zagora stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Candy Flower held the lead from the race's opening strides, but did not have enough left to hold off a late-stretch bid from favorite Orglandes (FR) in the Zagora Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Mike Maker trainee Candy Flower was on the lead first time under the wire in the 1 1/2-mile Zagora, with Always Shopping and Orglandes taking up second and third. Maintaining a three-length advantage throughout, Candy Flower set a steady pace, logging fractions of :24.92 for the first quarter, :49.63 for the half-mile, and 1:15.10 for six furlongs. She looked poised to take the field gate to wire into the far turn, where her lead shrunk to a length as the field entered the stretch.

Irad Ortiz Jr. took Orglandes to the outside on the far turn, as Beautiful Lover pulled even with Candy Flower in the Belmont straightaway. Candy Flower battled back, even with Beautiful Lover, but Ortiz Jr. had Orglandes set down for a drive. She caught the two frontrunners in the race's final strides, getting up to win by a neck. Beautiful Lover was second, while Candy Flower held on for third. Hungry Kitten, Lovely Lucky, Always Shopping, and Go Big Blue Nation rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the 1 1/2 miles was 2.29.28. Find this race's chart here.

Orglandes paid $3.50, $2.90, and $2.40. Beautiful Lover paid $5.00 and $3.40. Candy Flower paid $6.70.

Bred in France by SA Franklin Finance and Elisabeth Vidal, Orglandes is by Le Havre (IRE) out of the Dansili (GB) mare Influence (FR). Trained by Chad Brown, she is owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael J. Caruso. Orglandes was consigned by Coulonces Sales and sold to Sylvain Vidal for $88,245 at the 2017 Arqana Deauville October Yearlings Sale. Her win in the Zagora is the 5-year-old mare's first victory of 2021, for a lifetime record of five wins in 14 starts and career earnings of $307,022.

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Otter Bend Stables' Gufo remains in training for the $4 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf, but trainer Christophe Clement said he has still not officially committed to the race.

The chestnut son of Declaration of War was third in last Saturday's Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., six weeks after earning an entry into the Turf when capturing the “Win And You're In” Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Clement said a breeze next weekend will likely determine Gufo's Breeders' Cup status.

“We are training him to go to the Breeders' Cup at the moment,” Clement said. “I will speak to [Otter Bend Stables owner] Mr. Cainelli in the coming week for the plan and we'll make a decision. He'll breeze next weekend and then we'll assess him after the work.”

Never out of the money in a baker's dozen lifetime starts, Gufo captured the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational last October and the Grand Couturier in July at Belmont. He was a respective second and third in his first two starts of the year in the Man o' War and Manhattan, both Grade 1 races at Belmont. He has banked earnings of nearly $1.2 million.

On Saturday morning, Clement breezed his graded stakes-placed pair Soldier Rising and City Man in company over the Belmont inner turf in :47.20.

Second in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational and Jockey Club Derby Invitational, the last two legs of the Turf Triple series, Soldier Rising will target the $400,000 Grade 2 Hill Prince next Saturday at Belmont Park.

City Man, a three-time New York-bred stakes winner, will make his next start in the $200,000 Mohawk as part of a lucrative Empire Showcase Day on October 30.

“They worked a touch quick, but they worked well,” Clement said. “They came back in good order and are in good shape so far. Solider Rising will go to the Hill Prince and City Man is on target for the Mohawk.”

Soldier Rising will see a significant cutback in distance in the nine-furlong Hill Prince after finishing second in the Jockey Club Derby at 1 ½ miles.

“With the way he worked today, I think he'll be okay,” Clement said.

Also on the work tab for Clement was Moyglare Stud Farm's four-time winner Beautiful Lover, who went an easy half-mile in :52.10. The 5-year-old Arch mare will target the $100,000 Zagora on October 31 at Belmont.

“She worked well. It was a slow, but by design. She finished up nicely,” Clement said.

A last-out fifth in the Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Waya on October 3, Beautiful Lover defeated eventual graded stakes-placed Miss Teheran in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming tilt on June 27 at Belmont. She secured a stakes win in capturing the Boiling Springs in 2019 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and earned graded stakes black-type last season when second in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs in Tampa, Fla., and the Grade 3 Matchmaker at Monmouth.

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