Category: Blog Posts

Belmont Stakes Recap/3-Year-Old Top 5

The 2019 Belmont Stakes was a tale of two trips, and the inside bias was a strong factor in the final outcome. Sir Winston is no longer known as War of Will’s stablemate after his win in the Test of Champions on Saturday, June 8 at Belmont Park. Let there be no doubt that a strong inside bias was in play at Belmont Park on Friday, June 7, and Saturday, June 8. Early-pressing speed was certainly an asset, but the inside lanes were the place to be even if you were coming from off the pace. Joevia showed the way for much of the running, and he broke from the inside post and was on the rail throughout. Tax, Spinoff, Everfast, and War of Will chased, but not of those runners were able to pass the front runner. Sir Winston was definitely not a speed horse, and he was patiently

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Acorn Recap/Top 5 3-Year-Old Fillies

Guarana was great in the 2019 Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park on Saturday, June 8, 2019. She was my solid second choice, and she sure made short work of this field. She was not facing any slouches either. The bettors made her the favorite over Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Serengeti Empress, and they obviously backed the right horse. There was a strong inside bias at Belmont Park on Saturday, and early speed and the inside post made Serengeti Empress a viable win candidate. Despite all of those advantages, the Oaks winner could not hold off the onslaught of Guarana. The latter raced on the good part of the racetrack behind contested fractions, and she cruised up to the aforementioned front runner and went right on by. She increased her winning margin throughout the stretch, and was a good six lengths in front when all was said and done. Serengeti

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Santa Anita Park Report (June 7-9)

Santa Anita Recap for Friday (6-7-19) Fast main track and firm turf course. One dueling front running winner at six furlongs on dirt. The winning turf course running styles were a stalker at one mile, a presser at one mile, and two front runner at five furlongs (rail at 20 feet). Riding doubles for J. C. Diaz Jr. and Aaron Gryder. The 20 cent Rainbow Pick 6 pool was $137,061 and multiple winning tickets paid $836.80 each. There will be a jackpot carryover of $1,049,222 when live racing resumes Saturday, June 8. June 7 Claims: Race 2 – Friday’s At Shady ($16k, Ari Herbertson), Topgallant ($16k, Reed Saldana). ————– Santa Anita Recap for Saturday (6-8-19) Fast main track and firm turf course. One dueling front running winner at six furlongs on dirt. The winning turf course running styles were a stalker at one mile, a closer at one mile, a

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Santa Anita Horses To Watch June 11

GOODTINGSCOMINPINK (June 7): Three year old filly for Vladimir Cerin tried straight maidens in Friday’s opener 3 and up of the Cal bred variety. Off as the odds on post time favorite at 4 to 5, she lagged well back in the pack down the back side about six lengths off the pace. Fuentes kept her on the rail throughout and she was loaded at the top of the stretch. She found a seam and finished strong down on the fence, but was on the slower footing and a filly rallied out in the middle of the course and nipped her by a nose right on the wire. It was three back to the third place finisher. She did hurt her chances down the lane by lugging out badly and was lucky she didn’t get disqualified. She’s sitting on a win for Cerin but she’s one that needs to race

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Santa Anita News and Notes June 11

• It’s Monday morning, June 10, and as I write my News and Notes for the week, I have the Santa Anita entries for this Friday and Saturday available to me from the Racing Form. However, this week I’m not even going to begin to tackle the handicapping, as three more horses died this past week at Santa Anita and the public pressure is going to be huge for them not to run the final two weeks of the meet. Yet the three deaths at the track this past week have little to do with the safety of the main track or the turf course. A heart attack with a race horse can happen anywhere, anytime, just like in a human being, and a horse taking a bad step can happen anytime, anywhere, at any track in the country. No, the damage was done back in January and February, when

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Santa Anita Report (May 31 thru June 2)

Santa Anita Recap for Friday (5-31-19) Fast main track and firm turf course. Three front running winners on dirt (6f, 4.5f, 6f). The winning turf course running styles were a stalker at one mile, a front runner at one mile, a front runner at nine furlongs, and a dueling front runner at five panels (rail at 20 feet). Riding doubles for Victor Espinoza (two flat mile turf wins) and Tiago Pereira. The 20 cent Rainbow Pick 6 pool was $109,773 and multiple winning tickets paid $728.66 each. There will be a jackpot carryover of $895,109 when live racing resumes Saturday, June 1. May 31 Claims: Race 4 – Captivate ($35k, Mike Puype), Concur ($35k, Manuel Ortiz Sr.), Rumpus Cat ($35k, Victor Trujillo). ————– Santa Anita Recap for Saturday (6-1-19) Fast main track and firm turf course. Two front running winners on dirt (6.5f, 6f). The winning turf course running styles

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Santa Anita Horses To Watch June 4

STORMING LADY (May 31): Four year old filly for Alfredo Marquez had the light bulb go on in Friday’s second race, a one mile turf event for older fillies/mares at a mile on the turf for a starter allowance non winners twice. This one had always shown good speed early, but then always gave it up in the final furlong going both long and short. She broke running this time under Victor Espinoza, but he was hooking lots of speed today, so he wisely took her back before the clubhouse turn and she relaxed nicely for him in 4th, about four lengths back. She stayed that way until the top of the stretch and when he asked her for run, she was loaded, quickly got the lead, and had enough to hold off the late runners to win by a length. This style of being able to rate opens up

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Santa Anita News and Notes June 4

• For the second time this meet, Senator Dianne Feinstein called on Santa Anita Park to take a moratorium on racing and fix their issues regarding fatalities at the track. Santa Anita went six straight weeks of racing and over 7200 horses working on the main track without incident, but then had three fatalities within a 9 day stretch to bring their total to 26 for the meet, which began way back on December 26. That was on Monday, but then they had a conference call with the Racing Board on Friday and the moratorium was never brought up. It’s clear the Senator is getting lots of pressure from the animal activist groups and is forced to respond to them in a positive manner. And of course, the Governor had to weigh in as well and told racing they had to be held accountable. Santa Anita has done just about

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Santa Anita Park Report (May 24-27)

Santa Anita Recap for Friday (5-24-19) Fast main track and good turf course. Three front running winners on dirt (6.5f, 4.5f, 8f). The winning turf course running styles were a presser at a mile and an eighth, a stalker at one mile, and a patient runner at a mile and an eighth (rail at 30 feet). Jorge Velez booted home a pair. Doug O’Neill saddled two winners. The 20 cent Rainbow Pick 6 pool was $160,423 and multiple winning tickets paid $8,579.00each. There will be a jackpot carryover of $673,894 when live racing resumes Saturday, May 25. May 24 Claims: Race 5 – Excavation ($20k, Steve Miyadi), Wilshire Dude ($20k, Bill Spawr). Race 7 – El Huerfano ($62.5k, Vladimir Cerin). Race 8 – Todos Santos ($10k, Steve Knapp). ————– Santa Anita Recap for Saturday (5-25-19) Fast main track and firm turf course. There was one front running winner at 6.5

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Preakness recap + Belmont Stakes preview

War of Will sat a perfect inside trip behind the speed and won Preakness 2019 for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Tyler Gaffalione. Everfast finished 2nd, and Brad Cox runners Owendale and Warrior’s Charge ended up 3rd and 4th. The second jewel of the Triple Crown got off to a rocky beginning when maiden and expected pace player Bodexpress dumped jockey John Velazquez at the start. Warrior’s Charge from post 3 was the early leader, and he was pursued by Market King and Anothertwistafate. War of Will was tucked in behind those three from the inside post and was always traveling sweetly. Market King was the first to crack, and Alwaysmining was swinging into action at the six furlong mark. War of Will’s beautiful journey got even better. Alwaysmining and Anothertwistafate began to weaken, and War of Will had a seam open up along the inside. He got the jump,

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