Tag: The Friday Show

Dawn Lupul, who spent 10 years as the on-air analyst and simulcast host for Woodbine, joins publisher Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills on this week's Friday Show to look at the four Super Saturday graded stakes at the Toronto, Canada, racetrack.

The big event on Saturday – one of three Grade 1 stakes – is the CAN$1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile, which has attracted a field of 11. Morning-line favorite is Godolphin's Irish-bred Modern Games, the only 3-year-old in the field and who comes off a second-place finish to highly rated, undefeated Baaeed in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood July 27.

Modern Games may be best remembered by North American racing fans as the horse who was mistakenly scratched from the 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, then ran (and won) for purse money only.

Lupul points out that Charles Appleby, trainer of Modern Games, has sent seven runners to Woodbine to compete in Grade 1 races since 2017, and that five of them have won. Two of those wins came last year on the same day when he swept the two Super Saturday Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds, the Pattison Summer Stakes and the Johnnie Walker Natalma (for fillies). Appleby has the heavy favorite, Mysterious Night, in the Summer Stakes.

Follow Lupul on Twitter at @DawnLupul or check out her website and blog full of handicapping insights at www.dawnsnotes.com.

Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By Woodbine: Dawn Lupul Handicaps Super Saturday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“This definitely qualifies as three old farts sitting around the campfire.”

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, spurred on by Flightline's 19 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Sept. 3, Paulick Report publisher Ray Paulick is joined by award-winning Turf writers Jay Hovdey (who coined the campfire comment) and Tim Wilkin to try and put some perspective on the John Sadler-trained Tapit colt's historic performance at Del Mar.

Hovdey, from Southern California, is a 2012 inductee to the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Wilkin, honored with the Walter Haight Award from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters in 2019, began covering the Saratoga race meet for upstate New York newspapers in 1980. Both have seen countless champions and breakout performances over the years.

“Anybody that watched that race whose jaw didn't drop to the floor watched the wrong race,” Wilkin commented. “Now the debate starts. Where is this horse in the all-time list?”

While Wilkin wants to see more racing from Flightline before putting him with the greatest horses ever, Hovdey suggests that the modern era may require us to look at a Thoroughbred's body of work differently than before.

“This is a horse who requires almost a confluence of the head and the heart to appreciate,” Hovdey said, “because from all angles he is doing things that only the greatest racehorses can do and he's doing them in a context that doesn't really satisfy traditional values.”

Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By Woodbine: Flightline’s Place In History appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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There are just a few weeks to go before this year's edition of the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover, a training competition which brings together off-track Thoroughbreds in their first year of their new careers.

Last week, the RRP released its annual report with statistics on this year's entrants. Although most people know the RRP for its work with its signature event, it also maintains and tracks information about the horses coming off the track and aiming for the Makeover each year — ages, bloodlines, number of racing starts, earnings, and more.

One of the biggest challenges in Thoroughbred aftercare is tracing horses as they leave the racetrack. We wanted to know — what can the stats on Makeover entries tell us about retiring horses?

Kristen Kovatch Bentley, communications manager for RRP, joins us on this week's Friday Show to talk about this year's numbers and what they mean.

Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:

 

The post The Friday Show Presented By Woodbine: Tracking Off-Track Thoroughbreds appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Saturday's 13-race card at Saratoga Race Course features six graded stakes, five of them Grade 1, topped by the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes, first staged in 1864 and to be contested for the 153rd time.

Highlight of the summer meet at the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., track, the Travers will be shown on FOX as part of a 90-minute telecast from 4:30-6:00 p.m. ET. The 11th race on the card, Travers post time is at 5:44 p.m.

In this week's Friday Show, publisher Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills discuss the role of the Travers as a stallion-making race and assess this year's field, which includes Rich Strike and Early Voting, respective winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, along with Epicenter, runner-up in both races as the betting favorite.

Nevills was on hand at Woodbine for last week's stunning performance by the filly Moira, who won Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate, beating male rivals handily by seven lengths. He shares his thoughts about the Plate winner along with what could be next for the daughter of Ghostzapper.

Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By Woodbine: Travers Day Is Upon Us appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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