Horse Racing: I. Ortiz/B. Cox/Godolphin/Into Mischief top 2023; J. Rodriguez/B. Russell win Laurel titles on final day; L. Rice sets NYRA record for wins in a year

[Marco 85]

@Marco 85

If you get a chance, take a look at the DQ at Pimlico. Not the best angle and the English-feed was unavailable when I posted, but does anything in the stretch seem obvious for a DQ? I saw the head-on with others and none of us could see the rational.

I didn’t see anything at all.
It took a long time for the stewards inquiry
and longer for the jockey objections.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Belmont is racing today.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Cumberland Raceway post time 3:15

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Thursday, June 8, 2023

• Canceled: Harness tracks as well as Belmont and Delaware.

Belterra (Ohio):

• Race 4: Two of the longest shots on the board rocked the house with an overwhelming payout as 84-to-1 and 34-to-1, respectively, finished first and second. The win paid $171.40. The $1 exacta was over $1,400. The $.50 tri was over $9,700. The $.10 super was over $4,400,

Friday, June 9, 2023

Belmont (New York):

• Handle: $26,078,400 which exceeded by roughly $5 million the all-time record for this date set in 2021.
• Card: 11 races of which five were graded stakes including three Grade I.
• Repeat Winners: Jose Ortiz (jockey), who had three wins, and Chad Brown (trainer) both won two Grade I races. Trainer Bill Mott was the only other jockey or trainer to win multiple times today.
• Race 4: In Italian (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Chad Brown), bred in Great Britain, trounced the field by more than three lengths to win the Grade I $500,000 Just A Game Stakes. The 5-year-old daughter to star Irish sire Dubawi is 11 7-3-1 lifetime and she is very near being the perfect horse at a mile on turf with four Grade I wins.

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• Race 8: Marketsegmentation (Jose Ortiz/Chad Brown), owned by the astute Klaravich Stables, wired the field at 6-to-1 to win the $600,000 Grade I New York. War Like Goddess (Joel Rosario/Bill Mott) was sent off the favorite but finished sixth of seven runners. Rosario has come under lots of scrutiny for the ride.

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• Race 9: Pretty Mischievous (Tyler Gaffalione/Brendan Walsh) won the $500,000 Grade I Acorn Stakes. The 3-year-old filly is a multiple graded stakes winner with a 8 6-1-1 lifetime mark and won her first race outside of Louisiana or Kentucky today.

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• Race 10: Siskany (William Buick/Charlie Appleby) was spendid as the overwhelming favorite to win the two mile Belmont Gold Cup in what is (I believe) the longest race in North America. Siskany, bred in Great Britain, ran in the U.S. for the first time. The 5-year-old son to the brilliant Dubawi, was out for the 19th time and had won previously in Dubai and stops in England.

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• Race 11: Poppy Flower (Jose Ortiz/Bill Mott) won the Grade 3 $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes by a nose,

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Laurel (Maryland):

• Opening Day: The meet began today and extends into late August.

• Laurel: 6/9/2023-8/20/2023
• Timonium: 8/25/2023-9/4/2023
• Pimlico: 9/8/2023-10/1/2023
• Laurel: 10/5/2023-12/31/2023

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Edgard Zayas rode four winners. He hit the board with all six mounts.
• Saffie Joseph, Jr. sent out three horses and each won with Edgard Zayas on board.

Belterra (Ohio):

• Perry Ouzts, who will be 69 years of age in less than a month, rode three times with two winners.

Santa Anita (California):

• Doug O'Neill sent out five horses, three returned as winners.
• Antonio Fresu, who entered with seven career wins in North America following a stay as a Group I winner in Dubai, won twice. The 30-year-old rider from Italy came to America last year.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

The Belmont Stakes:

RACE 12 Belmont S. Presented by NYRA Bets (Grade I) POST TIME - 7:02 PM ET​

Exacta ($1), Trifecta (.50), Super (.10), Double ($1) 12 & 13, 2nd Half Gold Cup/Belmont, Met/Belmont Doubles ($5), Leg F 2 Day Pick 6 (.20)

Belmont Park STAKES
Purse $1,500,000. For Three Year Olds. Non-Lasix Race pursuant to 4043.2 (7)(e)(5) Lasix not permitted within 48 hours of post time. By subscription of $600 each, to accompany the nomination, if made on or before January 28, 2023, or $6,000, if made on or before March 27, 2023. At any time prior to the closing time of entries, horses may be nominated to The Belmont Stakes upon payment of a supplementary fee of $50,000 to the New York Racing Association, Inc. $15,000 to pass the entry box and $15,000 additional to start. All entrants will be required to pay entry and starting fees; but no fees, supplemental or otherwise shall be added to the purse. The purse to be divided $900,000 to the winner, $270,000 to second, $150,000 to third, $75,000 to fourth, $45,000 to fifth, $30,000 to sixth, $15,000 to seventh and $15,000 to eighth. Colts and Geldings, 126 Lbs.; Fillies, 121 Lbs. The winning owner will be presented with the August Belmont Memorial Cup to be retained for one year as well as a trophy for permanent possessionand trophies presented to the winning trainer, jockey and groom. One And One Half Miles.

P#	PP	Horse	A/S	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L	Live Odds
1	1	Tapit Shoes (KY)	3/C	J L Ortiz	126	B H Cox	20/1	20/1
2	2	Tapit Trice (KY)	3/C	L Saez	126	T A Pletcher	3/1	3/1
3	3	Arcangelo (KY)	3/R	J Castellano	126	J M Antonucci	8/1	8/1
4	4	National Treasure (KY)	3/C	J R Velazquez	126	B Baffert	5/1	5/1
5	5	Il Miracolo (KY)	3/C	M Meneses	126	A Sano	30/1	30/1
6	6	Forte (KY)	3/C	I Ortiz, Jr.	126	T A Pletcher	5/2	5/2
7	7	Hit Show (KY)	3/C	M Franco	126	B H Cox	10/1	10/1
8	8	Angel of Empire (PA)	3/C	F Prat	126	B H Cox	7/2	7/2
9	9	Red Route One (KY)	3/C	J Rosario	126	S M Asmussen	15/1	15/1

Owners: 1 - Spendthrift Farm LLC, Landers, Steve, Schwartz, Martin S., Dubb, Michael, Ten Strike Racing, Bakke, Jim, Titletown Racing Stables, Kueber Racing, LLC, Big Easy Racing LLC, Kanter, Rick and Caruso, Michael J. ; 2 - Whisper Hill Farm, LLC and Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck) ; 3 - Blue Rose Farm ; 4 - SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Masterson, Robert E., Stonestreet Stables LLC, Schoenfarber, Jay A., Waves Edge Capital LLC and Donovan, Catherine - Soto, Eduardo ; 6 - Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable ; 7 - Gary and Mary ; 8 - Albaugh Family Stables LLC ; 9 - Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC

Breeders: 1 - Kenneth L. Ramsey & Sarah K. Ramsey &Tapit Syndicate; 2 - Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd.; 3 - Don Alberto Corporation; 4 - Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC; 5 - Willow Oaks Stable LLC; 6 - South Gate Farm; 7 - Gary & Mary West Stables Inc.; 8 - Forgotten Land Investment Inc & BlackDiamond Equine Corp; 9 - Winchell Thoroughbreds, LLC

Pedigrees (Sire - Dam, by Dam Sire): 1 - Tapit - Awesome Flower , by Flower Alley ; 2 - Tapit - Danzatrice , by Dunkirk ; 3 - Arrogate - Modeling , by Tapit ; 4 - Quality Road - Treasure , by Medaglia d'Oro ; 5 - Gun Runner - Tapit's World , by Tapit ; 6 - Violence - Queen Caroline , by Blame ; 7 - Candy Ride (ARG) - Actress , by Tapit ; 8 - Classic Empire - Armony's Angel , by To Honor and Serve ; 9 - Gun Runner - Red House , by Tapit ;

Equipment Changes: 8 - Angel of Empire - Blinkers On

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Race # Purse Race Type Distance Surface Starters Est. Post Race 1 $90,000 Maiden Special Weight 6 Furlongs Turf 12 11:20 AM ET Race 2 $80,000 Allowance 7 Furlongs Turf 11 11:54 AM ET Race 3 $250,000 True North S. 6 1/2 Furlongs Dirt 6 12:29 PM ET Race 4 $95,000 Allowance 7 Furlongs Dirt 10 1:06 PM ET Race 5 $200,000 Poker S. 1 Mile Turf 8 1:44 PM ET Race 6 $250,000 Brooklyn S. 1 1/2 Miles Dirt 11 2:22 PM ET Race 7 $500,000 Ogden Phipps S. 1 1/16 Miles Dirt 6 3:02 PM ET Race 8 $400,000 Woody Stephens S. Presented by Mohegan Sun 7 Furlongs Dirt 13 3:42 PM ET Race 9 $400,000 Jaipur S. 6 Furlongs Turf 16 4:19 PM ET Race 10 $1,000,000 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. 1 Mile Dirt 9 5:04 PM ET Race 11 $750,000 Resorts World Casino Manhattan S. 1 1/4 Miles Turf 10 5:54 PM ET Race 12 $1,500,000 Belmont S. Presented by NYRA Bets 1 1/2 Miles Dirt 9 7:02 PM ET Race 13 $80,000 Allowance 1 1/16 Miles Turf 12 7:47 PM ET

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

The black-and-white image below will be discussed much today as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's dominant performance and inarguably one of the most iconic photographs in the history of sports.

 

[GKJ]

That program would be pretty sweet to have.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Violence filly wins the opener with Tyler Gaffalione closing stoutly. Third time out, had placed both prior races. Owned by Mike Repole and Vinny Viola.

The second race was a thriller. Flavien Prat wins the head-bob.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Belmont has just surpassed $50 million so far.

Awesome card by New York.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Awesome job Junior.

Cody's Wish is the best sports story going.

 

[GKJ]

If there was an award for horse of the last 12 months, that would be the one.

 

[GKJ]

I can barely hear the race call, especially in the stretch

 

[GKJ]

By the way, we have our first sighting of the Bear on Fox @PanthersPens62

 

[SUX2BU]

Thanks FOX for that excellent race call

Invest in a working sound system and mics

 

[GKJ]

I’ve been messing with my volume settings since the last race thinking it was me.

That was a great inside ride by Castellano, Velazquez was surprised someone came inside on the 4, and tried to bunch the 3 when it got too late but the horse has to want to do it.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

trainer did a great job with the winner. the peter pan to belmont route, just like ap indy and conquistador cielo. i didn't bet on the horse because i don't like castellano. he's a mediocre rider imho. every step of the way was a perfect trip.

that drifting outward from the rail towards the wire was just ugly. if the horses behind a bit closer and any one of them had the jockey check from behind castellano would have been taken down.

 

[Scouter]

What a surprising winner, congrats to them.

 

[GKJ]

trainer did a great job with the winner. the peter pan to belmont route, just like ap indy and conquistador cielo. i didn't bet on the horse because i don't like castellano. he's a mediocre rider imho. every step of the way was a perfect trip.

that drifting outward from the rail towards the wire was just ugly. if the horses behind a bit closer and any one of them had the jockey check from behind castellano would have been taken down.

That didn’t look like anything unusual to me, the horse has no one to worry about inside and is well clear to take those paths away from those behind him.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

While not a record, the $118 million bet at Belmont today was about $20 million more than last year. Unofficially the third highest figure for the card.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

That didn’t look like anything unusual to me, the horse has no one to worry about inside and is well clear to take those paths away from those behind him.

it's the jockey's job to keep a horse together and prevent that type of drift from happening. something called safe riding. castellano was very fortunate today that the rest of the pack were several lengths behind. if was a typical turf allowance race at belmont or saratoga where the first 3-6 horses are only 2 lengths apart from the lead to the back that drift could lead to a major spill.

as examples jockeys back in the day like bailey, santos, borel, nakatani, and chavez always maintained a straight course, no matter how much the horse was spent. the riders of today that do that almost as well are prat, johnny v, rosario and irad ortiz. castellano is a badder version of robbie davis.

 

[GKJ]

it's the jockey's job to keep a horse together and prevent that type of drift from happening. something called safe riding. castellano was very fortunate today that the rest of the pack were several lengths behind. if was a typical turf allowance race at belmont or saratoga where the first 3-6 horses are only 2 lengths apart from the lead to the back that drift could lead to a major spill.

as examples jockeys back in the day like bailey, santos, borel, nakatani, and chavez always maintained a straight course, no matter how much the horse was spent. the riders of today that do that almost as well are prat, johnny v, rosario and irad ortiz. castellano is a badder version of robbie davis.

Not denying the horse wasn’t fatigued but it appears he galloped out strong and was just crossing paths. That’s a common tactic when your clear of the field.

 

[PanthersPens62]

By the way, we have our first sighting of the Bear on Fox @PanthersPens62

Gonna take awhile to get used to a corporate suit wearing Bear. And goodness the quality of the telecast from FOX (at least from the actual race itself standpoint) was beyond awful.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Saturday, June 11, 2023

• Steve Asmussen and his enormous stable had seven wins. He sent out horses at six tracks and finished 23 7-3-3. At last check, he has 10,141 wins which is roughly 2,500 more than his closest challenger in North America annals. At $414 million earned, he is second to Todd Pletcher.

Belmont (New York):

• Card: A gigantic card with betting interests, NYRA did a fine job in protecting itself with a non-Triple Crown year. While the payouts were generally low, the event had a mid-year Breeders' Cup flavor to the proceedings.
• Handle: $118,283,455, was wagered on the card which is (unofficially) the fourth highest in NYRA history and a mark that trailed only potential Triple Crown-winning seasons. The Belmont Stakes (race) saw $56,533,820 wagered. New capacity at Belmont is 50,000 (it was 90,000 in the past) of which attendance was more than 48,000 and on-track handle exceeded $10 million. Bigger days:

• $151,109,373 in 2014, when California Chrome was bidding for a Triple Crown.
• $161,022,623 in 2015 when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown.
• $137,954,895 in 2018 when Justify won the Triple Crown.

• Chalk: Of the six Grade I races from races 7-12, the first five were won by the favorites. Only the Stakes had a non-favorite as victor.
• Race 12: Arcangelo (Javier Castellano/Jena Antonucci) won the Grade 1 $1.5 million 155th running of the Belmont Stakes. The 3-year-old son to Arrogate was the lightest run horse in the race, won for the third straight time in five career starts. Once again, we will never truly know the greatness of Arrogate as a sire but his legacy, while short, will prove to be abundant. Castellano entered this year with just two Preakness wins among his voluminous racing record in the Triple Crown races; however, he doubled that total by winning the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. He has ridden the horse three times and on each winner. Irad Ortiz, Jr. previously had the mount. Antonucci became the first female to win any of the three Triple Crown races, besting the previous high of Dianne Carpenter's second-place finish in the 1988 Belmont Stakes with Robbie Davis riding Kingspost.

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• Race 11: Up to the Mark (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Todd Pletcher) won the $750,000 Grade I Manhattan Stakes and is proving to be a turf monster with four wins in five starts. On dirt, the record is one win in five starts.
• Race 10: Cody's Wish (Junior Alvarado/Bill Mott) won the $1,000,000 Grade I Metropolitan Handicap and the win received a Breeders' Cup berth. Among the truly great racing stories of all-time and certainly and inarguably among the most touching sport stories ongoing. Horses can provide therapeutic relief and this should not go unnoticed amid the maelstrom of negativity. Cody is 13 9-1-3 lifetime and has won six straight races. Alvarado, a longtime personal favorite rider, has been magical with his mount and has been a steadying influence in the stricken Cody Dorman's life. Per America's Best Racing website last year: Life has been an uphill struggle for Dorman, 16, since he was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare genetic disorder affecting many body parts. He experiences frequent seizures. He is unable to walk or speak, relying on a tablet to communicate. His father, Kelly, estimates that his son has undergone between 40 and 50 operations, including open-heart surgery.

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• Race 9: Caravel (Tyler Gaffalione/Brad Cox), the lone female runner, won the Grade I $400,000 Jaipur and with it received a bid to the Breeders' Cup. She is 23 15-0-3 lifetime. Very few runners in history have 15 wins and zero place spots.

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• Race 8: Arabian Lion (John Velazquez/Bob Baffert) won the Grade I $400,000 Woody Stephens.

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• Race 7: Clairiere (Joel Rosario/Steve Asmussen) won the $500,000 Grade I Ogden Phipps and with it received a bid to the Breeders' Cup.

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• Race 6: Next (Luan Machado/William Cowans) won the $250,000 Grade 2 Brooklyn. That is the first graded stakes win for the jockey, who is from Brazil, and trainer who is Midwest-based including Ohio tracks. Good for both.

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• Race 5: Emmanuel (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Todd Pletcher) won the $200,000 Grade 3 Poker Stakes.
• Race 3: Elite Power (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Bill Mott) won the $250,000 Grade 2 True North Stakes.
• Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode four winners including three graded stakes wins. He ended 12 4-1-2.
• Todd Pletcher had three winners including two graded stakes. Bill Mott won two graded stakes.

Ellis Park: (Kentucky):

• Brian Hernandez, Jr.-Steve Asmussen teamed five times and returned three winners.
• Opening Day: The relocated conclusion to the Churchill Downs meet began today and will run into July 2. Ellis Park's scheduled meet operates until late August.

Ellis Park (rescheduled from CD)	6/10/2023-7/2/2023
Ellis Park	7/7/2023-8/30/2023
Kentucky Downs	8/31/2023-9/13/2023
Churchill Downs	9/14/2023-10/1/2023
Keeneland	10/6/2023-10/28/2023
Churchill Downs	10/29/2023-11/26/2023
Turfway	11/29/2023-12/31/2023

Santa Anita (California):

• Race 4: Adare Manor (Juan Hernandez/Bob Baffert) won the Grade 2 $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes.
• Race 5: McGregor Lake (Diego Herrera/Antonio Garcia) won at 63-to-1 in a debut performance that will be remembered for quite some time. He was 11th at the 1/2 mile and 8th in the stretch. The winner paid $128.80.
• Race 7: Selenaia (Joe Bravo/Jonathan Thomas) won the $100,000 Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes. Selenaia, bred in Ireland, won for the third time in four starts and one winner came at the brief Meadowands meet.

 

[GKJ]

Gonna take awhile to get used to a corporate suit wearing Bear. And goodness the quality of the telecast from FOX (at least from the actual race itself standpoint) was beyond awful.

He was like #1 handicapper, so I guess we’ll see him weekly as FS1 or FS2 does weekly NYRA broadcasts. I never watched them consistently so I don’t know how good the my are.

 

[GKJ]