American Pharoah Rules, Texas Red Returns, Beholder Romps

THE WEEKEND’S BEST STORIES

July 31-August 2

American Pharoah Rules The Shore
A record crowd of 60,983 gathered at Monmouth Park to witness American Pharoah gallop to an easy 2 ¼ length victory in the the Gr.1 William Hill Haskell Invitational, on Sunday, August 2nd.

The race saw a field of six horses set out to challenge the Triple Crown winner, who broke from the #4 post—the winnings post position in Haskell history.

Pletcher-trained Competitive Edge, ridden by Mike Smith, set speedy early fractions (the ½ in 46.14 and ¾’s in 1:09.60) before giving way to American Pharoah, who moved earlier than expected and opened up a five length on the stretch. The three-year-old colt, by Pioneerof the Nile, was eased throughout the stretch before hitting the wire ahead of runner-up Keen Ice, who ran a huge race for trainer Dale Romans and owners Donegal Racing.

Gr. 3 Pegasus Stakes winner Mr. Jordan attempted to stalk in third, but was unable to hold his ground with the hot fractions and quickly faded on the turn, finishing seventh and last.

The pacesetter, Competitive Edge, finished fourth behind Richard Violette-trained Upstart (third), who made his first start since being pulled up in the Kentucky Derby this spring.

Interesting facts for the race: American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown 57 days earlier and had won 7 consecutive races prior to Sunday’s Haskell. 7 of 10 Triple Crown winners that returned to racing won their next start. Bob Baffert had won the Haskell 7 times prior, while Victor Espinoza made his 7th start in the race. And, to top it off—Sunday’s field was made up of 7 horses.

Trainer Bob Baffert expressed his gratitude for American Pharoah, choking up on national television. “There’s something about this horse that has changed me. He continues to impress.”

What’s next? The Travers Stakes at Saratoga, the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, or perhaps the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx. The Pharoah camp has not confirmed where the colt will end up running, but have stated they are keeping their options open.

In response to the win, owner Ahmed Zayat told fans, “I am extremely proud—this horse is a superstar. I am so grateful for all of you. This is your horse.”

Payouts for this year’s Haskell returned $2.20 for the win, $4.80 for place (Keen Ice), and $2.40 for show (Upstart). The $2 exacta paid $10.80, $1 trifecta → $16.50 and $1 superfecta → $35.50.

 
Stopchargingmaria and Untapable Battle It Out In Shuvee Handicap
Saratoga’s Sunday card featured a showdown between two of the greatest four-year-old fillies in the nation when 2014 Eclipse Award winning filly Untapable went head to head with multiple graded stakes winner Stopchargingmaria in the Gr.3 Shuvee Handicap.

The 1 1/8-mile race unfolded to resemble a bit of a match race when both fillies set out for the lead. Untapable put up early fractions of 23.54 and 47.79, while the Pletcher-trained Stopchargingmaria stalked closely in second. After going ¾’s in 1:11.83, Asmussen-trained Untapable started to come up short and was met by her rival. The two dueled down the stretch, digging down deep while putting on a show. At the end, Stopchargingmaria came out on top, hitting the wire one length ahead, stopping the clock at 1:49.37.

Ridden by Javier Castellano and owned by Town and Country Farms Corp., Stopchargingmaria is a daughter of Tale of the Cat. The filly has won eight of fourteen career starts and has amassed earnings of $1,774,000. Her victories include seven graded stakes, of which two have been Gr.1 (the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama Stakes). The win returned $4.70.

 
Beholder Romps In Clement L. Hirsch – Pacific Classic In The Cards?
2012 and 2013 champion Eclipse Award winning filly Beholder put on a sensational performance in the Gr.1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, run Saturday, August 1st at Del Mar. Shaking loose of the field, the daughter of Henry Hughes galloped away to win by seven lengths with Gary Stevens in the irons.

The five-year-old mare, trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, stalked in third behind My Sweet Addiction and Honey Ride, who set fractions for the first half of the race. But both frontrunners were unable to ward off Beholder, who took command ¾’s into the race and left the field behind in her wake.

Running in mid-pack, Yahilwa and Warren’s Veneda finished second and third, respectively, passing Honey Ride and My Sweet Addiction, who tired and ended up fourth and fifth.

Eighteen career starts made up of thirteen wins, three second place finishes and two fourths, Saturday’s impressive win at the 1 1/16 mile distance has prompted Beholder’s connections to consider running against the boys later this month in the Gr.1 Pacific Classic. A decision has not yet been set in stone.

 
Texas Red Connections Willing To Take On American Pharoah
Saturday’s Jim Dandy did not boast a large field, but rather a field of four that featured two top three-year-old colts.

Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red and Belmont Stakes runner-up Frosted put on the first of Saratoga’s thrilling stretch showdowns this weekend. The dappled grey, Wood Memorial winner, Frosted was the favorite with Texas Red as the second choice. Both colts posses similar running styles in that they prefer to trail the field. This time, however, they would run mid-pack with Japan setting extremely modest early fractions (the half in 48.15) and Frammento trailing behind.

Late last fall, Texas Red had shown potential to be a Kentucky Derby horse and his connections were running him with that goal in mind. But the colt was sidelined just a few weeks before the first Saturday in May and returned last month to run second in the Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park. The mile long race served as a prep for the Jim Dandy, run at the 1 1/8 distance—a distance much more favoring for the son of Afleet Alex.

Surely, trainer, and partial owner, Keith Desormeaux knows his horse best. Ridden by Joel Rosario, Frosted challenged on the stretch, but Texas Red held his own and hit the wire half a length ahead of his foe.

The three-year-old colt broke his maiden third time out last August and has eight starts on his resume— three wins, three seconds, one third and the worst being fourth. He has won $500,000 in three starts this year, running no worse than second. Kent Desormeaux was aboard for Saturday’s win.

Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was supposed to run against Texas Red in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November, but a hoof injury kept him off the track. When Pharoah returned, a similar hoof injury kept Texas Red from facing the Eclipse award winner. Now, with both colts eyeing the Breeders’ Cup Classic at the end of October, it seems the Jim Dandy winner is bound to face the Triple Crown winner before the end of the year. If all goes well, it will be the most anticipated race of the year.

 
Madefromlucky Takes West Virginia Derby
5-2 favorite Madefromlucky lead a field of nine this Saturday in the Gr.2 West Virginia Derby, held at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort. The colt, with Joe Bravo aboard, ran mid-pack in sixth for ¾’s of the race before going on to win by 1 ½ lengths for trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Cheyenne Stables LLC and Mac Nichol.

The three-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky last ran sixth to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes, who he also faced in the Gr.2 Rebel Stakes and Gr.1 Arkansas Derby (finishing second and fourth, respectively) earlier this year. After opting out of the Kentucky Derby Madefromlucky won his first graded stakes in the Gr.2 Peter Pan. The West Virginia Derby marks the colt’s tenth career start, fourth career win and second graded stakes victory.

Early trailers in the $750,000 race, run over 1 1/8 miles, included War Story, a chestnut by Northern Afleet, who finished sixteenth in the Kentucky Derby and ran fourth in the Ohio Derby, last time out. This time, the gelding put forth commendable effort, moving from ninth to third on the stretch after traveling eight-wide on the turn for home. Runner-up in the Preakness Stakes, Tale of Verve finished sixth.

Payouts for the race:
Madefromlucky $7.20 win, $3.80 place, $3.00 show
Super Colossal ——— $8.00 place, $5.20 show
War Story ————————— $6.60 show

$2 Trifecta → $500.80 and $2 Superfecta → $2,351

 
Rachel Alexandra Filly Breaks Maiden In Debut
Two-year-old Rachel’s Valentina took to the track for the first time on Sunday, August 2nd, winning her career debut against a field of 7 other fillies.

Awesome Dame and Joel Rosario set the early fractions of the race (22.25, 45.75, 57.94) while Rachel’s Valentina sat mid-pack. Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, the daughter of Bernardini and Rachel Alexandra made her move on the stretch, stopping the clock at 1:10.39, two lengths ahead of Thomas Albertrani-trained Awesome Dame. The maiden special weight race was run over six furlongs on dirt at Saratoga.

Rachel’s Valentina was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC and is owned by Stonestreet Stables LLC. Payouts for the winner returned $4.10 (win), $3.10 (place), $2.40 (show).

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