By Claire Novak,
Hard-knocking Dads Caps was three times the bridesmaid in recent starts, but he broke through at the highest level April 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack when stealing the $500,000 Carter Handicap (gr. I) at odds of 10-1 (VIDEO).
The 4-year-old Discreet Cat colt gave former jockey Rudy Rodriguez his first grade I win as a trainer, and provided jockey Luis Contreras his first grade I victory as well, while collecting his own first such trophy by wiring the field in the seven-furlong Carter.
Coming off a second by one length to Strapping Groom in the March 1 Tom Fool Handicap (gr. I), Dads Caps opened a big lead in the stretch and outlasted slight 5-2 second choice and 122-pound highweight Sahara Sky by 1 1/2 lengths in the field of seven older runners. Final time was 1:22.02 on a fast track.
A slow break by Sahara Sky and an easy :23.58 quarter by Dads Caps under Contreras set the stage for the upset victory, coupled with a featherweight impost of 114 for the winner. Keeping a head in front of Strapping Groom, Dads Caps went a half in :46.56 and three-quarters in 1:09.79 while edging away.
"We wanted to be on the lead, and I told Luis Contreras, 'If you go :23, they'll have a tough time catching you,'" trainer Rudy Rodriguez said. "We went in :23, and everything worked out perfectly."
Sahara Sky, racing wide throughout and closing from sixth, made a willing rally under Corey Nakatani but could not get to the winner in time.
"On paper there was more speed but nobody went," Nakatani said. "(The pace) was very soft. They went :23 and change and I'm sitting there not wanting to move too soon on him because his best races are coming from behind. Just the way the race set up he still was able to run second on a deep track that seemed to favor inside speed late in the day."
It was the second runner-up finish in the Carter for the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Sahara Sky, who last year was second to Swagger Jack .
"He didn't get much pace and ran out of ground late," said Dan Ward, Hollendorfer's assistant. "He was giving up eight pounds to the winner, which definitely matters. He ran a great race and we're really proud of him. We'll be back for the (Met) Mile (gr. I, May 26)."
The Carter was the first stakes score for Dads Caps and his first victory for owner/breeder Vince Scuderi and trainer Rudy Rodriguez since a Nov. 11 allowance win last season at Aqueduct.
"We always thought he was a special horse," Rodriguez said. "We ran him for maiden sixty thousand just to get him eligible for the starter allowance (races). We never had the opportunity to run him in a starter allowance, but he was improving every time we ran him."
Dads Caps, a two-time allowance winner, was second in the Spooky Mulder Stakes last December and then ran second in the Feb. 1 Toboggan Stakes (gr. III) before yet another runner-up finish in the Tom Fool.
"Rudy told me this horse had a lot of speed early and just try to save horse to the end," Contreras said. "He did it so easy and was very strong at the end."
Dads Caps paid $23.60, $10, and $6.10 while Sahara Sky brought $5.20 and $3.20, finishing second in the Carter for the second year in a row. Clearly Now, the slight favorite over Sahara Sky also at odds of 5-2, was third and returned $3.20. Completing the order of finish was Golden Ticket, Strapping Groom, Central Banker, and Saturday's Charm.
Bred in Kentucky out of the Grindstone mare Seeking the Silver, Dads Caps now has a 4-3-1 record from nine starts, good for earnings of $512,150.
"We have a couple of options," Rodriguez said of future plans for his new grade I winner. "I have to talk to the owner and take it from there. I'd like to give him a freshening because he's been running pretty hard in the winter."
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/84239/dads-caps-gets-his-due-in-carter-upset#ixzz2y56OYBqK
By Myra Lewyn,
A brief player on the Triple Crown trail in Florida earlier this year, Fox Hill Farm's Coup de Grace got back to sprinting and scored a game nose win in the $300,000 Bay Shore Stakes (gr. III) April 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack (VIDEO).
The son of Tapit dug in to edge runner-up Oliver Zip, with 13-10 favorite Kobe's Back a half-length back in the third after a torrid outside rally from last. Coup de Grace, ridden by Javier Castellano, tallied at odds of 7-1.
Pressed by Oliver Zip then Loki's Vengeance in the early stages, Favorite Tale set a swift pace, clocking opening fractions of :22.55 and :45.27 for a half-mile with Coup de Grace ideally positioned in fifth and sixth, several lengths behind the front-runners. Kobe's Back raced at the back of the field after a tardy start.
Entering the stretch, Favorite Tale threw in the towel and The Admiral took charge with Oliver Zip challenging to his outside. Angled five wide on the turn, Coup de Grace rapidly gained ground down the center of the track and joined the battle with The Admiral and Oliver Zip, thrusting a nostril in front as Kobe's Back desperately closed and just failed to collar the top two.
"The way I handicapped the race, it was a lot of speed. (Trainer) Chad (Brown) and I talked about the race and we tried to take advantage of a lot of speed in the race," said Castellano. "We tried to come from behind, quicken it up a little bit. The distance, seven-eighths, I think he's a come-from-behind horse. He didn't break that sharply, and it worked out great for me. I was able to relax behind the horses. He finished very strong today."
The winner covered seven furlongs in 1:23.19 on a fast track.
Coup de Grace won a six-furlong race Aqueduct in his career debut last November and made his next start a winning one as well in a one-turn mile in December at Gulfstream Park, but then suffered his first loss when 10th behind Cairo Prince in a troubled trip in the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) Jan. 25 at Gulfstream.
Carrying 116 pounds, Coup de Grace paid $16.20, $7.50 and $4. Oliver Zip brought $7.30 and $4, and Kobe's Back, the 123-pound hihgweight, returned $2.70. The Admiral was fourth, followed by Charleymillionaire, Financial Mogul, Favorite Tale, and Loki's Vengeance.
Bred in Kentucky by AGS Thoroughbreds, Coup de Grace was bought by Rick Porter Fox Hill Farms for $300,000 from the VanMeter Sales consignment at the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale. His dam is the stakes-placed Storm Cat mare Home Court, a daughter of 1996 champion older female Jewel Princess.
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/84237/coup-de-grace-finishes-strong-in-bay-shore#ixzz2y57ID3zl
By Claire Novak,
Mathis Stable's My Miss Sophia rolled to a decisive victory April 5 in the $300,000 Gazelle Stakes (gr. II) at Aqueduct Racetrack (VIDEO), stamping her ticket to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) at Churchill Downs.
The chestnut daughter of Unbridled's Song came off a 5 1/4-length maiden victory at second asking going a mile March 9 at Gulfstream Park to ace her stakes debut under Javier Castellano. She set an uncontested lead and easily carried on for an impressive 7 1/4-length score ast the 4-5 favorite in a field of six.
Off with ears pricked in the 3-year-old filly test at 1 1/8 miles, My Miss Sophia clicked through moderate fractions of :24.31, :48.23, and 1:12.39 while maintaining a one or two-length advantage over Vero Amore. That rival never quite came to My Miss Sophia as she cut the pace just off the inside in hand, and once the leader turned for home, she widened her advantage while shown the stick intermittently to the wire. Final time was 1:50.48 on a fast track.
"It went how we thought it might on paper," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "It looked like My Miss Sophia was the only speed, but you never know how a race is going to unfold. It certainly played out the way we thought it would. Vero Amore was kind of on her flank a little bit, but it didn't look like she was ever under any pressure. You have to have a horse that can do that. You can't take a horse out of their game."
Pletcher runners finished one-two as Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Philip Steinberg's Got Lucky closed four wide to secure the place in the final strides. The A.P. Indy filly who came off a second-place finish to Untapable in the Feb. 22 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (gr. III) going 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, is also viewing the Oaks as a target.
"That's the plan," Pletcher said. "We felt like Got Lucky ran well also. While the pace scenario was good for My Miss Sophia, it worked against the other filly. But it hopefully set her up. And she got a little squeezed at the start."
"She broke well out of the gate," Castellano said of My Miss Sophia. "I was the only speed and I took advantage of it. She was able to relax. I was really impressed because she had only been shorter distances and today we stretched her out to a mile-and-an-eighth. I think she improved and I liked the way she did it and she was much the best in the race."
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who rode Got Lucky, echoed Pletcher's sentiments about the pace setup for his mount.
"Good trip; it was what we expected," he said. "She doesn't show much speed. I try to place her wherever she's comfortable. She ran as best as she could."
My Miss Sophia returned $3.60, $2.50, and $2.10, while Got Lucky paid $2.90 and $2.30. Grade I winner Sweet Reason brought $2.30 while finishing half a length farther back in third. ero Amore, Bird Maker, and Wraith completed the order of finish.
Bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther out of the Langfuhr mare Wildwood Flower, My Miss Sophia was a $260,000 purchase from the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale when consigned by Glennwood Farm. She now has two wins and a second from three starts and earnings of $211,800, and earned 100 points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks. That ties her for fifth in the standings with stablemate In Tune to make the 14-horse starting gate for the female counterpart to the Derby. Got Lucky is 10th with 64 points on the list.
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/84235/my-miss-sophia-romps-in-gazelle#ixzz2y57lCvuK
By Claire Novak,
Centennial Farms' Wicked Strong hadn't won since breaking his maiden last October at Belmont Park, but something about the bay Hard Spun colt mad his connections give him another shot—one that paid off big time.
Flying late on the outside in the $1 million TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial (gr. I) at Aqueduct Racetrack April 5, the James Jerkens trainee soared past tiring 8-5 favorite Social Inclusion and the plucky Samraat, who had set themselves down for a battle on the lead. He was clear by 3 1/2 lengths at odds of 9-1 under Rajiv Maragh in a final time of 1:49.31 for the 1 1/8-mile event, with the previously unbeaten Samraat edging out second over Social Inclusion by a nose (VIDEO).
From maiden winner to the latest addition to the field for the May 3 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), Wicked Strong earned 100 points to rank third on the leaderboard for the 20-horse Derby field. In his last start Feb. 22, he was fourth in a Gulfstream Park allowance event won by eventual Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I) winner Constitution. He was third best last November in the Remsen Stakes (gr. II) behind Honor Code and Cairo Prince, but finished ninth in the Miller Lite Holy Bull Stakes gr. II) won by Cairo Prince.
Social Inclusion was the big hype horse headed into the Wood Memorial off the merits two straight victories at Gulfstream Park including a track-record defeat of Honor Code, and he went to the front as expected in the early going. He was immediately challenged by 16-1 shot Schivarelli, however, and raced closely with that rival through a quarter in :23.79 and a half in :47.47. Wicked Strong, away in good order, rated kindly on the inside throughout the early stages and was still sixth in the field of 10 when the front-runners hit three-quarters in 1:11.16.
By that point, previously undefeated Withers (gr. III) and Gotham (gr. III) victor Samraat was launching his bid rounding the far turn and Social Inclusion had taken the lead turning for home, with Wicked Strong angled out to the four path and set down in earnest for the drive.
"When I saw him laying five lengths off the lead, just galloping, I really felt we had a big shot," Jerkens said. "He was really comfortable laying relatively close behind a pretty fast pace."
Jerkens had a key Derby contender with impressive Florida Derby (gr. I) winner Quality Road in 2009, but the runner was sidelined with foot issues and missed the big race.
"I'd love to get another crack at it, that's for sure," Jerkens said. "Looks like a horse where distance shouldn't bother him."
As Social Inclusion tired in the final furlong after a mile went in 1:36.39, the winner snatched away the advantage with less than a sixteenth to go and sailed past with a powerful kick. The favorite was nipped for the place by Samraat, who came into the Wood 5-for-5.
Samraat, who earned 40 points to enhance his qualifying point total to 100, also will continue on to the Derby, said trainer Rick Violette.
"Other than win, he got a huge education," said Violette, who trains Samraat for Leonard Riggio's My Meadowview Farms. "As long as he comes out of it all right we'll head to Kentucky. I don't think there's anything he can't do; (jockey) Jose (Ortiz) can put him anywhere he wants—behind horses, on the inside, wherever. I don't think the extra eighth of a mile is going to bother him."
Social Inclusion, who was making his first stakes start, has 20 points and is currently 22nd on the leaderboard.
"It was very good," said trainer Manny Azpurua of Social Inclusion's effort. "Next time he'll win; he'll kill them."
Wicked Strong paid $20.40, $7.60, and $4.20 while Samraat brought $4.80 and $3. Social Inclusion paid $2.70. Schivarelli finished fourth, another 1 1/2 lengths back, while Uncle Sigh, Noble Moon, Kristo, Effinex, Harpoon, and Los Borrachos completed the order of finish. Kid Cruz scratched.
Maragh had big praise for Wicked Strong despite his limited success.
"To me, he's the Derby favorite right now; in my book, anyway," the jockey said. "He showed that more distance is going to be better for him. He's really maturing at the right time now, and there's a lot left in the tank, so I don't think we're at the bottom of him yet."
Wicked Strong was bred in Kentucky by William F. Lynn out of the Charismatic mare Moyne Abbey, and sold for $375,000 at the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale when consigned by Three Chimneys Sales. The Wood victory was his second in six starts, improving his record to 2-1-1 for earnings of $704,610.
