Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Diodoro expands stable to New York
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Robertino Diodoro has had success in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. Now, he has his sights set on New York, where he has set up shop with 22 horses for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet that begins Friday.
“New York’s always been on the bucket list,” Diodoro said by phone from the Ocala Breeders’ Sales auction in Florida. “I’ve got some newer clients, and some older clients stepped up to the plate to make it possible to come there. I’m hoping and I’m thinking we have the right group of horses. Time will tell.”
Diodoro will waste no time running his first horse in New York as he sends out Set the Trappe in Friday’s second race, a $16,000 claimer for nonwinners of two races. Diodoro claimed Set the Trappe for $25,000 last month at Oaklawn.
Diodoro, the leading trainer at Turf Paradise in Arizona the last three years, will continue to maintain summer strings at Canterbury, Santa Anita, and Prairie Meadows, where he has previously raced during the summer. He said his horses at Belmont are primarily new acquisitions through either the claim box or private purchase. Diodoro claimed 17 horses at the recently concluded Oaklawn Park meet. He also made recent claims at Keeneland, and last Saturday he took Castaway, his first claim at Aqueduct.
“We plan on being aggressive at the entry box and be aggressive at the claim box, too,” Diodoro said. “We’re planning on having lots of action anyway.”
Diodoro was the second-leading trainer at Oaklawn with 31 wins, 10 behind perennial leader Steve Asmussen. Among his victories was the Grade 2 Oaklawn Park Handicap with Inside Straight, a New Yorkbred gelding once trained by Todd Pletcher.
Inside Straight is at Belmont and is possible for the Grade 1, $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap on June 10.
“My assistant told me the horse is training unbelievable,” Diodoro said. “He’s floating over the track. We are going to consider the Met Mile. Of course, he is a New York-bred so we’ll look at several different stakes.”
Another horse Diodoro has in New York is the maiden Tizfun. He claimed the gelding for $40,000 on March 5 and nearly won a maiden special with him at 45-1 on April 15.
Kharafa enters Elusive Quality
Kharafa, the million-dollar-earning New York-bred gelding, will kick off his 8-year-old season in Saturday’s $150,000 Elusive Quality Stakes going seven furlongs.
Last year, trainer Tim Hills also used the Elusive Quality to get Kharafa’s campaign going. He finished fifth, beaten five lengths by A Lot.
Hills is using the Elusive Quality as a prep for the $125,000 Kingston on May 29. Kharafa has run in the Kingston four consecutive years, winning it in 2014. He finished third in it last year.
Hills said Kharafa spent the bulk of the winter on a farm in Ocala, Fla., before shipping to Gulfstream Park West, where he trained the last six weeks.
“The track is real deep, good for legging up horses,” Hills said. “His last work there was in company and he did it real well. He’s fit enough to go seven eighths.”
Paco Lopez will be aboard Kharafa, who has recorded eight of his 12 victories over the Belmont turf course.
Seven horses were entered for the Elusive Quality on turf: Calgary Cat, Disco Partner, Great Wide Open, Hammers Vision, Kharafa, Never Gone South, and Siding Spring. Alex the Terror and Green point crusader were entered in the unlikely event the race is transferred to the main track.
Program for 2-year-olds growing
The program for 2-yearolds at Belmont Park has seen significant gains in starters over the last four years.
In 2016, 166 2-year-old starters made 212 starts. In 2013, 66 2-year-olds combined to make 69 starts. In the New York-bred ranks, the numbers grew from 15 starters who made 17 starts in 2013 to 73 starters who made 101 starts in 2016.
A commitment to fill 2-yearold races at the meet, the restoration of early-season stakes such as the Tremont and Astoria, as well as a bonus program that has made some maiden special weight races worth $100,000 have combined to help the juvenile program grow. The first races for 2-year-olds this meet – both carry a $100,000 purse – are scheduled for May 3 (for females) and May 4 (males). The bulk of the maiden special weight races will be worth $75,000.
The increase in the number of juvenile starters at Belmont has aided Saratoga as well. The number of 2-year-old starts at Saratoga has also grown from 560 starts from 431 starters in 2013 to 681 starts from 552 starters in 2016.
“Not only did it pay dividends for the Belmont meet but it carried over into the Saratoga meet,” said Martin Panza, the New York Racing Asociation’s senior director of racing operations. “It’s a combination of us making the races in the book and owners getting used to that, and they’re beginning to believe they can send their 2-year-olds to New York in May and June because we’re going to make those races.”
Ortiz stays home next week
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will not be riding in this year’s Kentucky Oaks or Kentucky Derby. Instead, he will stay at his home base of Belmont Park and ride several top contenders in stakes for trainer Chad Brown those days.
On May 6, Derby Day, Ortiz will be aboard probable favorites Connect in the Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester, Sea Calisi in the Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay, and the European import Time Test in the Grade 3, $150,000 Fort Marcy. On May 5, Oaks Day, Ortiz will ride Kathryn the Wise in the Grade 3, $200,000 Vagrancy Handicap.
“They’re all very nice horses – hopefully we have success on them and can stay on them,” said Steve Rushing, the agent for Ortiz.
The last two years, a jockey has won five races at Belmont on Derby Day. In 2015, Joe Bravo won five races, including all three stakes, and ended up having his best year in graded stakes won (17) and purse money won ($8.39 million). Last year, Jose Ortiz won five races at Belmont on Derby Day, including all three stakes. He led the nation in wins and was a finalist for an Eclipse Award.
Irad Ortiz rode My Man Sam to an 11th-place finish in last year’s Kentucky Derby. He won the Belmont on Creator.