Wandering Eyes

Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC's Burnham Square (Liam's Map), who won the GIII Holy Bull Stakes Feb. 1 but finished fourth Saturday as the 9-5 choice in the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, will most likely skip Gulfstream's GI Florida Derby Mar. 29 and instead ship to Keeneland for the GI Blue Grass Stakes Apr. 5. “He'll probably go to the Blue Grass,” said trainer Ian Wilkes. “I've got to ship sometime.” Wilkes also noted the extra week between the Florida Derby and Blue Grass “won't hurt him.” Burnham Square ran off the pace in the Fountain of Youth and finished well, but missed third by a neck. “He made some mistakes in the race, but he did some good things, too,” said Wilkes. “He came running down the lane and galloped out good.” The post Blue Grass is the Next Target for Burnham Square appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS – When one of Bob Baffert's horses is doing well, the Hall of Fame trainer expects a big effort. That's why Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) has made his second cross-country trip in the last two months. That's why he is right here, in Saratoga, getting ready to run in the $500,000 GI Allen Jerkens Memorial on Saturday. “It's a tough race, there are no easy spots,” Baffert said by phone from his summer base at Del Mar in California. “Anytime you have a Grade I, especially at Saratoga, it's a tough race.” Prince of Monaco is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line, just behind Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who is 7-2. Book'em Danno trainer Derek Ryan had also entered his gelding in Friday night's $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town. Book'em Danno has won his last two, including the GI Woody Stephens at Saratoga on June 8 when he beat Prince of Monaco by a half-length. “Oh, this is a competitive field,” Baffert said and then joked, “I think half of the field should go to Charles Town.” In the Woody Stephens, Prince of Monaco got off to a slow start and then was tangled up before he made strong run late to get second. He was making his first start since finishing fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita in November. “I can get them ready off layoffs,” Baffert said. “When you have a horse like that that you know has so much quality and brilliance, I like to pick out sexy races for him. They are going to run just as hard in an allowance race as they will in a stake.” One thing that will be new in the Jerkens for Prince of Monaco is the rider. Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride him for the first time after Flavien Prat, who has been his pilot for his last four starts, opted to go elsewhere. Prat had his choice to ride one of four horses in the Jerkens and landed on the Chad Brown-trained Domestic Product (Practical Joke). “There are so many good riders up there,” Baffert said. “Finding a top rider there is easy.” Prince of Monaco was a $950,000 purchase at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale. He is owned by SF Racing and Partners. Baffert also said that National Treasure (Quality Road) would likely be pointed to the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and not the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. He had his first work since finishing sixth as the favorite in the GI Whitney Stakes on Tuesday, going four furlongs in :48.00 (3/8) at Del Mar. His 3-year-old Muth (Good Magic), who has not raced since winning the GI Arkansas Derby on Mar. 30, may be on his way to the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 31. Baffert said he might also run 4-year-old Reincarnate (Good Magic) in that spot. It all depends, Baffert said, on how they work this weekend. Maybe the Hood Will Help Honor Marie as He Attempts to Upset Travers The journey through the Triple Crown was a bumpy one for Honor Marie (Honor Code). Now, with the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes next on the schedule, trainer Whit Beckman is going to try something different. When Honor Marie and jockey Tyler Gaffalione line up in the starting gate for the Midsummer Derby Saturday, he'll be equipped with blinkers for the first time. Honor Marie and Tyler Gaffalione outside of stablemate Stowaway and TC Stevens Saturday | Sarah Andrew “Hopefully, with the blinkers on, he can be a little more responsive in the early parts of the race,” Beckman said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. “He has breezed very well with them. We just want to help his focus. Usually, when you ask him to move forward, it takes him a minute.” Honor Marie, owned by Ribble Farms LLC, Michael H. Eiserman, Earl I. Silver, Kenneth E. Fishbein and Dave Fishbein, was last seen finishing fourth in the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 8. He did not have the greatest of trips there, getting bumped at the start. Before that, he lost all hope early in the GI Kentucky Derby as he was jostled hard early on but still ended up eighth in the field of 20. Beckman is not surprised that Honor Marie is 20-1 on the morning line–he shares those odds with Batten Down (Tapit)–and that he is the longest price on the Travers odds. “He has always been one of those under-the-radar horses,” Beckman said. “The sales tax on (7-2) Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) was double of what this horse cost.” Sierra Leone went for $2.3 million; Honor Marie cost $40,000. “He just comes along without doing anything to turn any heads, which is cool for us,” Beckman said. “He is just one those horses that will show up. His trips have been awful. I guarantee if it happened to any other trainer, a more vocal trainer, they would be crying all day long. I am not one of those guys who is going to whine and complain about spilled milk. It is what it is, and we are going to suit up and try again.” Casse Will Make a Return Trip to Woodbine But He's Flying This Time Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has to wait a little longer to see if he can win the prestigious $1-million King's Plate at Woodbine Racetrack. The race, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown and the oldest annual stakes race in North America, was originally scheduled for last Saturday but was canceled due to torrential rain. It will be run on Friday (5:34 p.m. post time). Mark and Tina Casse | Sarah Andrew “I'm flying,” Casse said Wednesday morning while watching horses train on the main track at Saratoga. “I am not driving this time.” Casse and his wife, Tina, drove the seven and a half hours from Saratoga and then turned around and came back home on Sunday. While he was in Toronto, Casse did get some work done. He will run three horses in the King's Plate, including the favorite, My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince), last year's Canadian 2-year-old champion. On Sunday, he worked the colt as well as his other King's Plate runners: Essex Serpent (Honor Code) and Midnight Mascot (Army Mule). “I called an audible on Sunday,” Casse said. “Our horses had not breezed for a while. I don't think (canceling the race to Friday) will be a factor.” Casse said he was not going to allow the cancellation to bother him but he felt bad for everyone else. “I had Gary Barber (My Boy Prince owner) fly in (from California),” Casse said. “Woodbine worked so hard to make it a great day. They had the Prime Minister (Justin Trudeau). I feel bad for all those people. Don't feel bad for me. As long as everyone is safe, I don't let all that stuff get me too excited.” Casse said he will fly to Canada on Friday and then return to Saratoga on Friday night. “The problem is that when I spend seven hours driving, it takes time away from work. I have to get back here; I have a big day Saturday.” Casse has four horses entered on Travers Day including Full Screen (Big Screen) in the GI Forego and Little Ni (Mohaymen) in the GI Allen Jerkens Memorial. The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Baffert Expects Good Showing from Prince of Monaco in Jerkens appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Thursday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting, at which 2025 race dates were awarded, yielded almost the exact same headline and summation of how the very same commission meeting unfolded last year: Illinois racing is still struggling to recover from the twin blows of the 2021 closure of Arlington International Racecourse and the inability of the state's two surviving Thoroughbred venues–Hawthorne Race Course and Fairmount Park (AKA FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing)–to follow through with building their proposed racinos that were legalized back in 2019. Yet while last year's IRB annual dates meeting was conducted with a noticeable tone of statewide optimism for the near future, this year's marathon 5 1/2-hour meeting Sept. 19 painted a hopeful outlook primarily only at Fairmount. That's because the Collinsville track's just-approved new ownership group, Accel Entertainment, asked for and received IRB permission to switch some November race dates into October this autumn so Fairmount (280 miles southwest of Hawthorne and just over the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri) can begin construction on a temporary racino that it hopes to have operational before GI Kentucky Derby Day in 2025. By contrast, the ownership at Hawthorne Race Course, which has faced numerous delays and setbacks to the construction of its own racino, frustrated already-stressed Chicago horsemen by leading off its presentation at Thursday's meeting by having an attorney inform the IRB and everyone in attendance that no one from Hawthorne would publicly share any details of that track's racino development because of purported confidentiality issues related to the project. Tim Carey, Hawthorne's president and general manager, stuck to broad generalities when outlining the potential future of the racino, which he said has already absorbed “tens of millions” in investment money, yet sits uncompleted right near the racetrack, in some spots blocking traditional grandstand views of the races. “What I will say is that we remain steadfast in our efforts to completely redevelop Hawthorne and to revitalize Illinois horse racing. I believe the information that we've privately shared with the board is unquestionable evidence of that commitment and our continued progress in the effort,” Carey said. Both David McCaffrey, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA)'s executive director, and ITHA president Chris Block, decried Hawthorne's decision to keep the horse racing community in the dark about the racino. (It's worth noting that none of the eight IRB members present for the meeting questioned, challenged or spoke up about Hawthorne management's desire to stay publicly silent on such an important issue). Both ITHA leaders went on record as saying that Hawthorne's racing management team is great to work with, but that its racino leadership continues to exasperate horsemen. “The cooperation level that we have on the racing side is second to none, and those guys are to be commended,” McCaffrey said. “Whoever the hell's running the casino show, it's an outrage. They try to blindfold all of us, and not give us details on how to proceed with our businesses… “The racino side is abysmal,” McCaffrey continued. “To be blindfolded like this is inexcusable…. The racino side is killing us.” Block said Hawthorne's lack of direction on the future of the racino, which is supposed to eventually provide the main economic engine for purses at the Chicago-area track, is preventing the sport's stakeholders in Illinois from making plans about their livelihoods. “I need to let this board know that this racino [was] needed a long time ago,” Block said. “So every day that goes by, you can't appreciate the pressure that Dave and I are under, and the questions we get from horsemen, breeders, jockeys. I mean this is just endless on when this is going to happen.” As far as the awarding of dates is concerned, Fairmount was granted its requested 55 programs for 2025, a cut of seven race dates from what had been awarded for 2024. Hawthorne applied for 80 race dates, technically an increase of two over what had been awarded for 2024. But Hawthorne already received permission earlier this season to abandon a series of Saturday cards from mid-July onward, so the actual total of 2024 dates will be closer to around 64 programs when the current season ends Oct. 13. And that figure of 80 dates for 2025 comes with “an asterisk,” McCaffrey pointed out, referring to the likelihood that, just like this season, Hawthorne next year will not be able to sustain the three-days-a-week racing schedule that it proposes for portions of the 2025 Thoroughbred calendar. Fairmount will retain its two-day race weeks in 2025, with the season going from Apr. 22-Oct. 28, slicing a little bit of time off of the start and end of the meet compared to this year. Tuesday afternoons and Saturday nights will remain the race days. Hawthorne, which has tried to make a number of different post times and days of the week work for the past few years, will try adding Monday twilight racing to the mix in 2025. Hawthorne was granted dates from Mar. 20-July 3 (two days per week on Thursdays and Sundays, with Saturdays replacing Thursdays on the weeks of Triple Crown race simulcasts). Adding in a third date per week (Mondays) will start Aug. 4 and run through Nov. 3, with the racing days being Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays. Block did state that Hawthorne's willingness to extend the meet into early November will be helpful to horsemen. Hawthorne, in Stickney on the gritty southwest outskirts of Chicago, for decades had a decidedly blue-collar reputation on the Illinois circuit. But for the past three years it has been thrust into only-game-in-Chicago status after the devastating exodus of the more opulent and suburban Arlington, which was sold and has been razed, but has yet to be redeveloped. Although it was not explicitly stated at Thursday's IRB meeting, it appears as if Accel might be intending to go back to calling the first horse track in its gaming portfolio by its nearly century-old former name, Fairmount Park. Fairmount had been rebranded as FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing in 2020 when FanDuel took over as the track's owner. Accel bought the track in July, and the IRB approved the ownership change at Thursday's meeting. No one who spoke at the Sept. 19 meeting, including executives from Accel, referred to the racetrack as anything other than “Fairmount.” The only time the name “FanDuel” came up was when Accel executives confirmed that a partnership with the sportsbook would continue. Fairmount received IRB permission to change its scheduled Nov. 5, 9 and 12 dates this autumn to three Thursdays in October (17, 24 and 31) and to vacate the Nov. 16 program by means of adding extra races on other days. Closing day for 2024 will now be Nov. 2, dovetailing with the second day of the Breeders' Cup simulcast. The request was made to get a jump on racino construction. A temporary gaming facility will go up before the permanent one at a later date. Melissa Helton, the president and general manager at Fairmount, acknowledged “there's not a lot of horse experience” in the new ownership group, “so all of us have been helping out, [and] I think we're finally at that point where we're going to see slots.” Purses for 2025 at Fairmount are projected to be $5.5 million, Helton said. No corresponding 2025 purse figure for Hawthorne was stated at the meeting. Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association president Jim Watkins, who represents horsemen at Fairmount, told the IRB that his organization concurs with the new Fairmount regime on race dates and a vision for the future. Watkins said a contract is in place through the current year, and that a renewal is in the works that he believes will include keeping Fairmount open for off-season training. “I'm very confident that with the resources available to Accel, the new ownership, the backside is going to look a lot different” in 2025, Watkins said. The post Still Reeling from Arlington Closure, Illinois Racing Sees Fairmount Evolving as Source of Optimism appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Backside Learning Center (BLC)–an independent non-profit organization providing support and resources for the diverse community of racetrack workers and their families at Churchill Downs–will hold its annual fundraiser, “Benefit for the Backside: A Day at the Races Celebrating the BLC's 20th Anniversary”, at noon ET on Friday, Nov. 22 at the track's First Turn Club, the organization said via a Thursday release. All money raised through this annual event goes directly toward programming, resources and costs associated with the work of the BLC. Over its 20-year history, the BLC staff has grown from 2 to 18 with an annual budget over $1 million. With programs centered around educational support for both adults and youth, the BLC serves as a “home away from home” for the backside community. Click here for details about tickets, purchasing a table and more. The post Churchill Downs Backside Learning Center’s Annual Fundraiser Set For Nov. 22 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Sheila Rosenblum of Lady Sheila Stable, who co-owns the winner of the Joseph A. Gimma Stakes in 'TDN Rising Star' With the Angels (Omaha Beach), took home more black-type Sunday when Sacrosanct clobbered the field in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes two races later at the Big A. The bay took a step forward after he broke his maiden by 3 1/4 lengths against New York-breds at Saratoga Aug. 21. Off as the 6-5 choice here, the colt made the lead, but he was followed closely by Buttah. The 2-year-old began to steadily extend his lead around the far turn, at the top of the lane he began to pour on the speed and the rest was accomplished in geared down fashion. “Both [With the Angels and Sacrosanct] are 2-for-2 now–they both broke their maidens in their first start and won a stakes in their second start,” said Shelia Rosenblum. “I think I've got one or two nice horses, and they are both pretty talented, I think. I know both sides of this game–they don't always win–but the good moments are exhilarating.” The winner's unraced dam is responsible for a yearling colt by Instagrand and she foaled Sacrosanct a full-brother Apr. 2. Vibrato was bred back to that same sire for next season. This is freshman sire Honest Mischief's (by Into Mischief) first black-type winner of his career. BERTRAM F. BONGARD S., $125,000, Belmont The Big A, 9-22, (S), 2yo, 7f, 1:24.35, ft. 1–SACROSANCT, 120, c, 2, by Honest Mischief 1st Dam: Vibrato, by Unbridled's Song 2nd Dam: Cuff Me, by Officer 3rd Dam: She'sgotgoldfever, by Gold Fever ($260,000 2yo '24 EASMAY). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Lady Sheila Stable, Net Birdie, LLC and Schwing Thoroughbreds; B-Burleson Farms, Mckenzie Bloodstock, & Sequel Thoroughbreds (NY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Manuel Franco. $68,750. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $118,250. 2–Buttah, 120, c, 2, Leofric–Salty Little Sis, by Chief Seattle. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Eddie F's Racing; B-Fedwell Farms (NY); T-Gary Sciacca. $25,000. 3–Pay the Juice, 120, c, 2, Omaha Beach–Out of Orbit, by Malibu Moon. ($230,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP; $200,000 2yo '24 OBSMAR). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-August Dawn Farm; B-Chester Broman & Mary R. Broman (NY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $15,000. Margins: 12, 1 3/4, 3. Odds: 1.25, 9.90, 5.20. Also Ran: Smilensaycheese, Manhattan Twist, Oath of Omerta, McDiesel. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. SACROSANCT dominates in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes with @jockeyfranco up for @bradcoxracing! pic.twitter.com/76udPepdUQ — NYRA () (@TheNYRA) September 22, 2024 The post Sacrosanct Nets Lady Shelia Another Stakes Win, Hands Sire Honest Mischief His First appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article