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

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Goodnight Olive is a remarkable older female.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

well now - that totally sucked.

for the most part mostly short priced winners 2day. when that happens i will not make any money.

I generally don't do well in that case either.
Hopefully the #2 can change that in the Mile.

 

[GKJ]

Quite frankly, that’s not as close as it seemed on TV.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Quite frankly, that’s not as close as it seemed on TV.

The 6 was my best bet on the card.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Too many seconds today. Brittany at 25-to1 at Laurel, so close to victory. Neared a double with her winning the prior race.

 

[GKJ]

They’re gonna need to rename this race after Ryan Moore. Just a perfect trip.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

the good 'old juiceman dutrow prevails. he actually is a good horseman but i just can't ignore the past with this guy.

 

[GKJ]

White Abbario does it again. Can’t say I’m a big fan of Rick Dutrow, but that’s a hell of a path taken and stroke of luck to get back to this spot, so good for him and good for the horse, and Irad as well.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Irad Ortiz, Jr. probably sealed Jockey of the Year today.

So far, $106,000,000 bet at Santa Anita today.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Trainer of the Year will be interesting. Brad Cox and Bill Mott could be the leaders.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Saturday, November 4, 2023

• Irad Ortiz, Jr. delivered on the biggest stage and likely solidified his position as Jockey of the Year in North America.
• Bill Mott won three times including a victory at Churchill. He could be one of the three finalists for Trainer of the Year, Todd Pletcher, Brad Cox, Chad Brown are among the main competitors.
• Curlin was the sire of the day.
• Retirement awaits:

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Aqueduct (New York):

• Pick 6: The $1 Pick 6 paid over $75,000.
• Race 5: Sierra Leone (Manny Franco/Chad Brown), a $2.3 million purchase, won the $85,000 MSW.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Brittany Russell had a good day at Delaware and Laurel with a 5 3-2-0 record. One of her second-place spots was at 25-to-1.
• Jevian Toledo rode three winners.

Meadowlands (New Jersey):

• Race 5: High payouts at the harness under the lights. The $.10 superfecta paid over $5,000. The $2 tri returned more than $19,000. The $2 exacta paid over $1,100.

Churchill (Kentucky):

• Pick 6: The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $60,000.

Santa Anita (California):

• 2023 Breeders' Cup Saturday: $114 million bet for a 2-day total of $176,281,989 (down 6.7% from 2022). The figure is third highest since the 2-day format was adopted in 2007.
• Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode three winners.
• Bill Mott trained two winners.
• Race 3: Cody's Wish (Junior Alvarado/Bill Mott) won a nail-biter and withstood a stewards' inquiry to win the Dirt Mile. Cody's Wish is now retired from racing with a 16 11-1-4 lifetime record and has earned over $3.1 million earned. He also won 11 of his final 13 starts. The heart-tugging story has been played countless times but it warrants attention as the sports' story of 2023 across America.

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• Race 4: Inspiral (Frankie Dettori/John Gosden) won the $2 million Fillies & Mare Turf. Inspiral raced in North America for the first time after 12 starts in Europe. It was her third straight win. It could be the incomparable Dettori's last Breeders' Cup win.

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• Race 5: Goodnight Olive (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Chad Brown) won the Filly & Mare Sprint. She is 12 9-2-1 lifetime. An incredible older female horse. On Monday, HISA revealed that Ortiz was suspended Nov. 12 and Nov. 17-18 for failing to maintain a straight course and causing interference.

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• Race 6: Master of the Seas (William Buick/Charlie Appleby) won the $2 million Mile in a thriller over Mawj (Oisin Murphy/Saeed bin Suroor). The winning 5-year-old gelding began his career in England where he raced and later Dubai until his past three starts in North America. He has won 8 of 16 starts,

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• Race 7: Idiomatic (Florent Geroux/Brad Cox) won the $2 million Distaff in another thriller. The Curtlin filly is a staggering 9 8-1-0 in 2023 and 9-for-12 lifetime.

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• Race 8: Auguste Rodin (Ryan Moore/Aidan O'Brien) won the $4 million Turf. It was the seventh time the trainer from Europe won this race. On Monday, HISA revealed that Moore exceeded permitted usage of the whip by one strike and as such was fined a percentage of the purse money -- $20,800 --- and suspended one day.

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• Race 9: White Abarrio (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Richie Dutrow) won the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic. White Abarrio has earned over $4.9 million with seven wins in 15 starts. The 4-year-old colt cost $40,000 at purchase. He has won three of his past four starts after losing six prior races. White Abarrio was trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr. until Churchill Downs suspended the trainer six months ago -- a suspension quickly overturned -- and the owners of the horse opted to give Dutrow the controls. He had returned from a 10-year suspension, medications violations, this year.

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• Race 10: Nobals (Gerardo Corrales/Larry Rivelli) won the $1 million Turf Sprint by a neck. The gelding has won four of his past five starts and is 10 of 18 lifetime. He broke his maiden at Presque Isle Downs (PA) and followed that with a win at defunct Arlington Park (IL) to start his career 2-for-2 in 2021.

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• Race 11: Elite Power (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Bill Mott) won the $2 million Sprint in his career finale. Elite Power was issued a 111 Beyer figure, the highest such mark for the day.

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Woodbine (Ontario):

• Sahin Civaci rode a natural hat trick en route to a 4-win day.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Elite Power had the highest Beyer at 111 from what I saw. Great day of racing.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Gulfstream has a sweet display congratulating White Abarrio on the Classic win. Maybe because of local ties.

White Abarrio won his debut race after high odds of 12-to-1 at Gulf in 2021 under Angel Arroyo and trained by Carlos Perez. The horse was then sold with the original owners retaining a share. A rider switch to Edgard Zayas and a stable change to Saffie Joseph preceded his second race which was also at Gulf.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Sunday, November 23, 2023

• Brittany Russell is spreading her wings. She had a horse at Gulfstream, Aqueduct and Santa Anita this weekend. I don't recall her at Gulf or SA. None won but perhaps she is expanding her base.

Aqueduct (New York):

• Race 3: Richie Dutrow won the third race at Aqueduct at 19-to-1. That's quite the 24 hours.

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Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Tyler Gaffalione rode three winners. He is en route to another Kentucky title though in the early stages of the Churchill Downs fall meet.. Currently, he leads his closest challenger by five victories with the meet that ends November 26.

 

[RosensRug]

RIP Cody Dorman

 

[GKJ]

RIP Cody Dorman

Unreal.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Dear God, take care of that child. I wish all the best to his family. Utterly sickening news.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

 

[GKJ]

One of the hardest things of being a race caller has to be going all the way down the order of finish

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

One of the hardest things of being a race caller has to be going all the way down the order of finish

Tom Durkin botched the Derby call when Mine That Bird won. He is almost otherwise flawless in my eyes but he said having to study for the deep field of the Derby led to anxiety issues.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

$9.9 billion bet on North America racing through October. That mark is roughly 4% off from 2022. This year has been tough for the sport with issues ranging from the changes imposed via HISA, breakdowns at Churchill, Golden Gate and Saratoga among the crises and also wet weather to smoke from regional fires that reduced betting opportunities and in some instances canceled race days.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Cody's Wish ends 2023 as NTRA Horse of the Year. Hopefully we will see the Eclipse Award voters do the same.

 

[GKJ]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Aqueduct (New York):

• Tavin (Manny Franco/Brittany Russell) was sent off at the ungodly odds of 1-to-4 (only New York, to my memory, has such odds) and held off a game-challenge by Speights Dance (Lane Luzzi/David Duggan) to win the finale.

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Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 5: Crossland (Forest Boyce/Kerry Holhbein) was sent off at 20-to-1, by far the longest odds on the board, and paid $42.60 in victory.
• Race 6: Fole's Notion (Alexander Crispin/Gina Perri) was sent off at 41-to-1, by far the longest odds on the board, and paid $84.40 in victory. Perri had the horse for the first time. The combined record of winners in race 5 and 6 was 3-for-48 entering race day. The $1 double was over $500.

Friday, November 10, 2023

Aqueduct (New York):

• Dylan Davis was on a 22-race losing streak but has a remarkable day today riding four winning with a mount in all nine races. David won both ends of a daily double...twice!

Laurel (Maryland):

• Jevian Toledo won with his first three rides.
• Race 9: Senator Kelly (Sheldon Russell/Brittany Russell) broke slowly on a muddy track but never quit and nipped Moonset (Jevian Toledo/Charlie Frock) in a terrific race. It was the lone time the Russells shared a horse today and as I have stated a few times, their propensity to win on Fridays seems staggering. Throw out the racing form, happy home.

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Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• John Velazquez had two mounts, both for Wesley Ward, and won both races. Oddly, he was scheduled to ride twice and both mounts were scratched. He picked up a mount in addition to entering on an also eligible. Ward, almost always masterful with 2-year-olds, is at 28% this year. He rebounded nicely from a disappointing 15% in such category last year which is his worst figure since his first year of training in 2000.

Horseshoe Indianapolis (Indiana):

• Simulcast Feed and Rachel McLaughlin: Stated often but this is one of the top feeds in the land. The meet ends later this month. An underrated track. But kudos for supporting Veterans' Day and vets throughout the card and to "Racing Rachel" for her obvious support. Did she shed a tear in one interview?

Del Mar (California):

• Opening Day: Always a treat.
• Race 1: Shezmisbehaving (Tyler Baze/Jorge Gutierrez) won the opener at 37-to-1. A bomb to start the meet. It was the trainer's second win of the year.

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• Race 4: Coach Prime (Flavien Prat/Bob Baffert) was outstanding second-time-out. The 2-year-old Quality Road colt out of a Street Sense mare, purchased for $1.7 million, kicked it into high noon during an impressive stretch. Something tells me this boy is going places.

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[MiamiScreamingEagles]

X has been abuzz with comments. Some users are thinking outside the box but ultimately host tracks have to take a backseat to the Breeders' Cup committee and that is just the start of issues.







I am surprised Ed DeRosa has offered these tracks maybe in part as jest. I would enjoy nothing more than seeing Laurel host the BC but considering the ominous state of repairs needed inside Maryland and the seeming preference for Pimlico, how would Laurel get rewarded? A dream is money is pumped into Laurel, the BC goes there and all is resurrected. That is a dream.

Gulfstream doesn't want it. Suth Florida has too much to offer in terms of entertainment as it stands and the casino there is thriving but also is spacious. Maybe Stronach can be convinced especially if Laurel -- once a desire of the ownership -- is considered obsolete. Santa Anita getting passed by could signal a shift, too. Stronach would be hosting the event just twice in a nine-year span when previously, the Group held it at Santa Anita three straight years.

Penn National? In November?

Woodbine has a synth track. Would the connections be willing to try that again? And the concern is weather.

Indiana could be an interesting option but there is a casino and well the state borders Kentucky.

Tampa Bay could be considered too small but the turf course is one of the best in the land.

Monmouth had weather issues and NY-NJ that time of year is dicey at best.

Belmont would seem the lead on any non-CA or KY venue but that would be 2028 at the earliest is my guess.

And on and on we go....

But someone mentioned a BC in Europe (turf) and North America (dirt) but the logistical challenges could be nightmarish. TV? Riders having to pick one, not the other unless they perform a Phil Collins-like Live Aid dance.