Horse Racing: Sat. Belmont's card (post #1134), NBC coverage begins at 4:30 pm ET

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

REBEL
This is one of the most important Kentucky Derby prep races and the penultimate race in the Arkansas journey. The 3 and 7 will get much attention, the 8 may offer value. This is a very interesting race and the prospect of three Steve Asmussen runners could wreak havoc especially for exotic players and of those three #10 is perhaps best suited for this race. And then there are the wonderful connections with #4 and a horse that could be ready to achieve the next level.

JEFF RUBY STEAKS
While this race doesn't have the same prestige as the Rebel, the Jeff Ruby Steaks Stakes is a fantastic opportunity to handicap especially judging by the morning lines. There is much to consider including the all-weather surface and how the runners handle it. This is a race that the favorites could be beaten without much surprise.

REBEL STAKES

WHERE: Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas
WHEN: Saturday, March 17, 2018, Race 10
TIME: 6:09 pm Central Time
WHAT: Grade II Kentucky Derby prep race
DISTANCE: 1 1/16 miles
SURFACE: Dirt
PURSE: $900,000
AGE: 3-year-olds​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Title Ready (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	117	Steven M. Asmussen	8-1
2	Curlin's Honor (FL)	Florent Geroux	115	Mark E. Casse	12-1
3	Solomini (KY)	Flavien Prat	115	Bob Baffert	3-2
4	Magnum Moon (KY)	Luis Saez	115	Todd A. Pletcher	7-2
5	Higher Power (KY)	Richard E. Eramia	117	Donnie K. Von Hemel	20-1
6	Pryor (KY)	Robby Albarado	115	Ron Moquett	30-1
7	Sporting Chance (KY)	John R. Velazquez	117	D. Wayne Lukas	5-1
8	High North (KY)	Gary L. Stevens	115	Brad H. Cox	12-1
9	Zing Zang (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	115	Steven M. Asmussen	20-1
10	Combatant (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	115	Steven M. Asmussen	8-1
11	Bode's Maker (KY)	Jareth Loveberry	115	Allen Milligan	50-1

[TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY][/TH][/TR][/TBODY]

[TBODY][TR][TH]
JEFF RUBY STEAKS STAKES

WHERE: Turfway Park, Florence, Kentucky
WHEN: Saturday, March 17, 2018, Race 10
TIME: 6:00 pm Eastern Time
WHAT: Grade III Kentucky Derby prep race
DISTANCE: 1 1/8 miles
SURFACE: All Weather Track
PURSE: $200,000
AGE: 3-year-olds
​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Sky Promise (KY)	Jack Gilligan	123	Kenneth G. McPeek	12-1
2	Cash Call Kitten (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	123	Michael J. Maker	12-1
3	Archaggelos (KY)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	123	Michael W. Dickinson	6-1
4	Pony Up (KY)	Albin Jimenez	123	Todd A. Pletcher	6-1
5	Magicalmeister (KY)	John McKee	123	James K. Chapman	12-1
6	Mugaritz (KY)	Nik Juarez	123	Jonathan Wong	6-1
7	Hazit (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	123	Todd A. Pletcher	5-1
8	Blended Citizen (KY)	Kyle Frey	123	Doug F. O'Neill	6-1
9	Dreamer's Point (KY)	Chris Landeros	123	Ian R. Wilkes	15-1
10	Zanesville (KY)	Malcolm Franklin	123	Thomas M. Amoss	12-1
11	Ride a Comet (KY)	Gabriel Saez	123	Mark E. Casse	5-1
12	Arawak (KY)	Julio A. Garcia	123	Wesley A. Ward	15-1

[TBODY]
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[/TH][/TR][/TBODY]

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Hey guys, not sure what is being talked over there about gronkowski, but I would not be excited. Mendelssohn on the other hand...

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^ Steve Haskin mentions both following his Derby Dozen ranking. I have seen Mendelssohn run prior to his last race but Gronkowski's most recent outing was my first view. The latter appeared rank early in the race.

Derby Dozen - March 13, 2018 - Presented by Shadwell Farm

The chances of having a strong European presence at the Kentucky Derby increased dramatically when two horses who are nominated to the Triple Crown, GRONKOWSKI and MENDELSSOHN, earned valuable points by capturing Derby preps in England and Ireland respectively, run over an all-weather surface. Both colts scored workmanlike victories in a manner that suggests they should improve in their final preps. Gronkowski, trained by Jeremy Noseda, is headed to the U.S. to compete in either the Wood Memorial or Blue Grass Stakes, while Mendelssohn, trained by Aidan O’Brien, will travel to Dubai for the UAE Derby to take on Godolphin’s GOLD TOWN, who romped in the UAE Two Thousand Guineas and the Guineas prep in his first two races on dirt.

Mendelssohn, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, defeated stablemates THREEANDFOURPENCE and SEAHENGE, both of whom are also nominated to the Triple Crown.

O’Brien felt Mendelssohn, a half-brother the champion Beholder and top sire Into Mischief, was a bit rusty in his first start since October, but was happy to get him back to the races. As for Threeandfourpence anf Seahenge, who both ran excellent races, there is the one-mile Burradon conditions stakes at Newcastle in England March 20, which is worth 30 points to the winner.

Two days before Mendelssohn’s victory in the Patton Stakes at Dundalk, Gronkowski, who had scored by 4 1/2 lengths over the all-weather surface at Chelmsford in November, earned his ticket to America by winning the Kentucky Derby conditions stakes at Kempton. Gronkowski, of course, is named after New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski.​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

March 15, 2017

Gulfstream (Florida):

• The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $1,200 to all winners. The carryover will begin at $3.3 million for Friday. More than $406,000 was added today. That total should be surpassed easily for tomorrow's card.
• Luis Saez, the meet's leading rider, was 6 3-0-3.
• Race 5: Keep an eye on 4-year-old colt American Guru who is a son to Unbridled's Song and won his maiden race for Luis Saez/Jimmy Jerkens at $11.20. He is a striking animal and looked like Unbridled in character.

​

• Race 9: John Velazquez had one ride and it was the penultimate race. You know how this went but not without a thrilling stretch duel. It seems that whenever Johnny V. has a lone race and it is very late in the day, he knows something. Mark Casse finished 1-2 in the race.

​

• Race 10: Once again Javier Castellano won for his brother-trainer Abel. I believe that makes them 2-for-2 at the meet as a combo.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Race 2: Look out for bridge jumpers. The winner paid $9.40 in the middle and $21.20 at the end when the prohibitive favorite ran off the board.
• Jack Gilligan had four mounts and won three. He was 4 3-1-0 in total.
• A bad spill with one horse suffering fatal injuries and three jocks injured though apparently nothing too severe.

Oaklawn (Arkansas):

• Race 9: $2 Pick 5 paid over $93,000. The $2 Pick 4 returned over $10,000. The $2 Pick 3 was $4,400+.

Santa Anita (California):

• Three scheduled turf races were off. Weather may impact turf racing Friday and Saturday, too.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

This doesn't seem like a good idea.

Breeders' Cup board again set to discuss splitting up event | Daily Racing Form

Under a plan floated three weeks ago by the organization’s Innovation Committee, the Breeders’ Cup would add a $3 million race restricted to 3-year-old horses to a slate of 10 races to be held on the first Saturday of November. The Classic, Juvenile, Juvenile Fillies, and Sprint would then be moved to a date in December, with the races and an undercard held at Gulfstream Park in South Florida, the lone major racetrack that has dates at that time.
​

​

Thankfully, this potential concept seems to have been abandoned.

“The Breeders' Cup Board of Directors met today and among the items under discussion was a “bifurcation” concept generated by the Company's Innovation Committee. While the Board determined not to proceed with the concept under consideration, we continue to welcome and encourage the consideration of new ideas and affirm that healthy debate on those ideas will be a positive for both the Breeders' Cup and international Thoroughbred racing. Breeders' Cup will have no further comment on this matter.”

 

[Cyclones Rock]

​

Thankfully, this potential concept seems to have been abandoned.

“The Breeders' Cup Board of Directors met today and among the items under discussion was a “bifurcation” concept generated by the Company's Innovation Committee. While the Board determined not to proceed with the concept under consideration, we continue to welcome and encourage the consideration of new ideas and affirm that healthy debate on those ideas will be a positive for both the Breeders' Cup and international Thoroughbred racing. Breeders' Cup will have no further comment on this matter.”

Good.

The friday portion of the BC struggles enough. The idea of splitting the event was a bad one. It is a good thing that this concept suffered an early death.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

March 16, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Three of the leading riders at the meet upped their totals. Dylan Davis (3), Manny Franco (3) and Junior Alvarado (2) combined to win eight of the nine races.
• Leading riders at the meet: Manny Franco (48/24%), Dylan Davis (46/22%) and Junior Alvarado (34/27%).
• Trainer Linda Rice won three times, twice with Junior Alvarado riding. The pair was a perfect 2-for-2 including winning the opener by more than 16 lengths -- yes, 16 lengths -- in a short field of five.
• Manny Franco is 16 8-1-3 his last two racing days (Sunday and Friday) at Aqueduct. He has been in the money 12/16 with a winning percentage of 50%.
• A little disappointed with Jeremy Rose's results today. He had two opportunities to get rare wins but one got caught and the other never fired. That isn't to blame the rider but sometimes we root and even play based on jocks or trainers.

Mahoning Valley (Ohio):

• Race 3: The $1 super paid more than $30,000.

Tampa Bay (Florida):

• A 10-year-old won race 4, an Illinois-bred out for the 65th time.
• The $2 tri paid over $1,300 and the $1 super more than $6,700 in race 7.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• More than $553,000 was added to the $.20 Rainbow 6 today. Today's winners collected the robust sum of $356.28. No one was singled in the finale and as such the pot grows to $3.44 million for tomorrow's carryover. I assume we will see the jackpot exceed $4,000,000.
• More than $8,000,000 was handled today.
• John Velazquez was removed from his final two rides including one as a replacement for Jose Lezcano. No word on the injury though earlier in the day he jumped off a rambunctious first time starter who got bumped out of the gate after acting up prior to being entered.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Florent Geroux was the racing star of the day across North America. He rode in eight of the nine races and won five times. In all, he was 8 5-0-3, a remarkable 87.5% in the money.
• Kerwin Clark had surgery on a broken jaw, has a broken rib and a collapsed lung following a spill on Thursday.
• Miguel Mena, the leading rider at the meet, has multiple broken bones in his ankle and heel in the same spill as Clark.
• Unrelated to the spill, Corey Lanerie will serve a 4-day suspension beginning March 25 for a riding infraction.

Santa Anita (California):

• Martin Garcia won for the first time, his third start, since returning to California from a brief stay in New York. It was an odd decision to relocate to New York for the winter though perhaps being dropped as Bob Baffert's second-rider was a factor. He won for trainer Ryan Hanson who is listed with 25 lifetime wins.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

This should get the attention of the racing world. A Medaglia d'Oro mare in foal to a son of Unbridled's Song. And they won a race or two. Not too bad.

Songbird confirmed in foal to Arrogate | Daily Racing Form

Two-time Eclipse Award champion Songbird has been confirmed in foal to fellow champion and first-year stallion Arrogate. It would be the first foal for the Medaglia d'Oro mare.

The news was reported by Timber Town Farm, which boards Songbird in Lexington, Ky., for owner Mandy Pope, who purchased the mare for $9.5 million at last November's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale. The price was the second-highest ever at a North American public auction for a broodmare prospect.

Songbird was covered by Arrogate, who stands at Juddmonte Farm in Lexington, on Feb. 27. The son of Unbridled's Song is standing for an advertised fee of $75,000, the highest for an incoming Kentucky stallion of 2018.​

 

[Cyclones Rock]

^^^^^^^^^^

If this foal is born healthy and has proper confirmation, it's going to take a full Brinks Truck to buy it.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

This is precisely the documentation needed to help analyze the Jeff Ruby Steaks Stakes with the degree of uncertainty on the synthetic surface. Shackelford, War Front and Tiznow runners seem to have a sizeable advantage over Uncle Mo and Temple City offspring.

Beyer Sire Rankings aid Turfway analysis | Daily Racing Form

Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3)
SIRE NAME	HORSE	STARTERS	STARTS	N.A WINS	Win %	BEYER 90+	%	HORSES	%	BEYER 100+	HORSES	%
Shackleford	Dreamer's Point	19	61	17	28%	2	3.28%	2	10.53%	1	1	5.26%
War Front	Hazit	73	176	24	14%	5	2.84%	5	6.85%	0	0	0.00%
Tiznow	Zanesville	157	549	90	16%	13	2.37%	8	5.10%	3	3	1.91%
Candy Ride	Ride a Comet	203	831	134	16%	14	1.68%	12	5.91%	1	1	0.49%
Proud Citizen	Blended Citizen	86	433	51	12%	6	1.39%	3	3.49%	0	0	0.00%
Sky Mesa	Sky Promise	156	608	98	16%	5	0.82%	2	1.28%	1	1	0.64%
Kitten's Joy	Cash Call Kitten	242	990	127	13%	4	0.40%	4	1.65%	0	0	0.00%
Dialed In	Mugaritz	18	51	11	22%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Aikenite	Pony Up	2	16	3	19%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Temple City	Archaggelos	49	224	34	15%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Bodemeister	Magicalmeister	20	50	7	14%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Uncle Mo	Arawak	42	109	13	12%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Bourbonette Oaks (G3)
SIRE NAME	HORSE	STARTERS	STARTS	N.A WINS	Win %	BEYER 90+	%	HORSES	%	BEYER 100+	HORSES	%
Two Step Salsa	Homemade Salsa	43	282	38	13%	3	1.06%	2	4.65%	0	0	0.00%
Eskendereya	In the Mood	62	254	41	16%	1	0.39%	1	1.61%	0	0	0.00%
Langfuhr	Hey Negrita	166	833	126	15%	3	0.36%	2	1.20%	2	1	0.24%
Artie Schiller	Queen's Fate	128	654	91	14%	1	0.15%	1	0.78%	0	0	0.00%
Sir Percy	Consolida	2	2	1	50%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
First Samurai	Bet She Wins	87	320	64	20%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Get Stormy	Go Noni Go	28	92	17	18%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Uncle Mo	Mo Flash	42	109	13	12%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Maclean's Music	Classy Music	21	58	5	9%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Overanalyze	Mauk's Tuff	8	30	1	3%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Freedom Child	Child's Play	0	0	0	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A	0	0	N/A
Kentucky Cup Classic
SIRE NAME	HORSE	STARTERS	STARTS	N.A WINS	Win %	BEYER 90+	%	HORSES	%	BEYER 100+	HORSES	%
War Front	Designed for War	73	176	24	14%	5	2.84%	5	6.85%	0	0	0.00%
Tiznow	Royal Son	157	549	90	16%	13	2.37%	8	5.10%	3	3	1.91%
Distorted Humor	Dac	110	462	85	18%	9	1.95%	7	6.36%	0	0	0.00%
Giant's Causeway	Chip Leader	187	764	133	17%	14	1.83%	7	3.74%	5	4	2.14%
Colonel John	Colonel Samsen	96	351	56	16%	2	0.57%	2	2.08%	0	0	0.00%
Kitten's Joy	Camelot Kitten	242	990	127	13%	4	0.40%	4	1.65%	0	0	0.00%
Hansen	Fast and Accurate	31	122	21	17%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Yes It's True	The Truth or Else	104	485	63	13%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Discreetly Mine	Senior Investment	55	169	18	11%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Cat Dreams	Catinati	22	77	8	10%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Rushaway S.
SIRE NAME	HORSE	STARTERS	STARTS	N.A WINS	Win %	BEYER 90+	%	HORSES	%	BEYER 100+	HORSES	%
Pioneerof the Nile	Road to Damascus	57	175	36	21%	8	4.57%	5	8.77%	1	1	1.75%
Speightstown	Oskar Blues	127	491	90	18%	17	3.46%	12	9.45%	1	1	0.79%
Tiznow	Alternative Route	157	549	90	16%	13	2.37%	8	5.10%	3	3	1.91%
Stroll	Elgar	66	302	29	10%	3	0.99%	1	1.52%	0	0	0.00%
Tapit	Believe in Royalty	157	481	65	14%	2	0.42%	2	1.27%	0	0	0.00%
Kitten's Joy	Year of the Kitten	242	990	127	13%	4	0.40%	4	1.65%	0	0	0.00%
Awesome Again	Truth be Tolled	97	350	46	13%	1	0.29%	1	1.03%	1	1	1.03%
Denman	Ceduna	4	7	2	29%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Violence	Violent Storm	7	11	3	27%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Point of Entry	Front Door	6	12	2	17%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
To Honor and Serve	Giant Honor & Honorable Treasure	26	75	9	12%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
What Now	Huckleberry Hill	0	0	0	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A	0	0	N/A
Latonia S.
SIRE NAME	HORSE	STARTERS	STARTS	N.A WINS	Win %	BEYER 90+	%	HORSES	%	BEYER 100+	HORSES	%
Flower Alley	Sky Flower	70	277	33	12%	10	3.61%	5	7.14%	3	3	1.08%
Pure Prize	Purely a Dream	81	295	25	8%	9	3.05%	7	8.64%	0	0	0.00%
Proud Citizen	Proud and Fearless	67	228	25	11%	5	2.19%	3	4.48%	0	0	0.00%
Indian Charlie	Alpine Sky	77	315	59	19%	5	1.59%	5	6.49%	0	0	0.00%
Bellamy Road	Bombshell	73	242	35	14%	2	0.83%	1	1.37%	0	0	0.00%
Include	Inconclusive	64	270	49	18%	2	0.74%	2	3.13%	0	0	0.00%
Curlin	Valentine Rosie	129	563	97	17%	4	0.71%	2	1.55%	0	0	0.00%
Colonel John	You Cheated	93	292	31	11%	2	0.68%	2	2.15%	0	0	0.00%
English Channel	Susie Bee	84	444	75	17%	3	0.68%	3	3.57%	0	0	0.00%
Arch	Miss Nancy	82	257	23	9%	1	0.39%	1	1.22%	0	0	0.00%
Mineshaft	Miner's Cat	98	352	39	11%	1	0.28%	1	1.02%	0	0	0.00%
Successful Appeal	Julerette	72	313	60	19%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Fusaichi Pegasus	Apologynotaccepted	46	188	35	19%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%
Blame	No Sweat	66	209	29	14%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0	0.00%

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

March 17, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• In the finale, the $2 Pick 6 paid over $127,000 to two winning ticket holders. The winning horse was named Luzinski and track caller John Imbriale said "Luzinski bulls his way to the front..." as a reference to the former baseball player's nickname. The $2 Pick 4 returned over $4,500.
• Kendrick Carmouche participated in all 9 races and won 4 times.

Parx (Pennsylvania):

• Race 2: For the second time in two lifetime starts, No Direction Home was perhaps aptly named as he lost his rider and this time on the lead and in the stretch run. That is a no no. There horse is green to say the least.
• Race 2 also had a rare Delaware bred.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Bug jockey Weston Hamilton won four times in six starts. His first three wins were double digits.
• Race 10: $100,000 purse, the $.50 tri paid over $1,400.

Mahoning Valley (Ohio):

• There were some decent payouts today including a $2 Pick 3 following race 6 that returned $7,766.40

Turfway Park (Kentucky):

• It was tough to analyze the Jeff Ruby Steaks Stakes (formerly the Spiral) based on the synthetic and the horses lack of exposure in many instances to such a surface. Blended Citizen (Kyle Frey/Doug O'Neill), a California shipper, got the rail and won for the second time in 8 starts. He gets 20 points towards the Kentucky Derby.
  
  ​
• Michael Maker had 14 horses entered today and finished 14 2-3-3. In both races he won, he had three horses in the fields.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Joe Bravo won three times in five starts.

Oaklawn (Arkansas):

PREVIEW FOR THE REBEL
This is one of the most important Kentucky Derby prep races and the penultimate race in the Arkansas journey. The 3 and 7 will get much attention, the 8 may offer value. This is a very interesting race and the prospect of three Steve Asmussen runners could wreak havoc especially for exotic players and of those three #10 is perhaps best suited for this race. And then there are the wonderful connections with #4 and a horse that could be ready to achieve the next level.​

• I decided to play the #10 over the 3 and 4 in the Rebel Stakes. The race ended 4-3-10. The $2 tri paid $105. Magnum Moon (Luis Saez/Todd Pletcher) is now a perfect 3-for-3 and will get a significant boost for KY Derby cred.

​

• The attendance was capped at 37,500. The swarm of people near the oval was impressive. Over $10,000,000 was wagered on the card which set a track record for a non-Arkansas Derby day.
• Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steve Asmussen teamed to win three times.

Tampa Bay (Florida):

• In the finale, race 10, a $73 winner.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• To all those who wondered why Javier Castellano didn't travel to tracks with more feature races than what Gulf offered today, take a look at his results: 7 5-2-0. Five wins in seven starts is exceptional.
• Michael Maker won at three tracks including going 2-for-3 here.
• The Rainbow 6 surpassed $4,000,000 after more than $740,000 was added. The carryover for tomorrow will begin at $3.6+ million. All winners today received $231 with the chalky results.
• Race 10 was a good horse race:

​

Santa Anita (California):

• Joel Rosario was 2-for-3 today and looked comfortable unlike much of his racing on the east coast this year. He was stellar in the second half of 2017 but has struggled at Gulfstream mostly.
• In the Grade I $400,000 Santa Margarita, Fault (Geovanni Franco/Phil D'Amato) won and paid $9.00. The 4-year-old filly opened it up in the stretch. It was Franco's first career Grade I win and it earned him the rider of the week title two days later.

Additional notes:

• Todd Pletcher has an incredible stable of horses and a deep supporting staff. Yesterday, he had horses run at five tracks in Arkansas, New York, Florida, Maryland and Kentucky and though his winners were limited to Oaklawn and Gulfstream he was 16 4-5-2.
• Michael Maker won at all three tracks in which he entered horses and ended the day 20 7-5-2.
• Steve Asmussen had horses entered in four tracks and won at three. In total, he was 24 5-1-4.
• Chad Brown had a lowkey day especially compared to other top trainers mentioned. He was 4 2-1-1.
• Kentucky Derby preps this weekend will be held in New Mexico and Louisiana, the latter has the big prize of 100 points to the winner.
  

  3/24/18	Louisiana Derby	1 1/8M	Fair Grounds	Louisiana	100	40	20	10
  3/25/18	Sunland Derby	1 1/8M	Sunland Park	New Mexico	50	20	10	5

  [TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

March 18, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Race 9: THE race of the day. In the closest of photo finishes imaginable, and oddly isn't listed among the photo finishes on the NYRA web site. Junior Alvarado, in a typical winning ride from him closing from the outside, won with a 16-1 shot and chased down the favorite.
  • Race Replays
• Manny Franco had four wins in eight starts. In total, he was 8 4-3-1. One of his defeats was the finale mentioned above, otherwise it would have been his second straight Sunday with five victories. In his last 33 starts at Aqueduct, he is 33 13-6-7.

`​

Tampa Bay (Florida):

• Race 7: A Minnesota-bred, with a 5-month layoff and sent off at 21-to-1, is now 3-for-4 lifetime in his first race outside of Canterbury.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• The 20-cent Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot for Wednesday's program at Gulfstream Park will begin at $3.79 million. A total of $716,415 was wagered Sunday which brought the total soaring past $4.3 million. Multiple tickets with all six winners each returned $5,511.98.
• Race 5: A Korean-bred finished third for the third time in three starts. I don't recall too many Korean-breds at Gulfstream or any North American track.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• An 11-year-old Texas-bred was out for the 105th time.

Oaklawn (Arkansas):

• Race 8: John Velazquez stayed for one race and finished second with a 5-to-2 for Todd Pletcher.
• Ricardo Santana, Jr. won three times in six starts. He won three times for the second straight day.

Santa Anita (California):

• Trainer Rosemary Trela is now 3-for-5 in 2018 after winning the second race. I haven't come across her name too often. Trela won for the 59th time lifetime. She is listed at 59 years of age and had a brain aneurysm in 2015. She is based at San Luis Rey Downs near San Diego, the site of the destructive wildlife fires from last year. Where's The D is a 5-year-old who didn't want to get passed in this race.
• Rafael Bejarano, one of the top riders in California, suffered a broken wrist and will be out four weeks or more.
• The Grade II Santa Ana Stakes:

​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Legendary connections Gary Stevens and Wayne Lukas teamed to win the 1995 Kentucky Derby with Thunder Gulch at 24-to-1. The horse won 9 out of 16 including a memorable Florida Derby when Mike Smith, on board Gulch, beat Jerry Bailey and denied the latter what would have been a 7th win that day (though Bailey won later on that card). The FL Derby is 18:04 at the YouTube clip below:

​

The slugfest at the 1995 Belmont:

​

The 1995 Kentucky Derby

​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

March 19, 2018

Parx (Philadelphia):

• Today's review will be limited to one awful moment.

Jockey Jose Flores, a winner of 4,650 races, was in a coma at Aria Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Philadelphia on Monday night after going down in a spill during the ninth race at Parx Racing that afternoon. Flores was listed in critical but stable condition.

Flores, 56, was dueling for the lead between horses on Love Rules on the far turn of the six-furlong starter allowance when his mount broke down and fell. A trailing horse, The Pooch, fell over Love Rules and might have struck Flores. A third horse, Easy River, unseated his rider while avoiding the two fallen horses.

Flores had not regained consciousness as of 9 p.m. Monday, according to his agent, David Yannuzzi, and had to be revived by the emergency room staff after his heart stopped.

Jockey Jose Flores in coma after spill | Daily Racing Form

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby S. (Grade II)

What: Kentucky Derby prep race with a 100-40-20-10 point scale.
History: The race was inaugurated in 1894. Two horses have won this race and the Kentucky Derby.
Where: Fair Grounds, New Orleans, Louisiana
When: Saturday, March 24, 2018
Post Time: 5:21 pm Central Time [6:21 pm Eastern Time]
Purse: $1,000,000.
Age: Limited to three-year-olds.
Surface: Dirt
Distance: 1 1/8 miles

Post	Horse (Bred)	Age/Sex	Med.	Jockey	Wt.	Trainer	Odds
1	Bravazo (KY)	3/C	L	Gary L Stevens	122	D Wayne Lukas	7-2
2	Noble Indy (KY)	3/C	L	John R Velazquez	122	Todd A Pletcher	7-2
3	Marmello (KY)	3/C	L	Jack Gilligan	122	Mikhail Yanakov	50-1
4	Givemeaminit (LA)	3/C	L	Javier Castellano	122	Dallas Stewart	20-1
5	Retirement Fund (KY)	3/C	L	Shaun Bridgmohan	122	Steve M Asmussen	12-1
6	Hyndford (KY)	3/C	L	Joe Bravo	122	Todd A Pletcher	8-1
7	Snapper Sinclair (KY)	3/C	L	Jose L Ortiz	122	Steve M Asmussen	9-2
8	Lone Sailor (KY)	3/C	L	James Graham	122	Thomas M Amoss	20-1
9	My Boy Jack (KY)	3/C	L	Kent J Desormeaux	122	J Keith Desormeaux	5-2
10	Dark Templar (KY)	3/C	L	Florent Geroux	122	Brendan P Walsh	12-1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

A good test for some hopefuls to improve their resumes. While the field may lack the most talented colts, it is not short on handicapping options and offers an opportunity for someone to make a leap into the upper echelon.

There have been just two winners of this race to go on to win the Kentucky Derby and the more recent was Grindstone in 1996. The other was Black Gold in 1924. Gun Runner won this in 2016.

 

[GKJ]

Local Parx jockey José Flores is on life support with various cranial and spinal injuries after a spill yesterday. Family has been flown in. Conflicting reports as to whether or not he’s already passed away.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Local Parx jockey José Flores is on life support with various cranial and spinal injuries after a spill yesterday. Family has been flown in. Conflicting reports as to whether or not he’s already passed away.

There has been confirmation on twitter that Flores passed sometime yesterday AM, Parx cancelled Tuesday's program in honor

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^ I spoke to a former trainer who once had Jose Flores ride. In summary, he said "Great hands, better person." Still on life support from what I understand.

March 21, 2018

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Tyler Gaffalione each won twice.
• Two of my favorite trainers finished 1-2 in race 6. Lilli Kurtinecz and Elizabeth Dobles topped a ticket that paid $65 for a $2 exacta. Neither trainer runs a large string but I often play them at the meet. Dobles, as I have said a few times, is an up-and-comer working oftentimes with Imaginary Stables an outfit owned by a South Philly person. Of course, it didn't hurt to have Irad Ortiz, Jr. and John Velazquez, respectively, ride the pair who basically went gate-to-wire.

​

• The $.20 Rainbow Six paid out over $4000 to all winners but since no one hit the big 'pot, the carryover will begin at $3.89 million. More than $425,000 was added today.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

March 22, 2018

The sad news about Jose Flores passing was confirmed today.​

Gulfstream (Florida):

• The Friday carryover for the $.20 Rainbow Six will be $3.988 million. All those who hit each of the six legs of the bet today received $2,400+. I would expect the pot to surpass $4.6 million tomorrow.
• Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Edgard Zayas both won three times and each for three different trainers.
• A very chalky start to the day. The $.10 superfecta paid $1.06.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• The combination of Adam Beschizza/Joe Sharp has been quite the team. They won two more times today. Beschizza had three wins in total.

Oaklawn (Arkansas):

• The meet's leading rider and trainer combined to win races 6 and 7. Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steve Asmussen form a very successful pairing.
• Trainer Karl Broberg added to his North America leading win total with his 103rd in 2018. He is the only trainer in North America with more than 91 wins entering Friday.

Santa Anita (California):

• Canceled due to heavy rains.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

From the Twitter account of Gronkowski's trainer...

Change of plan with Gronkowski due to the Kentucky Derby points system. It has been decided that he will head to the Burradon at Newcastle next Friday (March 30). The horse is in great order and Jamie Spencer will once again ride him.

Source: Jeremy Noseda's Twitter
​

=====================================

The Florida Derby is as important as any Kentucky Derby prep race. It is scheduled to be run on March 31. The field could include Catholic Boy, Audible (who will be my primary focus), Promises Fulfilled, Mississippi, Storm Runner and Strike Power. It will be an interesting test of character and stamina for Audible who was unraced as a 2-year-old.

The Santa Anita Derby is scheduled for April 7 and Bolt d'Oro vs. McKinzie will be the storyline.

The Wood Memorial (New York) and Blue Grass (Kentucky) will also be April 7.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Just heard of the passing of Jose Flores.

R.I.P.

Jockeys are the world's most underappreciated athletes. They risk their lives every time that they ride.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^ I don't know of too many other sports where ambulances trail the action.

March 23, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Rudy Rodriguez took a 3-race lead in the trainer's standings with a 5 3-1-1 afternoon.
• Jockeys Junior Alvarado, Manny Franco and Kendrick Carmouche each won twice.
• Junior Alvarado won for Todd Pletcher. The combo doesn't team often enough. Alvarado's other win was on board Uncle Sigh, a New York-bred who ran for the 28th time including the 2014 Kentucky Derby.
• Manny Franco brought home favorites in the first two races. The chalky double paid $2.10 for $1.
• New York, as did many other tracks, had a group picture in tribute to fallen rider Jose Flores.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Both Steve Hamilton (1 and 2) and his son Weston Hamilton (3 and 6) were listed as riders in the third race. At no point in the scroll at the bottom of the feed did the track make any changes where such notes are customary. That was a mistake by someone and while everyone errors at some point, that information is critical for handicappers. The 1 was a late scratch at the gate. Plenty of time to update. As it turned out, the race finished 2-3 and some of us found out afterwards that Horacio Karamanos was the rider of the latter.

Tampa Bay (Florida):

• Race 8: A 30-to-1 shot was victorious for the second time in 13 starts. A 4-year-old filly who ran outside Ohio for the first time. It was also her first try on turf. The $1 super paid over $17,000.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• The $.20 Rainbow 6 carryover for Saturday's card will be $4.107 million. Almost $500,000 was added today. All winners received $2,500.
• The track handled over $7,000,000.
• Race 7: The connections with Elizabeth Dobles training for Imaginary Stables won. Modern Tale was out for the 46th time. Owner John Guarnere, mentioned in this thread, is a South Philly guy whose outfit is based in Fort Lauderdale. His uncle was a WW II hero who was featured in a movie and has a street named after him in Philadelphia. Dobles has less than 200 starts in her young career but won for the 28th time.

​

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Mitchell Murrill had the natural hat trick beginning with race 4. In total, he was 8 3-3-0 today, Murrill is in his early 20s and was an all-around athlete in Alabama including playing football. He got on a horse for the first time relatively late in life around 16 years old.

Santa Anita (California):

• Reopened after a canceled day due to heavy rains. It was off the turf but the track was listed as good.
• Bombs away for much of the day.
• Race 1: The longest shot on the board won at 21-to-1.
• Race 2: The second highest price won at 13-to-1.
• Race 3: The second highest price won at 12-to-1.
• Race 4: The longest shot won at 20-to-1. The $1 Pick 3 paid $9,000+. The $2 double exceeded $1,000.
• Race 5: Chalk prevailed but the $.50 Pick 4 paid over $8,000. No one hit the Pick 5!
• Race 6: The second highest price won at 9-to-1.
• Race 7: The longest shot on the board won at 35-to-1.
• Race 8: The only favorite of the day to win.
• The $.50 Pick 5 to end the day paid over $74,000.

===============

Chantal Sutherland, currently injured after riding in Louisiana, will move her tack back to Woodbine where she is expected to begin riding in late April.

===============

Winx, who has won 23 consecutive starts and 16 Group 1 races, is entered to ride in Saturday's $770,000 George Ryder Stakes (Rosehill Gardens in Australia) at 7 1/2 furlongs. Winx, the two-time Australian Horse of the Year, became Australia’s all-time leader in Group 1 wins earlier this month.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Fair Grounds will offer plenty of betting options today. Some of the top jocks make an appearance at the track where the biggest race of the day will occur. The Louisiana Derby and the $1 million purse will be the focus. Mom's On Strike (Adam Beschizza/Joe Sharp) is entered in race 5. Beschizza will get a good test today as a relatively new rider to the U.S. circuit. Sharp usually has sound horses and the pair team twice, races 5 and 7. Races 8 though 11 all have purses of $300,000 to $1,000,000.

Among the visiting riders are Javier Castellano, John Velazquez, Jose Ortiz, Gary Stevens and Joel Rosario. Florent Geroux, Joe Bravo, Corey Lanerie, Shaun Bridgmohan and others have their tacks there. In a short field in a Grade II in race 8, there is a rare chance Calvin Borel could go off the favorite though I would expect the betting public to be swayed by some of the other riders.

Gulfstream boasts a 13-race card which should get the $.20 Rainbow Six close to the $5,000,000 mark.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

March 24, 2018

The tracks seem to be doing a good job of not overstepping each other when a key race is going off. Today, New York and Louisiana could have gone off simultaneously but Fair Grounds perhaps informed the outriders and a delay ensued which was appreciated. Following Aqueduct's race, the feature at Fair Grounds had the spotlight to itself. It happened more than once last week and again, with one track balking, it helps the handicapper and viewer.​

Aqueduct (New York):

• Junior Alvarado put on a show today with four wins, including the $100,000 feature, and almost each was prototype. Only one was the favorite and the others were 4-to-1 or more including wins in the final two races with a $1 double that paid $72.50. One of the rides may be painted as ugly but what matters is the finish. Alvarado won for four trainers. He finished 7 4-0-1 today. In the finale, he won with a first-time starter.
• Junior Alvarado is third at the meet in wins but tops all riders in winning percentage and percent in the money. He is that good this meet!
• Race 5: A 116-to-1 paid an astounding sum of $81.50 to place and $40.20 to show. The $2 tri paid close to $5,000.
• The $2 Pick 6 paid $15,000+. The $2 Pick 4 paid over $11,000.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Weston Hamilton won three times and his father Steve added two wins. The five wins came in a stretch of six races. The exception was the first lifetime win for rider Antonio Quiles.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Irad Ortiz, Jr. collected three wins.
• The Grade III $100,000 Hutchenson, Madison's Luna (Julien Leparoux/Philip Bauer) improved to a perfect 2 2-0-0. He won his debut at Tampa Bay Downs last month. I don't know much about the trainer, who won for the 30th time lifetime, other than he used to be an assistant to Ken McPeek.
• 13 different trainers won on the 13-race card.
• It was a mediocre card for the track on a Saturday.
• All winners in the $.20 Pick 6 won over $35,000. The big 'pot was not hit yet again even after $751,000+ was added to surpass $4.8 million. The carryover for Sunday will start at $4.28 million.
• Over $13,000,000 was bet today.

Turfway Park (Kentucky):

• This was the scene as the track opened tonight:
  

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• In the only Kentucky Derby prep race of the day, the $1,000,000 Grade II Louisiana Derby, a thrilling finish gave Noble Indy (John Velazquez/Todd Pletcher) the victory as a 5-to-2 favorite. Lone Sailor was bet down to 9-to-1 from a 20-to-1 morning line and finished second. As an aside, I didn't like the race and avoided any selections.

​

• Race 10: Grade II, the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks, was won by Chocolate Martini (Mitchell Murrill/Thomas Amoss) at 13-to-1. Murrill was mentioned in yesterday's review. The race is a key indicator for the Kentucky Oaks on Kentucky Derby day. Chocolate Martini has won two straight since a rider change and is now 7 3-0-1 lifetime. Her down side was (or is) two busts on the Churchill Downs track -- finishing 12th and 11th -- but that was her first two races. She is a grand daughter to Unbridled.

Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) - BloodHorse​

• Race 9: Grade II, $300,000 purse, Synchrony (Joe Bravo/Michael Stidham), won as the 3-to-1 favorite. in an 11-horse field. A 91-to-1 came in third and sandwiched an 11-to-1 which led to a $.50 tri priced at $480.00. Synchrony is now 12 5-4-3 and came in off a victory in the Fair grounds Handicap last month when he drilled from 10th to the lead with a furious move. He is also 2-for-2 under Bravo. Joe Bravo, Have Whip Will Travel!
• Race 8: Joel Rosario has seemingly been in a funk much of 2018. However, one old personal observation with him is that if he wins on a card early enough he will repeat; that happened today. Rosario was the only jockey or trainer to win more than once on the 13-race card which was a handicapper's delight. He won race 8 on Good Samaritan for Bill Mott. Also in race 8, Calvin Borel had a chance for victory but his horse was in distress and is undergoing surgery to repair an ankle injury. Hopefully, all is well with The Player who is trained by Buff Bradley.
• Adam Beschizza won one of his five rides, a race with Jose Ortiz as the favorite, however, Mom's On Strike was a disappointing fourth as the overwhelming favorite in race 5.
• Javier Castellano failed to win on all six rides. He hit the board just twice though one was on board an 11-to-1. Four of his six mounts went off at 9-to-1 or better which isn't the norm. His two lowest odds went off a t 5-to-2 and even money and finished 6th and 4th, respectively, Not a good day.

Oaklawn (Arkansas):

• Race 4: The $2 pick 4 paid over $10,000.
• Mia Mischief (Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steve Asmussen) was the victor as the favorite in the $150,000 feature race. She has the odd tendency to follow a second place finish with a victory. She is now 6 3-3-0 lifetime.

Golden Gate (California):

• Race 9: The $1 Pick 6 paid over $118,000. The largest winning payout was $15. The $2 Pick 5 returned more than $17,000. The $2 Pick 4 paid over $4,800.

Santa Anita (California):

• Race 5: The $2 Pick 5 paid over $20,000.
• Tyler Baze had a helluva day. He won three time including both Grade II races. One of the wins was with French-bred Itsinthepost (Jeff Mullins trained) who was out for the 33rd time and won his fourth consecutive Grade II race. (a Grade I seventh place finish was among the last five races).

San Luis Rey Stakes Grade II​

• The $2 Pick 6 paid out $14,000+.
• Over $11,000,000 was wagered today.

Rosehill Gardens (Australia):

• Make it 24 wins in a row for Winx. Also, a 17th Grade I win.

​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Next weekend's Kentucky Derby prep races. Full list in the opening post of this thread.

DATE	RACE	DISTANCE	LOCATION	1st PLACE	2nd PLACE	3rd PLACE	4th PLACE
3/30/18	Burradon	1 mile (synthetic)	Newcastle (Great Britain)	30	12	6	3
3/31/18	UAE Derby	1 3/16 mile	Meydan (Dubai)	100	40	20	10
3/31/18	Florida Derby	1 1/8 mile	Gulfstream (Fla.)	100	40	20	10

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

[TR][TH]Rank	Horse	Trainer	Points	Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1.	Noble Indy	Todd Pletcher	110	$640,000
2.	Bolt d'Oro	Mick Ruis	64	$780,000
3.	Enticed	Kiaran McLaughlin	63	$360,880
4.	Bravazo	D. Wayne Lukas	54	$359,913
5.	Promises Fulfilled	Dale Romans	52	$256,480
6.	Magnum Moon	Todd Pletcher	50	$540,000
7.	Quip	Rodolphe Brisset	50	$212,000
8.	Lone Sailor	Tom Amoss	42	$273,347
9.	McKinzie	Bob Baffert	40	$320,000
10.	Good Magic	Chad Brown	34	$1,238,400
11.	Solomini	Bob Baffert	34	$616,000
12.	My Boy Jack	Keith Desormeaux	32	$502,000
13.	$ - Flameaway	Mark Casse	30	$472,260
14.	Firenze Fire	Jason Servis	29	$582,500
15.	Free Drop Billy	Dale Romans	24	$497,200
16.	Snapper Sinclair	Steven Asmussen	22	$321,810
17.	Combatant	Steven Asmussen	22	$300,000
-	+ Blended Citizen	Doug O'Neill	22	$129,644
18.	Strike Power	Mark Hennig	20	$199,560
19.	Old Time Revival	Kenneth Decker	20	$80,000
20.	Instilled Regard	Jerry Hollendorfer	19	$196,000
21.	Catholic Boy	Jonathan Thomas	14	$330,000
22.	Avery Island	Kiaran McLaughlin	14	$320,000
23.	Givemeaminit	Dallas Stewart	12	$196,000
24.	Greyvitos	Adam Kitchingman	10	$300,000
25.	Audible	Todd Pletcher	10	$208,320
-	+ The Tabulator	Larry Rivelli	10	$186,750
26.	Kanthaka	Jerry Hollendorfer	10	$168,000
27.	World of Trouble	Jason Servis	10	$145,000
28.	Lombo	Michael Pender	10	$90,345
-	+ f-Paved	Michael McCarthy	10	$60,000
29.	Pony Up	Todd Pletcher	8	$81,580
30.	Vino Rosso	Todd Pletcher	7	$37,500
31.	Tiz Mischief	Dale Romans	6	$80,900
32.	Hollywood Star	Dale Romans	5	$98,500
33.	Ayacara	Keith Desormeaux	5	$71,345
34.	Title Ready	Steve Asmussen	5	$45,000
35.	Peace	Richard Mandella	5	$27,000
36.	Machismo	Anthony Quartarolo	5	$19,200
-	+ City Plan	Eoin Harty	4	$67,345
-	+ Arawak	Wesley Ward	4	$63,156
37.	Principe Guilherme	Steven Asmussen	4	$44,000
38.	Seven Trumpets	Dale Romans	4	$31,666
-	+ All Out Blitz	Simon Callaghan	4	$20,000
39.	Coltandmississippi	Todd Pletcher	3	$31,137
40.	Sporting Chance	D. Wayne Lukas	2	$260,000
-	+ Tap Daddy	Steven Asmussen	2	$67,400
-	+ Kingsville	Danny Pish	2	$44,000
41.	Marconi	Todd Pletcher	2	$36,520
42.	Take the One O One	Brian Koriner	2	$36,345
43.	Vouch	Arnaud Delacour	2	$25,000
44.	Dark Vader	Peter Eurton	2	$18,000
-	+ Zanesville	Tom Amoss	2	$9,600
-	+ Kowboy Karma	Larry Jones	1	$94,000
-	+ Night Strike	Bret Calhoun	1	$28,400
-	+ Bode's Maker	Allen Milligan	1	$27,500
45.	Zing Zang	Steve Asmussen	1	$9,166
46.	Lionite	Steve Asmussen	1	$25,000
47.	For Him	Mike Pender	1	$24,000
48.	High North	Brad Cox	1	$17,200
-	+ Alkhaatam	Chad Brown	1	$12,500
-	+ Ebben	Steve Margolis	1	$10,671
49.	Regulate	Bob Baffert	1	$9,000
-	+ Regalian	Chris Englehart	1	$7,500
50.	Shivermetimbers	Jerry Holldendorfer	1	$6,000

[TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY][/TH][/TR][/TBODY]

[TBODY][TR][TH]+ denotes not Triple Crown nominated$ Not Triple Crown Nominated but connections intend to makeeligible by March 19[/TH][/TR][/TBODY]