Saturday, January 23, 2016
Handicapping Corner: Saturday, Jan. 23
HorseracingFLA Staff Report
Starting today, we are giving ourselves a $1,000 imaginary stake for the Gulfstream Park championship meet that will end April 2, and a $1,000 imaginary stake for the Tampa Bay Downs meet that will end May 8.
Our fantasy bets for Saturday Jan. 23, 2016
Gulfstream Park
The ninth race is the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens, scheduled at two miles on turf for 4-year-olds and up.
We are calling this bet off if the race is taken off the turf.
The Todd Pletcher-trained Charming Kitten (1) is the obvious choice and could be even-money in the nine-horse field.
If any horse springs an upset, we think it would be the Irish-American import Roccia d’oro (2), trained by Tom Albertrani. He could do well on a course softened by yesterday’s rain.
Either St. Albans Boy (7) or Morning Calm (3) should be in the exacta if one of the above two falter.
Mucho Mas Macho (8) who might have some late run, is our longshot.
*$3 place and show on 2 $6
*$2 show on 7 $2
*$2 exacta box 1-2-7 $12
*$1 exacta part wheel
First — 1 2
Second 1 2 3 5 $6
Total — $26.00
Tampa Bay
The seventh race, scheduled post 3:20 p.m., is the $100,000 Pasco Stakes at seven furlongs on dirt for 3-year-old males
Formal Salute (4) and Jay’s Way (7) each finished within a length of unbeaten Ishaq (not running today) in the six-furlong Inaugural at Tampa Bay on Dec. 19.
Epic Journey (3) has a six-furlong allowance win at Tampa Bay in a faster time than the Inaugural.
Morning Fire (1) finished second in two sprint stakes at Parx in Philadelphia, and has had three blistering workouts at Tampa Bay. He has the rail and needs a clean break—and should get one with Daniel Centeno on board.
Hand of Power (6) is in from Kentucky for trainer Ian Wilkes and will be gaining late with Julien Leparoux on board. Awesome Slate (2) also is a threat.
Our win pick is Formal Salute, outside of other speed and with the formidable team of Kathleen O’Connell and Ronnie Allen Jr.
*$3 win and show on 4 $6
*$3 place and show on 6 $6
*$2 show on 3 $2
*$1 Exacta box 1-4-6-7 $12
*$1 exacta part wheel
First = 4 6
Second 2 3 4 6 $6
Total $32.00
Handicapping Corner: Saturday, Jan. 23
Tampa Bay: Pasco and Gasparilla Stakes for 3-Year-Olds Head Skyway Festival Card
HorseracingFLA Staff Report
Tampa Bay Downs will have its annual Skyway Festival day this afternoon, with three stakes races.
The $100,000 Pasco, for 3-year-old males, and the $100,000 Gasparilla, for 3-year-old fillies are both seven furlongs on dirt.
The $50,000 Wayward Lass, for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up, is 1 1/16 miles on dirt.
Those races are part of an 11-race card with first post of 12:20 p.m.
We will have coverage n our blog later today.
* Gasparilla – sixth race, scheduled post 2:50 p.m.
The 32nd renewal of the Gasparilla has ten entrants.
The top two finishers from the six-furlong Sandpiper Stakes on Dec. 19, drew outside, with Hidden Treat starting from the No. 10 post position and A Little Attitude from No. 8.
Daniel Centeno will ride Hidden Treat, who is 2-for-2 under trainer Arnaud Delacour. The trainer of A Little Attitude, Randy Klopp, has named Jose Ferrer to ride.
Top Canadian trainer Mark Casse has supplemented R Girls a Charmer to the Gasparilla.
She will break from the No. 6 post under Antonio Gallardo. R Girls a Charmer broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 2, after which Casse purchased her from her previous connections for owner Gary Barber.
Another to watch is No. 1 Valueable Charmer, trained by Gerald Bennett and to be ridden by Ronnie Allen, Jr. She has been ultra-impressive in two winning efforts at Tampa Bay, both at six furlongs, and may be ready for the step up to stakes company.
*Pasco – seventh race, scheduled post 3:20 p.m.
A field of 10 is entered in the 17th edition of the Pasco.
The group includes the second and third-place finishers from the $100,000 Inaugural Stakes, run at six furlongs on Dec. 19. They are Formal Summation from the barn of trainer Kathleen O’Connell and Jay’s Way, conditioned by Jamie Ness.
Formal Summation will break from the No. 4 post under jockey Ronnie Allen, Jr., with Jay’s Way breaking from the No. 7 post with Antonio Gallardo aboard.
Slated to ship in from Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach is the Ian Wilkes-trained Hand of Power, who broke his maiden on Nov. 14 at Churchill Downs. Julien Leparoux has been named to ride Hand of Power, who drew the No. 6 post.
Another intriguing candidate is Awesome Slate, a gelding who won the Canadian Juvenile Stakes at Northlands Park in October. Brian Lynch is the trainer and Angel Serpa the jockey. Awesome Slate drew the No. 2 post.
It is expected that some top finishers in the Pasco will move on to the Sam F. Davis (Grade 3) on Feb. 13 and then to the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade 2)—both at 1 1/16 miles at Tampa Bay Downs.
*Wayward Lass – ninth race, scheduled post 4:20 p.m.
The 32nd edition of the Wayward Lass also attracted 10 horses.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has entered a pair of 4-year-old fillies: Kinsley, the winner of a mile-and-40-yard conditional allowance at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 27, and Tiger Moth, the easy winner of a Gulfstream allowance on Dec. 23 in her most recent start.
Manoel Cruz will ride Kinsley from the No. 9 post, while Tiger Moth and Edgard Zayas break from the No. 8 position
Tampa Bay: Pasco and Gasparilla Stakes for 3-Year-Olds Head Skyway Festival Card
Tampa Bay Downs will have its annual Skyway Festival day this afternoon, with three stakes races.
The $100,000 Pasco, for 3-year-old males, and the $100,000 Gasparilla, for 3-year-old fillies are both seven furlongs on dirt.
The $50,000 Wayward Lass, for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up, is 1 1/16 miles on dirt.
Those races are part of an 11-race card with first post of 12:20 p.m.
We will have coverage n our blog later today.
* Gasparilla – sixth race, scheduled post 2:50 p.m.
The 32nd renewal of the Gasparilla has ten entrants.
The top two finishers from the six-furlong Sandpiper Stakes on Dec. 19, drew outside, with Hidden Treat starting from the No. 10 post position and A Little Attitude from No. 8.
Daniel Centeno will ride Hidden Treat, who is 2-for-2 under trainer Arnaud Delacour. The trainer of A Little Attitude, Randy Klopp, has named Jose Ferrer to ride.
Top Canadian trainer Mark Casse has supplemented R Girls a Charmer to the Gasparilla.
She will break from the No. 6 post under Antonio Gallardo. R Girls a Charmer broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 2, after which Casse purchased her from her previous connections for owner Gary Barber.
Another to watch is No. 1 Valueable Charmer, trained by Gerald Bennett and to be ridden by Ronnie Allen, Jr. She has been ultra-impressive in two winning efforts at Tampa Bay, both at six furlongs, and may be ready for the step up to stakes company.
*Pasco – seventh race, scheduled post 3:20 p.m.
A field of 10 is entered in the 17th edition of the Pasco.
The group includes the second and third-place finishers from the $100,000 Inaugural Stakes, run at six furlongs on Dec. 19. They are Formal Summation from the barn of trainer Kathleen O’Connell and Jay’s Way, conditioned by Jamie Ness.
Formal Summation will break from the No. 4 post under jockey Ronnie Allen, Jr., with Jay’s Way breaking from the No. 7 post with Antonio Gallardo aboard.
Slated to ship in from Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach is the Ian Wilkes-trained Hand of Power, who broke his maiden on Nov. 14 at Churchill Downs. Julien Leparoux has been named to ride Hand of Power, who drew the No. 6 post.
Another intriguing candidate is Awesome Slate, a gelding who won the Canadian Juvenile Stakes at Northlands Park in October. Brian Lynch is the trainer and Angel Serpa the jockey. Awesome Slate drew the No. 2 post.
It is expected that some top finishers in the Pasco will move on to the Sam F. Davis (Grade 3) on Feb. 13 and then to the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade 2)—both at 1 1/16 miles at Tampa Bay Downs.
*Wayward Lass – ninth race, scheduled post 4:20 p.m.
The 32nd edition of the Wayward Lass also attracted 10 horses.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has entered a pair of 4-year-old fillies: Kinsley, the winner of a mile-and-40-yard conditional allowance at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 27, and Tiger Moth, the easy winner of a Gulfstream allowance on Dec. 23 in her most recent start.
Manoel Cruz will ride Kinsley from the No. 9 post, while Tiger Moth and Edgard Zayas break from the No. 8 position
Tampa Bay: Pasco and Gasparilla Stakes for 3-Year-Olds Head Skyway Festival Card
The H. Allen Jerkens, Scheduled for Turf, Highlights Gulfstream Saturday Card
By Jim Freer
Gulfstream Park will honor the memory of a racing legend on Saturday when it holds the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes.
The race is named for the Hall of Fame trainer who died last March 18 at the age of 85.
It is two miles for 4-year-olds and up and is scheduled for turf—along with five other races on the 11-race card that has a first post of 12:35 p.m.
Gulfstream officials will decide on Saturday morning whether to keep the H. Allen Jerkens or any other races on the turf.
We will have an update after 10 a.m. on Saturday on this Web site and on our.blog
On Friday, rain forced Gulfstream to move its five scheduled-for-turf races to the dirt track that was sloppy and sealed.
The rain stopped in South Florida late Friday night. The Saturday forecast has a zero percent chance of rain, with temperatures in the 60s and winds from the northwest at 20 miles per hour.
Charming Kitten Heads Field
The H. Allen Jerkens is the ninth race with scheduled post of 4:35 p.m.
It has nine entrants, with Charming Kitten (No, 9 in photo on home page) the likely heavy favorite if it stays on turf. Because the race is late in the afternoon, after some expected drying of the turf, our expectation is that it will be on turf that is not listed as firm
Charming Kitten is the only horse in the race with a win at two miles on turf. That was in the inaugural Belmont Gold Cup Invitational in June 2014 at Belmont Park. It came on a course listed as good—the likely listing of Gulfstream’s course on Saturday.
The 6-year-old Charming Kitten is a son of Eclipse Award-winning Kitten’s Joy, and his human connections are all multiple Eclipse Award winners. They are breeders and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey, trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez.
Charming Kitten comes into Saturday’s race following a win in the W.L. McKnight (Grade 3) at 1 ½ miles on turf at Gulfstream on Dec. 26.
Charming Kitten gained his first graded stakes victory as he won by a neck over Kaigun, who is not in the H. Allen Jerkens.
Charming Kitten has four second place finishes and a pair of third place finishes in graded stakes. His record also includes a win in the 2013 Kitten’s Joy Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Gulfstream.
The horses that finished fourth, fifth and eighth in the McKnight are back for Saturday’s race.
They are St. Albans Boy, Roccia d’Oro and Morning Calm. The lengths they finished behind Charming Kitten were 3 ½, 3 ¾ and 8 ½ respectively.
“He ran great in the McKnight,” Pletcher said of Charming Kitten. “He seems like he came out of it even better. He’s a solid, honest horse and it’s great to know that he’s got a win at two miles.”
Last Oct. 31, St. Albans Boy won the 1 ½ mile Laurel Turf Cup on a turf course listed as good. Paco Lopez will ride him for trainer Kelly Rubley.
The McKnight was the third start for Roccia d’Oro since coming to the U.S. last spring after racing in Italy. He won his first two races and was fifth in the Derby Italiano (G2) last May in his last race before joining trainer Tom Albertrani’s barn.
“He came out of the race really well,” Albertrani said. “I thought he was in a bad spot throughout the whole race and never really got a chance to use himself.”
Albertrani added: “To me, when he ran his last two races, he seems to want to stay on so that gives me a little more optimism that he can get a little further.”
Javier Castellano will ride Roccia d’Oro.
Charming Kitten and Morning Calm are the only H. Allen Jerkens entrants with experience at two miles on turf.
Morning Calm finished fifth in the Belmont Gold Cup last June for trainer Michelle Nihei. He won the 1 ½-mile Raymond Earl Handicap on turf last May at Gulfstream.
Luca Panici will ride Morning Calm.
Saturday’s field also has Mucho Mas Macho, who won the 2013 Fort Lauderdale (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Gulfstream but since then is winless in 15 starts
Others in the Race
Rounding out the field are Good and Proper, third in the Bear’s Den Stakes last July at Gulfstream; Xaverian, making his stakes debut; maiden 4-year-old Neutronstar, and Matuszak, who ships in from Fair Grounds.
One angle for handicapping the H. Allen Jerkens is that none of the horses have a history of seeking the early lead.
It might be a case where one trainer pulls a surprise and has the rider take the horse to the lead and attempt to wire the field.
Matuszak is the only horse in the race whose experience is mostly on dirt, but he has not won a stakes Thus, Charming Kitten probably would be favored if the race is moved to dirt.
*H. Allen Jerkens is best known by many racing fans for wins by two of his horses over Secretariat in 1973, after that horse won the Triple Crown. Those horses were Onion and Prove Out.
The H. Allen Jerkens, Scheduled for Turf, Highlights Gulfstream Saturday Card
Gulfstream Park will honor the memory of a racing legend on Saturday when it holds the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes.
The race is named for the Hall of Fame trainer who died last March 18 at the age of 85.
It is two miles for 4-year-olds and up and is scheduled for turf—along with five other races on the 11-race card that has a first post of 12:35 p.m.
Gulfstream officials will decide on Saturday morning whether to keep the H. Allen Jerkens or any other races on the turf.
We will have an update after 10 a.m. on Saturday on this Web site and on our.blog
On Friday, rain forced Gulfstream to move its five scheduled-for-turf races to the dirt track that was sloppy and sealed.
The rain stopped in South Florida late Friday night. The Saturday forecast has a zero percent chance of rain, with temperatures in the 60s and winds from the northwest at 20 miles per hour.
Charming Kitten Heads Field
The H. Allen Jerkens is the ninth race with scheduled post of 4:35 p.m.
It has nine entrants, with Charming Kitten (No, 9 in photo on home page) the likely heavy favorite if it stays on turf. Because the race is late in the afternoon, after some expected drying of the turf, our expectation is that it will be on turf that is not listed as firm
Charming Kitten is the only horse in the race with a win at two miles on turf. That was in the inaugural Belmont Gold Cup Invitational in June 2014 at Belmont Park. It came on a course listed as good—the likely listing of Gulfstream’s course on Saturday.
The 6-year-old Charming Kitten is a son of Eclipse Award-winning Kitten’s Joy, and his human connections are all multiple Eclipse Award winners. They are breeders and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey, trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez.
Owner Ken Ramsey
Charming Kitten comes into Saturday’s race following a win in the W.L. McKnight (Grade 3) at 1 ½ miles on turf at Gulfstream on Dec. 26.
Charming Kitten gained his first graded stakes victory as he won by a neck over Kaigun, who is not in the H. Allen Jerkens.
Charming Kitten has four second place finishes and a pair of third place finishes in graded stakes. His record also includes a win in the 2013 Kitten’s Joy Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Gulfstream.
The horses that finished fourth, fifth and eighth in the McKnight are back for Saturday’s race.
They are St. Albans Boy, Roccia d’Oro and Morning Calm. The lengths they finished behind Charming Kitten were 3 ½, 3 ¾ and 8 ½ respectively.
“He ran great in the McKnight,” Pletcher said of Charming Kitten. “He seems like he came out of it even better. He’s a solid, honest horse and it’s great to know that he’s got a win at two miles.”
Todd Pletcher speaks with reporters following the Hal’s Hope, Jan. 9, 2016– photo by Barry Unterbrink
Last Oct. 31, St. Albans Boy won the 1 ½ mile Laurel Turf Cup on a turf course listed as good. Paco Lopez will ride him for trainer Kelly Rubley.
The McKnight was the third start for Roccia d’Oro since coming to the U.S. last spring after racing in Italy. He won his first two races and was fifth in the Derby Italiano (G2) last May in his last race before joining trainer Tom Albertrani’s barn.
“He came out of the race really well,” Albertrani said. “I thought he was in a bad spot throughout the whole race and never really got a chance to use himself.”
Albertrani added: “To me, when he ran his last two races, he seems to want to stay on so that gives me a little more optimism that he can get a little further.”
Javier Castellano will ride Roccia d’Oro.
Charming Kitten and Morning Calm are the only H. Allen Jerkens entrants with experience at two miles on turf.
Morning Calm finished fifth in the Belmont Gold Cup last June for trainer Michelle Nihei. He won the 1 ½-mile Raymond Earl Handicap on turf last May at Gulfstream.
Luca Panici will ride Morning Calm.
Saturday’s field also has Mucho Mas Macho, who won the 2013 Fort Lauderdale (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Gulfstream but since then is winless in 15 starts
Others in the Race
Rounding out the field are Good and Proper, third in the Bear’s Den Stakes last July at Gulfstream; Xaverian, making his stakes debut; maiden 4-year-old Neutronstar, and Matuszak, who ships in from Fair Grounds.
One angle for handicapping the H. Allen Jerkens is that none of the horses have a history of seeking the early lead.
It might be a case where one trainer pulls a surprise and has the rider take the horse to the lead and attempt to wire the field.
Matuszak is the only horse in the race whose experience is mostly on dirt, but he has not won a stakes Thus, Charming Kitten probably would be favored if the race is moved to dirt.
Trainer H .Allen Jerkens
*H. Allen Jerkens is best known by many racing fans for wins by two of his horses over Secretariat in 1973, after that horse won the Triple Crown. Those horses were Onion and Prove Out.
The H. Allen Jerkens, Scheduled for Turf, Highlights Gulfstream Saturday Card
Friday, January 22, 2016
The Gulfstream Scene
This weekend at Gulfstream Park and Village
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