Walkwithapurpose looks for home-court advantage
May 13, 2013 0:30:42 GMT -5
Post by Jon on May 13, 2013 0:30:42 GMT -5
This is not coming up a good betting race. LOL I think Emollient rolls. Am probably not betting. I would like to see the Sagamore filly win. We drove by and Sagamore is looking great. Plank deserves a big win at home. The man has invested a lot - a larger than small fortune.
Walkwithapurpose looks for home-court advantage in Black-Eyed Susan
Five weeks after a disappointing loss in her graded stakes debut, Walkwithapurpose returns to more familiar surroundings in Friday's Grade 2, $500,000 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico Race Course.
Foaled at Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland, a half-hour's drive from Pimlico, Walkwithapurpose will take on eight challengers in the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan, led by Grade 1 winner and 9-5 program favorite Emollient.
One of Pimlico's oldest stakes races, first run as the Pimlico Oaks in 1919, the Black-Eyed Susan will be contested 10th on a 13-race card that features seven stakes, including the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special, which returned from a four-year hiatus in 2012.
Also on Friday's card is the Jockey Challenge, newly formatted to pit four each of the top male and female riders in competition, and the Lady Legends for the Cure IV. A pari-mutuel event with eight retired female riding pioneers, the race is run as part of joint effort between Pimlico and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer organization.
Walkwithapurpose, a bay daughter of Candy Ride, took a five-race win streak into the Gazelle on April 6 at Aqueduct, her first race outside of Maryland. Despite some early trouble, she raced near the lead before drifting wide in the stretch and finishing third, beaten seven lengths.
"The saddle slipped coming out of the gate," trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Correas said. "I don't know what she hit or what happened, but it slipped. It was the first time she was going a mile and an eighth, the first time going two turns, the first time for a lot of stuff.
"Being locals, we are home, so she already has experience over the track. I think that's a different thing. There's some very good competitors in the race, but it should be better this time. She's been doing very good."
Though Walkwithapurpose has never raced at Pimlico, she has trained daily over the track since Correas moved his string from Laurel Park in late March, including a bullet half-mile breeze in :47 2/5 on last Friday.
"Compared to the way she went into the Gazelle, I would say she is more comfortable now here at Pimlico," Correas said. "We moved from Laurel to Pimlico like 15 days before the Gazelle, and she didn't really enjoy the change that much. But, now, she feels at home again, and she's training really good."
Third in her debut last September at Timonium, Walkwithapurpose reeled off three straight wins to end her two-year-old season, capped by an eight-length romp in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship December 31 at Laurel Park.
This year, she extended her win streak to five with victories in the Wide Country Stakes and the Caesar's Wish Stakes, both at Laurel, by 14 1/4 lengths combined.
"We knew that she had talent. I cannot tell you that from the get-go I knew she was going to be the kind of filly that she is," Correas said. "I said after the Maryland (JFC) that we will point to the Black-Eyed Susan, because she hinted enough at that point to think that it was doable. I think we are participating in this race in a good spot. She could be here and not be as good as she is, but she is a very, very nice filly."
Founded in 1925, Sagamore Farm was brought to prominence by A.G. Vanderbilt during more than five decades under his guidance, ending in 1986. In 2007, the farm was purchased by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, a native of Maryland.
"I think it would be a dream come true for all of us," Correas said of a Black-Eyed Susan victory. "For Kevin, he's a big fan of Maryland, so it would be an honor. For us, it's a very big race. This is only the second crop that we bred. The fact that we are there already makes the farm proud, and being there with a shot. Winning would be a cherry on the top."
Emollient, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott for owner Juddmonte Farms, has won two of three starts this year, most recently going gate to wire in the Ashland over the Polytrack at Keeneland on April 6. Second in the Demoiselle at Aqueduct last November, she was an allowance winner to begin her three-year-old campaign.
Fiftyshadesofhay, winner of the Santa Ysabel on a wet-fast surface at Santa Anita on January 26, tuned up for the Black-Eyed Susan with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 1/5 on Friday at Churchill Downs, the fastest of 27 horses.
"We shipped her to Kentucky, but she really didn't ship well. Now, she's doing really well," Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said. "She's had a couple of works. Her last work was nice, so we decided to take a shot at it."
www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/news/article.cgi?id=36672&from=656
Walkwithapurpose looks for home-court advantage in Black-Eyed Susan
Five weeks after a disappointing loss in her graded stakes debut, Walkwithapurpose returns to more familiar surroundings in Friday's Grade 2, $500,000 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico Race Course.
Foaled at Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland, a half-hour's drive from Pimlico, Walkwithapurpose will take on eight challengers in the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan, led by Grade 1 winner and 9-5 program favorite Emollient.
One of Pimlico's oldest stakes races, first run as the Pimlico Oaks in 1919, the Black-Eyed Susan will be contested 10th on a 13-race card that features seven stakes, including the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special, which returned from a four-year hiatus in 2012.
Also on Friday's card is the Jockey Challenge, newly formatted to pit four each of the top male and female riders in competition, and the Lady Legends for the Cure IV. A pari-mutuel event with eight retired female riding pioneers, the race is run as part of joint effort between Pimlico and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer organization.
Walkwithapurpose, a bay daughter of Candy Ride, took a five-race win streak into the Gazelle on April 6 at Aqueduct, her first race outside of Maryland. Despite some early trouble, she raced near the lead before drifting wide in the stretch and finishing third, beaten seven lengths.
"The saddle slipped coming out of the gate," trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Correas said. "I don't know what she hit or what happened, but it slipped. It was the first time she was going a mile and an eighth, the first time going two turns, the first time for a lot of stuff.
"Being locals, we are home, so she already has experience over the track. I think that's a different thing. There's some very good competitors in the race, but it should be better this time. She's been doing very good."
Though Walkwithapurpose has never raced at Pimlico, she has trained daily over the track since Correas moved his string from Laurel Park in late March, including a bullet half-mile breeze in :47 2/5 on last Friday.
"Compared to the way she went into the Gazelle, I would say she is more comfortable now here at Pimlico," Correas said. "We moved from Laurel to Pimlico like 15 days before the Gazelle, and she didn't really enjoy the change that much. But, now, she feels at home again, and she's training really good."
Third in her debut last September at Timonium, Walkwithapurpose reeled off three straight wins to end her two-year-old season, capped by an eight-length romp in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship December 31 at Laurel Park.
This year, she extended her win streak to five with victories in the Wide Country Stakes and the Caesar's Wish Stakes, both at Laurel, by 14 1/4 lengths combined.
"We knew that she had talent. I cannot tell you that from the get-go I knew she was going to be the kind of filly that she is," Correas said. "I said after the Maryland (JFC) that we will point to the Black-Eyed Susan, because she hinted enough at that point to think that it was doable. I think we are participating in this race in a good spot. She could be here and not be as good as she is, but she is a very, very nice filly."
Founded in 1925, Sagamore Farm was brought to prominence by A.G. Vanderbilt during more than five decades under his guidance, ending in 1986. In 2007, the farm was purchased by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, a native of Maryland.
"I think it would be a dream come true for all of us," Correas said of a Black-Eyed Susan victory. "For Kevin, he's a big fan of Maryland, so it would be an honor. For us, it's a very big race. This is only the second crop that we bred. The fact that we are there already makes the farm proud, and being there with a shot. Winning would be a cherry on the top."
Emollient, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott for owner Juddmonte Farms, has won two of three starts this year, most recently going gate to wire in the Ashland over the Polytrack at Keeneland on April 6. Second in the Demoiselle at Aqueduct last November, she was an allowance winner to begin her three-year-old campaign.
Fiftyshadesofhay, winner of the Santa Ysabel on a wet-fast surface at Santa Anita on January 26, tuned up for the Black-Eyed Susan with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 1/5 on Friday at Churchill Downs, the fastest of 27 horses.
"We shipped her to Kentucky, but she really didn't ship well. Now, she's doing really well," Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said. "She's had a couple of works. Her last work was nice, so we decided to take a shot at it."
www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/news/article.cgi?id=36672&from=656