Prevalence puts in final Florida work before heading to Big Apple for G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino

by NYRA Press Office

Godolphin’s Prevalence registered his final work before shipping to New York for Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, posting a half-mile breeze in 47.60 seconds Sunday at his home base at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Trainer Brendan Walsh said he’s been pleased with the Medaglia d’Oro colt’s training and will see him ship to New York on Wednesday, when the draw for the 100-40-20-10-point Kentucky Derby qualifier will occur.

Prevalence, unraced as a juvenile, is 2-for-2, recording a 8 1/2-length debut victory on January 23 at Gulfstream Park and following with a three-length score stretched out to a mile on March 11 at the same track.

“He worked here this morning at Palm Meadows and it went very well and he’s flying up there on Wednesday. It looks like he’s going into the race in good shape,” Walsh said. “It’s another step now, so we’ll find out if he can go the two turns as well. This will answer our questions and be a good test for him.”

Walsh said he’s optimistic Prevalence can handle the challenge of shipping in for a race for the first time, citing his demeanor and temperament.

“He’s a very nice, quiet, easy-going horse and I don’t think the travel will affect him at all,” Walsh said. “We’ll see how he handles the track. He hits me as a horse who can handle any kind of surface.”

Walsh, who has registered 364 wins and earnings of more than $20 million, said the chance to compete in a prestigious race such as the Wood Memorial is a special one, especially with the 2020 edition not being able to run because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s fantastic. This is why we’re in the game; to be part of these races, and to bring a horse up there who should be a live one, it’s very exciting,” Walsh said.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, aboard for Prevalence’s first two starts, will have the return call in the Wood Memorial.

“It’s always good when you can have continuity,” Walsh said. “It all helps. Tyler’s a great rider, so we look forward to having him on board.”

Mischevious Alex breezes for G1 Carter; Drain the Clock works in company for G3 Bay Shore

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. will have a strong presence on Saturday’s Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino card led by Mischevious Alex in the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter for older sprinters and Drain the Clock in the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore for sophomore sprinters.

Joseph, Jr., who has picked up 12 stalls at Belmont Park, is hoping to get off to a strong start in his first full-time foray into New York racing.

"We're coming in with good horses in 'Alex' and Drain the Clock and it would be nice to get off to a good start," said Joseph, Jr. “I think we have a very strong set of horses.”

Cash Is King and LC Racing’s Mischievous Alex worked a half-mile in company in a sharp 47.14 on the Gulfstream Park main track.

The 4-year-old Into Mischief colt captured the Grade 3 Gotham at the Big A in March 2020. He enters Saturday’s test from a prominent score in the six-furlong Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint on February 13.

"He worked really good. He sat off a workmate and finished off the last quarter in 22 and 4," said Joseph, Jr. "He worked as good as we could ask coming into the race. He's in good form. I think he has a very good chance of notching his first Grade 1."

Irad Ortiz, Jr., winner of the last three Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey, will have the call on both horses. The 28-year-old Ortiz, Jr. returns to ride at Aqueduct on Thursday, opening day of the spring meet, after a tremendous winter at Gulfstream with a record-setting 138 wins, with one card remaining in the championship meet.

"He's a great rider and he's in top class form right now," said Joseph, Jr.

Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael Nentwig’s Drain the Clock worked in company in with multiple graded-stakes winning filly Tonalist’s Shape with both horses clocked in 48.18 for the half-mile breeze at Gulfstream.

"He sat off of the filly and finished a bit stronger than her. He's doing good," said Joseph, Jr.

A chestnut son of Maclean’s Music, Drain the Clock won four of his first five starts led by a 6 1/4-length score in the Grade 3 Swale traveling seven furlongs at Gulfstream on January 30. The lone miss came in November in the Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs when an iron broke during the race and he lost the rider.

Last out, Drain the Clock set the pace en route to a runner-up effort in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on February 27 at Gulfstream in his first start around two turns.

Slam Dunk Racing, Doug Branham and Legacy Ranch Inc.’s Tonalist’s Shape won the Grade 3 Forward Gal, Grade 2 Davona Dale and Hollywood Wildcat in a productive 2020 at Gulfstream.

The 4-year-old Tonalist filly’s first major target is the seven-furlong Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational on July 3 at Gulfstream, but the conditioner said he’d like to bring the chestnut back to the Saratoga, where she finished fourth in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks last summer.

Sunday’s breeze was the fourth for Tonalist’s Shape as she works towards a return following a last-out fifth in the Grade 2 Raven Run in October at Keeneland.

"That was probably her stiffest work today and it was her first work back in company," said Joseph, Jr. "The Princess Rooney is a good spot for her but there's a good possibility she'll go to Saratoga.

"We'll try to keep her to one turn this year and see what happens,” he added. “If she progresses we might give two turns a try, but looking back it seems she's best at one turn."

Market Maven looks to fire big shot in stepping up in class for G2 Wood Memorial

Market Maven will provide the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino some intrigue as the Pennsylvania homebred will make his first stakes appearance after making his first four career starts at his home base at Parx.

The Super Ninety Nine gelding is the only horse currently in training for owner [and breeder] Gregory Gordon, who has compiled 10 wins, four runner-up efforts and three third-place finishes with 23 starters since sending out his first starter in 2013.

Market Maven has improved his career speed figures in every race, beginning with a 39 Beyer in a sixth-place debut effort in November to a 48 in a runner-up effort on December 22. Making his sophomore debut, Market Maven registered a maiden-breaking one-length score that garnered a 74 number and followed with an 81 for his four-length score against optional claimers going a mile and 70 yards last out on February 23 over a sloppy and sealed track.

Trainer Penny Pearce, who will saddle her first career graded stakes starter, said Market Maven has been training forwardly since, prompting the connections to be ambitious in nominating to Aqueduct’s signature race with 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby available to the top-four finishers.

“Every time we take him out there, he gets a bit better every time,” Pearce said. “We really don’t know what we have yet. You can’t win it if you ain’t in it. We’re all pretty excited. I don’t think anyone is more excited than Gregory; he bred and raised him and he’s the only one he has in training. When he came to me about this race, I was a little [surprised]. But we started talking about it and we said, ‘why not?’ He’s a nice horse and has talent.”

The Wood Memorial, which has seen 11 of its winners go on to the win the “Run for the Roses,” will also be an opportunity for jockey Dexter Haddock to compete in a prestigious stake. Haddock, primarily based on the Parx circuit, has been aboard for all four of Market Maven’s previous starts, developing a strong rapport that Pearce said she wanted to maintain.

“He’s the only jock that’s been on him since I got him; Dexter’s done all the work with him,” Pearce said. “That gives me a little more confidence because he knows him better than anyone.”

Market Maven has won as the front-runner in his last two starts, though Pearce said he has the skill-set to be versatile.

“I think if he could get up close to the lead or get the lead, [ it would be his preferred trip] he could run it like his last race. But he can come from a little out of it, too, so never know. It all looks good on paper but you go out there and everything changes when you come out of the gate.

“He’s good-natured and quiet, so I think he’ll be all right,” she added.

Pearce has a ledger of 102-112-123 in 883 career starts since going out on her own in 2012. She said running in a historic New York stakes will be a special event for her family-run operation and a nice reward for both Gordon and Haddock as well.

“Greg just told me let’s go have fun and there’s no pressure and no stress,” said Pearce. “He said, ‘let’s go have a day of fun.’ This day will be exciting for everyone but especially for him; I’ll be happy to see him do good and Dexter. We’re a family-run barn here, so we’re a team. I have my husband and my children working here and my nephew and his wife are stabled with us. It’s a seven-day a week job and we all work hard and these kind of horses don’t come around every day.”

Chateau, Maracuja seek graded stakes wins for red hot Atras

Trainer Rob Atras boasts a 20-9-3-2 record at the Big A in March and he hopes to parlay such prosperity into April with likely stakes contenders Chateau and Maracuja for next Saturday’s stakes-laden Wood Memorial Day program.

“We’ve had a good March, I don’t want it to end,” Atras said. 

Atras, 37, saddled Michael Dubb’s Chateau to a win in the Grade 3 Tom Fool last out on March 6 at the Big A and will take the next step up for Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap at seven furlongs.

The 6-year-old son of Flat Out broke alertly, commanded swift fractions up front, and was never in doubt in the stretch running home a 3 ½-length winner in the Tom Fool. The win produced a career-best 100 Beyer.

Chateau is in the best form of his 33-race career having finished in the money in his last six starts while boasting a 9-5-2-2 record over the Big A main track.

Having never won past 6 ½-furlongs, Atras said there is some concern with the extra furlong.

“He deserves a shot. His last race was a big performance,” Atras said. “We know he loves Aqueduct and seems to relish that surface. Obviously, there are distance questions but only time will tell with him.”

Beach Haven Thoroughbreds’ Maracuja also will step up to the plate for Atras in the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle, a 100-40-20-10 qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Third time was the charm for the daughter of third-crop sire Honor Code, who broke her maiden by 3 3/4-lengths on February 21 at Aqueduct over a good track. Trailing the compact field early on as the 4-5 favorite, Maracuja made a four-wide move approaching the top of the stretch and took command nearing the eighth-pole en route to a maiden victory.

Atras also expressed distance concerns with Maracuja, who will be running two turns for the first time in the nine-furlong Gazelle. 

“She acts like two turns shouldn’t be an issue but it’s a big ask going from six and a half furlongs to a mile and an eighth and stepping up to a big race like this,” Atras said. “She’s continued to train forwardly, and I think we’re going to give it a shot. It’s a really big step up. She’s a nice filly and she won really professional last time. I would have liked to have had a prep going a mile or something heading into a two-turn race like the Gazelle.”

Atras said he would wait until after the Gazelle to determine the path that Maracuja would go down.

“She is really just race to race with her right now, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. She’s just learning things and putting it together,” Atras said.

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche retains the mount on both Chateau and Maracuja.

On Saturday, Atras enjoyed a victory with American Power in the seven-furlong Caixa Eletronica on New York Claiming Championship Day. The 6-year-old Power Broker chestnut battled with fellow stakes-winner Pete’s Play Call but ultimately got the better of his foe, securing the win by one length.

Prior to Saturday’s victory, American Power gave Atras his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Toboggan on January 30 at the Big A.

“He came out of his race really good. He ate everything up and jogged sound this morning, so everything is going well,” Atras said.

Atras said he would continue to space American Power’s races out.

“He seems to do better with some space in between races so I’m not sure what we’ll look at yet,” Atras said. “We’ll mostly just go over him the next few days and then speak to [co-owner] Sandy Goldfarb and see which direction we’ll go. I don’t think he needs that much time, but with how everything worked out this ended up being the race that we pointed for.”

NYRA announces April and May post times for Belmont spring/summer meet

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced post times for April and May of the upcoming 48-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet.

The lucrative Belmont spring/summer meet includes 59 stakes races worth $16.95 million in total purse money and will begin Thursday, April 22 and continue through Sunday, July 11.

In April, first post time at Belmont will be 1 p.m. Eastern, with the exception of Kentucky Oaks Day on Friday, April 30, which will offer a 12:20 p.m. first post.

In May, Belmont will offer a 1 p.m. post time with some exceptions.

Thursday cards in May will begin at 3:05 p.m. and will be featured on America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national telecast produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, airing coverage of live racing from Belmont, as well as the Twilight Thursday program at Churchill Downs.

The Triple Crown begins on Kentucky Derby Day [Saturday, May 1] at Churchill Downs, with first post at Belmont slated for 12:20 p.m., while Preakness Day [Saturday, May 15], the second jewel to be contested at Pimlico Race Course, will see Belmont offer a noon first post.

The 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, the 1 ½-mile final leg of the Triple Crown, is set for Saturday, June 5 at Belmont Park.

A special middle pick 5 with a mandatory payout will be offered on Belmont cards featuring 11 or more races.

For more information, please visit NYRA.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 registers total pool of $110K; pays $6K

An all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday returned $6,745.25 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager at races from Aqueduct and Turfway Park. The sequence's total pool was $110,645.

Visitant rallied from seventh to post a two-length win in the first leg, capturing the Kentucky Cup Classic for 4-year-olds and up going nine furlongs in Turfway’s Race 9. Under jockey Deshawn Parker, Visitant logged a final time of 1:50.12. The William Morey trainee went off at 8-1, paying $18.80 on a $2 win wager.

Aqueduct made its first foray into the wager when Air Attack outkicked Musical Heart by one length to win the $75,000 Stud Muffin for 4-year-olds and up in a marathon 1 3/8-mile contest in Race 9 as part of the card’s New York Claiming Championship Day. Owned and trained by John Toscano, Jr. Air Attack won at 4-1, returning $10. Eric Cancel utilized a three-wide trip and kept his charge forwardly placed before finishing strong in a final time of 2:21.93.

The first favorite to win came with Adventuring in the Bourbonette Oaks for sophomore fillies going one mile in Race 10 at Turfway. Conditioned by Brad Cox, Adventuring [$7.20] bested Spritz by two lengths, earning 50 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks for the effort under jockey Florent Geroux. The Godolphin homebred hit the wire in 1:37.31

Fox Red won the Big A’s 10th-race finale, with Cancel recording his second straight win as the favorite won the $45,000 Dads Caps for 4-years-old and up going seven furlongs. Fox Red, trained by Linda Rice, topped Town Jak by 1 1/2 lengths, completing the course in 1:25.09. He paid $7.30.

Like the King closed the curtain on the wager by overtaking two rivals in the stretch to win the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles in Race 11. The 100-40-20-10-point prep race for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby saw the Wesley Ward-trained Like the King win at 7-1, defeating Sainthood by one length in a final time of 1:50.22. Drayden Van Dyke rode the winner, who paid $16.00.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.