Storm the Court will be out to put an end to the futility Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the Silks Run S., but he is 20-1 in the morning line for a race that brought together a surprisingly deep field. Expectations are that the Silks Run will be the 21st straight loss for the now 7-year-old horse.

“The race came up super tough,” said his trainer Bill Morey.

Storm the Court won his debut on Aug. 10, 2019, for trainer Peter Eurton. He lost his rider in his next start, the GI Del Mar Futurity, and then was third in the GI American Pharoah S. Ridden by Flavien Prat, he won the Juvenile in a game effort in which he outfought Anneau d'Or (Medaglia d'Oro). Since then absolutely nothing has gone right.

“A lot of it has to do with fact he matured a lot earlier than most horses do,” Eurton said. “In the Breeders' Cup he was in the right place at the right time. The rest of the horses caught up to him.”

Storm the Court's 3-year-old campaign coincided with the pandemic, which pushed the GI Kentucky Derby back to Sept. 5. He lost all five of his starts leading up to the Derby, but ran creditably when third in the GIII Ohio Derby and second in the GIII La Jolla H. In the Derby, he finished sixth, beaten nine lengths. That was sixth straight loss, and it would only get worse.

Being that the horse was an Eclipse Award champion and a Grade I winner, the owners looked into turning him into a stallion, but the response from the breeding farms was lukewarm at best.

“There was some talk about turning him into a stallion back when he was four,” Eurton said. “But it didn't happen. His pedigree, it's just not there.”

His five-year-old season ended with a 12 3/4-length drubbing in the GIII Tokyo City S. That would be his last start for Eurton.

“The owners thought the horse would be better off back East and would have more opportunities there,” Eurton said.

He was sent to Tom Amoss and made two starts for him, the last of which resulted in a 23-length loss in an allowance race at Churchill in September.

The ownership group then decided to make another change and sent the horse to Morey. The new trainer hasn't gotten him to the winner's circle in three tries, but at least Storm the Court has been competitive. He's had three starts for the new outfit, all of them in allowance sprints on the grass. He finished third at Horseshoe Indianapolis and then second in consecutive races at Tampa Bay Downs.

“I had some other horses for the ownership group and they called me and asked what I doing for the winter,” Morey said. “When I told them I'd be racing at Turfway and Tampa, they thought Tampa might be a good place to get him reinvigorated and back on his game. That was the idea. It just seemed like the horse was obviously stale with what he was doing so we decided to try something drastically different. So far, it has worked to some extent. We haven't gotten to the winner's circle yet, but we seem to have him going pretty good. We're training him to be a sprinter rather than continuing to train him to be a router. I have trained him to sprint. I am assuming that the trainers who had him before me were all training him for routes.”

Morey is optimistic he can break the losing streak, but understands that it probably won't happen Saturday. Storm the Court is running against horses who are considerably faster than him on the Beyer scale, including Big Invasion (Declaration of War), who was second in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“In this game you take chances,” Morey said. “There wasn't an allowance at five furlongs on the grass at Tampa for the foreseeable future. An on-the board-performance in a race as tough as this would almost feel like we had broken the losing streak. This looks like a tough spot. Maybe we'll get lucky and hit the board or maybe win. If not, hopefully we'll get him into the winner's circle the next time.”

At Santa Anita, Eurton will be watching. He hasn't had the horse for a year and a half, but will always have the memories of his win in the Breeders' Cup.

“I would love to see him win a race. One hundred percent,” he said. “There will always be a soft spot in my heart for this horse.”

The post Fifty Months And Twenty Races Later, Storm The Court Looking To Get Back To Winner’s Circle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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He raced in a midpack fifth through an opening quarter in :21.79, set his sights on the top two in the stretch and came rolling over the top to reel in favored Hedwig (Maclean's Music) by 3/4 of a length. Please Advise (Palace Malice) was third.

Vote No became the first winner for Divisidero with a debut victory sprinting over the Presque Isle synthetic Aug. 23.

Sistas Ready, purchased for just $3,000 by K.O.I.D. at the 2022 FTNOCT sale, produced a colt by Instagrand in 2022 and a filly by Galilean in 2023.

“My wife (Elizabeth Morey) picked this horse out off the videos at OBS,” winning trainer Bill Morey said. “Alistair Roden helped us bid on him down there at the sale on behalf of (owner) Joe (Morey), kind of a last-minute thing. We brought him up to Turfway to train him. He started training really forwardly. I'm a synthetic guy. I train on the synthetic at Turfway, so I debuted him on the synthetic at Presque Isle on purpose. I didn't even nominate to this race originally because it was back in about 2 1/2 weeks. But as good as he was doing, we went on and supplemented him and took our chances.”

He added, “The way I looked at it was, we were 12-1 or so $500,000. So if we do that a few times, we'll get lucky once in a while.”

PEPSI JUVENILE SPRINT S., $487,500, Kentucky Downs, 9-13, 2yo, 6 1/2fT, 1:16.44, fm.
1–VOTE NO, 120, g, 2, by Divisidero
                1st Dam: Sistas Ready, by More Than Ready
                2nd Dam: Long Approach, by Broad Brush
                3rd Dam: Last Approach, by Far Out East
($7,500 Ylg '22 KEEJAN; $11,000 Ylg '22 OBSOCT; $50,000 2yo
'23 OBSOPN). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Joseph P. Morey, Jr.;
B-A. John Price (KY); T-William E. Morey; J-Gerardo Corrales.
$298,800. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $316,800.
2–Hedwig, 120, c, 2, Maclean's Music–Mrs. Norris, by
Bernardini. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G.
Harty. $98,000.
3–Please Advise, 120, c, 2, Palace Malice–Amansara, by War
Chant. ($20,000 Ylg '22 KEEJAN). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-R. A. Hill
Stable; B-Spartan Team Investments LLC (KY); T-George
Weaver. $49,000.
Margins: 3/4, 1HF, NK. Odds: 12.61, 1.19, 5.11.
Also Ran: Jimmythetooth, Bledsoe, Darkroom, Go Otto Go, Baytown Bama Girl, Untroubled. Scratched: Good Lord Lorrie. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

#3 Vote No stays perfect and takes the Pepsi Juvenile Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs in his turf debut! @wemracing trains the 2-year-old gelding by Divisidero and Gerardo Corrales had the mount.

#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/oc928Kjqsx

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) September 13, 2023

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Shotgun Hottie made her first start for trainer William Morey, arriving off a fourth-place finish in the Untapable on December 26 going two turns at Fair Grounds Race Course for Tom Amoss. A third-out maiden winner in her two-turn debut at Churchill Downs, Shotgun Hottie handled the cutback in distance well, making a devastating rally under Trevor McCarthy in the final sixteenth to win by a nose.

Breaking from the outermost post 7, Shotgun Hottie settled in fifth as Lady Milagro commanded the field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.72 seconds over the good main track. McCarthy started to get busy aboard Shotgun Hottie around the far turn as Lady Milagro continued to lead through a half-mile in 45.95.

Lady Milagro maintained her advantage in mid stretch with Champagne Poetry in striking range and Shotgun Hottie looming large from the outside. Lady Milagro relinquished inside the final sixteenth as Champagne Poetry briefly held command in the final strides to the wire. But Shotgun Hottie's outside rally proved to be superior as the two fillies hit the wire in tandem, with Shotgun Hottie winning the photo finish in a final time of 1:24.91.

Champagne Poetry finished another 1 3/4 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Lady Milagro. Completing the order of finish were Landslid, Miss Interpret, Knowing Glance and Jet Force.

The victory was a second Aqueduct stakes winner this weekend for 2021 leading freshman stallion Gun Runner, who also sired Grade 3 Withers winner Early Voting. Bred in Kentucky by Vincent Colbert, Shotgun Hottie is out of the unraced Malibu Moon mare Re Entry and was bought for $45,000 out of Gene Recio's consignment at the 2021 OBS April Sale.

Returning $5.80 for a $2 win bet as the favorite, Shotgun Hottie banked $55,000 in victory, enhancing her lifetime earnings past the six-figure mark to $134,720. Her record stands at 5-2-1-0.

“She made a great run and so did the runner-up. We were charging at the wire and caught a good bob on the wire,” Morey said. “She's a nice filly and I think she wants to go further. Trevor is riding as good as anybody here so I trusted him. Our outside draw dictated where we would be. I didn't want to be quite that wide. I thought we could tuck over [into] a little tighter spot, but that's horse racing and it all worked out for us today.”

McCarthy picked up his third stakes winner of the meet aboard Shotgun Hottie, who he piloted for the first time.

“My filly ran good. Bill said to ride her like she's the best horse in here,” McCarthy said. “The rail got really good the last couple races, so I was a little worried being wide with her, but she's a filly that wants to run further. She's a bit of a grinder. That last eighth of a mile it was, 'Come on, come on,' but she just keeps grinding. She gave a great effort and all the credit to Bill and his crew for doing a great job.”

Morey said he would like to keep Shotgun Hottie in New York.

“We were dialed in on this race now and we haven't looked forward, but I'll talk to my clients and see. I think we'd like to keep her here but I'll have to talk to them,” Morey said.

Dylan Davis, aboard the Chad Summers-trained Champagne Poetry, said his filly wasn't as involved until Shotgun Hottie started matching strides.

“That's a tough way to get beat,” Davis said. “She felt good but it took her a little while to get running until that last eighth of a mile when Trevor's horse engaged her. She kind of re-rallied and she felt good there, but unfortunately she got nailed that last jump. She's still a nice horse and she's moving well. Chad does a good job. She progressed well from her last win.”

Live racing resumes Thursday at the Big A with an eight-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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A bay daughter of Gun Runner, Shotgun Hottie breezed a half-mile over Belmont's dirt training track in 49.78 seconds.

“The work went very well,” Morey said. “I train for the client and have another horse for them at Turfway. They called me and asked if I could take this filly and of course I said yes, so we sent her up to New York. She's easy to train and every horse I've had here has trained well over the training track at Belmont.”

A $45,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sale of 2-year-olds in training, Shotgun Hottie finished second in her 6 1/2-furlong debut in September at Churchill Downs before ultimately breaking her maiden at third asking when stretching out to 1 1/16 miles at Churchill.

Shotgun Hottie finished fourth last out in the Untapable at Fair Grounds on December 26 in her stakes debut, setting the pace for the mile and 70 yards before tiring and finishing 3 1/2 lengths behind winner North County, who is undefeated in three starts.

Morey's most recent win at the Big A came with 4-year-old filly Blushable, who took down a starter allowance on Jan. 6 for owners Mark Mathiesen, Sandra Benowitz, and Michael House.

“She's doing good and was supposed to run on Saturday but the card was canceled, so we entered her in one of the extras for Thursday and hopefully she gets in,” Morey said.

Blushable earned a career-best 70 Beyer Speed Figure for her allowance win and now boasts a record of 9-3-0-1 with earnings of $99,355.

A new addition to the Morey barn is veteran ridgling American Rule, who was claimed for $32,000 out of a well-beaten 11th in a claimer over a sloppy and sealed track at Aqueduct on Dec. 11. The 7-year-old son of Bernardini made his first start for Morey and new owners Robert Bone and Desperado Stables on Friday, getting back to a fast track and finishing a much-improved third in a one-turn mile claiming event.

“We were happy with his run and he came out of it good,” Morey said. “It was encouraging to see him get back to some of his old form. It looked like he didn't like the mud much the last time. I'm sure we'll look for a similar spot for his next race there at Aqueduct.”

American Rule has four wins from 45 lifetime starts with all but five of those starts occurring at NYRA tracks. Out of the stakes-placed Ghostzapper mare Myriad, American Rule is a half-brother to the multiple graded stakes-placed gelding Markitoff.

The post Now In Morey Barn, Shotgun Hottie Aiming For Aqueduct’s Ruthless On Feb. 6 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

“We hope to run in the Blue Grass,” trainer Bill Morey said Sunday morning at Keeneland. “When we scratched (out of Saturday's Jeff Ruby Steaks-G3 at Turfway Park), we brought him here yesterday afternoon.”

A son of Creative Cause, Hush of a Storm was the 4-1 second choice on the morning line for the Jeff Ruby off a victory in the Feb. 26 John Battaglia Memorial. In that race, he defeated eventual Ruby winner Like the King.

Morey said Hush of a Storm is scheduled to work Monday morning. Santiago Gonzalez, who has been aboard for all three of Hush of a Storm's victories, would have the mount in the Toyota Blue Grass.

According to stakes coordinator Tiffany Bourque, here is the prospective field for the race:

$800,000 TOYOTA BLUE GRASS (G2) – Essential Quality (trainer Brad Cox), Hidden Stash (Vicki Oliver), Highly Motivated (Chad Brown), Rombauer (Michael McCarthy), Sittin On Go (Dale Romans). Possible: Hush of a Storm (William Morey), Keepmeinmind (Robertino Diodoro).

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Hoping to turn the tables on Hush of a Storm is Battaglia third Gretzky the Great (Nyquist), the sole Grade I winner in the field.  Campaigned by Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbreds, the Ontario bred was runner up in his career bow over the Woodbine turf last July before graduating in an off-turf test over that track's synthetic surface the following month before eking out a win in the grassy 6 1/2-furlong Soaring Free S. Aug. 23.  Favored for the Sept. 20 GI Summer S., the bay came home an easy 3 1/4-length winner, but failed to carry that form in his seasonal finale, tiring to sixth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland Nov. 6.

“After the Breeders' Cup, Gretzky had some minor ankle surgery and so, we missed some time with him,” said Mark Casse. “I knew if I was going to make a dirt start that I was going to have to race him two or three more times. So, the reason I went to the Battaglia was just simply because it's not as tiring.”

As for his Battaglia performance, Casse added, “He definitely was a little short, unfortunately. We drew the one [hole] and I told the rider, look, I want you to put him into the race. I don't like coming from the one and letting horses run by you and then they go in front of you and next thing you know, you're last. So, we asked him to run away from there. And unfortunately, he caught some pressure from a long shot that kind of ran ahead and was with him for three-quarters-of-a-mile. He put that horse away and then two more came at him, two more that had to be a lot fitter than we were, so I was proud of our horse.”

“I thought he tried and ran hard, staying back,” he concluded. “But more importantly, he's trained very well since then. And I'm excited. I'm very happy we picked up Chris Landeros to ride him. In my opinion, nobody rides Turfway Park like Chris Landeros. So, I think that's a big plus for us.”

While a top rung performance could pave the way to the Kentucky Derby starting gate, Casse indicated Canada's first jewel of the Triple Crown is far more likely for the colt.

“Is the derby a possibility? I wouldn't rule it out,” said Casse. “He would have to give us a tremendous performance though in the Jeff Ruby and then we'd have to come up with a plan on the Derby. But Queen's Plate is definitely in our crosshairs. And with him being a Canadian bred, it's a million dollars and it's such a prestigious race. We've been fortunate enough to win it a couple of times. We'd like to win it again.”

Also exiting the Battaglia, M Racing Group's Like the King (Palace Malice) makes the jump into graded company following a runner-up in the Battaglia. A runaway winner going a mile on the turf at Belterra last September, the Wesley Ward trainee finished third in an off-turf test at Keeneland a month later but found himself back in the winner's circle going a mile at Turfway Dec. 4. Drawing the inside stall this time, the colt will be ridden for the first time by Drayden Van Dyke.

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“Two have won stakes, and, of course, the other filly hasn't made the races,” Morey said. “We've had some bitter and sweet, but lots of sweet along the way.”

Hush of a Storm, a $75,000 OBS Spring purchase (:21 3/5; consigned by de Meric Sales) by the Joseph P. Morey, Jr. Revocable Trust, is one of the main contenders from a full field of 12 in the $250,000 road to the GI Kentucky Derby prep race, carrying qualifying points of 100-40-20-10.

A well-beaten eighth in his Churchill debut last November, Hush of a Storm is a perfect three-for-three over the Turfway synthetic since, including a good-looking, come-from-behind win in the local prep John Battaglia Memorial S. Feb. 26 (video). The field that day included the re-opposing GISW Gretzky the Great (Nyquist).

Bred by Berkshire Stud, Hush of a Storm is the first foal out of the winning Flatter mare Hush Now, a full-sister to MSW & MGSP Brigand and a half-sister to SW Sky Music (Sky Mesa).

The New York-bred completed his Jeff Ruby preparations with a five-furlong breeze in 1:02.60 (38/46) at Turfway last Saturday.

“He's training like a monster,” Morey said. “I know he's gonna have to be with the waters getting deeper and deeper as we go on, but he's training like a good horse. All systems are a go for the Jeff Ruby.”

Morey will also saddle Sandin Syndicate Stable's Pico d'Oro (Curlin), a $255,000 OBS March acquisition (:21 1/5; consigned by Eddie Woods), in the $65,000 Animal Kingdom S. on the Jeff Ruby undercard. Last year's Runhappy Juvenile S. winner cuts back to 6 1/2 furlongs after flashing speed and tiring to eighth behind his stablemate in the Battaglia. He was a close third as the favorite in Aqueduct's Jimmy Winkfield S. two back.

Other entrants on Saturday's Turfway card for Morey include: Queen of God (Paynter) in the Latonia S. and Visitant (Ghostzapper) in the Kentucky Cup Classic.

“Tough little horse, but not quite a route horse,” Morey said of Pico d'Oro. “Pico's got a big heart and a great stride. He's a hard trier.”

The son of the late, CTBA Hall of Fame trainer William J. Morey, Jr. relocated to the bluegrass with his wife Elizabeth two years ago from his native California. Highlights from his 1,700-plus career victories include wins in 2018 by Ollie's Candy in the GII Summertime Oaks and Coniah in the GIII Las Cienegas S.

“I worked for dad [as an assistant] through high school and college,” Morey said. “I went on my own in '01. Surprisingly enough, it's been 20-21 years now all of sudden. It's crazy how time flies. I can remember the days working for him.”

He added with a laugh, “The good days and the bad days, that's for sure.”

Morey trains approximately 30 head, split currently between Turfway and Keeneland with plans to head to Churchill later this spring. The 46-year-old will also have a division at Del Mar this summer.

“We're enjoying our time and our life here in Kentucky,” Morey said. “It's a beautiful place to live and to train. Hoping to continue to get better and better horses. We've got some good ones on the way.”

One of those in the pipeline to keep an eye on–a colt from the first crop of the much buzzed-about MGISW Practical Joke–was selected by Morey on behalf of Gerry Sandin's aforementioned operation for $210,000 at last week's OBS March Sale.

Consigned by Eddie Woods, Agent VIII, as Hip 113, the son of the multiple stakes-winning City Zip mare Mystic City breezed a quarter in :21 1/5 at the under-tack show.

“He's got that Classic, Derby colt look to him,” Morey said. “Let's hope he's that good. But that's the look he has. And that's the look that sells. That was the same kind of look I saw last year in Hush of a Storm.”

Morey concluded, “Maybe Hush will take us some places that we haven't been yet. I've won a few graded races, but haven't run in any of the Classics. Maybe a horse like Hush will take us somewhere like that.”

The post Morey Barn Ready to Make Some Noise appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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We'll review those three races from Feb. 26-27 and three big 85 point Kentucky Derby preps that were run last Saturday: the G2 Gotham Stakes from Aqueduct, G2 Tampa Bay Derby from Tampa Bay Downs and G2 San Felipe Stakes from Santa Anita. The winners of those three races assured themselves a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate on May 1.

Of the six races, I'd have to rank the San Felipe the most impactful, at least in recent history, with two of the last seven winners (Authentic in 2020 and California Chrome in 2014) having gone on to victory in the Kentucky Derby. At the other end of the spectrum is the John Battaglia Memorial which has a roster of winners that reads like a “who's that?” Strikingly more significant than the Battaglia is the Gotham, which hasn't produced a Kentucky Derby winner from among its winners since Triple Crown winner Secretariat in 1973. There have been some very good horses since then to win the Gotham, but not so much in the last decade. Let's face it: the best New York horses are still in Florida on the first Saturday in March.

Here's a quick analysis of all the points races of the past two weeks, from best to worst in terms of my grading scale, which is based on my personal eyeball test, Beyer Speed Figures received, historical significance of the race and perceived quality of field.

March 6 – San Felipe Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita

Was not that impressed with Life Is Good's G3 Sham Stakes victory on Jan. 2 when he idled down the stretch and was threatened late by Bob Baffert stablemate Medina Spirit, but the eight-length San Felipe win was something else again. The Into Mischief colt was simply too fast for his opposition, breaking from the rail under Mike Smith, controlling a quick pace (quarter miles in :23.63, :23.20, :23.72 and :24.91 before a final sixteenth in 6.72 seconds), and drawing off impressively while a bit erratic down the stretch, eventually finishing out in the middle of the track.

Life Is Good and Mike Smith winning the San Felipe Stakes by eight lengths

The San Felipe was G2 and included stakes veterans Medina Spirit, The Great One and Roman Centurian and impressive recent maiden winner Dream Shake for Peter Eurton (receiving a 96 Beyer Speed Figure on his debut).

Life Is Good received a 107 Beyer Speed Figure, up from his 101 in the Sham, and that puts him on the top of the heap at this stage of the season. Future wager players made him 2-1 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager's March pool, the lowest odds for any individual horse in the March pool since the wager was inaugurated.

Grade: A

Feb. 27 – Southwest Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn

It's hard to find fault with Brad Cox-trained Essential Quality, who ran his record to a perfect 4-for-4 while making his 2021 debut in the twice-delayed Southwest, run on a very sloppy racetrack. Breaking from the No. 1 post, jockey Luis Saez cleverly moved him to the three path into the first turn and sat just a few lengths behind quick but distance challenged Jackie's Warrior for a moderate six furlongs in 1:13.59. Saez moved the Tapit colt to the lead on the turn and it was quickly over as he drew off to a 4 ¼-length victory while demonstrating a paddling motion with his left front down the stretch.

Essential Quality rolled to his fourth consecutive win in the Southwest, his 2021 debut

Aside from the winner and Jackie's Warrior (a two-time G1 winner going one turn as a 2-year-old), the only other proven commodity in the Southwest lineup was Spielberg, the Baffert runner who won the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity by a nose over The Great One, a maiden at the time who came back to beat non-winners by 14 lengths and then was crushed by Life Is Good in the San Felipe. Essential Quality received a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, one point higher than his Breeders' Cup Juvenile victory.

Grade: A-

Feb. 27 – Fountain of Youth, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park

Not unlike Essential Quality in the Southwest, even-money favorite  Greatest Honour (also by Tapit) was chasing a fast one-turn horse, Drain the Clock, unsuccessfully trying to stretch his speed around two turns in the Fountain of Youth.

For most of the race, the Shug McGaughey runner did not look comfortable while racing in eighth and ninth in the 10-horse field. When Jose Ortiz guided him five wide to the outside on the far turn, he took off, gaining five lengths in the final furlong and drawing away to a 1 ½-length victory. He received an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, identical to the number he got while winning the Holy Bull Stakes four weeks earlier.

Greatest Honour and Jose Ortiz winning the Fountain of Youth

However, he made up ground on a horse that doesn't want to go this far, and if Greatest Honour doesn't like getting dirt in his face with a 10-horse field at Gulfstream, what's it going to be like at Churchill Downs with an expected 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby? It doesn't appear as if his connections have an option to put him closer to the lead as he has yet to show any tactical speed.

Grade: B+

March 6 – Tampa Bay Derby, 1 1/16 miles, Tampa Bay Downs

Mark Casse-trained Helium first caught my eye last fall at Woodbine when he displayed a very nice turn of foot to win the listed Display Stakes going away. That race was on the Canadian track's Tapeta synthetic surface and Helium is from the first crop of Ironicus, a Distorted Humor stallion who only won on turf during his 15-race career from ages 2 to 5. I was skeptical that he could pack the same punch on dirt.

I was also skeptical of the Tampa Bay Derby favorite, Candy Man Rocket, who was coming off a win in the G3 Sam F. Davis over the same track that I graded a C- because it looked as though the Candy Ride colt was being stretched to the limit distance wise.

Helium had shown speed in his sprint starts at Woodbine and Casse's Plan A was for jockey Jose Ferrer to put him close to the lead. That went out the window when he broke slowly and had just two horses beat for the opening quarter mile.

Helium won for the third time in three starts, taking the Tampa Bay Derby under Jose Ferrer

Ferrer kept Helium to the far outside in the run down the backstretch and around the far turn, and Casse's runner was battling for the lead with front-running Boca Boy, who'd led and then tired in the stretch in the Sam F. Davis. Helium put him away, then was quickly joined by third-place Sam F. Davis finisher Hidden Stash, who pressed Helium for the final furlongs but couldn't get past, losing by three-quarters in a nice effort.

The winner's 84 Beyer Speed Figure compared favorably to his 75 on Tapeta last October but is low among the Derby prep race winners this winter. Casse has talked about not running the horse again before the Kentucky Derby, so although Helium would enter the classic unbeaten in three starts, he'd still be a pretty big price.

Grade: C+

March 6 – Gotham Stakes, one mile, Aqueduct

Chad Brown-trained Highly Motivated was the heavy favorite here as he made his first start since winning the listed Nyquist Stakes going 6 ½ furlongs at Keeneland on the Breeders' Cup undercard Nov. 6. He bobbled at the start, then had a nightmare trip with traffic in the early stages of this one-turn mile race. Second betting choice was Freedom Fighter, coming off a second-place finish in the G2 San Vicente at Santa Anita for Bob Baffert, losing to highly touted stablemate Concert Tour by a half-length.

Freedom Fighter broke sharply and led through moderate fractions while being dogged by 46-1 longshot Weyburn, a James Jerkens-trained colt by Pioneerof the Nile ridden by Trevor McCarthy. Weyburn put the Baffert runner away inside the quarter pole then was challenged by Chad Brown's other runner, Crowded Trade, who, like Weyburn broke his maiden this winter at Aqueduct. Crowded Trade, a More Than Ready colt, put his nose in front inside the furlong pole but Weyburn fought back in the final yards to prevail by a nose.

Weyburn (inside) re-rallied in deep stretch to win the Gotham over Crowded Trade

The top two horses received a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, with Highly Motivated finishing third, 1 ¾ lengths back after a tough trip, and earning a 92 Beyer. As I wrote in the intro, the best of the New York Thoroughbred population head south to Florida for the winter and both Weyburn and Crowded Trade remained in New York. Highly Motivated trained for his debut at Payson Park in Florida and probably will accomplish more than the two who beat him.

Grade: C

Feb. 26 – John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Turfway Park

A workmanlike victory in his stakes debut gave the William Morey-trained Hush of a Storm 10 Kentucky Derby points in the Battaglia and he received an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

The Creative Cause colt didn't do anything wrong in winning the Battaglia on the synthetic Tapeta surface at the Northern Kentucky track, but there was not a lot behind him, with the exception of Gretzky the Great, who'd won the G1 Summer Stakes on turf at Woodbine last year. He'll need more points, obviously, and the only way to earn them will be on the dirt and against much stiffer competition.

Grade: C-

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The 53-year-old Delgado had been employed by Morey since 2016, but only recently relocated to Lexington. Prior to working for Morey, Delgado was a long-time employee of retired trainer Julio Canani.

He is survived by his wife, Graciela, and four sons, Miguel Angel, Ricardo, and twins Edgar and Oscar. The latter three work as horsemen in Southern California, while Graciela and Miguel Angel reside in Mexico.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay to transport Delgado's body to Mexico for burial and to cover funeral costs.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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