Horse Racing: Arkansas Derby day recap: $41,000,000 bet, Nadal and Charlatan win Ky. Derby preps

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

As part of the early changes to the massive Travers' card, scratch the 3 Pacific Gale and 6 Minit to Stardom in the 6th race, the $500,000 Ballerina.

The weather appears to be on the cool side but bright and sunny.

I stand by my prediction that the track does $50,000,000 today. A lofty sum but time will tell.

 

[GKJ]

Code of Honor is the winner and the best horse today in the Travers.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

As part of the early changes to the massive Travers' card, scratch the 3 Pacific Gale and 6 Minit to Stardom in the 6th race, the $500,000 Ballerina.

The weather appears to be on the cool side but bright and sunny.

I stand by my prediction that the track does $50,000,000 today. A lofty sum but time will tell.

Saratoga handled $52,000,000+. A new card record. My lofty prediction was matched if not surpassed.

Code of Honor is the winner and the best horse today in the Travers.

And a 105 Beyer to boot.

 

[GKJ]

Saratoga handled $52,000,000+. A new card record. My lofty prediction was matched if not surpassed.




And a 105 Beyer to boot.

Some questionable tactics for Tacitus, blinkers on and he was keen to move up. But I don't think the winner would be different.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Some questionable tactics for Tacitus, blinkers on and he was keen to move up. But I don't think the winner would be different.

Much criticism from those around me about the ride by Jose Ortiz. Code of Honor and Tacitus were my 1-2 Kentucky Derby picks. I had the top four today but not the proper order. Johnny V.'s demise is officially premature. I would imagine he was dinged following the Preakness mishap and the suspension in England didn't help his timing but no one schools him in a ride. And that was in evidence today.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

August 24, 2019

• Chad Brown was 19 5-3-1 today at two tracks. He won five of the ten races in which he entered. He will most assuredly win Eclipse Award Trainer of the Year.
• Steve Asmussen sent out 21 starters spanning four tracks.

Saratoga (New York):

• Handle: $52,129,344 was bet which established a record for the Travers' Day. The on-track handle of $11,657,493 also established a record for this card.
• Card: Seven straight graded stakes including six Grade I. Approximately 130 horses ran. Roughly $5,000,000 in purse money was distributed.
• Attendance: 48,213.
• Weather and such: A beautiful day of racing. Fantastic athletes performed admirably.
• Chad Brown tied a track record with five wins by a trainer. Todd Pletcher did it on August 30, 2004.
• John Velazquez and Irad Ortiz, Jr. each won three times but Velazquez's day was far more compelling. He should win Jockey of the Week in North America for his efforts.
• Steve Asmussen and Shug McGaughey trained two winners apiece.
• Race 1: Part of a 3-to-5 entry (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Chad Brown) won.
• Race 2: Tap It to Win (Tyler Gaffalione/Mark Casse), an awesome name for Tapit followers, won comfortably. Up next is likely one of two Grade I races on October 5: the Champagne at Belmont or the Breeders Futurity at Keeneland.
• Race 3: Irad Ortiz, Jr./Chad Brown teamed for their second win. Jose Ortiz/Chad Brown followed with a horse purchased for $1.6 million by Boston-based Lawrence Best who drops big-time money on horses.
• Race 4: Performer (Joel Rosario/Shug McGaughey) improved to 3 2-0-1.
• Race 5: Mitole (Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steve Asmussen) won the $600,000 Grade I Forego. This awesome four-year-old colt improved to 6 5-0-1 this year, 13 9-2-2 lifetime and has never missed the board while earning $2,004,910. He received a 105 Beyer for this race and set a track record 1:20.80. he won a Grade I for the third time. This was the first of seven straight grades stakes.
• Race 6: Come Dancing (Javier Castellano/Carlos Martin) broke in the rear but recovered to capture her first Grade I victory, the $500,000 Ballerina. The 5-year-old mare is 12 7-2-0 lifetime. With the win is an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
• Race 7: Mind Control (John Velazquez/Greg Sacco) won the $500,000 Grade I Allen Jerkens and paid $22.80. The 3-year-old colt is 10 5-2-1 lifetime. The trainer is New Jersey-based who won with his first starter at the meet. Hog Creek Hustle (Corey Lanerie/Vickie Foley), in the rider's only start of the day, finished second and was also sent off at 10-1. The top two finishers passed the overwhelming favorite Shancelot (Emisael Jaramillo/Jorge Navarro), sent off at 1-5, who failed to hold a lead in the stretch. An exciting finish with the top three mere inches apart. Replay in the next post, part 2 below.

• Race 8: Significant Form (John Velazquez/Chad Brown) won the $400,000 Grade 2 Ballston Spa. The 4-year-old filly is 11 4-1-0 lifetime. Back-to-back wins for the jockey and the all-Johnny V. $1 double paid exactly $100 with two significant victories. Stephanie Seymour Brant, who is/was an actress/model, is the winning owner. Her husband Peter owned the third place finisher.
• Race 9: Midnight Bisou (Mike Smith/Steve Asmussen) has now earned $3.2 million after winning the Grade I $700,000 Personal Ensign. The 4-year-old filly is 17 11-3-3, has never missed the board, has won six straight and is a perfect 6 6-0-0 in 2019. She won at the Spa for the first time in three starts. Midnight Bisou received a 104 Beyer score. Elate (Jose Ortiz/Bill Mott) was awesome in a narrow defeat. With the win came an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Longines Distaff. Smith won a graded stakes for the 600th time, third most in North America history. This is arguably the best call given by track announcer Larry Collmus. It was almost Tom Durkin-like circa 1998 Belmont Stakes (See the below post).

• Race 10: Annals of Time (Javier Castellano/Chad Brown) won the $850,000 Grade I Sword Dancer. The lightly run 6-year-old horse is 8 5-2-1 lifetime. He has been mostly dormant since winning the 2016 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. He had just one race in approximately 30 months from December 2016 until June of 2019. With the win came an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Longines Turf.

​

• Race 11: Code of Honor (John Velazquez/Shug McGaughey) won the 150th running of the $1,250,000 Grade I Travers Stakes. Code of Honor is 8 4-2-1 lifetime and has earned $1.885 million. This was his first Grade I win. Code of Honor received a 105 Beyer score, the third highest figure issued for any three-year-old in 2019. As a side note, I was impressed by the gimmicky introduction of jockeys through the fire show. That is good for the sport.

​

• Race 12: Dowse's Beach (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Jason Servis) was the only also eligible of four to enter and won the penultimate race on the card. The 8-year-old gelding won for the 13th time in 38 starts.

• Race 13: Magic Star (Jose Ortiz/Chad Brown) was sent off the favorite and won as a first-time starter. Brown had the only two first-time starters in the race. A couple of bombers followed at 37-to-1 (Junior Alvarado) and 40-1 (Tyler Gaffalione) -- two of the three longest shots on the board -- to finish the tri.

Monmouth (New Jersey):

• Card: 14 races.
• Paco Lopez went 11 3-5-0. He now trails leading rider Nik Juarez 81-to-72 in victories.
• Mike Napoli finish second in race 5 with his only starter. The former baseball player turned T-bred owner is a remarkable 82 38-12-11 (46%/74%) in his first year.

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• Race 3: What a bruising! Jeremy Rose/Tim Ritchey, who provided much of the excitement that was Afleet Alex back in 2005, won this race by 24 1/2 lengths!
• Anthony Pecoraro is 45 19-4-7 (42%/67%) at the meet. Excellent numbers even though Delaware has seemingly struggled this meet to fill cards.

Timonium (Maryland):

• Race 1: Ashley Castrenze won. Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. She ended a 29-race losing skid. Yeah, Ashley!

Colonial Downs (Virginia):

• Race 5: Country Waltz, an 8-year-old gelding, exited as an 0-for-80 maiden. Wow.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Cristian Torres, who in my eyes is the leading contender for Eclipse Award Apprentice of the Year, won back-to-back races twice. His four wins came on 11 mounts. He rode in every race but the opener.
• Victor Barboza is near the top of the trainer standings after a perfect 3 3-0-0 day. Two of his wins came with bug Cristian Torres riding.
• Race 12: Royal Squeeze (Samy Camacho/Elizabeth Dobles) was nipped at the wire by Art G Is Back (Victor Lebron/Ronald Spatz) in the finale, the $100,000 Benny the Bull Stakes. Since her 2-win day on July 14, Dobles has won just once with her last 29 starters.
• Rainbow Six: The pool reached $1,141,344 today after more than $253,000+ was added. The pool tomorrow begins at $888,015.

Canterbury (Minnesota):

• McLean Robertson had a fruitful evening going 7 3-3-1 and winning three of the six races he entered.
• Trainers: Robertino Diodoro (52 wins) and McLean Robertson (49 wins) have an excellent battle for top trainer at the meet. Both have similar winning percentages and Diodoro has a 1% lead in the in-the-money category.

Emerald Downs (Washington):

• Kevin Krigger won four consecutive races including the 1,000th in his pro career. He ended the night with 1,002 wins of which about a third have come at the Washington track.

Del Mar (California):

• Race 9: Catalina Cruiser (Flavien Prat/John Sadler) was tested mightily by Giant Expectations (Drayden Van Dyke/Peter Eurton) but won the $200,000 Grade 2 Pat O'Brien. The winner receives an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile.

​

• Spreading the cheer: Through 8 races, no jockey or trainer had repeated a win.

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Race 9: Silent Poet (Gary Boulanger/Nicholas Gonzalez) improved to 11 6-3-1 in winning the Grade 2 feature. The Ontario-bred was in a graded stakes for the first time. The time of 1:19.22 set a course record for 7 furlongs on turf. The veteran trainer first won a race in 1976.
• Eurico Da Silva, who is second in the rider's standing with 77 wins, won three times.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Part 2:

Race 7 (Allen Jerkens):


This is arguably the best call given by track announcer Larry Collmus. It was almost Tom Durkin-like circa 1998 Belmont Stakes.

A little similarity at the end of each race?

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Current standings for owners, jockeys and trainers and also the top Beyer scores for 2019 in various categories.

OWNER	EARNINGS
Juddmonte Farms, Inc.	$10,841,155
Godolphin Racing, LLC	$7,090,867
Calumet Farm	$5,670,844
Klaravich Stables, Inc. and Lawrence, William H.	$5,646,508
Reddam Racing LLC	$4,981,387
Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm	$4,950,700
Stronach Stables	$4,931,860
Ramsey, Kenneth L. and Sarah K.	$4,783,871

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

---

OWNER	MTS	WINS	2NDS	3RDS
End Zone Athletics, Inc.	712	200	130	108
Ron Paolucci Racing, LLC	536	128	94	57
Besecker Joseph E.	500	118	100	86
Schickedanz Bruno	575	96	95	66
M and M Racing (Mike Sisk)	352	94	61	54

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

--

JOCKEY	EARNINGS
Ortiz, Jr. Irad	$19,734,060
Castellano J J	$17,364,259
Ortiz Jose L.	$17,203,604
Rosario Joel	$14,353,435
Saez Luis	$13,324,888
Velazquez J R	$12,913,483
Prat Flavien	$12,082,847

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

---

JOCKEY	MTS	WINS	2NDS	3RDS
Ortiz, Jr. Irad	1031	220	218	152
Saez Luis	995	203	148	123
Quinones Luis M.	804	198	129	118
Gallardo Antonio A.	778	192	145	118
Ortiz Jose L.	951	189	168	135
Arrieta Francisco	683	179	127	106
McCarthy Trevor	712	166	152	118

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

--

TRAINER	EARNINGS
Chad C. Brown	$20,014,451
Asmussen Steven M	$17,510,453
Casse Mark	$10,386,919
Pletcher Todd A	$10,167,172

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

--

TRAINER	STS	WINS	2NDS	3RDS
Karl Broberg	1459	398	280	202
Asmussen Steven M	1376	263	246	185
Diodoro Robertino	689	165	125	121
Brad H. Cox	558	156	117	84
Chad C. Brown	534	145	107	83

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

--

Beyer info:

Beyer Speed Figures express the most important factor in handicapping: how fast a horse has run in each of his starts.
The winning figure for a race is based on three factors: the final time, the distance, and the inherent speed of the track (a calculation known as the track variant.) For losing horses, points are deducted according the lengths behind the winner and the distance of the race.
​

2-year-olds: male or female
through 08/24/2019

HORSE	TRK	DATE	DIST	BEYER FIGURE
Dennis' Moment	ELP	27 Jul	7F	97
Eight Rings	DMR	04 Aug	5 1/2F	94
Keep On Truckin	WO	03 Aug	5 1/2F	92

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

-----
3-year-olds: male or female
through 08/24/2019

HORSE	TRK	DATE	DIST	BEYER FIGURE
Shancelot	SAR	28 Jul	6 1/2F	121
Covfefe	PIM	17 May	6F	107
Code of Honor	SAR	24 Aug	1 1/4M	105
Hidden Scroll	GP	26 Jan	1M	104
King for a Day	MTH	16 Jun	1 1/16M	102
Maximum Security	GP	20 Feb	7F	102
Maximum Security	MTH	20 Jul	1 1/8M	102
Global Campaign	BEL	11 May	1 1/8M	101
Maximum Security	CD	04 May	1 1/4M	101
Maximum Security	GP	30 Mar	1 1/8M	101
Mucho Gusto	SAR	24 Aug	1 1/4M	101
Omaha Beach	OP	13 Apr	1 1/8M	101
Tacitus	SAR	24 Aug	1 1/4M	101
Maximum Security	MTH	16 Jun	1 1/16M	100
Mr. Money	IND	13 Jul	1 1/16M	100
Mucho Gusto	MTH	20 Jul	1 1/8M	100
Shancelot	MTH	23 Jun	6F	100
Sir Winston	BEL	11 May	1 1/8M	100

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

----

Main Track: more than one mile
through 08/24/2019

HORSE	TRK	DATE	DIST	BEYER FIGURE
City of Light	GP	26 Jan	1 1/8M	112
McKinzie	SAR	03 Aug	1 1/8M	111
McKinzie	CD	03 May	1 1/16M	109
Preservationist	BEL	06 Jul	1 1/4M	108
Yoshida (JPN)	SAR	03 Aug	1 1/8M	108
Higher Power	DMR	17 Aug	1 1/4M	107

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

----

Main Track: up to one mile
through 08/24/2019

HORSE	TRK	DATE	DIST	BEYER FIGURE
Shancelot	SAR	28 Jul	6 1/2F	121
Come Dancing	AQU	05 Apr	7F	114
Imperial Hint	SAR	27 Jul	6F	114
Roy H	SA	19 Jan	6F	109
Laki	LRL	20 Apr	6F	108
Mitole	BEL	08 Jun	1M	108
Mitole	OP	13 Apr	6F	108
Promises Fulfilled	BEL	06 Jul	7F	108
Wellabled	AP	10 May	5F	108

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

----

Turf: all distances
through 08/24/2019

HORSE	TRK	DATE	DIST	BEYER FIGURE
Imprimis	GP	09 Mar	5F	109
Got Stormy	SAR	10 Aug	1M	108
Leinster	SAR	03 Aug	5 1/2F	108
Bricks and Mortar	GP	26 Jan	1 3/16M	107
Bricks and Mortar	BEL	08 Jun	1 1/4M	106
World of Trouble	BEL	08 Jun	6F	106

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

-----

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

August 25, 2019

Saratoga (New York):

• Handle: $16,000,000+ Roughly $88,000,000 bet at the Spa the past three days.
• John Velazquez added two wins. The past two days, he is 13 5-1-1.
• Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steve Asmussen teamed to win twice. Trainer Todd Pletcher and rider Manny Franco also had two wins.
• Race 8: Front Run the Fed (Jose Lezcano/Chad Brown) won the $100,000 feature.
• Chad Brown has won 9 of the last 17 races he has entered at Saratoga with a total of 26 starters. He won six of the seven races in which he entered multiple horses.
• Rider standings: Jose Ortiz (49 wins), Irad Ortiz, Jr. (43) and Javier Castellano (33) are the top three winners.
• Trainer standings: Chad Brown (34 wins), Todd Pletcher (15) and Steve Asmussen (13) are the top three winners.

Monmouth (New Jersey):

• Card: All 97 horses entered in the 12 races were bred in New Jersey.
• Race 8: Joe Bravo had one start all day and the win paid $18.00. A high number for the hometown star. Bravo doesn't get the volume of horses as he once did but he is 79 20-20-12 (25%/66%) at the meet.
• Leading riders: Nik Juarez (83 wins) and Paco Lopez (75) are running away from the rest of the pack.

Timonium (Maryland):

• Ashley Castrenze won twice. When Ashley Castrenze wins, snakes and mongoose play nice, lions find hyenas cheery and bees stop stinging. When she wins twice, everyday is sunshine, lollipops and rainbows multiplied (I used that yesterday). Three wins in two days, is huge for her. One of her wins today, she rode mid-pack to nab the lead horse by a nostril.
• Arnaldo Bocachica, who is a busy rider at Charles Town (West Virginia), is having a tremendous start to this meet at 7 5-0-0.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Rainbow Six: More than $1.08 million was in the pool which will begin at $934,782 for the next day of racing.
• Victor Barboza added to more wins to his total. He trained five winners the past two days.

Ellis Park (Kentucky):

• James Graham won the first two races and appeared to have a 3-victory day with a win in the finale before being DQ'd to place..
• Race 3: The longest shot on the board won at 37-to-1. Joe Hancock, the winning trainer, is 2-for-35 this year.

Canterbury (Minnesota):

• McLean Robertson stayed hot by winning the first two races today. He finished 8 2-4-0. He hit the board with 15 straight starters before a 4th place finish in the 5th race.
• Trainers: The phenomenal battle sees Robertino Diodoro with a 4-win lead over McLean Robertson and up by 1% in both winning and in-the-money.
• Jockeys: Francisco Arrieta (64 wins) and Orlando Mojica (61) are the top two riders.

Del Mar (California):

• Race 8: Improbable (Drayden Van Dyke/Bob Baffert), who was sent off the Kentucky Derby favorite, improved to 8 4-2-0 after winning the $100,000 Shared Belief. It was his first win in five tries in 2019. He has been the favorite in seven of his eight races. Baffert won for the 44th time in 2019. He could have his lowest win total in a year since the 1980s. There are factors for that including limited racing dates in California. Last year he had 113 wins.

​

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Patrick Husbands had a natural hat trick and finished the day 5 3-0-2.
• Rafael Hernandez added three wins to his meet-leading total of 83 but was beaten in the feature race on board the favorite.
• Race 8: Alnilah (Patrick Husbands/Terry Jordan) won the $125,000 Grade 3 feature by upsetting Summer Sunday (Rafael Hernandez/Stuart Simon) who tasted defeat for the first time at the track. The runner up was 9 7-0-0 entering the race with all seven wins at Woodbine and the two defeats were at Keeneland. The winning trainer, who is in his 70s, won for the first time this year with his seventh starter.

​

Perry Ouzts, who is the winningest active jockey in North America and has the seventh most victories all-time (more than 7,000), busted his shoulder in a starting gate mishap at Belterra (Ohio) recently and will be out approximately six months. He vows to return to racing but at the age of 65 it can't be an easy task. Best of luck to him.

Robby Albarado returns from a fractured wrist to ride Sunday at Ellis.

John Velazquez, as expected, was named North America Jockey of the Week.

 

[Orr Fourever]

Saskatchewan Derby this coming Saturday...

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Saskatchewan Derby this coming Saturday...

The track web site says Sept. 7.

Live Racing

 

[Orr Fourever]

The track web site says Sept. 7.

Live Racing

My bad. I'm a week ahead of said race. Sorry.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

My bad. I'm a week ahead of said race. Sorry.

Sometimes dates change. I wasn't sure if you had knowledge of something that had changed.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

As expected, Johnny V. was named Jockey of the Week in North America. And he may be making history in the next few days.

Mike Smith is a distant third with exactly 600, the most recent was accomplished on Saturday.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Code Of Honor Jumps To Fourth Place In Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings - Horse Racing News | Paulick Report

Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings Top 10 – Aug. 27, 2019 *

Rank		Horse	Total Votes		First Place Votes		Previous Week
1		McKinzie	218		20		1
2		Thunder Snow (IRE)	165		1		2
3		Yoshida (JPN)	122		0		3
4		Code of Honor	120		0		10
5		Maximum Security	112		0		4
6		Higher Power	88		0		5
7		Vino Rosso	79		0		7
8		Game Winner	66		0		8
9		Catholic Boy	52		1		6
10		Gift Box	46		0		9

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[GKJ]

Possibility of One Starting Gate for Derby Praised - BloodHorse

Churchill Downs considering using one gate for the Kentucky Derby, by buying a gate that can accomodate 20 horses. I think if you're looking at safety, then shortening the field should be the option, but that's just not going to happen.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

August 27, 2019

Mountaineer (West Virginia):

• Jay Bernardini had a natural hat trick to open the card. Trainers winning three in-a-row is rare but especially to begin the night.

August 28, 2019

Saratoga (New York):

• Handle: $11,000,000 roughly. More than $98.4 million bet at the track the past four racing days.
• Jose Ortiz leads his brother Irad by five wins in the rider standings. The former had two wins today but the latter had three victories to close to within 51-to-46. The meet ends on Monday.
• Junior Alvarado had zero wins on five mounts. However, he hit the board three times and finished second with a first-time starter at 64-to-1 (paid $43.60/$19.20), same finish with the second longest shot on the board at 8-to-1 and third at 26-to-1. Good day to play him for most bettors.
• Kendrick Carmouche/Danny Gargan was a perfect 2 2-0-0. The trainer is fourth at the meet in wins and sports a record of 37 11-5-5 (30%/57%), potent figures.
• Chad Brown won both races in which he entered and finished 3 2-1-0. He has won 11 of the past 19 races at the Spa in which he has entered and that includes seven of eight with multiple entries.
• Race 9: Fighting Seabee (Brian Hernandez, Jr./Kenny McPeek) won the $150,000 With Anticipation Stakes. The first ride of the meet for the Midwest-based jockey.
• Race 5: The $.50 tri paid over $1,600.
• Race 4: Indian Pride (Javier Castellano/Chad Brown) could be "something special" as called by track announcer Larry Collmus. She broke her maiden with an 8-length victory and left the field in the dust with an impressive stretch kick.
• Race 1: Teodoro (Ross Geraghty/Richard Hendriks) destroyed the competition in the opener by 33 3/4 lengths in a hurdles race. The Irish-bred won for the 8th time in 21 starts in a victory as large as any that I recall.

​

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• Alex Cintron had a natural hattrick beginning with race 4. Those were his only three starters. A fruitful day for him.
• Race 7: Jeremy Rose wired the field with his only mount.
• Race 3: The longest shot on the board at 25-to-1 was elevated to win via an objection and subsequent review which was lengthy.

Del Mar (California):

• Mike Puype trained two winners among his three starters.
• Mike Smith had two mounts and won both races. He is 7 5-1-0 his last three racing days.
• Race 6: Express Train (Mike Smith/John Shirreffs) walloped the field by 14 1/2 lengths. The 2-year-old colt won in his second lifetime race.
• Race 7: Been Studying Her (Mike Smith/Jerry Hollendorfer) paid $19.20 in winning the $100,000 feature race for California breds. The winner is 2-f0r-2 lifetime and entered from a race at the California State Fair at Sacramento, the only horse who had not come in from Del Mar.

​

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Race 3: Pink Lloyd (Eurico Da Silva/Robert Tiller) improved to 26 21-1-1 including a perfect 5 5-0-0 in 2019. The $100,000 stakes race had no place or show betting despite a field of 6 likely due to Lloyd's expected dominance. He won by 5 1/2 lengths and was sent off at 1-to-9. He has earned $1.2 million.

​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

THE WOODWARD STAKES​

What: Grade I. Yoshida looks to repeat last year's win.
Where: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, New York
When: Saturday, August 31, 2019, Race 11
Time: 6:00 pm Eastern Time
Who: 3-year-olds and up
Distance: 1 1/8 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $750,000
Television (ET): TVG (24/7 horse racing channel).

FS2 - 2:30-7 pm
MSG - 4-7 pm
ALT - 4-6:30 pm
FSPT - 3-7 pm
FSSD - 3-7 pm​

History: Inaugurated in 1954. Gun Runner. Ghostzapper. Saint Liam. Cigar. Holy Bull. Easy Goer. Alysheba. The list is filled with quality winners.

​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Mr. Buff (NY)	Jose Lezcano	118	John C. Kimmel	-
2	Bal Harbour (KY)	Javier Castellano	118	Todd A. Pletcher	-
3	Vino Rosso (KY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Todd A. Pletcher	-
4	Mongolian Groom (KY)	Luis Saez	118	Enebish Ganbat	-
5	Preservationist (KY)	Junior Alvarado	120	James A. Jerkens	-
6	Forewarned (OH)	Anthony Salgado	118	Uriah St. Lewis	-
7	Yoshida (JPN)	Joel Rosario	124	William I. Mott	-
8	Wooderson (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	Todd A. Pletcher	-
9	Tom's d'Etat (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	118	Albert M. Stall, Jr.	-

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

 

[Preds Partisan]

Teodoro: well that was kind of embarrassing.

 

[GKJ]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^ It is very difficult to see a dedicated athlete and person reduced to such pain as his years dwindled. Hopefully he is at peace.

August 29, 2019

Saratoga (New York):

• Handle: $13,000,000. More than $111,000,000 bet the Spa the last five days.
• Irad Ortiz, Jr. won the opener and the finale to narrow his brother's lead to four wins in the meet's rider standings. His win in the opener was on board Irish Dancing, a first-time starter, for Christophe Clement and by 6 1/2 lengths.
• Luis Saez and Joel Rosario also won twice.
• Chad Brown won twice with five starters and finished 5 2-2-0. Among his losses were two in one race. He usually wins when he enters multiple horses. He has won 13 of his past 23 races at the Spa and that includes seven of nine with multiple entries.
• Race 3: Blissful Breeze (Benjamin Hernandez/Luis Miranda) pulled off a shocker and paid $75 as the longest shot on the board. A rare bomb at the Spa. The rider is a 7-pound bug. The trainer has 12 lifetime wins and won in 2019 for the first time.
• Race 9: Crystalle (Joel Rosario/John Kimmel) was sent off the favorite and won the $100,000 feature race. The 2-year-old filly was slow at the start, down by eight lengths at the opening quarter mile, but managed to win by a neck. "From last to first," per Larry Collmus. It is races like that which many think Rosario is the best closer in the business.

​

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Georgina Baxter, who hails from the U.K., had starters only in the opener and finale and won with both. She took over for the suspended Ralph Ziadie about a year ago and now controls his stable. And a fine job she is doing as only five trainers have more wins and she is at 32% winning and a remarkable 79% in the money.
• Michael Maker had three starters and won consecutive races.
• Race 6: Vaccarezza! You know what that means. Party at Frank & Dino's tonight. The trainer is 20% at the meet with his shortened stable.
• Trainer's race: Victor Barboza, Jr. (18), Antonio Sano (17) and Saffie Joseph (15) are the three winningest. Barboza's barn is on a tear as he has won with nine of his past 17 starters. Sano has not won with his past 15 starters.
• Rainbow Six: Friday's card will open with a pool at $961,781 and will easily pass $1,000,000 again.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Tough break for the horsemen in Illinois. Churchill Downs' decision not to expand gaming at the beautiful race track reeks. It isn't surprising to many considering how Churchill was persecuted for how they operated Calder in south Florida. I don't know if the fight has moved onto another round but CD had an opportunity to strengthen racing at Arlington but it appears that their interests may lie elsewhere within the state of Illinois. Each party has their own interests in mind and to consider but hopefully they can settle this dilemma and reach an agreement.

Arlington Racecourse owner passes on casino bid under new Illinois gambling law and may move racetrack

Arlington Racecourse owner passes on casino bid under new Illinois gambling law and may move racetrack​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

KENTUCKY DOWNS​

• What: The annual five-day meet with a dizzying array of talent and astronomical purses.
• When:
  • Saturday, August 31
  • Thursday, September 5
  • Saturday, September 7
  • Sunday, September 8
  • Thursday, September 12
• Where: Franklin, KY (roughly 40 miles north of Nashville, TN and 130 miles south of Louisville, KY)
• Opening day: More than $2.7 million in purses

[TR][TH]Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post (ET)
Race 1	$42,000	Starter Allowance	1 Mile 70 Yards	Turf	16	12:15 PM
Race 2	$130,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 1/2 Miles	Turf	16	12:51 PM
Race 3	$150,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 1/2 Furlongs	Turf	11	1:24 PM
Race 4	$145,000	Allowance	1 Mile 70 Yards	Turf	16	1:57 PM
Race 5	$145,000	Allowance	1 Mile 70 Yards	Turf	16	2:33 PM
Race 6	$130,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 1/2 Furlongs	Turf	16	3:05 PM
Race 7	$250,000	One Dreamer S.	1 Mile 70 Yards	Turf	10	3:38 PM
Race 8	$750,000	Tourist Mile S.	1 Mile	Turf	14	4:11 PM
Race 9	$500,000	Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies S.	1 Mile	Turf	15	4:47 PM
Race 10	$500,000	Gainesway Farm Juvenile S.	1 Mile	Turf	15	5:22 PM

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

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

DEL MAR DERBY​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

August 30, 2019

Saratoga (New York):

• Handle: $19 million bet today. Roughly $130 million bet the past six racing days. The meet is down to three days before expiring on Monday's Labor Day holiday. Another awesome meet for arguably the most anticipated schedule on the calendar year in North America.
• Empire Six carryover: $558,525.
• Jason Servis was removed from the win in the Kentucky Derby but he was a perfect 3 3-0-0 today. For a trainer to be have such perfection at the Spa is quite the day. His 13 wins at the meet is tied for third highest; however, his 26% is the best of those three marks.
• Jose Ortiz won the last two races and three total (10 3-1-2) to pull ahead by five over his brother Irad ( 10 2-0-3) in the rider standings. Jose has 55 wins to lead all riders.
• Manny Franco's skid hit 22 but he did finish second three times and with 43-to-1 and 32-to-1 bombers. Sometimes such skids aren't about the rider. Saratoga is the cream of the crop.
• Race 9: Niko's Dream (Junior Alvarado/Barclay Tagg) was sent off the favorite and did something he rarely does: win! Nice decisive ride from Alvarado. The horse has hit the board seven of nine times but seemed destined for runner up spots. He is now 9 2-4-1 lifetime. Same owners as New York sensation Funny Cide.
• Race 10: Shekky Shebez (Jose Ortiz/Jason Servis) wired the field and won the $100,000 feature race. The 4-year-old gelding is 5-for-15 lifetime but a perfect 2-for-2 at the Spa including winning this race, his first with the trainer. He was claimed for $25,000 following his prior race and now won a $100,000 feature. The horse was 3-for-13 at Presque Isle. He finds Presque tougher than the Spa.

​

Timonium (Maryland):

• Race 7: Ashley Castrenze was the winning rider. Whenever Ashley Castrenze wins, pink, brown and green makes for a nice color combination, lions are entertained by hyenas, trains always run on schedule and cats chuckle with mice. And oh, the young Castrenze is now second at the fair meet with four wins and sports a 15 4-2-1 (27%) mark.
• Al Cortez, who is nearing the age of 60, is 8 4-1-2 (50%/88%) at the brief meet.

Indiana Grand (Indiana):

• Race 6: A 5-year-old mare made her first appearance for trainer-owner Kathy Householder who has 12 career starts and none since 2016. I am unfamiliar with the trainer but the entry popped out.

Ellis Park (Kentucky):

• Steve Asmussen had a brilliant day with four wins. He won four of the five races in which he entered.
• Tyler Baze rode three winners, all for Steve Asmussen.
• Calvin Borel was caught in the stretch by a horse trained by his brother Cecil. Calvin rode both horses in their prior races.
• Leading riders: One of the best races of the year as Corey Lanerie (23), the King of Kentucky, is tied with Tyler Baze (23) for most wins. James Graham has 22 wins.
• Leading trainers: Steve Asmussen has an abundance of horses in Kentucky and no surprise he has a comfortable lead with 23 wins. Brad Cox is second with 16 wins.
• Meet: The meet closes on Monday, Labor Day.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Saturday: The card will be held and the Rainbow Six will begin at $993,023.
• Sunday and Monday: The track will not operate due to Hurricane Dorian.
• Race 4: An odd payout with the favorite off-the-board. Arts and Crafts (Luca Panici/Larry Bates) won and paid $7.20/$4.60/$13.00. Almost twice as much for show as win. The place horse paid $11.80/$21.60. The show horse paid $19.40. That is what can happen when a prohibitive favorite fails to make top three.
• Victor Barboza, the leading trainer at the meet, has won with 10 of his past 19 starters after a 1-for-2 day.

Del Mar (California):

• Race 6: Square Deal (Flavien Prat/Simon Callaghan) broke his maiden in his fourth start and won the $100,000 feature race. The 2-year-old colt was DQ'd from win in his prior race. The favorite finished seventh. Mike Smith's mount finished eighth and last at 4-to-1 and never passed a horse.
• Race 5: The $.50 Pick 5 paid over $16,000.
• Pick 6: $215,260 to start for Saturday's card.