Tag: Triple Crown

Steve Asmussen, horse racing's all-time winningest trainer, sent out Three Chimneys Farm's Otto the Conqueror to win Friday night's $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla. It was Asmussen's seventh victory in the Springboard Mile, a Kentucky Derby qualifying points race awarding 10-5-3-2-1 points to the top five finishers.

Previously unbeaten Glengarry, trying to become the second consecutive Iowa-bred to win the Springboard Mile, finished second, with Magic Grant third, Third Street fourth, My Buddy Mel fifth, and Raging Torrent sixth. There were three scratches.

Ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Otto the Conqueror – a Street Sense colt out of G3 Schuylerville Stakes winner Dream It Is, by Shackleford – hooked up on the front end with Glengarry in the early going, with the two racing as a team most of the way through fractions of :23.48, :46.35, 1:11.40, and 1:25.26. Otto the Conqueror edged away from a stubborn Glengarry to his inside in the final sixteenth to win by three-quarters of a length in a final time of 1:39.91 on a muddy track. It was 1 1/4 lengths back to Magic Grant.

Otto the Conqueror, who Asmussen said was named for the eldest son of Three Chimneys Farm owner Goncalo Borges Torrealba, paid $4.80 for the win, his third in four career starts. The Springboard Mile was Otto the Conqueror's stakes debut and first try around two turns.

In his previous start, Otto the Conqueror defeated Honor Marie and Just Steel in an allowance race at Churchill Downs. Honor Marie came out of that race to win the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes while Just Steel would win the Ed Brown Stakes next out – both races at Churchill Downs. Asmussen said Otto the Conqueror would return to Oaklawn, where he had been stabled, and point for future Derby trail races.

Otto the Conqueror was bred by Hoolie Racing Stable and purchased by Three Chimneys for $450,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Claiborne Farm consignment.

Two entries from the Brad Cox stable – Calumet Farm's Fidget and Siena Farm and WinStar Farm's Gettsyburg Address – were entered and scratched from the Springboard Mile. Cox shipped a total of four horses to Oklahoma City to race on Friday night, but published reports said they left the track on Friday morning. The trainer did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Randy Howg's Rhino Runner also was scratched. He was entered by trainer Sean Williams, substituting for Robertino Diodoro, who is serving a suspension for a TCO2 overage at Oaklawn Park earlier this year.

The Remington Park meet concludes on Saturday with a 12-race card that begins at 2:30 p.m. CT. The day was added as a makeup for the nine races lost on Dec. 6 when the track's lighting system did not function properly.

The post Otto The Conqueror Outduels Glengarry In Remington Springboard Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Nominations for Road to the Derby Kickoff Day's eight scheduled stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Saturday Dec. 23 have been released. The day's headline races include the 3rd running of the $100,000 Gun Runner and the $100,000 Untapable Stakes for fillies. Both stakes award 10-5-3-2-1 points as the final 2-year-old Kentucky Derby and Oaks prep races of the calendar year. The Gun Runner closed with 25 nominations; the Untapable with 18.

Post positions for the Dec. 23 card, which also includes the Sugar Bowl, Letellier, Tenacious, Richard R. Scherer Memorial, Blushing KD, and Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes will be drawn on Saturday, Dec. 16. First post is scheduled for noon CT.

Run over 1 1/16 miles, the Gun Runner is named for the local winner of the 2016 Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. In 2021, the inaugural running featured the Kentucky Derby 148 exacta, as Epicenter won and Rich Strike finished fifth. Jace's Road's path to Kentucky Derby 149 began with winning the 2022 edition.

Brad Cox leads all trainers with seven Gun Runner nominees, including Godolphin's homebred Nash, who broke his maiden going two turns on Nov. 12 at Churchill Downs, winning by 10 1/4 lengths.

Steve Asmussen has a quartet of horses nominated to the Gun Runner including Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm's Risk It, who has a second-place finish in the Iroquois (G3) and a fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) on his resume. Winchell Thoroughbreds and Asmussen teamed up to win the 2021 Gun Runner with Epicenter.

Other top nominees to the Gun Runner include: Don't Tell My Wife Stables' Next Level, who broke his maiden on Thanksgiving at Fair Grounds for trainer Keith Desormeaux and has a third-place finish in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) on his resume; Red White and Blue Racing's Neat, a Constitution colt trained by Rob Atras who has two wins on the turf, including an open-lengths, first-level allowance score going 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 25 at Fair Grounds; and Greg McDonald's homebred Footprint, a son of Dialed In sporting a 3-1-1-0 record, having won on debut at Keeneland this fall for trainer Ken McPeek.

McPeek also boasts four Untapable nominees, including Brownwood Farm's homebred Sistina Chapel, who along with her maiden win has never finished out of the exacta in four starts, and Dixiana Farms' Band of Gold, who broke her maiden when debuting on Churchill Downs' Stars of Tomorrow II card. Top among Cox's list-leading five Untapable nominees is Full of Run Racing and Madakat Stables' Alpine Princess who has two impressive wins along with her 7th-place finish in the Darley Alcibiades (G1), and the Rags to Riches winner West Sunset, a Gary and Mary West homebred who finished eighth in the Golden Rod (G2). Phil Bauer nominates three fillies to the Untapable; Tom Amoss, two; and Steve Asmussen nominates Whisper Hill Farm's Gun Runner filly, Perfect Shot.

The Untapable is run across 1 mile 70 yards. In 2022 Pretty Mischievous began her road towards winning the 2023 Kentucky Oaks with a victory in the Untapable for trainer Brendan Walsh, which she followed up with a victory in the Rachel Alexandra (G2) before finishing second in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2).

The list of nominees and the past performances for all eight stakes to be run at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Dec. 23 can be found here: https://bit.ly/471HZ9Y.

The post Nash, Risk It Among Top Nominees To Fair Grounds’ Road To The Kentucky Derby Kickoff Day appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Unbeaten in three career starts, all on dirt, Susumu Fujita's Forever Young grabbed the lead on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby on Wednesday with a dominant victory in the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun. The 2-year-old son of Real Steel (Deep Impact) bested 11 rivals by seven lengths, completing the one-mile distance at Kawasaki Racecourse in 1:43.50 under jockey Ryusei Sakai.

“Around the far turn and at the top of the stretch we had pretty much confidence,” Sakai told bloodhorse.com. “I did not think we would be winning by that big a margin. He is a very nice colt, and there appears to be many more things we would be looking forward to.”

Forever Young is out of the U.S.-bred Forever Darling (Congrats), winner of the G2 Santa Ynez Stakes.

Forever Young's trainer Yoshito Yahagi has become a commonly-seen face on the international racing circuit, known especially for his iconic hat collection; he sent out the winners of two Breeders' Cup races in 2021, Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine, as well as the winner of the 2023 Saudi Cup (G1), Panthalassa.

Yahagi also trained Continuar, who qualified for the 2023 Kentucky Derby but was withdrawn shortly before the race when the trainer decided he was not fit enough for the race.

“Of course, the Kentucky Derby is my dream, but we will make a decision after talking with the owner,” Yahagi said after the race. “Yes, I will continue to train this horse so that we would not disappoint the expectation of many people, which includes running him in the international circuits.”

The post Japan Road To The Kentucky Derby: Forever Young Grabs Lead After Dominant Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Owner Mike Repole is already thinking about the 2024 Kentucky Derby, and how the prep season might shake out with this year's presumptive Champion Juvenile, Fierceness. Repole told bloodhorse.com that he and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher may try a slightly different route than the one they took with last year's 2-year-old Champion, Forte.

Both Fierceness and Forte, winners of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in the respective 2-year-old seasons, then shipped down to Florida. Forte began his 2023 campaign with a win in the G2 Fountain of Youth in March, and then a win in the G1 Florida Derby in April, but he was scratched on the morning of the Run for the Roses.

“It's early, but if all goes well, I think we're going to do something different and run [Fierceness] in the Holy Bull (G3) [in February], then maybe the Florida Derby and skip the Fountain Youth,” Repole told bloodhorse.com. “That gives him eight weeks to his final prep and then five or four weeks before the Kentucky Derby. That's the route we're going to take rather than start in the Fountain of Youth.”

Repole bred Fierceness (City of Light), who is out of the Repole-owned and Pletcher-trained Stay Thirsty mare Nonna Bella. Fierceness won the Breeders' Cup by 6 1/4 lengths after a disappointing loss as the 1-2 favorite in the G1 Champagne.

“He's built way different than other horses I've had,” Repole told bloodhorse.com. “He had one bad day. It just so happened to be in the Champagne. It's still a head-scratcher. But he's already run faster Ragozin numbers than Forte ever did.”

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