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Hot Rod Charlie Goes Without Blinkers In San Antonio

Hot Rod Charlie, who wore blinkers while finishing fourth in pursuit of victorious front-running favorite Knicks Go in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6, will race without them in Sunday's Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes, a major steppingstone to the G1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 5.

“He was a bit erratic down the lane in two races before the Classic so we figured the blinkers on would be beneficial in the Breeders' Cup, but we're removing them for the San Antonio and I think we'll know more after the race,” trainer Doug O'Neill said.

“His two races prior to the Breeders' Cup Classic resulted in wins with the blinkers off,” continued O'Neill, referring to the Haskell at Monmouth July 17 and the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Sept. 25, although he was disqualified to second in the Haskell.

A 3-year-old son of Oxbow owned by Boat Racing LLC, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing and William Strauss, the $110,000 purchase has earned more than 20 times that amount with $2,471,200, despite winning only three of his12 career starts.

“He's training well and we're excited about opening day,” said O'Neill, who has a busy Sunday with 11 scheduled starters.

“If that's not a one-day high for me, it's right up in there,” he said.

The field for the San Antonio, race six of 11 with an 11 a.m. first post time: Extra Hope, Tyler Baze, 20-1 ; Express Train, Victor Espinoza, 7-2; Go On, Mario Gutierrez, 20-1; Hot Rod Charlie, Flavien Prat, 6-5; Eight Rings, John Velazquez, 4-1; Kiss Today Goodbye, Kent Desormeaux, 5-1; and Azul Coast, Juan Hernandez, 5-1.

The post Hot Rod Charlie Goes Without Blinkers In San Antonio appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Beholder’s First Foal, Q B One, to Debut Sunday

The long wait is just about over. Q B One (Uncle Mo), the first foal out of four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder (Henny Hughes), will make his debut in Sunday's fourth race at Santa Anita, six days shy of turning four years old.

Like Beholder, he was bred by and is owned by Spendthrift Farm and is trained by Richard Mandella. Kyle Frey has been named to ride.

For now, Mandella's expectations for Q B One are rather modest.

“I wish we'd see a little more from him to get excited about,” he said. “But his works have been pretty good. I don't think we've seen anything great yet. It's time to throw him in the deep water and see what happens. He shows he might be good enough, but I'm not sure.”
Mandella is hopeful that Q B One will benefit from his debut and improve.

“I leave him a little room to improve because when it comes to his mind he's not yet 100% serious about the game yet,” he said. “I think a race will probably do him a lot of good. I think his mind is such that a race might make a man out of him, and then we can see the real deal. That's what I am hoping.”

Q B One had a five-furlong work in January and Mandella said at the time that he was just a few weeks way from making his first start.

“He had some bone bruising and needed a little time off, ” he explained. “So we had to start over.”
Mandella also trains Beholder's second foal, the 2-year-old filly Karin With an I (Curlin). She has yet to have a published workout.

“She's been fighting a virus,” he said. “She's just starting to breeze. She's a nice-looking filly. She's not too far along yet, but she does everything pretty nice.”

Beholder also has a yearling filly by War Front and a weanling filly by Bolt d'Oro. She was bred back to Curlin for 2022.
Q B One won't be the only one garnering attention in Sunday's race, as it includes a pair of pricey first-time starters from the Bob Baffert barn. Hopkins (Quality Road) was a $900,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, while Shaaz (Uncle Mo) was a $1.1-million seller at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training sale. Yet the one they might all have to beat is the $5,000 Keeneland January purchase Soy Tapatio (Not This Time). Trained by Doug O'Neill, he was third in his most recent start.

The post Beholder’s First Foal, Q B One, to Debut Sunday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Golden Hour Double, Golden Hour Pick Four Wagers Return For Golden Gate Meet

Golden Gate Fields begins the 2021/2022 Winter/Spring meet on Sunday, December 26 with an 11-race Opening Day program. *Although the first post on most race days is 12:45 PM, Sunday's card has an early first post time of 11:15 AM. 83 horses are entered to compete on Opening Day, with a pair of allowance races marked as the co-featured events on the afternoon.

Horseplayers will be happy to hear that, once again this meet, Golden Gate and Santa Anita join forces to present the Golden Hour Double and Golden Hour Pick Four wagers. The Golden Hour Pick Four combines the last two races at Santa Anita and the final two races at Golden Gate on days in which both tracks run simultaneously. The Golden Hour Pick Four is a low 15% takeout bet and a $1 minimum play. The Golden Hour Double, with a 15% takeout and $5 minimum, features the last race at Santa Anita and the nightcap at Golden Gate.

The Winter/Spring meet, which commences Sunday, Dec. 26, and runs through Sunday, June 14, 2022, is the longest of three meets that Golden Gate runs every year. 13 stakes races are spread throughout the upcoming Winter/Spring meet, including one of the most prestigious races in Northern California every year, the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby on Saturday, February 12. For 3-year-olds at one mile and an eighth on Tapeta, the El Camino Real Derby offers the winner 10 Kentucky Derby points and a free berth into the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness, at Pimlico Racecourse. Last year, El Camino Real Derby victor Rombauer took advantage of his free berth and went on to win the Preakness.

Another popular event on the docket is Gold Rush Weekend, run Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1. Considered the most significant event of the year in Northern California racing, Gold Rush Weekend features eight stakes races throughout a two-day period. A half dozen stakes are scheduled for Saturday, highlighted by the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile on turf. A pair of California-bred or sired stakes for 3-year-olds, the Silky Sullivan and the Campanile for fillies, go as the co-featured races on Sunday.

The post Golden Hour Double, Golden Hour Pick Four Wagers Return For Golden Gate Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Malibu Win Could Mean Eclipse Award for Dr. Schivel

The race for 2021 champion sprinter looks like a tossup for now between Dr. Schivel (Violence) and Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), but that could change Sunday at Santa Anita.

While Jackie's Warrior is done for the year, Dr. Schivel will try to end 2021 with a victory against brilliant 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) in the GI Runhappy Malibu S., where he could pick up his second Grade I win on the year and his third stakes win overall. Jackie's Warrior ended the year with four stakes wins, but just one, the GI Allen Jerkens Memorial S., at the highest level. The two met for the only time this year in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, where Dr. Schivel was second, losing by a nose, and Jackie's Warrior finished sixth as the 1-2 favorite.

“This is a very prestigious race,” said Dr. Schivel's trainer, Mark Glatt. “We're hopeful he does very well and that will be enough for him to earn an Eclipse Award. Obviously, if he wins it will improve his chances considerably. I am told that a lot of the voters have already cast their votes or have already made up their minds. I hope not. How much this race makes a difference to the majority of the voters is kind of hard to say.”

Though he won last year's GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity for trainer Luis Mendez, Dr. Schivel, a $37,000 RNA as a KEEJAN short yearling, was the forgotten member of the 3-year-old male division for much of the year. After a layoff of more than nine months and after being turned over to Glatt, he returned in June and won an allowance at Santa Anita. Glatt stuck to sprints and Dr. Schivel rewarded him with victories against older horses in the GI Bing Crosby S. and the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. A victory in the Breeders' Cup likely would have clinched year-end honors, but Dr. Schivel lost in what was one of the tightest photos in Breeders' Cup history.

“We got beat in the worst way possible but at least the horse showed up and ran his race, so we were pleased with that,” Glatt said. “The horse ran a heck of a race against a very good group of horses.”

In just about any other race against any other group of horses, a horse with Dr. Schivel's credentials would be the heavy favorite in a spot like the Malibu. But he will have to deal with Flightline, who, in his brief career, has shown that he could be a superstar and will likely be favored Sunday. A $1-million purchase as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, Flightline debuted in March with a 13 1/4-length win in a maiden race at Santa Anita. He didn't resurface until September, when he won a Del Mar allowance race by 12 3/4 lengths, earning a 114 Beyer figure. The 114 is tied with Baby Yoda (Prospective) for the fastest number handed out on the year. Baby Yoda will also run in the Malibu, but is winless in two tries since his big-figure race.

Glatt respects Flightline, but believes his rival has something to prove in what will be his stakes debut.

“He's certainly been very impressive, to say the least,” Glatt said. “He basically manhandled horses and has done things extremely easily against lesser competition. One could say that until he beats stakes caliber horses that he is a little bit unproven. Certainly, his connections are very high on the horse. They've been on the record saying he's America's horse. Unless you're the one trying to outrun him, he's been a fun horse to watch. But you never know how a horse is going to respond when looked in the eye by a horse who has comparable ability. He may very well pass that test with flying colors, but until he does it we don't know. Hopefully, at some point in the race Dr. Schivel will be looking him in the eye. If he's as good as his connections say he is I am sure he will be difficult to outrun. But that's why they run the race.”

Flavien Prat took off Dr. Schivel to ride Flightline. Juan Hernandez has picked up the mount for Glatt.

“That says a lot about what Flavien thinks of that horse,” Glatt said.

Prat also took off 'Rising Star' Triple Tap (Tapit), who is two-for-two lifetime and a half-brother to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). John Velazquez will be aboard for trainer Bob Baffert.

Timless Bounty (Elusive Hour), Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) and Team Merchants (Nyquist) complete the field for the seven-furlong race.

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