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Gregorian Chant Heads Green Flash Field At Del Mar

Slam Dunk Racing and Old Bones Racing Stable's Gregorian Chant, ending an 11-week layoff, carries 5-2 morning line favoritism against seven rivals in Sunday's $100,000 Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

The Green Flash, a five-furlong sprint over the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, is the last of seven graded stakes presented during the three-day Pacific Classic weekend with combined purses totaling $1.95 million.

Gregorian Chant, a 5-year-old English-bred gelding, took a three-race winning streak at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., to Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for the Grade 1 Jaipur on June 5 and, after being forwardly-placed early in the six-furlong turf sprint, tired and finished seventh of nine.

“I don't think it was as much the (listed 'good') turf as the tactics,” trainer Phil D'Amato said. “He likes to come from off the pace and we wound up dueling with the co-favorite on the lead.”

Brought back to the West Coast and given a break, Gregorian Chant has had five turf works here since the July 16 start of the meeting.

“We freshened him up with this race in mind,” D'Amato said. “We'll see if the distance is good for him for the Breeders' Cup.”

The $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint will be run over the same course on Saturday, November 6.

The field for the Green Flash from the rail out with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Kneedeepinsnow (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1); Texas Wedge (Umberto Rispoli, 6-1); Lieutenant Dan (Giovanni Franco, 7-2); Collusion Illusion (Flavien Prat, 7-2); Chasin Munny (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 10-1); Little Juanito (Ricky Gonzalez, 6-1); Give Me the Lute (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1), and Gregorian Chant (Juan Hernandez).

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‘These Idiots Think That Is Going To Move The Needle’: Peter Miller Against California Stakes Lasix Ban

Trainer Peter Miller expressed his frustration with the 2021 ban of Lasix in all California stakes races in an interview with the Blood-Horse this week, as he is preparing to run both Texas Wedge and Hembree in Friday's Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf at Santa Anita. Neither horse has ever run without Lasix, according to Equibase.

Miller said asking the six and 7-year-olds (respectively) to do so is “inhumane,” because Lasix helps to prevent exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH).

Miller believes the Lasix ban in California stakes races was enacted as a response to anti-horse racing activists in the state, and argued that images of horses visibly bleeding from the nostrils will be now be publicized by those same groups.

“Talk about just shooting yourself in the foot. These idiots think that is going to move the needle. It's going to move it the wrong way,” Miller said. “The people that like horse racing like it. People that don't—Lasix doesn't matter.”

Del Mar: Glatt Records 1,000th Career Victory; Chaos Theory Gets Sadler Off Schneid

Folks got a sample of rider Umberto Rispoli's special talents this past summer at Del Mar when the international reinsman rode 49 winners in the 27-day meet, many of them on the turf course, and just missed being its leading rider in his first season at the shore oval.

They got another reminder about just how good he is in the featured race at the seaside track near San Diego, Calif., on Friday when he put on a masterful performance that included slipping up the rail late to tally by a head with Hronis Racing's Chaos Theory in a grassy allowance sprint that went as the day's second race.

On the next race on the program, veteran trainer Mark Glatt registered a nifty milestone when he rung up the 1,000th victory of his career with the speedy gelding Zestful in a nine-furlong allowance affair.

Chaos Theory, who ran his five furlongs in :56.08, bested Rafter JR Ranch, STD Racing Stable or Miller, et al's Texas Wedge, who in turn had a length on Mike Schott's Mikes Tiznow.

The win got trainer John Sadler off the schneid for the meet as he scored for the first time with his 24th starter. Chaos Theory picked up $39,000 from the $85,000 purse and increased his bankroll to $307,054 with his sixth win in his 13th start.

Chaos Theory, the 6-5 favorite, paid $4.40, $2.40 and $2.10 across the board. Texas Wedge returned $2.60 and $2.20, while Mikes Tiznow paid $3.40 to show.

Zestful, who is owned by the Shanderella Stables, Haramoto or Kawahara and others scored in his dirt test by 2 1/2 lengths under Edwin Maldonado in wire-to-wire fashion and paid $6.40 to win. He covered the nine furlongs in 1:50.94.

Glatt, whose father Ron was a longtime trainer in the Northwest, began training racehorses for a living in 1994 in his native Washington State, then moved south to the Bay Area shortly thereafter. In 2000, a client convinced him to try his luck in Southern California and he's been a regular – and successful — member on that circuit since.

He had his best year ever in 2019 when his horses won 73 races and more than $3.3 million in purses. In total, the 47-year-old horsemen has now won 1,000 races, had 932 seconds and 875 thirds for earnings of $32,458,403.

The last trainer to register his 1,000th victory at Del Mar was Peter Miller in 2018.

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Completed Pass Seeking Jim McKay Turf Sprint Repeat

More than a year since becoming a stakes winner last spring over the same track, Robert D. Bone's Completed Pass returns to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., with sights set on a repeat victory in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint Thursday, Oct. 1.

The 15th running of the McKay for 3-year-olds and up and the 21st renewal of the $100,000 The Very One for fillies and mares 3 and older, both sprinting five furlongs on turf, join the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) in opening a spectacular Preakness weekend of 16 stakes, nine graded, worth $3.35 million in purses featuring the 145^th Preakness (G1) Saturday, Oct. 3.

Post time for the first of 10 races Thursday is 12:40 p.m.

Completed Pass joined trainer Claudio Gonzalez's string for the 2019 season and promptly won three of his first four starts for the new connections including a one-length victory as the favorite in last year's McKay over Tempt Me Twice, who also returns Thursday.

Gonzalez is confident that familiarity with the track as one of just three horses in the field of 10 to have run at Pimlico, along with Tempt Me Twice and 2019 allowance winner Love You Much, will serve to benefit Completed Pass.

“It helps that he raced there last year because he knows the track already and especially good because he won,” Gonzalez said. “It would be really nice if he could win it again. He's doing really good. I believe he's doing the best he ever has.”

Completed Pass enters the McKay off an effort in the 5 1/2-furlong Laurel Dash Sept. 7 where he clipped heels at the five-sixteenths pole and nearly went down but recovered quickly and went on to a three-quarter-length win under Angel Cruz, who returns to ride from Post 6.

“Last time was a big race because when stumbled I was like, 'Yikes,'” Gonzalez said. “In that one second, you think of a lot but to come back and win the race was amazing. Not just any horse can do that. They need to have a big heart.”

Lynch Racing's Francatelli has put together three straight front-running victories including an Aug. 15 off-the-turf allowance at Laurel and the five-furlong King Corrie Stakes Sept. 12 on the Woodbine turf. Based at Laurel, the 3-year-old City Zip gelding went unraced at 2 and debuted running second June 5 over his home course.

Joe Bravo has the call on Francatelli from outside Post 10.

Altamira Racing Stable, Rafter JR Ranch, STD Racing Stable and A. Miller's well-traveled Texas Wedge, winner of the Joe Hernandez (G2) at Santa Anita and World of Trouble Turf Sprint at Gulfstream Park in January, has since run third in the Jaipur (G1) at Belmont Park and 10^th last out in the Shakertown (G2) July 11 at Keeneland. Paco Lopez rides for trainer Peter Miller.

Texas Wedge will carry topweight of 125 pounds including jockey Paco Lopez from Post 2.

Michael Hui, Hooties Racing and WSS Racing's 7-year-old gelding Tiger Blood, trained by Mike Maker, owns 19 wins from 49 lifetime starts and goes after his third career stakes victory and first since April 2017 in the McKay. In his last race, he was beaten only four lengths when ninth in the Turf Sprint (G3) Sept. 12 at Kentucky Downs.

Trevor McCarthy rides Tiger Blood from Post 8.

Love You Much, third in the Laurel Dash, Axtell, Dr. Feelgood, Fair Catch and Hollis complete the field.

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