Tag: umberto rispoli

Hit The Road, Bodhicitta Prep At Santa Anita For Pegasus World Cup Day Races

Trainer Dan Blacker's Grade 1 stakes winning Hit the Road and the Richard Baltas-conditioned Bodhicitta, a Grade 2 winner, both worked over the Santa Anita turf late Sunday morning in preparation for major stakes engagements at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., on Pegasus World Cup Invitational Day, Jan. 29.

Hit the Road, a 5-year-old horse by More Than Ready, and Bodhicitta, a 6-year-old English-bred mare, came on Santa Anita's main track via the quarter mile chute at 11:42 and back-tracked around to the finish line, where they then came onto the turf and proceeded to the clubhouse turn.

Hit the Road, with Umberto Rispoli up, was a winner of the G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (turf) at Santa Anita on March 6, 2021, and was most recently a close third in the G2 City of Hope Mile on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 2.  A winner of six races from 12 starts and $563,751, Hit the Road is prepping for the G1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at 1 1/8 miles.

With Bodhicitta taking the lead, Hit the Road came onto the turf course about an eighth of a mile behind her and cantered with his pony near the outside fence to the 5 ½-furlong pole, where he shifted down to the rail and in an aggressive move, was in full stride at the five-furlong marker.  Clocked by Santa Anita track timer Dane Nelson going three furlongs in 36.14, he finished up five eighths of a mile in 58.42.

Owned by D K Racing, Radley Equine, Inc., Taste of Victory Stables, Tony Maslowski and Dave Odmark, Hit the Road has two graded stakes wins and five overall added money victories on grass included among a lifetime mark of 12-6-0-2.

Bodhicitta, who was ridden by Jose Valdivia Jr. and prepping for the G3, $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational at 1 1/16 miles,  remained well in front of Hit the Road and hit the half-mile pole running in an equally aggressive move.  Clocked the first quarter mile in 24.17, she finished up her half mile drill in 47.11.

A winner of the G2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar Aug. 8, 2020, Bodhicitta, made her first seven starts in Ireland and all four of her wins from 22 overall starts have come with Baltas in Southern California.  Owned by Calvin Nguyen, Bodhicitta has banked $364,808.

The post Hit The Road, Bodhicitta Prep At Santa Anita For Pegasus World Cup Day Races appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Chewing Gum Sticks It To Favored Beer Can Man In Joe Hernandez

In a thrilling photo finish, Chewing Gum was up to win by a thin nose over favored Beer Can Man in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Named for the original Voice of Santa Anita, the Hernandez, originally scheduled to be run at about 6 ½ furlongs on the track's hillside turf course, was instead run out of the 6 ½ furlong turf chute, with Chewing Gum, a 7-year-old full horse by Candy Ride, getting the distance under Umberto Rispoli in 1:15.27. Trained by William Mott, Chewing Gum, who shipped in from his New York base, notched his first-ever stakes win in his 23rd career start.

Next to last with three furlongs to run, Beer Can Man saved ground at the rail around the turn, tipped out four-wide at the top of the lane and was just up.

Most recently third in an ungraded six furlong turf stakes Nov. 27 at Aqueduct, Chewing Gum was off at 5-1 in a field of seven older horses and paid $13.40, $4.20 and $3.00.

“He is the kind of horse that you have to kind of forget him the first part of the race and Mr. Mott gave me the instructions to be on the outside, and in the stretch I had that gap so I didn't want to lose that chance,” said Rispoli. “For the first part he needs to find his legs and find his rhythm. I would say the ground really, really helped him, he really enjoyed that.”

Owned by Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable and Jerold L. Zaro, Chewing Gum, who is out of the Forestry mare Shared Heart, is now 23-4-4-8 overall and with the winner's share of $150,000, he increased his earnings to 591,788.

Beer Can Man, who pressed the issue throughout from his rail post position, was back in front a jump past the wire and finished 1 ½ lengths in front of French-bred Bran. Off as the even money favorite under Flavien Prat, Beer Can Man paid $2.80 and $2.20.

Bran, who was making his U.S. debut under Joe Bravo, rallied five-deep at the top of the lane and was third best. Off at 6-1, he paid $3.80 to show while finishing a neck better than English-bred Delaware.

Fractions on the race were 23.32, 46.10 and 1:09.26.

The post Chewing Gum Sticks It To Favored Beer Can Man In Joe Hernandez appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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TDN’s Most Popular Stories of 2021

With 2021 now behind us–thankfully, some might say–it's time to look back at the TDN stories that were the mostly widely read during the year. Unfortunately, it's a list largely void of feel-good stories. That's not surprising during what was another tumultuous year for the sport, from the sad saga of Medina Spirit (Protonico) to the sentencing of drug cheat Jorge Navarro to five years in prison to the 11th-hour surprise that was the United States Anti-Doping Agency announcing that it would not be part of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act going forward. It was also a year in which the sport lost some giants, B. Wayne Hughes, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid al Maktoum, Rick Porter, Khalid Abdullah, to name a few.

Here are the 10 most widely read stories of 2021:

  1. Medina Spirit Dies of an Apparent Heart Attack

The news was stunning and tragic. After finishing up a Dec. 6 workout at Santa Anita, Medina Spirit collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack. It was the final chapter in a story that began with an overachiever once sold for $1,000 winning the GI Kentucky Derby and continued with his drug positive in the Derby and then his death.

“Medina Spirit was a great champion, a member of our family who was loved by all and we are deeply mourning his loss,” trainer Bob Baffert said in a statement. “I will always cherish the proud and personal memories of Medina Spirit and his tremendous spirit.”

The story had more than twice as many readers as any other story that ran in the TDN during the year.

  1. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid al Maktoum Dies

In March, His Highness Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum passed away at the age of 75. Operating a racing and breeding empire under the Shadwell banner that tasted success all over the world, he raced 19 European Classic winners. In the U.S., Shadwell won such notable races as the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and the GI Belmont S. and was a two-time winner of the GI Whitney H.

  1. Lopez After Fight with Ortiz: I Don't Want Any Trouble Going Forward

There's nothing like a good old-fashioned donnybrook to get the readers' attention. Irad Ortiz, Jr. didn't like Paco Lopez's tactics during a late February race at Gulfstream and let him know it afterward when he started punching his rival outside the jockey's room. Lopez did not retaliate and told the TDN after it was over that he wanted to put the incident behind him.

  1. Rispoli Not Allowed to Fly to Saudi Arabia for Cup

COVID-19 regulations proved to be a headache during the early part of the year and kept Umberto Rispoli and John Velazquez from being able to travel to Saudi Arabia to ride in the Saudi Cup.

  1. Guillot Horse with Racist Name Wins at Aqueduct, Sparks Outrage

Trainer Eric Guillot retired from racing in January but he didn't exactly go quietly. The last horse he ran was a horse he named Grape Soda (Uncle Mo), a racist stereotype directed at African Americans. On Twitter, Guillot admitted the horse was named in “honor of a TVG analyst,” presumably Ken Rudulph. The horse was claimed out of the race by owner Larry Roman, who promptly changed his named to Respect For All.

  1. Rick Porter Passes Away

Few owners in the sport were more respected and more successful than Rick Porter. Porter, who campaigned three Eclipse Award winners, passed away in June at 80 after a long bout with cancer.

“We lost a gem in horse racing,” said trainer Larry Jones.

  1. Writers Room Tackles Medina Spirit News, Baffert, Ortiz Suspension

With the Medina Spirit death and the 30-day suspension handed to Irad Ortiz, Jr. by the Aqueduct stewards for careless riding, there was plenty to talk about on the Dec. 8 TDN Writers' Room podcast. A story previewing the podcast proved to be among the most popular of the year.

  1. Derby Winner Aiming for New World Record

Emma Berry tells the story of 2013 GI Epsom Derby winner Ruler Of The World (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) arriving in Italy at the Cipriani family's Allevamenti della Berardenga

  1. Irad Ortiz, Jr Suspended for 30 Days

In what was supposed to be an ordinary race in December at Aqueduct, Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard Gran Casique (Algorithms), inexplicably came over about eight paths while making his way toward the rail on the backstretch and cut over on and dropped apprentice Omar Hernandez Moreno. The Equibase chart caller wrote that “Gran Casique angled in with reckless abandon.” Throughout the year, many had been calling out Ortiz Jr. for what they said were his rough riding tactics. At least on this one occasion, the stewards agreed, setting him down for a month.

  1. Parx Backstretch Raid Yields Significant Contraband

There was plenty of controversy in 2021, including a backstretch raid at Parx that yielded, according to Pennsylvania Director of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Tom Chuckas, a “significant amount of contraband.” A few days later, trainer Richard Vega was “summarily suspended” by the stewards after hypodermic needles, syringes and injectable substances were found in his tack room.

The post TDN’s Most Popular Stories of 2021 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Field Pass Holds Off Sacred Life To Take Seabiscuit At Del Mar

After making a bold move circling the field on the backstretch, Field Pass took the lead around the far turn and held off rallying Sacred Life and Indian Peak to take the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

With early fractions of :23.77 and :48.19 from front runner Lambeau, jockey Umberto Rispoli moved Field Pass from fourth to confront the leader and second-place Bob and Jackie around the far turn. Entering the stretch, those two fell back, leaving Field Pass to take over the lead. On his outside were Sacred Life and Indian Peak driving down the center of the track, making up ground late.

At the wire, Field Pass was able to keep a head in front of Sacred Life, with Indian Peak three-quarters of a length back in third. Majestic Eagle, Flop Shot, Bob and Jackie, and Lambeau rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:41.85. Find this race's chart here.

Field Pass paid $9.00, $3.40, and $3.00. Sacred Life paid $2.80 and $2.20. Indian Peak paid $6.20.

“I didn't want to stop the stride of my horse. (He made an early run when he cut his mount loose in the middle of the backstretch.) He was running happy and I was happy, too. He fought hard late and we got there first.” Umberto Rispoli said after the Seabiscuit.

“He (Rispoli) made that move yesterday (winning) on Red Storm Risen and they went 48 to the half so I figured clearly he knew more than I did.  He's one of those horses that once you make the move there's no turning back. He's a classy horse who has gotten the job done in a lot of places and I'm very proud of him,” Nolan Ramsey, assistant to Mike Maker, said after the race.

Bred in Maryland by Mark Brown Grier, Field Pass is by Lemon Drop Kid out of the Runaway Groom mare Only Me. He is owned by Three Diamonds Farm and trained by Mike Maker. Consigned by Becky Davis, the 4-year-old colt was sold to Owls Bloodstock for $37,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale. With his win in the G2 Seabiscuit, Field Pass has two wins in seven starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of eight wins in 23 starts and career earnings of $913,143.

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