The Stronach Group | Horse Racing Free Tips

Friday’s Stronach 5 Returns $7,144 To 14 Winning Ticket-Holders

Friday's Stronach 5, which included a $43.80 winner from Laurel Park, returned $7,144.80.

There were 14 winning tickets.

The popular wager featured races from Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, Laurel Park and Gulfstream Park West along with an industry-low 12-percent takeout and $100,000 guaranteed pool.

The opening leg of the Stronach 5 was Gulfstream West's eighth race, won by favored Guaco ($3.40). But the second leg, Laurel's seventh race, resulted in a $43.80 winner in Marden, saddled by leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez. Laurel's eighth race, the third leg, resulted in another longshot winner in Why Not You ($16.20).

The Stronach 5 then headed west with Reddam Racing, LLC's Me Likey ($7.80), a 2-year-old by Square Eddie, winning Santa Anita's third race in his racing debut. Golden Gate's third race anchored the Stronach 5 with even-money favorite Homegrown ($4.20) the victor.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One – Gulfstream West 8th Race: Guaco $3.40
Leg Two –Laurel Park 7th Race: Marden $43.80
Leg Three –Laurel Park 8th Race Why Not You $16.20
Leg Four –Santa Anita 3th Race: Me Likey $7.80
Leg Five –Golden Gate Fields 3rd Race: Homegrown $4.20

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Friday’s Stronach 5 Returns $7,144 To 14 Winning Ticket-Holders appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gulfstream Making Plans For Fans To Attend At 50-Percent Capacity During Championship Meet

Racing fans will be able to attend the Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News. The South Florida track will allow fans at up to 50 percent capacity beginning on Dec. 2; Gulfstream shut down to all spectators in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but owners and invited guests have been allowed to attend the races under strict protocols since June.

“This thing is not going away anytime soon and we will do everything we can to keep people protected,” said Bill Badgett, the executive director of Florida racing operations for The Stronach Group. “The box area will be open and some grandstand seating, with social distancing, will be available. That way we can delegate certain sections and areas that we can control.”

Fan protocols have not yet been finalized, but are likely to include temperature checks and mandatory masks.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Friday’s Stronach 5 Features $1,000 Guaranteed Pool, Turf Racing At Pimlico

Turf races from Pimlico Race Course and Santa Anita Park and a $100,000 guaranteed pool and industry-low 12-percent takeout highlight Friday's popular Stronach 5.

The opening leg of the Stronach 5 begins at 4:40 p.m. with Pimlico's eight race, featuring a dozen fillies and mares going five furlongs on the turf. The second leg, Santa Anita's fourth race, features 10 California-bred 2-year-old fillies going 5 ½ furlongs. After a stop at Golden Gate Fields for a six-furlong claiming event, the final two legs of the sequence feature turf races from Santa Anita and Pimlico.

The Stronach 5 helps to kick off a big weekend at Pimlico. The weekend races include Saturday's 12 stakes, seven graded, including Preakness 145.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One – Pimlico 8th Race: (12 entries, 5 furlongs turf) 4:40 ET, 1:40 PT
Leg Two –Santa Anita 4th Race: (12 entries, 5 ½ furlongs) 5:10 ET, 2:10 PT
Leg Three –Golden Gate 3rd Race (7 entries, 6 furlongs) 5:30 ET, 2:30 PT
Leg Four –Santa Anita 5th Race: (8 entries, 1 mile turf) 5:44 ET, 2:44 PT
Leg Five –Pimlico 10th Race: (13 entries, 1 1/16 mile turf) 5:51 ET, 2:51 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Friday’s Stronach 5 Features $1,000 Guaranteed Pool, Turf Racing At Pimlico appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Riders Up Documentary Takes Look Behind Scenes at “First Sports Bubble”

As the realities of the coronavirus started to spread across California and the country, the team at Santa Anita wasn’t sure how to prepare for what could have quickly escalated into a dire situation for the track and the sport. But what began as a scramble of sorts led to a well-coordinated plan. Racing would successfully return to the historic Southern California track and with an innovative wrinkle. During the racing week, the jockeys were required to live in a bubble in campers situated on track. What might at first have seemed to be an imposition quickly turned into a collegial summer camp for the riders.

“If you have to do something like this, this is the way to do it. I’d like to say life in quarantine is pretty tough, but I’d be lying like crazy,” jockey Mike Smith says.

Santa Anita was shut down by the coronavirus following the Mar. 22 card but returned May 15 and the meet was completed without any serious setbacks. How it did so is the subject of the entertaining documentary from NBC Sports Network “Riders Up. The First Sports Bubble.” (Click here for a preview.)

While horse racing has figured out how to operate during a global pandemic, that wasn’t the case when COVID-19 started to upend life as we know it. As “Riders Up” begins, the management team at Santa Anita is considering the worst-case scenarios

“We started seeing the news day by day get worse and we realized businesses were going to start being put out of business for the time being,” said Stronach Group Executive Director of California Operations Aidan Butler. “Unlike any other business, the racetrack is like a town. Eight hundred people live here. Eighteen hundred horses live here. It’s not like any other business. That was the realization that we could have a real crisis on our hands. A little bit of panic set in across the group here.”

This was a case where panic turned into the mother of invention.

“At that point it was ‘What are we going to do?'” Butler said. “We have to make a decision here. We can start to ask animals to leave here and people to start to get out and try to get it to an amount that was controllable or double down and try to get her open as quick as we could.”

The horses and the backstretch community were the easy part. There was plenty of room to accommodate them and because the horses needed to be cared for, there was never any serous question about allowing the backstretch workers to continue on as normal. The jockeys were the bigger issue. Should they be brought back and then, had some of them tested positive, racing would have likely had to be shut down again. It was decided to house them on track in RV’s that were normally used on movie and television sets that had been closed due to the pandemic.

“We built a small city in a matter of a week,” said Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager Nate Newby.

Santa Anita’s bubble would be the first of its kind in sports, a precursor to what the NBA and the NHL would do with their players once they resumed playing.

“I certainly had concerns,” Smith said. “What’s going to happen? Are we going to be close to everybody? Are we going to be piled into a room all together? Is it going to be a little bit scary?”

Understanding that confinement can be stifling, Santa Anita set out to make things as enjoyable as possible for the jockeys. With Butler and Newby acting as head counselors, there was a 50th birthday party for veteran Aaron Gryder, karaoke, poker, movie night and group dinners. The jockeys, who usually go their separate way after the races are over, bonded.

“It was a great time being with the guys,” jockey Edwin Maldonado said. “Like being in a man cave.”

It worked. By the time the meet ended without further interruption on June 21, over 1,000 COVID-19 tests had been administered to jockeys and essential employees. Not one jockey or racing employee tested positive.

Riders Up will air Friday on NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. PT and will be shown again Saturday at 9:30 a.m. PT. It was produced by the Hennegan Brothers.RIdTTaea

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