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By Jeremy Balan
Al Shaqab Racing's Sandiva won her second straight stakes and first North American graded race with a one-length victory over Rosalind in the $150,000 Suwannee River Stakes (gr. IIIT) Feb. 7 at Gulfstream Park (VIDEO).
The 4-year-old Irish-bred filly was favored at 2-1 and made a run at longshot leader Skylander Girl on the final turn of the 1 1/8-mile race on a firm turf course.
Under Javier Castellano, the Todd Pletcher trainee jumped out to a 2 1/2-length lead in the stretch and held off closing bids from Rosalind and third-place finisher Scampering, who was three-quarters of a length behind the runner-up.
"She gave me a great kick turning home," Castellano said of Sandiva. "She's a very straightforward horse."
By Footstepsinthesand, Sandiva finished the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.31 and paid $6.20, $3.60, and $3 after 15-1 shot Skylander Girl ran the first quarter in :24.32, the half in :48.02, and three quarters in 1:11.45.
Breaking from post 8, Sandiva settled fifth in the 11-horse field until making her move in the final turn.
"It pretty much unfolded the way we thought it would," Pletcher said. "We just wanted to save a little ground on the first turn and try to put her in the clear on the far turn and let her take it from there. We got the trip we wanted and then she came home with a sustained run."
Out of Mark of Esteem mare Miss Corinne, Sandiva pushed her career earnings to $355,557. Her record improved to 6-1-0 in 13 career starts.
Rosalind paid $6.80 and $5 while making her first start for trainer Chad Brown, and Scampering paid $5.20. Starstruck, White Rose, Nellie Cashman, Bitty Kitty, Bohemian Dance, Skylander Girl, Rock On Baby, and Pink Poppy completed the order of finish. E B Ryder, Cay Dancer and Sheer Drama were scratched before the race.
A multiple group III winner in Europe bred by Dennis McDonnell, Sandiva won her first U.S. stakes last time out in the Tropical Park Oaks at Gulfstream, after finishing seventh and fifth, respectively, in the San Clemente Handicap (gr. IIT) at Del Mar and the Mrs. Revere Stakes (gr. IIT) at Churchill Downs last year.
By Jerry Bossert
Crossed Sabres Farm’s Valid won a thrilling three-horse finish in the $100,000 Fred W. Hooper Stakes (gr. III) Feb. 7 at Gulfstream Park (VIDEO).
Battling at the start with Mosler, Valid got to the wire first under Paco Lopez, a neck ahead of 25-1 longshot Grande Shores, with the 8-5 favorite Race Day just another neck back in third.
“He’s unbelievable,” trainer Marcus Vitali said of Valid. “I had a great feeling coming into this race. We had a little time off after his last race. Excuse my voice, I’m a little hoarse. I rode him harder than Paco. I’m just very blessed training for the Crossed Sabres stables. I want to thank all my owners for giving me the opportunity. This is an amazing horse. He gets bigger and better by the day. I’m ecstatic.”
Both Grande Shores and Valid broke alertly and were noses apart through a fast half mile in :45.63 and six furlongs in 1:09.98. The two remained a team into the stretch before being joined late by Race Day. Valid prevailed in the final strides, running the mile in 1:36.35 over fast main track.
“They told me only one thing: ‘Paco, don’t hold the horse. When you hold the horse, you have more problems than not,'” Lopez said. “The break was good. I put him on the rail (and Grande Shores) showed a lot of speed. I never took up on the horse, and coming to the wire, the other horse came back, and I know (Race Day) was the big favorite, but I’m not sure what happened with him—whether he broke good or not—but my horse ran a great race. He’s a really nice horse. He’s always trying.”
The win improved Valid’s record to eight wins from 23 starts, while pushing his career earnings up to $495,697.
The 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro gelding is now 4-for-7 over Gulfstream Park’s main track.
Last year, Valid took the Monmouth Cup Stakes (gr. II) at Monmouth Park and the Eight Miles West Stakes at Gulfstream Park West.
Valid returned $10.20, $5.40, and $3.20. Grande Shores paid $16 and $8, while Race Day returned $3.
Confrontation got up to be fourth and was followed by Midnight Cello, Brothersofthetime, Ulanbator, Looking Cool, Mosler, Purple Egg, and Alpha Bettor. Adirondack King was an early scratch.
Valid was bred in Virginia by Edward P. Evans from the Grand Slam mare Grand Prayer.
By Myra Lewyn,
Al Shaqab Racing's Mshawish overcame traffic in the stretch and prevailed in a tight finish with Slumber in the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (gr. IT) Feb. 7 at Gulfstream Park (VIDEO).
Prominent from the start, but under restraint, 7-5 favorite Mshawish became bottled up from the quarter pole to furlong marker before Javier Castellano speared him through rivals in midstretch. Slumber engaged him on the outside from there and dueled him to the finish line before settling for second by a nose. War Correspondent finished third, a length back .
Manchurian High, Grand Tito, Amen Kitten, defending winner Lochte, Imagining, and Golden Rifle completed a tightly bunched field of nine that was separated by only three lengths.
A 5-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro , Mshawish completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.22 on firm turf to earn a third consecutive win and sixth overall victory from 17 career starts. Mshawish became a millionaire with Saturday's win, boosting his lifetime bankroll to $1,055,151.
Darley's Central Kentucky sire Medaglia d'Oro had another graded stakes winner on Saturday's card at Gulfstream when Valid landed the Fred W. Hooper Stakes (gr. III) one race earlier.
Golden Rifle was out to lead early in the Gulfstream Park Turf, opening a 1 1/2-length advantage as Grand Tito pursued, with Mshawish a half length back in third. Golden Rifle maintained his advantage through six furlongs, posting fractions of :24.47, :48.33, and 1:12.20, before Grand Tito moved to take a short-lived lead into the stretch while Mshawish got shuffled back. Mshawish appeared to have nowhere to run until Castellano saw a tiny bit of daylight and drove his game mount through.
Castellano said Mshawish had a tough trip all the way.
"It was very tight from the beginning all the way to the end," he said. " I never had a place to go. I had to stay patient and go from there. At some point in the race I got a little bit frustrated turning for home because I never saw any hole. Finally by the eighth pole when I saw the hole he went through a tiny hole and he made a big effort today. I give all the credit to the horse because they way he did it today, it was amazing. Not too many horses can do it the way he did it today."
Mshawish needs to be covered up, trainer Todd Pletcher said after the race, "and we were able to do that."
"When you have to cover one up in turf races, you have to roll the dice that you get a seam at some point. He was lucky to find one when he did, and he finished like a good horse. It was a very determined effort. He's a really nice horse."
Mshawish has won three of six starts since coming to North America last summer, including the Fort Lauderdale (gr. IIT) Jan. 10 and El Prado Stakes Dec. 13 in his two previous starts, both at Gulfstream.
Mshawish returned $4.80, $3.20 and $2.60. Slumber brought $7.40 and $4.40 while War Correspondent paid $3.80 to show.
Earlier in the afternoon at the Hallandale Beach, Fla. track, Al Shaqab, Pletcher, and Castellano won the Suwannee River (gr. IIIT) with Sandiva.
Bred in Kentucky by OTIF 2007, Mshawish is out of the Thunder Gulch mare Thunder Bayou. Nicolas de Watrigant's Mandore International Agency purchased Mshawish as a 2-year-old on behalf of Sheikh Joaan Al Than of Al Shaqab Racing at the 2012 Arqana breeze-up sale, paying €170,000 (US$219,589) to acquire him from Brown Island Stables, agent.
Constitution Wires Donn Handicap Over Lea
By Claire Novak,
WinStar Farm and Twin Creeks Racing Stables' Constitution notched his second grade I victory Feb. 7 at Gulfstream Park and made an impressive 4-year-old debut, taking the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I) wire-to-wire while holding off 2014 Donn winner Lea (VIDEO).
The son of Tapit broke sharply under Javier Castellano and set the pace of the 1 1/8-mile test under pressure from fellow Todd Pletcher trainee Commissioner before carrying on to secure the score by three-quarters of a length in 1:49.51 on a fast track.
"The horse dictated it," Castellano said. "He's a speed horse. He had a good post and I wanted to take advantage of that. It worked out perfect. I sent him out of the gate. My only concern was to break good out of the gate and get a good position. I didn't see much speed in the race. The horse was phenomenal and just galloped along. Turning for home, he just took off again. I liked the way he did it today."
Constitution won the 2014 Besilu Florida Derby (gr. I) at Gulfstream as part of an undefeated three-race win streak before he was sidelined with a hairline fracture in his right front cannon bone. He returned to competition Oct. 12 when fourth in an optional claimer at Belmont Park. The Donn was his first start of 2015 off a third-place finish in the Nov. 28 Clark Handicap (gr. I) at Churchill Downs.
"It's exciting to have him back," said WinStar president Elliott Walden. "They were smoking early on. Right now we're looking to maybe take him to (the March 28) Dubai (World Cup, UAE-I). That's been an objective, but we'll see how he comes out of this race."
"I think his first race back (off a 6 1/2-month layoff) was trainer error; I didn't have him quite tight enough and he stumbled at the start and was a little rank," Pletcher remarked. "I thought he ran really well in the Clark over a track that probably wasn't conducive to his running style. Coming back to Gulfstream on a track that he's perfect on, we were optimistic but it was a very good field with the last year's Donn winner (Lea) who had a very impressive prep over the track. We were excited about him and happy he ran to his training."
Off alertly and extremely keen to go on from post 1 in a field of nine, Constitution got an opening quarter in :23.31 before relaxing better to post splits of :47.29 for the half, and three-quarters in 1:11.18. Lea, the 6-5 favorite who had been tracking along third on the rail, shifted outside to make a run at the leader coming off the far turn, but could not close the gap in his second start of the season for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
"He ran well," Mott said. "We were inside and had to wait until the three sixteenths pole to come out. If he could have taken a run at that horse a little sooner maybe that would have changed it, but he ran well. We had three-sixteenths of a mile to catch him and I thought actually at the eighth pole it looked like we were going to get him but he just didn't do it."
Constitution returned $7.60, $3.60, and $2.80 at odds of 5-2, with Lea paying $2.80 and $2.40. Elnaawi brought $6.40 while 4 1/4 lengths back in third. Prayer for Relief, East Hall, Commissioner, Blue Tone, Catholic Cowboy, and Protonico completed the order of finish. European invader Sloane Avenue scratched after grabbing a quarter Feb. 6.
Constitution's victory added to an excellent day for Pletcher, who won the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (gr. IT) with Mshawish, the Suwannee River (gr. IIIT) with Sandiva, and sent out the Withers Stakes (gr. III) winner, Far From Over, at Aqueduct Racetrack for an impressive score on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
"It was a great day, we were blessed," Pletcher said. "Last Sunday, when a lot of these horses worked, we thought we'd have a pretty strong hand coming in, and it worked out."
Bred by Grapestock LLC & Fox Hill Farms out of the Distorted Humor mare Baffled, Constitution improved his record to four wins and a third from six career starts for earnings of $1,004,096, with all four victories earned at Gulfstream Park. He was a $400,000 purchase by Twin Creeks from the Vinery Sales consignment at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale.
"One of the reasons he didn't run between the Clark and this race was that we wanted a fresh horse for the rest of the year," Pletcher remarked.
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/90026/constitution-wires-donn-handicap-over-lea#ixzz3R7yCnyN1
