' Grade 2 Risen Star with Mr. Monomoy, out with an ankle injury.

“We've had a horse or two in the past who were in the hunt,” Cox said. “It's extremely hard just to get them qualified (for the Derby), and I'm finding out it's even harder to keep them healthy, happy and sound. Wells Bayou would have made it if it had been the first Saturday in May. It's a tough race to get to, and it's definitely a unique year. Hopefully this is the first and last of a September Derby.”

Cox has run in the Indiana Oaks before, finishing second and third in 2018 with Figarella's Queen and Kelly's Humor.

Shedaresthedevil's only finish out of the top three was fourth place in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She was turned over to Cox this year after being bought for $280,000 at Keeneland's November sale by Qatar Racing and Flurry Racing. Her four starts this year include a victory in Oaklawn Park's Grade 3 Honeybee, third in the Grade 3 Fantasy and then a six-length, front-running romp in a Churchill Downs allowance race.

“She ran a huge one,” Cox said. “We were looking just to get a race in her between the Fantasy and wherever we ended up, which ended up being the Indiana Oaks. She worked well all winter when we picked her up, and she's just continued to improve all winter, all spring and into the summer. If she shows up, she'll be tough.”

Shedaresthedevil should be in the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks “as long as she's happy and healthy and in good form,” he said.

“Shared Sense has a long way to go,” he continued. “He would need to pull it off on Wednesday and probably do a little more for the Godolphin team to want to try the Derby. That's up to them. But he's a nice horse. We've always thought he was a horse who could pick up the pieces in a big race. We're going into a big race with a live shot. He's an honest horse. He's going to need to take a step forward Wednesday, and I think he can.”

Live racing continues through Wednesday, Nov. 18. Action is held Monday through Thursday beginning at 2:20 p.m. Post times for the all-Quarter Horse programs is to be determined.

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