Horse Racing: MOJO RISING wins debut, IRAD ORTIZ wins 5x at Gulf; JOURNALISM wins Ky. Derby prep; 1st 2025 Breeders' Cup prep highlighted by race call in Argentina

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Andy Serling seems fairly certain that Chad Brown will Trainer of the Year. Brad Cox is my pick but a look at the numbers can go either way.

In Graded Stakes:

Trainer	Starts	1st-2nd-3rd	Money Earned	Pct. Winning	In-The-Money
Chad Brown	111	31-16-19	$14.6 m	28%	59%
Brad Cox	182	46-23-21	$18.3 m	25%	49%

Top Ten:

Rank	Trainer Name	Starts	Starters	1st	2nd	3rd	Earnings	Per Start	Win %	WPS / Start	WPS / Starter
1	Chad C. Brown	848	325	201	140	121	$29,565,940	$34,865​	24%	54%	1.4
2	Steven M. Asmussen	2,016	578	351	307	263	$25,600,222	$12,699​	17%	46%	1.6
3	Brad H. Cox	772	304	207	150	100	$25,178,825	$32,615​	27%	59%	1.5
4	Todd A. Pletcher	717	261	126	111	93	$18,552,036	$25,875​	18%	46%	1.3
5	Mark E. Casse	1,119	332	201	147	154	$16,015,516	$14,312​	18%	45%	1.5
6	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	930	270	230	151	118	$14,952,473	$16,078​	25%	54%	1.8
7	Kenneth G. McPeek	530	171	75	52	80	$14,715,670	$27,765​	14%	39%	1.2
8	Michael J. Maker	1,140	348	167	156	155	$13,869,731	$12,166​	15%	42%	1.4
9	Bob Baffert	293	105	85	63	48	$13,651,376	$46,592​	29%	67%	1.9
10	Christophe Clement	569	181	108	88	100	$11,918,373	$20,946​	19%	52%	1.6

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Saturday, November 9

• Woodbine and Churchill have exceptional cards. Aqueduct and Laurel have morning post times.

Aqueduct (NY):

Race	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post
1	$90,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 1/2 F	Dirt	6	11:40 AM ET
2	$95,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 F	Dirt	6	12:10 PM ET
3	$40,000	Claiming	6 F	Dirt	8	12:40 PM ET
4	$38,000	Maiden Claiming	1 M	Dirt	9	1:10 PM ET
5	$200,000	Hill Prince S.	1 1/8 M	Turf	7	1:40 PM ET
6	$65,000	Starter Optional Claiming	1 1/16 M	Turf	16	2:10 PM ET
7	$65,000	Starter Allowance	7 F	Dirt	9	2:40 PM ET
8	$150,000	Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship S.	6 F	Turf	12	3:10 PM ET
9	$300,000	Red Smith S.	1 3/8 M	Turf	9	3:40 PM ET
10	$45,000	Maiden Claiming	6 F	Dirt	16	4:10 PM ET

Laurel (MD):

Race	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post
1	$33,000	Maiden Claiming	5 1/2 F	Turf	15	11:50 AM ET
2	$17,000	Claiming	7 F	Dirt	14	12:18 PM ET
3	$33,000	Claiming	1 1/16 M	Turf	16	12:45 PM ET
4	$47,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 1/16 M	Turf	16	1:14 PM ET
5	$100,000	James F. Lewis III S.	6 F	Dirt	6	1:43 PM ET
6	$24,000	Starter Optional Claiming	1 1/16 M	Turf	16	2:11 PM ET
7	$100,000	Smart Halo S.	6 F	Dirt	7	2:38 PM ET
8	$53,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	1 1/8 M	Turf	14	3:07 PM ET
9	$100,000	Thirty Eight Go Go S.	1 1/16 M	Dirt	8	3:36 PM ET
10	$41,000	Maiden Claiming	7 F	Dirt	16	4:06 PM ET

Woodbine (ON):

Race	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post
1	$49,200	Maiden Optional Claiming	7 F	All Weather	9	1:10 PM ET
2	$65,700	Maiden Optional Claiming	6 1/2 F	All Weather	8	1:45 PM ET
3	$111,300	Maiden Special Weight	7 F	All Weather	8	2:19 PM ET
4	$111,300	Maiden Special Weight	7 F	All Weather	8	2:50 PM ET
5	$65,700	Maiden Optional Claiming	6 1/2 F	All Weather	12	3:20 PM ET
6	$113,700	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 F	All Weather	8	3:50 PM ET
7	$135,000	Maple Leaf S.	1 1/4 M	All Weather	13	4:20 PM ET
8	$135,000	Bessarabian S.	7 F	All Weather	14	4:50 PM ET
9	$175,000	HPIbet Autumn S.	1 1/8 M	All Weather	12	5:20 PM ET
10	$110,700	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 1/2 F	All Weather	13	5:50 PM ET

Churchill Downs (KY):

Race	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post
1	$92,000	Maiden Special Weight	7 F	Dirt	8	1:00 PM ET
2	$62,000	Claiming	6 F	Dirt	10	1:29 PM ET
3	$62,000	Maiden Claiming	1 M	Dirt	11	1:58 PM ET
4	$62,000	Maiden Claiming	7 F	Dirt	7	2:28 PM ET
5	$120,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 M	Turf	16	2:57 PM ET
6	$66,000	Claiming	1 M	Dirt	10	3:26 PM ET
7	$134,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	1 1/8 M	Dirt	13	3:55 PM ET
8	$300,000	Dream Supreme S.	6 F	Dirt	9	4:25 PM ET
9	$141,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	7 F	Dirt	16	4:55 PM ET
10	$300,000	River City S.	1 1/8 M	Turf	10	5:25 PM ET
11	$56,000	Starter Allowance	7 F	Dirt	12	5:55 PM ET

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

-Friday, November 8, 2024

Aqueduct (New York):

• Dylan Davis, fresh off the riders' title at the recently closed Belmont at Aqueduct meet, had a riding triple to open the fall Aqueduct meet. He had two wins for Christophe Clement.
• Race 8: No Mo Candy (John Velazquez/Saffie Joseph) teamed to win the $175,000 Grade 3 Pebbles Stakes at the longest shot on-the-board at 18-to-1.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1854990142248816856

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 1: Prowling Tiger (Sheldon Russell/Brittany Russell) won an eventful opener which included separate inquiries and a photo. It took forever to go official. There was a starting gate issue involving the which was declared a non-starter. A jockey was dismounted midway on another horse. A photo finish for win which confirmed the Russells for victory with their only starter of the day: Death. taxes and the Russells winning on Fridays in Maryland, OK maybe not that quite yet. Brittany is a sensational 87 33-15-6 (38%) at the current meet which runs through the end of 2024.

​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Post Time, aka my favorite horse currently in play, is getting much attention after his second place finish in the final race of Breeders' Cup weekend. Maybe a surprise to those who don't necessarily follow Maryland racing but his effort was sparkling.

Almost the dream of every owner: an $85,000 purchase has now earned over $1 million. He has hit the board in all 14 starts and is a multiple graded stakes winner.

He got top billing on tonight's Bloodhorse:

Quotes from trainer Brittany Russell:

Cigar Mile on Radar for Dirt Mile Runner-Up Post Time

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up Post Time resumed training Nov. 7 at Fair Hill Training Center, and if he continues to train well, he could race next in the Dec. 7 Cigar Mile Handicap (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack, trainer Brittany Russell said.

www.bloodhorse.com

"With how he's doing right now it's kind of hard to really stop on him. I feel like we've taken pretty good care to space his races and things like that. It's up to him. That's kind of how we've gone with him all year," Russell said. "We got lucky, and he handled everything pretty well, and he kind of asked for the next step."

"(The Cigar Mile) is five weeks from his last one and the way he seemed to have traveled home, we're going to keep that on our radar and certainly consider it," Russell said. "And if we have to sit and wait, he'll get whatever he needs. It's going to be up to him. We're just going to see how he trains and go from there."

"He's just entertaining. He's pure entertainment, and he knows everybody's looking at him. He loves that," Russell said. "Besides his quirks in the morning, it was like pretty stress-free. He's just good, so it was a little bit less of a worry for me. Once Emma (Wolfe) survived getting him to the racetrack every day it was fine."

And the photo that cast bewilderment:

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Drayden Van Dyke, Paco Lopez and Juan Hernandez will serve brief suspensions on certain days through November 16 for riding infractions at Del Mar.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Woodbine has canceled Sunday's card following breakdowns yesterday which led to races 9 and 10 canceled on Saturday.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Good article on Paulick Report regarding Trevor McCarthy and his mysterious absence from the racing circuit since August. An injury seemed unlikely as that would have been reported. Something more personal seemed obvious. The article specified that he needed a break from the rigors of riding. A chaplain in the Mid-Atlantic has guided him. Mental exhaustion can be debilitating.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Madaket Road, a $650,000 Quality Road 2-year-old Quality Road colt, could (among also eligibles) make his debut Saturday at Churchill Downs. From what I can find, this would be Baffert's return to CD since being suspended a few months after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby with Medina Spirit. He did win three times on that card and the following week he was 2-for-2.

The conglomerate that owns Madaket Road, which is a street in Nantucket, Massachusetts with apparent ties to one owner Sol Kumin, also includes individuals from Australia, Maryland, California and Michigan among other spots.

Also in that race is Brodeur, a son to Nyquist. Brodeur is owned by a father and son team with connections to New Jersey.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Bob Baffert has four of the five horses entered in a $100,000 stakes race at Del Mar on Saturday. That is sure to attract criticism.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Friday, November 15 at 11:00 am - 12:00 pm on Fox Sports 2 is the $1 million Bahrain International Trophy from Bahrain. A field of 12 is listed.

Race 8 - BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL TROPHY - POST Time - 11:35am​

Win, Place, Show, Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta, Omni
Bahrain Turf Club STAKES
Purse $1,000,000. TB Class 1 - Group 2 1 1/4M

P#	PP	Horse	A/S	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	10	Alflaila	5/H	Jim Crowley	128	Owen Burrows	9/2
2	6	Calif	5/G	Adrie De Vries	128	C and Y Lerner	12/1
3	1	Goemon	5/H	Ebrahim Nader	128	Haider Ebrahim	33/1
4	9	Killer Ability	5/H	Oisin Murphy	128	Takashi Saito	12/1
5	8	Nations Pride	5/G	William Buick	128	Charlie Appleby	3/1
6	5	Point Lonsdale	5/H	Ryan Moore	128	Aidan O'Brien	12/1
7	12	Sovereign Spirit	4/G	Soufiane Saadi	128	Jaber Ramadhan	33/1
8	11	Spirit Dancer	7/G	Oisin Orr	128	Richard Fahey	10/1
9	4	Yamanin Sympa	6/H	Taisei Danno	128	Takashi Saito	16/1
10	7	Young Ireland	4/G	David Liška	128	Jaber Ramadhan	40/1
11	2	Lead Artist	3/C	Kieran Shoemark	125	John and Thady Gosden	3/1
12	3	Andromede	5/M	Christophe Soumillon	123	Francis Henri Graffard	16/1

Owners: 1 - Shadwell Estate Company Limited ; 2 - Victorious ; 3 - Mohammed Khalid Abdulrahim ; 4 - Carrot Farm Co Ltd ; 5 - Godolphin ; 6 - Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Westerberg ; 7 - Al-Afoo Racing ; 8 - Done, Ferguson, Mason ; 9 - Hajime Doi ; 10 - Al-Afoo Racing ; 11 - Juddmonte ; 12 - H H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Flavien Prat has 74 stakes wins this year. The record total for one year is 79.

He is nearing the graded stakes record as well.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857124222671479233

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Bob Baffert has a first-time starter named Dettori at Del Mar on Sunday. And no Frankie Dettori is not the rider. A rare turf starter for Baffert.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Now confirmed that Maryland will race 114 dates at Laurel. 6 at Pimlico and 7 at the State Fair in Timonium for a total of 127 days in 2025. Maryland is expected to have conducted 159 dates this year (ongoing).

The primary reason for reduction is the competition from Virginia's popular Colonial Downs brief and now extended meet. Pimlico will host the 150th Preakness during that track's eventual extensive redevelopment. Laurel will host the event in 2026 and then that track will discontinue horse racing at some point.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Aqueduct (New York):

• Handle: $12.2 million.
• Dylan Davis had another 3-win day.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Claiming Crown Card: Horses came from 83 trainers. It is the 26th such card with eight starter allowance races.
• Luis Saez rode four winners on board 10 mounts.
• Tyler Gaffalione was unseated and experiencing back and hip pain. He is not expected to ride tomorrow while undergoing evaluation.
• Race 3: Guns Loaded (Luis Saez/Jose D'Angelo) broke his maiden in his second try to win the only race not billed a claiming race or starter allowance. The $120,000 MSW was won by the $800,000 son to Gun Runner in his second try. This horse is going places.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857862715294794047

Del Mar (California):

• Race 2: Practical Dream (Antonio Fresu/Tim Yakteen) was the only non-Bob Baffert starter in a field of four but she prevailed at 4-to-1 to win the $100,000 Desi Arnez Stakes.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857893843557036143

Woodbine (Ontario):

• Handle: $8.3 million.
• Race 12: Prince of Thieves (Eswan Flores/Paul Berringer) won the finale at 79-to-1. The winner paid $160.50. The $2 exacta returned $1902. The $1 tri returned over $8,800. The $1 super returned more than $246,000. The $1 pentafecta paid over $653,000. The $1 Pick 4 exceeded $28,000. No one hit the Pick 5. There was almost $2 million bet into the race. The finale concluded a late day of fireworks.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857938343679697250

• Race 11: Nobals (E.T. Baird/Larry Rivelli) upset Canadian superstar Patches O'Houlihan (Sofia Vives/Robert Tiller), who entered with 11 wins in 13 lifetime starts, in the Grade 2 $175,000 Kennedy Road Stakes. The well-travelled 5-year-old gelding, Nobals was winless in 2024 following wins in four of his final five starts of 2023.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857933938590887999

• Race 10: Wicked Django (Keveh Nicholls/L. Rodney Barrow) won the Grade 2 $200,000 Autumn Stakes as the longest shot on the board at 24-to-1. The winner paid $50.40. The trainer won for just the 21st time in his career and his most recent win came last year. It is also the first graded stakes wins in North America for the jockey and trainer.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857922537751195902

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Del Mar (California):

• Michael McCarthy trained two winners, both significant victories.
• Race 5: Journalism (Ricardo Gonzalez/Michael McCarthy), a $825,000 son to Curlin, broke his maiden second-time-out.
• Race 8: Bullard (Umberto Rispoli/Michael McCarthy), a $675,000 son to Gun Runner, romped to an impressive win at Del Mar in the Grade 3 $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes. Among the owners is Vincent Viola (Florida Panthers).

https://x.com/i/web/status/1858302124209197546

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Mike Repole, one of the sport's most prominent owners, is shipping horses to California with the intent to aid the ailing state. While I don't agree with his stance that a stronger state such as Kentucky should help bail out California, at least he is taking an initiative on his own. If California can figure out sports betting and perhaps just as important historical horse racing at tracks, the hope is the sport won't be suffering there, other than the glory and exposure from glamour events. Cali needs help.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Rumours Have It, sired by Tapit, expected to be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., trained by Todd Pletcher and foaled by Songbird, aka my 1A favorite filly of all time, is listed among the entries and could be debuting at Gulfstream (FL) on Friday.

Songbird an immense talent in the track, was sold for $9.5 million to reproduce. This is her third of four foals, the second to hit the track. Her lone foal.to have raced is winless in six starts.

To date, Songbird has produced foals by Tapit (twice), Arrogate and Curlin.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Bob Baffert returns to Churchill Downs next Wednesday with Barnes, a $3.2 million colt by Into Mischief who is making his debut. The 2-year-old colt is named after Baffert's longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes.

Baffert had a horse listed at Churchill a few days ago but that was as an also eligible who didn't enter. Baffert has not officially run at CD since 2021.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

New Jersey 2025:

Monmouth to run 50 days of T-breds from May into September.

Meadowlands harness to run 90 dates which includes 82 days from January into September and eight more in mid-December.

Meadowlands will run at least eight T-bred dates exclusively on turf. The T-bred schedule could increase to 21 if a fall slate of racing is approved for September into November. There is talk that increased dates would include both dirt and turf racing at Meadowlands.

Meadowlands could acquire some additional harness dates since Freehold harness is scheduled to close December 28, 2024.

Next meeting is in December.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Nothing but bragging rights on the line but at Laurel Park's current meet, which ends December 29, there is close battle for leafing rider as Jaime Rodriguez has 37 wins and Jevian Toledo has 36 victories. Trainer Brittany Russell is dominant in her category with 40 wins, 22 more than her closest challenger.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Laurel (MD) has canceled racing today due to weather which is a mix of rain and snow.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

The Songbird first-timer placed at Gulf...Rumours Have It was sent off the favorite but couldn't maintain her lead.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Odd situation in the Woodbine opener. The original order of finish was 7-1-2 with five horses 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 not finishing due to a spill (all horses uninjured). After an inquiry, the original winner was placed last behind the five that didn't finish. Since trifecta bets were accepted, the new order of finish became 1-2-3 but that was due to the Tote limit of one number per space. In this instance, the actual order was 1,2, 3/4/5/6/8.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Laurel has canceled Saturday's card due to track conditions.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Laurel has canceled Sunday's card due to track conditions.