Jorge Abreu
What a way to tally a first career graded stakes. Both trainer Jorge Abreu and his charge, who entered Saturday with only a third-place finish under her girth, broke their graded maiden with a runaway score in the GI Frizette Stakes at Belmont at the Big A. Now Abreu and Scottish Lassie (f, 2, McKinzie--Bodebabe, by Bodemeister) have earned a fees-paid berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in four weeks. Abreu, a former assistant to Chad Brown, brought a longshot filly to the Juvenile Fillies last year and...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Pressure? What pressure. There was none of that over at trainer Kenny McPeek's barn at the Oklahoma Annex Friday morning. Even though the stable star--the imposing, impressive and almost undefeated 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna)--is running on Saturday, no one on McPeek's staff was sweating bullets. Thorpedo Anna is the 1-2 morning-line favorite in the $500,000 GI Coaching Club American Oaks at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course. She has won five of six career starts and has won all three of her races...
Deterministic (Liam's Map) exited his victory in the GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct Saturday in fine shape and connections are still mulling a possible next start for the sophomore. "He came back in good order. We're very much enjoying the fact that he won the Gotham yesterday. It was a very strong performance and we're happy with the way he looks this morning," trainer Christophe Clement said Sunday. "We will probably ship him to Florida this week. He's done very well in Florida and the weather is more under control....
Jody's Pride (f, 3, American Pharoah--Jody's Song, by Scat Daddy) opened her 2024 with style here as she outgamed Carmelina (Maximus Mischief) to claim her first stakes win of the season in the Busher S. A dirt horse by accident after her maiden turf dash debut Aug. 9 at Saratoga was brought off the grass and she dominated by 10 1/2 lengths, it was a similar story for the Matron S. in her second start Oct. 8 when that six-panel sprint also came off the turf and again sending Jody's...
Steve Weston hoped to produce a nice turf horse when he sent his mare Jody's Song (Scat Daddy) to Coolmore's American Pharoah. Jody's Song had been undefeated in two starts on the grass in New York and American Pharoah had already shown his versatility as a sire when he produced several Grade I-winning turfers from his first few crops. Everyone spoke highly of the resulting filly, whom he named Jody's Pride, throughout her early years, but when it came time for the dark bay to make her debut last August...
Jody's Pride, a 10 1/2-length debut winner in an off-turf event upstate Aug. 9, enjoyed the same surface switch here and the result was similar. Off towards the back of the pack, the dark bay quickly picked off rivals down the backside and uncorked a three-deep move around the bend to take command under her own power before a half posted in :45.93. She found no challengers from there on in, and cruised under the line a dominant victoress from last-out New York-bred stakes fourth finisher Tricky Temper. A Primera...
3rd-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 1m, 2:07 p.m. The only first-time starter facing a field of more experienced maidens, SPELL ON YOU (Curlin) makes her afternoon debut Friday as a homebred for John Gunther, also the breeder of the filly's Triple Crown-winning half-brother Justify (Scat Daddy). Dam Stage Magic, 2018's broodmare of the year, is also responsible for the late GSW The Lieutenant (Street Sense) along with 'TDN Rising Star' Stage Raider (Pioneerof the Nile). Under the tutelage of trainer Jorge Abreu, Spell On You picks up jockey Dylan Davis...
A pair of graded stakes for 3-year-olds highlight Saturday's racing action, starting with the GII Mother Goose S. at Belmont. Two of the five fillies are looking to rebound after off-the-board finishes in the May 6 GI Kentucky Oaks, 'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings) (sixth) and Venti Valentine (Firing Line) (14th). Shahama is making just her second U.S. start after starting her career with a perfect four-for-four record during her time in Dubai. Her trainer Todd Pletcher is looking for his seventh Mother Goose victory here. "It was hard to...
Venti Valentine (Firing Line), a dominating seven-length winner with a flashy 92 Beyer in the Busher Invitational S. Mar. 5, will be favored over seven rivals to punch her ticket to the GI Kentucky Oaks via Saturday's GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct. The New York-bred fell just a neck short of Nest (Curlin) two back in last December's GII Demoiselle S. over track and trip, the only blemish in her four career starts. "We knew she had talent early on, and turning from two to three, you could see the...
BUSHER INVITATIONAL S., $242,500, Aqueduct, 3-5, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:39.65, ft. 1--VENTI VALENTINE, 118, f, 3, by Firing Line 1st Dam: Glory Gold, by Medaglia d'Oro 2nd Dam: Gayla, by Lord Gaylord 3rd Dam: La Chela (Arg), by Utopico (Arg) O-NY Final Furlong Racing Stable & Parkland Thoroughbreds; B-Final Furlong Racing Stable & Maspeth Stable (NY); T-Jorge Abreu; J-Manuel Franco. $137,500. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $366,250. *1/2 to Espresso Shot (Mission Impazible), MSW, $516,625. 2--Shotgun Hottie, 120, f, 3, Gun Runner--Re Entry, by Malibu Moon. ($45,000 2yo '21...
In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Nothing seemed to go Cricket West (f, 2, Majestic City--Special Charm {Ire}, by Dansili {GB})'s way in her unveiling sprinting versus fellow New York-breds over the Saratoga lawn Aug. 12 (video). And she still came within a neck of getting her picture taken that day. The Bloom Racing Stable homebred, off at odds of 10-1 for trainer Jorge Abreu, was bumped from both sides at the start and...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--While the July portion of the Saratoga season was frustrating, a bunch of mostly wasted racing days for trainer Jorge Abreu, August has been far more rewarding. With the bulk of his stable stuck in a quarantine after one of his unraced 2-year-old fillies tested positive for equine herpesvirus, Abreu had one win and two seconds from eight starts between July 16 and July 31. Since the quarantine was lifted, Abreu, 47, has four wins and three seconds and from 13 starters. "All the horses were ready to...