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

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^ True and I think Parx's attendance figure is listed as 0 or at least the times I have seen the results page. Fans stay in the casino and watch racing in temperature-controlled environs rather than be railbirds. That is something nationwide and a product of the times. Some exceptions seem to be Keeneland, Oaklawn, Del Mar, Gulf in the winter and even Arlington on certain days.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 22, 2019

Belmont (New York):

• The Four Horsemen: Luis Saez (3), Javier Castellano (3), Jose Ortiz (2) and Irad Ortiz, Jr. (2) combined to win all ten races.
• Irad Ortiz, Jr-Jason Servis went a perfect 2-for-2.
• Race 1: Jose Ortiz continued where he left off yesterday in Philadelphia and last night in West Virginia, a win in the opener.
• Race 3: Come Dancing (Javier Castellano/Carlos Martin) won the $300,000 feature race in a cakewalk and as expected at 2-to-5. The 5-year-old mare is 13 8-2-0 lifetime and has surpassed $900,000 in earnings. This was a tune up for a Breeders' Cup race.

Monmouth (New Jersey):

• Paco Lopez had the natural hat trick plus one. He won races 4 ,5, 6, 7 to boost is win total to nine from 16 mounts covering three tracks in three states in three days. Is that enough for Jockey of the Week? This week is wide open. One of the Ortiz brothers? Sophie Doyle's one win?

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 1: Sheldon and Brittany Russell teamed as they won the opener. The married couple (jockey and trainer, respectively) do well when paired.
• Race 4: Ashley Castrenze! When Ashley Castrenze wins... smiles abound.
• Race 8: Sheldon and Brittany Russell teamed again. The married couple (jockey and trainer, respectively) do well when paired. Sound familiar?
• Race 10: A 37-to-1 shot ended the card in victory. The $.50 Pick 4 was over $10,000. The $1 super was a monster at $98,000+.
• Ty Conner-Niall Saville combined to go a perfect 2 2-0-0. The trainer won twice in a day for the first time, has currently just seven horse s in his barn and has only about 60 lifetime wins, as he sends out horses infrequently. Congrats.

​

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Rainbow Six: Exceeded $2,000,000 and will begin the next card at $1.85 million.
• Tony Maragh-Aubrey Maragh combined to win both of their teamed starts. The Maragh Family is extensive.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Race 9: The $.50 Pick 4 paid over $8,500. But it was a seismic $.50 Pick 5 that got attention at $121,297.50. Wow!
• Race 8: Carl Nafzger, who is basically retired, won with Broadway Diner, ridden by Calvin Borel at 14-to-1. Nafzger is in the Hall of Fame and is best known for winning Kentucky Derbys with fan favorite Unbridled and also Street Sense, the latter under Borel. The trainer has sent out maybe a dozen horses since his last win in 2016 as he is now in semi-retirement. It was an electric moment especially coming on the heels of the prior race (race 7). Next year will be the 30th anniversary of "He did it Mrs. G."

If a picture is worth a thousand words...then this is 3,000 words.

​

• Race 7: Street Ready (Chris Landeros/Ian Wilkes) broke his maiden in his second start and won at 10-to-1. Wilkes was a former assistant to Carl Nafzger, the semi-retired winning trainer in the next race who basically stepped aside while Wilkes took his craft to the next level.
• Brian Hernandez, Jr. and 20-year-old Declan Carroll won twice apiece, the only riders with multiple wins. Carroll won with 11-to-1 and 19-to-1 shots.

Los Alamitos (California):

• End of the brief meet: Jorge Velez, an apprentice, earned his second consecutive Los Alamitos riding title. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert led the trainer standings. The Los Angeles County Fair meet ended. Onto Santa Anita and here's to a safe and prosperous meet and eventual Breeders' Cup.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

I'm finding out some interesting info about this over the last couple days. Let me think about what I want to post publicly...may message you with other items if that's okay. CDI is absolutely working the system to their advantage and doing what they do, if you know what I mean. Nothing shocking, but same strategy as we've talked about on here in the past.

Back in Illinois for a moment....

Cooler heads prevailed today in Illinois in what could have been a contentious meeting. I will get to it tonight but Arlington will be active in 2020 while Churchill Downs' ownership explores its options. Baby step in the right direction perhaps.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 22, 2019


Monmouth (New Jersey):

• Paco Lopez had the natural hat trick plus one. He won races 4 ,5, 6, 7 to boost is win total to nine from 16 mounts covering three tracks in three states in three days. Is that enough for Jockey of the Week? This week is wide open. One of the Ortiz brothers? Sophie Doyle's one win?

Sophie Doyle was named Jockey of the Week for taking part in the electric performance in Philly. This week was wide open. A little different flavor worked in her favor as well as it should in winning a million dollar race. Irad Ortiz won a million dollar race minutes later but he has enough accolades. Kudos to Larry Jones for sticking with Doyle in that large stage.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

A total of 10 Breeders' Cup races within the week.

Friday: 3

Newmarket (England): 1
Santa Anita (California): 2​

Saturday: 5

Newmarket (England): 1
Belmont (New York): 2
Santa Anita (California): 2

NBCSN has a 2-hour broadcast window from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm ET and among the races to be aired will be the Awesome Again Stakes and Rodeo Drive Stakes from Santa Anita Park. Leading into that broadcast, will be four hours of races on Fox Sports 2 beginning at 2:30 pm ET.​

Sunday: 2

Nakayama (Japan): 1
Santa Anita (California): 1
​

SANTA ANITA PARK​

John Velazquez will try to win his 661st graded stakes race and become the all-time leader in that category (since the mark has been recorded in the 1970s). He is currently tied with Jerry Bailey at 660.

CHANDELIER STAKES

What: Grade I. The winner qualifies for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Where: Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, CA
When: Friday, September 27, 2019, Race 5
Time: 3:00 pm Pacific Time
Who: 2-year-old fillies
Distance: 1 1/16 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $300,000
TV: TVG (24/7 racing channel).
History: Inaugurated in 1969. The current name has been held since 2012.​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Been Studying Her (CA)	Mike E. Smith	122	Dan Ward	-
2	K P Dreamin (FL)	Ruben Fuentes	122	Jeff Mullins	-
3	Comical (KY)	Abel Cedillo	122	Doug F. O'Neill	-
4	Bast (KY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Bob Baffert	-
5	Buyer's Remorse (FL)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Doug F. O'Neill	-
6	Leucothea (KY)	Norberto Arroyo, Jr.	122	Peter Miller	-

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[TBODY][TR][TH]
AMERICAN PHAROAH STAKES

What: Grade I. The winner qualifies for the Breeders' Cup TVG Juvenile.
Where: Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, CA
When: Friday, September 27, 2019, Race 8
Time: 4:30 Pacific Time
Who: 2-year-olds
Distance: 1 1/16 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $300,000
TV: TVG (24/7 racing channel).
History: Renamed in 2018, this race has been held since 1970.

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	American Theorem (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	122	George Papaprodromou	-
2	Fore Left (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Doug F. O'Neill	-
3	Eight Rings (KY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Bob Baffert	-
4	Express Train (KY)	Mike E. Smith	122	John A. Shirreffs	-
5	Storm the Court (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Peter Eurton	-
6	Defense Wins (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Doug F. O'Neill	-
7	Shoplifted (KY)	Joel Rosario	122	Steven M. Asmussen	-
8	Nucky (KY)	Norberto Arroyo, Jr.	122	Peter Miller	-
9	Collusion Illusion (FL)	Joseph Talamo	122	Mark Glatt	-

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​

BELMONT PARK

​

VOSBURGH STAKES

What: Grade I. The winner gets invited to the $2,000,000 Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Where: Belmont Park, Elmont, NY
When: Saturday, September 28, 2019, Race 4
Time: 2:35 pm Eastern Time
Who: 3-year-olds and up
Distance: 6 furlongs
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $300,000
TV: TVG (24/7 racing channel).

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

History:. Inaugurated in 1940.
Note: Early indications are that one or two horses could scratch. That could limit to the field to four which would be an embarrassment for a Grade I.

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Call Paul (PA)	Manuel Franco	122	Jason Servis	-
2	American Power (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	124	Linda Rice	-
3	Brown Buckeye (OH)	Jose A. Bracho	124	Anthony T. Quartarolo	-
4	Imperial Hint (FL)	Javier Castellano	124	Luis Carvajal, Jr.	-
5	Promises Fulfilled (KY)	Luis Saez	124	Dale L. Romans	-
6	Firenze Fire (FL)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	124	Jason Servis	-

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[TBODY][TR][TH]JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP STAKES

What: Grade I. The winner gets invited to the $6,000,000 Breeders' Cup Classic.
Where: Belmont Park, Elmont, NY
When: Saturday, September 28, 2019, Race 10
Time: 5:49 pm Eastern Time
Who: 3-year-olds and up
Distance: 1 1/4 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $750,000
TV: TVG (24/7 racing channel).

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

History: Inaugurated in 1919. This is the 101st edition. Some of the all-time greats have been victorious in this race including Kelso, Affirmed, War Admiral and Man o' War who won this race 99 years ago.​

SANTA ANITA: Saturday​

The 9th and 10th are "Win and You're In" races and will air on NBCSN.

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[Preds Partisan]

That AP Stakes on Friday looks fairly stacked.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Jairo Rendon won four times including for Kathy Ritvo (ex-trainer of Mucho Macho Man).
• Rainbow 6: The 'pot is over $1.9 to start Thursday. It surpassed $2,000,000 on Wednesday.

Mountaineer (West Virginia):

• Jay Bernardini has the hot barn. He is 30 10-6-4 this month at the oval but more indicative is the fact that he has won 9 of the past 18 races in which he has entered. Most of those wins have come in the card's opener or his first starter. Good trainer based in the WV-OH area who excelled in New England. He also surpassed $1,000,000 in yearly earnings for 2019.

Thursday, September 27

Belmont (New York):

• Manny Franco leads the meet with 20 wins.
• Junior Alvarado, who returned from a wrist injury earlier this week, one for the second time in 28 starts this meet. His numbers have been subpar this meet though overall in 2019 they have been excellent.
• Chad Brown (12 wins), Todd Pletcher (9) and Jason Servis (8) are having a good battle atop the trainer standings.

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• Alex Cintron and Carol Cedeno both have 58 wins atop the rider standings.
• Jamie Ness is the runaway leader among trainers but Anthony Pecoraro, who often employs Jeremy Rose as his rider, is a remarkable 55 24-7-7 (44%).

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Rainbow 6: Paid over $17,000 to all winners. The 'pot for Friday's card will start at $1.965 million.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

A Florida appeals court ruled that Churchill Downs can turn its Florida race track license into jai alai and keep its gaming license (slots for instance) at the same time. The agreement with Gulfstream Park (owned by The Stronach Group) to run races at Gulfstream Park West (formerly Calder), which Churchill owns and operates, expires next year. Unless a higher court rules otherwise, it appears that horse racing at Gulfstream Park West (Calder) will be a remnant of the past.

Gulfstream runs a 6-week meet at GPW (Calder) in October-November and has for the past three or so years. Now what happens is anyone's guess. No racing in south Florida for those weeks? Gulfstream Park handles more dates? The turf could be decimated, it is in rough shape now. Maybe they can do without turf racing for those dates but the dirt course would need to be maintained, too. Could Hialeah, the longshot theory, be in play? It would need a major transformation. We shall see what The Stronach Group says.

 

[Preds Partisan]

CDI is a gong show.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 27, 2019

Belmont (New York):

• Race 1: Smidge (Tzeonn Chang/William Younghans) won the opener as the longest shot on the board at 13-to-1. Chang doesn't ride often and has less than 70 wins dating back to his start over 13 years ago.
• Race 8: Valmont (Manny Franco/Raymond Handal) won the finale as the longest shot on the board at 17-to-1. Franco is the leading rider at the meet with 21 wins.
• Dylan Davis and Jose Lezcano each won twice.
• Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz, Jr. havebeen idle since September 22. Each is loaded tomorrow on a card with four graded stakes.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 3: That was one of the longest periods of time to settle an objection in recent memory. It was between 1st, 3rd and 4th. No changes made.
• Race 10: Carl Rafter, the winning trainer, won for the third time in his career and first victory (under 70 career starts) since 2011 per Equibase. From what I gather, he is a former jump jockey. I don't recall seeing his name.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Rainbow 6 nailed: Someone brought down the house and hit the Pick 6 for $2,211,783.62. Estimates of a $10,000,000 'pot this weekend were plenty with a mandatory payout scheduled. The bet was unsolved for the last 47 racing days. The winner made the following play:

The winning combination was 5-1-3-9-6-5.​

• Paco Lopez had four winners including the finale in which someone hit for over $2,000,000. Lopez: as a handicapper and perhaps opponent, you either love him or don't due to his aggressive nature and tonight at least one person is a huge fan.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Race 4: Sovereign Impact (Santo Sanjur/Cipriano Contreras) lit up the board as the co-longest shot on the board at 45-to-1. The $92 winner took part in a staggering double with the following race.
• Race 5: Better Charge It (Brian Hernandez. Jr./Donnie Von Hemel) stunned the masses at 34-to-1 and the second longest set of odds in a field of 11. The $1 double was over $2,000. That is the second highest figure I recall this year.
• Race 8: Relentless Dancer (Florent Geroux/Michael Maker) won the $95,000 maiden special weight in an ole-fashioned whoopin' by more than nine lengths. First and third were separated by more than 18 lengths.

Santa Anita (California):

• Opening day: A significant meet for the track which culminates in November with the Breeders' Cup.
• John Velazquez visited Santa Anita and teamed with Bob Baffert three times. The Hall of Fame duo finished 3 2-1-0. During the card, Velazquez broke the all-time graded stakes record he shared with Jerry Bailey.

• Race 5: Bast (John Velazquez/Bob Baffert) won the Grade I $300,000 Chandelier Stakes. The 2-year-old was sent off at 1-to-5 and her connections received an invite to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Bast is 3-2-1-0 lifetime and has won two Grade I races. Impressive! With the win, rider Velazquez snapped a tie with Jerry Bailey for most graded stakes won in a lifetime at 661. Picking the winner was a layup but my other pick unseated her rider at the gate and that was that.

​

• Race 6: Pee Wee Reese (Flavien Prat/Phil D'Amato) beat Eddie Haskell (Joel Rosario/Mark Glatt) in the Grade 2 $200,000 Eddie D. Stakes. Horses named after a former star baseball player and a TV character of yore, only in California.
• Race 8: Eight Rings (John Velazquez/Bob Baffert) wired the field and won the Grade I $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes. The 2-year-old son of Empire Maker is 3 2-1-0 and could be among Baffert's Kentucky Derby prep representatives. The winning connections received an invite to the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Make that 662 graded stakes win for Johnny V.

​

"John Velazquez puts the gas down."​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

SATURDAY: Gulfstream's card may lack the sizzle of Belmont and Santa Anita but it is massive for Florida interests highlighted by 14 races. Over 150 horses entered. Florida sires, step up to the plate. This is the closing weekend for the track until December. Get ready for what appears to be the penultimate meet at Gulfstream Park West (nee Calder).

This is an important weekend for Breeders' Cup activity, some of which started today.

Tomorrow's New York card is a good one.

GULFSTREAM:

Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post (ET)
Race 1	$26,000	Claiming	1 Mile	Turf	13	12:00 PM
Race 2	$19,000	Claiming	1 Mile	Dirt	7	12:28 PM
Race 3	$22,000	Maiden Claiming	6 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	10	12:56 PM
Race 4	$75,000	Our Dear Peggy S.	1 Mile	Turf	8	1:25 PM
Race 5	$70,000	Maiden Special Weight	5 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	12	1:54 PM
Race 6	$75,000	Hollywood Beach S.	5 Furlongs	Turf	10	2:24 PM
Race 7	$150,000	FTBOA Florida Sire Wildcat Heir S.	1 Mile	Dirt	9	2:54 PM
Race 8	$75,000	Armed Forces S.	1 Mile	Turf	11	3:24 PM
Race 9	$70,000	Maiden Special Weight	5 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	12	3:55 PM
Race 10	$75,000	Mr. Steele S.	1 1/16 Miles	Turf	11	4:26 PM
Race 11	$400,000	FTBOA Florida Sire My Dear Girl S.	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	12	4:58 PM
Race 12	$75,000	Monroe S.	1 1/16 Miles	Turf	15	5:30 PM
Race 13	$400,000	FTBOA Florida Sire In Reality S.	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	10	6:03 PM
Race 14	$27,000	Claiming	About 7 1/2 Furlongs	Turf	16	6:36 PM

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BELMONT:

Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post (ET)
Race 1	$70,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	7	1:00 PM
Race 2	$62,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	8	1:33 PM
Race 3	$77,000	Allowance	7 Furlongs	Turf	9	2:04 PM
Race 4	$300,000	Vosburgh S.	6 Furlongs	Dirt	6	2:35 PM
Race 5	$75,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 1/16 Miles	Turf	9	3:07 PM
Race 6	$75,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 Furlongs	Dirt	10	3:39 PM
Race 7	$70,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 Furlongs	Turf	8	4:11 PM
Race 8	$300,000	Beldame S.	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	6	4:43 PM
Race 9	$200,000	Pilgrim S.	1 1/16 Miles	Turf	9	5:16 PM
Race 10	$750,000	Jockey Club Gold Cup S.	1 1/4 Miles	Dirt	5	5:49 PM
Race 11	$75,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	10	6:22 PM

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Races 4 and 10 are part of the Breeders Cup Challenge Series.

SANTA ANITA:

[TR][TH]Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post (PT)
Race 1	$50,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 Furlongs	Dirt	6	12:30 PM
Race 2	$24,000	Claiming	1 Mile	Dirt	6	1:00 PM
Race 3	$50,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	10	1:30 PM
Race 4	$50,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	6	2:00 PM
Race 5	$50,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	11	2:34 PM
Race 6	$50,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	7	3:04 PM
Race 7	$200,000	John Henry Turf Championship S.	1 1/4 Miles	Downhill turf	8	3:38 PM
Race 8	$51,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 Furlongs	Dirt	9	4:08 PM
Race 9	$300,000	Rodeo Drive S.	1 1/4 Miles	Downhill turf	6	4:41 PM
Race 10	$300,000	Awesome Again S.	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	6	5:13 PM
Race 11	$75,000	Unzip Me S.	5 1/2 Furlongs	Turf	12	5:46 PM

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[TBODY][TR][TH]Races 9 and 10 are part of the Breeders Cup Challenge Series.[/TH][/TR][/TBODY]

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Thought the stewards made the right call in the Jockey Club GC. Ortiz' mount came out twice in the stretch and bumped Code of Honor relatively hard and brushed him a third time. The margin of the Vino Rosso's win was a few inches and the bumping most assuredly cost Code of Honor that much at a minimum.

Had a lesser jockey been on Code of Honor, Vino Rosso would have remained in the top spot imo.

 

[GKJ]

Good thing this wasn't on NBC, we'd be hearing about false equivalencies to the Kentucky Derby for an hour.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Saturday, September 28, 2019

• John Velazquez continued his remarkable weekend and is a layup to win the Jockey of the Week. He had four graded stakes wins, including two today, to increase his total to 664. Yesterday he surpassed Jerry Bailey's previous all-time mark which sat at 661.

Belmont (New York):

• Card: This had all the makings of a solid card and it didn't fail. Four graded stakes, three were decided by a nose, a head and a DQ.
• Handle: $14.8 million.
• Race 11: As I often say, anything goes in New York finales and this was nearly a blockbuster as a 118-to-1 shot led in the stretch but eventually paid a remarkable $84 in finishing second. The $2 exacta was enormous at $1,012.
• Race 10: Code of Honor (John Velazquez/Shug McGaughey) was put up after an objection/inquiry and won the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup and with it an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Longines Classic ($6,000,000 purse). Vino Rosso (Irad Ortiz/Todd Pletcher), who was once ridden by Velazquez and who won the 2018 Wood Memorial amid a controversial decision in which Johnny V. was kept up but later fined, was removed from the win. This was likely the right call but the suspense was lacking in my eyes because of what I have said countless times and what Junior Alvarado once hinted in that Johnny V. is a New York god. Maybe he earned the status but the ruling seemed predictable as he always seems to win these decisions. Irad, too, has a certain reputation for being aggressive at times. Back to the horse, Code of Honor is 9 5-2-1 with over $2.2 million earned. UPDATE: See below regarding an appeal.

​

• Race 9: Structor (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Chad Brown) improved to 2 2-0-0 in winning the $200,000 Grade 3 Pilgrim.
• Race 8: Midnight Bisou (John Velazquez/Steve Asmussen) was sent off at the overwhelming odds of 1-to-9, faced a challenge and then finished with style in winning the $300,000 Grade 2 Beldame. The 4-year-old filly is 18 12-3-3 lifetime including a perfect 7 7-0-0 in 2019 and has earned over $3.3 million. She won her last six under Mike Smith and her last defeat was with Velazquez on board. But not today, they tasted glory.

​

• Race 5: Princesa Caroline (Javier Castellano/Chad Brown), a first-time starter, and Laughable (Jose Ortiz/Todd Pletcher) hooked up in an electric race among some of the biggest names at the track and the former won by inches. The victor withstood an objection and inquiry.
• Race 4: Imperial Hint (Javier Castellano/Luis Carvajal, Jr.), the trainer who has a dream horse, improved to 23 14-2-3 in winning the $300,000 Grade I Vosburgh and with it an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Sprint. The 6-year-old has earned over $2.1 million. The race was reduced to a field of four but despite its field size produced an awesome duel in which the winner led, trailed, hugged the rail, fought back and then the Florida-bred got his nose down just in the nick of time.

​

• Irad Ortiz, Jr., John Velazquez, Javier Castellano and Manny Franco each won twice to capture eight of the 11 races.
• Chad Brown was the lone trainer with multiple wins.

Monmouth (New Jersey):

• Card: Four races with $100,000 purses.
• Paco Lopez added four wins and has been victorious on 20 of his last 44 mounts since last Saturday.
• Paco Lopez trails Nik Juarez by four wins (101-to-97) atop the rider standings despite 147 less starts.

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• Jeremy Rose won the last two races, including a $29.20 winner, to bump his meet record to 70 26-15-2 (37%/61%). What a terrific 2019 for the rider who is 34%/56% at all tracks.
• Carol Cedeno (59 wins) leads Alex Cintron by one victory atop the rider standings.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Trevor McCarthy, the leading rider in the early stages of the meet with 11 wins, had a natural hat trick en route to a fantastic 5-win day in which he won four stakes.
• Card: Six stakes races highlighted the afternoon. Deep fields, over 120 horses entered.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Card: 14 races including two at $400,000. A special day for Florida sires.
• Race 14: The $.50 Pick 5 was a massive $25.000+.
• Race 13: Chance It (Tyler Gaffalione/Saffie Joseph) won the $400,000 Florida Sires race and appears to be destined for more significant endeavors after a victory in which he won under a smooth hand ride. This was Joseph's second huge win on consecutive Saturdays having won the $1,000,000 Cotillion at Parx last week. In both instances, he replaced Edgard Zayas with more prominent jockeys and the moves paid off.
• Race 12: The $1 super paid over $23,000.
• Race 11: Two Sixty (Edgard Zayas/Mark Casse), who looked too good as a 10-1 morning line after losing her rider in his previous start, won the $400,000 race for Florida Sires race at 5-to-1.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Part 2...

Belmont (New York) update:

• I wonder what the connections of Enticed feel right about now.

​

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Race 9: Mocito Rojo (Gerard Melancon/Shane Wilson) won the $250,000 Grade 3 Lukas Classic. The winner had last raced at Remington in Oklahoma. The $.20 Pick 6 paid out over $463,000.
• Race 7: Mr. Freeze (Robby Albarado/Dale Romans) won the Grade 3 $150,000 Ack Ack Stakes.
• Race 6: The $2 double was $1157.40.
• Race 5: The longest shot on the board won at 43-to-1 and topped a $2 exacta which was $1,515.20. The $,50 tri was over $3,300.
• Corey Lanerie won three times to tie Julien Leparoux for most wins at the meet with 11.

Santa Anita (California):

• Race 10: Mongolian Groom (Abel Cedillo/Enebish Ganbat) wired the field, won the $300,000 Grade I Awesome Again and with it an invitation to the $6,000,000 Breeders' Cup Classic. The second longest shot on the board at 25-to-1 shocked the masses and paid $52.80 in defeating among the challengers McKinzie (Mike Smith/Bob Baffert) who was sent off at 1-to-5. The trainer has under 70 lifetime wins in North America and is from Mongolia. The 4-year-old gelding won for the 3rd time in 16 starts and though couldn't win at Charles Town is going to arguably the biggest race in North America. That is horse racing.
  
  ​
• Race 9: Mirth (Mike Smith/Phil D'Amato) wired the field in the $300,000 Grade I Rodeo Drive and with it an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The Pennsylvania-bred filly was sent off as the second longest price on the board at 6-to-1 as she didn't have the grade stakes history of her competition but this was another standout for wise guy plays.
  
  
  ​
• Race 7: Cleopatra's Strike (Abel Cedillo/Phil D'Amato) won the $200,000 Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship. The Ontario-bred won for the 4th time in 25 starts. D'Amato had three entered in the race and finished 1st-2nd.
• Abel Cedillo rode three winners including two graded stakes.
• Bob Baffert is 8 4-2-1 at the meet. Baffert has won with 10 of his past 22 starters.

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Patrick Husbands was the winning rider in both Grade 3 races. He won two stakes races last Saturday.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

The Oklahoma Derby is Sunday evening. Here is the card (Central Times):

[TR][TH]Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post (CT)
Race 1	$15,000	Maiden Claiming	5 Furlongs	Turf	12	3:01 PM
Race 2	$42,075	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile 70 Yards	Dirt	8	3:27 PM
Race 3	$75,000	Kip Deville S.	6 Furlongs	Dirt	11	3:53 PM
Race 4	$36,300	Allowance	1 Mile	Turf	12	4:22 PM
Race 5	$33,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Dirt	10	4:52 PM
Race 6	$150,000	David M. Vance S.	6 Furlongs	Dirt	6	5:21 PM
Race 7	$75,000	Ricks Memorial S.	1 1/16 Miles	Turf	8	5:50 PM
Race 8	$43,350	Allowance	1 Mile	Dirt	9	6:20 PM
Race 9	$200,000	Remington Park Oaks	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	4	6:50 PM
Race 10	$50,000	Flashy Lady S.	6 Furlongs	Dirt	10	7:21 PM
Race 11	$100,000	Remington Green S.	1 1/8 Miles	Turf	12	7:52 PM
Race 12	$400,000	Oklahoma Derby	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	11	8:24 PM
Race 13	$50,000	E. L. Gaylord Memorial S.	6 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	12	8:57 PM

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

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Belmont (New York):

• Race 8: Selflessly (Javier Castellano/Chad Brown) won the $200,000 Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes. Brown finished 1st and 3rd in this race and was sent off at high odds at 9-to-2 and 5-to-1. It was the 4th straight win and seventh victory in the last eight editions of this race for Brown.

​

• Race 9: An awesome finish to the day with four across the wire. Mere inches separated first from fourth.

• Jose Lezcano, who is second at the meet in wins, won twice as did Javier Castellano, Jose Ortiz and trainer Jeremiah Englehart.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 5: The Pick 4 returned over $43,000.
• Race 6: Suzanne Stettinius, who participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics for the U.S. in modern pentathlon, won for the second time with her seventh career starter as a trainer. She is a former steeplechase jockey and is a Maryland native.
• Race 8: Taylor Hole, in his 24th start, won for the third time this year. He has been riding since the early 1990s. One of the best races of the day in which three crossed the wire nearly simultaneously. I believe Hole broke his maiden at the now shuttered Rockingham Park in New Hampshire.
• Double impact: Forest Boyce won twice. Jorge Ruiz won consecutive races for John Salzman, Sr. Ruiz also rode twice for John Salzman, Jr.
• Trevor McCarthy failed to win on eight mounts. He has 199 wins in 2019 which is seventh most in North America.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Rainbow 6: The jackpot paid $24,000 to all winners. A sizeable difference from the $2,2 million paid earlier this week but a significant grab nonetheless.
• Closing day: Say bye bye for a few weeks as Gulfstream Park West (nee Calder) operates from 10/2/2019 through 11/24/2019. Gulfstream returns for racing from 11/29/2019 to 12/29/2019 and then well into 2020.
• Leading jockey: Edgard Zayas with 66 wins. He won the Spring meet as well.
• Leading trainer: Victor Barboza, Jr. with 28 wins.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Closing day: The brief meet ended today.
• Leading rider: Two Kentucky giants finished 1-2 as Corey Lanerie (13 wins) beat Julien Leparoux (11 wins).
• Leading trainer: Brad Cox topped a close division with five victories. There were 17 trainers who won three or more races.
• Next up: Keeneland operates from 10/4/2019-10/26/2019 before a return to Churchill from 10/27/2019-12/1/2019

Remington Park (Oklahoma):

• Summary: Ricardo Santana, Jr.-Steve Asmussen both achieved track records for wins by a jockey and trainer, respectively, as they combined to go 13 7-3-1. They also rode the entire card as a team which in itself is a rarity. The duo won as the favorite in just four of those seven victories. Santana's seven wins is tied for the most ever recorded at the track with Cliff Berry who was a perfect 7-for-7 in one day in 2010. Asmussen finished 22 7-5-1 and his seven victories snapped a track record for wins by a trainer (Asmussen previously shared the record at five). He is second to Karl Broberg for most wins by a trainer in 2019 in North America. Maybe I was premature in giving John Velazquez Jockey of the Week honors after all. Remington handled over $3.0 million which established a track record.
• Races 1 and 2: Ricardo Santana, Jr.-Steve Asmussen, one of the most successful pairings in North America, won both races. But that was nothing compared to what followed.
• Race 4: Keetonville (Benny Landeros/Joe Casey) was sent off at 79-to-1, the second largest odds in a field of 11, and paid $115.60/$54.40/$19.60. The $2 exacta was $1,002.60.
• Races 7-10: Ricardo Santana, Jr.-Steve Asmussen teamed to win four straight races.
• Race 9: Lady Apple (Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steve Asmussen) won the Grade 3 $200,000 Remington Park Oaks.
• Race 12: Owendale (Florent Geroux/Brad Cox) put a stop to the madness with a come-from-behind victory as second choice to win the Grade 3 $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. The $2 exacta was a potent $192 with a 2-to-1 shot on top. Owendale, a 3-year-old colt, broke from the outside post. He has crept closer to a million dollars in career earnings with this win and improved to 12 5-1-2. His last prior win was the Ohio Derby in June. among the trainers who tasted defeat were Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen, the latter who entered two.

​

• Rajiv Maragh had one mount, the first time he visited the track per his race day comments.

Santa Anita (California):

• Race 5: Paradise Woods (Abel Cedillo/John Shirreffs) won the $200,000 Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes and with it received an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Longines Distaff. The 5-year-old mare won this race in 2017 but lost her next seven starts until a win this past April. The jockey is 30 years old and moved to southern Cal from northern Cal earlier this year and has been quite successful. He won three graded stakes races this weekend. As the track announcer said "This is his coming out party."

​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Bob Baffert removing a jockey from a lofty mount is nothing uncommon. That is his method. I do believe he has a history with Mike Smith which includes a prior removal in years past. As far as a replacement, assignments are yet to be confirmed but the partnership of John Velazquez and Baffert was extremely successful this past weekend at Santa Anita. Whether Johnny V. commits to one of the top East coast trainers will be seen.


McKinzie will have new rider in Breeders' Cup Classic, per Baffert, who said he has informed Smith of change

McKinzie will have a new rider in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

Trainer Bob Baffert on Tuesday said that he has decided to make a switch from Mike Smith, who has ridden McKinzie in all 13 of his career starts. This follows a second-place finish as the odds-on favorite in the Awesome Again Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, the colt's fourth second-place finish this year in six starts.

"I'm still going to use Mike on horses," Baffert said Tuesday. "But for the Classic, I'm going to make a change. I let Mike know now, because I want to give him a chance to get something else."

Baffert said he did not yet have a replacement for Smith. But considering that McKinzie is the pro-tem favorite for the race, he'll likely be hearing from plenty of agents in short order.

Under Smith, McKinzie won seven times in 13 starts, including the Malibu and Whitney in the past 12 months. He had a troubled trip when second in the Met Mile to Mitole earlier this year.

McKinzie has won twice and finished second four times this year. He has three wins and four seconds in seven lifetime starts at Santa Anita.
​

Source: Jay Privman, DRF.com [ Baffert replacing Smith on McKinzie for BC Classic ]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

KEENELAND
Lexington, KY
Meet: October 4-26, 2019​

OPENING DAY: Friday, October 4, 2019

[TR][TH]Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post (ET)
Race 1	$23,000	Starter Optional Claiming	6 Furlongs	Dirt	12	1:05 PM
Race 2	$77,000	Allowance	7 Furlongs	Dirt	7	1:39 PM
Race 3	$28,000	Claiming	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	11	2:12 PM
Race 4	$75,000	Allowance	1 1/2 Miles	Turf	8	2:45 PM
Race 5	$71,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 Furlongs	Dirt	16	3:18 PM
Race 6	$73,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	About 7 Furlongs	Dirt	8	3:51 PM
Race 7	$71,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	16	4:24 PM
Race 8	$250,000	Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S.	6 Furlongs	Dirt	11	4:57 PM
Race 9	$400,000	Darley Alcibiades S.	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	11	5:30 PM
Race 10	$71,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	16	6:03 PM

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

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

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Belmont (New York):

• Jason Servis won three of the four races he entered. He is now 35 12-5-4 (35%/62%) at the meet and his victory total is second only to Chad Brown amongst trainers.
• Handle: Exceeded $5 million which, IIRC, is on par with other Wednesday cards that began at 3:00 pm ET.

Gulfstream Park West (Florida):

• Opened its 6-week meet.

 

[Preds Partisan]

New for Keeneland's Fall Meet, they've programmed the self service machines to allow people to donate part or all of their winnings to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Great idea.

 

[Preds Partisan]

And there it is.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

And there it is.

I will read that article following the story in DRF.

My initial interpretation is that this is what Churchill did with Calder. Buy a horse track, expand it with a casino and then rid themselves of racing.

How do you see it?

 

[Preds Partisan]

Well, this is all public now so I'll put it out here in the open. As I was trying to get at, the "plan" to build a new track and get the winter meet was nothing but a ruse to keep Hard Rock (who was buying Turfway from Jack Entertainment) out of Northern Ky. It's clearly all about getting a foothold in the Cincinnati metro area for if and when casinos are approved in Kentucky.

Local politcians are already gushing over CDI getting Turfway instead of Jack/Hard Rock since those are outsiders and CDI is "one of us". Also, clearly they haven't read the press release because whatever they spend on a new facility is inclusive of the purchase price so chop that new construction by roughly a third. State officials of course are ecstatic. Sure, they were pushing for this.

CDI is killing Calder, whatever is going on with Arlington, and there are rumors about Fair Grounds, so maybe CDI follows through on building a new facility after the grandstands are torn down in 2020 at Turfway. But, I wouldn't trust them.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Well, this is all public now so I'll put it out here in the open. As I was trying to get at, the "plan" to build a new track and get the winter meet was nothing but a ruse to keep Hard Rock (who was buying Turfway from Jack Entertainment) out of Northern Ky. It's clearly all about getting a foothold in the Cincinnati metro area for if and when casinos are approved in Kentucky.

Local politcians are already gushing over CDI getting Turfway instead of Jack/Hard Rock since those are outsiders and CDI is "one of us". Also, clearly they haven't read the press release because whatever they spend on a new facility is inclusive of the purchase price so chop that new construction by roughly a third. State officials of course are ecstatic. Sure, they were pushing for this.

CDI is killing Calder, whatever is going on with Arlington, and there are rumors about Fair Grounds, so maybe CDI follows through on building a new facility after the grandstands are torn down in 2020 at Turfway. But, I wouldn't trust them.

Do you think Kentucky being Kentucky aka horse racing country that a different outcome than Hollywood, Calder and maybe Fair Grounds and Arlington could arise?

I asked a racing maintenance person, who is not based at Gulf, regarding potential added dates should the track decide to expand its schedule following Calder's closing. He is of the opinion that the turf course wouldn't be shredded any more than what is visible and more so because the track uses a special compound that protects the horses and while not pretty on the eyes (ala Laurel, Tampa Bay, Kentucky, Santa Anita, etc) that the Gulf course can handle any excess rigors.