Tag: San Felipe

Life Is Good Moves Up To Second In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

Life Is Good was as good as advertised this past weekend when the son of Into Mischief rolled to an eight-length victory in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. As a result of that emphatic triumph, the bay colt was able to close the gap on champion Essential Quality in this week's National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll.

Making just his third career start, Life Is Good earned his second graded stakes win when he captured the San Felipe. Off the strength of that outing, the Bob Baffert-trainee earned 17 first-place votes and 360 points to move up to second on the poll just behind Essential Quality, who continues to hold down the No. 1 slot with 20 first-place votes and 369 points.

Life Is Good broke his maiden at Del Mar last November and opened his sophomore campaign with a win in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Jan. 2.

“He's still green,” Baffert told the Santa Anita Park notes team about Life Is Good. “The main thing is he came out of it really well. We saw a lot of raw talent (In the San Felipe).”

Greatest Honour, winner of the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, drops one spot to third this week with 1 first-place vote and 293 points. Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes winner Mandaloun (1 first-place vote, 240 points) remains in fourth followed by Medina Spirit (174 points), Caddo River (158), Concert Tour (123), and Keepmeinmind (87).

The Mark Casse-trained Helium, upset winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, enters the rankings in ninth place with 72 points while Risk Taking (65 points) competes the top 10.

There was no change in the top three of the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll as Grade 1 winner Charlatan continues to lead the way with 24 first-place votes and 370 points followed by two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (14 first-place votes, 343 points) and multiple Grade 1 winner Knicks Go (291 points).

Joining the top 10 fray this week is the Richard Baltas-trained Idol, who earned 175 points to rank fourth following his victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. Mystic Guide (1 first-place vote, 150 points) moves up one spot to fifth followed by champion filly Swiss Skydiver (148 points) and Grade 1 winner Maxfield (147).

Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes winner Colonel Liam (137 points) is eighth followed by champion female sprinter Gamine (78) and Jesus' Team (51).

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in the Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll concludes following the Belmont Stakes on June 5 and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through November 6.

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Dollars No Measure of Heritage–Or Potential

Life may not be especially Good, just yet–but let's hope that it's at least getting a little better, however slowly. Certainly we must trust that's true of the wider world, as science strives to stem the pandemic. For a margin of our parish going through troubles of its own, equally, no less commitment and tenacity are proving necessary to see out a long road.

Two years ago, remember, they couldn't stage the GII San Felipe S. at all after a harrowing spate of catastrophic injuries. A racetrack many of us cherish as much as any in the world has since done exemplary work in relieving what felt uncomfortably like an existential crisis. Events at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday, however, ensured that nobody in the neighborhood can be complacent.

No doubt those depressed by the outlook will meanwhile be quick to disparage the “Wild West Bonus” as just a fistful of dollars, compared to the riches tempting maturing handicap horses to a distant desert. But let's give due credit, again, to California's premier tracks for doing what they can to fight this second front against the forces of attrition.

For even if the Californian industry can overcome the zealotry of its enemies, it still faces daunting internal challenges just to maintain a viable racing population. At a time like this, then, the staging of two races dating back to Santa Anita's foundation reminds us all of what is at stake.

It goes without saying that owners of top-class Thoroughbreds can run where and when they wish. But now that Arlington Park is being touted to developers–in the view of trainer Mike Stidham, a desecration akin to selling off a National Park–we must all remember how much our sport depends on its past for its future; and our collective responsibility as the current custodians of that heritage. As such, even bystanders are absolutely entitled, however irrelevant or impertinent our opinions overall, to applaud those who understand that some things are too precious to be reduced to dollars and cents.

An extra $1 million for sweeping three historic Grade Is (Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup, and the TVG Pacific Classic) may not measure up to fabulous prizemoney in Riyadh and Dubai. But if the westerns taught us anything, it was never to despair–however hopelessly outgunned–of such resources as we do retain. Remember Pale Rider? “There's nothing like a nice piece of hickory.”

Happily, Godolphin's U.S. racetrack division is on a sufficient roll to cover all bases with two of the most exciting 4-year-olds around. Stidham sends Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) to his owner-breeder's homeland for the World Cup; while Maxfield takes his unbeaten record for Brendan Walsh out to the Big 'Cap.

Ironic that this race made its name with its purse, as “the Hundred-Grander.” Happily, there are people around today who recognize that its cumulative luster goes deeper than the mere glister of gold. Hats off to the Hronis brothers and trainer John Sadler, then, for adding three different horses to the roll of honor as 81st, 82nd and 83rd winners; and likewise, now, to the track managements that have shown pride and initiative in presenting the 84th as the first leg in a series that could bank you $1.87 million overall.

The San Felipe also goes right back to the track's beginnings but has arguably, in recent times, become a more likely race to showcase legitimate Grade I talent. If there's a top-class sophomore in California, chances are you will see him here, Authentic (Into Mischief) having last year maintained the modern resonance of a race won by the likes of California Chrome, Pioneerof The Nile, Medaglia d'Oro, Point Given, Fusaichi Pegasus, Sunday Silence and Affirmed-who came back the following year, of course, to win the Big 'Cap.

Life Is Good arrives in the hoofprints of Authentic, while I like the grounding Roman Centurian (Empire Maker) is getting before stretching out to the kind of test that will draw out his full potential. But it is the favorite's barnmate, Medina Spirit (Protonico), who threatens to become the story of the whole crop.

Because the premise on which we started–that we can't make every dream for a Thoroughbred determined by the amount of money involved–applies no less to the stakes than to the rewards.

Apart from anything else, Medina Spirit is reminding everyone that Bob Baffert's first three Kentucky Derby winners were respectively an $85,000 2-year-old, a $17,000 yearling, and a $20,000 RNA. In other words, the expensive horses we see in his care today need Baffert more than he needs them. That said, these days they do tend to fill out his shedrow. So the big surprise is that Medina Spirit managed to find lodgings there in the first place.

He actually changed hands for just $1,000 as a short yearling before being pinhooked by Christy Whitman at Ocala last July. Agent Gary Young had already spent $1.35 million on behalf of the same client, Amr Zedan, for a filly in the same ring the previous month and Princess Noor (Not This Time) proceeded to win a Grade I just a few weeks later. She had been bred by International Equities Holding, whose owner Oussama Aboughazale is a friend of Zedan from the holy city of Medina. Since Protonico had raced for Aboughazale, Zedan was curious about a colt who figures among just 17 named foals in his first crop; Young gave an encouraging report, and they landed him for $35,000.

So it was presumably his connections, first and foremost, that earned Medina Spirit a probation with Baffert's assistant Mike Marlow at Los Alamitos. Yet he kept holding his own against more expensive horses and the rest is, well, threatening to turn into history.

Medina Spirit is actually perfectly entitled to overcome the obscurity of his antecedents. Damsire Brilliant Speed, a son of Dynaformer who won the GI Blue Grass before ending up on turf, was unfortunate to be extinguished from memory by a lightning bolt aged just eight; while High Yield (Storm Cat) is not the only accomplished graduate of what is a good Rokeby family. As for Protonico, his second dam Wild Spirit (Chi) (Hussonet) was top-class in her homeland before being exported to win a Grade I for Bobby Frankel.

She's a graduate of Aboughazale's Haras Sumaya, a significant operation in Chile now complemented by an expanding Kentucky program. So this is hardly a case of David against Goliath. Nonetheless Medina Spirit reminds us that even the steepest odds can be overcome, with a nice enough piece of hickory. That's an important article of faith, in these embattled times: whether for our species, in general, or for the Californian branch of our community, in particular. If a $1,000 short yearling can become one of the Derby favorites, then we must surely persevere–through our belief, our enthusiasm and our actions–in ensuring that professionals and public alike, come 2121, will be looking forward to the 184th running of the Big 'Cap.

The post Dollars No Measure of Heritage–Or Potential appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Weekend Lineup: Three Derby Preps, Big ‘Cap

A trio of prep races for the Kentucky Derby are slated for this weekend with the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes, Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, and Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes all offering Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers on a 50-20-10-5 basis. One of racing's most prestigious races for older horses, the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, is also scheduled for March 6.

America's Day at the Races, produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, will air coverage both Saturday and Sunday showcasing live racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park, Tampa Bay Downs, Santa Anita Park and Fair Grounds.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will broadcast Saturday from 5-6 p.m. ET on FS2, while Sunday will feature coverage on FS2 from 1:30-6:30 p.m.

TVG will have live coverage of the Kentucky Derby prep races as well as the $400,000 Santa Anita Handicap. In addition to racing from Santa Anita, Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream Park, TVG will be featuring racing from Fair Grounds, Oaklawn and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

Saturday, March 6

2:18 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on TVG

The Bill Mott-trained Modernist seeks his first victory in more than a year when he breaks from the outside post in a field of five for the Challenger Stakes going 1 1/16-miles. Modernist won the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes last February but has not started since finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes last July 16.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/TAM030621USA5-EQB.html

4:02 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct on TVG

Gold Square's Wendell Fong will look to make the grade in Saturday's Tom Fool Handicap, a six-furlong sprint for older horses. Wendell Fong provided trainer Natalia Lynch – previously an assistant and exercise rider for Jeremiah Englehart – her first career win last out with a neck score in the six-furlong Fire Plug on January 16 at Laurel Park. Lynch helped prepare the 5-year-old son of Flat Out, previously trained by Englehart, for a winning career debut in December 2018 at Laurel. She was also along for the journey with Wendell Fong through a win in the 2019 Gold Fever at Belmont in a campaign that ended with a prominent fifth in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont and a tenth in the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/AQU030621USA7-EQB.html

4:25 p.m.—$225,000 Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on TVG

On Saturday, Magic Attitude (GB) will try to launch an even better 4-year-old campaign in the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes at 1 1/8-miles on the Oldsmar turf course. After trailing early, Magic Attitude took off in the stretch, sweeping to victory against her four rivals to win the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational last September. She followed that up with a strong third-place performance in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes, also for 3-year-old fillies, on October 10 at Keeneland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/TAM030621USA9-EQB.html

4:55 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs on TVG

Trainer Arnaud Delacour, who will saddle Magic Attitude in the Hillsborough, is seeking his first triumph in the Florida Oaks when he sends out Lael Stables homebred Be Sneaky. Yet to race on grass, Be Sneaky is 1-for-3, with a second-place finish at Tampa Bay Downs in the Suncoast Stakes on February 6 in her most recent start. The daughter of Into Mischief broke her maiden at Laurel Park last October.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/TAM030621USA10-EQB.html

5:07 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on FS2 and TVG

Owner Klaravich Stables and trainer Chad Brown already campaigned a winner in a Kentucky Derby qualifier in New York when Risk Taking captured the Grade 3 Withers last month. On Saturday, they will look to put another contender in the running for the first Saturday in May with stakes-winner Highly Motivated in the Gotham. Highly Motivated graduated at second asking going 6 ½ furlongs over the Belmont Park main track on September 27, where he defeated eventual two-time winner Known Agenda, who finished third in the Grade 2 Remsen in December. Last out, Highly Motivated displayed a winning effort in the Nyquist on November 6 traveling 6 1/2-furlongs at Keeneland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/AQU030621USA9-EQB.html

5:25 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on FS2 and TVG

Saturday's Tampa Bay Derby will bring together 12 3-year-olds, most with much to prove if they are to continue to advance toward a date with destiny in the Kentucky Derby. Headlining the field will be Candy Man Rocket, who won the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes on February 6. Joining Candy Man Rocket and Super Strong as a graded-stakes winner in the race is trainer Dale Romans's Sittin On Go, who won the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes last September 5 at Churchill Downs, then was a non-threatening ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on November 6 at Keeneland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/TAM030621USA11-EQB.html

5:45 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park on FS2 and TVG

Bob Baffert's lightly raced Life Is Good heads an outstanding field of seven sophomores in Saturday's San Felipe Stakes. A key prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 3, the San Felipe will be contested for the 83rd time, with Baffert bidding to win it for a record eighth time. Owned by CHC, Inc. and WinStar Farm, Life Is Good was making his second start in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes and was off as the 1-5 favorite. Although he opened up a four length advantage at the top of the lane, he narrowly held sway by three quarters of a length over stablemate Medina Spirit, who helps provide Baffert with a solid one-two punch on Saturday.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA030621USA6-EQB.html

6:10 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park on TVG

Juddmonte Farms' two-time winner Sun Path was installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies signed on to compete in the 1 1/16-miles Honeybee, which offers 85 points (50-20-10-5, respectively) to the top four finishers toward the Kentucky Oaks. Trained by two-time Kentucky Oaks-winning conditioner Brad Cox, Sun Path was an emphatic 12-length winner of a Dec. 18 allowance event at Fair Grounds. The Munnings filly attempted stakes company in the $150,000 Silverbulletday but settled for a fourth-place finish after a wide trip throughout the race.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP030621USA9-EQB.html

6:52 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

Jay Em Ess Stable's graded stakes winning Extra Hope will cut back in distance off of five consecutive routes as he heads a field of nine older horses going seven furlongs in Saturday's San Carlos Stakes. Recent seven furlong allowance winner Exaulted steps into stakes company for the first time, 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Storm the Court tries a new game, recent California-bred stakes winner Brickyard Ride, lightly raced Tigre Di Slugo and reformed claimer Loud Mouth all rate good chances in a race devoid of a dominant favorite.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA030621USA8-EQB.html

7:26 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita Park on TVG

Trainer Michael McCarthy's Smooth Like Strait heads a deep and competitive field of 10 older horses in Saturday's Frank E. Kilroe Mile. A winner of the opening day Mathis Brothers Mile on December 26, Cannon Thoroughbreds' homebred Smooth Like Strait is a head away from three consecutive graded stakes wins and merits top billing in a close call over recent lights-out Grade 3 winner Hit the Road. With a strong local contingent in place, the Kilroe has also attracted five quality eastern shippers, headed by Chad Brown's Flavius, Todd Pletcher's Social Paranoia and Mark Casse's Ride a Comet.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA030621USA9-EQB.html

8 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita Park on TVG

Goldolphin's unbeaten homebred Maxfield heads ups Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap, which has attracted a field of eight older horses. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield, a 4-year-old colt by Street Sense, rallied from far back to win the Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes by 3 ¼ lengths at Fair Grounds under Florent Geroux, who will be back aboard Saturday. A Grade 1 winner in his second start at age two in October 2019, Maxfield has three graded victories to his credit.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA030621USA10-EQB.html

Sunday, March 7

5 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita Park on FS2 and TVG

Bob Baffert's well accomplished Kalypso heads a field of five sophomore fillies in Sunday's Santa Ysabel Stakes, which offers 50 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the winner. Baffert will also be represented by Baoma Corporation's Beautiful Gift as well as Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Heels Up in a race that Baffert has won a record five times. Kalyspo, a daughter of Brody's Cause, broke her maiden going six furlongs four starts back in the ungraded Anoakia Stakes on October 18 and then showed the way prior to running second, beaten 1 ½ lengths in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos December 5.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA030721USA4-EQB.html

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Life Is Good Puts Perfect Record on the Line in San Felipe

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), the 7-1 individual favorite in Pool 3 of the GI Kentucky Derby Future Wager, will look to go three-for-three in Saturday's GII San Felipe S. The 1 1/16-miles contest offers 50-20-10-5 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

The blowout debut winner at Del Mar Nov. 22 set an uncontested pace while making his two turn-debut in the GIII Sham S. Jan. 2, and, after very confident handling beneath Mike Smith in the stretch, held a 3/4-length advantage over stablemate Medina Spirit (Protonico). The rail-drawn, 4-5 morning-line favorite tackles an additional sixteenth of a mile in the San Felipe.

Life Is Good, owned by CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm, is on the same trajectory, to this point at least, as another Bob Baffert-trained son of Into Mischief, the brilliant Authentic, who pulled off the Sham/San Felipe double in 2020 en route to a Horse of the Year campaign, which also included wins in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

The bargain $35,000 OBSOPN buy Medina Spirit, meanwhile, proved his effort in the Sham was certainly legit with a refuse-to-lose, front-running tally by a neck after taking heat through fast fractions in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Jan. 30.

“He's a good horse and I could tell that Mike was just cruising out there,” Baffert said of Life Is Good after the Sham. “It reminded me a lot of Authentic last year, when he did the same thing, and he looked like a drunk out there coming down [the stretch]. I think Mike did a great job just sort of cruising around there and it was just the kind of race we were looking for. They ran pretty fast, these are two good horses.”

'TDN Rising Star' Roman Centurian (Empire Maker) closed from last of six and made a flashy, four-wide rally on the far turn to finish a strong second in a blanket photo after bumping with a rival in the stretch in his stakes debut in the Robert B. Lewis.

“He's a very talented horse,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “I think the San Felipe will reveal a lot, but again, Roman Centurian is a very good horse. I'm happy with him and looking forward to the race.”

Dream Shake (Twirling Candy) heads straight to the deep end for trainer Peter Eurton following an eye-catching 'TDN Rising Star' debut score at 20-1–good for a 96 Beyer Speed Figure–going 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita Feb. 7. The stacked field that day included the very hyped Baffert-trained firster Bezos (Empire Maker), who never fired in seventh.

The Great One (Nyquist), second, beaten a nose as a maiden in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 19, enters off a blowout 14-length graduation for Doug O'Neill over three rivals at Santa Anita Jan. 23.

The post Life Is Good Puts Perfect Record on the Line in San Felipe appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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