uncle chuck | Horse Racing Free Tips

Honor A. P. Tops Six Seeking Derby Points In Shared Belief Stakes

In a season of unusual happenings, Saturday's Shared Belief Stakes fits right in. The 3-year-old feature – which has drawn six very interesting runners — breaks new ground in that it is the first time a Kentucky Derby prep race has been conducted at the seaside oval in its 81-year history.

Of course, this is Kentucky Derby 146 upcoming and it's the first time it has been conducted on the first Saturday of September. That, too, fits right in.

Del Mar's $100,000 “Derby Prep” is normally a mile race at the end of August. But in anticipation of its new role, it was shifted to the beginning of August and lengthened to a mile and one sixteenth. It will carry Derby “points” of 50-20-10-5 for its first four finishers.

Heading the lineup are a pair of colts with short, but sparkling, resumes in C R K Stable's Honor A. P. and Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Uncle Chuck. The former has been hung the 8-5 morning line favorite, while the latter is right behind him at 9-5.

Honor A.P., a ridgling by Honor Code and a grandson of champion and prolific sire A.P. Indy, comes into the race off a tally in the Santa Anita Derby on June 6. He was second in the San Felipe at Santa Anita in his race prior to that and has been training forwardly at Del Mar for his “prep.” Mike Smith, who has handled Honor A.P. in all four of his starts so far, once again has the call Saturday.

Uncle Chuck, a colt by Uncle Mo, has only raced twice, but both times he was especially impressive. He scored by seven lengths in a Maiden Special Weight race at Santa Anita in June in his debut, then came right back on July 4 to handily capture the Los Alamitos Derby at the Orange County track. He, too, has looked good in the mornings in his Del Mar works and gets the saddle services of Drayden Van Dyke for the Shared Belief.

However, trainer Bob Baffert is expected to scratch Uncle Chuck from the Shared Belief in favor of the Travers at Saratoga.

The remainder of the lineup consists of Albaught Family stables or Spendthrift Farm's Thousand Words (Abel Cedillo the rider); Peter Redekop's Anneau d'Or (Victor Espinoza); John Sondereker's Kiss Today Goodbye (Umberto Rispoli), and Mangier, Tabor or Smith, et al's Cezanne (Flavien Prat).

The Shared Belief will be the second of 11 races on the Saturday card, which also features the Grade I, $250 Bing Crosby Stakes and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes.

First post on all programs at Del Mar this summer is 2 p.m.

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Uncle Chuck Breezes Six Furlongs At Del Mar In 1:12.20; Draws Rail For Shared Belief

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert dispatched undefeated (2-for-2) Uncle Chuck, comebacking Eight Rings and several other stable standouts for exercises Sunday morning at Del Mar, north of San Diego, Calif., in preparation for major upcoming assignments.

Uncle Chuck, a 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo who produced a four-length victory in the Grade III Los Alamitos Derby last out, went six furlongs in 1:12:20. Del Mar clocker Toby Turrell caught interims of :12.20, :47.80, and :59.80 with a gallop out to 1:26.00 for the solo work under Juan Ochoa. Uncle Chuck is entered and drew the rail for next Saturday's Shared Belief.

Eight Rings covered five furlongs in :59.20, tied with several others for fastest of 55 at the distance. The Empire Maker colt, who ducked in and hit the rail to unseat rider Drayden Van Dyke as the favorite in the 2019 Del Mar Futurity, is preparing for the second start of his 3-year-old campaign following a fifth-place of sixth as the favorite in the Batchelor at Oaklawn Park in April.

Three-year-old filly Gamine, winner of the Acorn Stakes in June who has been mentioned as a major candidate for the Kentucky Oaks or Kentucky Derby, went 6 furlongs in 1:12.60 for a possible start in the Test Stakes at Saratoga on August 8.

Four-year-old filly Fighting Mad, winner of the Grade II Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita on May 31, covered 5 furlongs in :59.40 preparing for the Grade I, $250,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes next Sunday.

“She likes this track and she's been working great,” Baffert said.

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Improbable Heading East For Whitney; Baffert Considers Options For McKinzie, Maximum Security

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will look to win the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney for the second straight year with different horses, as two-time Grade 1-winner Improbable will ship from California for the historic race for 4-year-olds and up this Saturday, Aug. 1, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Owned by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club International, Improbable captured the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on June 6, netting a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Baffert, who won his first career Whitney last year with McKinzie, saw Improbable work seven furlongs in 1:25.80 over Del Mar's main track on Saturday.

Baffert said Improbable was originally a possibility for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on August 22 at Del Mar, but plans changed after Maximum Security's victory in Saturday's Grade 2 San Diego Handicap to mark his successful return from a five-month respite.

“He's coming,” Baffert said with a laugh from his California base on Sunday morning. “We were going to run him here in the Pacific Classic, but we wanted to see what Max was going to do yesterday. I think if Max laid an egg, we would have done that. But Max showed us the horse we all thought he was.”

Improbable started his career with three consecutive wins, including the Street Sense at Churchill Downs after breaking his maiden in September 2018. He capped his juvenile campaign with a five-length win in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity in December of that year, propelling him to the Triple Crown trail in 2019 which started with back-to-back runner-ups in the Grade 2 Rebel and Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.

After being placed fourth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and running sixth in the Grade 1 Preakness, the City Zip colt won the Shared Belief in August at Del Mar before running fourth in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby in September and fifth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November.

After an extensive sophomore campaign, Baffert did not bring Improbable back until April, with a second in the Oaklawn Mile before a 3 1/4-length score in the Gold Cup last month. Baffert said his charge is now ready to get back on the road.

“The only problem with shipping him is that he has issues in the starting gate, for some reason,” Baffert said. “He doesn't have [those issues] in California. But he's doing really well.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., who rode him in last year's Kentucky Derby, is expected to have the return call in the Whitney, Baffert said.

McKinzie, who defeated a seven-horse field to win last year's Whitney while earning a 111 Beyer, will not bid for a repeat. But Baffert said a return engagement at the Spa is still a possibility with the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/4 miles on September 5 an option.

Maximum Security, who last year won the Grade 1 Haskell, at Monmouth Park, the Grade 3 Bold Ruler at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Racetrack en route to an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old, could also run in the Woodward. A son of New Year's Day, Maximum Security has nine wins in 11 career starts, including six grade or group victories.

“I might run McKinzie in the [Grade 1] Bing Crosby here going six furlongs [August 1 at Del Mar] this weekend, or the Woodward. I'm not sure yet,” Baffert said. “It's either McKinzie at the Woodward or Max at the Woodward. It depends. You never know. We're keeping all our options open. We'll nominate him [Maximum Security] everywhere.”

Baffert will be well represented at another prestigious Saratoga race, with Uncle Chuck targeting the Grade 1, $1-million Runhappy Travers on August 8. A son of Uncle Mo, the lightly raced Uncle Chuck will enter the “Mid-Summer Derby” 2-for-2 in his career, winning his debut by seven lengths on June 12 at Santa Anita before dominating a higher caliber field by four lengths in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4.

Owned by Karl Watson, Michael Pegram and Paul Weitman, Uncle Chuck was a $250,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland Association September Sale. He will now enter his first Grade 1 appearance against a field expected to include Grade 1 Belmont Stakes-winner Tiz the Law.

“He looks good. I mean, he's training right along and maturing,” said Baffert. “We know that Tiz the Law is just a tremendous racehorse, so we're looking forward to the matchup. I just like the way he's training.”

Uncle Chuck breezed six furlongs in 1:12.20 Sunday at Del Mar.

Baffert also said Eight Rings, who won the Grade 1 American Pharoah at 1 1/16 miles in September, is likely for the Grade 1, $300,000 Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy. The sophomore Empire Maker colt ended his 2019 running sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and ended a five-month layoff by running seventh in the Bachelor on April 25 at Oaklawn.

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Ny Traffic’s Haskell Second Leads To Jump In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

Authentic's victory in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes allowed him to hold his ground on the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Poll, but it was race runner-up Ny Traffic who gained heightened regard among voters.

In earning his first career top-level triumph on July 18, Authentic kept himself among the leading Kentucky Derby contenders and remained in the third position on the poll with 280 points. The son of Into Mischief improved his record to four wins from five career starts as he trails only Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law (38 first-place votes, 389 points) and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby victor Honor A. P. (1 first-place vote, 345 points) in the rankings.

Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector (248 points) and Los Alamitos Derby victor Uncle Chuck (135) sit fourth and fifth, respectively, on the poll with the only newcomer to the top 10 being the aforementioned Ny Traffic, who jumps from 18th up to sixth with 124 points. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Ny Traffic rallied late and was beaten just a nose by Authentic in the Haskell, his third consecutive runner-up outing. Ny Traffic had previously finished second in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and was also third in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes.

King Guillermo, winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, ranks seventh with 113 points followed by Dr Post (103 points), the third-place finisher in the Haskell. Leading sophomore fillies Gamine (101 points) and Swiss Skydiver (96) complete the top 10.

There was little change in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with champion distaffer Midnight Bisou racking up 23 first-place votes and 359 points to maintain the No. 1 spot for another week. Stephen Foster Stakes winner Tom's d'Etat (7 first-place votes, 323 points) is second with multiple Grade 1-winner Vekoma (2 first-place votes, 293 points) holding in third.

Zulu Alpha (156 points) moves up to fourth just ahead of Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, in fifth with 1 first-place vote and 146 points. By My Standards (135 points) and Mucho Gusto (131) rank sixth and seventh followed by Tiz the Law (2 first-place votes, 112 points), who continues his run as the lone sophomore in the Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Code of Honor (1 first-place vote, 90 points) and Maximum Security (3 first-place votes, 88 points) round out the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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