Horse Racing: - Baffert romps with two 2-year-olds making debuts: a $1.8 million Florida filly by 9.5 lengths and a $650,000 colt by six lengths (2024)

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Aqueduct (New York):

• Dylan Davis rode four winners and finished a strong day going 7 4-2-0. Davis leads the meet, which ends March 30, with 37 victories, seven more than his closest challenger.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Handle: $18.3 million.
• Handle The Past Two Days: $50 million.
• Pick 6: Ended at slightly more than $5.9 million from a carryover of $834,000+. All winners today earned $35,000+ for each successful 20-cents wager.
• Irad Ortiz, Jr., winner of five races on Saturday, was winless on board seven rides today.
• Jose Ortiz rebounded from a tough day yesterday (11 0-2-0) with three wins today.
• Tyler Gaffalione, who rode two graded stakes winners yesterday, had a rough day going 9 0-2-0 and then lost his mount coming out of the gate in the finale. Thankfully, Gaffalione was reported as uninjured.
• Race 7: Sedona (Jose Ortiz/Shug McGaughey). a $2 million daughter to Curlin, debuted to a 1/2-length win.

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Oaklawn (Arkansas):

• Race 9: The $.50 Pick 5 returned more than $135,000.
• Race 6: She Be Sheehan (Luis Fuentes/John Haran) at 51-to-1 hung on gamely to defeat challenger Royal Laughter (Harry Hernandez/Coty Rosin) in what should be a nominee to Race of the Day. The winner was by far the longest odds on the board and the 9-to-1 was third highest. The $1 exacta paid in excess of $600. The $.50 tri returned more than $3,500. The $.10 super returned more than $4,500.

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• Ramon Vazquez rode three winners.
• Steve Asmussen has twice as many wins as his closest challenger but his stable was cold with just one win among 16 starters the past three days.

Santa Anita (California):

• Card: Ongoing and highlighted by four graded stakes. It was moved from yesterday due to forecasted rain.
• Bob Baffert's Big Day:

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• Frankie Dettori rode winners in two graded stakes.
• Race 6: Imagination (Frankie Dettori/Bob Baffert) nipped stablemate Wine Me Up (Juan Hernandez/Bob Baffert) in the Grade 2 $300,000 San Felipe Stakes. Nysos, Baffert's would-be third horse in the field of five and a potential superstar, was scratched. Baffert finished 1-2 with half the field. Due to Churchill Downs' ongoing suspension of Baffert and any horse he trains (at a Jan. 27 deadline), those horses are ineligible to achieve any Ky. Derby points and this race was worth 50 to the victor. As such, only third and fourth place points got rewarded. Imagination cost $1,050,000 at sale in 2022 and now sports a 5 2-3-0 record.

Bob Baffert: "Last time (Imagination) was in front, he got beat (by Maymum). At least today he showed some fight. I think he is a slow developer because of the way he’s bred (by Into Mischief out of Magical Feeling, by Empire Maker). He’s not a sprinter, so I wasn’t going to bring him back that quick. He could’ve used an extra week, but you have to run these horses when you can. We’re trying to develop these horses, so it was good for both of them. Wine Me Up ran tough. It’s like watching the 49ers Super Bowl game. Unfortunately, someone has to lose, but I’m proud of them both. They both showed up. That’s all you can ask for.”​

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• Race 7: Du Jour (Flavien Prat/Bob Baffert) won the Grade I $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at 3-to-1. Baffert won this race for a second time, also 24 years ago in 2000. Baffert doesn't enter or win too many turf races but he scored mightily here.

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• Race 8: Newgate (Frankie Dettori/Bob Baffert) won the $400,000 Grade I Santa Anita Handicap by a head. Baffert completed the trio of races with victories in each and the resulting $1 Pick 3 returned $41.60.

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• Race 10: Ruby Nell (Edwin Maldonado/Richard Mandella) won the Grade 2 $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes.

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The next two weekends are quiet for Ky. Derby preps except for the Tampa Bay Derby on March 9, the winner receiving a massive 50 points. Tampa Bay usually is deliberate in releasing cards, and if that continues then I would expect a late Wednesday release of entries.

GKJ said:

Jayson Werth has a derby favorite?

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There is a Q and A with him on Bloodhorse today if you are interested.

MiamiScreamingEagles said:

See Also

Horse Racing: - Baffert romps with two 2-year-olds making debuts: a $1.8 million Florida filly by 9.5 lengths and a $650,000 colt by six lengthsHorse Racing: - Baffert romps with two 2-year-olds making debuts: a $1.8 million Florida filly by 9.5 lengths and a $650,000 colt by six lengths

There is a Q and A with him on Bloodhorse today if you are interested.

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I’ve seen it, yeah

BELMONT PARK as BREEDERS' CUP Host in 2026?

The indication is that if construction concludes in time, the eventual expectation has legs as early as 2026. This would be the first time the event was held outside of Kentucky or California since the crap-weather in New Jersey back in 2007. Belmont had terrible weather as well when hosting the event and 1990 was nearly an apocalypse (Unbridled helped save that day). Always dicey in the northeast/mid-Atlantic that time of year but if Belmont is available for 2026 and it sees the return of the Triple Crown (a contingency plan even if the track isn't formerly opened to a meet) and Breeders' Cup, then that would be a major score providing weather cooperates.​

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$1,000+ a pop at Holiday Inn Saratoga during the 2024 Belmont Stakes festivities.

$50 million projected for area business that weekend.

I can't fathom the handle for the event.

Monday, March 4, 2024

Santa Anita (California):

• Card: Moved from Sunday since Saturday's "Big Cap" card was postponed to Sunday due to expected inclement weather.
• Juan Hernandez rode four times and three were winners. He leads the meet by five wins with 40.
• Race 3: Sneaking Candy (Mike Smith/Mike Puype) rolled to a victory. Puype, a 7% trainer in 2023 but who has been around since the 1980s, is on fire with three straight wins and a mark of 8 5-2-1 since February 25. His 26% this year is a career-high, though early in the year obviously.

Byron King of Bloodhorse lists his latest KENTUCKY DERBY DOZEN.

Next Possible Race from HorseRacingNation

KENTUCKY DERBY PREPS:

The Santa Anita Derby will be somewhat unique this year as I would imagine people would rather not incur shipping costs to California in order to compete against Bob Baffert who may have as many as four in the race. Since entry to the Derby is based on points and the Santa Derby offers massive totals, could connections point horses elsewhere or do they battle Baffert's collection of talent?

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Paco Lopez rode three winners.
• Race 7: Sals Dream Girl (Luis Saez/Brittany Russell) won and then was claimed immediately after the race with the new owners giving Carlos David the Constitution mare.

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Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Race 8: A $1 tri paid over $13,000. The $.10 super paid over $10,000 and which for hyperbole, the $1 super would have paid $100,000. A gigantic figure but that is what happens when a 16-to-1, 69-to-1, 63-to-1 and 68-to-1 finished 1 through 4 and the 2-to-5 shot is still running.
• Races 8 and 9: Edgar Morales and Tom Amoss teamed to win the late $1 daily double which paid $19.90. That is with a 16-to-1 shot winning the first leg.
• Devin Magnon and Allen Landry won both races they teamed. Magnon had just two rides on the card while Landry sent out three horses and won both races he entered. Landry is 31% this year which nearly doubles his 16% lifetime mark.
• Leader Board:

Sunland (NM), Penn National (PA), Oaklawn (AR), Fair Grounds (LA) and Turfway (KY) among those who are enjoying sizeable gains during their current meets.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

2024 Tampa Bay Derby card, the track's signature race which is worth 50 Kentucky Derby points to the winner.

Early post time, pre-noon opener.

TV: FanDuel TV.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

• Weather: Hideous weather over much of today's racing map. Gulfstream (FL) is a monsoon. Aqueduct (NY) and Oaklawn (AR) are muddy. Turf Paradise (AZ) is canceled.

Aqueduct (New York):

• Race 2:

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Gulfstream (Florida):

• Irad Ortiz, Jr. has won once with his past 18 mounts since his 5-win day.

Mahoning Valley (Ohio):

• Jay Bernardini, a solid trainer in the now-defunct New England circuit and who trains mostly in West Virginia and Ohio, was 2-for-2 today. His 18 wins this meet is second best.

Sunland (New Mexico):

• Race 4: Desert Spirit (Christian Ramos/Martin Valdez-Cabral, Jr.) ended a 10-race losing streak. The 5-year-old mare, foaled in New Mexico, was out for the 20th time and victorious for just the third time. A warrior, nonetheless. She finished second at a stakes at Zia Park in 2022. She has never raced outside her home state and has run at all five tracks within.

MiamiScreamingEagles said:

Massive power outages through Tote has caused delays along East coast tracks. Tampa Bay Derby is a non-wagering event. Even Jamaica is affected.

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GKJ said:

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^Hub in Maryland connects certain tracks from how I understand it. Thus, CD tracks or NYRA tracks not affected but OTBs that go through Maryland and tracks such as Tampa, Caymanas in Jamaica, Laurel and Gulfstream that use AmTote got KO'd.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

• Tote Malfunction: Not since the robot failed in Lost in Space have we seen something like this. AmTote's main brain went haywire and that caused a multitude of confusion and even a cancellation on what was a tremendous day. Among the tracks most affected were the two in Florida, Laurel and Caymanas in Jamaica. Pocono harness, Santa Anita and Louisiana seemed to have hiccups as well, maybe others. AmTote is owned by The Stronach Group. Much explaining ahead.

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• Chad Brown has had a stellar 72 hours. His totals read 16 7-3-4. He had horses at the two Florida tracks and Aqueduct.
• Klaravich Stables, led by Seth Klarman, has a remarkable recent record of 7 5-1-1. One of the top owners in the business. At Aqueduct, the ownership is on a 6 5-1-0 roll. Wow!
• Steve Asmussen had a 5-win day but four wins came at Sam Houston while he was also 0-for-7 at Oaklawn (AR). He finished 17 5-0-4.
• Brittany Russell is spreading her wings as she entered at seven tracks this week: Aqueduct (NY), where she won today, Parx (PA), Penn National (PA), Tampa Bay (FL), Gulfstream (FL), Oaklawn (AR) and her home base of Laurel (MD).

Aqueduct (New York):

• Race 7: Expected Value (Eric Cancel/Chad Brown) won the photo finish of the day. Quite the debate.

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Laurel (Maryland):

• Weather: Ugly much of the day.
• Race 3: Joe the Jet (Forest Boyce/Tim Keefe) beat a 3-to-5 shot in a wonderful stretch battle. I will pit Boyce against any female rider in the land. I think she is that good. Nothing like two horses squaring up in a stretch battle.

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Tampa Bay (Florida):

• Tyler Gaffalione had a 3-win day including two graded stakes.
• Jose and Irad Ortiz combined for a 13 0-3-3 afternoon. Not often the brothers are winless on any day but especially a Saturday.
• Race 6: Skippylongstocking (Tyler Gaffalione/Saffie Joseph) won the Grade 3 $100,000 Challenger Stakes.

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• Race 9: Sparkle Blue (Jorge Ruiz/Graham Motion) won the Grade 2 $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes.

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• Race 11: Domestic Product (Tyler Gaffalione/Chad Brown) won the Grade 3 $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby and with it earned 50 points towards entry into the Kentucky Derby. The race was declared a non-wagering event due to ongoing Tote delays.

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Gulfstream (Florida):

• Race 10: Red Carpet Ready (Luis Saez/Rusty Arnold) won the Grade 3 $125,000 Hurricane Bertie Stakes. Arnold had recently penned a letter criticizing HISA and HIWU for what he called as their invasive procedures in racing.

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Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Florent Geroux opened the card with a natural hat trick as part of four straight winning rides. He finished with four wins on five mounts.
• Justin Jeansomme sent out two horses and both won, part of the early double with Florent Geroux riding. The small-stable trainer doubled his victory total for 2024.

Oaklawn (Arkansas):

• Race 9: Tiny Temper (James Graham/Dallas Stewart) won the Grade 2 $400,000 Azeri Stakes at 11-to-1 by a neck over a 16-to-1 shot.

Sam Houston (Texas):

• Steve Asmussen finished 8 4-0-0. Three of his wins were ridden by his son Eric Asmussen,

Santa Anita (California):

• Race 6: Kinza (Juan Hernandez/Bob Baffert) wired the field and won by five lengths to win the Grade 3 $100,000 San Ysabel Stakes. Baffert won four straight graded stakes, going back to Sunday, in which he entered at Santa Anita. Kinza is a perfect 3-for-3 lifetime.

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• Race 7: Mucho Del Oro (Juan Hernandez/Doug O'Neill) won the Grade 3 4100,000 San Simeon Stakes.

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• Race 8: Sweet Azteca (Flavien Prat/Michael McCarthy) won the Grade I $300,000 Beholder Mile Stakes. The 4-year-old filly is 4 3-0-1.

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AQUEDUCT (NY) 7
This has to be the toughest of beats but there will always be questions based on the legitimacy of that "line." Somewhere Kent Desormeaux is saying "I told ya so." Human nature to complain with such a loss and exhale victory when winning. Either way, these images have worked in both directions for almost all veteran handicappers.

Racing's version of "Did the puck cross the goal line?"

Sunday, March 10, 2024

• Steve Asmussen had a 3-win day across two tracks. I can't imagine how many horses are under his care but just the past two days he won eight times with 25 starters.

Aqueduct (New York):

• Kendrick Carmouche had a 3-win day including two wins for Todd Pletcher who sent out only those two horses.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Race 3: Castle Island (Sheldon Russell/Brittany Russell) demolished the field by 13 lengths and under a hand ride with as an impressive stretch performance as I recall this year at Laurel. Castle Island was once under the care of Bob Baffert and was purchased for the gigantic price of $440,000.

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Tampa Bay (Florida):

• Race 9: Catch A Wave (Antonio Gallardo/Chad Brown). a $400,000 Curlin colt, looked good in a debut win with a perfectly times finish.

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Oaklawn (Arkansas):

• Handle: Nearly $6 million.
• Cristian Torres rode four winners on eight rides. He ended the day with a natural hat trick, winning the card's final three races.

Pleasanton + Golden Gate Fields (Northern California):

• With Golden Gate Fields scheduled to close permanently this year, it appears that Pleasanton could be hosting a meet other than its designated part of the northern Cal fair circuit. Much to be formalized but Pleasanton has been in operation since 1858 and has been tagged the third oldest horse racing facility in the United States.

Tampa Bay Downs was a victim of unfortunate circ*mstances depriving a good little track its signature day. Handicappers as well were hurt as a Tote malfunction caused much chaos and understandably so. The breakdown affected many tracks as has been documented and the issue continued into the night.

Tampa Bay Downs has an effective staff of personnel, one of the best in the land especially in distributing info. Here is how the track handled the non-wagering Tampa Bay Derby (race 11) and the canceled race 12.

FLORIDA OAKS PAYOUTS​

Payoffs for the 10th race, the $200,000 Florida Oaks (G3)—which had not been posted at the close of business March 9—are as follows:

• $2 win-place-show, No. 5: $7.80, $4.60, $3.60. $2 place-show, No. 7: $7.60, $4.60. $2 show, No. 9: $13.80.
• $1 exacta, 5/7: $36.40.
• 50-cent trifecta, 5/7/9: $607.65.
• $1 superfecta, 5/7/9/1: $9,477.70.
• $1 Super High 5, 5/7/9/1/6: no winners.
• $1 Daily Double, 3/5: $38.10.
• 50-cent Pick 3, 1/3/5: $59.90.

TAMPA BAY DERBY PAYOUTS​

As for the 11th race, the Tampa Bay Derby, all win, place and show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta and Super High 5 wagers will be refunded, as will the late Pick 4 which began with the ninth race.

Multi-race wagers involving the 11th race will be paid out as follows, with "ALL" runners counting as winners of the 11th race:

• $1 Daily Double: 5/ALL, $4.20.
• 50-cent Pick Three: 3/5/ALL, $14.75.
• 50-cent Pick 4: 1, 2, 4, 6/3/3, 5/ALL, $69.30.
• 50-cent Pick 5: 8/1, 2, 4, 6/3/3, 5/ALL, $612.90.
• 20-cent Ultimate 6: 3/8/1, 2, 4, 6/3/3, 5/ALL, $436.22.

All win, place and show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, Super High 5 and Daily Double wagers made involving the 12th race will be refunded, as will wagers made on the late Pick 4.

The late 50-cent Pick 3 wager (races 10 through 12) will be paid out as a 5/ALL/ALL winning ticket, with a 50-cent wager returning $2.05.

About that Tote malfunction...

The disruption occurred when the links maintained by Roberts Communications Network suffered outages, occurring to Roberts and 1/ST Racing, the owner of AmTote. The statement called the outages “unprecedented” and said that it took down both the primary and backup networks that are used to keep information flowing from Tampa Bay and the AmTote hub in Maryland.​

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“Everyone needs to stop blaming AmTote,” said Todd Roberts, the president and chief executive officer of RCN. “This was an unprecedented failure in the primary and backup connectivity provided to RCN by our third-party suppliers.”​

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The statement said that the disruption was “not caused by any failure in RCN equipment or operations,” but rather on the failure of the providers of bandwidth capacity to RCN.​

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“RCN has not yet received an official reason-for-outage report from its third-party providers specifying a reason for this failure,” the statement said. “However, it is believed that the outage, which was much broader than just the racing industry, affected at least three major telecom/internet providers in the geographic region that services the AmTote hub.”​

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The disruption occurred at 4:52 p.m. Eastern, just after the Florida Oaks, the race prior to the Tampa Bay Derby, had been run. The outage prevented the Tampa Bay Oaks from being priced, meaning wagers on the race could not be immediately redeemed, causing chaos among bettors at the track and at betting sites nationwide.​

March 16 is quiet in terms of Kentucky Derby preps but the three Saturdays that follow will have significant impact as to those who will run.

Fair Grounds (LA) will release its field for the Louisiana Derby a week prior to the race. Louisiana is arguably the quickest state regarding future entries.

Here is a list of some probable and possible runners:

$1-Million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2)

Probables

Possibles:
Nash (Brad Cox) 5 furlongs 1:00.00 (3/22) on Saturday, March 9;
Hall of Fame (Steve Asmussen) 5 furlongs 1:02.60 (19/28) on Monday, March 4;
Bee Dancer (Dallas Stewart) 4 furlongs 46.60 (1/115) on Monday, March 4;
Lat Long (Ken McPeek) 5 furlongs 1:01.40 (16/22) on Saturday, March 9