Tag: sweetest chant

First Stakes Win for Life’s an Audible in Sweetest Chant

Her Todd Pletcher-trained sire was fond of Gulfstream, getting the two biggest wins of his career in the GI Florida Derby and the GII Holy Bull S. at the Hallandale oval, and now LIFE'S AN AUDIBLE (f, 3, Audible–Catkins, by Data Link) is following suit, also for Pletcher. Showing a flair for drama, Life's an Audible waited until late and made it close in victory over last-out maiden winner Style Points (Oscar Performance) in the GIII Sweetest Chant S. at Gulfstream Park Saturday. Dynamic Pricing (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) was third.

The chestnut Life's an Audible lingered second from last behind :23.59 and :47.06 early fractions while Macanga (American Pharoah) showed the way up front. Macanga didn't run out of steam until the top of the stretch, when a stalking Style Points found room on the rail. At the same time, on the turn from the back, Irad Ortiz, Jr. had woken up Life's an Audible and swung the filly to the far outside for her rally, meeting Style Points for the closing strides. Despite the latter getting the first jump, Life's an Audible at 9-5 and still several paths out wore her down to prevail by about a neck after a brief battle.

“The filly broke a little slow today,” said Ortiz. “After that, we went to Plan B and let her be her and let her relax. She did well. The mile and a sixteenth helped her today because she wasn't that close early. Last time she was finishing. Today, she got time to get there.”

Pletcher added: “I thought it was great… It seems like she's kind of found her groove just wanting to settle and make a late run. She really delivered a good turn of foot.”

With an off-the-board finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf sandwiched between a runner-up placing in the Oct. 4 GII Miss Grillo S. at Belmont at the Big A and a second last out in Gulfstream's Jan. 6 Ginger Brew S., Life's an Audible was winning her first black-type event in the Sweetest Chant. She was a $200,000 OBS March 2-year-old purchase last year by West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable, after working in :10 1/5. Ortiz has been up for all six of her lifetime starts.

The same connections–with the addition of Town and Country Racing as part of the ownership team–also took the Sweetest Chant last year with Cairo Consort (Cairo Prince).

Pedigree Notes:

Life's an Audible is the first graded winner for WinStar Farm's Audible, a son of Into Mischief, who also has three black-type winners and five additional stakes performers from his first crop to race. In addition to breaking new ground for her sire, Life's an Audible is also the first stakes winner as a broodmare sire for Data Link, a Grade I-winning son of War Front who was pensioned at Claiborne after siring five crops.

Breeder Susan Moulton bought Catkins, dam of Life's an Audible, for $100,000 at the OBS Spring 2-year-old sale in 2017, campaigned her to one win at Churchill Downs, and bred her to Audible for her first foal. The mare has since produced juvenile colt Catman Tomkins (Tom's d'Etat) and a yearling filly by Liam's Map who brought $130,000 as a Keeneland November weanling to the bid of Solano Bloodstock. She was bred to Nashville for 2024.

 

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
SWEETEST CHANT S.-GIII, $175,000, Gulfstream, 2-3, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:39.36, fm.
1–LIFE'S AN AUDIBLE, 118, f, 3, by Audible
               1st Dam: Catkins, by Data Link
               2nd Dam: Galileo's Star, by Lil E. Tee
               3rd Dam: June Gale, by Run For Nurse
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($25,000
Wlg '21 KEENOV; $90,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $200,000 2yo '23
OBSMAR). O-Repole Stable; B-Susan Moulton (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $105,245. Lifetime Record: 6-2-2-0,
$243,045. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report &
5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style
pedigree.
2–Style Points, 118, f, 3, Oscar Performance–Mystical Star, by
Ghostzapper. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
O-Cheyenne Stable LLC; B-Candy Meadows LLC (KY);
T-Christophe Clement. $33,950.
3–Dynamic Pricing (Ire), 118, f, 3, Night of Thunder (Ire)–
Shemda (Ire), by Dutch Art (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST
GRADED BLACK TYPE. (170,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT).
O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Epona Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Chad
Brown. $16,975.
Margins: NK, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 1.90, 12.30, 5.60.
Also Ran: Madame Mischief, Macanga, Pharoah's Wine, Golden Ghost (GB), Milliat (Ire).
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Busy Weekend For Derby Preps on Both Coasts

Saturday's graded stakes races stretch out from coast to coast and feature significant GI Kentucky Derby implications, but not entirely for the reasons we've come to expect. In South Florida, it is business as usual for the Derby preps while on the West Coast all things Kentucky Derby took an unprecedented turn.

On the heels of a very successful GI Pegasus World Cup weekend, Gulfstream Park offers a tremendous card with five graded races, including the 34th running of the GIII Holy Bull S. named for the Hall of Famer and 1994 Horse of the Year, who won that year's GI Florida Derby. Forty Kentucky Derby points are on the line with the winner collecting the lion's share.

Cyclone Mischief (Into Mischief) enters off a 5 3/4-length allowance romp at a mile over this surface Jan. 8. The $450,000 KEESEP yearling purchase is out of a half to GSW Suddenbreakingnews (Mineshaft) and hails from the female family of MGIW Composure (Touch Gold).

“I think he's one of the best 3-year-olds in the country, and he's training like one,” trainer Dale Romans said. “There are a lot of good horses out there, but we're in a good spot right now.”

Legacy Isle (Shackleford) would be undefeated and the only stakes winner so far of the bunch after wiring the Mucho Macho Man S. on New Year's Day, but was disqualified for bothering a rival in the lane and was placed second.

Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott entered two in the Holy Bull, Rocket Can (Into Mischief) and Shadow Dragon (Army Mule).

The GIII Claiborne Swale S. doesn't offer any Derby points and isn't considered a Derby prep, but it is named after the 1984 Derby winner and Hall of Famer who died suddenly eight days after the GI Belmont S.

The streaking Super Chow (Lord Nelson) drew the outside in the six-runner test, which will be contested at seven furlongs. The winner of five of his six career races is coming off three straight listed stakes wins and makes a jump back into graded company. He broke his maiden in his debut July 2 at Gulfstream and was third in the GII Saratoga Special S. before shipping back to Florida to collect his last three wins.

“He's in his best shape ever,” trainer Jorge Delgado said. “He's been maturing race to race. He's been showing a lot of class. From race to race, he's a more professional horse. He's becoming a man.”

Not to be overshadowed by the boys, 10 fillies are set to race seven-eighths on the main track in the GIII Forward Gal S.

Atomically (Girvin) is the likely favorite in her first start since an even seventh-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 4. It was her first start for trainer Todd Pletcher after being sold privately to a group headed by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners after winning the Florida Sire My Dear Girl S. over the Gulfstream Park main track Oct. 1.

Ginger Brew S. winner Cairo Consort (Cairo Prince) is the 2-1 morning-line favorite against eight other sophomore turf fillies in the 1 1/16-mile GIII Sweetest Chant S. The Todd Pletcher-trained filly won Woodbine's Catch A Glimpse S., was second in the GI Natalma S. and third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. This race will be her first start beyond a mile.

Only four will line up in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S., a 1 1/16-mile test offering 41 Road to the Derby points to the top-four finishers on a 20-8-6-4-2 scale. This is where the race's Kentucky Derby implications take a turn. Each of the four runners are trained by a single trainer and that trainer–currently–is forbidden from participating in racing at Churchill Downs.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has saddled a record 10 winners of the Robert B. Lewis–including the last four in a row–sat in a Louisville courtroom for two days this week. His team of attorneys is seeking an injunction against his two-year ban from competing at Churchill Downs following Medina Spirit's post-race positive for the prohibited steroid betamethasone after crossing the wire first in the 2021 Derby. Medina Spirit also won the 2021 Lewis.

Arabian Lion (Justify) will lead his stablemates. The $600,000 OBSAPR 2-year-old was a dismal fifth in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 17 at odds of 2-5 but has been working lights out for his return here.

Newgate (Into Mischief) hasn't reached the winner's circle since breaking his maiden at Del Mar but was a short second in the GIII Sham S. a month ago. The $850,000 KEESEP yearling was also second to last week's GIII San Vicente S. winner and stablemate Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) in the GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar Nov. 20. Maiden winner Hard To Figure (Hard Spun) and maiden Worcester (Empire Maker) round out the Baffert quartet.

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Luis Saez Voted Jockey Of The Week With Three Stakes Wins At Gulfstream

Leading Gulfstream Park rider, Luis Saez won three of the five graded stakes for 3-year-olds Saturday on Holy Bull Day to earn Jockey of the Week for Jan. 31 through Feb. 6. The honor, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1,050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

The seven-furlong, Grade 3 Swale was the first graded stakes of the day with Saez in the irons for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher on My Prankster. Off as the even-money favorite in the field of six and breaking from the rail, My Prankster raced near the back of the field. On the backside, Saez angled My Prankster to the outside and challenged the leaders at the top stretch. My Prankster gained command from Dean Delivers down the lane and posted a one-half length win in 1:23.13.

“He got a good break today,” said Saez. “We knew they had a lot of speed in the race so the plan was to get him in the clear and go from there…he always tries, he tried pretty hard today and he got the job done so it was a good race for him.”

Riding for trainer Brad Cox, Saez was aboard Louisiana invader Girl With a Dream in the filly counterpart to the Swale, the G3 Forward Gal. Breaking from post position six in the field of seven, Saez and Girl With a Dream lead throughout the seven furlongs while holding off the favorite Radio Days to post a one-length victory in 1:23.42.

“She broke from there pretty sharp,” said Saez. “She went and she was pretty comfortable all the way. We came to the top of the stretch and I felt like I had a lot of horse. She kept battling, and she beat them. I felt like every step, when the other filly (Radio Days) came close, she responded more.”

Trainer Roderick Rodriguez gave a leg up to Saez on Opelina in the G3 Sweetest Chant at one mile and one-sixteenth on the turf. Off as the co-second choice in the field of nine, Saez and Opelina settled in fourth. Leaving the backstretch, Saez gave Opelina her cue swinging three wide to quickly pass the leaders and holding on to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:41.56.

“When she took the lead in the stretch, she kind of waited for the other ones, but when she got on the left (lead) she gave me another gear,” said Saez.

Saez's weekly statistics were 43-7-9-7 with total purse earnings of $396,620.

Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Jose L. Ortiz with two graded stakes wins at Aqueduct, Flavien Prat with a stakes win at Santa Anita, Jaime Rodriguez who tied for number of wins for the week with nine and Tim Thornton who also posted nine wins for the week.

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Opalina Makes The Grade In Sweetest Chant

Teneri Farm and J Stables' Opalina (Optimizer) came with a steady run around the far turn and powered through the stretch to reel in 25-1 long shot leader Myfavoritedaughter and win Saturday's $100,000 Sweetest Chant (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The 27th running of the 1 1/16-mile Sweetest Chant for fillies and mares on turf was the fourth of five graded-stakes for 3-year-olds on the program, immediately preceding the 33rd edition of the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3), the next step on the road to the $1 million Florida Derby (G1).

Opalina ($10.60) hit the wire in 1:41.56 over a firm turf course to give jockey Luis Saez his third graded-stakes win on the card, following My Prankster in the Claiborne Farm Swale (G3) and Girl With a Dream in the Forward Gal (G3), both on the main track.

“When she took the lead in the stretch she kind of waited for the other ones, but when she got on the left [lead] she gave me another gear,” Saez said. “Last time, she needed a race and she didn't want to be too close. Today, we wanted to race a little bit from behind and make one move with her. Everything turned out like we were expecting.”

Myfavoritedaughter, sent off at the longest odds in a field of nine at 25-1, sped through fractions of 23.16 and 46.88 seconds to lead the group by open lengths with Ocean Safari, runner-up in the one-mile Ginger Brew Jan. 1 at Gulfstream, a distant second. Saez, meanwhile, had Opalina – third as the favorite in the Ginger Brew – settled in fourth.

“She ran great, and that's the way she runs her best, coming off the pace a little bit,” winning trainer Roderick Rodriguez said. “The last time she was anxious in the receiving barn, but today she was perfect. She was relaxed. She broke alertly, but she settled back and just made one big run, and that's the way I want her to run.”

Saez gave Opalina her cue leaving the backstretch, swinging out three wide to launch their bid. They quickly passed Ocean Safari and straightened for home with their sights set on Myfavoritedaughter, who dug in determinedly but could not hold off the closers.

Opalina earned her first career stakes victory by three-quarters of a length over late-running Ambitieuse, making just her third career start and first in a stakes. Miss You Ella came on for third, another 1 ¼ lengths back. Myfavoritedaughter, Battle Charge, Ocean Safari, Roughly a Diamond, Hal's Dream and Nostalgic – narrowly favored over Opalina and Ocean Safari – completed the order of finish.

“I felt good, because I know Luis can get the horse going,” Rodriguez said. “She was coming on really nice. I felt really confident at the top of the stretch.”

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