And Down The Stretch They Come

2012 Robert Lewis Result: Bombs Away! I'll Have Another Shocks At Santa Anita

2012-02-04T23:36:05Z

I'll Have Another, sent to post at boxcar odds of 43/1, sprinted away from the pack at the top of the stretch on his way to a shocking upset in the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Empire Way finished second, while Groovin' Solo finished third under the wire. There was an inquiry following the race after Liaison got squeezed in the stretch, causing the horse to dump jockey Rafael Bejarano. Following the inquiry, Groovin' Solo was disqualified, moving Rousing Sermon into the third position and Isn't He Clever into the fourth spot.

I'll Have Another is a three-year-old son of Flower Alley out of an Arch mare (Arch's Gal Edith) trained by Doug O'Neill and ridden by Mario Gutierrez. The Lewis was his first race of 2012 after finishing 6th, 18 lengths back in the G1-Hopeful last September at Saratoga. Prior to that, he finished 2nd to Creative Cause in the G2-Best Pal at Del Mar.

The top three betting interests in the Lewis - Liaison, Rousing Sermon and Sky Kingdom - all ran poorly, keying large payouts across all wagers.

Payouts
Win: 4-I'll Have Another ($88.60, $35.80, $12.00)
Place: 7-Empire Way ($11.80, $6.20)
Show: 6-Rousing Sermon ($3.40)

$1.00 Exacta: $399.00
$1.00 Trifecta: $3,461.00
$0.10 Super: $1,855.42
$2.00 Daily Double: $552.20
$1.00 Pick 3: $944.30

Fractions below the jump...

Fractions
1/4: 23.03
1/2: 46.77
3/4: 1:10.52
Mile: 1:34.52
Finish: 1:40.84

Internal Splits
1/4: 23.03
1/2: 23.74
3/4: 23.75
Mile: 24.00
Finish: 6.32

2012 Sam F. Davis Results: Battle Hardened Breaks Maiden In Fine Fashion

2012-02-04T22:42:57Z

Battle Hardened, with nary a win to his name in three lifetime starts before this weekend, and bet down from a morning line of 12/1 to odds of 9/2, unleashed a long grinding run to win the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Prospective and Reveron each took command of the race for a moment near the top of the stretch, but neither could hold off the winner, finishing second and third, respectively.

Prior to today's win, Battle Hardened came up empty in three tries against Maiden Special Weight company. His debut race occurred at Churchill Downs in October, where he finished 4th while running six furlongs. He improved a bunch when stretched out, finishing second in another Churchill MdSpWt in late November. His last effort came in December when he missed by a head at Gulfstream Park while going nine furlongs.

Battle Hardened is a three-year-old son of Giant's Causeway out of a Northern Fashion mare (Jen's Fashion) trained by Eddie Kenneally and ridden by Julien Leparoux.

Payouts:
Win: 3-Battle Hardened ($11.00, $5.60, $4.40)
Place: 11-Prospective ($5.20, $3.60)
Show: 10-Reveron ($3.60)

$1.00 Exacta: $31.00
$0.50 Trifecta: $92.35
$0.10 Super: $256.13
$1.00 Daily Double: $15.20

Fractions below the jump...

Fractions:
1/4: 23.79
1/2: 47.81
3/4: 1:12.55
Mile: 1:38.00
Finish: 1:44.58

Internal Fractions:
1/4: 23.79
1/2: 24.02
3/4: 24.74
Mile: 25.45
Finish: 6.58

2012 Triple Crown Nominations

2012-02-04T22:26:10Z

Champion juvenile Hansen, Breeders' Cup runner-up Union Rags, and almost 400 other three-year-old were among the horses nominated to the 2012 Triple Crown, a 9.1% increase from 2011. Only 11 horses have ever won the Triple Crown, the last occurring in 1978 when Affirmed defeated his rival Alydar in all three races. The 33-year drought without a Triple Crown winner is the longest in history.

Not only has the Triple Crown eluded horses for the past three decades, but it's become in the last few years it's become rare that a horse even wins more than one leg of the series. Since Big Brown was defeated in the Belmont Stakes there have been ten different winners of the ten Triple Crown races. The last time we saw a similar stretch was between 1924 to 1929, when there were 18 different winners over 18 Triple Crown races. Gallant Fox broke the streak by winning the Triple Crown in 1930.

Previous Triple Crown winners:

Sir Barton - 1919
Gallant Fox - 1930
Omaha - 1935
War Admiral - 1937
Whirlaway - 1941
Count Fleet - 1942
Assault - 1946
Citation - 1948
Secretariat - 1973
Seattle Slew - 1977
Affirmed - 1978

The 2012 Triple Crown will take place over a period of five weeks, beginning with the Kentucky Derby on May 5th, continuing on with the Preakness on May 19th, and concluding with the Test of Champions, the Belmont Stakes, on June 11th.

Complete 2012 Triple Crown Nominations List

2012 Withers Result: Alpha Cruises Home

2012-02-04T21:28:44Z

Despite racing four or five wide on both turns, Godolphin's Alpha cruised home to win the Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct as the heavy 1/4 favorite. Long-shot Speightscity, sent to post at odds of 44/1, ran a huge race to finish second, while Tiger Walk rounded out the top three. Pacesetter How Do I Win faded to fourth.

Alpha has started off his three-year-old season in fine fashion by winning the Count Fleet and the Withers in back-to-back starts. As a juvenile, Alpha finished second to Union Rags in the G1-Champagne before running up the track in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

Alpha is a three-year-old son of Bernardini out of a Nijinsky II mare (Munnaya) trained by Kieran McLaughlin and ridden by Ramon Dominguez.

The payouts were fairly pedestrian given the presence of such a heavy favorite, with the exception of the return for a place bet on runner-up Speightscity, which came back at a fat $16.20 for a $2 bet.

Payouts:
Win: 7-Alpha ($2.70, $2.50, $2.10)
Place: 2-Speightscity ($16.20, $5.40)
Show: 6-Tiger Walk ($2.90)

$1.00 Exacta: $16.20
$1.00 Trifecta: $66.00
$0.10 Super: $19.05
$1.00 Grand Slam: $1.85
$1.00 Daily Double: $2.00
$1.00 Pick 3: $7.30

Race fractions below the jump.

Fractions:
1/4: 23.71
1/2: 48.04
3/4: 1;12.71
Mile: 1:37.72
Finish: 1:44.23

Internal Splits:
1/4: 23.71
1/2: 24.33
3/4: 34.67
Mile: 25.01
Finish: 6.51

2012 Emerald Downs Stakes Calendar

2012-02-03T20:06:24Z

2012 Emerald Downs Stakes Calendar

The Seattle-area track will open for racing on Friday, April 13th. The G3-Longacres Mile will run on Sunday, August 19th.

Weekend Stakes Preview: Tampa Bay Downs Gets Into The Action

2012-02-03T19:40:43Z

A trio of graded stakes races for three-year-old colts dot this weekend's graded stakes action, along with some nice races for older colts and fillies at Aqueduct, Santa Anita, Tampa, and Gulfstream Park. The three-year-old races will capture much of the attention but strong fields in the G2-Strub, G2-Arcadia, and the G3-Endevour make for a very nice start to Super Bowl weekend.

Let's take a look at some of the top action this weekend.

G2-Strub Stakes

There isn't a whole lot of speed in the Stub, which should greatly benefit the 6/5 morning line favorite, 7-Tapizar. After running a lackluster race in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Tapizar rebounded nicely to dominate the G2-San Fernando at Santa Anita on Jan. 14^th. He's run well at this track in the past (3-2-0-0) but will be trying nine furlongs for only the second time in his career. His other attempt at this distance was a 5^th place finish in last year's Robert Lewis Stakes. If Tapizar is able to shake free of 4-Ultimate Eagle (9/2) in the early stages he will be awfully tough to catch.

1-Jaycito (4/1) has yet to show that he can run a big race on conventional dirt and, even more important, he's hasn't recorded a victory since winning the G1-Norfolk in October of 2010. He's coming off of another extended break suggesting that this colt has trouble staying in top physical condition. Those 4/1 morning line odds seem awfully low for a colt with as many questions as Jaycito.

2-Prayer for Relief (7/2) notched four straight wins last summer/fall before falling slightly off-form in his last three. He got a trough trip when finishing 3^rd in the Ohio Derby, didn't show up at all in a 9^th place finish in the G1-Clark, and came back to run a good 3^rd in the San Fernando. He's got two speed horses to his outside which should allow him to settle just off the pace in the early stages, giving him every opportunity to make a run at the top of the stretch.

8-Balladry (8/1) closed nicely to grab the 2^nd spot from Prayer for Relief in the San Fernando and will try to run down the leaders once again in the Strub. This colt really needs Ultimate Eagle to put some pressure on Tapizar in the early stages if he's going to have any chance to get to the wire first.

G2-Arcadia

8-Mr. Commons (Even) has really come into his own after returning to the turf last July. He was an interesting prospect last year, finishing 3^rd in the Santa Anita Derby before a weak 8^th in the Preakness. After that race at Pimlico trainer John Shirreffs decided to put this son of Artie Schiller back where he belonged - the grass. He won the ungraded Oceanside on Del Mar's opening day, followed by a couple of runner-up finishes in the G2-Del Mar Mile and G2-Oak Tree Mile. He was overwhelmingly the best in winning the G2-Sir Beaufort last time out, when he split horses in mid-stretch and blew away his rivals by 3 ¼ lengths.

2-Pathfork (5/2) won the Group 2 Futurity Stakes and the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh as a juvenile but hasn't seen competitive action since finishing 26 lengths behind Frankel (GB) in last year's 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. It's hard to evaluate this colt when his last race was almost nine months ago and came against an absolute freak of nature. Even harder when you consider that his juvenile form, while excellent, occurred almost a year and a half ago. He obviously had some kind of physical problems last year given the extended time away from the track. I usually like to play the underbet European horses in the first time they race in the U.S., but this colt carries some serious questions into this race and will likely be overbet on the board. If he were to drift to 4/1 or 5/1, I might tempted to take a shot. That doesn't seem to be a likely scenario.

3-M One Rifle (10/1) has turned in some strong performances on dirt and synthetics but will make his first start on the lawn in an awfully tough field. Over the last five years, trainer Bruce Headley has only twice attempted to run a horse for the first time on the grass in graded stakes race, with neither horse finishing in the top three. Overall, Headley is 2-for-39 with the first time grass move in the last five years. Those aren't very encouraging numbers.

G2-Robert Lewis Stakes

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	ML
1	Isn't He Clever	C. Nakatani	H. Dominguez	6/1
2	Liaison	R. Bejarano	B. Baffert	9/5
3	Groovin' Solo	V. Espinoza	M. Cho	12/1
4	I'll Have Another	M. Gutierrez	D. O'Neill	12/1
5	Sky Kingdom	M. Garcia	B. Baffert	6/1
6	Rousing Sermon	J. Talamo	J. Hollendorfer	5/2
7	Empire Way	J. Rosario	M. Harrington	6/1
8	Chips All In	A. Quinonez	J. Mullins	6/1

2-Liaison (9/5) rolls into the Lewis off of three wins in four races, including a score in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park in his last start. The Bob Baffert trainee has made a wide move in all four of his starts but will likely find his trip a little easier in this spot. His rival 6-Rousing Sermon (5/2) will once again line up in the same gate after finishing second in each of the last two stakes races. Rousing Sermon likes to do his running from the back of the pack, so he'll likely need some help up front in order to soften things up for his stretch run. There isn't a ton of speed in this field which may complicate things for the Hollendorfer trainee.

The second of the two Bob Baffert entries is 5-Sky Kingdom (6/1), a nice looking winner of an N1X Allowance race at Santa Anita back on Jan. 12^th. It would be an understatement to write that Sky Kingdom won that race ‘easily"; it was ridiculously easy as Martin Garcia hardly asked him for any run as he cantered home by four and a half lengths at the wire. He had way too much work to do in the stretch when he finished fourth to Liaison and Rousing Sermon in the CashCall Futurity but displayed a lot more early speed in his last effort. This colt seems to be improving at just the right time for a big, big effort.

3-Groovin' Solo (12/1) is a bit of a wild card in the Lewis after a nice maiden score at Santa Anita on Dec. 30^th. He also ran in the CashCall Futurity but his race was over before it started after breaking a rein in the early going. That maiden race has come back very strong; 3^rd place finisher Castaway came back to win a MdSpWt at Santa Anita on Jan. 21^st with a 89 Beyer, and 4^th place finisher Cloud Hopper came back to score in a MdSpWt on the lawn on Jan. 16^th with an 80 Beyer. The 2^nd place horse, Candy's Jewel, has yet to return to the track but could be a strong play in his next start.

G3-Sam F. Davis Stakes

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	ML
1	State of Play	A. Garcia	G. Motion	4/1
2	Holy Highway	A. Serpa	D. Ryan	20/1
3	Battle Hardened	J. Leparoux	E. Kenneally	12/1
4	Ecaboni	J. Castellano	T. Pletcher	7/2
5	Moroccan Brew	R. Feliciano	D. Ward	30/1
6	Neck n' Neck	J. Lezcano	I. Wilkes	5/1
7	Fox Rules	H. Villa-Gomez	M. Ferraro	30/1
8	Ravelo's Boy	J. Sanchez	M. Azpurua	15/1
9	Burning Time	L. Goncalves	D. Fawkes	12/1
10	Reveron	F. Jara	A. Bezara	3/1
11	Prospective	L. Contreras	M. Casse	6/1

The graded stakes program for three-year-old colts at Tampa Bay Downs kicks off on Saturday with the Grade 2 Sam F. Davis Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth on the main track. Of the three-year-old stakes races scheduled for this Saturday, the Davis drew the deepest and most competitive field.

1-State of Play (4/1), winner of the G2-With Anticipation last fall at Saratoga, makes his dirt debut and draws the rail for the Sam F. Davis. He finished well behind Wrote (IRE) in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after getting jostled around at the start.

3-Battle Hardened (12/1) has yet to break his maiden but he's put in some decent efforts at Churchill and Gulfstream and he's not facing an overwhelmingly tough field in this race.

10-Reveron (3/1), the morning line favorite at 3/1, has won three straight races including the ungraded Gulfstream Park Derby on January 1^st. This colt possesses a good deal of early pace and is drawn outside of the other speed horses in the field, which should provide him with every opportunity to get a good trip around the track.

Todd Pletcher's 4-Ecabroni (7/2) is the second choice on the morning line off of a strong win against Maiden Special Weight company at Gulfstream Park.

G3-Endevour Stakes

Tampa Bay Downs will feature a nice line-up of older fillies and mares going a mile and a sixteenth on the grass, led by 4-Zagora (FR) (2/1) and 10-Keertana (5/2).

Zagora made a nice transition from France to North America last year en route to winning the G1-Diana at Saratoga, and finishing 2^nd in the G2-New York and G3-Hillsborough. Both of those loses came by less than a length. She threw in a clunker in the G2-Canadian at Woodbine (her last start of 2011) after getting bumped around a bit at the start.

Keertana won three graded stakes races in 2011, including the G3-Louisville Handicap, G3-Bewitch, and G3-Very One. This race is a little shorter than what she normally prefers, although she's a solid 6-3-1-2 in her career at 8 ½ furlongs.

The Italian-bred filly 9-Master Shade (ITY) (8/1) has performed well against allowance and ungraded stakes competition over the last year but will face a stern test in her debut against graded company. This filly has a good deal of early speed and will likely try and steal this race on the front-end.

Animal Kingdom To Return In G3-Tampa Bay Stakes

2012-02-01T21:23:56Z

Animal Kingdom To Return In G3-Tampa Bay Stakes

2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom will make his 2012 debut on the lawn at Tampa Bay Downs in preparation for the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March.

Alpha Leads Withers Field At The Big A

2012-02-01T20:44:38Z

Godolphin's Alpha, winner of the Count Fleet Stakes on January 7th, leads a field of seven in the Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday afternoon (Post time: 4:05pm ; TV: TVG & HRTV). The Withers is Alpha's fifth lifetime start, following a score against Maiden Special Weight's at Saratoga last September, a 2nd place finish in the G1-Champagne to Union Rags in early October, and a disappointing 11th place finish at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. His first race of 2012, the aforementioned Count Fleet, Alpha wore down pacesetter Il Villano inside the final furlongs to win by a relatively easy two and a half lengths.

Alpha, like the winner of last Sunday's Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park, is a three-year-old son of Bernardini. He is out of a Nijinsky II mare (Munnaya) and most of his siblings spent their racing career in England or France.

Alpha followed up his victory in the Count Fleet with a blistering five furlong bullet work on Jan. 30th over the Belmont training track.

Two shippers from Laurel Park may provide the toughest test for Alpha in the Withers. 1-Hakama won a maiden race at Aqueduct before heading to Laurel to score in an $40k OC/N1X event in gate to wire fashion. He probably won't get any breaks in the early going but he's shown the ability to stretch his speed over two turns.

6-Tiger Walk also ships in from Lauren after defeating optional claimer/N1X company; prior to that score he ran primarily on the lawn. The son of Tale of the Cat didn't crush that field at Laurel but it was a nice workmanlike effort in his first dirt try, especially when you consider that he was wide throughout the race. There isn't any Trakus at Laurel so it's a guess as to how much ground he lost over the entire race, but there is no doubt that he ran much further than the runner-up, Service for Ten. His maiden score wasn't too shabby as the second place horse came back to win against Maiden Special Weights at Aqueduct in late November.

5-How Do I Win finished well behind Alpha in the Count Fleet but has shown enough flashes of talent in his prior races to be a contender in this race. Anything coming from Pletcher in a graded stakes race like this has to be respected, especially if the horse has shown some decent form on prior occasions.

The New York-bred 3-Swag Daddy will try non-restricted company for the first time in his career for trainer Richard Dutrow. Dutrow is winning at a 37% clip during the current Aqueduct meet.

4-King Kid ran a decent third to Reveron and Casual Trick in the ungraded Gulfstream Park Derby back on New Year's Day. Any improvement off of that race would put him right in the thick of the contenders in the Withers.

Below are the entries and post positions for Saturday's Withers Stakes.

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	ML
1	Hakama	J. Pimentel	M. Trombetta	5/1
2	Speightscity	D. Cohen	G. Contessa	20/1
3	Swag Daddy	J. Alvarado	R. Dutrow	10/1
4	King Kid	M. Luzzi	D. Romans	4/1
5	How Do I Win	C. Velasquez	T. Pletcher	10/1
6	Tiger Walk	H. Karamanos	I. Correas	6/1
7	Alpha	R. Dominguez	K. McLaughlin	Even