Todd Pletcher | Horse Racing Free Tips

Omaha Beach’s First Rising Star Ready for Next Step

The Starlight Racing and Harrell Ventures partnership was always excited about their well-bred son of Omaha Beach named Pirate, but their anticipation for the colt's debut reached an all-time high when he was assigned the infamous first stall adjacent to Todd Pletcher's office at his barn on the Oklahoma.

“We've been working with Todd for 23 years and it's hard to get him to get really excited about a horse,” joked Starlight's founder and managing partner Jack Wolf. “But you could tell that he liked ours from the get-go.”

Pirate fulfilled all expectations in his debut last Saturday when he rolled to a three-length victory to earn 'TDN Rising Star' honors. The Peter Blum-bred half-brother to GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure (Quality Road) was not only the first Rising Star of the Saratoga season, but also the first to earn the accolade for his freshman sire Omaha Beach.

Spendthrift sire Omaha Beach received a warm welcome at stud in 2020 as a three-time Grade I-winning son of War Front from the family of influential broodmare Take Charge Lady (Dehere). Omaha Beach now has four winners on the year so far, include Group 3-placed Launch.

Frankie Brothers, who is now retired as an agent and member of the Keeneland inspection team, was the one who encouraged the Starlight team to pursue the first crop of Omaha Beach.

“I give all the credit to Frankie Brothers,” said Starlight's racing manager Corbin Blumberg. “Prior to the sale, he called me and told me that the Omaha Beach horses were standouts physically. So going into the September Sale, we definitely had our eye out and were lucky that [Pirate] was the one that we were able to get. We really liked him and we were thrilled to get him for $350,000. To be honest, we thought we were going to have to stretch a bit for him. Doug Cauthen loved him as well. Physically, he was really correct. He had a great hind end and a really good top.”

“Personality-wise, too, he's just a real laid-back, cool horse,” added Wolf.

Wolf shared that Pirate came out of his first race in good order and that Pletcher has indicated that the colt will point to either the Aug. 12 GII Saratoga Special S. or the Sept. 4 GI Hopeful S.

“As usual, Todd will let the horse tell him, but just hanging out this morning, he looks like he's ready to do something again,” Wolf said.

The Starlight team is looking forward to finding out how Omaha Beach's best qualities will develop in this promising young son of his.

“War Front gets a lot of early 2-year-olds and Omaha Beach had that class on dirt,” explained Blumberg. “I think Pirate has the best of both worlds. He's obviously a precocious 2-year-old, but he showed on Saturday the ability on dirt that we love.”

Until Pirate's return to the starting gate, his connections will continue to celebrate a memorable Saratoga debut.

“For him to win like he did and become a Rising Star is super exciting,” said Blumberg. “Hopefully the rest of the meet goes as we hope. We're excited to have a horse like him in the barn with the Harrells and Todd.”

The post Omaha Beach’s First Rising Star Ready for Next Step appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Arabian Knight Favored Over Mage in Haskell

Undefeated two-for-two GIII Southwest S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) has been made the slight 5-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday's $1-million, GI TVG.com Haskell S. at Monmouth Park at the expense of GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), who was tabbed as the joint 3-1 second choice alongside GI Toyota Blue Grass S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit). The top three choices drew post positions eight, four, and five, respectively.

“I believe the horse's entire body of work and his entire career is what defines him,” said Mage's co-owner Ramiro Restrepo about the Derby winner. “It's not just one race. He had a great break. It's the start of the second half of his 3-year-old year. We feel he's good enough to compete and put forth a quality effort. Hopefully, that's good enough to get the job done and put forth a great performance and keep it moving. We're happy we have a talented horse who's feeling good, and we hope he'll give a great account of himself Saturday.”

Arabian Knight may be light on experience, but he has the services of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Haskell a record nine times.

“It's exciting to win the Haskell,” Baffert told track officials via phone from California. “It's a race where every year when I'm [evaluating] my 2-year-olds I always try to figure out who's going to be my Haskell horse. The reason we've always been so successful there is because I always bring my best horses there. You need to do that if you're going to win that race.”

Todd Pletcher, another Hall of Famer, has won the Haskell three times and will send Tapit Trice.

“Post position five works well,” said Pletcher. “He's had a history of drawing inside so that works out well. It looks like there's plenty of pace for him to run at.”

Wednesday's Haskell draw | Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO

Two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox has won the Haskell the last two years with Cyberknife (Gun Runner) and Mandaloun (Into Mischief). He will saddle Salute the Stars (Candy Ride {Arg}), who won Monmouth's Pegasus S. June 17.

“Mandaloun and Cyberknife were more accomplished colts. But he acted like a good horse the day he walked into the barn. That's only one exciting thing about him,” said Cox. “I don't know if the fact he's run over the track and won on it gives us an advantage, but it's a plus. These are obviously very good horses we're running against. It's definitely not a disadvantage.”

From the rail out, with jockeys and morning-line odds, the Haskell field includes: Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) (Mike Smith, 9-2); Awesome Strong (Awesome Slew) (Jose Batista, 30-1); Salute the Stars (Joel Rosario, 8-1); Mage (Javier Castellano, 3-1); Tapit Trice (Luis Saez, 3-1); Howgreatisnate (Speightster) (Paco Lopez, 20-1); Extra Anejo (Into Mischief) (Tyler Gaffalione, 5-1); and Arabian Knight (John Velazquez, 5-2).

The Haskell will be run for the 56th time and is a “Win and You're In” race for the $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Haskell undercard will also feature the $600,000 GI United Nations S., the $500,000 GIII Molly Pitcher S., the $400,000 GIII Monmouth Cup S., and the $300,000 GIII WinStar Matchmaker S.

The post Arabian Knight Favored Over Mage in Haskell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Champion Nest Primed for Seasonal Debut in Shuvee

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There will be no easing back into competition for champion Nest (Curlin). Certainly not on a Sunday in July at Saratoga Race Course.

In the first start of her 4-year-old season–which was delayed by illness–in the GII Shuvee S., Nest is likely to face Clairiere (Curlin), the leader of the older female dirt division, and GI La Troienne winner Played Hard (Into Mischief).

“It's not the position we set out to be on at the beginning of this year, but it's kind of where we are,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We've given up some recency to some really good horses, so hopefully she runs well and it brings her forward.”

Nest, co-owned by Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, really strengthened her case for the 3-year-old filly championship last summer at Saratoga with emphatic victories over Secret Oath (Arrogate) in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and the GI Alabama S. Secret Oath won the GI Kentucky Oaks by two lengths over Nest, the 2-1 favorite. In the showdowns at Saratoga after Triple Crown tests against males–Secret Oath was fourth in the GI Preakness S., Nest was second in the GI Belmont S.–Nest left no doubt about who deserved to be at the top of the table. She won the CCA Oaks by 12 1/4 lengths and the 1 1/4-miles Alabama by 4 1/4.

In her first test against older horses, Nest crushed the field in the GII Beldame S. by 9 1/4 lengths. She was the 7-5 favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but ended up fourth, some 3 1/4 lengths behind stablemate Malathaat (Curlin), who nipped Blue Stripe (Equal Stripes {Arg}) and Clairiere. Malathaat clinched the older filly Eclipse Award with that performance. Pletcher said Nest had a less-than-ideal trip in the Distaff at Keeneland.

As scheduled, Nest was given the next few months off to recover from her eight-race, five-victory season. It turned out to be a much longer break than planned. Pletcher said that three hours after she made the cross-Florida trip from the farm in Ocala to his stable at Palm Beach Downs, she spiked a fever. She got in a three-furlong work Apr. 15, had another upper respiratory issue and did not breeze again until May 13 at Belmont Park.

“We missed a month,” Pletcher said. “She got a pretty good lung infection that took us a while to get under control. Our original plan was for maybe running the [Apr. 21 GIII] Doubledogdare at Keeneland or the [May 5 GI] La Troienne at Churchill as a prep for the [June 10 GI] Ogden Phipps. It took us too long to get ready, so here we are.”

Pletcher said he considered bringing Nest back in the GIII Molly Pitcher Saturday at Monmouth Park, but opted to ship her to Saratoga and walk her across Union Ave. to run in the Shuvee.

She worked nine times at Belmont Park before completing her preparation Sunday morning with a half-mile breeze in :50 in company over the Oklahoma training track.

After what was a routine pre-race work, Pletcher said the most impressive part of Nest's breeze happened after the timing ended in front of the clocker's stand.

“The gallop out,” he said. “She seems to keep going.”

Clairiere has been a top-notch homebred performer for Stonestreet Stables and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. She has won eight of 19 starts and earned $3.1 million. Last year she handled Malathaat in the Shuvee, but was never a factor while finishing last of five in the GI Personal Ensign S. This year, she was second to Secret Oath in the GII Azeri S. and has won the GI Apple Blossom H. and Ogden Phipps. Played Hard was third in the Phipps, her 10th straight top-three finish since October 2021.

Considering the probables listed by NYRA, the Shuvee is likely to go off with a small, high-quality field. Pletcher said it figures to be a tough test.

“We expect big things from her always,” he said. “It's a lot to ask of her, but she ran well in her debut at a mile and a sixteenth and she's basically run well pretty much every start of her career. Hopefully we've got her fit enough to perform well and this is the first step towards bigger goals.”

Pletcher said he has not noticed any significant changes in Nest this season.

“She was so good last year that it's hard to see,” he said. “I think the main thing is she's filled out a bit, maybe carrying a little more condition than she was last year.”

What Nest has shown Pletcher in training is the running style that made her so effective during her championship season.

“It's what makes most of the good ones good, kind of a high cruising speed and the ability to carry it over a distance of ground,” he said. “As you saw last year, she has that ability on the dirt to accelerate, really quicken, the last part of a race. A lot of times, horses just have to keep grinding away but as we saw in the Coaching Club and the Alabama last year, she can cruise and then quicken.”

A few minutes after the workout Sunday, Pletcher said that gear-changing move was on display.

“If you saw the end of the gallop-out there,” he said, “she was all of a sudden 10 lengths in front of the other horse.”

The post Champion Nest Primed for Seasonal Debut in Shuvee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Nest Tunes Up for Shuvee, Pretty Mischievous on Track for Test

Nest (Curlin), last year's Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly, tuned up for her expected seasonal debut in the July 23 GII Shuvee S. with a four-furlong work in :50.00 (13/38) in company with unraced stablemate Onlooker (Street Sense) over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Sunday.

“It was a good work and a nice, strong gallop out. She seemed to keep going,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Owned by Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, Nest has been off since finishing fourth in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. During her championship campaign, she won the GI Alabama S., GI Ashland S. and GI Coaching Club American Oaks. She was also second in the GI Belmont S.

Nest was initially targeting the GI Ogden Phipps S. at Belmont Park in June for her 4-year-old debut, but Pletcher said he is confident the filly is ready to run off the long layoff.

“We expect big things from her always,” Pletcher said. “It's a lot to ask of her, but she ran well in her debut going a mile and a sixteenth and she's basically run well pretty much every start of her career. Hopefully, we have her fit enough to perform well and this is the first step towards big goals.”

Also working at Saratoga Sunday, GI Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) went four furlongs in :49.00 (11/91) over the Oklahoma training track for trainer Brendan Walsh and owner/breeder Godolphin.

“She worked great and I'm very happy with her,” said Walsh. “It was just a half and we'll do more with her next week–she doesn't need to overdo it. She's doing good.”

Following her win in the nine-furlong Oaks, Pretty Mischievous cut back to 1 1/16 miles to win the GI Acorn S. last time out June 9. She will shorten up even further for her next start, the seven-furlong GI Test S. Aug. 5.

“She's got bags of natural speed, so I think the timing is very good,” Walsh said of the cut-back. “We were able to give her a little more time between races and we've always kicked around the idea of shortening her up, so this seems like a good opportunity. She's a good horse, and most of them when they're that good can go two turns or shorten up. She's just got that natural speed, so why not try to utilize it? We can always go back to two turns if it doesn't work.”

The post Nest Tunes Up for Shuvee, Pretty Mischievous on Track for Test appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post