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‘Got Him At The Right Time’: Ohio Derby Winner Dean Martini May Target Ellis Park Derby

Dean Martini made his first start at Ellis Park last Aug. 4, finishing second at 24-1. Now, after winning last Saturday's $500,000 Ohio Derby, Louisville-based Raise the BAR Racing's 3-year-old gelding could be coming back to Henderson for the $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby on Aug. 9.

“It's definitely under consideration,” said trainer Tom Amoss. “Absolutely timing-wise we'll look at the race at Ellis.”

It was Dean Martini's second start for his new owners and Amoss after they claimed him out of a $50,000 maiden-claiming race at Churchill Downs, which made him a winner on his eighth attempt. Yet even in defeat, there was only one race in which Dean Martini did not run well. That was his second start, which came at Del Mar in California.

Dean Martini won by 6 3/4 length the day he was claimed, the only time he was in a claiming race. He returned to finish a good second after breaking from post 12 in an allowance race won by Man in the Can, a strong contender for Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. That encouraged Amoss to go hunting bigger game in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, whose runner-up was stakes-winner South Bend and whose third-place finisher was 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and Eclipse Award champion Storm the Court.

Amoss is a disciple of the Ragozin handicapping sheets, which chart form cycles by taking into account variables such as ground lost, traffic trouble and how fast or slow the track is playing in assigning a number for each horse's race. The lower the number, the faster the performance, regardless of what the official time might be.

“I liked the fact that he was a horse who looked like on the 'sheets' that he was developing,” Amoss said of the claim. “The day we claimed him, he ran a very big race. In the allowance race, he ran just as well…. I just got lucky. I didn't do anything special with this horse. He came in great shape. I think I got him at the right time. I claimed a horse that was in the process of developing, getting better. I did nothing more than pick up where the old barn left off.”

Raise The BAR Racing's name is a shout out to the first letters of the first names of partners Brad Rives, Annie Jessee and Rick Riney — along with the fact that they're all lawyers, and they might also occasionally have gone to a bar. Diane Jessee, Annie's sister in law, also is a partner.

The Ohio Derby victory fell on the 81st birthday of former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones, who with his son Bret bred Dean Martini, bloodhorse.com noted.

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Nominations Announced For $1-Million Haskell; Race To Include Derby Points, Breeders’ Cup Berth, Potential Bonus

Thirty-three horses were nominated to the Grade 1, $1-million TVG.com Haskell Stakes, with Monmouth Park's signature race on July 18 offering the added inducements of points for the Kentucky Derby and “Win and You're In” status for the Breeders' Cup Classic, racing secretary/handicapper John Heims and stakes coordinator Lynn T. Ott announced on Friday.

The Oceanport, N.J., track is also putting up a $1-million bonus for any horse that sweeps the Haskell, the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic this year.

The nine-furlong Haskell, to be contested for the 53rd time, headlines a stakes-filled program that includes the Grade 1 United Nations. It is one of just two Grade 1 races left for 3-year-olds prior to the Kentucky Derby, which has moved to Sept. 5 from its traditional spot the first Saturday in May because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Breeders' Cup Classic is set for Nov. 7.

A total of 170 points will be available for a chance to make the starting gate in the Kentucky Derby, with 100 going to the Haskell winner, 40 to the runner-up, 20 to the third-place finisher and 10 to the fourth-place horses.

Santa Anita Derby runner-up Authentic is one of three runners nominated from trainer Bob Baffert's barn. Cezanne and Uncle Chuck are the others.

Baffert has won the Haskell Invitational a record eight times, doing so in 2015 (American Pharoah), 2014 (Bayern), 2012 (Paynter), 2011 (Coil), 2010 (Lookin at Lucky), 2005 (Roman Ruler), 2002 (War Emblem) and 2001 (Point Given).

Opening Day for the 2020 Monmouth Park meet is set for Friday, July 3, with a 5 p.m. first post. Saturday and Sunday post times will be 12:50, with the exception of a noon start on Haskell Day.

The list of Haskell Stakes nominees (which does not include late mail):

Ancient Warrior
Attachment Rate
Authentic
Basin
Candy Tycoon
Caracaro
Celtic Striker
Cezanne
Double Crown
Dr. Post
Enforceable
Ete Indian
Fame to Famous
Farmington Road
Jesus' Team
Lebda
Max Player
Mischevious Alex
Modernist
Money Moves
Mr. Big News
Mystic Guide
NY Traffic
Pneumatic
Shivaree
Sole Volante
Soros
Summer Kid
Swiss Skydiver
Tap It To Win
Uncle Chuck
Unrighteous
Winning Impression

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Brisnet.com Triple Crown Throwdown: Ohio Derby

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN’s Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins.

DeRosa – Belmont Stakes Result – Tiz the Law (+$325) proved too good for them. Bankroll: $3540.

GIII Ohio Derby – Awesome field lined up and no brainer to fade Storm the Court as ML favorite based on this year’s form. Hopefully last year’s champion Breeders’ Cup winner takes money though. On top it’s Sprawl for me. We won’t get 15-1 or even half that, but this colt is well meant for Mott and I think Paco is a good fit. Drew well and nine furlongs shouldn’t be an issue. Selection: #6 Sprawl (15-1).

Sherack – Belmont Stakes Result – Pneumatic got the right kind of trip, but ran out of gas once the real running began. Guess that’s why he was so chilly on the board. Bankroll: $2605.

GIII Ohio Derby – Sprawl won’t be anywhere near that 15-1 ML quote, but he should still offer nice value in this wide-open race. The well-bred son of City Zip from the family of Congrats, Flatter, et al, has taken a major step forward in his last two starts for Hall of Famer Bill Mott, turning in a huge third with a wide trip in a salty optional claimer at Gulfstream, then adding a first-level allowance in dominating fashion beneath the Twin Spires. Ready for a breakthrough performance. Selection: #6 Sprawl (15-1).

DiDonato – Belmont Stakes Result – Tiz the Law was too good, but landed on the right runner-up in Dr Post (+$290). The tri and super with suggested best alternatives didn’t pay too badly either. Bankroll: $3755.

GIII Ohio Derby – It feels like a thousand years ago at this point, but I remember sitting at the OTB in Hartford, CT on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with my dad and being impressed with Soros‘s win in the Smooth Air S. There were some other nice colts on that card, as Sole Volante and King Guillermo finished first and third, respectively, on the grass one race earlier. Eclipse bought into Soros off of that effort, but he finished off the board in his next two outings, including a sixth-place run last time in the Unbridled S. behind Dr Post. Pretty much everyone to run back from that race came back faster, so maybe that effort was stronger than it looks on paper, and he probably doesn’t want to be up on the pace like he was that day. This is a pretty aggressive spot considering his recent form, so he must be training well. He should get a set-up, and figures to appreciate the distance–his sire excelled at nine furlongs and farther. This is definitely a good spot to go longshot hunting. Selection: #11 Soros (15-1).

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NYRA Partners With Churchill, Thistledown For Cross Country Pick 5 On Saturday

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will partner with Churchill Downs and Thistledown to host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday, June 27.

The wager, featuring all graded stakes races across the three tracks, will have live coverage of all the races in the sequence available with America's Day at the Races on Fox Sports and MSG+.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Thistledown, located in North Randall, Ohio, will kick off the sequence with the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby. The Buckeye State's premier race will be a Kentucky Derby prep race for the first time with the “Run for the Roses” being moved to September due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Carded as Race 8 at 4:22 p.m. Eastern, the Ohio Derby will award 20-8-4-2 qualifying points to the top-four finishers. Among the contenders is Storm the Court, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November who is winless in three starts this year, though he did finish third in the Grade 2 San Felipe in March at Santa Anita. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will enter a pair of contenders in Rowdy Yates and Code Runner, who ran eighth in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby before defeating allowance company earlier this month at Lone Star.

Action will shift to Belmont Park for the second leg, with the Grade 2, $150,000 True North for 4-year-olds and up in Race 9 at 5:36 p.m. Grade 1-winner Promises Fulfilled returns off a more than eight month layoff as part of an eight-horse field that also includes Yorkton, a multiple graded-stakes winner on synthetic, who is seeking his first win on the main track.

For the Pick 5's third race, Churchill will take its star turn with the Grade 2, $500,000 Stephen Foster in Race 10 at 5:47 p.m. A “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Keeneland, the Stephen Foster, for 4-year-olds and up contesting at 1 1/8 miles, will see Tom's d'Etat, a winner of three straight, including the Grade 1 Clark in November over the same track, breaking from post 5 for trainer Al Stall, Jr. Other contenders include By My Standards, the winner of the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic and the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, and Owendale, the winner of the Blame at Churchill on May 23.

Belmont will host the fourth leg with the Grade 1, $250,000 Just a Game for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going one mile on the Widener turf in Race 10 at 6:08 p.m. Trainer Chad Brown, seeking his fourth straight win in the race, will saddle three of the seven contenders, including the top-two morning line selections in 7-5 Uni and 8-5 Newspaperofrecord, along with Regal Glory [10-1].

Defending Champion Turf Mare Uni will make her 2020 debut in the Just a Game, having not raced since taking last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita, where she became the sixth female to score a win in the race.

Newspaperofrecord arrives off a win Grade 3 Intercontinental on June 6 over the Widener turf. Other contenders include Got Stormy, Beau Recall, Valedictorian and Zofelle.

Closing out the sequence will be the Grade 3, $100,000 Regret at Churchill in Race 11 at 6:20 p.m. Two-time stakes-winning filly Micheline will be in search of her first graded stakes victory as part of a 13-horse field. Harvey's Lil Goil, winner of the Busanda in February at Aqueduct Racetrack, drew post 10.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, June 27:
Leg 1 – Thistledown, Race 8: Grade 3 Ohio Derby (4:22 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Belmont, Race 9: Grade 2 True North (5:36 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Churchill, Race 10: Grade 2 Stephen Foster (5:47 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Belmont, Race 10: Grade 1 Just a Game (6:08 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Churchill, Race 11: Grade 3 Regret (6:20 p.m.)

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