Cardinal Handicap
Nov 17, 2016 20:27:03 GMT -5
Post by teenagewildlife on Nov 17, 2016 20:27:03 GMT -5
Looks like a fun race to play in the challenge 
www.paulickreport.com/news/thoroughbred-racing/churchill-freshened-real-smart-gets-class-relief-g3-cardinal-handicap/
Following a ninth-place effort in Santa Anita's Rodeo Drive (Grade I), Bjorn E. Nielsen's Real Smart will drop in class for Saturday's $100,000 Cardinal Handicap (Grade III), a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
Trainer Graham Motion had the Cardinal Handicap circled for his homebred daughter of Smart Strike since her last outing, where she was 4 ¾ lengths behind eventual Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (GI) third-place finisher Avenge.
“I've had this race in mind for her since her last race out at Santa Anita,” Motion said. “We freshened her up and gave her a little bit of time off. The timing of the race is great and at this point in the year we're sort of running out of options.”
The homebred daughter of Smart Strike will be making her sixth start in the United States since joining Motion's contingent at Fair Hill earlier this year, and already has two victories under her belt since moving across the pond. After racing in England as 3-year-old, she made her American debut a winning one in a 1 ¼-mile allowance race at Belmont Park on May 13 which was followed by a close third in a June 10 Belmont allowance behind stakes-placed All in Fun. Her next start was a winning one when she stretched out to 1 3/8 miles in Delaware Park's Robert Dick Memorial (GIII) on July 9 over eventual Grade I winner Photo Call (IRE).
“Even though she won the (1 3/8-mile) Robert Dick I'm sort of questioning her distance,” Motion said. “I think that shortening her to a mile-and-an-eighth in here will be good for her. I thought that her first two races in the States were great.”
Real Smart will break from the rail and will receive the riding services from jockey Chris Landeros.
“I think that the post is great, I would much rather be there than on the outside,” Motion said.
www.paulickreport.com/news/thoroughbred-racing/churchill-freshened-real-smart-gets-class-relief-g3-cardinal-handicap/
Following a ninth-place effort in Santa Anita's Rodeo Drive (Grade I), Bjorn E. Nielsen's Real Smart will drop in class for Saturday's $100,000 Cardinal Handicap (Grade III), a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
Trainer Graham Motion had the Cardinal Handicap circled for his homebred daughter of Smart Strike since her last outing, where she was 4 ¾ lengths behind eventual Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (GI) third-place finisher Avenge.
“I've had this race in mind for her since her last race out at Santa Anita,” Motion said. “We freshened her up and gave her a little bit of time off. The timing of the race is great and at this point in the year we're sort of running out of options.”
The homebred daughter of Smart Strike will be making her sixth start in the United States since joining Motion's contingent at Fair Hill earlier this year, and already has two victories under her belt since moving across the pond. After racing in England as 3-year-old, she made her American debut a winning one in a 1 ¼-mile allowance race at Belmont Park on May 13 which was followed by a close third in a June 10 Belmont allowance behind stakes-placed All in Fun. Her next start was a winning one when she stretched out to 1 3/8 miles in Delaware Park's Robert Dick Memorial (GIII) on July 9 over eventual Grade I winner Photo Call (IRE).
“Even though she won the (1 3/8-mile) Robert Dick I'm sort of questioning her distance,” Motion said. “I think that shortening her to a mile-and-an-eighth in here will be good for her. I thought that her first two races in the States were great.”
Real Smart will break from the rail and will receive the riding services from jockey Chris Landeros.
“I think that the post is great, I would much rather be there than on the outside,” Motion said.