Tag: united

Mandella Has United Fit For Return In 12-Furlong San Luis Rey; Prat Wins Five

Idle roughly five months since running a disappointing eighth in the Breeders' Cup Turf, Richard Mandella's classy turf star United came back running on Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as he stalked the early pace and motored to an emphatic three quarter length win in the Grade 3, $100,000 San Luis Rey Stakes.  Ridden by Flavien Prat, who notched his fourth win of the day, United, a 6-year-old gelding by Giant's Causeway, got a mile and one half on turf in 2:25.51.

Prat added a fifth win in the following race about Fratelli to extend his lead in the local jockey standings to 20 over Juan Hernandez.

With speedy Acclimate going to the front as expected in the run down the hillside turf, Prat was attentive to the pace and tracked the leader while applying mild pressure to the far turn, where he took over a quarter mile out and outran second choice Masteroffoxhounds from the top of the lane prior to holding off a late run from Say the Word.

“Hat's off to Mr. Mandella, he had him ready to run a mile and one half today,” said Prat, who has now guided him to five graded stakes wins.  “He was traveling well the whole way and he responded well when I asked him to go.  My horse likes to be in the race and he likes it when there is a good pace.  I wanted to stay close to Acclimate, I didn't want him to get too easy of a lead.

“Like I say, we were traveling well and at the three eighths pole, I was in control.  He likes the turf courses out here and with the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, that's good.  Hoping to have a good year.”

Heavily favored at 4-5 in a field of five older horses, United paid $3.80, $2.60 and $2.10.

“It's always nice to be home,” said Mandella.  “He's won very nicely at Del Mar also, although we like The Great Race Place.”

Owned by LNJ Foxwoods, United, who is out of Indy Punch, by Pulling Punches, now has five wins from 10 starts over the Santa Anita turf and his overall mark stands at 18-8-4-1.  With the winner's share of $60,000, he now has earnings of $1,513,549.

Patiently handled by Mike Smith, Say the Word made a nice late run, easily besting Masteroffoxhounds by one length.  Off at 4-1, Say the Word paid $3.60 and $2.80.

A winner of the G2 San Marcos Stakes at a mile and one quarter on turf Feb. 6, Masteroffoxhounds sat third to the top of the lane and was unable to hold off Say the Word for the place.  Ridden by Umberto Rispoli, he was off at 2-1 and paid $2.20 to show while finishing five lengths clear of Acclimate.

Fractions on the race were 24.29, 47.18, 1:11.36, 1:36.01 and 2:00.80.

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Classy United Returns To Action In Saturday’s San Luis Rey Stakes

Richard Mandella's classy multiple stakes winning United, idle since early November, will square off with Richard Baltas' sharp recent winner Masteroffoxhounds, as they head a field of five older horses going a mile and one half on turf in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita.

A winner of four out of nine Santa Anita turf starts, United has been idle since running a disappointing eighth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland—a race in which he finished second, beaten a head at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, 2019.

A 6-year-old gelding by Giant's Causeway, United enjoyed a terrific year in 2020, winning four out of his six starts, all in graded stakes, and finishing a close second in another, the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap three starts back on Aug. 22.

A gate to wire winner of the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at a mile and one quarter here two starts back on Sept. 26, United's lone “misfire” came in the Breeders' Cup Turf, a race in which he pressed the early pace but tired to be beaten 9 ¾ lengths.

Owned by LNJ Foxwoods, United will be ridden by Flavien Prat, who's been aboard for his last 11 starts, winning five of them. With two second place finishes in three tries at 1 ½ miles on turf, United is easily the leading money earner in the field with $1,453,549 from an overall mark of 17-7-4-1.

A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred colt by War Front, Masteroffoxhounds made his first six starts in Ireland, winning one of them. A non-threatening seventh in his U.S. debut going one mile on turf three starts back on Nov. 7, he's shown rapid improvement going longer distances for Baltas—airing by 4 ¼ lengths in a 1 3/8 mile turf allowance Nov. 28 at Del Mar and most recently, winning the Grade 2, 1 ¼ mile turf San Marcos Stakes here on Feb. 6 by 1 ¼ lengths.

Although ridden by Joel Rosario for the first time in the San Marcos, Masteroffoxhounds will get the first-time services of Umberto Rispoli. With an overall mark of 9-3-1-1, Masteroffoxhounds, who is owned by Rockingham Ranch, has earnings of $172,942 and will be trying a mile and one half for the first time.

As is often the case on grass at Santa Anita, trainer Phil D'Amato will be very well represented, in this case, by a pair of horses, Ontario, Canadian-bred Say the Word and California-bred Acclimate.

In his first start for D'Amato, the current Winter/Spring leader with 10 stakes wins, Say the Word, a dedicated deep closer, finished with a flourish two starts back to be third, beaten one length, in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup going a mile and one half at Del Mar on Nov. 27. Subsequently 11th going 1 3/16 miles in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Turf Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, he's worked six times since over Santa Anita's inner dirt training track, a regimen that has worked well for D'Amato this winter.

A 6-year-old gelding by More Than Ready that is owned by his breeder, Sam-Son Farm and Agave Racing Stable, Say the Word's chances would be greatly enhanced by a lively pace. A Group 1 winner at a mile and one half on turf at Woodbine Race Course, he's got an overall mark of 27-5-2-5, good for earnings of $469,292.

With leading rider Flavien Prat opting to stick with United, Say the Word will be ridden for the first time by Mike Smith.

D'Amato will hope to “have 'em surrounded” in the San Luis Rey, as his 7-year-old gelding Acclimate, will likely go to the front and try to take the field as far as he can under Tyler Baze. Bet to the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 2 San Marcos on Feb. 6, this California-bred son of Acclamation showed the way until collared by Masteroffoxhounds in a 1 ¼ length defeat—which was his third start off a one year absence.

With four wins, two seconds and as many thirds from 13 tries over the Santa Anita turf, Acclimate's connections will hope a hillside start may bolster their front-running chances on Saturday. Owned by the Ellwood Johnston Trust, Timmy Time Racing, LLC and Ken Tevelde, Acclimate, who was bred in-part by Old English Rancho, has earnings of $439,872.

THE GRADE 3 SAN LUIS REY STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 9 Approximate post time 4:00 p.m. PT

  1. Acclimate—Tyler Baze—120
  2. Masteroffoxhounds—Umberto Rispoli—124
  3. United—Flavien Prat—124
  4. Say the Word—Mike Smith—124
  5. Multiplier—Abel Cedillo—120

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 1 p.m. All of Santa Anita's races are offered free of charge at santaanita.com/live and fans can wager at 1st.com/bet. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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Versatility ‘Never Hurts’: United Could Be The Early Leader Or Could Stalk Pace In The Turf

United will be back this weekend to contest his second Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf, and his connections will no doubt be hoping he can turn around last year's painfully-close second-place finish behind Bricks and Mortar.

This year, trainer Richard Mandella said he'll be coming in with a new weapon: a running style discovered in his win in the G2 John Henry Turf Championship last time out.

“We decided to just jump him out, put him on the lead, and stay out of trouble,” said Mandella. “He'd been in trouble the race before and it may have cost him winning. We thought we'd let him jump out there and he really liked it. It gives us the feeling that we have options now to do whatever feels best.”

Previously, United had been prone to stalk an early leader going at a slow or moderate pace, and wait farther back off a hot pace. It's possible the newfound versatility could give him an edge over the many European invaders in the race, including formidable foes in Magical (IRE) and Mehdaayih (GB), but Mandella wasn't tipping his hand when it came to race strategy on Thursday.

“It never hurts to have the versatility option to go either way,” Mandella said. “But it's too early — I haven't seen enough of the field yet to handicap and figure out what our best strategy is. I'll pretty much leave that up to Flavien Prat, a great jockey.”

United has been first or second in all his starts going back to the 2019 John Henry, and Mandella said he feels good about the gelding coming into the weekend. He does anticipate a challenger in Channel Maker, the Bill Mott trainee who won this year's Sword Dancer by an impressive 5 3/4 lengths, but he doesn't focus too much on other horses, preferring to keep eyes on his own work.

Since he's a gelding, Mandella said it's likely United will be back for a 6-year-old campaign. He'd tried to take the horse to this year's G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, but evolving travel lockdowns due to COVID-19 meant he brought the horse to Dubai, schooled him in the paddock, and promptly learned they had to head home. It might be nice to try again, Mandella said in a press conference Thursday, depending upon what international travel protocols are by March 2021.

“I fully intend to keep him around as long as he's healthy and happy,” said Mandella.

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Tiz the Law Completes Classic Preparations at Keeneland

Sackatoga Stables’ GI Belmont S. winner and GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Tiz the Law (Constitution) capped off his serious work ahead of next Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Classic with a five-furlong breeze at Keeneland Saturday morning.

With his regular work rider Heather Smullen in the irons, the New York-bred drilled five furlongs in :59.20 and galloped out an extra eighth of a mile in 1:12.20 (video).

“I saw just what I wanted. He went perfectly,” said trainer Barclay Tagg who will send out his 11th Breeders’ Cup starter next weekend. “We wanted him to go in :59 and he went in :59.20, so it was just right.”

Tiz the Law will be making his first start since dropping a 1 1/4-length decision at the hands of Authentic in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby and was an early arrival at Keeneland Oct. 18. Saturday’s work was his second locally, having breezed three-quarters of a mile in 1:13.20 Oct. 23.

“I thought he needs to get a good feel of this track (because) he has never run over it,” Tagg said of the plan to ship in the colt on the early side. “He has to run against older horses; it is going to be a tough race. “I have a super-duper crew and everything has gone right. We pay attention to the horses. We carry 30 horses at the most and try to get the best out of what we got, and every now and then we get a good one.”

Hronis Racing’s Higher Power (Medaglia d’Oro) has been on the grounds at Keeneland since early October and also tuned up for the Classic Saturday with a strong five-furlong work that was timed in :58.80, with a six-furlong gallop-out in 1:11.60 (video).

“I liked the way he came back from it,” said former jockey Juan Leyva, who serves as assistant to trainer John Sadler and who rode Musical Romance (Concorde’s Tune) to an upset victory in the 2011 GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. “He was blowing a little bit but not out of this world. His level of fitness has really progressed here.”

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stables’ Vequist (Nyquist) arrived into Lexington from Philadelphia this past Monday and geared up for her start in next Friday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies by zipping a half-mile in :47.20 for trainer Butch Reid (video). The 9 1/2-length winner of the GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga Sept. 6, the dark bay was a latest second to the impressive Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) in the GI Frizette S. at Belmont Oct. 6.

“I think a work over the track is very important and that is why we came when we did,” Reid said. “She had three or four good gallops and the work was fine. She did work at Saratoga [before the Spinaway] but didn’t before the Frizette because Belmont is just up the road from Philadelphia.”

Reid, who won the 2011 GII Breeders’ Cup Marathon with Afleet Again (Afleet Alex), said that Joel Rosario will have the mount Friday.

Monomoy Girl Headlines Busy Morning at CD…

The Saturday morning worktab across Interstate 64 at Churchill was equally busy at it was at Keeneland, with no fewe than 27 Breeders’ Cup pre-entered horses getting in their final serious work.

The two females that will vie for favoritism in Saturday’s GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff were the marquee names on a chilly Louisville morning. Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) was one of a half-dozen workers for trainer Brad Cox, and the 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff heroine tuned up with a steady five-furlong work that was timed in 1:01 flat. With Florent Geroux up and galloping in the company of GI Dirt Mile hopeful Owendale (Into Mischief), Monomoy Girl went in fractions of :12.80, :24.60, :37 and :48.40 before pulling up six furlongs in 1:14.40 (video).

“She’s a champion mare and really a horse of a lifetime,” said Geroux, winner of four other Breeders’ Cup races in addition to the Distaff. “She’s a future Hall of Famer with her resume. The speed figures show she is a little bit faster this year than her 3-year-old year.”

Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), last-start winner of the GI Preakness S., breezed five-eighths of a mile in 1:00 flat in :24.60, :36.40 and :48.20 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.20 (video). While trainer Ken McPeek and owner Peter Callahan still have some work to do, Swiss Skydiver is likely to take up her spot against her peers on Breeders’ Cup Saturday.

“At this point we’re going Distaff unless there’s a late defection from the Classic,” McPeek told pool reporters Saturday morning. “We had a chance to look at not only the regular past performances but all the Ragozin numbers and that’s what we’re doing.”

McPeek says Swiss Skydiver has been ticking right along and is pleased with what he saw on the track Saturday morning.

“She busted out 12s,” he said. “[Jockey] Robby [Albarado] really does have her number right now, he’s got her in nice rhythm out there and knows how she feels under him. I think we’re well loaded and we’ve got her right on even keel.”

McPeek, still in search of a maiden Breeders’ Cup victory, also sent out GI Darley Alcibiades S. romper Simply Ravishing (Laoban) to work five-eighths in 1:00 flat. She and Swiss Skydiver worked on their own.

Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) will enter the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic with just three starts under his belt this season and will be having his first run since a troubled third to Improbable (City Zip) in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga in early August. The dean of the field at age seven, the G M B Racing runner breezed a very easy four furlongs in :50.40 Saturday morning.

“We really just wanted to go out there and stretch his legs,” said trainer Al Stall, Jr. “It was just get him around there, save a lot of energy and come out of it nice and just be ready for Saturday.”

Bell’s the One (Majesticperfection) may lack the star power, even with her defeat of Serengeti Empress (Alternation) in the GI Derby City Distaff Sept. 5, but the 4-year-old continues to thrive and worked a smooth half-mile in :47 3/5 at Churchill Downs Saturday morning.

“She did just what we wanted, just wanted an easy half and did it very easily and we’re set to go,” trainer Neil Pessin told pool reporter Alicia Wincze Hughes.”

The defection and subsequent retirement of Bellafina (Quality Road) could make life more difficult for Bell’s the One, in Pessin’s estimation.

“I don’t know if anyone is fast enough to go with Serengeti,” he opined. “Bellafina was, she laid right off her. Venetian Harbor (Munnings) and Gamine (Into Mischief) are speed horses, but they’ve never gone faster than :45 in their lives and Serengeti can go :43 3/5. If they go :44 and two or three, that sets it up better for Serengeti than for us. But we’re doing good, my filly is going to run her race and hopefully we can catch them at the end.”

Three of Bob Baffert’s top Breeders’ Cup contenders put in their final breezes ahead of their respective World Championship races at Santa Anita Saturday morning.

GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief) covered five panels in :59.60 (7/53) (video) ahead of the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. The ‘TDN Rising Star’ was last seen finishing second to GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff-bound Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3.

“He was out there doing his thing,” Baffert told the TDN when reached by phone. “He always works alone, him and Improbable. They are both very willing. He bounced out of the Preakness really well and his last two works were pretty strong. He is about as ready as I can have him. I really like the way he is coming into this race.”

Fellow BC Classic contender Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) also breezed five furlongs in Arcadia Saturday, stopping the clock in 1:00.60 (14/53) (video). Winner of the GI TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 22, the bay was second to his stablemate Improbable (City Zip)–who is scheduled to work Sunday–in the GI Awesome Again S. Sept. 26.

“He went well,” Baffert said of Maximum Security. “He is the lazier type [in his breezes], but he gets enough out of his works. He looks great. He will be right there.”

‘TDN Rising Star’ Gamine (Into Mischief) clocked the fastest five-furlong work of the Baffert trio, covering the distance in :59.40 (2/53) (video). An ultra impressive winner of both the GI Longines Acorn S. and GI Longines Test S., the bay was last seen finishing third in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4 and will cut back in trip for the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint S.

“Gamine looked fantastic,” Baffert said. “She just sat there with another horse and when he asked her to pick it up, she just went boom. She has matured and just looks really good coming into this race. She has been on the lead and she makes the lead because she is brilliant on her own. But, she is not a speed crazy type of horse. I can see she is on top of her game.”

Baffert also offered a comment on GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies contender and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Princess Noor (Not This Time), who breezed five panels in :59.80 (3/43) in Arcadia Friday.

“She worked yesterday. She looks great,” Baffert said. “On paper, her numbers don’t stack up to those other fillies, but she has done everything here in a hand ride. I think she is special. The thing about the Breeders’ Cup is you can brag all you want, but when the gate comes open, the separation begins. That is the beauty of the Breeders’ Cup. That’s why they have it. The good horses, they separate themselves.”

Baffert’s Breeders’ Cup contingent will fly to Keeneland Tuesday for the Nov. 6-7 World Championships.

Another Hall of Famer sent out a BC-bound Saturday morning in Arcadia with GI Breeders’ Cup Turf runner United (Giant’s Causeway) covering six panels in 1:15 (1/2) (video) for Richard Mandella.

Pletcher Pair Take To Belmont Main Track…

Trainer Todd Pletcher was on hand to see the final Breeders’ Cup works for Halladay (War Front) and Valiance (Tapit) Saturday morning on a brisk Long Island morning.

Halladay, unraced since wiring the field in the GI Fourstardave H. at Saratoga Aug. 22, clocked :49.21 (video) for his four-furlong breeze over the main track. It was the third work for Halladay since having to be scratched from the GI Shadwell Mile S. Oct. 3 with a hind-leg infection.

“I was happy we were able to get it in today. The track dried out pretty nicely considering all of the rain we’ve had,” Pletcher said. “Halladay was a touch keen early on. He went off a little quick but then he relaxed, settled quickly, finished up strong and galloped out well. I was happy with that.”

Also working by her lonesome was GI Juddmonte Spinster S. upsetter Valiance, who stopped the clock in :49 flat (video).

“Valiance maintains form really well. Not only was her work good, but she galloped out well. She seems to be doing as well as she can at the moment,” Pletcher said.

Luis Saez has the call on both horses in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile and GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, respectively.

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