Singapore News

The win was a triumph for Louisiana-breds as owners Valene Farms, rider Brian Hernandez Jr., and Smoken Wicked all hail from the Pelican State.View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In the first race of her career Friday, Time to Dream (Not This Time) showed that she could very well have been given a fitting name. After overcoming trouble under jockey Jose Ortiz, the Repole Stable bay stormed from off the pace in the stretch to win the seventh race, a $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds by 2 1/4 lengths over pacesetter Maiora (Speightstown). Time to Dream completed the one mile on the inner turf course in 1:36.58 and paid $9.90 to win. Pan Pan (Audible) was another half-length back in third. Bred in Kentucky by Maggie Gleseke, the daughter of the Street Sense mare Wild Silk drew the attention of owner Mike Repole and his staff at last summer's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Nearly a year later, she debuted in style. “Obviously, a beautiful yearling,” said Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. “Mike reached out and gave $750,000 so she is one that we had high hopes for coming in. She's a very professional filly and trained really well leading into this. We were optimistic, but it's great to see her perform to where we thought she might be capable of.” Time to Dream is a half-sister to Red Carpet Ready (Oscar Performance), a three-time graded stakes winner on dirt. Yet, Time to Dream started her career on turf. “When we were first up here in the spring, the Oklahoma track was pretty deep and demanding, and it seemed like we were having some horses that were struggling with it a little bit,” Pletcher said. “She was not one of them, but we did work her one time on the turf. Not This Time is such a versatile stallion. It seems like he really gets runners that do just about anything. We thought she really breezed well on the turf and felt like she didn't want to rush in a maiden dirt race. We were just kind of waiting for this.” The half-mile turf work in :50.85 took place on the June 27 and put her on course for a race on the grass. Pletcher smiled at the obvious next question. “Today, she's a turf horse,” he said, “but we wouldn't rule out at some point trying the dirt.” Pletcher said Time to Dream might be a candidate for the 1 1/16th miles P.G. Johnson Stakes on turf on Aug. 27. Time to Dream was Pletcher's third winner of the meet in the top-level 2-year-old maiden special weight races. He is 3-2-1 from 11 starts. Making her second career start, Maiora quickly took command of the race under Hall of Famer Joel Rosario and led the field of eight through comfortable opening split times of :24.25 and :48.96. At the top of the stretch she extended her advantage to three lengths after covering six furlongs in 1:13.11 and looked like she would secure the victory for owners Susie and Ed Orr. Time to Dream was sitting in a stalking position going up the backstretch, but found trouble near the three-eighths pole and Ortiz had to check off the heels of Pan Pan. Moments later, he had to carefully avoid the heels of Repole stablemate Flighttown (Practical Joke) on the turn. “She broke great and put me into a good spot,” Ortiz said. “At the second turn, I kind of hit a little bit of traffic. She backed up a little, and then she re-broke again. It was very impressive. It was nice.” Pletcher's two horses were close to each other when Ortiz had to check. “She was making some good progress and then it looked like she kind of had to, not slam on the brakes, but at least kind of put it on hold for a few strides a couple of times,” Pletcher said. “But it's impressive to see her regroup and then deliver another big run. Ortiz took Time to Dream wide coming off the turn and she accelerated quickly to put herself into contention. She caught Maiora near the sixteenth pole and sped away. The post New ‘Rising Star’ Time To Dream To Stick To Turf For Now For Pletcher And Repole appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Some 24 hours after he was in a frightening spill at Colonial Downs and had to be airlifted to the hospital, jockey Tyler Conner made noticeable progress Friday and was able to take a few steps in the critical care unit at Virginia Commonwealth Hospital in Richmond. “The doctors are all very optimistic that he will make a full recovery,” said his father, John Conner. “They said it could take a month, it could take a year. We'll know a lot more in a few days.” Conner sustained a C1 fracture and broken nose following a spill in the seventh race July 24 at Colonial Downs. The remainder of the card was canceled after the incident. Conner was aboard Stanza (Great Notion), who clipped heels and unseated the 31-year-old jockey. He remained conscious following the spill. “It's 24 hours later and he walked around the critical care unit today,” Conner said. “And he did like three squats. The left arm is still a struggle for him. He can use it. But he looks like he was in a train wreck. They took X-rays today and there was nothing new. He was walking and I was crying this morning.” Conner said that his son refused to take the powerful drug oxycontin that was offered to him and instead relied on Tylenol to deal with the pain. “They say it will get better with time,” Conner said. “He refuses the serious painkillers. He wouldn't take the oxycontin they offered him last night before he went to sleep. He's just taking Tylenol. They also have him on Gabapentin, which is supposed to be good for the inflammationC1 fracture. He said when he initially got in the ambulance he couldn't move anything. Twenty-four hours later he can move his limbs and is doing well.” When asked if his son felt lucky to be alive, Conner said: “I guess it is a matter of inches. It could have gone one way or the other, so, yes, he is lucky to be alive. He doesn't go cheap when it comes to the helmets and the vests. The helmet did its job.” While Conner expects that his son will return to riding, he said nothing is certain. “Whether he rides again, I don't know,” he said. “We'll see where that goes. I think he'll be ok. My belief is he will ride again because I know he won't want to go out that way. And he's only 31. We'll just see how the progression goes. It's day-to-day, but it looks very good at this point for him. He understands it is part of the business. He's been racing motorcycles for 10 years, so he knows you can always leave in an ambulance.” The post Jockey Tyler Conner on the Mend appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – So far, trainer Joe Sharp has done little wrong at the Thoroughbred meet at Saratoga. If you've been following along, you know he has won six races with his first 15 starters. You might not know that he is also doing ok across the street at the harness track. Sharp has been moonlighting as a harness owner at night–along with former jockey Taylor Rice, the wife of jockey Jose Ortiz. They own a pair of pacers named Virgin Honor and Legal Bettor and they will both race Saturday night. They got involved in the sulky business a year ago. Legal Bettor will run in the second race and Virgin Honor will contest the fourth. Both will be driven by veteran Wally Hennessey, who just won his 12,000th career race earlier this week. He drove Virgin Honor to victory last Saturday night. “It really is a lot of fun,” Sharp said outside his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. “This is sheer entertainment, and I have learned a lot. That's why I like it so much because I can learn a lot about a different industry. That is what makes it so intriguing for me and Taylor and Jose.” Sharp laughed when asked if he was a tough owner. “Last year I might have been a little bit tough, but I have a lot of faith in my trainer (Jaymes McAssey) and I am very good at letting him do his thing. But we are in the mindset that we want to win. We run them wherever they can win.” Sharp, 40, is all in on the harness thing. Every morning, after training his own string at Saratoga, he heads over to the harness track and jogs a few horses. “They usually hold one or two for me to jog,” he said. “It's a lot of fun.” As far as changing careers, that isn't happening. His wife, former jockey Rosie Napravnik, just rolls her eyes when that subject came up. Sharp is having plenty of fun so far at Saratoga as his horses have been showing up for him. He is just two wins away from career win No. 1,000. “Only because you guys remind me of it all the time,” Sharp said with a smile when asked if he thinks about the milestone. “Honestly, I don't think about it much. I'm very proud of our team and getting to that point does not weigh on me at all.” As far as the sizzling start goes, he'll take it. Last year's Saratoga meet saw him win five times in 49 starts. “The right races went for us early in the meet,” he said. “We are grateful how everything has been clicking and we have a lot of horses yet to run. Some of the horses that have already won might start, some might not. It's important for me up here. The track is great, the atmosphere is great, and the weather is fantastic.” And if Sharp wasn't busy enough, he still finds time to run between eight and 10 miles four or five times a week. “I went 11 the other day,” he said, “that's because I got lost!” La Cara, Nitrogen Work Towards Alabama Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said he has never had two quality 3-year-old fillies like these. He is counting down the days when he will run La Cara (Street Sense) and Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI, $600,000 Alabama Stakes on Aug 16. La Cara working Friday | Sarah Andrew Both fillies worked on the main track at Saratoga Friday morning. La Cara, who missed last weekend's GI Coaching Club American Oaks because the barn she was in was under quarantine, went five furlongs in :59.76 (1/16) with regular exercise rider Mary Rose Hitt. Casse said that while under quarantine, La Cara missed three days of training. “I don't think I have worked her five-eighths in a long time,” Casse said outside his barn on the main track. “I am trying to put some air into her since we didn't get to run.” The last time La Cara worked five furlongs was Mar. 21 at Palm Meadows in Florida. Since then, she has had six, four-furlong works before Friday. La Cara, owned by Tracy Farmer, has three wins in five starts this year, including a pair of Grade I races. In her latest, she won the GI Acorn at Saratoga on June 6. D J Stable LLC's Nitrogen has started six times this year, five of them on grass. In her lone try on dirt, Nitrogen won the off-the-turf GIII Wonder Again by 17 lengths over two grass horses. Friday, she worked four furlongs in company and was timed in :48.02 (8/60). “She worked phenomenal,” Casse said. While Casse is excited about his two fillies heading to the Alabama, he is also facing the fact that he will not be attending the King's Plate at Woodbine. That is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America. Casse plans on having a horse, maybe two, in the King's Plate, a race he has won three times. “I can't ever remember missing one,” Casse said, “but the Alabama is the same day, and I have never had two fillies in the Alabama.” Bauer's Barn Has Taken Some Hits Last summer, trainer Phil Bauer had some high hopes for a pair of young horses. Jonathan's Way (Vekoma), a 2-year-old colt, and Two Sharp (Twirling Candy), a 2-year-old filly, had shown plenty of promise. Fast forward a year and Bauer doesn't have either of them in his barn. He just hopes they can return next season. Phil Bauer | Sarah Andrew “We have been annihilated with depression,” Bauer said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. Here' why. Start with Jonathan's Way, owned by Richard Rigney's Rigney Racing LLC. After breaking his maiden at Saratoga by 4 1/4 lengths last summer, he took a hike up in class and won the GIII Iroquois Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths at Churchill Downs. After a lackluster seventh in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 1, he rebounded with a second in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. Then, nothing. “He had an infection and then he had colitis,” Bauer said. “He looked like an emaciated horse. It was awful. He is doing ok now.” Bauer said Jonathan's Way is back home on the farm. He'll get the rest of the year off. Two Sharp, also owned by Rigney, won three of four starts last year, including the GIII Chilukki Stakes at Churchill. In her one race this year, Two Sharp won the GIII Winning Colors by 3 1/2 lengths. She hasn't been seen since. Bauer said Two Sharp has had a soft tissue issue and is also at the farm. “She is crazy good, that filly,” Bauer said. “Probably the best horse I ever had. She is just naturally fast and doesn't stop; she is one that does not get tired.” All Bauer can do now is wait and see if both horses can get back to the races as 4-year-olds. “That is the plan,” he said. “It's not like they are retired. They are turned out and we'll reevaluate them and try again. You are always hopeful, but you can't get too high on them, because they will just break your heart.” The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Sharp Spa Start For Always On the Go Trainer Sharp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Louisiana-bred SMOKEN WICKED (c, 3, Bobby's Wicked One–Street Smoke, by Street Boss) turned the tables on Macho Music (Maclean's Music) Friday to win the GII Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga going away. Second last out in the Maxfield Stakes at Churchill, the Dallas Stewart runner ran sixth in the GII Pat Day Mile behind Macho Music two back on the Derby undercard. Pressing that rival on the front from the first jump, it was Smoken Wicked at odds of 5-2 who had the most to say late as the 8-5 favorite began to fade along the rail into the stretch. Ridden out by Brian Hernandez, Jr., he led in Gunmetal (Gun Runner) while geared down late in a final time of 1:15.64. O-Valene Farms LLC; B-Tom Curtis & Wayne Simpson; T-Dallas Stewart. Sales History: $38,000 ylg '23 BSLY&M.   The post Smoken Wicked Impressive In Amsterdam Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article