santa anita | Horse Racing Free Tips

Rock Your World Coast-To-Coast in Runhappy Santa Anita Derby

Hronis Racing and Talla Racing's Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) threw his hat in the ring for the GI Kentucky Derby with a front-running upset in his first try on dirt in Saturday's GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.

A debut winner sprinting on the grass at Santa Anita on New Year's Day, the $650,000 KEESEP purchase scored a decisive victory in the one-mile Pasadena S. over the local lawn Feb. 27. He prepped for this with a best-of-82 five-furlongs in :59 1/5 over the Arcadia main track Mar. 28.

Given a 5-1 chance in this step up to the big leagues, Rock Your World showed good early foot, pushing his way up between foes to seize the early advantage. The dark bay was hard-pressed by 45-1 shot Parnelli (Quality Road) with 4-5 favorite Medina Spirit (Protonico) perched on that one's outside in third through opening splits of :22.42 and :46.11. Umberto Rispoli let Rock Your World out a notch at the three-eighths pole and he readily responded, shaking free of his foes as he entered the bend. A determined Medina Spirit tried his best to reel in the pacesetter in the lane, but Rock Your World had plenty left in the tank and effortlessly rolled clear of the chalk to win for fun by 4 1/4 lengths. 'TDN Rising Star' Dream Shake (Twirling Candy) completed the trifecta.

It was the second Santa Anita Derby victory for trainer John Sadler. Coincidentally, his first also came with a son of Candy Ride, when winning the 2010 edition with Sidney's Candy.

“We have been laying in the weeds,” said Sadler, who also won Saturday's GIII Commonwealth S. at Keeneland with Flagstaff (Speightstown). “I thought it would be good to start this horse off on the turf, much like Omaha Beach (War Front), and develop. The plan was to run him a couple of times on the turf and now it was time to get the points. We gotta get the points to get to Kentucky.”

He continued, “The post [position] dictated our strategy. I saw Umberto in the paddock this morning at 8 a.m. and I told him 'Go big or go home.' We had to get out of there with the scratch inside of us. It worked out great and I'm very excited.”

Sadler and the Hronis family have campaigned the likes of champions Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) and Stellar Wind (Curlin), as well as Grade I winners Combatant (Scat Daddy), Higher Power (Medaglia d'Oro), Gift Box (Twirling Candy), Cistron (The Factor), Hard Aces (Hard Spun), Iotapa (Afleet Alex) and Lady of Shamrock (Scat Daddy).

“Things came together and thank God, John Sadler has done a great job, Juan Leva and Alex Bosano, everybody on the backside they made all this happen,” said Kosta Hronis. “They did a great job with the horse. We told Umberto to be aggressive, but if somebody was going to go let them go. But I think he just felt comfortable, it was just kind of the thing you had to come out and compete right off the bat and he did. He rode a great race, think he knew he had the horse to do it. We get to go to the Kentucky Derby, that's going to be a fun day. We're going to try to enjoy this for today. He's only had three starts, making his fourth start in his career in the Kentucky Derby, I guess we really have nothing to lose. Just go in there and enjoy it.”

Pedigree Notes:

Rock Your World is the 17th Grade I winner and 50th graded winner for the timeless Candy Ride. The Lane's End stallion is responsible for 98 black-type winners in total and also earned another graded winner as a broodmare sire earlier in the day courtesy of GIII Gazelle S. heroine Search Results (Flatter).

Juddmonte homebred Empire Maker, who died last January, continues to burnish his legacy as a sire and broodmare sire. Rock Your World is bred on the same cross as GI Frizette S. and GI Test S. heroine Separationofpowers (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GIII Hanshin Cup winner Crewman (Candy Ride {Arg}). Already one of 55 black-type winners out of a daughter of the 2003 GI Belmont S. victor, the winner is his 26th at the graded level and fifth Grade I winner as a broodmare sire.

Saturday, Santa Anita
RUNHAPPY SANTA ANITA DERBY-GI, $752,000, Santa Anita, 4-3, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:49.17, ft.
1–ROCK YOUR WORLD, 124, c, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg)
                1st Dam: Charm the Maker (MSW & MGISP, $340,290),
                                by Empire Maker
                2nd Dam: Charm the Giant (Ire), by Giant's Causeway
                3rd Dam: Olympic Charmer, by Olympio
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($650,000 Ylg
'19 KEESEP). O-Hronis Racing LLC & Talla Racing LLC; B-Ron
& Deborah McAnally (KY); T-John W. Sadler; J-Umberto Rispoli.
$450,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $546,600. *Full to She's
Our Charm, GSP, $144,598. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple
Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Medina Spirit, 124, c, 3, Protonico–Mongolian Changa, by
Brilliant Speed. ($1,000 Ylg '19 OBSWIN; $35,000 2yo '20
OBSOPN). O-Zedan Racing Stables Inc; B-Gail Rice (FL); T-Bob
Baffert. $150,000.
3–Dream Shake, 124, c, 3, Twirling Candy–Even Song, by Street
Cry (Ire). ($32,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $75,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR).
'TDN Rising Star' O-Exline-Border Racing LLC, SAF Racing &
Richard Hausman; B-Dunwoody Farm (KY); T-Peter Eurton.
$90,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, 2 1/4, 4 3/4. Odds: 5.20, 0.90, 4.50.
Also Ran: Defunded, Law Professor, Parnelli, The Great One, Back Ring Luck, Ottothelegend. Scratched: Roman Centurian. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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‘Let’s Go’: Early Move By Prat Helps Soothsay Capture Santa Anita Oaks

Flavien Prat, Santa Anita's runaway leading rider, seized the initiative aboard lightly raced Soothsay three furlongs from home and went on to a stellar half-length score over heavily favored Beautiful Gift in Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Trained by Richard Mandella, Soothsay, in her second career start, got a mile and one sixteenth in 1:44.35.

“It (the pace) was pretty slow, so I thought twice and said 'Let's go, we better go now'” said Prat in reference to his bold move heading into the far turn. “I asked her at the three furlong pole and she went so easy. She responded really well.”

A 1 ½ length maiden winner going six furlongs on Feb. 26, Soothsay was off at 4-1 in a field of four sophomore fillies and paid $10.40 and $3.60 with no show wagering.

“We expected a lot of her from the first start and from that start until now, she just grew up,” said Mandella, who notched his fourth career win in the Oaks. “You kind of see it happening. Otherwise, we wouldn't do something like this. If you watched her last workout, you could see how serious she was. We'll see about the (Kentucky) Oaks (Grade I, April 30 at Churchill Downs). We asked a lot of her to do this, so we'll make sure we pare back whatever we need.”

Owned by Claiborne Farm, Perry Bass, II, Ramona Bass and Adele Dilschneider, Soothsay is a Kentucky-bred filly by Distorted Humor out of the Bernardini mare Spellbound. With the winner's share of $240,000, she sent her earnings to the $276,600 mark.

Although Beautiful Gift was sitting a seemingly perfect second, a half length off of pacesetter Moraz with three and a half furlongs to run, Moraz drifted out a bit, enabling the winner to scoot through at the rail and from the three furlong pole, Beautiful Gift was unable to wrest control, finishing second, 5 ¼ lengths in front of Moraz.

Ridden by John Velazquez and off as the 4-5 favorite, Beautiful Gift paid $2.60 to place.

“The other horse cut the corner at the top of the stretch and I had to go pretty wide, so that was the difference between winning and losing the race right there,” said Velazquez. “The trip worked out just the way I planned it, except for the other horse getting through on the inside.”

With 170 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points at stake, Soothsay will receive 100, with 40, 20 and 10 points going to the second, third and fourth place (Javanica) finishers.

Fractions on the race were 24.34, 49.04, 1:13.18 and 1:38.08.

The post ‘Let’s Go’: Early Move By Prat Helps Soothsay Capture Santa Anita Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Going Global Fights Off Stubborn Closing Remarks In Providencia Stakes

A resolute Going Global notched her third consecutive stakes win by taking Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Providencia Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., by a neck under high-riding Flavien Prat. Trained by Phil D'Amato, the 3-year-old Irish-bred filly got a mile and one eighth on grass in 1:48.50.

Content to sit a stalking fourth down the backside as Sensible Cat set leisurely fractions, Going Global was about 2 ½ lengths off the leader at the three furlong marker, kicked into gear two-wide turning for home and outran Closing Remarks late in a game effort.

“We got bumped around at the start, but then we settled in and we found a good spot,” said Prat, who's been aboard for all three of Going Global's stateside wins. “The pace was slow, but when it was time to run, she responded really great. She keeps getting better and better. We won at six furlongs, a mile and now a mile and an eighth.”

Owned by CYBT, Michael Dubb, Saul Gervitz, Michael Nentwig and Ray Pagano, Going Global stretched out a furlong off a three-quarter-length win in the one mile China Doll Stakes March 6 and paid $3.40, $2.40 and $2.20 as the 3-5 favorite among a field of seven sophomore fillies.

“I always thought a lot of this filly's ability,” said D'Amato. “It has just kind of been one race after another to assess how far she'd go. Last time she went a mile, I went down there to watch her cool out and she was just as cool as a cucumber, she wouldn't have blown out a match. I had a good feeling that this race at a mile and an eighth was well within her reach.”

Three for three in Southern California, Going Global now has a pair of graded stakes victories and four wins from seven overall starts. With the winner's share of $60,000, she increased her earnings to $188,792.

One of two California-breds in the race, Closing Remarks ran a tremendous race at the rail through the stretch and finished 3 ¼ lengths clear of stablemate Sensible Cat. Off at 4-1 with Umberto Rispoli, Closing Remarks paid $3.40 and $2.80.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Sensible Cat, also a fellow Cal-bred, was off at 8-1 and paid $3.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 24.38, 49.00, 1:13.35 and 1:37.02.

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Distorted Humor’s Soothsay Upsets Santa Anita Oaks

Stepping up into graded company fresh off a debut maiden victory over six furlongs, SOOTHSAY (f, 3, Distorted Humor–Spellbound, by Bernardini) was given a tremendous ride by leading jockey Flavien Prat, met the late-stretch bid of favored Beautiful Gift (Medaglia d'Oro), and went on to a gutsy victory in Saturday's GII Santa Anita Oaks in Arcadia. While Beautiful Gift and Moraz (Empire Maker) took the bulk of the betting and battled up front in a rematch of the GIII Santa Ysabel S., Soothsay tracked those two from behind. The opening quarter of :24.34 and the half in :49.04 passed uneventfully until Soothsay suddenly made a bold move, catching a hole at the rail and surging through in an instant to seize the advantage. Moraz and Beautiful Gift made a line of three turning for home, but Moraz was the first beaten, leaving her two rivals to settle it. Soothsay had a half-length on Beautiful Gift three-quarters from home and held sway despite the pressure on the outside. Beautiful Gift dogged her all the way to the wire, but the less-experienced Soothsay would not be denied. Prat gave her two right-handed reminders in early stretch and vigorously hand rode her the rest of the way home to secure a half-length win. The field had been reduced to four after the Saturday morning scratch of Doug O'Neill's longshot Brilliant Cut (Speightstown).

“We expected a lot of her from the first start and from that start until now, she just grew up,” said Hall of Famer Richard Mandella. “You kind of see it happening. Otherwise, we wouldn't do something like this. If you watched her last workout, you could see how serious she was. We'll see about the [GI Kentucky] Oaks. We asked a lot of her to do this, so we'll make sure we pare back whatever we need.”

Soothsay received 100 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Oaks with the Santa Anita win.

The Santa Anita Oaks was only Soothsay's second lifetime start and her first with any distance. In a case of deja vu, Soothsay followed the hoofprints of Mandella's Paradise Woods (Union Rags), who, in 2017, broke her maiden in a sprint and went straight to victory in the Santa Anita Oaks. That filly would become a MGISW and bank over $1 million. Soothsay bulleted Feb. 19 with five furlongs in :59 2/5 (1/32), then debuted a week later with a sound win over this track at six furlongs. She got her second bullet of the year Mar. 26–six panels in 1:11 2/5 (1/8)–just over a week before the Oaks.

Pedigree Notes:

Veteran sire Distorted Humor is responsible for Soothsay and 159 other black-type winners. Soothsay marks the 28-year-old WinStar sire's 70th graded winner. While his progeny have won all three Classics and have won or placed in a number of Breeders' Cup events, he has yet to have a winner of the Kentucky Oaks. Like Distorted Humor, Soothsay's dam, Spellbound, doesn't lack quality. She won the 2014 GII La Canada S. for Mandella and is by stellar broodmare sire Bernardini, who counts Soothsay as his 48th stakes winner out of a daughter. Spellbound, a half to MGSW Kid Cruz (Lemon Drop Kid), hails from the same family as 2018 Broodmare of the Year Stage Magic (Ghostzapper) and $4.4-million yearling Shah Jehan (Mr. Prospector). She has a 2020 filly by More Than Ready and delivered a Mar. 11 colt by Street Sense.

Saturday, Santa Anita
SANTA ANITA OAKS-GII, $392,000, Santa Anita, 4-3, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.35, ft.
1–SOOTHSAY, 124, f, 3, by Distorted Humor
                1st Dam: Spellbound (GSW, $231,750), by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Layreebelle, by Tale of the Cat
                3rd Dam: Voodoo Lily, by Baldski
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Claiborne
Farm, Perry R. Bass II, Ramona S. Bass & Adele B. Dilschneider;
B-Raydelz Stable (KY); T-Richard E. Mandella; J-Flavien Prat.
$240,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $276,600.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus* Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Beautiful Gift, 124, f, 3, Medaglia d'Oro–Sea Gift, by A.P.
Indy. O/B-Baoma Corporation (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $80,000.
3–Moraz, 124, f, 3, Empire Maker–Malvinia, by A.P. Indy. O-Don
Alberto Stable; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Michael W.
McCarthy. $48,000.
Margins: HF, 5 1/4, 8HF. Odds: 4.20, 0.90, 1.90.
Also Ran: Javanica. Scratched: Brilliant Cut.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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