Horse Racing: BELMONT dates move to AQUEDUCT; SARATOGA opens July 11

[Orr Fourever]

After my initial win, I hit a wall. LOL
Hopefully better luck today.
Good luck to those who are betting...

 

[GKJ]

Sir Michael Stoute has like no time for Nick Luck

 

[GKJ]

Monomoy Girl! Cotillion runner (lost by DQ) and KY Oaks winner.

 

[GKJ]

Enable is the best horse in the world

 

[GKJ]

Finally got John Sadler home at the Breeders' Cup. And a 14 no less!

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

November 3, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Junior Alvarado made up for yesterday's near hits with three wins two for Bill Mott. Jose Lezcano also won three times. The pair and Rajiv Maragh all have three wins which leads the meet after two days.
• Race 2: In a matter of mere seconds, trainer Linda Rice won this race and the opener at Laurel.
• Race 3: Rider changes finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I don't recall seeing that in the past.
• Race 10: A near implausible order of finish: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-10-8-9.

Gulfstream Park West (Florida):

• Race 5: The $2 Pick 3 neared $6,000. The $2 Pick 4 was $43,000+. The $2 Pick 5 was over $185,000.
• Race 6: An $82.40 winner. The $2 Pick 3 was an incredible $49,500.
• Race 7: The $2 Pick 3 paid over $31,000.
• Race 8: The $2 Pick 3 paid over $11,000. The $1 super paid over $62,000.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Handle for the two-day event was $157,445,841, the fifth highest total since the Breeders' Cup was separated into a two-day format in 2007. Total handle today was $96,018,060.
• Attendance was 70, 423 today and 112,672 for the past two days.
• Race 12: Divine Miss Grey (Manny Franco/Danny Gargan) won the Grade 2 $200,000 Chilukki, the concluding race on the card.
• Race 11: Accelerate (Joel Rosario/John Sadler) won the $6,000,000 Breeders' Cup Classic. Accelerate has earned over $5.7 million (if my math is correct) and sports a lifetime mark of 22 10-5-5. He is 7 6-1-0 in 2018 and is likely headed as the star attraction going into January's Pegasus. He should be the leading candidate for Horse of the Year. Sadler is now 1-for-45 in Breeders' Cup races. Congrats to him. Rosario -- when in that zone -- is as good a rider as there is in the nation.

Horse	Jockey/Trainer	Win	Place	Show
14 Accelerate	Rosario/Sadler	7.40	6.00	4.40
4 Gunnevera	Ortiz, Jr./Sano		21.80	11.80
1 Thunder Snow (Ire)	Soumillon/bin Suroor			8.00

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

• Race 10: Enable (Frankie Dettori/John Gosden) won the $4,000,000 Breeders' Cup Turf. The 4-year-old British-bred filly won in her first U.S. appearance, is 11 10-0-1 lifetime and was admirable in victory. The two fillies entered finished 1-2.

​

• Race 9: Monomoy Girl (Florent Geroux/Brad Cox) won the $2,000,000 Breeders' Cup Distaff. Monomoy Girl is a remarkable 11 9-2-0. Wow Cat (Jose Ortiz/Chad Brown) finished second owns a record of 12 9-2-1.

​

• Race 8: Expert Eye (Frankie Dettori/Sir Michael Stoute) won the $2,000,000 Breeders' Cup Mile. The British-bred is 10 5-2-1 lifetime and appeared in the U.S. for the first time. The three fillies entered all missed the board.

​

• Race 7: Roy H (Paco Lopez/Peter Miller) repeated as winner of the $2,000,000 Breeders' Cup Sprint. The 6-year-old improved to 22 9-5-2.

• Race 6: Sistercharlie (John Velazquez/Chad Brown) won the $2,000,000 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. The Irish-bred filly improved to 11 7-3-0.

• Race 5: City of Light (Javier Castellano/Michael McCarthy) won the $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The colt is 10 5-4-1.

• Race 4: Stormy Liberal (Drayden Van Dyke/Peter Miller) repeated as winner of the $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The 6-year-old is 30 12-8-1.

• Race 3: Shamrock Rose (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Mark Casse) won the $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Fillies and Mare Turf Sprint by a head. At 23-to-1, this was the winning bomb of the day. The $.50 trifecta was over $3,000. This was the first of nine Breeders' Cup races today.

• Race 2: Audible (Javier Castellano/Todd Pletcher) boosted his record to 7 5-0-2. He last ran in the Kentucky Derby where he finished third. He could be headed to the Pegasus World Cup in January.

• Joel Rosario won 4 of 13 mounts this weekend including three Breeders' Cup races That is a tremendous achievement considering the talent at the track the last two days.
• Frankie Dettori was a meritorious 3 2-1-0. A true international sensation.

• Javier Castellano, who was 8 2-1-3, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. also won twice. Castellano, Ortiz, Jr., Dettori and Rosario combined to win 9 of the 14 Breeders' Cup races.
• Jose Ortiz, the defending Jockey of the Year, was 9 0-1-0 and a combined 18 0-1-1 this weekend. Terrible numbers.
• Tyler Gaffalione also had a very unproductive day with no better than 10th place on six rides. He was 11 0-1-0 in two days.
• Chad Brown and Peter Miller were the only trainers to win multiple (two each) Breeders' Cup races. Miller won two consecutive editions of the BC Sprint and BC Turf Sprint.
• Ryan Moore-Aidan O'Brien had a rough weekend as they teamed to go 8 0-1-0.
• Bob Baffert had six starters and missed the board with each. He had an abysmal day with 4th being his highest place.
• Mike Smith had four horses this weekend and finished 4th, 11th, 12th and 12th. Dating back to October sixth, he has one win in 20 starts.

Delta Downs (Louisiana):

• Timothy Thornton-Karl Broberg, a highly successful team, went 7 3-1-1.

Santa Anita (California):

• Handle: The track handled over $17,000,000.
• Race 1o: Cruel Intention (Evan Roman/Bob Baffert) won the $200,000 feature for California breds. Favorites ran 1st and 2nd. The winner is 2 2-0-0.
• Closing day is tomorrow:

STAGE SET FOR MASSIVE CLOSING DAY RAINBOW PICK SIX 'LIVE MONEY' POOL THAT COULD EXCEED $7 MILLION IN SANTA ANITA'S 20 CENT RAINBOW PICK SIX JACKPOT; SPECIAL EARLY FIRST POST TIME OF 11 A.M. FOR 10-RACE CARD - Santa Anita Park​

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Patrick Husbands went 6 3-1-1.
• Kevin Attard won with three different rides.
• Race 6: A.A. Azula's Arch (Omar Moreno/Kevin Attard) pulled a mild stunner and the Grade 3 Maple Leaf at $34.60.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

The best image in the sport. Under the Twin Spires.

Joel Rosario is an enigma. He will likely head to south Florida for the Championship Meet and that is normally a challenging slate. He can be as talented as any rider when he is on his game. He shined in the national spotlight this weekend. No telling how successful he will be at Gulfstream but for at least one night he is on top of the world. He was named Jockey of the Week.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Abel Tasman and Vale Dori have been retired.

Abel Tasman retired, stallion TBD. Vale Dori retired, to be bred to Justify, per Baffert. No plans for West Coast and Collected; both go to stud next year and both not returning to CA so seems like official announcements imminent.​

Source: Jay Privman, DRF

I mentioned Violence horses and one Vibrance who caught my attention at 10-to-1 morning line and was sent off at 37-to-1; finished third on Friday. Per Privman "Vibrance likely for Starlet at Los Alamitos next month."

Also per Privman: Catapult to be pointed to inaugural Pegasus grass race and its $7,000,000 purse at Gulf in January.

Finally, Accelerate will be pointed to the Pegasus World Cup at Gulf in January.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

November 4, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Mike Luzzi completed a good weekend at 4 1-2-0. Yesterday, with his only mount, he was dead last at the 3/4 pole but rallied strongly and finished second with the longest shot on the board at 20-1. In race 5, he picked up a spot at each fraction and finished second with a concentrated rally on board a 21-to-1 in a similar performance as yesterday. In race 6, he basically wired the field with a first-time starter and at 11-to-1. His only unplaced horse was sent off at 45-to-1. If there was an award for an under-the-radar rider this weekend, Luzzi would win especially those who look for value in exotics. Luzzi is 6 wins away from 3.500.
• Manny Franco had three winners. He is one of four riders with three wins through three days at the meet.
• Race 8: Vekoma (Manny Franco/George Weaver) won the $200,000 Grade 3 Nashua Stakes. The 2-year-old colt was out for just the second time.

​

• Jose Ortiz was 4 0-0-0. The last three days, including two at Churchill Downs, he is 22 0-1-1. One of the most unproductive periods of his terrific young career.
• Luis Saez is three wins shy of 2,000 in his career.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Pick 6: The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $34,000.
• Race 7: Lacey Gaudet won with her only starter and paid $13.60. She has won 9 of 23 races this month.

Gulfstream Park West (Florida):

• Chalk: The favorites won seven of the ten races.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Tyler Gaffalione won twice with six rides.
• Albert Stall and Steve Asmussen both had perfect 2 2-0-0 days. Asmussen had lost with his last 17 starters since finishing 1-2-3 at Remington Friday night.
• Race 8: An oddity in that horses 1 through 9 were scratched leaving the 10-11-12 as the only three runners.

Santa Anita (California):

• Closing Day: The 22-day autumn meet closed today and the all-sources handle rose 7% from 2017. Onto Del Mar for a Nov. 6 - Dec. 3 meet.
• Rainbow 6: More than $6.7 million was added to the existing pool which was over $1 million. The 10,000+ winners each received $601. The bet was so popular that there were over 5 million tickets still alive following the second race.
• Favorites won six of the final seven races.
• Flavien Prat won both graded stakes races and at one point mid-card had won four of his last six starts at the track. He rode in between racing dates at Churchill Downs.
• Race 8: River Boyne (Flavien Prat/Jeff Mullins) won the $200,000 Grade 2 Twilight Stakes.
• Race 4: Vasilika (Flavien Prat/Jerry Hollendorfer) improved to 27 13-4-3 and won for the 8th time in a row in winning the $200,000 Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes. The 4-year-old filly is 10-1-1 in her last 12 starts.

​

• Race 1: The opener had a $.50 tri that paid over $3,700 with 20-1, 17-1 and 44-1 atop that ticket.
• Joel Rosario was winless in six starts.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

A friend was at the sale as a spectator. Early yesterday, he could see a harbinger of the events.

'Remarkable Night' at The November Sale - BloodHorse
​

From 250 entered in the regular and supplemental catalogs, Fasig-Tipton reported 140 head sold for a record $89,473,000, an average price of $639,093 (fourth-highest in sale history), and a $327,500 median (second-highest). The 53 horses that went unsold represented an RNA rate of 27.5%.

Lady Aurelia Lights Up Bid Board at $7.5 Million - BloodHorse​

Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings went to $7.5 million to purchase full interest in the European champion Lady Aurelia during The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's mixed sale held Nov. 4. The 4-year-old Scat Daddy filly was consigned as Hip 200 by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency.

Trained by Wesley Ward for Stonestreet, George Bolton, and Peter Leidel, Lady Aurelia won the prestigious group 2 Queen Mary Stakes and was honored with a Cartier Award as Europe's champion juvenile filly. She returned to Royal Ascot the following year and defeated older males in the group 1 King's Stand Stakes.
​

Monday: Add Lady Eli sold for $4.2 million.

Hill 'n' Dale Takes Home Lady Eli for $4.2 Million - BloodHorse​

For all the visits he has made to the winner's circle, for all the times he has watched the colors of him and his partners get carried by dutiful runners on racing's biggest days, no entity has made Jay Hanley's stomach flip and heart flutter like the dark bay distaffer with the pit bull attitude.​

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Melbourne Cup... in 4-5 hours. Flemington the race track.
One of my favourite races... I'm going with three this year, no longshots, which is unusual for me.
Cross Counter (15/2), Best Solution (10's), Muntahaa (10's).

Good luck to any bets you may have!

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Melbourne Cup... in 4-5 hours. Flemington the race track.
One of my favourite races... I'm going with three this year, no longshots, which is unusual for me.
Cross Counter (15/2), Best Solution (10's), Muntahaa (10's).

Good luck to any bets you may have!

Super race as always and I keep my 3/3 record since I've bet on the race.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Cross Counter has made history by becoming the first British-trained racehorse to win the Melbourne Cup.

Charlie Appleby saddled the 8-1 winner, ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, in the 158th running of Australia's famous race.

Cross Counter led home a 1-2-3 for British-trained runners from Marmelo and A Prince Of Arran.

The Cliffsofmoher, trained in Ireland by Aidan O'Brien, was put down after sustaining a fractured right shoulder early in the race.​

Melbourne Cup: Cross Counter first British-trained horse to win Australia's famous race

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

An early look at the Pegasus World Cup could include:

• Accelerate -- Best horse in North America right now.
• Gunnevera -- The home fans will adore him. Third in last year's Pegasus.
• Monomoy Girl -- She impressed many who thought she may have been winded after her prior race.
• Audible -- I am anticipating his return in a large race.
• City of Light
• Seeking the Soul
• Others will be mentioned.

The race this year has a $9,000,000 purse with guaranteed money throughout. A $7,000,000 turf race has been added to the card which should exceed $17,000,000 in purses.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

November 7, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Luis Saez has 1,999 lifetime wins after two victories today. He is loaded Thursday with opportunities for 2,000.
• John Velazquez has 5,991 wins. Since he rides infrequently on most cards, the nine victories to 6,000 is tough to predict.

Mahoning Valley (Ohio):

• Bombs galore!
• Race 3: Patty's Mischief (Brian Hollingsworth/Pablo Torres) was sent off at 63-to-1 and did the unthinkable. The winner paid $129.80, $54.00 and $19.20. The $2 exacta paid over $1,200. The $.50 tri paid over $1,700. The winner was sent off with the second highest odds in a field off 11.
• Race 5: Southern Spirit (Luis Gonzalez/Nestor Rivera) was sent off at 76-to-1 and did the unthinkable, part II. The winner paid $154.40, $70.00 and $30.60. The $2 exacta was over $1,100. The $.50 tri over $1,800. The winner was the longest shot of 10 runners.
• Race 7: Y Annie Oakley (T.D. Houghton/Barbara Riley) was sent off at 43-to-1 and did the unthinkable, part III. The winner paid $89.60, $42.80 and $29.00. The $2 exacta was over $1,200. The $.50 tri was over $1,500. The winner was sent off with the third highest odds in a field of 11.
• Race 9: The superfecta included 64-to-1 and 84-to-1 shots. The $.20 Pick 6 paid out to those who hit three legs.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Leading rider: Six riders have 5+ wins. Brian Hernandez, Jr. leads the meet with six.
• Leading trainer: Bill Mott has four victories.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

November 8, 2018

Belmont (New York):

• John Velazquez won three times on four mounts and is now 6 wins shy of 6,000. Velazquez teamed with Todd Pletcher to win both starts. If Equibase's career listing is correct, only 17 riders have won 6,000 races. Kent Desormeaux needs about 12 more wins to reach the same milestone (depending on the updates to such stats).

Laurel (Maryland):

• Lacey Gaudet continues to be hot. She had three horses entered and finished 3 2-0-1 with wins that paid $11.80 and $10.80. Her last 20 starters are 9-1-3.

Gulfstream Park West (Florida):

• Edgard Zayas won three times. He leads the meet by 11 wins with 36.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Tyler Gaffalione won twice, 6 2-2-0. Indications are that he could move his tack permanently to Kentucky based on his desires. The 24-year-old Florida native was based at Gulfstream and likely would return for the important Championship Meet there. He is a good one.
• Edgar Morales could attract more Apprentice of the Year chatter. He was twice.
• Robby Albarado, who has won over 5,000 times, won twice and snapped a 30-race skid.
• Race 8: Mojo Man (Tyler Gaffalione/Jimmy DiVito), who broke his maiden in his most recent start two months ago at Arlington, his 8th of his career, found the winner's circle again with the longest shot on the board and paid $41.20.
• Race 10: The $.50 Pick 5 paid over $30,000.

Del Mar (California):

• Friday: The meet opens tomorrow.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

November 9, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Summary: A good day of racing. Chalk took a back seat more often than not.
• Manny Franco won three more times, none a favorite. He leads the meet with 8 wins (31%).
• Todd Pletcher is having a fast start to the meet with a 9 4-1-0 mark.
• Jose Ortiz has won 5 of his last 79 starts. That is a stunning figure for the reigning Jockey of the Year.
• Race 2: Tide Storm (Javier Castellano/Michael Matz), a first-time starter, won at 16-to-1. It isn't often one can get Castellano at that price.
• Race 4: Luis Saez won for the 2,000th time and it was on board a 16-to-1 shot. He is an all-around superior rider and got to this milestone at the young age of 26.

• Race 5: The $.50 Pick 5 paid over $8,000. The $.50 Pick 4 paid over $3,000.
• Race 7: John Velazquez won a race for the 5,995th time. Five wins away from unofficially being the 18th rider in North American history to win 6,000 times.
• Race 9: One of those races that screamed excitement. A wonderful finish lifted 19-to-1 ridden by Brandon Boulanger over a 9-to-2 ridden by Benjamin Hernandez, a 10-pound bug. Boulanger has under 90 lifetime wins and snapped a 31-race losing streak with his last win coming at Arapahoe (Colorado). I would not be surprised if that is a first: consecutive wins being at Arapahoe, which opened in the mid-80s, and a New York city facility. Hernandez is a 10-pound bug from Puerto Rico. The payouts were: $40.40 to win. The $2 Pick 4 paid $47,977. The $2 Pick 3 returned $3,691.

Finger Lakes (New York):

• Snow played with the conditions.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 2: Lacey Gaudet continues to be hot. Katie Davis rode the winner which gave Gaudet a record of 10-1-3 with her last 21 starters. Not much value in this race with three horses send off at 2-to-1 or less and they topped the tri. Gaudet won with her only starter of the day and with four of the last five she has sent out.
• Race 5: Adrian Flores, who rides mainly at Charles Town (West Virginia) won at 39-to-1 and paid $81.80. Ashley Castrenze finished second with her only ride of the day.

Gulfstream Park West (Florida):

• Paco Lopez won three times on six mounts. He is second at the meet with 28 wins.
• Yvon Belsoeur won three times today. The French-born trainer, by way of Canada, has won with six of his last eight starters. He is one of six trainers with 7 wins at the meet and has the best percentage at 30%.
• Race 9: The $.20 Pick 6 was nailed for $71,152. Six of the 12 horses were singled which bode well for the race being hit. The $2 Pick 5 was hit for over $27,000. The $2 Pick 4 returned more than $5,900. The $1 super was more than $29,000. The $2 tri paid over $3,400.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Race 7: The $2 Pick 4 paid over $21,000. The $2 Pick 3 paid over $4,000.
• Race 5: A 34-to-1 picked off a 32-to-1 at the wire and the exacta was a resounding $1,433. The $.50 tri paid over $1,700.
• Race 1: The opener had a pair of 17-to-1 shots top the ticket. The exacta paid $775.

Del Mar (California):

• Meet opener: The meet opened to some fanfare with a massive Pick 5 hit and a DQ in the feature.
• Turf course: Excellent!
• Weather: Excellent!
• New simulcast graphics: Excellent color contrast and most importantly the changes and scratches at the bottom of the screen are clearly indicated and can be seen from a distance.
• Race 1: Luis Fuentes, an 18-year-old bug, won the opener in his first ride at Del Mar. His brother was lifted to a win via DQ in the feature race.
• Race 7: Escape Claude (Ruben Fuentes/Don Schnell), a Manitoba-bred, was elevated to victory after an inquiry was posted and an eventual disqualification against Excellent Sunset (Mario Gutierrez/Anna Meah). The review took a sizeable amount of time to decide. The 18-to-1 winner improved to 25 18-3-2 and won for the ninth straight time after racing in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. The 4-year-old filly topped a $.50 tri that paid $1,100. Schnell, the winning trainer, is 66 years old, has been training since the 1970, much of time in Canada, and started a horse at Del Mar for just the second time. After the race, he said of the filly “I bought her for $3,200 and she’s been nothing but good to me ever since.” Meah, the DQ'd trainer, had just two prior starts lifetime after assisting trainers Art Sherman and Richard Baltas.

Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune
After being declared the winner following an inquiry, trainer Don Schnell and jockey Ruben Fuentes celebrate winning the Kathryn Crosby Stakes with Escape Clause. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)​

• Race 8: The $2 double paid an astronomical $1,018.80. The $.50 Pick 4 paid over $9,000. The $.50 Pick 5 paid a staggering $116,493.50.

UPDATE: Jockey Mario Gutierrez suspended 3 days (Nov. 17, 18, 22) by @DelMarRacing stewards for DQ of Excellent Sunset in featured Kathryn Crosby on Friday. (source: Jay Privman, DRF)​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

NBC also announced this week that it has reached an agreement with The Stronach Group to broadcast the Pegasus World Cup and a companion turf race on Jan. 26. The Pegasus is run at Gulfstream Park, owned by the The Stronach Group.

The agreement calls for a 90-minute live program featuring the $9 million Pegasus World Cup on dirt and the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational.

Source: DRF

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

COMMONWEALTH TURF STAKES

What: A Grade 3, the lone graded stakes race in the US today.
Where: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky
When: Saturday, November 10, 2018, Race 10
Post time: 5:36 pm ET
Who: 3-year-olds
Distance: 1 1/16 miles
Surface: Turf
Purse: $100,000
Television: TVG
​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Reride (KY)	Florent Geroux	118	Steven M. Asmussen	4/1
2	Marzo (KY)	Albin Jimenez	118	Ben Colebrook	12/1
3	Sniper Kitten (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	120	Michael J. Maker	7/2
4	March to the Arch (FL)	Julien R. Leparoux	120	Mark E. Casse	5/2
5	Year of the Kitten (NY)	Corey J. Lanerie	118	Michael J. Maker	15/1
6	Zero Gravity (FL)	Adam Beschizza	118	Joe Sharp	8/1
7	Hot Springs (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	120	Steven M. Asmussen	2/1

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

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

November 10, 2018

Aqueduct(New York):

• Reylu Gutierrez, a bug who entered today with one win in 21 starts at the meet, won twice on board three mounts.
• Jose Ortiz won once with four starts. He is now 6 for his last 83.

Penn National (Pennsylvania):

• Lacey Gaudet won with her only starter. She won three of the four races in which she entered covering two tracks. See below at Laurel.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Lacey Gaudet is hot, hot hot. She is 12-1-3 with her last 25 starters and is 46 19-6-6 (41%/67%). She had horses entered in three races today and won twice including a 14-to-1 bomber in the finale in one of the most entertaining races of this year. The runner up was ridden by Feargal Lynch who replaced Ashley Castrenze on a 45-to-1. The $1 exacta was $428.

​

• Trevor McCarthy had a splendid day going 8 4-2-0.
• Race 10: The $.50 Pick 4 approached $5,000. The $50 Pick 5 exceeded $20,000. The $1 super was $20,000+.
• Race 9: Unbridled Juan improved to 27 7-8-8 with a win. At one point, this horse couldn't buy a win despite always seemingly on the board. To be in the money 23 of 26 times is a splendid achievement.
• Key races: Five races on the card had $100,000 purses.

Gulfstream Park West (Florida):

• Stakes: Nine of the 11 races were $75,000 stakes. GPW handled over $6,000,000.
• Race 9: Luca Panici almost stole the race with a 33-to-1 bomber who was the longest shot on the board. The lead in the stretch was extinguished just prior to the wire.
• Paco Lopez is almost universally lauded by handicappers. He is one of those riders. Today was something extraordinary. He rode the entire card and won five stakes races for a final tally of 11 5-0-2. Five stakes race winners on a card is nearly fictional. He rode for seven different trainers. On Monday, he was named as Jockey of the Week mostly due to this performance.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Race 10: Hot Springs (Ricardo Santana, Jr/Steve Asmussen) won the Grade 3 $100,000 Commonwealth Turf Stakes as the second lowest price on the board.
• Brian Hernandez, Jr. (9), Edgar Morales (8) and Ricardo Santana, Jr. (8) are the top three winningest riders at the meet.
• Dallas Stewart has a meet-leading 5 wins among trainers.

Del Mar (California):

• Giovanni Franco has four wins through two days of racing, a 44% clip.
• Asa Espinoza, who will likely get attention for Apprentice of the Year, is a horrible 11 0-0-0 this meet.

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Eurico Da Silva, the meet's top rider, was a stellar 6 4-1-1.
• Mark Casse had three wins. The Canadian Hall of Fame trainer had 11 starters spread over three tracks with all the wins at Woodbine.

 

[Preds Partisan]

So I see Forida voters decided last week that Greyhound racing ends in the state by 2021. What happens to the casino and horse simulcast licenses? Do they stay or are they up for grabs...not familiar with Florida law on this issue.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

So I see Forida voters decided last week that Greyhound racing ends in the state by 2021. What happens to the casino and horse simulcast licenses? Do they stay or are they up for grabs...not familiar with Florida law on this issue.

Florida law is complicated as it pertains to parimutuel wagering. Your inquiry was part of a late summer ruling in the state courts. The ballot question was overturned by a lower court judge before being advanced into the Florida Supreme Court who made the final determination. Part of the reason was the language on the initial ballot question and how it related to "ends racing." Some thought the wording could be interpreted as not showing simulcast from other states.

Post-vote, the tracks in Florida that show simulcast will be allowed to air all race tracks and accept bets from those few states in which greyhound racing exists. However, some operators of these facilities face challenges and options including ending the live exhibition of the sport prior to the Dec. 2020 ban. They do maintain the choice of keeping betting activities such as card games. Whether they want to continue with that aspect is likely being discussed and is an ongoing issue.

Currently, 13 greyhound tracks exist in the state.

Florida law can be intricate since some of the provisions are limited to counties. Example, only Dade (Miami) and Broward (Ft. Lauderdale) counties are currently permitted to have slot machines (full service casinos) at parimutuel facilities. Poker, for example, is allowed elsewhere (Tampa Bay Downs and greyhound tracks). Those places remain untouched. There are also detailed exceptions favoring tribal lands.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Sports betting will eventually be an extension to all this once that debate arises. In brief, only live racing of dogs was touched by the greyhound ballot question.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

November 11, 2018

Aqueduct (New York):

• Race 9: Highway Star (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Rodrigo Ublilio), with just eight days rest, impressed and won the $125,000 New York Stallion Series Stakes. She won for the 10th time and has earned over $1.3 million. Maybe someone is a Deep Purple fan.
• Race 5: John Velazquez won a race for the 5,996th time (that includes a race in Puerto Rico). He could become the 18th rider of all-time to win 6,000 races.
• Race 1: OK Honey (Dylan Davis/Timothy Hills) was 6 lengths back and in third place entering the stretch then unleashed a vigorous challenge but fell short by a neck. A better start, a different result.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Chris Landeros rode a natural hat trick, the last two races for his father-in-law Ian Wilkes.
• Race 10: The favorite won. A 98-to-1 came in second. Unless someone absurdly desired the 107-to-1 or 122-to-1 to place second, this was an extraordinary result.

Del Mar (California):

• Pick 6 hit: One ticket with over $1,100 invested snatched the $2 Pick 6 for $138,000+ when the eventual winner was sent off at 30-to-1. The winner was 5th entering the stretch.
• Brian Koriner got off to a quick start in his first day of training this meet. He was 4 3-1-0. The following day, Monday, he was 2 1-0-0 which made him the first trainer to win four times this meet.

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Eurico Da Silva was an incredible 11 5-2-1. That makes nine wins the last two days. He is 10-3-2 with his last 18 mounts.
• Eurico Da Silva (5), Jesse Campbell (3) and Luis Contreras (2) combined to win 10 of the 12 races.
• Mark Casse was 9 3-2-1. The Canadian Hall of Fame trainer has six wins the last two days.

Todd Pletcher

• Pletcher had starters at four tracks over the last eight days, won at each and finished 18 9-1-1. He was a perfect 4 4-0-0 at Indiana, Gulfstream and Laurel combined.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Tatweej….could be running at Aqueduct later this week. Entries are not out yet but indications are he could be making his debut. He was composed during this sale, striking in looks, and when the bid reached $2.5 million, my interest piqued. It doesn't hurt to have Tapit as a daddy. Kiaran McLaughlin is the apparent conditioner on record. High prices are not always rewarded but step one could be days away.