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

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Junior Alvarado, who has been the victim of questionable calls by New York stewards in recent times, said the following on Twitter:



He is sidelined with a back injury so likely watched much racing today.

Alvarado Escapes Serious Injury, Will Be Out 1-2 weeks - BloodHorse

Jockey Junior Alvarado has been released from the hospital with no serious injuries following a spill at Belmont Park Sept. 21, but will miss one to two weeks as he awaits clearance to return to riding, his agent Mike Sellitto said Sept. 22.

Alvarado was unseated as he left the far turn aboard Sword Fighter during Friday's sixth race, when the 32-year-old Venezuela native was struck in the face by a clod of turf, which caused him to lose his balance and land directly in front of a trailing horse.

Alvarado was dazed immediately following the fall, Sellitto said, but was moving all extremities and engaging with medical personnel. He was taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., where he was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in a lumbar vertebra. Alvarado was released late Friday evening and will see a neurologist Sept. 24 or Sept. 25.

"He's got a minute hairline fracture in a lumbar, but he can ride with that. That'll heal on its own in about two weeks, the surgeon said, so that's a nonissue," Sellitto said. "He just has to get cleared by the neurologist. They've got a new kind of testing for concussions, kind of like what they do with football players. It's a good thing for them in the long run, but I'm anticipating him being off at least a week. That's my educated guess.

"He walked out of the hospital feeling fine last night, and then he wanted to work a horse this morning. I told him, 'You're crazy. You can't do that.'"

Alvarado has three wins in the current Belmont meet, including a pair of victories on Friday's card before the spill. He was named on seven horses Saturday at Belmont, including Realm in the Kelso Handicap (G2).​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 23, 2018

Belmont (New York):

• Race 9: Jose Lezcano rode a $59.50 winner wire-to-wire. It has been said many times but he is a turf demon.

​

• Race 8: Union Strike (Jose Ortiz/Steve Asmussen) won the $300,000 Grade 2 feature.
• Chad Brown has won seven of the last 13 races in which he entered at least one horse.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Maryland Million Day. The card was off the turf.
• Race 3: The winner paid $105.40 and at 51-to-1 was the longest shot on the board in a field of 10. The $2 Pick 3 paid over $6,100. The $1 super returned more than $67,000.
• Race 5: The $2 Pick 5 paid over $71,000.
• Race 11: Arnaud Delacour finished 1-2-3 in the $75,000 stakes race which was reduced to six horses following four scratches. The horses were the trainer's only entries on the card.
• Race 12: Bob's My Uncle won for the first time since October 2015 and just the third time in 46 starts.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Paco Lopez won three times. He has made quite the impression since moving his tack and is 40 13-5-7 at the meet.
• Race 3: Tyler Gaffalione won by 12 1/2 lengths and it could have been larger on board a 1-to-9 shot.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Races 1 and 2: Calvin Borel brought home both ends of the daily double as he skimmed the rail in his typical style. In the opener, he was seventh and dead last at the 1/2 pole yet won by more than five lengths. He has won on three straight cards and has four wins in 14 starts during that time.

Belterra (Ohio):

• Dale Beckner won for the first time since August 2012. He has had just nine mounts since that year.

Los Alamitos (California):

• The meet closed. Thoroughbred racing will return here Dec. 6 with the start of the eight-day winter meet.
• Heriberto Figueroa and Asa Espinoza, two apprentice riders, shared the riding title. Bob Baffert and Peter Miller shared the trainer's title.

Emerald Downs (Washington):

• The 67-day meet ended. The all-sources handle of $74,149,864 was up 6.6 percent compared to 2017.

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Race 9: Lookin for Eight (Jerome Lermyte/Mark Casse) paid $26.50 in winning the $125,000 Grade 3 Durham Cup.
• Race 6: The $,20 Pick 5 approached a $5,000 payout.
• Race 5: The $2 tri paid over $5,600.
• Jerome Lermyte and Mark Casse teamed to win three times with four starters. In addition to the three wins, Lermyte finished second in race 5 at 87-to-1 for trainer Michael DePaulo.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

This weekend offers an imposing amount of races for the Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" series:

Race	Date	Breeders' Cup Race	Track
Shadwell Rockfel	Sep 28	Juvenile Fillies Turf
Joe Hirsch Turf Classic	Sep 29	Longines Turf
The Vosburgh	Sep 29	TwinSpires Sprint
Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes	Sep 29	Juvenile Turf
American Pharoah Stakes	Sep 29	Sentient Jet Juvenile
Chandelier Stakes	Sep 29	Tito's Handmade Vodka Juvenile Fillies
Rodeo Drive Stakes	Sep 29	Maker's Mark Filly & Mare Turf
Awesome Again Stakes	Sep 29	Classic
Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes	Sep 29	Classic
Sprinters S.	Sep 30	Turf Sprint	Nakayama
Zenyatta Stakes	Sep 30	Longines Distaff

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2019 Kentucky Derby prep races:

[TABLE="class: brtb_item_table"][TBODY][TR][TD]Race[/TD][TD]Track [/TD][TD]Date [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]American Pharoah[/TD][TD]Santa Anita Park [/TD][TD]Sep. 29[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Juddmonte Royal Lodge[/TD][TD]Newmarket[/TD][TD]Sep. 29[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Juddmonte Beresford[/TD][TD]Naas[/TD][TD]Sep. 30[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
Tracks:

Nakayama = Chiba, Japan
Naas = Kildare, Ireland
Newmarket = Suffolk, England
Santa Anita, California, USA
Belmont = New York, USA​

Upcoming NBC broadcast schedule:

Sat., Sept. 29, 7-9 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Sat., Oct. 6, 4:30-6 p.m. ET, NBC
Sun., Oct. 7, 4:30-6 p.m. ET, NBC​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 26, 2018

Belmont (New York):

• Jose Ortiz (3), Irad Ortiz (2) and Manny Franco (2) won seven of the nine races.
• No Turf Racing: All races were off the turf.
• Race 5: It is difficult to expertly prognosticate every race and this is by no means being critical of the two New York analysts today; however, in a field reduced to five, both pundits had the same order of finish 9-7-6-3 which in itself is a rarity. The 4 was the only horse not picked in the field reduced to five runners and the colt proved the best. He was training exceptionally, too.

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• No Turf Racing: Another track off the turf as evidence by a match race in race 7 in which 8 of 10 were scratched.

Louisiana Downs (Louisiana):

• The 84-day meet concluded.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP STAKES

What: Grade I. The winner gets an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Where: Belmont Park, Elmont, New York
When: Saturday, September 29, 2018, Race 10
Post time: 5:50 pm Eastern Time
Who: 3-year-olds-and-up
Distance: 1 1/4 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $750,000​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Carlino (KY)	Jose Lezcano	126	Mark A. Hennig	-
2	Gronkowski (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	122	Chad C. Brown	-
3	Mendelssohn (KY)	Ryan L. Moore	122	Aidan P. O'Brien	-
4	Patch (KY)	Luis Saez	126	Todd A. Pletcher	-
5	Uno Mas Modelo (KY)	Javier Castellano	126	Anthony T. Quartarolo	-
6	Diversify (NY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	126	Richard A. Violette, Jr.	-
7	Discreet Lover (FL)	Manuel Franco	126	Uriah St. Lewis	-
8	Thunder Snow (IRE)	Christophe Soumillon	126	Saeed bin Suroor	-

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[TBODY][TR][TH]AWESOME AGAIN STAKES[/TH][/TR][/TBODY]
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What: Grade I. The winner gets an invitation to the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Where: Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, CA
When: Saturday, September 29, 2018, Race 11
Post time: 5:00 pm PacificTime
Who: 3-year-olds-and-up
Distance: 1 1/8 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $300,000
Notes: West Coast hasn't run since March and this is the first time he is entering off a lengthy layoff. He has just two races since November and has not won since the Penn Derby slightly over a year ago. While he is still formidable, I think Isotherm is sitting on an effort (1 win in his last 17) based on training and Accelerate is as consistent a runner as there is. ​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Shades of Victory (CA)	Martin A. Pedroza	121	Reed Saldana	-
2	Isotherm (KY)	Geovanni Franco	121	Philip D'Amato	-
3	Prime Attraction (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	121	James M. Cassidy	-
4	The Lieutenant (KY)	Flavien Prat	121	Michael W. McCarthy	-
5	West Coast (KY)	Mike E. Smith	123	Bob Baffert	-
6	Accelerate (KY)	Joel Rosario	125	John W. Sadler	-

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[TBODY][TR][TH]Per Brisnet: Accelerate meets returning West Coast in Awesome Again; Game Winner tops five-horse American Pharoah - Brisnet[/TH][/TR][/TBODY]
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A total of five stakes races, including four “Win & You’re In” events for the Breeders’ Cup, will be offered on the 12-race program.
Del Mar Futurity (G1) hero Game Winner can make a strong case for Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) favoritism and gain 10 points toward a berth in the 2019 Kentucky Derby in the $300,000 American Pharoah (G1). The second of 35 races in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, the 1 1/16-mile race will award a total of 17 qualifying points (10-4-2-1) and drew a field of five two-year-olds.
A smashing 5 ¾-length debut winner for two-time Triple Crown winner Baffert, Game Winner registered a commendable 97 BRIS Speed rating for a determined 1 ½-length score in the September 3 Del Mar Futurity. The Candy Ride colt races in the colors of Gary & Mary West and Rosario will be up on the $110,000 yearling purchase.
Del Mar Futurity runner-up Rowayton will be the one to catch. The front-running son of Into Mischief is conditioned by Jerry Hollendorfer and Rowayton will gain a new rider in Florent Geroux. Gunmetal Gray has separate ownership and will make his stakes bow for Hollendorfer following a 6 ¾-length runaway win over maiden foes in his second start. The gray Exchange Rate colt stretched out to two turns last time and netted a 96 Speed figure. Flavien Prat will be up.
Del Mar Futurity fourth-placer Sigalert and maiden Jefe complete the field.

The $300,000 Chandelier (G1) awards a free berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and is part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks series. Bellafina will go favored in the 1 1/16-mile test following her 4 ¼-length win in the Del Mar Debutante (G1). Trainer Simon Callaghan removes blinkers and the Quality Road filly will break from the far outside among six youngsters with Prat.
Del Mar Debutante runner-up Mother Mother promises to show speed from the rail for Baffert and Smith. Brill, who finished fourth as the 3-5 favorite in the Del Mar Debutante, and Sorrento (G2) second-placer Del Mar May are also entered.

Cambodia heads a field of eight Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) hopefuls in the $300,000 Rodeo Drive (G1). Third in the 2017 Filly & Mare Turf, the six-year-old mare posted a convincing win in the Yellow Ribbon (G2) two back but will seeking a measure of revenge after recording a belated second as the 4-5 favorite in the September 1 John C. Mabee (G1). Drayden Van Dyke rides for Tom Proctor.
Mabee winner Vasilika, who has thrived under the care of Hollendorfer since being claimed for $40,000 in February, will seek her seventh straight triumph under Prat. Other contestants include the Grade 2-winning sophomore filly Paved; and Sophie P, who posted an upset in the Gamely (G1) earlier this season over the Santa Anita turf.

The $75,000 Unzip Me completes the stakes action and an overflow field of 14 three-year-old fillies, including a pair of also-eligibles, has been entered for the about 6 ½-furlong turf affair down the hill. Stakes winners Ms Bad Behavior and Out of the Flames are leading contenders.

Churchill also has an important race. Note the rider change from Joel Rosario to Tyler Gaffalione on Mind Your Biscuits.

Mind Your Biscuits heads eight-horse Lukas Classic; seven set for Ack Ack - Brisnet[/TH][/TR][/TBODY][/TH][/TR][/TBODY]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 27, 2018...to come

Belmont (New York):

• David Cohen, Joel Rosario and Dylan Davis each won twice. When Rosario wins early, he often repeats. Happened again.
• Race 2: Joey Martinez, a bug who had been riding at Monmouth, won.
• Race 7: Charlton Baker trained the winner and runner up.
• How the track played: The track favored inside speed much of the day. Two of the four turf races remained.

Finger Lakes (New York):

• Race 4: Tammi Piermarini won a race for the 2,499th time.

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• Race 1: Roque Romero trained his first winner at the meet. He finished the day 67 1-6-4.
• Race 5: Jeremy Rose won on board a 7-to-1 shot. There was an objection, an inquiry and a rare Tote board delay; however, Delaware seems to have had a few board delays over recent time.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Closing weekend approaches: The meet ends September 30. Onto Calder... er, Gulfstream West for the annual brief meet. that is until Jai Alai possibly replaces T-bred racing.
• Emisael Jaramillo appears ready to claim the leading rider's title at the meet with a 7-win advantage and 57 victories.
• Race 1: Georgina Baxter, the winning trainer, replaced the suspended Ralph Ziadie.
• Race 2: Luca Panici-Larry Bates, the deadly combo that offers value when it wins, prevailed at 7-to-1.
• Race 3: Samy Camacho was the winning rider at 18-to-1. He is having a breakout 2018.
• Race 4: Samy Camacho was the winning rider at 3-to-1. He is having a breakout 2018.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Pick 5: The $.50 Pick 5 returned over $34,000.
• Pick 6: The $.20 Pick 6 returned over $23,000.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Friday (today) is Santa Anita's opener.

This weekend is jam-packed with important races and certainly Santa Anita is on center stage. But Remington's feature day is Sunday and the Oklahoma Derby is the key race among four with purses $100,000+.

OKLAHOMA DERBY

What: Grade III.
Where: Remington Park, Oklahoma City, OK
When: Sunday, September 30, 2018, Race 11
Post time: 8:06 p.m. Central Time
Who: 3-year-olds
Distance: 1 1/8 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $400,000​

Post - Name - Trainer - Jockey - M/L Odds
1) Lionite, Asmussen, Cabrera, 10-1
2) Wooderson, Todd Pletcher, Jose Ortiz, 4-1
3) Believe in Royalty, Larry Jones, Gabriel Saez, 20-1
4) Limation, Asmussen, Saenz, 3-1
5) Lone Sailor, Amoss, Graham, 7-2
6) Eisenstaedt, Ron Moquett, Jack Gilligan, 20-1
7) Diamond King, John Servis, Frankie Pennington, 6-1
8) Combatant, Asmussen, Santana, 12-1
9) Sea Foam, Christophe Clement, Florent Geroux, 12-1
10) Retirement Fund, Asmussen, Ramon Vazquez, 30-1
11) First Mondays, Servis, Paco Lopez, 8-1

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 28, 2018

The Stronach Five (a new type of bet):

• The Stronach 5: An interesting bet seemed to be popular. Four Frank Stronach-run properties engaged in a Pick 5 bet. The races were Laurel 9, Santa Anita 4, Gulfstream 8, Golden Gate 4 and Gulfstream 9. The winners received very close to $10,000.

​

Belmont (New York):

• How much was bet?: The track handled nearly $6,000,000. Not great but the track was off the turf yet again.
• Manny Franco added two wins to his total and is now second at the meet with 14 victories. Javier Castellano leads with 15. John Velazquez has 13 but is 30% in percentage.
• Chad Brown won twice and leads all trainers with 14 wins, 8 more than the closest competitor.
• Race 8: A $65.00 winner topped a tri that paid over $1,500.
• Race 9: The $.50 Pick 5 paid over $37,000. The $2 Pick 4 paid over $16,000. The $2 Pick 3 paid over $3,400.

Monmouth (New Jersey):

• Canceled: The card was canceled earlier in the day. for the night card.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 10: The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $9,000. The $2 Pick 5 was over $18,000.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Chalk: Favorites won six of the nine races.
• Emisael Jaramillo won three times and each was the favorite. He leads the meet in wins and should easily wrap it up this weekend as the track closes for a few weeks.
• Race 9: A 102-to-1 shot finished second and paid an unbelievable $72.00/$36.60 for second and third, respectively. Paco Lopez came in third on board a 35-to-1 shot. He has been having a tremendous meet in his brief time since relocating south. The $2 tri paid over $6,800. The $1 super was almost $50,000.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Race 5: The winner paid $59.80. The tri returned over $2,100.
• Corey Lanerie (15) and Julien Leparoux (12), both of whom do their best work in Kentucky, lead the meet in wins. Both have high winning percentages, too.

Santa Anita (California):

• Opening day: The meet opened today. Should be a fun weekend.
• Race 1: A 40-to-1 bomber, the longest odds in the field of 10, was DQ'd after an inquiry and placed fourth. The eventual winner, went off at 9-to-1 and was trained by Dallas Keen who is based mainly in Texas and last won in California in January.
• Race 4: Mike Smith rode a $17.80 winner, for trainer Matthew Chew, his first ride of the meet The $1 super paid $18,.000+. The $2 tri returned close to $3,000.

• Race 5: The $2 Pick 5 paid over $51,000.
• Race 6: Stormy Liberal (Drayden Van Dyke/Peter Miller) won the $100,000 Grade 3 Eddie D. Stakes in what was a hair off the track record.

​

• Race 7: Mike Smith is now 2-for-2 at the meet. Dueling, the 2-year-old colt by Violence trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, broke his maiden after two second place finishes. Violence runners have been effective the last few weeks!
• Race 8: Kent Desormeaux was put up following a DQ to Drayden Van Dyke.
• Legends: The final three winning jockeys were: Mike Smith, Kent Desormeaux and Gary Stevens. They have combined for approximately 16,600 wins spanning 94,000 rides.
• The turf: If Santa Anita doesn't have the best turf course in America it is close to number one.

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Race 2: The astronomical payouts included a $1,580 exacta and a$1 tri for $6,800+. The winner paid $57.80. The place horse was $46.30.
• Race 10: The $2 tri was over $3,100. The $1 Pick 4 was over $5,500. The $.20 Super High Five $51,000.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 29, 2018

This is one of the biggest days on the Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" calendar. The day is filled with talented runners from coast-to-coast and stops in between. Maybe more so than normal.

One horse that does not get enough attention is Imperial Hint who has a 1-to-5 morning line in the Grade I Vosburgh at Belmont. The 5-year-old is 17 11-2-0 and has won 8 of his last 10. The well-traveled horse has raced at 10 tracks and won at six including Belmont. The Florida-bred is a perfect 4 4-0-0 in his home state. At one point, he won four straight races under four different riders. He has Javier Castellano on board Saturday. Luis Carvajal, Jr, who won at Belmont today (101st lifetime victory), trains. The trainer is mostly Philly-Monmouth based and Tampa during the winter. There is no guarantee and at 1-to-5 should be used cautiously; however, he is a millionaire in earnings and finished 12th in the most recent NTRA poll for current top T-breds.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

VIOLENCE was trained by Todd Pletcher and ran four times before being retired following a 2nd place finish to Orb, the eventual 2013 Kentucky Derby winner, in the Fountain of Youth. Violence's offspring have done exceptional in his brief time as a sire. Here is a list taken from Equibase:

Top 20 Progeny by Earnings

[TR][TH]Progeny Name	Dam Name	Starts	Earnings	Earnings Per Start	Highest
Talk Veuve to Me	Biblical Point	5	$347,400	$69,480	107
Cosmic Burst	Peggy Ring	5	$193,200	$38,640	95
Peace	Queen's Triomphe	5	$123,690	$24,738	107
Violent Ridge	Feel Ridge (BRZ)	5	$109,181	$21,836	96
Miss Mimosa	Walloon	6	$97,502	$16,250	95
Gambler's Fallacy	Fear This	2	$77,550	$38,775	97
Order and Law	Poetic Kid	3	$72,000	$24,000	88
Rizzoli	Izarra	4	$67,930	$16,983	94
Strike Silver	Frank's Hope	2	$60,600	$30,300	88
Coexistence	Queen of Empire	4	$56,800	$14,200	91
Whatwasithinking	Shot Gun Pennie	5	$55,483	$11,097	89
Puttheglassdown	Comet of Love	3	$54,400	$18,133	86
Dueling	Seattle Qui	3	$54,000	$18,000	97
Ms Dupree	Magic Pearl	7	$48,450	$6,921	92
Stop the Violence	Sea Pegasus	3	$47,880	$15,960	104
Feedback	Honest Answer	1	$46,750	$46,750	91
Ayacara (GB)	Pacifica Highway	7	$45,990	$6,570	104
Ninetyeightoctane	Indemand	10	$45,380	$4,538	88
Cicatrix	Provincial	1	$44,640	$44,640	87
Barry Lee	Light of a Star	4	$43,910	$10,978	100

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[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 29, 2018

• A large day for Santa Anita and Belmont while other tracks had good cards including for their local stock.

Belmont (New York):

• Race 7: Imperial Hint (Javier Castellano/Luis Carvajal), mentioned in an above post, did not disappoint in winning the $350,000 Grade I Vosburgh. The 5-year-old horse gets an invite to the Breeders' Cup TwinSpires Sprint. Though he only paid $2.40 for the win it was a treat to see such a performance. He could have won by 10 lengths but was under a hand ride entering the stretch. He is now 18 12-2-0 and has won 9 of his last 11.

​

• Race 8: Channel Maker (Jose Ortiz/Bill Mott) won the $500,000 Grade I Hirsch Classic and paid $12.00. He gets an invite to the Longines Turf Breeders' Cup race.
• Race 9: Forty Under (Manny Franco/Jeremiah Englehart) paid $10.80 in winning the $200,000 Grade 3 Pilgrim. The winner is owned by former football coach Bill Parcells.
• Race 10: Discreet Lover (Manny Franco/Uriah St. Lewis) shocked the masses with a 45-to-1 shot ($93.00) winning the $750,000 Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup. The 5-year-old Florida-bred has the strange record of 44 7-7-7. Not exactly what was expected for the Breeders' Cup Classic but he is going; he became a millionaire with this victory. Good race with Thunder Snow placing. Diversify and Mendelssohn burned themselves out with a torrid pace. Basically both those horses killed the other's chances in addition to themselves.

​

• Race 11: The $.50 Pick 4 paid over $4,700. The $2 Pick 6 was nailed for over $132,000.
• Manny Franco had one of the best days of his career and now is tied with Javier Castellano on top the leader board with 17 wins at the meet.

Finger Lakes (New York):

• Race 7: Dugout (Jose Valdivia, Jr./Larry Rivelli), ridden by Javier Castellano at Saratoga in his only two lifetime starts, was sent off the favorite and didn't disappoint in the $200,000 New York Breeders' Futurity.

Meadowlands (New Jersey):

• Race 1: Ashley Castrenze, who raced earlier at Laurel, won the opener.

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• Race 5: Dr.Blarney (Tammi Piermarini/Karl Grusmark) improved to 22 16-0-3 with a victory in the $75,000 DTHA Governors Day Handicap. Dr.Blarney, a rare Massachusetts-bred sensation, is a perfect 6 6-0-0 in 2018 and has won 10 of his last 12. The jockey won for the 2,500th time in her life.
• Black type: Many black type races.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race Day: Many black type races.
• Lacey Gaudet hit the board with all three of her starters and is 7 1-4-2 the last three days of racing at the track. One win in 7 starts isn't great but she is there.
• Race 7: Doctor Mounty (Forest Boyce/Shug McGaughey) won by a nose and paid $54.80 in winning the Grade 3 $200,000 Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup Stakes. The favorite ridden by Joe Bravo finished second.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• A 14-race Card: A good day of racing with many black type races. Today was the penultimate day of racing for the meet. Onto Gulfstream West until late November.
• Race 11: Cookie Dough (Jeffrey Sanchez/Stanley Gold) won a $400,000 feature race for Florida sires.
• Race 13: Well Defined (Carlos Montalvo/Kathleen O'Connell) won a $400,000 feature race for Florida sires.
• Race 14: The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $21,000.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Big purses: Four races with purses $100,000 or more.
• Race 3: The $2 tri paid over $7,500. The $1 super paid an immense $122,844.
• Race 8: Seeking the Soul (Brian Hernandez, Jr./Dallas Stewart) won the $100,000 Grade 3 Ack Ack.
• Race 9: Mind Your Biscuits (Tyler Gaffalione/Chad Summers) improved to 24 8-10-3 in winning the $200,000 Grade 3 Lukas Classic. The New York-bred, one of the best in recent years to come from the state, has fnished first or second in all five races this year and was under the care of Gaffalione for the first time. Gaffalione is fifth in victories this year in North America with 197. The connections could be going to the Breeders' Cup Classic but that is an option not a certainty.

​

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Race 11: Finished 15-10-14-13. Only the 3 and 16 were scratched.
• Eurico Da Silva won five more times and was in the money seven of 10 starts.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Due to space limitations above this entry is separated from the review from Saturday.

Santa Anita (California):

• Breeders' Cup: An important day on the Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In" calendar. There were four races with purses at $300,000 and each winner was invited to the Breeders' Cup.
• Joel Rosario won three times in 9 starts including two Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" races. He went west and seems to ride exceptionally in California when he visits. And once again, if he wins early he will generally repeat.
• Flavien Prat also won two Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" races.
• Race 6: Game Winner (Joel Rosario/Bob Baffert) improved to 3 3-0-0 in winning the $300,000 Grade I American Pharoah. The 2-year-old colt received an invitation to the Sentient Jet Juvenile Breeders' Cup race. He could be something special.

​

• Race 8: A 4-year-old filly ran and was unplaced. She is 61 1-2-11 lifetime including 23 0-2-3 in 2018.
• Race 9: Bellafina (Flavien Prat/Simon Callaghan) improved to 4 3-1-0 in winning the $300,000 Grade I Chandelier Stakes and received an invite to the Breeders' Cup Tito's Handmade Vodka Juvenile Fillies. I like this 2-year-old filly.

​

• Race 10: Vasilika (Flavien Prat/Jerry Hollendorfer) won a seventh straight race and improved to 26 12-4-3 in winning the $300,000 Grade I Rodeo Drive. The 4-year-old filly received an invite to the Breeders' Cup Maker's Mark Filly & Mare Turf. She was claimed for $40,000 lost her debut for her new trainer under Rajiv Maragh but is perfect on board Prat.

2018 Rodeo Drive - Vasilika​

• Race 11: Accelerate (Joel Rosario/John Sadler) improved to 21 9-5-5, 6 5-1-0 in 2018, and received an invite to the Breeders' Cup Classic. If there is such a thing as winning ugly, it happened here. The winner has earned roughly $2.5 million. West Coast (Mike Smith/Bob Baffert) placed and is now 12 6-5-1.

​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

ZENYATTA STAKES

What: Grade I. The winner goes to the Breeders' Cup Longines Distaff
Where: Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, CA
When: Sunday, September 30, 2018, Race 5
Post time: 3:42 pm PacificTime
Who: 3 year olds and up, fillies and Mares
Distance: 1 1/16 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $300,000​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Shenandoah Queen (KY)	Tyler Baze	121	John W. Sadler	6/1
2	Abel Tasman (KY)	Mike E. Smith	125	Bob Baffert	2/5
3	La Force (GER)	Drayden Van Dyke	121	Patrick Gallagher	4/1
4	Vale Dori (ARG)	Joseph Talamo	123	Bob Baffert	5/1
5	Lemoona (KY)	Flavien Prat	118	Richard Baltas	20/1
6	Fool's Paradise (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	118	Ben D. A. Cecil	30/1

[TBODY]
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[Preds Partisan]

As to Discrete Lover, its a cool story but on the other hand I don't like seeing a "weak" horse watering down the field in the BC. Then I saw the backstory about Uriah St. Lewis and I'm all in about a ham and egger making the show.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

September 30, 2018

Belmont (New York):

• Race 8: Rocketry (Joel Rosario/James Jerkens) won the $200,000 Temperence Hill Invitational. Per David Grening of the DRF: Rocketry just eclipsed Man o' War's 1 5-8-miles track record winning the Temperence Hill. His final time was 2:40.18. Man o' War ran 2:40.80 in 1920.

David Grening on Twitter​

• Race 9: Newspaperofrecord (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Chad Brown), an Irish-bred, looked fantastic in winning the $200,000 Grade 3 Miss Grillo. The filly is a perfect 2-for-2. Look for much bigger things from her.

​

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 6: The $2 pick 5 paid over $22,000.
• Race 4: Lacey Gaudet won and is 8 2-4-2 the last four days of racing at the track. As mentioned yesterday, she has been close. Today, she got there. Good value, too.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• The end of the meet: Onto Gulfstream Park West for the October 3-to-November 25 meet.
• Handle: The track handled over $369,000,000 for the summer meet which exceeded the 2017 mark. The total handle for the Spring/Summer meet was $783,000,000.
• Emisael Jaramillo won the riders' title. The trainers' title was shared between Victor Barboza and Armando De La Cerda.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• The end of the meet: Onto Keeneland October 5. Churchill reopens October 28.
• Corey Lanerie (jockey) and Thomas Amoss (trainer) led the meet.
• Race 10: In the finale of the meet, the $2 pick 4 paid $57,778.20.
• Race 8: The $2 pick 3 paid over $7,400.
• Race 7: The winner paid $90.20. The exacta was enormous at $1,073. The tri was a gigantic $10,000+. The $2 Pick 4 paid a healthy $12,000+.

Remington Park (Oklahoma):

• Big Day: Ten of the 12 races had purses $50,000+ including $100,000 or more.
• Race 10: She's a Julie (Ricardo Santana/Steve Asmussen) won the $200,000 Grade 3 Remington Oaks.
• Race 11: Lone Sailor (James Graham/Thomas Amoss) won the $400,000 Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby with a rally that produced a three-way photo finish. He had a propensity to finish second but caught a break here. The winner is 14 2-5-2 and snapped an 11- race losing skid dating back September 2017.
• Jose Ortiz-Todd Pletcher had a dreadful day as they finished 8th and 7th in the two feature races. Pletcher was a horrendous 9 0-2-1 across three tracks today.

Portland Meadows (Oregon):

• The meet opened today.

Santa Anita (California):

• Race 5: Vale Dori (Joe Talamo/Bob Baffert) won the $300,000 Grade I Zenyatta Stakes in a stunning turn of events which sent bridge jumpers to a watery demise. Abel Tasman (Mike Smith/Bob Baffert) failed to hit the board at 1-to-9 and immediately brought comparisons to when Arrogate (also ridden by Smith) performed as poorly in last year's San Diego Classic. The 4-year-old filly has dropped four of her last six and is 15 8-4-0 with earnings exceeding $2.79 million. Vale Dori ended a 6-race skid and is now 21 10-6-2 with earnings exceeding $1.3 million. The Argentinian-bred advances to the Breeders' Cup Longines Distaff. The final tally with show prices are painful for some but awfully pretty for others:

[TABLE="class: brtb_item_table"][TBODY][TR][TD]Win [/TD][TD]Place [/TD][TD]Show [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]$24.60[/TD][TD]$13.20[/TD][TD]$40.60[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD][/TD]
[TD]$8.40[/TD][TD]$14.60[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]$26.60[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
​

​

• Race 6: Liam the Charmer (Tyler Gaffalione/Michael McCarthy) won the $200,000 Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship Stakes. The favorite prevailed in a competitive field of six with the longest shot going off at 8-to-1.

​

• Tyler Gaffalione-Michael McCarthy teamed four times and finished 4 2-1-0. Gaffalione won in Kentucky last night and in three states the last four days.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

As to Discrete Lover, its a cool story but on the other hand I don't like seeing a "weak" horse watering down the field in the BC. Then I saw the backstory about Uriah St. Lewis and I'm all in about a ham and egger making the show.

Here is a list of possibilities for the BC Classic some of which includes horses from prior to this past weekend's results.

Accelerate (Sadler)
Blended Citizen (O'Neill)
Bravazo (Lukas)
Catholic Boy (Thomas)
Collected (Baffert)
Discreet Lover (St. Lewis)
Diversify (Violette)
Gronkowski (Brown)
Gunnevera (Sano)
McKinzie (Baffert)
Mendelssohn (O'Brien)
Mind Your Biscuits (Summers)
Pavel (O'Neill)
Roaring Lion (Gosden)
Thundering Snow (Suroor)
Toast of New York (Osborne)
Vino Rosso (Pletcher)
West Coast (Baffert)
Yoshida (Mott)

Multiple sources including HorseRacingNation

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Illness? I suppose it is possible. But where was Baffert's winning horse stabled?

Vale Dori Wins Zenyatta in Stunning Upset - BloodHorse

"I'm just really not sure what happened with her today," Smith said. "I'm kind of at a loss for words. The good thing is that she didn't get outrun. She didn't run period. For whatever reason she was lethargic loading and she was slow into stride and never wanted to pick it up."

Smith brought up an illness as a possible reason for Abel Tasman's poor performance. The Baffert-trained Mother Mother was scratched from the Sept. 29 Chandelier Stakes (G1) because she came down with a cough.

"There's a bit of a flu going around the backside with some of these horses, so hopefully it's not hitting her, but it certainly could have. She kind of made a middle move down the backside to get herself into some sort of position to maybe make a run, and I thought she could probably still win anyway. But then she just decided that was enough."​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Lone Sailor Ends Seconditis With Narrow Oklahoma Derby Win



Lone Sailor Ends Seconditis With Narrow Oklahoma Derby Win - Horse Racing News | Paulick Report

GMB Racing's Lone Sailor has come up short in three photo finishes in the past year, but on Sunday night at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla., the Majestic Warrior colt eked out the narrowest of victories, winning the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby by a nose over Believe in Royalty. Diamond King was another nose back in third in the head-bobbing three-horse finish.

Lone Sailor, trained by Tom Amoss and ridden to victory by James Graham, covered 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:49.97 and paid $8.80 to win as the second choice in the wagering. Wooderson, the 2-1 favorite from the barn of Todd Pletcher and ridden by Jose Ortiz, finished seventh of 11 3-year-olds.

Diamond King, an East Coast invader trained by John Servis and ridden by Frankie Pennington, grabbed the lead shortly after the start and set fractions of :23.21, :46.94 and 1:11.21 for the first six furlongs. G3 Super Derby winner Limation, trained by Steve Asmussen, put some pressure on the leader down the backstretch and around the far turn, but had nothing left for the stretch drive, finishing last.​

 

[Preds Partisan]

I missed this story from last week. I put something on here about this awhile back.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^Yes, basically Churchill Downs wants to turn Calder into a fronton-casino. Calder has been reduced to a mere shadow of its once greatness. I don't know if Gulfstream -- currently lease there for a few weeks in the autumn -- will get involved; however, Hialeah could be an option but that has its own complications and there are no guarantees with that track's current owners.

 

[Preds Partisan]

I've said this before, but if I could wave a magic wand and bring back Calder and Hialeah to the way I remember them.... but anyway.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^Yes, the image of those pink flamingoes at Hialeah was matchless. Gulfstream needs to do something about its turf course. It is am embarrassment. Too much racing will do that but Gulf is such an extraordinary and important track that somehow that turf needs to be managed better. Perhaps easier said than done but....it is not pretty.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Keeneland should be releasing Saturday's card today. Friday's card was released yesterday (Tuesday). I like 6 and 9 with a couple of others upon first glance in the 9th race Friday. Interesting in that Peter Miller is sending a bug (Figueroa) from California; the rider loses the bug due to it being a graded stakes.

Phoenix Stakes

Darley Alcibiades Stakes

What: Grade I. The winner will automatically qualify for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Where: Keeneland Racecourse, Lexington, KY
When: Friday, October 05, 2018, Race 9
Post time: 5:30 pm Eastern Time
Who: 2-year-old fillies
Distance: 1 1/16 miles
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $400,000
Television: TVG for coverage
The opening day card: Equibase | Race Entries​

[TR][TH]PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Reflect (KY)	James Graham	118	J. Keith Desormeaux	-
2	Meadow Dance (KY)	Florent Geroux	118	Brad H. Cox	-
3	Restless Rider (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Kenneth G. McPeek	-
4	My Wynter Rose (KY)	Cory Orm	118	Tommy C. Short	-
5	Kim K (KY)	Heriberto Figueroa	118	Peter Miller	-
6	Into Trouble (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	Ben Colebrook	-
7	Boujie Girl (FL)	Geovanni Franco	118	Peter Miller	-
8	Lady T N T (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	118	Joe Sharp	-
9	Catherinethegreat (FL)	Julien R. Leparoux	118	Mark E. Casse	-
10	Malocchio (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	John C. Servis	-
11	Somewhere (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	118	William B. Bradley	-
12	Abbo (MD)	Jevian Toledo	118	James L. Lawrence, II	-
13	Chocolate Kisses (KY)	Shaun Bridgmohan	118	Mark E. Casse	-
14	Bella Ciao (KY)	Luis Saez	118	Antonio Sano	-
15	Champagne Anyone (KY)	Chris Landeros	118	Ian R. Wilkes	-
16	Khairiya (KY)	Jack Gilligan	118	Michelle Lovell	-

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[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Current Breeders' Cup Classic odds. This is a futures wager and as such no guarantee that these runners will be entered.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

October 3, 2018

Belmont (New York):

• The tally: Nine riders and trainers won on the 9-race card. That doesn't happen often in New York.
• Junior Alvarado returned from his injury. He appeared rusty.
• Race 6: First time starter Pendolino missed the break as bad as I have seen. Manny Franco/Timothy Hills have been around. Perhaps the horse needs to be schooled better but he finished with a rally that left many to wonder if he could have won with a better start. Maybe keep an eye on the horse next time out. Franco/Hills had another first-time starter in race 9 and finished second.

Delaware Park (Delaware):

• Those payouts!: What got into Delaware today? Favorites won just two of the eight T-bred races.
• Race 2: The $.50 tri paid over $600. The $.10 super returned over $2,100
• Race 6: A 66-to-1 shot won. The winner paid $134. The $.50 tri paid $595.
• Race 7: The top three finishers went off at 13-1, 44-1 and 26-1. The second place horse lost an inquiry/objection. The $1 exacta was $428. The $.50 tri was $1.397. The $1 double was $470.50. The $,50 Pick 3 was over $794. The $.50 Pick 5 was more than $12,000. The $.10 super was over $4,000.
• Race 8: A 35-to-1 shot lost by a little more than a nose but helped a $1 exacta pay $334.50. The $.50 Pick 4 was over $5,100.

Gulfstream Park West (Florida):

• Opening Day: The former Calder opened its annual meet with an 8-race card.
• Miguel Vasquez, who I think will have a good meet, and Edgard Zayas won twice among riders. No trainer won more than once.