Tag: Triple Crown

Imaginary Stables' Howgreatisnate arrived home to Fair Hill, Maryland in good order after stumbling at the start of Saturday's Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham.

Trained by Andrew Simoff, the stakes-winning Speightster sophomore was undefeated in four starts heading into the one-turn mile Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifier, but saw his streak end as the gates opened, unseating jockey J. D. Acosta and completing the course before being collared by the outrider.

“He was fresh and a little too eager and he outbroke himself coming out of the gate. He pushed so hard his front feet went underneath him and he just went down,” Simoff said. “He came out OK. He got a little scrape on his pastern and we're keeping an eye on it, but other than that he looks good. If he's good in the next two or three days and there's no issues or inflammation, I'll look to run him right back.”

Acosta, who said he was kicked in the helmet by Howgreatisnate, walked off under his own power and visited with EMS. He booked off his two mounts Sunday at Laurel Park and is scheduled to ride again on Tuesday at Parx.

“I'm a little sore, but nothing too bad,” Acosta said. “I'll take today off and rest up and feel better for the next couple days.”

Howgreatisnate entered from a 3 1/2-length victory in the six-furlong Future Stars on December 5 following a trio of winning efforts at Delaware Park that included a score in September in the First State Dash, a sprint restricted to Delaware-bred or certified juveniles at the Wilmington oval.

Simoff said he was hopeful a good Gotham effort could propel Howgreatisnate onto bigger races like the $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2), which offers 100-40-30-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.

“If he had run fifth or sixth yesterday, I could deal with it and say he's not what we thought. We were trying to get a line on him to see if he could compete with the bigger horses,” Simoff said. “Now that I didn't get that opportunity, it's hard to figure out what to do next. Had he run second or third, the Wood would be a no brainer.”

One option for Howgreatisnate could be the nine-furlong Federico Tesio on April 15 at Laurel Park.

“We're considering everything right now,” Simoff said. “We might go to Maryland in a few weeks, and if he runs well there then we can get back to a bigger race.”

While the Gotham was lost in the first stride, Simoff took some consolation in seeing his horse get back into the race, albeit riderless, with a wide move to take command and run down the lane with the eventual winner Raise Cain.

“As bad as it was, it was kind of funny at the eighth pole when that horse went to run by him and he dug back in to run with him,” Simoff said. “It looked like he was pulling up, but when he saw that horse on the outside he dug back in. I was proud of him for that.

“It's a tough break, but we'll keep going,” added Simoff. “I've been in this game a long time and every once in a while, it's your turn for some heartache and yesterday was my turn. That's the way it goes.”

Howgreatisnate, out of the Tapit mare Bee Dees Bid, was purchased for $67,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale.

The post ‘He Looks Good’: Howgreatisnate Relatively Unscathed After Eventful Gotham, Jockey Acosta Resting After Kick To Helmet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gold Square's Slip Mahoney earned a 78 Beyer Speed Figure for his runner-up finish to 23-1 winner Raise Cain in Saturday's $300,000 Gotham (G3), a one-turn mile for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by two-time Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, who also sent out the pace-pressing fourth-place finisher Eyeing Clover, Slip Mahoney earned 20 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby (G1) and will likely point to the $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2) on April 8 at the Big A, a 100-40-30-20-10 qualifier.

“Both horses came back good,” said Cox. “Slip Mahoney will point for the Wood there. He obviously ran well and hopefully he gets a way better stretch run and doesn't leave himself so much to do.”

Slip Mahoney, ridden by Trevor McCarthy, broke a step slow from post 10 in the 14-horse field and trailed in 13th through the first half-mile. He improved to eighth at the top of the stretch while racing eight-wide in pursuit of Eyeing Clover and subsequent winner Raise Cain, who made an inside rally from 11th and showed an impressive turn of foot down the center lane under Jose Lezcano. Slip Mahoney gained with each stride down the stretch and surged past Eyeing Clover, but could not collar Raise Cain and settled for second 7 1/2 lengths back.

The Gotham came on the heels of an impressive third-out graduation on January 21 over the same distance and oval where he dueled strongly throughout with Crupi and bested him by a head at the wire. The Gotham was Slip Mahoney's first start facing winners and his second over a muddy and sealed track.

“Overall, I thought for the first time facing winners, it was a positive race,” Cox said. “I never expected him to be that far back. Hopefully he gets a little better trip and a little better position in the Wood.”

Ten Strike Racing, Michael Kisber and Colin Reed's Eyeing Clover arrived at the Gotham from a dominant six-furlong optional claiming victory in pacesetting fashion on January 28 at Fair Grounds where he defeated six rivals by 9 3/4 lengths. He battled for the lead in the Gotham with Recruiter and Carmel Road before tiring and finishing fourth, nine lengths back of Raise Cain.

“I'm not sure what we're going to do with him yet,” Cox said. “I'm not certain how far he wants to go, so we'll just regroup and come up with a game plan here in the near future.”

Cox also trains Gary and Mary West's Hit Show, who captured the Withers (G3) traveling nine furlongs on February 11 at the Big A. Cox said the son of Candy Ride, who has breezed back twice at Fair Grounds since his victory, remains possible for a return to the Big A in the Wood Memorial.

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Andrew N. Warren and Rania Warren's Raise Cain earned a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure for his authoritative score in Saturday's Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The son of Violence earned 50 points toward eligibility for the Kentucky Derby (G1) with his 7 1/2-length conquest and is now fifth on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 54 total points.

Raise Cain entered the one-turn mile Gotham – the penultimate local Kentucky Derby qualifier – off an uncharacteristic fifth in the Leonatus on January 21 over the all-weather surface at Turfway Park. This effort came following a second in the Gun Runner on December 26 at Fair Grounds, where he earned four points on the Derby trail.

Trainer Ben Colebrook said Raise Cain could return to New York for the $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2), which is the final local qualifier for the Kentucky Derby. The bay colt also could remain at his Keeneland base for the $1-million Blue Grass (G1). Both races are slated for April 8 and award the top-five finishers points based off a 100-40-30-20-10 scale.

“We're based at Keeneland and if it wasn't for that, the Wood would be circled. I guess we'll just sit back and see how the nominations are,” Colebrook said. “If one is significantly easier than the other, that would change our thinking. If you don't have to ship, why do it? But the Blue Grass could come up significantly tougher. In which case, we would go to the Wood.”

Raise Cain entered the Gotham as a longshot in a full field of 14 entrants and went to post at 23-1 odds. Despite the influx of horses in the race, Colebrook said the swelled field was more to the horse's benefit.

“When I really handicapped it, I liked it. I like the cutback angle in horse racing in general, especially this time of year when a lot of horses don't have much two-turn experience,” Colebrook said. “I thought it was a wide open race. It was definitely tough, but I thought a big field would help him to be honest. He's so laid back and he'll do whatever a rider asks him. He'll fit through gaps and find holes. I kind of thought that would be a good thing, especially with all the pace. I would have rather had that than some monster in a short field.”

Colebrook attempted to pull off an unusual double of saddling horses to victory in two different Kentucky Derby prep races in two different states. The Gotham field left the gate at 5:01 p.m. (ET) and Colebrook was back in Kentucky in time to saddle Scoobie Quando – owned by the same connections – in the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park, which went off at 9:29 p.m.

After he saddled Raise Cain for the Gotham, Colebrook was immediately en route to JFK Airport.

“Luckily, it worked out. Going to JFK, you pass the chute so I got the Uber driver to stop and I watched them run down the backside,” Colebrook said. “I switched on to my phone and watched the rest of the race, so I got to the airport in plenty of time, luckily. The plane was on time so I made it to Turfway as they were walking over to saddle, so everything worked out. I didn't really consider doing that until the overnights came out and they carded that race late at Turfway. So, I figured why not try it? I always really liked Scoobie, so I wanted to be there for that race.”

Scoobie Quando, a son of Uncle Mo, was behind a wall of horses late in the turn before angling out and rallying to finish second in the 1 1/16-mile test. He earned eight points on the Derby trail.

Scoobie Quando made his career debut at stakes level when capturing the January 7 Turfway Prevue going 6 1/2 furlongs. His runner-up effort in the John Battaglia makes him a likely candidate for the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 25 at Turfway Park. The nine-furlong synthetic test is a 100-40-30-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier.

“The timing isn't great, but he didn't really get to run last night. I don't think it was a tough race, so I'm leaning towards the ($700,000) Jeff Ruby (G3 March 25 at Turfway),” Colebrook said. “If the race took a lot out of him, we would probably skip it and look for something on the dirt or the turf with him, eventually. When I had him on the main track at Keeneland, he worked really well on it. I still think the dirt is within his wheelhouse. But if not, we have synthetic and turf to fall back on. The way he ran last night, we have to at least consider the Ruby.”

Scoobie Quando, a $160,000 Keeneland September yearling sale purchase from Bluewater Sales, is out of the multiple graded-stakes winning turfer Daveron (by Black Sam Bellamy), making him a half brother to multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire March to the Arch and multiple graded-stakes winner Global Access.

Colebrook credited veterinarian and former trainer Dr. Gregory Fox for his recent success on the Derby trail. As a trainer, Fox conditioned graded stakes winners Slew's Tizzy, Tizdejavu, and Battle of Hastings.

“He's actually how I got together with the owners,” Colebrook said. “He helps selects the horses and he's at the barn a lot. He's big into the E-tracker saddle towels that monitor the horses' works. It's been exciting because not a lot of owners have two good 3-year-olds at the same time. Raise Cain was the owners' first graded stakes winner and Scoobie was his first stakes winner. There's a lot to look forward to.”

The post ‘There’s A Lot To Look Forward To’: Colebrook Circles Wood, Blue Grass As Possibilities For Raise Cain; Pencils In Jeff Ruby For Battaglia Runner-Up Scoobie Quando appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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One year ago, Kentucky Derby 148 hero Rich Strike came through Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., before he qualified for the “Run for the Roses.” Now, his winning rider Sonny Leon could have himself another mount in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve after winning Saturday's $150,000 John Battaglia Memorial aboard improving 3-year-old Congruent.

Owned by Tami Bobo and Lugamo Racing Stable and trained by Antonio Sano, Congruent completed the 1 1/16-mile John Battaglia Memorial distance in 1:43.02 on the synthetic Tapeta surface.

Congruent broke from post No. 12 and was relegated to last early after dueling leaders American Speed and Eyes on the King swiftly completed a quarter-mile fraction of 22.94. Up the backside, American Speed separated himself from his speedy rival and clipped a half-mile time of :45.93. While the pace was fast up front, Congruent and Leon settled about eight lengths off the early proceedings. Around the 3/8ths pole, American Speed began to falter as Bromley and Moon Landing inherited the lead. Congruent and Leon tracked three wide around the turn and tipped four wide in the stretch. In deep stretch, Congruent swept by his rivals and confidently opened up late for a 3 ½-length victory.

“Turfway Park is home and I'm so glad to be back,” Leon said. “It's so exciting to come back home and win this race after Rich Strike ran well in it last year. Tonight, up the backside, (Congruent) was a little keen to go on with things but I wanted to wait for another two or three furlongs. He was full of run and really opened up late in the stretch.”

While Congruent wasn't 82-1 in the John Battaglia Memorial like Rich Strike was in the Kentucky Derby, he still paid a hefty $35, $11.08 and $7.94. Scoobie Quando, who was last at the top of the stretch, rallied for second under jockey Luan Machado and paid $6.06 and $3.72. Bromley and jockey Gerardo Corrales held third and returned $6.04.

Moon Landing completed the superfecta followed in order by Gilmore, Eyes On the King, Accident, Aristocracy, Good Heart, Freezing Point and American Speed.

The top 5 finishers were awarded points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby on a 20-8-6-4-2 scale. Bromley is not Triple Crown nominated but if his connections pay a $6,000 late fee, his 6 points would be officially added to the leaderboard.

Congruent is a 3-year-old gray son of Tapit out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Part the Seas. He was bred in Kentucky by the Tapit Syndicate and Glencrest Farm.

Racing will resume from Turfway Park on Thursday for an eight-race card. First post is 5:55 p.m. ET

On Saturday, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved Turfway Park to race Wednesday, March 15 to make up the cancellation from Friday due to high winds.

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