Zoffarelli | Horse Racing Free Tips

Top Three From Bumpy La Jolla Reconvene in Del Mar Derby

The first three across the wire in a rough-and-tumble renewal of Del Mar's GIII La Jolla H. which resulted in a disqualification will have another go at each other in a full-gate 14-horse renewal of the GII Del Mar Derby Saturday at the seaside oval.

A nose in front at the line in the La Jolla was Yuesheng Zhang's Sword Zorro (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), but his errant path was guaranteed to cost him and he ended up placed third. Prior to that, the bay captured the Singletary S. Apr. 25 at Santa Anita and was second in the Cinema S. there May 23. Elevated into the victory was Red Barons Barn and Rancho Temescal's Zoffarelli (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who was making his North American debut after winning just one of seven starts–albeit with five seconds–in Great Britain. Bumped up from third to second was rail-drawn Hudson Ridge (American Pharoah). Breaking his maiden in the Cinema, he had repeated in an Arcadia allowance/optional claimer June 18 before being bounced around and cost a chance at the victory as the 17-10 favorite in the La Jolla.

The top four horses from a blanket finish in the local Oceanside S. return here as well. Flashiest (Mizzen Mast) rallied from last to first to get up by a head at 12-1, continuing an ascent from starting his career against $30,000 maiden optional claimers at Turf Paradise, but the gelding was rank early and retreated to last when shipped across the country for a try in the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational S. last out. Hronis Racing's Crew Dragon (Exaggerator) was runner-up in the Columbia S. earlier this year for Bill Mott and followed up his second in the Oceanside with a local allowance/optional claiming score Aug. 12. Third was 39-1 longshot No Foolery Here (Carpe Diem), making his first start against winners after breaking his maiden on the Santa Anita turf May 29, while Hockey Dad (Nyquist), second to Crew Dragon Aug. 12, filled the superfecta, beaten just a half-length.

The post Top Three From Bumpy La Jolla Reconvene in Del Mar Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Zoffarelli Wins La Jolla Handicap Via Disqualification In U.S. Debut

Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal's Zoffarelli, in from England just a week earlier and unable to even get a work in over the Del Mar track, didn't let that stop him as he ran well and survived a bumping match through the stretch to be declared the winner of the $150,500 La Jolla Handicap Sunday at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif.

The bay gelding by Zoffany actually was second across the wire just a nose behind Yuesheng Zhang's Sword Zorro and just a head in front of Double L. Racing or Baffert's Hudson Ridge in a furious finish. But the track's stewards reviewed film of the contentious stretch run where all three horses went through a series of bumps and came to the conclusion that Sword Zorro should be disqualified and placed third and the other two horses each moved up one placing.

The winning time on the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.27.

Drayden Van Dyke rode the winner for trainer Jeff Mullins. The owners are the father and son team of Jed and Tim Cohen.

Zoffarelli returned $17.80, $6.00 and $3.80 across the board. Hudson Ridge paid $3.40 and $2.40, while Sword Zorro returned $3.60 to show.

Zoffarelli, who last raced June 30 at Bath in England, earned $90,000 for his victory moving his bankroll up to $110,325. He had won a race and was second five times in seven starts in England as a 2- and 3-year-old.

The track's Pick 6 Single Ticket Jackpot Wager proved too elusive for the 12th straight racing day meaning there will be a whopping carryover of $1,127,460 going into the return of racing Thursday. First post for the eight-race card will be 2 p.m.

Post-race quotes:

DRAYDEN VAN DYKE (Zoffarelli, winner) – “If I don't get banged that last time, I'm going to go on by and win it on my own. But he (Sword Zorro) kept constantly drifting out and out. It was the right call. I knew this horse was going to run big today. I did my homework. I was over at the barn with Jeff (trainer Mullins) the other morning watching this horse's races in England. The owners (Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal) know what they're doing when they go over to Europe and buy one. They got another good one here.”

JEFF MULLINS, (Zoffarelli, winner) – “I've only had him for eight days. No works. They worked him before he came and we just kept him happy. I wasn't that confident (during the inquiry). I've been on the wrong side of them a lot before. It (elevation to first) looked legitimate, but you never know. (Any similar off-the-plane stakes wins?) River Boyne (2018 La Jolla Handicap).”

FRACTIONS: :23.38 :47.16 1:11.55 1:36.20 1:4227

The stakes win was the first of the meeting for rider Van Dyke and his first in the La Jolla Handicap. He now has 34 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meeting for trainer Mullins but his second in the La Jolla Handicap (River Boyne, 2018). He now has 21 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owners are Red Baron's Barn (Jed Cohen of Encino, Calif.) and Rancho Temecal (Tim Cohen of Piru, Calif.).

The post Zoffarelli Wins La Jolla Handicap Via Disqualification In U.S. Debut appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

D’Amato Readies Two For Yellow Ribbon, Cathkin Peak For La Jolla

Trainer Phil D'Amato reported Saturday morning that 2-year-old filly Elm Drive came out of her victory in Friday's $200,000 Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes “really good” physically.

And if the Kentucky-bred daughter of Mohaymen, a $165,000 purchase at the Ocala sale in March who carries the colors of Little Red Feather Racing stays that way, she'll next be seen in the $300,000 Grade 1 TVG Del Mar Debutante on September 5.

“Yup, absolutely,” was D'Amato's response when the Debutante was mentioned in the winner's circle after she prevailed by a head over Baoma Corp's Eda in a stretch-long duel while covering six furlongs in 1:10.64.

“She broke on top then Juan (Hernandez) got her to rate, make a move and fight off a rival to her outside the length of the stretch. I just thought that's the epitome of class. Very professional, and I think she's the type of filly that the longer (the races) the better.”

Having chalked up one stakes victory for the weekend, D'Amato will send out Raymundos Secret (6-1) and Charmaine's Mia (4-1) in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon and narrowly favored (2-1) Cathkin Peak in Sunday's $150,000 Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes as a possible closer to three consecutive big days.

Irish-bred Cathkin Peak made his U.S. debut at Del Mar in late November a winning one and followed that with a December victory in the $80,000 Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Kicking off his 3-year-old campaign this year, Cathkin Peak was second to soon-to-be Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World in the $100,000 Pasadena Stakes in February and has gone unraced since.

“He had a couple of little things we needed to deal with, but he never left the barn and he has come back to train really well,” D'Amato said. Cathkin Peak will go 1 1/16 miles, the longest assignment of his career, in the La Jolla – second leg in the grass stakes series for 3-year-olds during the Del Mar summer. His previous starts were all at a mile.

“He's really tactical,” D'Amato said. “If there's not a lot of pace, he can be up close; if there is, he can sit back and make a late move. Juan can play the break and try to have him in the right spot.”

The field for the La Jolla from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parenthesis: Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Wyfire (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Hudson Ridge (Abel Cedillo, 5-2); Cathkin Peak (Juan Hernandez, 2-1); Zoffarelli (Drayden Van Dyke, 3-1), and Sword Zorro (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1).

The post D’Amato Readies Two For Yellow Ribbon, Cathkin Peak For La Jolla appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

La Jolla, Graduation Stakes Headline Sunday Card At Del Mar

Stakes horses will once again double up for a Del Mar crowd, this time on Sunday with the presentation of the 81st La Jolla Stakes and the 70th edition of the Graduation Stakes. The races will go as the 6th and 9th races, respectively, on the shore track's 10-race program.

The La Jolla, a Grade 3 affair that carries a purse of $150,000, has drawn a half-dozen 3-year-olds for a mile and one-sixteenth jaunt on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course at Del Mar Thorughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. The Graduation also has drawn six California-bred 2-year-old starters for its five and one-half furlong spin on the main track. It offers a purse of $100,000.

The Irish horse Cathkin Peak, owned by Sterling Stables, Nentwig, and CYBT, is a candidate to be the favorite in the La Jolla. A bay son of the Irish stallion Alhebayeb, Cathkin Peak raced once in his native land as a 2-year-old, then was purchased privately and shipped to California where he won a pair of races, including the overnight Eddie Logan at Santa Anita Park last December. He subsequently chased home the blossoming star Rock Your World in February's Pasadena Stakes, also at Santa Anita, then went on the shelf. This will be his first start in nearly six months, but trainer Phil D'Amato has put a series of steady works into him for this comeback.

Double L Stable and Natalie Baffert's Hudson Ridge hails from the powerful Bob Baffert barn and is a son of one of Baffert's Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah. The colt broke his maiden with a dead-head score in a straight maiden race at Santa Anita on May 1 and came back to win a pair of races after that, including the Cinema Stakes.

Two of the other La Jolla runners — Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal's Zoffarelli and Yuesheng Zhang's Sword Zorro also first saw light of day in Ireland. The former will be making his U.S. debut in the La Jolla, while the latter owns a victory in the Singletary Stakes at Santa Anita on grass April 25.

The Graduation – like many 2-year-old races at this time of year – is a tough one to sort out with only minimal past performances to work with. Morning line maker Jon White could barely separate two of the runners, hanging Lovingier, London, and Zondlo's Rock N Rye as an 8/5 favorite, just a tick better than Lovingier, Beckerle, and Carrillo's Thirsty Always at 9/5.

Rock N Rye is a homebred by Always Thirsty who was a handy winner of a straight maiden race in his second start at Santa Anita on May 30 in his most recent outing. He's been training steadily for this return date at both San Luis Rey Downs and Del Mar.

Thirsty Always, also by Stay Thirsty, scored in his first start at Santa Anita on May 16, then shipped up to Pleasanton and captured the Nevin Stakes there on July 10.

Trainer Walther Solis conditions both juveniles.

[Story Continues Below]

Here's the lineup for the La Jolla from the rail out with riders and morning line odds: Steve Moger's Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Gary Barber's Wyfire (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Hudson Ridge (Abel Cedillo, 5/2); Cathkin Peak (Juan Hernandez, 2-1); Zoffarelli (Drayden Van Dyke, 3-1), and Sword Zorro (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1).

The field for the Graduation lays out like this: Lovingier or Templeton Horses' Mr. T's Thirsty (Tyler Baze, 2-1); McMahon or Rudy's Trip to Spain (Frey, 2-1); Thirsty Always (apprentice Cesar Ortega); Rock N Rye (Rispoli); Moger, Burke or Estrada, et al's Northvale Road (Tiago Periera, 6-1), and Branch or Hill's Fowler Blue (Edwin Maldonado, 12-1).

First post for Sunday's card is 2 p.m.

The post La Jolla, Graduation Stakes Headline Sunday Card At Del Mar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post