santa monica | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ce Ce Kicks Off Six-Year-Old Campaign in Santa Monica

Ce Ce (Elusive Quality), last seen upsetting the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar Nov. 6, returns to launch her 6-year-old campaign in Saturday's GII Santa Monica S. at Santa Anita.

The 2020 GI Apple Blossom H. and GI Beholder Mile S. heroine focused on races going around one turn during her 2021 campaign. In addition to her victory at the Championships, her season also included strong wins in the GII Princess Rooney Invitational at Gulfstream July 3 and GIII Chillingworth S. at Santa Anita Oct. 3. She finished third, three lengths behind champion Gamine (Into Mischief) in the GI Ballerina H. at Saratoga Aug. 28.

The Bo Hirsch homebred, the 3-5 morning-line favorite for the Santa Monica, is an Eclipse finalist for champion female sprinter.

“Well, at my stage in life I want more fun than money, and as long as she wants to run, and as long as we know she wants to run, we're going to run for a while,” Hirsch said following the Breeders' Cup.

The field of five also includes: last out GI La Brea S. winner Kalypso (Brody's Cause); and this race's 2021 winner Merneith (American Pharoah), who returned from the shelf to finish second in the Kalookan Queen S. here Jan. 2.

The post Ce Ce Kicks Off Six-Year-Old Campaign in Santa Monica appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Laurel’s Winter Sprintfest: First 50-Point Derby Prep Held At Fair Grounds

The Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes headlines a six-stakes card billed as Louisiana Derby Preview Day at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Saturday and will offer a total of 85 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers with 50 points going to the winner. The $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes is also part of the card and will have 50 points to the winner up for grabs toward the Longines Kentucky Oaks.

The thirteen-race Fair Grounds card will air on TVG. In addition to racing from Fair Grounds and Santa Anita, TVG will be featuring racing from Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

Live racing from Aqueduct Racetrack, Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay Downs will also comprise Saturday's broadcast of America's Day at the Races, the national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will air from 2:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET on FS2, including four graded stakes from Fair Grounds, highlighted by the Risen Star.

Due to winter weather expected in Hot Springs, Oaklawn canceled its extended Presidents' Day weekend and is rescheduling the three graded stakes and one listed stakes. The Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes, Grade 3 Razorback Handicap, and Grade 3 Southwest Stakes will now be run Saturday, Feb. 20, and the $150,000 Dixie Belle Stakes and $150,000 Downthedustyroad Stakes will be run Sunday, Feb. 21.

Saturday, Feb. 13

2:34 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

Leinster looms as a solid favorite in Saturday's Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint on the strength of a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland last November. The Rusty Arnold trainee is set to make his 2021 debut in the five-furlong turf sprint for 4-year-olds and up. Leinster, a 6-year-old son of Majestic Warrior, finished a length behind victorious Glass Slippers and a half-length behind runner-up Wet Your Whistle in the 5 ½-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in his 2020 finale.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP021321USA6-EQB.html

3:23 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

With few remaining gaps on Hello Beautiful's resume, trainer Brittany Russell will seek to achieve a significant milestone for both herself and her stable star when they go up against seven rivals in Saturday's Barbara Fritchie. A graded win would fill an important blank on an otherwise stellar ledger for Hello Beautiful, a Maryland-bred daughter of Golden Lad that has won five career stakes and takes a three-race win streak into the richest and most prestigious event of the winter meet. Sporting a perfect 7-0 record over Laurel's main track, Hello Beautiful is three-for-four at seven furlongs including wins in the Maryland Million Nursery and Safely Kept last fall to cap her sophomore campaign.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL021321USA7-EQB.html

3:53 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 General George Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

Grade 3 winner Majestic Dunhill, exiting a pair of disappointing efforts off a career-best performance, trades the South Florida sunshine for Maryland's winter chill as he attempts to regain his winning form in the General George. Majestic Dunhill has placed in three stakes since, including the 2019 Polynesian at Laurel, and beat Share the Ride by a head to capture the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Stakes in the mud on Halloween at Belmont Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL021321USA8-EQB.html

5:16 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

Multiple graded-stakes winner Mischevious Alex is expected to be a short-priced favorite to capture Saturday's Gulfstream Park Sprint. Mischevious Alex, who is owned by Cash is King LLC and LC Racing LLC, joined trainer Saffie Joseph's stable for his 2021 campaign after a productive 3-year-old season that included victories in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream and the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Making his first start since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes last August at Saratoga, the son of Into Mischief made a sweeping move into the stretch and drew off to win by 3 ¾ lengths in a Jan. 10 optional claiming allowance race.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP021321USA11-EQB.html

5:44 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Godolphin's unbeaten homebred Maxfield, who was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2019 and the Kentucky Derby last year, starts as a prohibitive favorite in the Mineshaft at 1 1/16 miles, which should serve as a perfect launching pad for what his connections hope will finally be a season-long campaign. Trainer Brendan Walsh has had to endure some obvious disappointments with Maxfield as he's started just four times in what is now his third season of racing. The son of Street Sense captured the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity in 2019 but missed the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a minor foot injury and then got derailed off the Derby Trail last year when he came out of a June workout with a condylar fracture of his right front cannon bone.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA10-EQB.html

6:16 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Fair Grounds Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Trainer Brad Cox is hoping a return to Cajun Country will inspire a return to form for Factor This, who figures to start as a solid favorite when he looks to defend his title in Saturday's Fair Grounds Stakes over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course. Factor This started his rise to national prominence in last year's Fair Grounds for Cox, as he set the pace and posted a surprise 8-1 win. He used that score as a springboard to another local tally in the meet's turf highlight, the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial, then followed that up with wins in Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes and then the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup at Ellis Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA11-EQB.html

6:47 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

The path to the Kentucky Oaks begins in earnest Saturday at Fair Grounds when Travel Column starts as what figures to be a strong favorite in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Travel Column announced her presence in the Grade 2 Golden Rod when she was sandwiched at the start, raced last-of-9 early, then got caught in traffic entering the far turn. She couldn't get out until midstretch, then hit another gear in an instant and won going away.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA12-EQB.html

7:18 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Trainer Todd Fincher rolls into town with the undefeated Senor Buscador, who rates as an exciting newcomer in a sterling renewal of Saturday's Risen Star. Senor Buscador went from an unraced maiden in early November to a wise guy Kentucky Derby contender a little more than six weeks later, as he parlayed a 5 ½-furlong maiden win at Remington November 6 into a 5 ¾-length win in the Springboard Mile there Dec. 18. Among his chief contenders figures to be Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, who led every step of the way in the Grade 3 Lecomte on the Jan. 16 and has shown plenty of versatility in his career as well.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA13-EQB.html

7:20 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

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 Santa Monica Stakes. Dismissed at 20-1 in the 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. She will have to again contend with those two plus yet another Baffert runner, Qahira, who will be making her first Grade 1 appearance on Saturday.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA021321USA8-EQB.html

Sunday, Feb. 14

6:30 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Sweet Life Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

An impressive winner of her U.S. debut going six furlongs on turf on January 2, trainer Phil D'Amato's Majestic Steps (IRE) figures tough right back among a competitive field of 12 sophomore fillies going the same distance out of Santa Anita's turf chute in the Sweet Life Stakes. D'Amato will also be represented by another Irish-bred in the Sweet Life, Going Global (IRE), who has been idle since defeating 13 rivals in open company going seven furlongs on synthetic Nov. 11 in Ireland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA021421USA7-EQB.html

The post Weekend Lineup Presented By Laurel’s Winter Sprintfest: First 50-Point Derby Prep Held At Fair Grounds appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Fair Maiden Makes 2021 Bow in Santa Monica

Fair Maiden (Street Boss), last seen scoring a breakthrough win in the GI La Brea S. Dec. 26, makes her seasonal bow Saturday in the GII Santa Monica S. in Arcadia. Running on synthetic and turf during her five-race juvenile campaign, including a black-type score at Woodbine, the Godolphin homebred kicked off 2020 with a convincing optional claimer score in her first try on dirt at Churchill in September. Fourth to the re-opposing Merneith (American Pharoah) next out in Keeneland's Qatar Fort Springs S. Nov. 7, the chestnut rallied four wide for a decisive victory in the La Brea, finishing 2 1/4 lengths clear of Golden Principal (Constitution).

Merneith and Golden Principal make up two-thirds of the Bob Baffert contingent in this event. Merneith beat Golden Principal by 3 1/4 lengths in a six-panel optional claimer at Santa Anita Oct. 11 prior to her Keeneland victory and was third in the La Brea. In between that Oct. 11 test and the La Brea, Golden Principal captured a one-mile optional claimer at Del Mar Nov. 27. Rounding out the Baffert trio is Qahira (Cairo Prince). Run down late and forced to settle for second in the local GIII Chillingworth S. in September, the bay won the Kalookian Queen S. here last time Jan. 10.

Grade I winner Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun) looks to defend her title after taking last year's renewal of this test. The 'TDN Rising Star' has been winless since, but did place four graded events last term, most recently finishing third in the GIII La Canada S. Jan. 9.

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

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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