Todd Pletcher | Horse Racing Free Tips

Deep Bunch Set for Mineshaft

Even with local heavyweights Mandaloun (Into Mischief) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) awaiting the $20-million Saudi Cup, there will still be plenty of talent on display in a loaded renewal of Saturday's GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds.

Miles D (Curlin), third at 18-1 in the GI Runhappy Travers S. last summer, closed out his sophomore campaign with a pair of wins, led by a promising decision in Aqueduct's 1 1/8-mile Discovery S. last time Nov. 27. The runner-up that day Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) resurfaced with a razor sharp win in the GIII Fred W. Hooper S. Jan. 29. Miles D completed his preparations for the Mineshaft with a four-furlong move in :48 3/5 (2/41) at Payson Park Feb. 12.

“This horse has done well,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He ran late in the year over at Aqueduct and put up a very nice win against a very talented horse [Speaker's Corner]. He's wintered well and now it's time to get his 4-year old season started. The race came up deeper than I thought it would. He's going to really have to fire off the layoff to beat these horses.”

Olympiad (Speightstown) looks primed for a career best following an eye-catching 7 1/4-length optional claiming victory for Hall of Famer Bill Mott in his two-turn debut at Gulfstream Jan. 15. The 3-1 Mineshaft morning-line favorite was previously a troubled fourth while making his stakes debut in a salty GI Cigar Mile H. Dec. 4.

Sidelined following a well-beaten eighth in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. Apr. 3, Untreated (Nyquist) has been perfect since returning to action, pairing up strong wins going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Nov. 19 and Dec. 31, respectively.

Last term's GI Kentucky Derby fifth-place finisher and GIII Matt Winn S. runner-up O Besos (Orb) brings a three-for-five record at Fair Grounds to the table, including a narrow win off the bench in an optional claimer Jan. 2.

The post Deep Bunch Set for Mineshaft appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Nest Takes Off with Suncoast Victory

With a third place effort in the Tempted S. Nov. 5 at Belmont Park the only blemish to her otherwise perfect four race record, Nest used her neck victory Dec. 4 in the GII Demoiselle S. as a springboard into the winner's circle here.

Carrying great expectations as the 1-5 overwhelming favorite, Nest briefly drifted out after the break, but went into the first turn comfortably stalking from third to the outside of the field. Glued to Alittleloveandluck (Arrogate) as the pair tracked a frontrunner through a moderate pace in :24.52 and a half in :49.29, they left the early leader behind coming off the final turn. Nest found her best stride by the final sixteenth, spurting clear to a geared down six length victory.

The winner is a full-sister to GI Santa Anita H. winner Idol as well as a half to stakes placed Dr Jack (Pioneerof the Nile). Marion Ravenwood, a half to sire Abstraction (Pulpit), has three stakes winners from five foals to race. Purchased by Ashview Farm for $400,000 at 2017 Keeneland November, the mare's offspring have justifiably been sought after in the auction ring: Total Cooperation (Tiznow) bringing $525,000, Idol bringing $375,000, and Nest dropping the hammer at $350,000, all at Keeneland's September sale. The 2-year-old half-brother by Violence named Lost Ark recently brought $275,000 from Steven Young as a yearling. Marion Ravenwood was barren last year, and is expecting a foal this season after visiting both Curlin and Quality Road. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

SUNCOAST S., $100,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 2-12, 3yo, f, 1m 40y, 1:39.30, ft.
1–NEST, 124, f, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Marion Ravenwood (SW, $112,598), by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Andujar, by Quiet American
3rd Dam: Nureyev's Best, by Nureyev
($350,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and House, Michael; B-Ashview Farm; Colts Neck Stables (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr..$60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-1, $265,000. *Full to Idol,GISW, $416,964.
2–Alittleloveandluck, 122, f, 3, Arrogate–Points of Grace, by Point Given. ($135,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP). O/T-Michael Dini; B-Helen Barbazon & Joseph Barbazon (FL). $20,000.
3–Blamethechampagne, 118, f, 3, Candy Ride (Arg)–Quippery, by Forest Wildcat. ($210,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Six Column Stables, LLC, Bloch, Randall L., Gladden, Jim, Riverview Racing, et al.; B-Popatop, LLC (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes.$10,000.
Margins: 6, 3 1/4, NK. Odds: 0.30, 4.50, 32.20.
Also Ran: Ha' Penny, Princess Elin, Peaceful Surprise, Mining Chrome. Scratched: Mirth 'n Merriment.

The post Nest Takes Off with Suncoast Victory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Well-Bred Tapit Colt Romps to ‘Rising Stardom’ at Gulfstream

Whisper Hill Farm homebred Charge It (c, 3, Tapit–I'll Take Charge, by Indian Charlie), a hard-fought, narrow second to subsequent GIII Sam F. Davis S. third-place finisher Volcanic (Violence) after a long duel going a one-turn mile on debut at Gulfstream Jan. 8, romped to a 'TDN Rising Star' graduation at Gulfstream Saturday.

He posted a pair of bullets at Todd Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs base since, including a four-furlong move in :47 4/5 (1/19) Feb. 5. Drawn widest of all in post 10 going a mile once again here, the 1-5 favorite cleared the field through an opening quarter in :24.24. Getting some separation three furlongs from home, Charge It hit the top of the lane in complete control and opened daylight from there without being seriously asked by Luis Saez to graduate by a flashy 8 1/2 lengths in 1:35.55. Pletcher stablemate and first-time starter Enough Already (Tapit) completed the exacta for his leading sire.

Charge It was produced by the winning mare I'll Take Charge, a $2.2-million KEESEP yearling purchase by Mandy Pope's operation. The 10-year-old is a daughter of bluehen mare Take Charge Lady (Dehere), who is responsible for champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), GISW Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), MGSW & GISP As Time Goes By (American Pharoah); and Charming (Seeking the Gold), the dam of champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) and MGISW Omaha Beach (War Front).

Charge It is the 49th 'TDN Rising Star' by perennial leading sire Tapit. The Tapit over Indian Charlie cross is also responsible for the brilliant GISW and fellow 'Rising Star' Flightline.

9th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 2-12, 3yo, 1m, 1:35.55, ft, 8 1/2 lengths.
CHARGE IT, c, 3, by Tapit
                1st Dam: I'll Take Charge, by Indian Charlie
                2nd Dam: Take Charge Lady, by Dehere
                3rd Dam: Felicita, by Rubiano
Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $42,400. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O/B-Whisper Hill Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

The post Well-Bred Tapit Colt Romps to ‘Rising Stardom’ at Gulfstream appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Pletcher Talks Life Is Good, Colonel Liam, Top 3YOs On Writers’ Room

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday fresh off of a pair of seven-figure wins at Gulfstream and amid one of the hottest streaks of his training life. Sitting down with Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Pletcher talked about Life Is Good's dazzling win in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. and what's next for the superstar son of Into Mischief, a planned Dubai trip for MGISW turfer Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), what he thinks of his ample stable of Triple Crown nominees and more.

Asked about the plan for Life Is Good going into the Pegasus relative to how the race played out, Pletcher said, “When you're coming up with a strategy for a race, you know what you want to do, but you don't always know what your opponent wants to do. I thought when Knicks Go drew the rail, their hands were cuffed and they were going to have to come out running. And we wanted to come out running and play to our horse's strength, which is his speed. It surprised me a little bit that he cleared off as easily as he did. But if you look back to the Allen Jerkens at Saratoga, he's super fast. He was a couple of lengths in front of Jackie's Warrior down the backside. He didn't break great [in the Pegasus], but his second, third and fourth steps were really good, and he got [to the lead] the right way. I was pretty confident turning up the backside, but he still had some running to do. And we were just delighted with his performance. It was everything we hoped for.”

Pletcher added that Life Is Good's first post-Pegasus breeze would likely come this Friday, with his next start expected to come in the Mar. 26 G1 Dubai World Cup, and GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. would likely be on that plane with him.

“If everything stays on course [with Life Is Good] and we go to Dubai, we're going to take him as well for the [G1] Dubai Turf,” he said. “It's the same timing as with Life Is Good, so we feel the timing's good. I feel like he came out of the Pegasus Turf even better than he went into it, so taking a shot at a race like that is worthwhile.”

The conversation turned to a potential third, synthetic surface potentially being installed at Belmont Park as has been done at Gulfstream and whether or not that would help keep some turf horses in New York who would normally ship south during the winter months.

“To be honest with you, I I don't know what the synthetic would do there, and one of the things that we're sort of learning during this [Gulfstream] meet is which horses handle the Tapeta and which ones don't,” Pletcher said. “And I haven't been able to do it without actually running them on it. We've had several horses that have won Tapeta races that were off the turf who were coming off turf wins and they handled it fine. We had a couple other ones that were coming off good turf races that we ran on the Tapeta, and you can tell in the first 100 yards that they hated it. So that was one of the things that was difficult for us before [with synthetic tracks]. I can think of an example at Keeneland. Years ago, we had a filly named Wait A While who was a top class turf mare. She worked at Keeneland on the synthetic, going a ridiculous :46 flat [half-mile], with her neck bowed, in hand the whole way. We were running in the [GI] First Lady. It rained, it came off the turf and I was like, off that breeze, I have no reservation running her at all. But that afternoon, she never tightened the bridle. She hated it. So it's a little bit tricky to get a line on [the track] without running on it. So could it keep some turf horses in New York? Possibly, yeah I think it could, and then it would just be a matter of seeing if they actually took to it.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, West Point Thoroughbreds, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers discussed the ongoing silence over hearings to adjudicate to the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, Jonathon Kinchen's suspension from the NHC Tour and Thursday night's Eclipse Awards. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The post Pletcher Talks Life Is Good, Colonel Liam, Top 3YOs On Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post