Top News | Horse Racing Free Tips

Amoss Remains High on Hoosier Philly

At odds of 2-5 and so highly regarded that she was the only filly included in Round 4 of the Derby Future Wager, Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) was a well-beaten third in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds Feb. 18. It was the last thing trainer Tom Amoss expected from a filly he had called the best horse he ever trained and who was 3-for-3 going in.

But as Hoosier Philly prepares for a start in the Mar. 25 GII Fair Grounds Oaks, Amoss said everything he has seen tells him that his filly is about to show everyone what all the hype was about.

Has he lost any confidence in the horse? “Zero,” he replied. “I still think she's the best horse I have ever had in my barn.”

Amoss spoke shortly after Hoosier Philly worked five furlongs at the Fair Grounds Thursday morning in 1:00. It was her third work since the Rachel Alexandra.

“I've had her since June of her 2-year-old year,” said Amoss, who confirmed that Edgar Morales has retained the mount. “I know her personality. The way she has trained and the way she has worked out since her last race gives me a lot of confidence going into this next race.”

Yet, he was saying pretty much the same thing before the Rachel Alexandra and he knows that Hoosier Philly did not back up his high expectations. So what happened? Amoss believes that she was compromised by a less than perfect trip.

“You have to be honest with yourself. It was not a good race,” Amoss said. “Then you have to figure out why it was not a good race. What was behind it? Nine times out of 10 when a horse has a bad trip in a race it starts right out of the gate. That's exactly what happened. She left the gate fine. She almost broke a little too hard. Then she stumbled and lost her balance a bit and found herself in a bad spot. The way to race ride, especially when there is a big favorite in the race, is to take advantage of something like that. The riders riding against her very alertly made her trip a very difficult one. The next thing you know she's last. She's eager and wanting to go. The pace wasn't very fast and there's no place for her to go. The pace was not only slow but look at chart of the race. Nobody changed positions except for her. Those things hurt in a race. She found herself in a position she wasn't used to being in.”

At the top of the stretch and very much within striking position, Morales wheeled Hoosier Philly to the outside and she had a clear run. She didn't respond, losing even more ground on the leaders in the stretch, losing by 8 1/2 lengths.

“I thought even after tough trip, turning for home she would show some punch and she did not,” Amoss admitted. “That was a concern.”

It was a major blow not just for those who bet Hoosier Philly in the Rachel Alexandra but for anyone who wagered on her in the Derby Future Wager. She went off at 11-1, third choice behind the “all others” option and Forte (Violence). A total of $16,956 was bet on her. Amoss has ruled out a start in the Derby and wishes she had not been included in the wager in the first place. Along with Julia Shining (Curlin), Hoosier Philly was one of only two fillies nominated to the Triple Crown.

“I'm not the guy who decided to put her in the future pool,” he said. “Nobody ever came to me and said we want to put her in the Derby Future pool, are you good with that? I don't know what determines what goes into that. I can't worry about that. I'm just trying to do right by my horse. I never wanted the public to be led in the wrong direction. Had they asked me, I wouldn't have been comfortable putting her in the Derby Future Pool. I don't think it was fair to have people betting on something that may not occur.”

Hoosier Philly went off at 7-1 in the one round of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which closed last Sunday. Should she win the Fair Grounds Oaks impressively that will look like a bargain. But will she? There are too many unknowns this time for her to be a heavy favorite. Amoss knows that and knows that this is the most important race thus far in her career. Was the Rachel Alexandra for, whatever reason, a race that you can throw out? Or did Hoosier Philly not make the all important transition from two to three? Or maybe she just isn't as good as everyone thought. Every one of those questions should be answered in her next start.

“I'll be nervous when she goes to the gate,” Amoss said. “Leading into the race I'm just trying to concentrate on the things I can control and I think we've done a good job taking care of those things. I would love to think that last race was a one off. There is enough evidence to suggest it will be. This race coming up will determine whether that's true or not. I know that.”

The post Amoss Remains High on Hoosier Philly appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Litigate For Pletcher Off The Derby Trail

Litigate (Blame), winner of last month's GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs, is off the GI Kentucky Derby trail, according to Daily Racing Form.

Owned by Centennial Farms, he most recently worked four furlongs in :50.52 at Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs base Feb. 24.

The $370,000 KEESEP graduate was being aimed at the GII Louisiana Derby.

The post Litigate For Pletcher Off The Derby Trail appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Facelift in Store for Saratoga, New Synthetic Track for Belmont Park

The main takeaway from Wednesday's meeting of the New York State Franchise Oversight Board is that the Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park of today will look quite different by the end of 2024, with the bulk of the meeting spent outlining a series of proposed and ongoing capital improvement projects, which the board approved.

Arguably the news of most significance is planned installation of a new one-mile synthetic track to the inside of Belmont Park's inner turf course. This synthetic surface–the specific material of which is currently unknown–will serve as a fourth racing surface at the facility.

At the end of last year, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) finished installation of the Tapeta Footings synthetic surface at the facility's pony track.

Glen Kozak, NYRA executive vice president of operations and capital projects, explained that the initial positive feedback to this surface from the horsemen helped cement the decision to install the second synthetic surface at Belmont Park.

“The feedback from the horsemen has been excellent,” said Kozak, who explained how even in very inclement weather, training delays have been minimized.

On one day last week, “we got an inch and a half of wet snow that finished up as sleet, and we delayed training,” said Kozak. After removing the wet snow and working the track, “in a matter of 45 minutes, we had it available for training.”

With work recently completed on a vehicular tunnel accessing the Belmont infield, this opens the door to simultaneous renovation of the inner turf course when the facility's 2023 spring-summer meet concludes in July.

Work on both the inner turf track and the new synthetic surface are expected to be completed by spring of 2024.

According to the NYRA representatives, the new synthetic track's primary race-day purpose is to provide a viable option during the harsh winter months. However, it will also be used as a substitute during the summer months when racing is taken off the turf.

Other construction projects outlined for Belmont include a new backstretch dormitory near the existing two such buildings.

“What we're proposing is a single-story dorm, double-sided,” said Kozak, who added NYRA doesn't have the final specifications for the building yet, but that it would be “consistent” with dorm number two. “We'd like to get to 100 beds,” he added. “Three occupants per room.”

The plan, said Kozak, is to ultimately decommission some of the older existing living quarters.

Separately, NYRA plans to make upgrades and refurbishments to certain barns, including the quarantine barn. The barn area fire alarm system will be modernized. Another plan, said Kozak, is to connect the entire backstretch with Wi-Fi.

These projects form part of NYRA's multi-year, $40-million renovation and modernization initiative at both Belmont and Saratoga.

Over at Saratoga, NYRA will construct a new residential building adjacent to the lowlands on the Oklahoma training track side of the facility. This follows approval of the designs from the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation.

In addition, NYRA will continue renovations to existing housing on both the Oklahoma and main track sides of the facility.

Other projects include planned restoration of the “Resident Manager's House,” refurbishment of the grandstand and clubhouse, additional spa verandas near the existing ones, and construction of a new hospitality area near the Wilson Chute.

Interestingly, NYRA is looking to replace the temporary tent where horses are saddled with a permanent building due to the “safety issues” inherent with the current structure. “It's basically a tent built over wooden stalls,” said Kozak.

The saddling stalls are “probably the most visible spot on the track,” said Kozak. While plans are fluid, the intent is to use rubberized paver on the floor, enlarge the area at the front, and design a barrier to muffle traffic noise from behind.

“We've already engaged Saratoga Preservation to go over and get feedback from them,” Kozak said.

Earlier in the meeting, David O'Rourke, NYRA president and chief executive officer, announced plans for a single admission price at Saratoga of $10 a day, or $7 when purchased in advance.

The thinking behind the idea, O'Rourke said, was to give fans access to the entire property rather than just the clubhouse or grandstand.

In Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related news, the Franchise Oversight Board remarked how NYRA already conducts an out-of-competition (OOC) program alongside the state's drug testing program.

When asked if NYRA will continue that OOC testing program when HISA goes into effect later this month, O'Rourke said that NYRA “will continue it in collaboration” with the new federal authority.

The post Facelift in Store for Saratoga, New Synthetic Track for Belmont Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Frosted Colt Gets Grade I Off to a Fast Start at OBS

A colt by Frosted (hip 247) got Nellie and Chetley Breeden's new Grade I Investments consignment off to an auspicious start when he was one of four horses to earn the furlong bullet of :9 4/5 during the second session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in Central Florida Wednesday.

Nellie Breeden is no stranger to the sales scene, having spent time as assistant trainer to her father, legendary pinhooker Jimmy Gladwell, as well as pinhooking through the Top Line Sales consignment of her brother, Jimbo and his wife Torie, but she did admit to some nerves as she and her husband sent out the first horse to work under their own banner.

“We've gotten horses ready for the sales previously and they've sold with my brother and sister-in-law, so [the colt] doing his job, we were prepared for that,” Breeden said. “But when he came down the lane and they said, 'Grade I Investments,' I think my heart was going to come out of my chest. I just wanted him to do a good job. I was so proud of him.”

While 10 horses worked in :9 4/5 during Tuesday's first session of the under-tack show, no horses broke :10 during Wednesday's first set. Hip 342, a filly by Brethren consigned by Goldencents Thoroughbreds, was first to hit the :9 4/5 mark during the day's second set and was followed just minutes later by Grade I Investments lone offering of the March sale.

“We knew he was fast. He had prepped well,” Breeden said. “Today it seemed like the track was maybe a tick off or something this morning. Going into it, we thought he would do :10 flat and then you hope for a :9 4/5. It sounds good leading into it, but then when he gets on the track, you think, 'Gosh, am I crazy? Can he really do it?' But we thought he was fast, so he did what he was supposed to do.”

Hip 247 is out of the unraced Ananda (Scat Daddy), a full-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Daddy Nose Best. A partnership of family members purchased the colt for $50,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“The first thing we liked about him was his physical,” Breeden said of the colt's appeal as a yearling. “And that has stayed superior. The only thing that has changed is that Frosted has really gotten hot in the last eight weeks or so. That's really been in our favor, but as far as the colt, he has never had to take a day off. He's maintained his physique throughout the training, so he's just gotten stronger and stronger.”

Consigning was just the natural next step for the Breedens, who lease Two Springs Farm in Micanopy from Dean and Patti Reeves.

“I had previously been working under my dad and so we have been training the horses and then sending them over to Top Line,” Breeden said. “In the 2-year-old game, most people who train their horses, sell them. So we just thought it was a natural progression for us to take that step and showcase some of the horses that we train and try to bring them to the buyers.

“We were actually going to sell last year and then Mr. Reeves purchased the farm, so we started bringing that farm back to life and it was just too much of an undertaking to sell at the same time. This year, we had our wits about us and decided it was time to take the plunge.”

The current plan is to keep the consignment small, but Grade I Investments will have horses at the OBS April and June sales.

“We buy [yearlings] as a group,” Breeden said. “It's my brother, Raymond and his wife Megan and then my mom and dad and some of our other family has bought in on other horses that are going to other sales. But it is usually a group effort, which makes it a lot of fun. Chetley and I will get the opportunity to sell a few of those, but not all of the horses that we are pinhooking will sell with us. Some will go to Top Line as well. The horses that we own a majority of or a bigger piece of, we will sell. We don't intend to grow the consignment as a major source of income for us. It's more to showcase our horses and will be a more boutique style. That's our goal. Just to showcase our horses really well and bring them to the buyers.”

With just one horse in its inaugural consignment, things are off to a good start for Grade I Investments.

“Everyone asks, 'Are you nervous?'” Breeden said. “We've gotten horses ready for the sales for years, so honestly, that hasn't been the nerve-wracking part. The nerve-wracking part is, 'Do I have all of my paperwork in?' 'Do I have this?' Just the logistics of the sale, that's been the biggest learning curve so far.”

The couple has plenty of support right nearby on the OBS barn area should they need it.

“I am neighbors with my Uncle Robby [Harris from Harris Training Center] and my cousin J.R. [Boyd] from Brick City, so if I need something, they are right there to help,” Breeden said. “And of course Jimbo and Torie, any question I have, they are right on the spot to help out. It's really nice to have it be a family affair. It's been a good experience so far.”

The bullet furlong workers at OBS Wednesday also included: a filly by Mitole (hip 312, video) consigned by S B M Training and Sales; and a colt by War Front (hip 392, video) consigned by Kings Equine.

A colt by Bucchero (hip 406) turned in the fastest quarter-mile breeze of the day–and of the week so far– when working in :20 3/5 for Tom McCrocklin.

The under-tack show continues through Friday with sessions beginning each day at 8 a.m. The OBS March sale will be held next Monday through Wednesday and bidding commences at 11 a.m. each day.

The post Frosted Colt Gets Grade I Off to a Fast Start at OBS appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post