West Will Power | Horse Racing Free Tips

Cody’s Wish Breezes for Whitney

Cody's Wish (Curlin) worked five furlongs in 1:00 (1/15) Saturday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for the $1-million GI Whitney Aug. 5.

The Godolphin homebred is currently on a six-race winning streak topped by a powerful 3 1/4-length score last out in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. June 10 at Belmont Park.

“He was very good. He went five eighths and went well and appeared to be well within himself,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “We're uncertain about the nine furlongs (in the Whitney), but we're going to remain optimistic. Until they do it, you never know. Maybe now that he's more mature than he was early on, maybe he'll do it. He's more seasoned.”

His stablemate and last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Elite Power (Curlin) worked a bullet five eighths in :59.60 (1/13) Friday over the Oklahoma training track and could make two starts at the Spa for Mott this summer in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. July 29 and the GI Forego S. Aug. 26.

“His work was very good,” Mott said. “He'll go to the Vanderbilt and then possibly the Forego.”

Cox Barn Loaded for the Spa…

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Caravel (Mizzen Mast) worked a half-mile in :48.88 (6/20) Saturday over the Oklahoma training turf as she prepares to take on the boys in the GIII Troy S., a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for older horses Aug. 5.

“Really good. She's an outstanding workhorse,” trainer Brad Cox said of the last out GI Jaipur S. winner. “It's her first move up here on the turf. She breezed last weekend at Churchill. It's just a maintenance move and she's doing great. She's pointing to the Troy right now.”

He continued, “Physically, she looks amazing. She's happy. I don't know if we need her to get any better, she just has to continue to be as good as she's been the first half of the year. If we can duplicate that in the second half, we'll be in great shape.”

The stretch-running Wet Paint (Blame), fourth as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Oaks and second in the Monomoy Girl S. June 17, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 (6/15) Saturday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for next Saturday's GI Coaching Club American Oaks.

“Really good move this morning. She went five-eighths from the half in 1:00.60 and out in 1:13.60,” Cox said. “She's not the flashiest workhorse, but this morning she was on it and she was wanting to do it. I loved what I saw from her. She's set up for a big run next week.”

West Will Power (Bernardini), winner of the GI Stephen Foster S. July 1, worked a half mile in :51.40 (88/95) at Churchill Downs Saturday in preparation for a possible start in the GI Whitney Aug. 5.

“It was just a really easy half mile and if all is well he make the trip up this week,” Cox said.

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg), who dead-heated for fourth last out in the GI Belmont S., worked five eighths in company in 1:00.90 (5/13) Friday over the Oklahoma training track.

“Very good move. I'm very happy with them,” Cox said.

Both horses will point to the nine-furlong GII Jim Dandy S. July 29 with an eye towards the 10-furlong GI Travers S. Aug. 26.

“I don't know if any of these horses want to run a mile and a half, but they ran big races in the Belmont and got really good figures,” Cox said. “They've had time to recover and had some really good moves down at Churchill.”

Tapit Trice Haskell Bound…

'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit), a close third in the GI Belmont S., breezed a half mile in :49.15 (27/84) over the Belmont Park main track on Saturday in preparation for the GI Haskell Invitational on July 22 at Monmouth Park.

“He just did what he normally does which is work well and gallop out strongly,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He was moving great. It was everything we wanted to see.”

Luis Saez will ride Tapit Trice in the Haskell.

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Attorney Alan Pincus Joins The TDN Writers’ Room To Discuss HIWU Suspensions

With the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) issuing provisional suspensions in what seems like a rapid-fire manner, attorney Alan Pincus has been busy. He is representing trainer Mario Dominguez, who was hit with a provisional suspension after a horse he trained allegedly tested positive for cobalt, and has worked with trainer Jonathan Wong on his case. A Wong-trained horse allegedly tested positive for the banned substance Metformin.

Pincus joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast sponsored by Keeneland to discuss his cases and to express his views on what has transpired since HIWU took over drug testing and enforcement on May 22. Pincus, to put it mildly, is not a fan of what is going on. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“The HISA regulations are written in a way that is truly evil,” Pincus said.

His complaints were many, starting with how violations of banned substances are dealt with by HISU. Once a positive has been determined for substances that are on the banned list, the trainer involved is immediately suspended. That takes place before a hearing can be held and before the results of a split sample are received.

“They give you very little chance to defend yourself,” Pincus said. “The worst part of it is that when you have a banned substance, they come to you. They give you a letter that says you have a positive for this drug. They tell you 'get out' and you're out that next day. What happens to a trainer who is told to get out? Their horses must be relocated to different trainers in different stalls. You lose your owners, you lose your horses, you lose your ability to make a living. In the case of Mr. Dominguez, he had a dozen horses. He was a small trainer working his way through and was doing okay. But like most trainers, he is living month to month. Now you've taken away his ability to make a living. You haven't charged him with anything, but he's dead. That's against due process.”

He continued: “He's yet to be charged with anything. They won't charge you until the split sample comes back. It's due momentarily. But his life has long since been over. He hasn't been charged with anything. What happens if the split sample comes back and it's under the level? What do they say? 'Oops, sorry that I destroyed your life.' The whole system is unconstitutional. It's based on the fact that you're guilty until proven innocent.”

Pincus also opined that there are substances on the banned substance list that don't belong there, that should be treated as relatively minor issues.

“Mac Robertson (who also received a provisional suspension from HIWU) got a positive for Regumate, another very low-level drug,” Pincus said. “It can't possibly be a banned substance. You're supposed to be looking for a Etorphine and EPO and things like that as banned substances. Not these things. It's ridiculous. You're going to see more, one a week. It's like Russian roulette out there. These guys, they're not cheaters. And besides the fact, you have very little chance under their system of winning. It has to stop.”

Pincus said the old way of doing things is preferable to a world under HIWU and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA).

“They're not going to be able to do it better than the racing commissioners,” Pincus. “The racing commissions know about the game. They have experience in the game. The stewards are the most knowledgeable people in racing. Now we've gone and replaced them with a bunch of people who say things like, 'Let's change the whip to a popsicle stick with a piece of cotton on the end of it and look at some grainy films and see if that was a jockey winding up or he actually hit the horse.' It's stupid. The seventh whip strike is animal cruelty? Then what was the sixth whip strike, which is allowed?”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, WinStar Farm, Lane's End, XBTV.com andhttps://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman, jumped into the controversy surrounding the extension of Bob Baffert's ban by Churchill Downs. Moss predicted that Baffert would fight the extension in court and that, this time, he would prevail. The team also took a look back at the win by West Will Power (Bernardini) in the GI Stephen Foster S., run this year at Ellis Park, and the game victory by Fort Bragg (Tapit) in the GIII Dwyer S. Looking ahead at this weekend's action, Finley focused in on the GII Suburban S. at Belmont. A race with a long history and one won by some of the sport's all-time greats, the Suburban, Finley said, has turned into a second-tier race. He argued that there are too many races on the NYRA calendar for older dirt males and said the best solution would be to discontinue the Suburban, which, this year, drew only five horses.

Click here to watch the Writers' Room podcast or here for the audio-only version.

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West Will Power Holds Off Rattle N Roll in Stephen Foster

Gary and Mary West homebred West Will Power (h, 6, Bernardini–Wild Promises, by Wild Event) punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a half-length victory over the streaking Rattle N Roll (Connect) in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Stephen Foster S. at Ellis Park.

The 2-1 favorite sat a perfect, stalking trip beneath Flavien Prat in second through fractions of :23.74 and :46.97. He hit the front right outside of the quarter pole, set sail for home and stayed on to hold the fast-finishing Rattle N Roll safe. Longshot Happy American (Runhappy) was third.

The Stephen Foster, originally slated for Churchill Downs, is the first Grade I race in history to take place at Ellis Park.

“I think he can handle a mile-and-a-quarter in the Breeders' Cup Classic,” winning trainer Brad Cox said. “I was much more confident with him getting a target to track off in this race. We'll see how the figures come back, but I'm very proud of the way this horse has developed. It's a credit to the Wests and this horse to have the patience to improve with age. It's taken him a while to get to this level. It's really cool to go down in the history books by winning the first Grade I in the history of Ellis Park.”

West Will Power, second in last year's GI Clark S., posted a powerful victory with a career-high 109 Beyer Speed Figure in the GII New Orleans Classic S. Mar. 25. He entered off a third-place finish as the favorite in the GII Alysheba S. May 5.

“He was cruising all the way around there,” Prat said. “He just carried me home to the wire down the stretch. I was really impressed by the way he won this winter at Fair Grounds in the New Orleans Classic. It was a different setup last time out in the Alysheba. He came back here to Ellis and the race shape was much more to his style.”

Pedigree Notes:

West Will Power becomes the 17th Grade I winner for Bernardini. Grade III winner Wild Promises, a half-sister to MGSW Icy Atlantic (Stormy Atlantic) hailing from the extended female family of MGISW Jolie's Halo (Halo), had only one foal after West Will Power, an unraced 4-year-old filly named Cross Your Heart (Curlin). Wild Promises, a $200,000 KEENOV purchase by the Wests in 2012, brought $3,700 from Pam Schutz at the 2018 KEENOV sale.

Saturday, Ellis Park
STEPHEN FOSTER S.-GI, $1,000,000, Ellis, 7-1, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:47.93, ft.
1–WEST WILL POWER, 124, h, 6, by Bernardini
1st Dam: Wild Promises (GSW, $699,610), by Wild Event
2nd Dam: Frosty Promise, by Frosty the Snowman
3rd Dam: Has Promise, by Skip Trial
1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Gary and Mary West; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $599,260. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 17-7-7-1, $1,745,390. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Rattle N Roll, 124, c, 4, Connect–Jazz Tune, by Johannesburg. ($55,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $210,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Lucky Seven Stable (Mackin); B-St. Simon Place (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $196,600.
3–Happy American, 124, g, 5, Runhappy–Queen of America, by Quiet American. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($385,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (Bob Lothenbach); B-Claiborne Farm (KY); T-Neil L. Pessin. $97,300.
Margins: HF, 1HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.07, 6.90, 48.94.
Also Ran: Last Samurai, Smile Happy, Stilleto Boy, Speed Bias, Proxy. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

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Proxy Gives Godolphin Second Straight Win In Clark

Making his first start since running a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure when third to future GI Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Olympiad (Speightstown) in the GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill Downs this past July, Proxy (Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include) got just the better of a final-furlong throwdown with favored West Will Power (Bernardini) to take out Friday's GI Clark S. beneath the Twin Spires. The win was a second straight in the race for Godolphin following Maxfield (Street Sense) last fall.

Given a positive ride from gate one by Joel Rosario in this fresh-up run, the homebred 4-year-old–off as the 5-2 third choice–somewhat surprisingly raced closest in attendance to the last-out GII Fayette S. winner passing under the wire for the first time and remained glued inside into the first turn before popping out into the two path passing the seven-furlong marker. West Will Power was the controlling speed through fractions of :23.94 and :48.51, but Proxy remained his shadow into the second bend and was asked to come after the front-runner in earnest fully three furlongs from home. Proxy drifted wide off the final corner and still had the pacesetter–who was not lying down–to catch entering the final eighth of a mile. But, shoulder to shoulder with the West runner with time ticking away, Proxy knuckled down to hit the front late and edged clear. Fulsome (Into Mischief) came on late to be third.

“This was his first start in a few months, so he was a little sharper leaving the gate,” said Rosario, winning his second Clark in four years (Tom's d'Etat, 2019). “He was a little bit further back in his last start here in the Stephen Foster than I expected him to be. I knew [West Will Power] was really the only horse that had early speed in the race so I didn't want to let him get away easily. He was very professional today throughout. [West Will Power] didn't want to give in. He was very tough on the lead and I had to work pretty hard to get by him.”

GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) raced inside and at the tail through the opening exchanges and gradually improved his position down the backstretch. But he came under heavy Sonny Leon urging three furlongs out and trailed in sixth.

“He was in a good position at the rail but turning for home he didn't have anything left at all,” said trainer Eric Reed. “We knew it was a big risk running him back in three weeks. Sometimes you're the hero and sometimes you're the goat.”

Proxy made a bit of noise on the 2021 Triple Crown trail, finishing runner-up to the late Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the GIII Lecomte S. and to adjudicated GI Kentucky Derby hero Mandaloun (Into Mischief) in the GII Risen Star S., but the bay was only fourth in the GII Louisiana Derby and again in the GIII Lexington S. before connections called time on a Classics program and his season. Proxy ran with credit once returned to action this spring, rounding out the exacta underneath Olympiad in the GII New Orleans Classic S. ahead of a third in Keeneland's GIII Ben Ali S. He closed well to be second in the June 4 Blame S. ahead of his Stephen Foster effort, where he was five lengths adrift at the wire.

Pedigree Notes:

With the victory, Proxy becomes the 30th Grade I winner, 98th graded winner and 157th black-type winner for Tapit and was the second new graded winner on the afternoon out of a daughter of the late Include, joining GIII Comely S. heroine Sixtythreecaliber.

Panty Raid, a $260,000 purchase by Glencrest Farm out of the 2006 Keeneland April Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, was one of the more versatile performers of her generation, winning the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. on conventional dirt in May 2007 and the GI American Oaks on turf two months later before doubling her Grade I tally in that year's Juddmonte Spinster S. over the Keeneland all-weather.

Panty Raid was purchased by John Ferguson on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed's operation for $2.5 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, but took some time to make her mark in the breeding shed. Her first foal of note was Proxy's year-older half-sister Micheline, a Grade II winner on turf and second in the GI QE II Challenge Cup at Keeneland. Panty Raid, whose full-sister St. John's River went excruciatingly close in the 2011 GI Kentucky Oaks, foaled a Frosted colt in 2021, a filly by Into Mischief this past May and was among the first book of mares bred to Tapit's two-time Eclipse Award winner Essential Quality.

Friday, Churchill Downs
CLARK S. PRESENTED BY NORTON HEALTHCARE-GI, $750,000, Churchill Downs, 11-25, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48.89, ft.
1–PROXY, 125, c, 4, by Tapit
                1st Dam: Panty Raid (MGISW, $1,052,380), by Include
                2nd Dam: Adventurous Di, by Private Account
                3rd Dam: Tamaral, by Seattle Slew
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael Stidham; J-Joel Rosario. $458,970. Lifetime Record: 13-4-5-2, $971,220. *1/2 to Micheline (Bernardini), GSW & GISP, $695,103. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue- style pedigree.
2–West Will Power, 125, h, 5, Bernardini–Wild Promises, by Wild Event. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $148,700.
3–Fulsome, 125, c, 4, Into Mischief–Flourish, by Distorted Humor. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $74,350.
Margins: 3/4, 2HF, 3 3/4. Odds: 2.54, 1.78, 7.23.
Also Ran: Last Samurai, Injunction, Rich Strike. Scratched: Trademark. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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