royal north | Horse Racing Free Tips

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host an all-graded-stakes Cross Country Pick 5, featuring action from Saratoga Race Course, Monmouth Park and Woodbine Racetrack.

Live coverage of all the races in the sequence for the first Saturday of the Saratoga summer meet will be available with America's Day at the Races on FS1 and MSG+.

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

Monmouth, located in Oceanport, New Jersey, will host the first two legs of the sequence, starting with the Grade 3, $300,000 Monmouth Cup for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles in Race 10 at 4:40 p.m. Eastern. As part of the Grade 1 Haskell undercard, the Monmouth Cup will see Joevia, the 2019 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes third-place finisher, return to the track where he broke his maiden in July 2018 and also where he captured last year's Long Branch. The Gregg Sacco trainee will be part of a 10-horse field that includes Global Campaign, the 2019 Grade 3 Peter Pan winner at Belmont Park who also ran third in last year's Grade 2 Jim Dandy for trainer Stanley Hough.

The action will continue at Monmouth for the Grade 1, $300,000 United Nations in Race 11 at 5:12 p.m. The 1 3/8-mile turf route will see Current, the third-place finisher in the Grade 2 Kitten's Joy Pan American in March, as part of a nine-horse field. Current, the Todd Pletcher trainee who captured the 2018 Grade 3 Dixiana Bourbon, will go up against a field that includes Standard Deviation, who ran third in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in November at Del Mar for conditioner Graham Motion. Standard Deviation ran second this year in Qatar in the Group 1 H.H. The Amir Trophy.

An international flavor will be added to the Cross Country Pick 5 when it shifts to Woodbine for the Grade 2, $175,000 Royal North in Race 9 at 5:28 p.m. Summer Sunday, one of two entrants for trainer Stuart Simon, will look to repeat as winner in defending her 2019 victory. Summer Sunday was named Canada's champion female sprinter in 2019 and made her 5-year-old debut by running third in the Grade 3 Whimsical on June 21 at Woodbine. Simon will also saddle Sister Peacock in the six-furlong Royal North.

The penultimate leg will be Monmouth's signature race, the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell in Race 12 at 5:48 p.m. A “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Keeneland, the Haskell will also offer qualifying points to September's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby for the first time in history. The top four-finishers will receive 100-40-20-10 points towards the “Run for the Roses,” with seven sophomores competing at 1 1/8 miles.

Authentic, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, is the 4-5 morning-line favorite after starting his year with victories in the Grade 3 Sham and the Grade 2 San Felipe before running second in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on June 6. He will face a talented seven-horse field that includes the Pletcher trained Dr Post, who ran second to Tiz the Law in last month's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. The rest of the field includes Jesus' Team, Ancient Warrior, Fame To Famous, Lebda and NY Traffic.

Historic Saratoga Race Course will conclude the sequence with the third Grade 1, offering the $350,000 Coaching Club American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies in Race 10 at 6:16 p.m. Offering 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, the Coaching Club American Oaks will see multiple graded-stakes winner Tonalist's Shape, who boasts six wins from seven starts, sent out by trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. Baffert will send out will send out Crystal Ball, who graduated last out by 6 ¼ lengths on June 14 in a 1 1/16-miles maiden at Santa Anita. Antoinette, Altaf, Velvet Crush and Paris Lights will also attempt the 1 ¼-mile test.

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, July 18:
Leg 1 – Monmouth, Race 10: Grade 3 Monmouth Park (4:40 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Monmouth, Race 11: Grade 1 United Nations (5:12 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Woodbine, Race 9: Grade 2 Royal North (5:28 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Monmouth, Race 12: Grade 1 Haskell (5:48 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Saratoga, Race 10: Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks (6:16 p.m.)

The post Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 To Feature Action From Saratoga, Monmouth, Woodbine appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Summer Sunday, one of two Stuart Simon trainees in the field, seeks to defend her crown in Saturday's co-featured Grade 2 $175,000 Royal North Stakes, at Woodbine.

Bred in Ontario by Trinity West Stables and owned by Anne and William Scott, five-year-old Summer Sunday will look to make a return to the winner's circle for the first time since her victory in the Royal North last July.

Her stablemate, multiple stakes champion Sister Peacock, will also go postward in the six-furlong turf event, part of a card that also includes the $125,000 Trillium Stakes (Grade 3, 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta) for fillies & mares, three-year-olds and up.

A daughter of Silent Name (JPN) out of the Millennium Allstar mare Dancing Allstar, Summer Sunday heads into the Royal North off a third-place effort in the six-furlong main track Whimsical (Grade 3) on June 21 at Woodbine.

Simon is hoping the bay mare, named Canada's champion female sprinter in 2019, builds off that first start of her campaign.

“I think she was pretty ready the first time,” said Simon. “She hooked a really tough horse [sprint star Jean Elizabeth]. The way the race unfolded, with nobody else going with that filly, I thought she ran a pretty adequate race for her first time this year.”

Debuting in July 2017, Summer Sunday wowed in winning a 5 1/2-furlong Tapeta race by five lengths. She then stepped up to the stakes ranks, notching victories in the Nandi and Muskoka, finishing her campaign a perfect three-for-three.

After a ninth-place finish in the Beaumont (Grade 3) at Keeneland in April 2018 to begin her three-year-old season, Summer Sunday rhymed off wins in four of her next five starts, from April 2018-July 2019.

Summer Sunday, 7-1-1 in 12 starts, closed the curtain on her 2019 season with a runner-up finish in the Seaway Stakes (Grade 3) and a fourth in the Ontario Fashion (Grade 3).

“She's coming into this race in really good shape,” noted Simon. “She seems to be herself. She didn't run badly the first time. I think she'll run that much better this time. With her turf form – she's run once and won this race last year – she should run well on Saturday. I always thought she'd like the turf, I just never had the chance to fit a race in until last year, and after the Royal North, I never had a chance to run her on it again until now.”

A four-year-old daughter of Real Solution, Sister Peacock, co-owned by Simon (along with Brent and Russell McLellan) comes into the Royal North off a sharp score on June 13 at the Toronto oval. The Kentucky-bred took a seven-furlong main track race by three-quarters-of-a-length.

The win was the fifth in 11 starts for the bay filly, who won last year's editions of the Star Shoot Stakes and William D. Graham Memorial.

Bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Sister Peacock sports a record of 1-2-2 in five turf tries.

“I think she'll run well, too,” said Simon. “She's really strong on the turf and won on it here last year. She just got beat on the turf at Saratoga [third, a neck back of winner Eyeinthesky, in the Galway Stakes] last year. She's going into the race in really good shape as well.”

Expect Summer Sunday and Sister Peacock to be prominent early.

“Both of the horses don't need the lead, but they're usually both up close. They have similar running styles that way, but they are both good, honest fillies.”

Other entrants include Gary Barber's four-year-old Eyeinthesky, and Barbara Minshall trainee Another Time (cross-entered in the Trillium), who finished second, a neck back of Elizabeth Way, in the Nassau (Grade 2) on June 27.

The Trillium Stakes has attracted eight starters, including 2019 multiple Sovereign Award finalist Amalfi Coast, graded stakes-placed Painting, who rallied impressively to finish second to Jean Elizabeth in the Whimsical (Grade 3), and Live Oak Plantation's multiple stakes winner Souper Escape.

The Royal North is scheduled as the ninth race on Saturday's 10-race program. The Trillium goes as race eight. First post is 1 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIBet.com.

$175,000 ROYAL NORTH STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Foxxy Belle – Justin Stein – Norm McKnight

2 – Bohemian Bourbon – Leo Salles – Ian Wilkes

3 – Summer Sunday – Rafael Hernandez – Stuart Simon

4 – Another Time – Jerome Lermyte – Barbara Minshall

5 – Sister Peacock – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Stuart Simon

6 – Eyeinthesky – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

7 – Gamble's Candy – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll

8 – Lady Grace – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

9 – Charmaine's Mia – Steven Bahen – Michael McDonald

$125,000 TRILLIUM STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Souper Escape – Luis Contreras – Michael McDonald

2 – Amalfi Coast – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard

3 – Art of Almost – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield

4 – Theodora B. – Patrick Husbands – Michael Dickinson

5 – Nantucket Red – Steve Bahen – Ashlee Brnjas

6 – Painting – Kazushi Kimura – Josie Carroll

7 – Another Time – Jerome Lermyte – Barbara Minshall

8 – Wings of Dawn – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse

The post Summer Sunday To Defend Her Title In Woodbine’s Royal North Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post