Coast-To-Coast Pick 5 to Support TAA

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be the beneficiary of a special charity Pick 5 wager featured on CNBC during its next stop on the 1/ST Racing Tour Saturday. The upcoming day of coast-to-coast racing features 13 stakes races including the GI Santa Anita H., as well as the GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park and the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita Park.

NBC Sports will produce and air a two-hour telecast from 4-6 p.m. (ET) on CNBC. Five of the six stakes broadcast on the show will be part of a special All-Graded Stakes 1/ST COAST-TO-COAST PICK 5. The bet is a $1 minimum with a 15% takeout.

1/ST Racing and Gaming and NBC are working together on the special charity Pick 5 bet with the winnings to be allocated to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. NBC reporters Nick Luck and Britney Eurton will team up to face off against NBC analysts Randy Moss and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey in a friendly competition. Each team will have $500 to bet on the Coast-To-Coast Pick 5 with the winnings being donated to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

1/ST Racing & Gaming will donate $1000 to Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance no matter the outcome of the wagers.

“We are proud to support the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and are always looking for ways to raise awareness and donations to support their great work. This Saturday's 1/ST Racing Tour is shaping up to be an epic day of racing. With 13 stakes races and 263 horses entered at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park, we thought we'd add to the excitement with a little help from our friends at NBC,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST Racing & Gaming.

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The Week in Review: Shift to New York a Curious Move on Prat’s Part

Flavien Prat is in the right place at the right time in Southern California. Young and gifted, he dominates the circuit in a way no jockey has in years. He picked up his 60th win of the meet Saturday, 25 more than runner-up Juan Hernandez. He won three stakes on the card, giving him 15 for the meet. And he rides for just about all the top barns on the circuit, most notably Bob Baffert.

It's far, far from broke, but Prat is intent on fixing it. On Saturday, he told Jay Privman of the Daily Racing Form that he plans to ride the Keeneland meeting in April and then will move to Belmont Park. Belmont opens Apr. 28.

Prat told Privman that he thought riding in New York would give him as better shot of a winning an Eclipse Award. He was an Eclipse finalist in 2021, but lost out to Joel Rosario.

“It feels like if you want to give yourself a chance to get an Eclipse Award that you need to go to New York,” he said. “That's just the way it is. I never thought I'd leave here, to be honest.”

It's not that Prat isn't good enough to ride in New York. Far from it. The problem for him will be that he will have to find a way to stand out in what is the most crowded jockey colony in the country. There's Jose Ortiz, Irad Ortiz Jr., Luis Saez and Rosario. John Velazquez, who has been riding in California, will be back. Umberto Rispoli has also announced that he, too, will be making the shift from California to New York.

The competition Prat will face in New York will be fierce, hardly the case in California, where the jockey colony has never been weaker. That's a big part of the reason Prat has been so successful in California…he's just a lot better than everyone else. The question is, how much has that played into his dominance there?

Prat will no doubt enjoy some success in New York. The key will be breaking into the top barns. He's won 13 races and 10 stakes for Chad Brown. He's had four winners over the years for Todd Pletcher. He won the 2019 GI Kentucky Derby via disqualification on Country House (Lookin at Lucky) for Bill Mott. That suggests that those trainers may give him a chance, but there's no way he can move into any of the top stables, push aside the regular New York riders and take over.

He will be in the top five in the standings in New York and maybe better. But there is no chance that he will dominate that circuit like he does in California. So is it better to be the fourth leading rider in New York or the No. 1 rider in California? One would think that the answer is the latter. Prat obviously disagrees.

Richard Mandella is Derby Bound

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella has not started a horse in the Kentucky Derby since 2004. He's had five runners in the Derby over all and none have finished better than fifth. Neither of which is that surprising. Mandella is one of only a few top trainers that does not put a big emphasis on winning the Derby or other 3-year-old stakes. He likes to bring horses along slowly and many of his best runners have been four or older.

But that may be about to change.

Having never raced beyond seven furlongs, Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) had some questions to answer in Saturday's 1 1/16-miles GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita. He answered them all and did so with authority, winning by 5 3/4 lengths. He may not be as talented as Life Is Good (Into Mischief), but he wins his races the same way. Forbidden Kingdom rockets out of the gate, runs away from the competition and has more than enough stamina to complete the job.

That may not be so easy to do at 1 1/4 miles, but Mandella is the perfect trainer to get the horse to relax and stretch his speed out another furlong and a half.

A win in the GI Santa Anita Derby and/or the Kentucky Derby would be huge for the sire, American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). While he's gotten off to a good start as a sire, he still hasn't had that Grade I star dirt horse to put on his resume. With Forbidden Kingdom, that may about to change.

It's Ladies Day at the Hall of Fame

The nominations for the next class of the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame came out last week and five of the six horses nominated were fillies. The sixth was a gelding.

That's something we might all have to get used to. Unless they are a gelding, you can't expect to get more than eight or nine career starts anymore out of a male horse who has the talent to be a Hall of Famer. They'll likely end their careers after their 3-year-old year and go stand at stud, not enough time to put together a career that includes enough starts and wins to be considered Hall of Fame worthy.

But most top fillies race, at least, until they are four. The two no-brainers on the Hall of Fame ballot are Beholder (Henny Hughes) and Tepin (Bernstein). Beholder ran 26 times and raced at six. Tepin raced 23 times and raced at five.

Since Curlin was inducted in 2014, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah is the only modern era, non-gelding male to get into the Hall of Fame. Whether or not a horse with a short campaign can make it into the Hall of Fame will be put to the test when Justify (Scat Daddy) becomes eligible. He raced only six times, but is, of course, a Triple Crown winner. All other Triple Crown winners are in the Hall of Fame. Justify will be eligible in 2024.

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Pharoah Colt Forbidden Kingdom Denies Baffert Trio In San Vicente; San Felipe Next

In a thoroughly dominant performance, trainer Richard Mandella's Forbidden Kingdom blasted off from the gate and never looked back en route to a 2 ¼ length victory in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, the chestnut son of American Pharoah got seven furlongs in 1:22.75 and stamped himself a candidate for the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 9.

Fresh off a troubled second place finish going seven furlongs in the G3 Bob Hope Stakes Nov. 14 at Del Mar, Forbidden Kingdom made no mistakes today from his rail post position as he carved out sizzling splits of 21.86, 44.49 and 1:09.31.

“He's as quick as they come,” said Mandella, who indicated he would stretch Forbidden Kingdom out to a mile and one sixteenth in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes here on March 5. “In his last race, he tore a piece of his foot off (after stumbling at the start) and then we had a quarter crack. We had to fix it up and it is good and we hope it stays good.

“We'll have to try two turns down the road here. He's gotten better about everything. He was so professional today, everything went well. He used to get a little antsy in the gate. He's stumbled a few times.”

With odds-on favorite Doppelganger running a disappointing fourth, Forbidden Kingdom was never at any point challenged. Off at 7-2, he paid $9.80, $4.00 and $4.40.

“He has a lot of speed and sometimes he just runs off, but today he was a little different horse,” said Hernandez, who has ridden Forbidden Kingdom in all four of his starts. “It looked like he settled down a little bit more, so that helped a lot…He was really happy and comfortable there, so I just let him run.

“I felt at the quarter pole the other horses were coming from behind, so I just tapped him on the shoulder and I felt how he responded back, he never stopped.”

Owned by MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm, LLC, Forbidden Kingdom, who is out of the Five Star Day mare Just Louise, picked up $120,000 for the win, increasing his earnings to $194,000 while notching his second win.

Bob Baffert stablemates Pinehurst and McLaren Vale ran two-three, separated by neck. Pinehurst, who sat second the entire trip, was off at 9-5 and paid $3.00 and $3.60 with Mike Smith up.

Ridden by Abel Cedillo, McLaren Vale, who sat third throughout, finished a neck clear of stablemate Doppelganger and paid $4.80 to show while off at 8-1.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Doppelganger, an impressive first-out maiden winner going six furlongs at Los Alamitos Dec. 11, never threatened for the win but hit his best stride late while finishing 20 lengths clear of longshot What in Blazes.

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Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card: Life Is Good … Getting Better

Last week's grading period came and went without a Report Card on the winners of the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes from Gulfstream Park, the G3 Southwest Stakes from Oaklawn and the listed John Battaglia Memorial Stakes from Turfway Park. The author got a little behind on his homework.

We'll review those three races from Feb. 26-27 and three big 85 point Kentucky Derby preps that were run last Saturday: the G2 Gotham Stakes from Aqueduct, G2 Tampa Bay Derby from Tampa Bay Downs and G2 San Felipe Stakes from Santa Anita. The winners of those three races assured themselves a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate on May 1.

Of the six races, I'd have to rank the San Felipe the most impactful, at least in recent history, with two of the last seven winners (Authentic in 2020 and California Chrome in 2014) having gone on to victory in the Kentucky Derby. At the other end of the spectrum is the John Battaglia Memorial which has a roster of winners that reads like a “who's that?” Strikingly more significant than the Battaglia is the Gotham, which hasn't produced a Kentucky Derby winner from among its winners since Triple Crown winner Secretariat in 1973. There have been some very good horses since then to win the Gotham, but not so much in the last decade. Let's face it: the best New York horses are still in Florida on the first Saturday in March.

Here's a quick analysis of all the points races of the past two weeks, from best to worst in terms of my grading scale, which is based on my personal eyeball test, Beyer Speed Figures received, historical significance of the race and perceived quality of field.

March 6 – San Felipe Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita

Was not that impressed with Life Is Good's G3 Sham Stakes victory on Jan. 2 when he idled down the stretch and was threatened late by Bob Baffert stablemate Medina Spirit, but the eight-length San Felipe win was something else again. The Into Mischief colt was simply too fast for his opposition, breaking from the rail under Mike Smith, controlling a quick pace (quarter miles in :23.63, :23.20, :23.72 and :24.91 before a final sixteenth in 6.72 seconds), and drawing off impressively while a bit erratic down the stretch, eventually finishing out in the middle of the track.

Life Is Good and Mike Smith winning the San Felipe Stakes by eight lengths

The San Felipe was G2 and included stakes veterans Medina Spirit, The Great One and Roman Centurian and impressive recent maiden winner Dream Shake for Peter Eurton (receiving a 96 Beyer Speed Figure on his debut).

Life Is Good received a 107 Beyer Speed Figure, up from his 101 in the Sham, and that puts him on the top of the heap at this stage of the season. Future wager players made him 2-1 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager's March pool, the lowest odds for any individual horse in the March pool since the wager was inaugurated.

Grade: A

Feb. 27 – Southwest Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn

It's hard to find fault with Brad Cox-trained Essential Quality, who ran his record to a perfect 4-for-4 while making his 2021 debut in the twice-delayed Southwest, run on a very sloppy racetrack. Breaking from the No. 1 post, jockey Luis Saez cleverly moved him to the three path into the first turn and sat just a few lengths behind quick but distance challenged Jackie's Warrior for a moderate six furlongs in 1:13.59. Saez moved the Tapit colt to the lead on the turn and it was quickly over as he drew off to a 4 ¼-length victory while demonstrating a paddling motion with his left front down the stretch.

Essential Quality rolled to his fourth consecutive win in the Southwest, his 2021 debut

Aside from the winner and Jackie's Warrior (a two-time G1 winner going one turn as a 2-year-old), the only other proven commodity in the Southwest lineup was Spielberg, the Baffert runner who won the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity by a nose over The Great One, a maiden at the time who came back to beat non-winners by 14 lengths and then was crushed by Life Is Good in the San Felipe. Essential Quality received a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, one point higher than his Breeders' Cup Juvenile victory.

Grade: A-

Feb. 27 – Fountain of Youth, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park

Not unlike Essential Quality in the Southwest, even-money favorite  Greatest Honour (also by Tapit) was chasing a fast one-turn horse, Drain the Clock, unsuccessfully trying to stretch his speed around two turns in the Fountain of Youth.

For most of the race, the Shug McGaughey runner did not look comfortable while racing in eighth and ninth in the 10-horse field. When Jose Ortiz guided him five wide to the outside on the far turn, he took off, gaining five lengths in the final furlong and drawing away to a 1 ½-length victory. He received an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, identical to the number he got while winning the Holy Bull Stakes four weeks earlier.

Greatest Honour and Jose Ortiz winning the Fountain of Youth

However, he made up ground on a horse that doesn't want to go this far, and if Greatest Honour doesn't like getting dirt in his face with a 10-horse field at Gulfstream, what's it going to be like at Churchill Downs with an expected 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby? It doesn't appear as if his connections have an option to put him closer to the lead as he has yet to show any tactical speed.

Grade: B+

March 6 – Tampa Bay Derby, 1 1/16 miles, Tampa Bay Downs

Mark Casse-trained Helium first caught my eye last fall at Woodbine when he displayed a very nice turn of foot to win the listed Display Stakes going away. That race was on the Canadian track's Tapeta synthetic surface and Helium is from the first crop of Ironicus, a Distorted Humor stallion who only won on turf during his 15-race career from ages 2 to 5. I was skeptical that he could pack the same punch on dirt.

I was also skeptical of the Tampa Bay Derby favorite, Candy Man Rocket, who was coming off a win in the G3 Sam F. Davis over the same track that I graded a C- because it looked as though the Candy Ride colt was being stretched to the limit distance wise.

Helium had shown speed in his sprint starts at Woodbine and Casse's Plan A was for jockey Jose Ferrer to put him close to the lead. That went out the window when he broke slowly and had just two horses beat for the opening quarter mile.

Helium won for the third time in three starts, taking the Tampa Bay Derby under Jose Ferrer

Ferrer kept Helium to the far outside in the run down the backstretch and around the far turn, and Casse's runner was battling for the lead with front-running Boca Boy, who'd led and then tired in the stretch in the Sam F. Davis. Helium put him away, then was quickly joined by third-place Sam F. Davis finisher Hidden Stash, who pressed Helium for the final furlongs but couldn't get past, losing by three-quarters in a nice effort.

The winner's 84 Beyer Speed Figure compared favorably to his 75 on Tapeta last October but is low among the Derby prep race winners this winter. Casse has talked about not running the horse again before the Kentucky Derby, so although Helium would enter the classic unbeaten in three starts, he'd still be a pretty big price.

Grade: C+

March 6 – Gotham Stakes, one mile, Aqueduct

Chad Brown-trained Highly Motivated was the heavy favorite here as he made his first start since winning the listed Nyquist Stakes going 6 ½ furlongs at Keeneland on the Breeders' Cup undercard Nov. 6. He bobbled at the start, then had a nightmare trip with traffic in the early stages of this one-turn mile race. Second betting choice was Freedom Fighter, coming off a second-place finish in the G2 San Vicente at Santa Anita for Bob Baffert, losing to highly touted stablemate Concert Tour by a half-length.

Freedom Fighter broke sharply and led through moderate fractions while being dogged by 46-1 longshot Weyburn, a James Jerkens-trained colt by Pioneerof the Nile ridden by Trevor McCarthy. Weyburn put the Baffert runner away inside the quarter pole then was challenged by Chad Brown's other runner, Crowded Trade, who, like Weyburn broke his maiden this winter at Aqueduct. Crowded Trade, a More Than Ready colt, put his nose in front inside the furlong pole but Weyburn fought back in the final yards to prevail by a nose.

Weyburn (inside) re-rallied in deep stretch to win the Gotham over Crowded Trade

The top two horses received a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, with Highly Motivated finishing third, 1 ¾ lengths back after a tough trip, and earning a 92 Beyer. As I wrote in the intro, the best of the New York Thoroughbred population head south to Florida for the winter and both Weyburn and Crowded Trade remained in New York. Highly Motivated trained for his debut at Payson Park in Florida and probably will accomplish more than the two who beat him.

Grade: C

Feb. 26 – John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Turfway Park

A workmanlike victory in his stakes debut gave the William Morey-trained Hush of a Storm 10 Kentucky Derby points in the Battaglia and he received an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

The Creative Cause colt didn't do anything wrong in winning the Battaglia on the synthetic Tapeta surface at the Northern Kentucky track, but there was not a lot behind him, with the exception of Gretzky the Great, who'd won the G1 Summer Stakes on turf at Woodbine last year. He'll need more points, obviously, and the only way to earn them will be on the dirt and against much stiffer competition.

Grade: C-

 

 

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