Street Sense | Horse Racing Free Tips

Patience Pays Off As Shared Sense Victorious In Oklahoma Derby

Into August, Godolphin's Racing operation and trainer Brad Cox had considered running Shared Sense in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby. When they opted out, the G3 Oklahoma Derby was chosen as the next stop for him and on Sunday, he came through for those connections at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Godolphin's top option for the Kentucky Derby for most of the year was a horse named Maxfield. When he left the Derby trail with an injury, Shared Sense became a possibility for the run for the roses the first Saturday of this month. He was a late bloomer, however, winning his first stakes race on July 8 when he took down the G3, $300,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand. While he earned 20 points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby field, he would have had to be supplemented for $45,000 if they wanted to take on Tiz the Law and Authentic. The connections opted to keep him on a different route and that's when he came to Remington Park.

“We just didn't feel like he had the turn of foot coming out of the gate that you need to be in position to run against horses like those in the Kentucky Derby,” said Blake Cox, who represented his dad, Brad Cox, at Remington Park. “We always thought he was a nice horse, but he still needed to learn some things.”

A perfect example of Shared Sense's lack of a turn of foot came after he won the Indiana Derby and was entered back in the $200,000 Ellis Park Derby on Aug. 9. If a horse doesn't have the temerity to get position out of the gate as Cox mentioned, it can be an even tougher task to beat this class of horse from the outside 12-post position. That's what he drew for the Ellis Park Derby and he left the starting gate dead last. He was behind the field down the backstretch of that race and did close, but could do no better than fifth.

That's when Blake Cox said his father, Brad, talked to Godolphin representatives and they opted out of Kentucky for Oklahoma to give him more experience.

Brad Cox, the second-leading trainer in the country behind Remington Park leading trainer Steve Asmussen, has stable earnings of more than $11 million this year. Cox became the first trainer to win the Oklahoma Derby in back-to-back years, having also scored in the 2019 edition with Owendale.

Shared Sense, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred colt by Street Sense out of the Bernardini mare Collective, was made the betting favorite at 9-5 odds, and pulled away deep in the stretch for a two-length victory over Mo Mosa (5-1) in second. Lightly raced Liam, making his first start against winners, and first stakes try, ran third at 26-1, another 2 1/2 lengths back.

A pair of horses with plenty of action on the tote board that didn't live up to the backing were Oklahoma-bred Rowdy Yates (5-1) in sixth and Dean Martini (4-1) in seventh. Rowdy Yates was trying to become only the third Oklahoma-bred to win this race but didn't have any rally into the stretch. Dean Martini pressed the pace into the stretch but backed up over the final furlong.

Jockey Richard Eramia took comfortable rein on Shared Sense down the backstretch of the 1 1/8-mile race on the main track, sitting fifth.

“I had a little hold on him and he was relaxed behind horses,” said Eramia. “I knew I had a lot of horse left and the best horse in the race.”

Eramia and Shared Sense put a head in front at the top of the lane before drawing off from their competition.

Shared Sense hit the finish line in 1:49.88 over the fast surface. The final time was well off the stakes and track record, set in 1998 by Classic Cat in 1:48. Shared Sense chased fractions set by Liam of :24.11 for the first quarter-mile, :48.96 for the half-mile, 1:13.75 for three-quarters of mile, and 1:38.14 for the mile.

Shared Sense earned $120,000 for the win, his fourth from 10 starts to go along with two seconds while boosting his overall bankroll to $447,745 lifetime. He was bred in Kentucky by the owner. Shared Sense was not the top money earner in this nine-horse field, going in, but he was coming out, proving he is learning his craft.

The complete order of finish in the Oklahoma Derby was Shared Sense, Mo Mosa, Liam, Avant Garde, Salow, Rowdy Yates, Dean Martini, Code Runner and Creative Plan.

Remington Park racing continues into a new month with a Thursday-Saturday schedule on Oct 1-3. The first race nightly is at 7:07pm-Central.

The post Patience Pays Off As Shared Sense Victorious In Oklahoma Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Undefeated Maxfield Returns To Training After Rehabbing Condylar Fracture

Godolphin's undefeated homebred Maxfield, once considered a top contender for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (Grade 1), has returned to trainer Brendan Walsh's barn at Churchill Downs after rehabbing a condylar fracture that removed him from Derby contention.

Maxfield, the Grade I-winning son of Street Sense, began light training last week at Churchill Downs after he missed about 90 days of training from a non-displaced lateral condylar fracture that he suffered June 10 at Keeneland. At the time, the Breeders' Futurity (G1) and Matt Winn (G3) winner was prepping for the July 11 Blue Grass Stakes (G2).

It's been a trying few months for Walsh whose Derby dreams were dashed when Maxfield was sidelined, but last week he lost his close friend, champion Irish jockey Patrick Smullen to pancreatic cancer. Walsh, who grew up in Ireland, spent several years alongside Smullen while working for Godolphin in Dubai.

“He's gone way too soon, unfortunately,” Walsh said on “At the Races with Steve Byk.” “He was just a great guy. I've known Patrick for well over 20 years. We met in Dubai and he'd come out during the winter to ride. When he first came to Dubai I knew he was my kind of guy – with a quiet demeanor and was easy going. We've been the best of friends since.

“He always took a great interest about what was going on over here. He loved coming over here to ride. He loved our racing. He loved the Breeders' Cup. He'd always ask about our jocks like Julien (Leparoux) and Johnny (Velazquez). He made a lot of friends over here and it was just the mark of the man of who he was. He was diagnosed a couple of years ago and the last couple of months he was very, very sick. We always talked and, on two occasions, he thought he had cancer beat. I have a text from him the other week and it was most positive text I got from him in the last couple of months. When I think about it, I think it was his way of telling people to not be upset. I think he knew his time was coming. He did some amazing things during the latter part of his life and helped raise more than $3 million for pancreatic cancer research. It was one of his proudest achievements. It was just another feather in the cap of the person he was.”

Smullen, who was a nine-time Irish champion jockey, never rode in any races for Walsh but spent vacation one winter in South Florida at Palm Meadows.

“He came over and galloped for a week one time in Palm Meadows,” Walsh said. “…He always loved it here It was on his bucket list to see the Derby. Unfortunately it didn't materialize.”

Plans for Maxfield's return to the races have not been finalized.

The post Undefeated Maxfield Returns To Training After Rehabbing Condylar Fracture appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Godolphin, Cox Elect To Bypass Kentucky Derby With Shared Sense

Godolphin's Indiana Derby winner Shared Sense has been removed from consideration for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby, reports Horse Racing Nation. The son of Street Sense was most recently fifth behind Art Collector in the Ellis Park Derby.

“I just spoke with Jimmy Bell from Godolphin, and we have elected to bypass the Kentucky Derby and take it off of our radar,” trainer Brad Cox told HRN. “He will remain in training, and we will campaign him through the fall, but we will not point for the Kentucky Derby.”

Over his nine-race career, Shared Sense has compiled a record of three wins and two seconds for earnings of $327,745.

Among the options being considered for Shared Sense include the Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Sept. 27.

Godolphin’s Shared Sense ‘Really Has Done No Wrong’ Ahead Of Ellis Park Derby

A missed break. A pace scenario that fails to materialize. An upstart contender who uncorks the race of their life.

Any of the above of scenarios can undo even the most overwhelming of favorites, which is why horsepeople often remind everyone that races are conducted on the track, not on paper. All that being said, Sunday's $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby features an entity that would need an exceptional amount of circumstances to converge to keep it from declaring victory on the day.

While Bruce Lunsford's homebred colt Art Collector looms as the dominant equine athlete in the Ellis Park Derby field, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin operation might hold the strongest collective hand for the race. In addition to standing Bernardini, sire of Art Collector, Godolphin also has their own homebred entrant in Shared Sense, a son of Darley stallion Street Sense who brings his own share of momentum into the nine-furlong test.

The Ellis Park Derby offers 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) toward the Kentucky Derby on September 5.

The same week Art Collector announced himself as a leading sophomore contender with his victory in Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on July 11, Shared Sense made his own statement as one his classmates will have to tangle with if they want to land some of the division's better races. In his first try against graded-stakes company, the bay colt captured the Grade 3 Indiana Derby by three lengths on July 8 over a field that included fellow Ellis Park Derby contender Necker Island.

When Art Collector did his thing a few days later at Keeneland, it actually made Shared Sense's victory at Indiana Grand all the more impressive as the two colts had met in an allowance-optional claiming race at Churchill Downs on June 13 with Art Collector prevailing handily by 6 ½ lengths. It will take a massive step forward for Shared Sense to close that gap this Sunday but, as the upsets which peppered the racing landscape last weekend demonstrated, there is always reason for confidence when you're armed with a contender whose form is going in the right direction.

“I think any time you open the gates, any one is liable to stub their toe or miss the break like we saw last weekend (with Tom's d'Etat in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes) where you can stumble at the gate and cost yourself everything,” said Jimmy Bell, president of Godolphin's U.S. operations. “We're going in with no illusions. Art Collector is the best horse on paper and in the flesh and I think it's his race to lose really, and only if he's not himself or certain things happen beyond their control that we're in position to take advantage of.

“I think obviously Art Collector is the overwhelming, deserving favorite. But we're going to get a pretty good measure of how Shared Sense will tackle the upper echelon of 3-year-olds. His win in the Indiana Derby was enough to give us confidence that he can step up and enter a race like the Ellis Park Derby with horses like Art Collector in it.”

Having a homebred son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense in the conversation at this point in the year was expected from the Godolphin team, only many figured it would be Grade 1 winner Maxfield as the subject matter. A condylar fracture suffered in June sent that undefeated colt to the sidelines and, while that gut punch still stings, Shared Sense has quietly stepped up as a contender to carry Sheikh Mohammed's blue silks to Louisville come September.

Trained by Brad Cox, Shared Sense broke his maiden via disqualification at Churchill Downs last November 30 and, after finishing sixth in the Smarty Jones Stakes during his seasonal bow on January 24, he captured a one-mile allowance-optional claiming test at Oaklawn Park on February 29.

A venture on turf would follow next time out with a run in the War Chant Stakes on May 23, but that experiment was shelved when Shared Sense finished sixth. His progress has been built in increments rather than dynamics, but there were always indicators that he could swim in deeper waters.

“His only real blemish could be attributed to us where we took a chance and ran him on the grass in the War Chant and he came from out of the clouds, was almost last and finished well enough,” Bell said. “So you take that race out of there and he's had a win, a second and his second was to Art Collector. So he really has done no wrong in basically his last four races.

“When he got beat down at Oaklawn Park over a muddy track in the Smarty Jones, there were some nice horses that ran that day. He's just been a horse who has done very little wrong. He's been a little unlucky, this that and the other, but the Indiana Derby was a big boost. He got a proper Beyer and a proper (Ragozin) out of that number.”

Shared Sense was not an original Triple Crown nominee and would need to be supplemented for $45,000 (plus entry fees) into the Kentucky Derby field should he make a definitive case for himself this weekend.

“It'd be a little overly speculative to be making any comments on that but…. (Art Collector) is genuinely one of the top 3-year-olds and one of the reasons we chose the Ellis Park Derby is to get a line on (Shared Sense),” Bell said. “It didn't make a lot of sense to be shipping a long ways out of here when you have an opportunity like this at Ellis Park. So I certainly think the results would speak for themselves.”

The presence of both Shared Sense and Art Collector in the Ellis Park Derby field also serves as a mini tribute the all-around prowess of Darley's 17-year-old stalwart Bernardini, the 2006 Preakness Stakes winner and 3-year-old champion.

In addition to siring 4-5 favorite Art Collector, Bernardini is also the broodmare sire of 9-2 second choice Shared Sense, who is out of the unraced mare Collective. Bernardini's rise up the ranks as a broodmare sire is particularly notable for a stallion his age as his daughters have also produced such standouts as Maxfield, 2019 Kentucky Oaks heroine Serengeti Empress, and Grade 1 winner Dunbar Road.

“I think Bernardini probably as quickly and as rapidly as any young stallion has stamped himself as being just a phenomenal broodmare sire,” Bell said. “He's shown that ability to get that top-class colt and his daughters, whether or not they are great racemares, it seems the blood is there and the production speaks for itself. It's been really amazing the success he's had as a broodmare sire as young as he is. Usually you begin to see that late in their careers but … almost as soon as those fillies are retired they start showing up as producers.”

Hence, even if Art Collector gets the better of their runner again this weekend, it will still go down as a victory for one of the industry's most successful global operations.

“I think Sheikh Mohammed takes enormous satisfaction in having a stallion making such a contribution to the breed,” Bell said. “If we by chance were to get nipped, we'd still love to keep the Bernardini connection going. If we can't do it with the broodmare sire in Shared Sense, maybe Bernie can get it done with Art Collector.”

The post Godolphin’s Shared Sense ‘Really Has Done No Wrong’ Ahead Of Ellis Park Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post