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‘It Doesn’t Matter What Year You’re In It’: Joseph Looking Forward To Ny Traffic’s Run In Kentucky Derby

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said he was looking for a little more out of Ny Traffic in his penultimate work towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on September 5 at Churchill Downs, and the conditioner got just what he wanted when the four-time graded stakes placed son of Cross Traffic went a sharp five-eighths in 59.03 on Thursday morning over the Saratoga main track.

“He seems happy and that's the most important thing,” Joseph Jr. said. “I think that was our stiff work and it went as well as we could have wanted it to go. We just wanted him to come into a bit of urgency so the work will bring him forward and I think he got something out of it.”

Bred in the Empire State by Brian Culnan, Ny Traffic will arrive at the Kentucky Derby off runner-up finishes in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 21 at Fair Grounds, the Grade 3 Matt Winn on May 23 at Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on July 18 at Monmouth Park, where he came up a nose shy of victory to wire-to-wire winner Authentic.

Ny Traffic will have one more work at Saratoga before shipping to Churchill Downs either next Sunday or Monday.

“We're ahead of schedule. We planned it that way in case we have to change things because of the weather,” Joseph Jr. said. “Right now, the weather has rain on Thursday or Friday so he could work next week any day between Thursday or Saturday of next week.”

Joseph Jr. is still relishing the opportunity to compete in the historic event for the first time.

“Obviously we are in a strange year, but in 30-40 years when you look back, it doesn't matter what year you're in it,” Joseph Jr. said. “It's still the Derby. If we can win it this year, it won't mean any less. It will mean everything.”

Ny Traffic is fifth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 110 points, which he garnered from his three runner-up efforts as well as a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Risen Star at Fair Grounds in February.

Joseph, Jr. said he is cautiously optimistic his colt will put in a winning performance against fellow New York-bred and likely race favorite Tiz the Law.

“We definitely feel that we're taking a horse with a chance. He's an outsider, but he has a legit chance,” Joseph, Jr. said. “Sometimes you take horses there that you know have no chance, but you still hope. But we feel that we have a horse that on his best day could upset them. Tiz the Law, he's a class above everybody. His record speaks for itself and we respect him, but we hope we can beat him.”

Also working for Joseph, Jr. on Thursday morning was Math Wizard, who provided the conditioner with his first Grade 1 victory when taking last year's Pennsylvania Derby. The son of Algorithms went a half-mile in 48.71 seconds and will most likely compete in next Saturday's Grade 2 Charles Town Classic, but is possible for the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward on September 5 at Saratoga.

“Charles Town is in play, but the Woodward is on the backburner,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He worked well this morning and it would be his last work if he ends up going to Charles Town. We'll play it by ear and talk to the owner and see what they want to do.”

Two-time graded stakes winner Tonalist's Shape went five furlongs in 1:01.22 over the Saratoga main track and is likely for either the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on Friday, September 4 or the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs on the same day.

The post ‘It Doesn’t Matter What Year You’re In It’: Joseph Looking Forward To Ny Traffic’s Run In Kentucky Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features Graded Stakes From Saratoga, Del Mar

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 featuring four graded stakes overall and three Grade 1s between historic Saratoga Race Course and Del Mar on Saturday.

Live coverage will be available with Saratoga Live on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Saratoga will start the wager with a full field of juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf in Race 5 at 3:28 p.m. Eastern. The maiden contest will feature a pair of entrants for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in Lease and Thorn, while fellow Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse will send out American Diamond from the outermost post 10. Winfromwithin, trained by Todd Pletcher, will break from post 8.

The day's feature race at the Spa will comprise the second leg, as the Casse-trained Got Stormy will look to repeat in the Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave in Race 9 at 5:46 p.m. Last year, Got Stormy became the first female to win the Fourstardave, setting a track record for the one-mile inner turf course test by completing the course in 1:32 flat. This year, she drew post 4 with Tyler Gaffalione aboard as she competes against a talented field that includes Eclipse Award-winner Uni, who is one of four runners for trainer Chad Brown along with Raging Bull, Valid Point and Without Parole. Mott will send out a pair in Chewing Gum and Casa Creed. The Fourstardave is a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile in November at Keeneland.

Del Mar will feature the wager's final three races with three graded stakes, starting with the Grade 2, $200,000 Del Mar Handicap for 3-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles on the turf in Race 7 at 8 p.m. United, who ran in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf last year, will compete in a race that will offer the winner an automatic berth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf. Combatant won a Grade 1 in March when he captured the Santa Anita Handicap over the main track. The 11-horse field also features Oscar Dominguez, the Irish bred who won the 1 ½-mile Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup.

The Grade 1 action continues in the fourth leg in the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf in Race 9 at 9 p.m. Laura's Light, trained by Peter Miller, won the Grade 3 Honeymoon at the same distance. She will face an 11-horse field that includes European horses such as Miss Extra, winner of the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham in France, and the French-bred Neige Blanche, who captured the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre in her native country.

The finale will be the Grade 1, $500,000 Pacific Classic in Race 10 at 9:30 p.m. Maximum Security, who won the Eclipse Award last year as Champion 3-year-old, is 2-for-2 to start his 4-year-old campaign after winning the Saudi Cup and the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap last out. The horse who crossed the wire first in last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified and placed 17th and has won four graded stakes since the “Run for the Roses,” taking the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park, the Grade 3 Bold Ruler at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap in December at Aqueduct Racetrack. Now trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Maximum Security is one of six contenders in the 1 ¼-mile test, which includes Midcourt, Higher Power, Mirinaque, Dark Vader and Sharp Samurai.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, August 22:
Leg 1 – Saratoga, Race 5: (3:28 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Saratoga, Race 9: G1 Fourstardave (5:46 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Del Mar, Race 7: G2 Del Mar Handicap (8:00 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Del Mar, Race 9: G1 Del Mar Oaks (9:00 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Del Mar, Race 10: G1 Pacific Classic (9:30 p.m.)

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Got Stormy, Uni Will Renew Rivalry In ‘Win And You’re In’ Fourstardave

Gary Barber's Got Stormy will take on reigning Champion Turf Female Uni as she looks to defend her title in Saturday's 36th running of the Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave at Saratoga Race Course.

The one mile event over the inner turf for 3-year-olds and upward is a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” event which offers an automatic entry towards the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland on November 7.

The Fourstardave pays homage to “The Sultan of Saratoga” who was best known for winning at least one race at the Spa every year from 1987-1994 in a racing career that featured 100 starts. Trained by Leo O'Brien and owned by Richard Bomze and Bernard Connaughton, Fourstardave was a 10-time winner at Saratoga, with five of those races taking place on the turf, including two editions of the West Point and back-to-back editions of the Grade 3 Daryl's Joy in 1990-91, which is now run as the Fourstardave.

Trained by Mark Casse, Got Stormy will seek to become the first back-to-back winner of the Fourstardave since two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan scored back to back victories in 2012-13. Got Stormy put together a sensational campaign last season, included a 2 ½-length victory in the Fourstardave in which she became the race's first female winner, posting a track record time of 1:32 flat while registering a 109 Beyer Speed Figure. The daughter of 2010 Fourstardave winner Get Stormy was a hard fought second to Uni two starts later in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita before capping off her season with a win in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar.

Got Stormy will look to end a streak of four straight losses. In her most recent start, she was fourth beaten 3 ½ lengths in the Grade 3 Poker going one mile over the Widener turf at Belmont Park.

“She's training well and she's back to Saratoga, which is where she did her best running last year, so we're hoping for the best,” Casse said. “We know she likes that course, we know that she likes firm turf. She's got to come with her A game. She's the same horse, she looks great and trains great. She's just been a little bit unlucky. She ran over some good turf courses and she wants it to be really firm.”

Regular rider Tyler Gaffalione will return to the saddle as he attempts a sixth stakes win of the meet from post 4.

Eclipse Award-winner Uni, one of four runners for trainer Chad Brown along with Raging Bull, Valid Point and Without Parole, will attempt to replicate her form from last year when making her second start of 2020. Uni, who was third in last year's Fourstardave, rounded out the trifecta as the favorite in her seasonal bow under Joel Rosario in the Grade 1 Just a Game on June 27 at Belmont Park, where she finished 3 ½ lengths to stablemate Newspaperofrecord. The 6-year-old daughter of More Than Ready was named Champion Turf Female last year following victories in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile against colts at Santa Anita, where she registered a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She missed some time with a splint issue, and we stopped breezing for five or six weeks,” said Bradley Weisbord of BSW/Crow Bloodstock, who manages Uni on behalf of owners Michael Dubb, Head of Plains Partners, Robert V. LaPenta and Bethlehem Stables. “The ground might have been a little soften the Just a Game and Joel didn't think she got through it great, but she was short, and she really needed the race.”

Uni arrives at the Fourstardave off a sharp five-eighths breeze in company with multiple Grade 1 winner Newspaperofrecord over the Oklahoma training turf on Sunday morning, which she completed in 1:00.46.

“She just had her best breeze of the year last week and we weren't completely sure about this race,” Weisbord said. “We were 50-50 between the Fourstardave and the Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill, but the breeze is what gave Chad the confidence to run her, so she's sitting on go.”

A winner over six different turf courses in North America, Uni has won seven of her nine starts over the one mile distance, four of which took place against graded stakes company.

Uni boasts the highest amount of lifetime earnings in the field with $2,377,880 and will be picking up the riding services of Saratoga leading rider Jose Ortiz.

“We picked up a great rider in Jose Ortiz,” Weisbord said. “I asked him if he watched replays and he said 'I breezed her tons of times'. We're looking forward to the race.”

Peter Brant's Raging Bull and John D. Gunther and Tonya Gunther's Without Parole will square off for the third time in a row.

Winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita two starts back, Raging Bull was third in the Grade 1 Makers Mark Mile at Keeneland, where he was carried wide into the turn and finished a neck to War of Will. Second in last year's Fourstardave, the 5-year-old bay son of Dark Angel seeks his third graded stakes triumph at Saratoga having won the Grade 2 Hall of Fame and Grade 3 Saranac at the Spa during his 3-year-old campaign en route to a score in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar.

Breaking from the rail, Raging Bull will be ridden by Joel Rosario, who has ridden the horse in 12 of his 14 lifetime starts.

“I'm hoping for a better trip,” Brown said.

Without Parole, a 5-year-old bay son of Frankel, seeks his first win since winning the Group 1 St. James's Palace in June 2018 at Royal Ascot while being trained by John Gosden. Two starts back, Without Parole was a troubled third in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile where he lacked racing room down the stretch but finished third to stablemate Raging Bull. Last out, he was a closing third beaten a neck in the Grade 1 Makers Mark Mile where he went six wide into the stretch and made a late bid to be beaten a neck. Without Parole made his North American debut last November when finishing third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile to Uni and Got Stormy.

“We feel like he fits in with this group, so we're trying again and hope that he will get a better trip,” Brown said.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Without Parole from post 8.

Valid Point, owned by e Five Thoroughbred Racing, has made all of his five lifetime starts going one mile and seeks a second Grade 1 win after winning the Secretariat at Arlington Park last August. The bay son of Scat Daddy was off the board last out in the Grade 3 Poker

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano seeks a third Fourstardave win aboard Valid Point, who will leave from post 7.

“I'm hoping the turf is firm for my four horses,” Brown said. “Hopefully they can all get clean trips and have an equal chance to win the race.”

Rounding out the field are Casa Creed [post 2, Junior Alvarado], Emmaus [post 3, Jose Lezcano], Halladay [post 5, Luis Saez] and Chewing Gum [post 9, John Velazquez].

The Fourstardave is slated as Race 9 on Saturday's 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Tobys Heart Becomes First Stakes Winner for Jack Milton in Bolton Landing

Tobys Heart justified the ‘TDN Rising Star’ moniker she earned in her debut with a victory in Saratoga’s Bolton Landing S., becoming the first black-type winner for her second-crop sire (by War Front). Overcoming a troubled trip to graduate by 6 3/4 lengths in her Churchill Downs unveiling June 4, she was heavily favored at 1-2 for this step up in class. Running off the fence, the bay bided her time back in sixth as Joy’s Rocket zipped through a :22.21 zipped through an opening quarter. Swinging out four wide turning for home, Tobys Heart charged up to confront Joys Rocket in the lane and the two separated themselves from the rest of the pack. However, Joys Rocket proved no match for Tobys Heart who rolled clear to victory.

The winner’s stakes-winning dam Pick of the Pack is a daughter of GSW Cat Attack (Storm Cat) and a half-sister to GSW Great Attack (Greatness). The 19-year-old mare produce a Comissioner colt in 2019 and a Commissioner filly Apr. 15 of this year. She was bred back to Astern (Aus). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

BOLTON LANDING S., $85,000, Saratoga, 8-19, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.31, gd.
1–TOBYS HEART, 122, f, 2, by Jack Milton
                1st Dam: Pick of the Pack (SW, $107,450), by Lil’s Lad
                2nd Dam: Cat Attack, by Storm Cat
                3rd Dam: Harp Strings (Fr), by Luthier (Fr)
($5,500 Ylg ’19 FTKOCT; $45,000 2yo ’20 OBSMAR). 1ST BLACK
   TYPE WIN. O-Hamilton, Terry and Lynch, Brian A.; B-Trackside
Farm (KY); T-Brian A. Lynch; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $46,750. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $92,150.
2–Joy’s Rocket, 122, f, 2, Anthony’s Cross–Queenie’s Pride, by
Special Rate. ($47,000 2yo ’20 OBSMAR). O-Team Hanley;
B-Weston Thoroughbreds Training & Sales (FL); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $17,000.
3–Amanzi Yimpilo (Ire), 122, f, 2, No Nay Never–Honourably
(Ire), by Galileo (Ire). ($300,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-Moulton,
Susan, Detampel, Marc and CJ Thoroughbreds; B-Longueville
Bloodstock &Matrix Bloodstock (IRE); T-Wesley Ward. $10,200.
Margins: 1 1/4, 2 1/4, 1HF. Odds: 0.55, 7.10, 6.40.
Also Ran: Mischievous Dream, Quinoa Tifah, Sweet Souper Sweet, Hara, Sassy Hannah. Scratched: Stylish Rags, Sunny Isle Beach.

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