Tag: road to the kentucky oaks

West Omaha Adds To Oaks Points With Silverbulletday Win

Fresh off a second-place performance over course and distance in the Untapable S. Dec. 23, West Omaha managed to do one better and pick up an additional 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks Saturday with her win in the Silverbulletday S. With a total of 30 points, the homebred daughter of Gary and Mary West's young stallion West Coast now sits second behind GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify) on the 2024 Oaks leaderboard.

Never favored in any of her three prior starts, West Omaha finally earned the nod Saturday, breaking at 4-5 from the middle of the gate under Luis Saez. Despite lunging to the inside in her opening stride, the favorite quickly had her feet under her and was part of the speed into the first turn. Sitting just off pacesetters Accommodate Eva (Munnings) and Miss Code West (Code West), she tracked that pair while two wide up the backstretch through a half in :48.84. Given the cue from Saez midway around the turn, West Omaha responded readily and was up to challenge three wide as the top group swung into the stretch. With plenty of clear running room ahead of her into the final furlong, she kicked clear for home, leaving Perfect Shot to chase her to the wire while staying well clear for the win.

From the extended family of GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner and late sire Tapizar (Tapit), West Omaha is the fourth stakes winner for Lane's End-based stallion West Coast and the third winner from as many to run for her dam. Birthday Bash has a 2-year-old Bernardini filly in the pipeline and produced a filly by Lookin At Lucky last year. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

SILVERBULLETDAY S. PRESENTED BY FASIG-TIPTON, $145,500, Fair Grounds, 1-20, 3yo, f, 1m 70y, 1:43.48, ft.
1–WEST OMAHA, 122, f, 3, by West Coast
                1st Dam: Birthday Bash, by Medaglia d'Oro
                2nd Dam: Twisted Tale, by Tale of the Cat
                3rd Dam: Call Now, by Wild Again
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O/B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY);
T-Brad H. Cox; J-Luis Saez. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-2-0,
$203,000.
2–Perfect Shot, 122, f, 3, Gun Runner–Meister Legend, by
Bodemeister. ($135,000 Ylg '22 KEEJAN; $285,000 Ylg '22
FTSAUG). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Whisper Hill Farm, LLC; B-Sierra
Farm (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $30,000.
3–Sistina Chapel, 122, f, 3, Liam's Map–Addae Do Jaguarete
(Brz), by Crimson Tide (Ire). O/B-Brownwood Farm (KY);
T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $15,000.
Margins: 5, 1HF, HD. Odds: 0.90, 2.00, 8.60.
Also Ran: Miss Code West, Accommodate Eva, Noriskit Nobiscuit. Scratched: Ma Rae's Girl, Play Good Pay Good.

The post West Omaha Adds To Oaks Points With Silverbulletday Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Keeneland’s 2024 Spring Stakes Schedule Features 100th Toyota Blue Grass

In addition to awarding a season record $8.1 million for their 19 stakes races over the course of the meet running from Apr. 5-26, Keeneland will also celebrate the 100th running of the $1-million GI Toyota Blue Grass S. this spring. A total of $1.5 million is being contributed to the stakes purses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF), pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

“Lucrative purses and outstanding competition make Keeneland's Spring Meet a highlight of the racing calendar for horsemen, horseplayers and fans during the first half of the year,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. “We look forward to hosting the country's best horses and their connections here in April.”

A spring fixture for 3-year-olds with an eye on the Kentucky Derby, and an informal Lexington holiday, the Blue Grass has been held at Keeneland since the track's first spring meet in April 1937 and was first sponsored by Toyota in 1996. Run on the first Saturday of the Keeneland season, the race carries a lucrative 100 points for the first Saturday in May for the winner. It leads four others on the day including the GI Madison S., the GII Appalachian S., the GII Shakertown S., and the GIII Commonwealth S.

Running on Keeneland's opening day will be the 86th rendition of the GI Central Bank Ashland S., the GIII Transylvania S., and the Lafayette S. The first named carries 100 points toward the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Early nominations for the Oaks and Derby preps are due by Feb. 17, and late nominations are due Mar. 20.

The post Keeneland’s 2024 Spring Stakes Schedule Features 100th Toyota Blue Grass appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Churchill To Host 12 Stakes Worth $3.7 Million During September Meet

A dozen stakes cumulatively worth a record $3,775,000 will be offered during the 14-day September Meet at Churchill Downs, which runs Sept. 14-Oct. 1 (pending Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund final approval).

The meet will offer horsemen plenty of opportunities to prep for the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita, led by the GII Lukas Classic for 3-year-olds and the GIII Ack Ack–a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” race for the Dirt Mile–Saturday, Sept. 30.

Additionally, the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks series will kick-off Saturday, Sept. 16 with the GIII Iroquois and GIII Pocahontas, respectively. Both races for 2-year-olds have been shortened by a half-furlong to the one turn, one-mile distance.

The condition book of scheduled races for the September Meet features 135 races and a record $15,133,000 in prize money for a daily average of $1,080,929. Maiden special weight races have a $120,000 purse while allowance races range from $127,000 to $141,000. All purses, including claiming races, include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

The post Churchill To Host 12 Stakes Worth $3.7 Million During September Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Key Of Life Just Hangs On In Beaumont

The model of consistency in her young career, Key of Life (Mo Town) turned in another gutsy performance Sunday with a coast-to-coast win in the GII Beaumont S., the final race in the 2023 Road to the Kentucky Oaks.

Never off the board in her seven prior starts, including a three-race win streak last Fall at both Churchill Downs and Keeneland, the $350,000 OBS April grad entered off a 3 1/4-length score in Oaklawn's Purple Martin S. where she posted a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure.

Bet like a sure thing at 2-5, Key of Life cruised to the early lead right from the jump despite her outside gate and cleared down just off the rail with Opus Forty Two (Mendelssohn) and Stonewall Star (Flatter) in hot pursuit a length back. Alone on the front end through swift opening fractions of :22.24 and :44.87, Key of Life hit the quarter pole looking as if the race was all but won. But further back in the field, Interpolate was coming with an eye-catching rally from fourth, circling up past both pursuers to move into second despite a wide run around the turn. With a furlong left to race and Key of Life still to catch, Interpolate kept grinding away, pulling within a neck but coming up just short as Key of Life found the wire first. With the win, Key of Life earned 10 points towards the GI Kentucky Oaks in less than three weeks time.

“She's very fast away from (the gate) and she's obviously got a lot of speed,” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “She likes Keeneland a lot. I like Keeneland and she likes Keeneland; she's three-for-three here. I'd like to congratulate (owners) Staton Flurry and Greg Hoffman (of Flurry Racing Stables and Hoffman Family Racing, respectively). This was a last-minute decision, so I want to commend those guys. I called them Tuesday and told them I was looking at this race. She was at Oaklawn, so it was a last-minute decision to bring her here and it worked out well. She had no graded black type, so that obviously was appealing. This (win) added a lot to her value and we're very proud of what she was able to accomplish today.”

Pedigree Notes:

The fourth winner from as many to make the races out of Longride to Wisdom, Key of Life traces back to MGSW and current Hill 'n' Dale stallion Kantharos (Lion Heart). She becomes the third graded-stakes winner for Mo Town whose first crop are now 3-year-olds.

Sunday, Keeneland
BEAUMONT S. PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SELECT-GII, $390,250, Keeneland, 4-16, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:27.32, ft.
1–KEY OF LIFE, 118, f, 3, by Mo Town
                1st Dam: Longride to Wisdom, by Harlan's Holiday
                2nd Dam: Clever Idea, by Matchlite
                3rd Dam: Queen of Savoy, by Conquistador Cielo
   1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($42,000 Ylg '21 OBSOCT; $350,000
2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Flurry Racing Stables LLC & Hoffman
Family Racing, LLC; B-Moreau Bloodstock International, Inc.
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $241,800. Lifetime Record:
8-5-0-3, $633,275. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Interpolate, 118, f, 3, Into Mischief–Keesha, by Tapit.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($210,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $300,000
Ylg '21 FTSAUG). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Capital Bloodstock
(KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $78,000.
3–Stonewall Star, 118, f, 3, Flatter–Jonata, by Proud Citizen.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Barry K. Schwartz; B-Stonewall
Farm (NY); T-Horacio De Paz. $29,250.
Margins: NK, 6 1/4, 3 3/4. Odds: 0.47, 4.48, 5.87.
Also Ran: She's On the Rocks, Opus Forty Two, Shoplifter, Fun and Feisty. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

 

The post Key Of Life Just Hangs On In Beaumont appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights