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Friday’s Racing Insights: Bevy of Pricey, Well-Bred Runners Squeeze in ’21 Starts

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2nd-TAM, $26.5K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m40yds, 1:08 p.m. ET
While their other four competitors are a combined 0-for-37, late-debuting newcomers Aussie Pride (Curlin) and Mint (Bodemeister) sport huge pedigrees and in one case, a massive price tag. The former, who carries the Godolphin blue for trainer Bill Mott, was the second topper at the 2019 Keeneland September sale at a gaudy $4.1 million. He's out of New Zealand champion sprinter Bounding (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), who is a half to G1 Investec Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Mint's dam Flawless (Mr. Greeley), meanwhile, was a $4.1-million FTKNOV buyback last year one day after her son Authentic (Into Mischief) completed his Horse of the Year campaign with a GI Breeders' Cup Classic score. Arnaud Delacour trains Mint for breeder Peter Blum. TJCIS PPs

7th-GP, $54K, Alw, (S), 2yo, 7f, 3:29 p.m. ET
Repole Stable and St Elias Stable's So Determined (Into Mischief) takes on a couple of stakes-placed runners in his first try against winners. The $875,000 Keeneland September yearling is out of a full-sister to SW Summer House (Tiznow) from the family of MGSW and successful Louisiana-based sire Custom for Carlos (More Than Ready). Second in his local unveiling Oct. 2, he broke through by 4 1/2 lengths going 5 1/2 panels Nov. 14. TJCIS PPs

4th-SA, $67K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 5:00 p.m. ET
This first of two divisions of well-bred sprinting maidens features The Avengers' $625,000 Keeneland September buy McLaren Vale (Gun Runner). A $200,000 KEEJAN in utero seller and $325,000 Keeneland November weanling, the Bob Baffert trainee is out of a half-sister to the dam of Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Justify. Richard Baltas pupil Balladeer (Distorted Humor), who cost $355,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Showcase, is out of a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to GI Belmont S. and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor). Several in here show solid running lines, including Doug O'Neill-trained last-out Del Mar third-place finishers Godsend (Midshipman, $80,000 OBSAPR {:20 4/5}); and B Dawk (Gormley, $425,000 FTMMAY {:10 1/5}). TJCIS PPs

6th-SA, $67K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 6:00 p.m. ET
West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla Racing LLC's Got Thunder (Arrogate) will look to go one better here after finishing second at 19-10 to Newgrange (Violence), whose high-profile connections, nicknamed The Avengers, will be represented this time around by Wharton (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Armagnac (Quality Road). Got Thunder was a $155,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $750,000 OBSAPR grad off a :10 flat bullet breeze. He's half to MGISW turfer Heart to Heart (English Channel) and MGSP Lady Traveler (Quality Road). Click for Steve Sherack's 'Second Chances' feature on Got Thunder after his Nov. 28 unveiling at Del Mar.

Wharton was a $475,000 September buy and is out of GISW sprinter Her Smile (Include), making him half to MGSW Pink Sands (Tapit). Armagnac, who cost $210,000 at the same auction, is out of turf stakes winner Kitty Wine (Lemon Drop Kid), who also set a track record on the Keeneland Polytrack over the Beard Course. TJCIS PPs

8th-OP, $120K, Alw, 2yo, f, 1m, 6:00 p.m. ET
Muddy Waters Stables LLC's Hypersport (Blame) stretches out off a super-sharp and head-turning second-out score here Dec. 3 that earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure and surely some phone calls to her connections. The $100,000 September yearling was previously runner-up at Keeneland Oct . 21. Three other fillies already own black-type: Brad Cox-trained Goldolphin homebred Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) was second in Churchill's Fern Creek S. last time Nov. 27; Benedict Canyon (Midnight Lute) was third in Santa Anita's Anoakia S. Oct. 24 and makes the move from Bob Baffert to Steve Asmussen off a fifth-place run in the GI Starlet S.; and value buy Red Hot Mess (Shackleford), upset winner of the White Clay Creek S. at Delaware Oct. 13, comes in off a far-back finish in Belmont's Tempted S. TJCIS PPs

The post Friday’s Racing Insights: Bevy of Pricey, Well-Bred Runners Squeeze in ’21 Starts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Festivus Contest Winners Rolled The Dice With Hunch Play At Tampa

Like most horse racing handicappers, Steve Tucker and Henry Walthert have faced the question of “how did you pick that horse?” countless times.

After finishing 1-2 in the “10 Days of Festivus Challenge Handicapping Contest,” it's one they don't mind answering.

Even though Tucker was in third place entering Friday's final day of the online contest conducted through Tampa Bay Downs, the high school biology teacher from Hillsborough, N.J., decided a hunch play was too strong to ignore in the fourth race on the turf.

“My college roommate at Rutgers University was named Skip, so I decided to play Skipperini,” Tucker said of the 2-year-old gelding who was 8-1 on the morning line. “Whether you're doing the stock market or playing the horses or gambling on sports, there are so many different angles you can take.”

Walthert, a retired association executive from Ottawa, Canada, had a more logical reason to select Skipperini in the free online contest: He was in 18th place entering the last day and needed to gain lots of ground to finish first or second and collect a cash prize.

“The guys in front of me were probably going to play the favorite, so I wouldn't be able to make a big enough jump otherwise,” he said.

By the time the race started, Skipperini's odds had climbed to 19-1 – the longest shot in the race – and Tucker and Walthert seemed to be grasping at straws. But when Skipperini and jockey Antonio Gallardo rallied for the victory, their two big contest backers collected $63.40 on their mythical $2 across-the-board wagers – enough to defeat more than 1,300 entrants.

At the conclusion of the contest, Tucker sported a bankroll of $247.60 and Walthert stood at $223.20. Tucker took home first-place money of $1,000 and Walthert earned $500. In an interesting twist, Skipperini had won his previous start two weeks earlier, breaking his maiden as a 2-1 favorite.

“It's an exhilarating feeling,” said Tucker, who won $5,000 playing an online handicapping event through Remington Park in Oklahoma several years ago. “I've been following horse racing for 20 years, and to come out on top is really something. It's humbling because there are a lot of people who know more than I do.”

Skipperini wasn't the only hunch horse to help Tucker win. He played Bens Malice on Dec. 10 because his brother's name is Ben, and the 2-year-old gelding won at odds of 27-1 while returning $82 in mythical contest winnings.

Walthert, reached Monday during a ski vacation at Sommet Edelweiss north of Ottawa, was already having a great time playing the contest when Dame Fortune smiled on him Friday.

“It's always a challenge to pick winners, and when you're able to, it's rewarding,” he said. “It makes you look forward to the next race. It's fun to follow along and see how you're doing.”

Walthert's general strategy through the contest was to look for hot jockeys and trainers connected to horses with odds he felt would reap enough profit to climb in the standings.

“I tried not to go with the favorites,” he said.

While Walthert and his wife Monique have visited Tampa Bay Downs, Tucker and wife Diane have not. The Festivus champion says that is likely to change.

“I'm thinking about (retiring) next year, and I have a couple of buddies who are retired in Florida,” Tucker said. “I really hope to get to Tampa Bay Downs. Everyone I've talked to who has been there says it's a beautiful place.”

The post Festivus Contest Winners Rolled The Dice With Hunch Play At Tampa appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Grimes Enjoying the Ride With Platinum Gem

For the better part of two decades, Patricia Grimes and her husband Michael have bred and sold racehorses from their Classic Run Farm in Webster, Florida. Last spring, the couple decided to see what it felt like to race their own horses. They purchased a daughter of Frosted (hip 722) at the OBS April sale for $30,000 and named her Platinum Gem. The filly–just the second to carry the colors of Classic Run Farm–may have earned herself a start in stakes company after a pair of impressive victories at Tampa Bay Downs in December for trainer Maria Bowersock.

“We are surprised and in awe of what she is doing right now,” Patricia Grimes said. “She is incredible and Maria has her feeling great.”

Platinum Gem opened her career with a third-place finish at Delaware Park in October before a resounding 5 1/4-length maiden triumph at 11-1 (video) at Tampa Dec. 4. She came back to score a two-length allowance victory (video) at the Oldsmar oval Christmas Eve. The pair of victories have likely earned the filly a start in the Jan. 15 Gasparilla S.

“We hope to go on with her as long as she stays sound and healthy and her attitude is great,” Grimes said. “We want to go in a stakes with her, of course, and the Gasparilla is what Maria is thinking of.”

Grimes credited trainer Michael Stidham for picking Platinum Gem out of the OBS sale, although she was initially resistant to his choice.

“We weren't even at the sale that day,” Grimes explained. “We had gone the day before to look at some horses with him. The next day, he was still there and he picked her out. He called me and I told him, 'I really want a colt.' He called twice more. And the third time–meanwhile I had talked to my husband, Michael about it–and finally I said, 'Okay. Bid on her.' And we got her.”

A racetrack veteran, Grimes and her husband slowly worked their way into breeding industry, buying mares just off the track. Gion (Meadow Monster) was a stalwart of the band. The now-retired mare produced stakes winner Luke of York (Put It Back).

“When Gion had her last foal, we decided to keep him,” Grimes recalled. “His name was Miami Smuggler. We gave him to Maria and that was our first horse that we ever raced. He did quite well for us. Between Tampa and Presque Isle, he earned $80,000, I think. He won a couple of races and he was in the money 80% of the time.”

The Classic Run broodmare band currently numbers just one mare, the 7-year-old Racey Reecey (Congrats).

“I was following Racey Reecey for two or three years,” Grimes said. “She's from the same family as Gion. Gion is retired, but I was following Racey Reecey and I finally got her. She's a nice, big mare. We got her in foal to Seeking the Soul and we'll see what happens. It takes a long time to get them to the races.”

While the Grimeses have been in the business of selling their foals, they expect to race future stock.

“For 20 years, we were breeding and selling,” Grimes said. “We only had one or two foals a year, mostly only one, and we sold them. They all went to the races and they all won. We didn't own any of them except Miami Smuggler. We are not famous or anything like that, but we have quite a few win pictures.”

Expect to see the couple back at the OBS sales next spring.

“We are getting older and it's easier on me and my husband,” Grimes said of buying 2-year-olds. “[With breeding] you have to foal the baby out and you have to worry about the mother and the baby and you've got to wean it. That's why it's better when you just go to the sale. They're already broke. We've started wondering, 'Why weren't we doing this all those years?'”

Platinum Gem's two recent victories have attracted offers to buy the promising filly, but the Grimeses are happy to see where the ride takes them.

“We did have calls, but we've turned them all down, so they quit calling,” Grimes said. “We are enjoying this. Who knows how far she is going to go, right? But we are enjoying the moment.”

The post Grimes Enjoying the Ride With Platinum Gem appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Tampa Bay Downs, HorseTourneys Teaming Up For Jan 8 High Rollers Handicapping Contest

The annual High Rollers Handicapping Contest Presented by HorseTourneys is Jan. 8 at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla., with first prize (based on 100 players) of $20,000. Players are required to deposit $1,000 to enter, with $500 serving as the player's bankroll for wagering and the remaining $500 going to the prize pool. At the conclusion of the tournament, any dollar amount remaining in the bankroll remains the property of the player.

Wager types permitted are win, place and show only, with each player making five $100 win, place and/or show bets during the tournament. The player with the highest bankroll takes top prize (50 percent of the prize pool), plus a seat in either the 2022 or 2023 National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas, plus accommodations.

To enter, register at www.tampabaydowns.com and make the required $1,000 payment by noon on Jan. 8. For details, contact Margo Flynn at mjflynn@tampabaydowns.com or (813) 855-4401, extension 1368.

Thoroughbred racing continues Sunday, Dec. 26, with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. ET. Sunday is also the first day of the track's annual “Calendar Giveaway,” with the 2022 edition given away free to the first 5,000 patrons. The calendar features a variety of images certain to enhance fans' enjoyment of the track and the horses.

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