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Trio Of Turf Sprints Highlight Friday’s Stronach 5 Wager

Races from Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields, including three turf sprints, will highlight Friday's Stronach 5.

The popular wager with an industry-low 12-percent takeout will begin with Gulfstream's seventh race at 4:15 ET.

A dozen 4-year-olds and up have entered the five-furlong turf sprint for claimers to kick off the Stronach 5. Raymond Murphy's French Reef, the 3-1 favorite, enters off a troubled trip last time out for trainer Rohan Crichton. Ron Paolucci Racing, LLC's Going for Gold draws the 12 post and drops from allowance company.

Laurel's ninth race will serve as the second leg of the Stronach 5. A claiming event at 6 ½ furlongs for non-winner of three lifetime has a 2-1 favorite in Pascal Chant for Dale Capuano and a 5-2 choice in Extra Medium for leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez.

Santa Anita's third race, the third leg of the sequence, is a wide-open, $50,000 maiden claiming event for 3-year-olds at five furlongs on the turf. The morning-line favorites are Amanofmystature (5-2), Cross Indian (7-2) and Soulong (4-1). Peter Miller trains Amanofmystature, a gelded son of Into Mischief, and Soulong, a son of Perfect Soul. Cross Indian returns from a seven-month layoff after finishing second by a nose in maiden special weight company at Del Mar.

Golden Gate's third race, a maiden special weight event for California-bred 3-year-olds, will serve as the fourth leg of the sequence. The mile event has a 2-1 favorite in Tribal Nation, coming off two second-place finishes at Golden Gate and Los Alamitos.

The Stronach 5 wraps up at Gulfstream with a five-furlong turf event for 3-year-olds with a $25,000 maiden tag. It's a wide-open finale with Supplication a 3-1 favorite dropping in company for trainer Mark Casse. George Weaver will saddle a first-time starter in Gael Power, a son of Soldat to be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione. Leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. has been named on 6-1 shot Congrats Again for trainer Michael Yates.

Friday's races and sequence

· Leg One – Gulfstream Park 7th Race: (12 entries, 5 furlongs turf) 4:15 ET, 1:15 PT

· Leg Two –Laurel Park 9th Race: (9 entries, 6 ½ furlongs) 4:29 ET, 1:29 PT

· Leg Three –Santa Anita Park 3rd Race: (10 entries, 6 furlongs turf) 4:35 ET, 1:35 PT

· Leg Four –Golden Gate Fields 3rd Race: (7 entries, 1 mile) 4:53 ET, 1:53 PT

· Leg Five –Gulfstream West 9th Race: (8 entries, 5 furlongs turf) 5:17 ET, 2:17 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Trio Of Turf Sprints Highlight Friday’s Stronach 5 Wager appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Over the Moon for Saturday’s Las Virgenes

With Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief) off to the breeding shed to stand alongside his superstar sire at Spendthrift Farm, how do you follow up on a 2020 season that included wins in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic?

For Michael Behrens's budding MyRacehorse microshare partnership and B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm, having a promising filly on the GI Kentucky Oaks trail is certainly a good place to begin.

Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), a visually impressive maiden winner for Hall of Famer Richard Mandella in her two-turn debut going a mile at Los Alamitos Dec. 13 (video), kicks off her sophomore campaign versus four rivals in Saturday's GIII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita. The one-mile contest offers 10-4-2-1 qualifying points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks.

“It's a tough act to follow,” MyRacehorse's Racing Operations and Owner Experience Manager Joe Mishak said. “We always want to provide the shareholders with exciting times to look forward to. You want to be on the Classic trail, and to have a filly like this, makes it exciting.”

Moonlight d'Oro first caught the eye splitting horses in deep stretch after getting outsprinted early to finish an educational second as the 3-5 chalk on debut last summer at Del Mar Aug. 2 (Second Chances). She ran well in defeat once again second out, completing the trifecta going six furlongs at Del Mar Nov. 7.

Her stalk-and-pounce, three-length maiden victory–good for a very strong 87 Beyer Speed Figure–was further flattered when distant third-place finisher that day Moraz (Empire Maker) resurfaced with a blowout maiden win of her own in Arcadia Jan. 8. Moraz re-opposes in the Las Virgenes.

“We're really excited,” Mishak said. “She definitely executed the two sprints to a route perfectly. It all came together in that third race where she was forwardly placed and was push button when Flavien [Prat] asked her on the far turn. We've had this one circled on the calendar for a while now. Obviously, we're all highly anticipating her stakes debut.”

Bred in Kentucky by Stonehaven Steadings, the $620,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase is a half-sister to the juvenile graded stakes-placed Olive Branch (Speightstown). Moonlight d'Oro's winning dam Venetian Sonata (Bernardini) is a full-sister to GSW Wilburn and SW & GSP La Appassionata and a half-sister to GSW Beethoven (Sky Mesa).

Moonlight d'Oro's worktab–highlighted by a five-furlong move in 1:00.40 (2/32) Jan. 20 and a six-furlong bullet in 1:12.60 (1/6) Jan. 27–includes some in company experience with the three-time, graded stakes-placed 6-year-old mare and 'TDN Rising Star' Amuse (Medaglia d'Oro).

“She's trained superb,” Mishak said. “Everything that Team Mandella has thrown at her, she's passed with flying colors. She's super eager in her training. He gave her a little bit of time off after that maiden win–just a few weeks to decompress and get a little breather–and she picked up right where she left off. With the eyes on the prize, hopefully, we have a long spring campaign ahead of us.”

In addition to co-owners Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing, no fewer than 5,314 shareholders were in on Authentic. The ownership experience with MyRacehorse is also designed to be an educational one, per Mishak.

“The cool thing about Moonlight d'Oro and her shareholders is that we packaged her in a group of four fillies to teach about diversification and show why that strategy is so important,” he said. “If you own one horse, and hey, it turns out to be Authentic, great. You really hit a homerun. But in all probability, you're going to run into some difficulties that come along with horse ownership. The three other fillies in the group had some minor 2-year-old hiccups and we had to send them to the farm. Moonlight's been the bright spot of the bunch and has been getting people excited, and now those other fillies are making their comebacks as well.”

Along with the continued support of the high-powered Spendthrift operation, MyRacehorse re-loaded at the yearling sales last fall, purchasing 14 head ($3.355 million total) at Keeneland September, led by a $600,000 Into Mischief colt. MyRacehorse also spread out another $850,000 on three yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton Showcase, with a $450,000 Into Mischief colt at the forefront.

MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm also campaign MGSP 4-year-old Tizamagician (Tiznow), runner-up in last weekend's GII San Pasqual S.

“We had 17 yearlings that we purchased right off the heels of Authentic and it was met with so much enthusiasm where it was sold out very quickly within the matter of days,” Mishak said. “There's still a very big appetite and demand for shares in horses and getting into ownership.”

Mishak concluded with a laugh, “I think the shareholders are literally over the moon, pun intended.”

The post Over the Moon for Saturday’s Las Virgenes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Veteran Hembree The Morning-Line Choice In Saturday’s Thunder Road

Fresh off a Grade 2 win sprinting and in the money in 26 out of 40 lifetime starts, Tom Kagele's 7-year-old Hembree heads a field of eight older horses going one mile on turf in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Thunder Road Stakes at Santa Anita.

Claimed for $62,500 out of a one turn mile win two starts back on Nov. 19 at Churchill Downs, Hembree rallied for an authoritative three quarter length score going 6 ½ furlongs on turf in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes here on Jan. 1. Trained by Peter Miller, Hembree, a two-time graded winner, is a full horse by Proud Citizen, out of the Langfuhr mare Knockatrina.

With lifetime earnings of $927,371, Hembree, who will be ridden back by Joel Rosario, is 40-8-10-8 overall, dating back to his first-out maiden win at Saratoga at age two in August of 2016.

Miller's “Avis Choice” is Sombeyay, who comes off a front-running 1 ¼ lengths allowance win on Jan. 15 as the 4-5 favorite under Flavien Prat, who appears to have opted for Border Town. Originally trained by Todd Pletcher, Sombeyay will be making his third start for Miller as he seeks his third graded stakes win. Owned by Swifty Farms, Inc., Sombeyay, a 5-year-old horse by Into Mischief, is 15-4-5-0 overall and will be ridden for the first time by Juan Hernandez.

Trained by Richard Mandella, Border Town comes off what appeared to be his best career race on Jan. 8, as he rallied from off the pace to take a one mile allowance by half a length under regular rider Prat. Owned by Ramona Bass and Perry Bass III, Border Town, a 5-year-old gelding by War Front, seeks his first graded stakes win in what will be his 12th start.

Trainer Dan Blacker's comebacking Hit the Road, who seeks his third consecutive win, lends further depth to the Thunder Road party. Idle since taking the restricted Oceanside Stakes at one mile on turf July 10 at Del Mar, Hit the Road was also a minor stakes winner going a mile on grass at Santa Anita in his third career start on Oct. 6, 2019. Owned by D K Racing, LLC and Radley Equine, Inc., Hit the Road, a 4-year-old colt by More Than Ready, would relish a fast pace to run at with regular rider Umberto Rispoli up.

THE GRADE 3 THUNDER ROAD, WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 10 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

Sombeyay—Juan Hernandez—122
Hit the Road—Umberto Rispoli—122
Restrainedvengence—Ruben Fuentes—122
Border Town—Flavien Prat—124
Campaign—Tyler Baze—122
Award Winner—Abel Cedillo—120
Bob and Jackie—Heriberto Figueroa—122
Hembree—Joel Rosario—120

Early first post time for a 10-race card on Saturday is at 12 noon. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com.

The post Veteran Hembree The Morning-Line Choice In Saturday’s Thunder Road appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Masteroffoxhounds, Acclimate Prominent In Rescheduled San Marcos

In what appears to be a wide-open affair at a mile and one quarter on turf, recent arrival Masteroffoxhounds and well-accomplished California-bred Acclimate figure prominently among six older horses in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 San Marcos Stakes at Santa Anita.

Originally scheduled to be run this past Saturday, Jan. 30, the San Marcos was moved to this Saturday to avoid heavy rains and will be contested for the 69th time.

Trained by Richard Baltas, Masteroffoxhounds, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred colt by War Front, began his career at age two in Ireland and managed one win from six starts on the Emerald Isle before making his U.S. debut on Nov. 7. A non-threatening seventh in a one mile turf allowance, Masteroffoxhounds came back win going away by 4 ¼ lengths in a 1 3/8 mile turf allowance Nov. 28.

With Joel Rosario signed on to ride for the first time, Masteroffoxhounds, who earned an 87 Beyer Speed figure on Nov. 28, cuts back in distance a sixteenth of mile and looks like a “now” commodity that's capable of taking his first graded stakes for Rockingham Ranch.

In his only start last year, Acclimate was fourth, beaten two lengths going a mile and one half on turf in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 27 at Del Mar. Subsequently favored at 9-5 versus statebreds in the Cal Cup Turf Classic at a mile and one eighth here on Jan. 16, Acclimate flattened out late to finish third, beaten 1 ½ lengths. A veteran who does his best running on the lead at marathon distances on turf, Acclimate will be making his third start off a lengthy layoff and rates a solid chance with Tyler Baze back aboard.

Owned by the Ellwood Johnston Family Trust, Timmy Time Racing and Ken Tevelde, Acclimate was bred in-part by the Johnston's Old English Rancho. A Grade 2 winner on grass, Acclimate, a 7-year-old gelding by Acclamation, out of the Boundary mare Knows No Bounds, is 20-6-2-3 with earnings of $399,872.

Although never a threat going a mile and one eighth on turf in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on Jan. 2, Cleopatra's Strike, who was claimed for $62,500 on Nov. 13, rallied to be second in last year's San Marcos and rates an upset chance in his second start for Bob Hess, Jr. as leading rider Juan Hernandez takes over for the first time.

THE GRADE 2 SAN MARCOS STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 4 of 10 Approximate post time 1:30 p.m. PT

Cleopatra's Strike—Juan Hernandez—120
Masteroffoxhounds—Joel Rosario—120
Starting Over—Drayden Van Dyke—120
Acclimate—Tyler Baze—120
Salvator Mundi—Flavien Prat—120
Oscar Dominguez—Umberto Rispoli—120

Early first post time for a 10-race card on Saturday is at 12 noon. For more information please visit Santaanita.com.

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