thoroughbreds | Horse Racing Free Tips

Sunday Insights: Lake Superior Set For Del Mar Debut

5th-DMR, $82K, Msw, 2yo, 1mT, 6:37 p.m.

Campaigned by the same ownership group as 'TDN Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown), $1.05-million Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase LAKE SUPERIOR (Quality Road) makes his first appearance on closing day at Del Mar for trainer Bob Baffert. Dam Celibataire (Broken Vow) also produced the dark bay colt's full-brother SW Stillwater Cove. Out of a female family which includes his dam's full-sister MGSW Interactif, Lake Superior will have the services of the meet's leading rider, Juan Hernandez. TJCIS PPS

2nd-MTH, $57K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 1:10 p.m.

Heading to the Jersey Shore, Monmouth cards a maiden race which includes firsters like $300,000 OBS March Sale buy Bolt of Aurum (Bolt d'Oro), whose dam Scenic Road (Quality Road) is a full-sister to GIII LeComte S. victor Guest Suite. Also drawn is $300,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale grad Dollar Liberty (Gun Runner) out of Debase the Dollar (Malibu Moon). That dam has produced seven foals with three winners out of four to race, and is a half-sister herself to GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. heroine La Coronel (Colonel John). Between this pair to the inside you'll find Tiz Marks Spirit (Mor Spirit), who counts GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. hero Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) as a half-brother. TJCIS PPS

2nd-KD, $150K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1mT, 2:02 p.m.

Taking to the Kentucky Down grass course before that meet wraps is first-time starter Everland (Arrogate) for George Strawbridge. The homebred is the first of three foals for Ever Changing (Tapit). Her second dam Rainbow View (Dynaformer) was crowned European Champion 2-year-old filly in 2008 and her grand dam is a half-sister to both GI Arlington Million S. runner-up Just As Well (A.P. Indy) and GII Longines Dixie S. winner Utley (Smart Strike). TJCIS PPS

4th-DMR, $82K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 6:05 p.m.

Halone (Justify), a Baoma homebred, debuts for Bob Baffert. Out of Sea Gift (A.P. Indy), the chestnut filly is a half-sister to GIII Sunland Derby champ Chitu (Henny Hughes). Her dam is also responsible for GIII Santa Ysabel S. heroine Beautiful Gift (Medgalia d'Oro), who was purchased by Katusmi Yoshida at the Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale last year for $2 million and whose Feb. 22 foal by Into Mischief, her first, just went to the KY Company for ¥160 million at the JRA Yearling and Foal Sale. TJCIS PPS

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Kodiac Wintergreen Could Be Home Run For Alex Bregman

Edited Press Release, Mike Kane/Kentucky Downs

All the essential timing elements for Sunday have dovetailed for Houston Astros star third baseman Alex Bregman and his very promising filly Kodiac Wintergreen (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

By the time Kodiac Wintergreen goes to the starting gate for the $500,000 Global Tote Juvenile Fillies S. at Kentucky Downs at 5:28 p.m. (CT), the Astros's home game with the San Diego Padres should be long finished. His day's work on the diamond at Minute Maid Field done, Bregman will be parked in front of a television to watch how the 2-year-old filly handles the one-mile race, the biggest test of her young career.

Bregman expects Kodiac Wintergreen to emerge as the second standout in his nascent and fast-growing thoroughbred stable, Bregman Family Racing LLC. Trained by Rusty Arnold and to be ridden again by Jose Oritz, she is the 3-1 favorite on the morning line. So far, No Nay Mets (Ire) (No Nay Never), with two stakes wins on his resume, is the most accomplished Bregman runner. He will try for a third stakes victory Saturday at Colonial Downs in Virginia.

Two years after Bregman, his wife Reagan and his parents, Jackie and Sam, made their first purchases at auction, the stable is emerging as a player at major racetracks.

“My family has been in love with horse racing since my great grandfather and my grandfather,” Bregman said in a telephone interview. “Everyone has loved horse racing in my family. I used to go to Albuquerque Downs with my grandfather growing up and my dad as well.”

Since Bregman, 29, made his major-league debut in 2016, the Astros have reached the World Series four times, winning twice. He is a two-time American League All-Star.

Veteran bloodstock agent Mike Akers and Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Stables in Ocala, Florida, have guided Bregman as he built his roster and helped him select trainers Arnold, George Weaver and Doug O'Neill.

The stable is handled by an enthusiastic racing manager.

“That's me,” Bregman said. “I love it. It's a passion of mine. It's something that I'll love forever and something that I want to be involved with forever. I want to build something special.”

While the baseball schedule keeps him away from the track, Bregman tries to see the races unfold live.

“I normally watch them with my whole team, and we yell at the TV hoping that we win,” he said.

As a result, he has become something of a racing ambassador to the Astros.

“Some of my teammates actually have owned parts of horses that we've owned,” he said. “It's been a blast. They love it now.”

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Churchill Makes Slight Changes To Kentucky Derby And Oaks Roads

Churchill Downs Racetrack officials have made slight modifications to the upcoming Road to the Kentucky Derby, the series of select races that will determine the preference list for the 150th GI Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on Saturday, May 4, 2024, the track said in a release Friday.

The Road to the Kentucky Derby, which debuted in 2013, annually awards a sliding scale of points to the top five finishing positions in select qualifying races. At the conclusion of the series, the leaderboard will determine the preference list for entries into the 20-horse Kentucky Derby.

Second-place points in all qualifying races have been increased to create added separation from second and third-place finishers. Additionally, third and fourth-place points in races that award 100 points to winner have been decreased.

Series Races:
Early Prep Season
Last Year: 10-4-3-2-1, This Year: 10-5-3-2-1

Breeders' Cup
Last Year: 30-12-9-6-3, This Year: 30-15-9-6-3

Late Prep Season
Last Year: 20-8-6-4-2, This Year: 20-10-6-4-2

Early Championship Series
Last Year: 50-20-15-10-5, This Year: 50-25-15-10-5

Late Championship Series
Last Year: 100-40-30-20-10, This Year: 100-50-25-15-10

In other changes:

The GIII Street Sense S. scheduled for Oct. 29 at Churchill Downs has been added to the Early Prep Season;
The GIII Sunland Park Derby has been decreased in value from 50-20-15-10-5 in 2023 to 20-10-6-4-2 in 2024.

Similar changes were made to the 32-race Road to the Kentucky Oaks series, which awards points to fillies to qualify for the 150th GI Longines Kentucky Oaks on Friday, May 3, 2024:

The Rags to Riches S. to be run Oct. 29 at Churchill Downs has been added to the Early Prep Season;
The Sunland Park Oaks has been decreased in value from 50-20-15-10-5 in 2023 to 20-10-6-4-2 in 2024; and
The GII Beaumont S. at Keeneland has been removed from the Championship Series.

Click here for a complete schedule.

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TIF Reports Prairie Meadows Hit By Pool Manipulations

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is investigating a spate of pool manipulation incidents which seem to have occurred on three races run at Prairie Meadows in the last eight race days, the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation (TIF) said in a release Friday morning.

Daily double pools on Sept. 4 (Races 2/3), Sept. 1 (Races 6/7) and Aug. 25 (Races 5/6) were subject to massive bets on combinations the manipulator(s) expected to lose. In each case, the bets were made in the final betting cycle when projected payouts for each combination are not updated until the race was underway.

TIF has drawn attention to such incidents, and the problems they create, at other U.S. tracks in the past. Most notably, Gulfstream Park eliminated its quinella pools after a significant manipulation event was detected in November 2022.

“These incidents at Prairie Meadows have all the hallmarks of pool manipulation based on TIF's multi-year focus and every time they occur, it calls into question the outcomes of the races involved,” said TIF executive director Patrick Cummings. “Integrity is paramount and when pools are manipulated like this, bettors are rightly confused and can lose confidence that races are run fairly and the betting pools are operated fairly.”

Click here for more on this story.

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