santa anita | Horse Racing Free Tips

Life is Good On Track for San Felipe

China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Life is Good (Into Mischief) tuned up for an expected start in the Mar. 6 GII San Felipe S. with a five-furlong work in 1:00.80 (4/33) at Santa Anita Monday morning.

“He went extremely well,” trainer Bob Baffert said of the 3-year-old colt.

Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following a debut win at Del Mar last November, Life is Good is now two-for-two after opening his sophomore campaign with a win in the Jan. 2 GIII Sham S.

Also working Monday from the Baffert barn, Freedom Fighter (Violence) went four furlongs in :48.60 (11/66). The 3-year-old colt, a first-out victor at Del Mar last August, returned to finish second in the Feb. 6 GII San Vicente S. He is expected to make his next start in the Mar. 6 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct.

Both the San Felipe and the Gotham offer 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner, and 20, 10, five to the horses finishing second through fourth.

The Baffert-trained Gamine (Into Mischief), recently crowned Eclipse champion female sprinter, also worked Monday at Santa Anita, covering four furlongs in an easy :50.20 (48/66). The 4-year-old was most recently seen winning the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint.

In other news from Santa Anita, the Arcadia track announced Monday that it has increased the purse of the China Doll S. to be run Mar. 6 from $75,000 to $100,000. Santa Anita will also raise purses on all overnight races on that day's Big 'Cap card by $15,000 per race.

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Going Global Makes Stylish U.S. Debut In Sweet Life Stakes

In her first stateside start, Irish-bred Going Global unleashed a furious stretch rally to take Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Sweet Life Stakes at Santa Anita by a widening half length under Flavien Prat. Trained by Phil D'Amato, Going Global, who had been idle since Nov. 11 in her native Ireland, got six furlongs on turf in 1:07.68 at the Arcadia, Calif., oval.

Unhurried but in contention while about 6 ½ lengths off the lead at the half-mile pole, Going Global, in an eye-catching move, was able to save ground while full of run at the rail around the far turn, shifted into the four-path a furlong out and blew by front-running Five Pics Please in the shadow of the wire in a most impressive effort.

“I watched her last race and you could see she could run,” said Prat. “Phil talked to me this morning and said they really liked her. She's a little tough, likes to do things her way, but she was very professional.”

Purchased for $16,900 at public auction as a yearling, Going Global, who registered a 1 ¼-length win versus 13 rivals that included males on Nov. 11, had a steady series of drills on Santa Anita's inner dirt training track and paid $19.80, $9.60 and $6.60 while off at 8-1 in a field of 12 sophomore fillies.

“We were trying to point for an allowance race for the last couple weeks and it didn't come,” said D'Amato, who registered his sixth stake win of the meet. “It was one of those things. She trained well enough to where I thought she merited a chance in here. So, either run or wait a while until the allowance goes. Luckily, we were able to get Flavien here and a beautiful trip.

“I think the sky is the limit for this filly. Flavien hinted that she could definitely use some more ground, so we'll definitely look at the two turn stakes schedule here and go from there.”

Owned by Saul Gevertz, Michael Nentwig and Ray Pagano, Going Global, a filly by Mehmas out of the Invasor mare Wrood, now has two wins from five overall starts. With the winner's share of $60,000, she increased her earnings to $68,792.

Ridden by Tyler Baze, Five Pics Please set fractions of :21.65, :44.16 and :55.85 and held second by three quarters of a length over Nimbostratus. Off at 9-1, Five Pics Please paid $10.40 and $7.00.

French-bred Nimbostratus, with Joel Rosario up, paid $5.40 to show and finished 2 ½ lengths in front of 9-5 favorite Majestic Steps, who had no apparent excuses.

Note: Prat also went on to win Sunday's eighth and ninth races, giving him four on the day and 27 for the meet, putting Prat and Umberto Rispoli in a tie for the lead.

Racing resumes with an eight-race Presidents Day holiday card on Monday with a 12:30 p.m. PT first post.

The post Going Global Makes Stylish U.S. Debut In Sweet Life Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Mehmas Filly Flies Home in Sweet Life

The Phil D'Amato barn continued its hot streak with European imports in turf sprints as Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) uncorked a powerful rally to take Sunday's GIII Sweet Life S. at Santa Anita. Fourth in her best of three turf tries for Mick Halford in her native country, the bay broke through over seven furlongs of all-weather at Dundalk Nov. 11 before being acquired privately. She was let go at 8-1 in a full and competitive field despite her trainer's excellent numbers with European acquisitions, including four wins from his last four starts in the category. Finding a foothold at the fence and off the pace as Five Pics Please (Cinco Charlie) sped clear, Going Global made her move into a :44.16 half. She still had work to do as the frontrunner threatened to complete her theft, but Flavien Prat got her out in the clear with a sixteenth to race and she zoomed home to get up in the shadow of the wire. Nimbostratus (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) filled out the trifecta for some of the same owners as the winner.

Sunday, Santa Anita Park
SWEET LIFE S.-GIII, $103,500, Santa Anita, 2-14, 3yo, f, 6fT, 1:07.68, fm.
1–GOING GLOBAL (IRE), 122, f, 3, by Mehmas (Ire)
                1st Dam: Wrood, by Invasor (Arg)
                2nd Dam: Ras Shaikh, by Sheikh Albadou (GB)
                3rd Dam: Aneesati (GB), by Kris (GB)
1ST BLACK- TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. (€15,500
Ylg '19 GOFSPT). O-CYBT, Saul Gevertz, Michael Nentwig & Ray
Pagano; B-N. Hartery (IRE); T-Philip D'Amato; J-Flavien Prat.
$60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-0-0, $68,792. Werk Nick Rating:
   D+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Five Pics Please, 122, f, 3, Cinco Charlie–No Pictures Please,
by Congrats. O-Desert Sun Stables; B-Larry L. Caudill DVM (KY);
T-John W. Sadler. $20,000.
3–Nimbostratus (Fr), 122, f, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Bahama
Spirit (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). (£65,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR).
O-Altamira Racing Stable, CYBT, Marc Lantzman & Michael
Nentwig; B-Laundry Cottage Stud (FR); T-Peter Miller. $12,000.
Margins: HF, 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 8.90, 9.70, 6.40.
Also Ran: Majestic Steps (Ire), Squared Shady, I'm So Anna, Plum Sexy, Freedom Flyer, Royal Address (Ire), Magical Thought, Go Greta (GB), Pizzazz. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

“I watched her last race and you could see she could run,” Prat offered. “Phil talked to me this morning and said they really like her. She's a little tough, likes to do things her way, but she was very professional.”

“She trained very well,” said D'Amato, who won last week's Baffle S. for the boys with Earls Rock (Ire) (Fascinating Rock {Ire}) and the Clocker's Corner S. Jan. 24 with Gregorian Chant (GB) (Gregorian {Ire}) for another partnership that includes Michael Nentwig. “We were trying to point for an allowance race for the last couple weeks and it didn't come. It was just one of those things. She trained well enough to where I thought she merited a chance in here. So, either run or wait a while until the allowance goes. Luckily, we were able to get Flavien here and a beautiful trip. I think the sky is the limit for this filly.”

D'Amato added that, with Prat telling him that she should stretch out, his team would look at upcoming two-turn stakes for Going Global.

Nentwig was on hand to celebrate the win, and said: “Any time you step out and you pay a decent amount of money for a horse from Europe that you've only seen run on tape, you kind of put yourself out there and I have to kind of convince the partners that it's the right thing to do. Phil was very confident in the filly over there. I want to thank Niall [Dalton]. Without him, we wouldn't have the filly. I'm thrilled for everyone…it's a great win for the team.”

Pedigree Notes:
Tally-Ho Stud's Mehmas dominated among last year's crop of European freshman (Click for more), and is now responsible for six stakes winners (three group or graded), including G1 Newmarket Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire) and Quattroelle (Ire), winner of this venue's one-mile Blue Norther S. here on New Year's Eve. Another Mehmas filly was beaten a neck in October's Surfer Girl S. here.

Going Global is the second graded winner and fourth stakes winner out of a mare by Hall of Famer Invasor (Arg), who now stands in Uruguay after limited Stateside success.

The winner's dam Wrood, also conditioned by Halford, was a two-time winner over 10 panels of Lingfield Polytrack. The half to GSW Racer Forever (Rahy) has a 2-year-old colt by Profitable (Ire) and a yearling filly by U S Navy Flag.

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McCarthy: ‘A Lot Of Options’ For Late-Running El Camino Real Derby Winner Rombauer

It wasn't a breathtaking last-to-first stretch run ala Silky Sullivan from days of yore, or even akin to that of Zenyatta from a more recent vintage, but Rombauer's scintillating triumph in Saturday's El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., certainly stirred memories of those fairytale finishes.

The Twirling Candy colt, owned and bred in Kentucky by John and Diane Fradkin, wasn't beating a Breeders' Cup caliber field, but still stamped himself as a 3-year-old with potential at the classic mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby with his stirring victory on the synthetic Tapeta surface.

Making his 3-year-old debut, Rombauer closed from 11 ½ lengths behind at the half-mile pole in the nine-furlong El Camino Real to get up by a neck as the 6-5 favorite under Kyle Frey, going four wide into the stretch to boot.

Rombauer had shown a penchant for making up ground in each of his four previous races, always closer at the finish than he was at the head of the stretch, but he outdid himself winning the El Camino Real Derby, which earned him 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and an all-expenses paid berth to the Preakness Stakes on May 15.

“The horse is still up in San Francisco,” trainer Michael McCarthy said from his Santa Anita headquarters early Sunday morning. “We'll kind of give him a few days to get his feet underneath him and formulate a game plan the next week or two. There are a lot of options out there right now; they're all in play.”

McCarthy did have some reservations with Rombauer's chance of victory when he was still nine lengths behind entering the stretch.

“He was a little farther back than I would have liked,” McCarthy opined, “but I did not want to get hung wide into the first turn and have him run a mile and quarter in February instead of a mile and an eighth.

“The plan was always to try and save ground into the first turn, we did that and may have sacrificed a few lengths in doing so, but the horse seemed to find his stride coming through the lane.

“It was good enough to get up. I knew a mile and an eighth would not be an issue with him.”

Based at Santa Anita with a plethora of other Triple Crown hopefuls that include Life Is Good, Freedom Fighter, Medina Spirit and Concert Tour for Bob Baffert; Dream Shake for Peter Eurton; Hot Rod Charlie and The Great One for Doug O'Neill; and Roman Centurian for Simon Callaghan, Rombauer did not surprise McCarthy, who won the El Camino Real Derby in 2018 with the filly Paved.

Should Rombauer make it to the Kentucky Derby, it would be a first for McCarthy, who experienced racing's most famous race multiple times while an assistant with Todd Pletcher, but never with a horse he trained.

McCarthy has more to look forward to these days than a trek down the Triple Crown trail. The native of Youngstown, Ohio, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Feb. 1, has Independence Hall ticketed for the G1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6, multiple graded stakes winner Smooth Like Strait on course for the G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile the same day and Moraz likely for the G3 Santa Ysabel Stakes the next day, March 7.

A diligent and fastidious horseman, McCarthy resides in Altadena, in close proximity to Arcadia, home of Santa Anita. He is just 17 minutes and nine miles from the historic track as the crow flies.

As to Rombauer having a running style similar to the likes of Silky Sullivan and Zenyatta, a realistic McCarthy kept things in perspective.

“I'd be happy if I could be half as good as either of those,” he said.

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