Triple Crown | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Improving’ Known Agenda Records Final Florida Work Before Shipping To Churchill Downs

Known Agenda recorded his first workout since the Florida Derby this Friday, breezing a half-mile in :50.37 in company with Pegasus Turf Winner Colonel Liam at Palm Beach Downs. According to the Daily Racing Form, trainer Todd Pletcher was pleased with what he saw from the 3-year-old son of Curlin.

The St. Elias Stable homebred has been a different horse since the addition of blinkers in a Feb. 26 allowance race at Gulfstream Park, which he won by 11 lengths. In his next start, the Florida Derby, Known Agenda post a 2 3/4-length upset at odds of 5-1.

“I think he's a horse who is improving, and the blinkers have kept him a little more focused and a little more engaged in the race,” Pletcher told DRF. “I think without the blinkers in the Florida Derby he might have been a little intimidated with the position he was in and he might not have made the progress he made from the five-eighths pole to the half-mile pole without them. But experience has also helped him. Time has helped him. The mile and an eighth certainly doesn't bother him. And I believe the added distance in the Derby is something we feel good about for all our horses.”

Pletcher's quartet of Kentucky Derby contenders and Longines Kentucky Oaks runner are scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs over the course of Sunday afternoon.

Pletcher is scheduled to have his Keeneland-based horses van from Lexington to Churchill Downs Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. and arrive just past noon. His South Florida-based runners are scheduled to arrive later in the afternoon along with his New York-based horses, according to Senior Director of the Stable Area Steve Hargrave.

Among the horses Pletcher is scheduled to send to Churchill Downs are Derby contenders Bourbonic, Dynamic One, Known Agenda and Sainthood and Oaks runner Malathaat.

O’Neill: Everything Set For Hot Rod Charlie, Except Derby Jockey

Doug O'Neill has a Kentucky Derby itinerary all mapped out for Hot Rod Charlie, save for one detail: no jockey.

That will work itself after Joel Rosario, who rode Hot Rod Charlie to an impressive two-length victory in the Louisiana Derby on March 20, pilots San Vicente and Rebel winner Concert Tour for Bob Baffert in Saturday's Arkansas Derby.

“If all goes well, our horse will breeze at Santa Anita every Saturday until the final one (on May 1),” said O'Neill, who steadfastly maintains an upbeat countenance. “He's booked to fly to Kentucky the Sunday before (April 25).

“We have no jockey right now but Rosario is supposed to let us know after the Arkansas Derby.”

O'Neill will be seeking to capture the Run for the Roses for the third time, having won it in 2012 with I'll Have Another and 2016 with Nyquist, both of whom were based at Santa Anita. Baffert has won the world's most famous race six times and the Triple Crown twice, in 2015 with American Pharoah and in 2018 with Justify.

Both call Santa Anita home.

“I think it's the weather,” O'Neill said when asked why horses based at The Great Race Place have had so much success at Churchill Downs. “Being able to train daily is huge, and you have to have a great team, too.

“But the weather here gives us a huge edge.”

Team O'Neill got a welcome taste of live action at Santa Anita last weekend when a limited number of fans were permitted to attend the races for the first time in more than a year, with the pandemic hopefully on the wane.

“It was great,” he said, “just the energy in the air. There's nothing better than racing and winning when there's good energy coming from the fans.

“It's great to have people back, so let's keep it going.”

The post O’Neill: Everything Set For Hot Rod Charlie, Except Derby Jockey appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Big Run In Lexington Stakes Could Propel Hockey Dad To Kentucky Derby

Going into Saturday's final two races that award qualifying points for the $3 million Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Woodford Reserve, Reddam Racing's homebred Hockey Dad sits in 25th place on the leaderboard with the 20 points he picked up for finishing third in the March 27 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway Park.

Saturday's Stonestreet Lexington (G3) at Keeneland offers 34 Derby points on a 20-8-4-2 scale to the first- through fourth-place finishers. A win or a second-place finish – coupled with the result of the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park – could vault Hockey Dad into the top 20 and a spot in the starting gate at Churchill Downs May 1.

Hockey Dad has been at Keeneland since the Jeff Ruby. Trainer Doug O'Neill said via text that the decision to supplement the son of champion and 2016 Derby winner Nyquist into the Stonestreet Lexington for $6,000 was made in the past few days.

“It was better to stay here than to go back to California and then come back again,” said O'Neill assistant Sabas Rivera, who is overseeing Hockey Dad's preparation at Keeneland while stabled in the barn of former O'Neill assistant Jack Sisterson. “He is doing very well, and I think he will run big.”

“We'll see how Saturday goes,” O'Neill texted regarding a possible Derby bid for Hockey Dad. “He's a very talented son of Nyquist.”

O'Neill and owner Paul Reddam already have two Kentucky Derby victories to their credit with I'll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist.

O'Neill has one other runner in California ready to go to Churchill: Hot Rod Charlie. Owned by the partnership of Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing and William Strauss, Hot Rod Charlie won the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) in his most recent start and was second at Keeneland last fall to champion Essential Quality in the TVG Breeders Cup Juvenile (G1) Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

Hot Rod Charlie is expected to ship to Churchill Derby Week.

The post Big Run In Lexington Stakes Could Propel Hockey Dad To Kentucky Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

UAE Derby Winner Rebel’s Romance To Skip Louisville, Await Belmont Stakes

The impressive winner of last month's UAE Derby in Dubai, Godolphin's Rebel's Romance will not take his place in the starting gate for the May 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. According to a Godolphin tweet on Wednesday, the 3-year-old son of Dubawi will instead be headed to the Belmont Stakes on June 4.

“Having spoken to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, we feel he needs more time and he will now be aimed at the last leg of the US Triple Crown, the G1 Belmont S.,” trainer Charlie Appleby said in the Godolphin tweet.

A winner of four of his five lifetime starts, including two on all-weather surfaces in Britain last year, Rebel's Romance was only defeated when shipping over to Saudi Arabia in February. He finished fourth in the Saudi Derby behind Pink Kamehameha. In the UAE Derby back on his home track at Meydan a month later, Rebel's Romance defeated that rival and 12 others for an impressive 5 1/2-length victory over frontrunner Panadol.

Reflecting on his latest big race win on Dubai World Cup night, Appleby said: “(Rebel's Romance) is still very much a work in progress and he looked much better tonight than he did in Saudi Arabia. I think the biggest attribute to him today is that he was going to stay. We were always confident he was going to stay. Stepping up in trip was going to be his forte.”

The Godolphin homebred is out of the winning Street Cry mare Minidress, herself a daughter of dual Group 3 winner Short Skirt. Minidress is a also full sister to recent Group 3 winner Volcanic Sky, winner of the G3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy at Meydan on Feb. 25, 2021 (1 3/4 mile on the turf).

The post UAE Derby Winner Rebel’s Romance To Skip Louisville, Await Belmont Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post