santa anita | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer Val Brinkerhoff Suffers Minor Injuries In Pre-Race Incident With Restrainedvengence

Veteran trainer Val Brinkerhoff suffered minor injuries in a pre-race incident with stable star Restrainedvengence on Saturday, reports the Daily Racing Form. The 6-year-old gelding was entered in the afternoon's G3 Thunder Road Stakes at Santa Anita Park, but was scratched after he reacted poorly to a pre-race blood draw and sent his trainer to the hospital.

Brinkerhoff, 64, said he was transported to the hospital because he takes blood thinners and doctors wanted to be sure he hadn't suffered internal bleeding. He was diagnosed with a cracked elbow, broken finger, and separated shoulder.

“I was more worried about my horse,” Brinkerhoff told drf.com. “He just don't like that needle. When he blows up, you might as well forget it.”

Report: Prat, Longtime Agent Lawson Split; Brad Pegram To Handle Book

Flavien Prat has split from agent Derek Lawson, who has represented Southern California's leading jockey since he came to the U.S. from his native France to ride full time at the end of 2014. Daily Racing Form reported the split and the fact that Prat's hiring of agent Brad Pegram has forced Drayden Van Dyke to make a change.

Pegram has represented both Van Dyke and Hall of Famer Mike Smith, but California rules restrict an agent from having more than two riders.

Van Dyke told Daily Racing Form's Steve Andersen he's “been swamped with calls already” but added that he was going to take a few days to consider options, including relocating to another circuit.

The change will take place effective Feb. 26, according to the report.

Prat did not give a reason for the move, telling Andersen, “I felt like it was time to make a change.”

The 28-year-old Prat has won numerous Southern California riding titles while working with Lawson. He is currently fourth behind Juan Hernandez, Umberto Rispoli and Joel Rosario in the Santa Anita jockey standings, with 19 wins from 113 mounts, a 17% winning percentage. Van Dyke is 5-for-49.

Now in his seventh year riding full time in Southern California, Prat has compiled 987 victories from 4,921 mounts with his horses earning over $76 million. He won the 2019 Kentucky Derby aboard Country House via the disqualification of Maximum Security and has won three Breeders' Cup races.

Van Dyke, a 26-year-old native of Louisville, Ky., has been riding since 2013 and has 721 career wins from 4,530 starts for mount earnings of $45.5 million. Among his 18 Grade 1 victories is a win by Stormy Liberal in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

Pegram has close ties to the Bob Baffert stable, with Smith getting many of the Hall of Fame trainer's top horses. Van Dyke has previously ridden a number of Baffert's top young prospects. Pegram is the nephew of longtime Baffert client Mike Pegram and the son of longtime agent Jim Pegram.

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Fair Maiden Out To Prove She’s No Fluke In Santa Monica

A longshot winner of the opening day Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, trainer Eoin Harty's Fair Maiden will seek to validate that victory as she heads a solid field of 12 older fillies and mares going seven furlongs in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita.

Dismissed at 20-1 in the Dec. 26 La Brea, Fair Maiden rallied for an emphatic 2 ¼ length win, as a pair of Bob Baffert fillies, Golden Principal and Merneith, ran second and third. Harty, a former assistant to Baffert, will have to again contend with those two plus yet another Baffert runner, Qahira.

Last year's winner as the 3-5 favorite, Hard Not to Love, has been winless in her last five races, all routes, and will try to rebound for John Shirreffs with the first time services of leading rider Juan Hernandez.

A 4-year-old filly by Street Sense, Godolphin, LLC's homebred Fair Maiden settled nicely when ridden for the first time by Ricky Gonzalez and she was able to exploit fast fractions of 21.80, 44.40 and 1:09.80 en route to a final clocking of 1:22.60 and a career-best 92 Beyer Speed figure. The win also provided Gonzalez, who shifted his tack from Golden Gate Fields to Southern California last year, with his first-ever Grade 1 win.

“I've been watching Ricky ride since he came down here and I think he's the next superstar,” said Harty following the La Brea. “He's brave and he puts his horse in a spot to win. I grab him every time I can because I think he's a world class rider…”

With four wins from eight career starts, Fair Maiden, along with six others, will be facing older mares for the first time.

As is seemingly always the case, Baffert holds a very strong hand on Saturday. Golden Principal, who was off at 12-1 in the La Brea, finished 1 ½ lengths clear of her stablemate Merneith while neither were any match for Fair Maiden.

Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, Golden Principal, a 4-year-old filly by Constitution, appears to be on the improve and will likely stalk the early pace with regular rider Mike Smith up.

Ridden by John Velazquez in the La Brea, Merneith will be ridden for the first time by Edwin Maldonado, who is regarded as an outstanding gate rider, making it likely that she'll blast off from the rail and try to take the field gate to wire. A 4-year-old daughter of American Pharoah, Merneith, who was off at 7-2 in the La Brea, is owned by HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud and has an overall mark of 9-3-3-2.

Quick from the blocks, Baffert's Qahira, a one length winner as the 3-2 favorite of the ungraded Kalookan Queen Stakes going 6 ½ furlongs on Jan. 10, has won five of her eight starts. With Joel Rosario back aboard, Qahira, who is owned by Baoma Corporation, has one win from two tries at seven furlongs and looms extremely dangerous as she shoots for her first graded stakes win.

Third, beaten six lengths in the Grade 3 La Canada Stakes going a mile and one sixteenth on Jan. 9, Hard Not to Love has two wins from three tries at seven furlongs, including last year's Santa Monica. Quite often temperamental as a result of the fact she races with one eye, Shirreffs is hoping Juan Hernandez can provide the Midas-touch as she gets back to sprinting for the first time since Feb. 15 of last year.

A 5-year-old Ontario-Canadian-bred mare by Hard Spun, the appropriately named Hard Not to Love is owned by Mercedes Stables, LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds, Scott Dilworth, Dorothy and David Ingordo and Steve Mooney. With an overall mark of 11-5-3-2, Hard Not to Love, who also won last year's Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at seven furlongs, has earnings of $592,980.

Lending further depth to a quality field is Richard Mandella's Amuse, who was second, beaten one length by Qahira in the Jan. 10 Kalookan Queen. A 6-year-old mare by Medaglia d'Oro, Amuse has two wins from 11 starts and seeks her first graded stakes win for owners Bass Racing, LLC, Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.

THE GRADE 2 SANTA MONICA WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

Merneith—Edwin Maldonado—120
Miss Stormy D—Tyler Baze—120
Fair Maiden—Ricardo Gonzalez—124
Hard Not to Love—Juan Hernandez—120
Qahira—Joel Rosario—120
Golden Principal—Mike Smith—120
Secret Keeper—Abel Cedillo—120
Amuse—Drayden Van Dyke—120
Proud Emma—Geovanni Franco—122
Pharoah's Heart—Jessica Pyfer—120
Biddy Duke—Umberto Rispoli—122
Bohemian Bourbon—Flavien Prat–120

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com.

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Gryder Named Vice President, Industry Relations For 1/ST Racing

1/ST Racing announced the appointment of Aaron Gryder as the company's first vice president, industry relations. Gryder will serve as a key liaison between 1/ST Racing and industry stakeholders to advance health, safety and rider reforms with a particular focus on jockey outreach, and as an ambassador for 1/ST Racing in California, Florida and Maryland to support and advance the company's mission to further develop its world-class racing operations.

Gryder, based in Florida, will report directly to Aidan Butler, chief operating officer, 1/ST Racing, and will be a media spokesperson for the company. He will also act as a primary point of contact for horsemen who are stabled at 1/ST Racing venues.

“We are excited to welcome Aaron to the 1/ST RACING team in this vital new role,” said Butler. “Aaron's depth of experience as a professional jockey and work with industry stakeholders is a perfect connection to ensure our communications and relations between tracks, stakeholders and the public is transparent, detailed and consistent. His extensive knowledge of the racetrack is incredibly valuable as we continue to elevate our safety protocols and promote 1/ST Racing.”

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to work with the forward-thinking team at 1/ST Racing to bring our sport into the future,” said Gryder. “As a jockey I conducted myself in a manner that displayed my love for the horses and respect for the great sport of horse racing. I will bring the same enthusiasm and work ethic that helped me to be successful throughout my career as a jockey to my new role.”

During a transformative time in horse racing, Gryder worked closely with 1/ST Racing to introduce and implement industry-leading health and safety protocols for horses and riders at Santa Anita Park. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked alongside Butler to bring the horse racing community at Santa Anita together to form North America's first sports bubble. This self-contained ecosystem allowed the hundreds of people who work on the backstretch, jockeys and essential racing personnel to keep the horses safe and active while protecting themselves, their livelihoods and the community.

Gryder is a highly respected retired jockey with over 4,000 race wins worldwide to his credit. He has wins in some of Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious stakes races, including the Dubai World Cup (2009) and the Breeders' Cup Marathon (2012). In addition to his decades long career as a professional athlete, Gryder has worked as an on-air analyst for ESPN, NBC Sports, Fox Sports, the TVG Network and HRTV. He has covered the worldwide broadcast of the Dubai World Cup and the Breeders' Cup and is widely regarded as an ambassador for the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.

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