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Spirit And Glory Rallies Up Rail To Land Monmouth’s Miss Liberty

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After trying three graded stakes races to no avail with Irish-bred Spirit And Glory over the past two years, trainer Robert Falcone Jr., acknowledged it may be time to try again.

Spirit And Glory seemed to earn that opportunity on Sunday at Monmouth Park.

With jockey Nik Juarez sending her up the rail coming out of the final turn, eschewing the popular outside move, Spirit And Glory hooked up with front-running 2-5 favorite Scotish Star and then powered by late to win by three-quarters of a length in the $100,000 Miss Liberty Stakes at the Jersey Shore track.

Spirit And Glory, the 3-1 second choice in the field of six fillies and mares,, flashed under the wire in 1:41.63 for the 1 1/16-mile grass feature.

“I think we’re definitely ready to try another graded stakes with her,” said Falcone. “We’ll see what happens. I’ll let her tell me. She seems to run well fresh so I want to give her a little time.”

With the victory, the fourth in 13 career starts for the 4-year-old daughter of Coatai Glory out of the Invincible Spirit mare Supreme Spirit, Spirit And Glory earned a free entry and start fees to the WinStar Matchmaker Stakes (G3) on the July 22 Haskell Day undercard.

“She’s a tough filly and (jockey) Nik Juarez did a good job with her,” said Falcone, who has a string at Monmouth Park for the first time this year. He also keeps a division in New York. “She got a little rank early on and got squeezed a few times but he got her to relax after that and got her into a rhythm. Honestly, I don’t think she got the best trip in the world. It looked to me like she got checked a few times and Nik had to stand up on her once and you could see her throw her head in the air. He got her to switch off and relax. Everything after that was good.

“The thing I was most concerned about, since she is a tricky filly, is exactly what happened – I didn’t know how she would react if she had to go inside coming out of the final turn instead of going outside. But Nik did what he needed to do to win.”

Paco Lopez, riding the Todd Pletcher-rained Scotish Star, appeared to have things his own way on the front end for the first six furlongs, which he took the field to in 1:12.08. Kalifornia Queen loomed outside going into the final turn with Spirit And Glory beginning to gear up from her stalking trip.

Scotish Star held sway for second, 1½ lengths ahead of Kalifornia Queen.

“With the position I was sitting in down the backstretch (a looming fourth) I had all the confidence in the horse and all the confidence in Robert Falcone bringing the horse ready to the race,” said Juarez. “I was just waiting for a seam to open at the top of the stretch. She found the seam. It was hard-fought through the stretch but she was the best.

“I ended up going inside out of the turn into the stretch because I saw Paco Lopez’s horse was having a little trouble staying straight down the backside. I thought if I came to his hip (outside of him) he would float me wide. There was daylight along the rail and she went right through and that was it. She was gritty. As soon as she got head to head with Paco’s horse she showed she has a little more heart.”

Bred Dr. Noel Cogan and Patrick Williams, Spirit And Glory ($8.60) is owned by owned by Michael Nentwiq, Michael Dubb, Beast Mode Racing, John Rochfort, and Falcone. The Miss Liberty is the second stakes win for Spirit And Glory, who captured the 2022 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs. Overall, she has a 4-1-1 record from 13 career starts and $277,220 in purse earnings.

The post Spirit And Glory Rallies Up Rail To Land Monmouth’s Miss Liberty appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

D’Amato Loaded With Live Shots For Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Turf Stakes Memorial Day

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Trainer Phil D’Amato is the dominant force in California turf racing and as such, he will have multiple live shots in Monday’s two Grade 1 grass races.

In the Shoemaker Mile (G1), D’Amato has three of the 11 starters, including Hong Kong Harry, 7-2 morning-line favorite. D’Amato’s other Shoemaker starters are Gold Phoenix (4-1) and Balnikhov (5-1), both multiple graded stakes winners.

Two races earlier in the Gamely (G1) at 1 1/8 miles on turf, D’Amato will saddle recent Wilshire (G3) winner Macadamia.

“Hopefully we can have a nice day,” said D’Amato, who leads all trainers at the current Hollywood Meet in both total wins and stakes wins.

Hong Kong Harry will be wheeling back 23 days after a trip to Churchill Downs where he ran second in the Turf Classic (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 6. The 6-year-old Irish-bred gelding by Es Que Love will break from post two under top rider Flavien Prat.

Hong Kong Harry has worked once since the Turf Classic, a four-furlong move in :48.60 at Santa Anita May 22.

“Ideally you’d like to have an extra week or two,” D’Amato said of the relatively quick turnaround. “But he came out of the race in good shape and he had a nice little drill for us. This is a distance he seems to excel at.”

Prior to the Turf Classic, Hong Kong Harry was fourth in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile(G1) behind winner Gold Phoenix, Du Jour, and Cabo Spirit, all of whom return in the Shoemaker.

Gold Phoenix followed his win in the Kilroe with a fourth-place finish as the favorite in the Charles S. Whittingham (G2) on April 8. The 5-year-old Irish-bred gelding by Belardo will have Kazushi Kimura in the irons, who was also aboard in both the Kilroe and Whittingham.

As for Gold Phoenix disappointing as the favorite in the Whittingham, D’Amato noted his horse was compromised when a rival slipped and fell at the top of the stretch. The chart notes he was “floated, bumped into the stretch”.

“That day the turf was a little funky,” D’Amato said. “Everyone was slipping and sliding. I give him the benefit of the doubt. He got bumped at the top of the lane when that horse slipped and it took a while to get back into gear.

“But he’s come back to train well and I’m expecting a big effort.”

Balnikhov never threatened when seventh in the Kilroe, but came back in the an Francisco Mile (G3) at Golden Gate April 29 and finished with a flourish to win by a nose. Umberto Rispoli, who was aboard for both the Kilroe and San Francisco Mile, again has the call on Monday.

“In the Kilroe we had him up close to the pace and he doesn’t like that,” D’Amato said. “He likes to just come up with his big late run. In the San Francisco Mile we just anchored him and he came with his run. We’re going to do the same thing this time. Whether it’s a slow pace or fast pace, he’s going to be sitting back and come with his run.”

In the Gamely for fillies and mare, Macadamia will try and continue her ascent in the California female turf division. Macadamia cleared her second-level allowance condition here Feb. 3 and came back to be beaten just a half-length in the Buena Vista (G2) before winning the Wilshire, both of which were at a mile.

Macadamia is a 5-year-old Brazilian-bred mare by Hat Trick. The hot-riding Tiago Pereira will be aboard for the fourth time on Monday.

“She’s a Southern Hemisphere horse and I think it took her a little bit longer to acclimate, to mature and be able to compete in her division. I think that’s where the progression has come,” D’Amato said. “But I also give a lot of credit to Tiago Pereira. I think he’s helped in developing her. He breezes her every week and has really gotten the most out of her.”

The Shoemaker Mile goes as the seventh race on Monday’s 10-race card. Post time is scheduled for 4:13 p.m. (PT). The Gamely goes as the fifth race at approximately 3:12 p.m.

The post D’Amato Loaded With Live Shots For Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Turf Stakes Memorial Day appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Uncle Mo Filly Take Dirt Bow at Churchill

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5th-Churchill Downs, $118,875, Msw, 5-28, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:17.49, ft, 2 1/4 lengths.
MO TOWN MAYHEM (f, 3, Uncle Mo–Town Tour, by Speightstown), fifth in her debut going a mile over the Gulfstream turf Apr. 1, was let go at 14-1 while trying a dirt sprint this time. Well back in the early going, she was still well out of it through a half in :45.69, swung out seven wide turning for home, and despite seeming like she might have too much to do late, she closed to the outside of late-leading favorite Pumpkin Scone (Into Mischief) en route to a 2 1/4 length victory. A full to MGSW Souper Hoity Toity (288,936), the filly also has an unraced juvenile sister by Malibu Moon and a yearling brother by Game Winner. Town Tour, a half to MGISW Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon), was bred back to Uncle Mo. This represents the family of HOTY and champion juvenile Favorite Trick. Sales history: $125,000 Ylg ’21 FTKOCT; $350,000 2yo ’22 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $69,700. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

O-MKW Racing and Breeding, LLC; B-Dr. Richard Holder & Ashford (KY); T-Mark E. Casse.

The post Uncle Mo Filly Take Dirt Bow at Churchill appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Trio of Grade Ones Highlight Holiday Stakes Action Monday

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Santa Anita will play host to three Grade I races, while Grade III action features the return of a champion at Churchill Downs and a talented Louisiana-bred attempting to make the grade at Lone Star Park during holiday stakes action Monday.

The GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita is set to be the first of 41 Breeders’ Cup Challenge series races in North America this year. A field of 11 goes postward seeking the winner’s share of the $500,000, as well as an automatic berth in the GI Breeders’ Cup FanDuel Mile, which will be held over the same course in November.

Trainer Phil D’Amato saddles three in the race, including morning-line favorite Hong Kong Harry (Ire) (Es Que Love {Ire}), who was a three-time graded winner in California last year. He was fourth behind reopposing stablemate Gold Phoenix (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) in the Mar. 4 GI Frank Kilroe Mile before heading east for a runner-up effort in the May 6 GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.

Gold Phoenix, who was 10th in last year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Turf, returned from his win in the Kilroe Mile to finish fourth when stretched to 1 1/4 miles for the Apr. 8 GII Charles Whittingham S. last time out. Unbeaten in two tries at a mile on grass, Gold Phoenix will be reunited with Japanese sensation Kazushi Kimura, who has been aboard for his last two starts and will fly in from his Toronto base for the ride Sunday.

Rounding out the D’Amato trio–who were all plundered from Europe to find graded success in the U.S.–is Balnikhov (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}), who was seventh in the Kilroe Mile before getting up in the last jump to win the Apr. 29 GIII San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate in his most recent start.

Both Gold Phoenix and Balnikhov represent the red-hot Little Red Feather partnership, which won four stakes last weekend.

An hour before the Shoemaker Mile, seven older fillies and mares head postward at Santa Anita for the GI Gamely S. Trainer Michael McCarthy will saddle morning-line favorite Queen Goddess (Empire Maker). The 5-year-old raced last year for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and her breeder TOLO Thoroughbreds and, after selling for $1.525 million at Fasig-Tipton last November, returned for the partnership of Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Gary Barber to win the GIII Robert J. Frankel S. last December. She added a win in the GIII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream in January and returns to the West Coast following a sixth-place effort in the Apr. 15 GI Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland.

D’Amato has two chances in the nine-furlong Gamely, with School Dance (Animal Kingdom) and Macadamia (Brz) (Hat Trick {Jpn}) in the line-up.

The GI Gold Cup concludes the Grade I action at Santa Anita Monday. Trainer Bob Baffert holds a strong hand in the 1 1/4-mile race with Country Grammer (Tonalist) and Defunded (Dialed In) appearing to tower over the six-horse field. Country Grammer, second in the Feb. 25 G1 Saudi Cup, will look to get back on track following a seventh-place effort while attempting a defense of his title in the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March. Defunded had to settle for third after setting the pace over this track and trip in the Mar. 4 GI Santa Anita H., but returned to the winner’s circle with a three-length tally in the Apr. 22 GII Californian S. last time out.

In other graded stakes action across the country, champion Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) makes her return to the races in the GIII Winning Colors S. at Churchill Downs. Champion 2-year-old filly of 2021, the 4-year-old has been off since finishing second in the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint last November at Keeneland.

Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) looks for his seventh straight victory in the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S. at Lone Star Park. The Louisiana-bred, trained by Jeff Delhomme, will be making his first start outside state-bred company. The 4-year-old’s toughest competition might be the Mike Maker-trained 7-year-old Endorsed (Medaglia d’Oro), who won a pair of one-mile graded events at Gulfstream this past winter.

The post Trio of Grade Ones Highlight Holiday Stakes Action Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.