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National Treasure just closed off Blazing Sevens on what has been a sprint to the finish line of the 148th Preakness Stakes

by Sports Benches

How good? Having just saw another thrilling drag race finish to the 148th Preakness Stakes over at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a shorter seven entry field being lined up this time after 2nd favourite First Mission had to pull out due to injury (left hind ankle). 

Looking back on the race itself now, there were great starts into the Top 2 earlier on from the following few horses such as National Treasure & CoffeewithChris. 

Plus, we saw a mix of overtakes fighting for third through race favourite & current Kentucky Derby champ Mage, Red Route One & Blazing Sevens.

Then there’s the climax on the run home after Turn 3 where Blazing Sevens moved up to 2nd side-by-side with National Treasure. Blazing Sevens tried to push that overtaking edge past him at the last minute after he emerged out of late, but it’s National Treasure who held off top spot all along by such a really close margin through the finish line for the win. 

Well done to jockey John Velasquez & owner/trainer Bob Baffiert all around on what has been such a tremendous race to watch!! Oh so close from Blazing Sevens where he almost got it but probably the early momentum might have cost him there in 2nd. And Mage finished in 3rd  

who was jockeying mightily around the mid-pack following a good start to 3rd, but then Mage was nowhere near the standard National Treasure has set by a few lengths behind the Top 2 finishers.

Red Route One finished in 4th followed by Chase the Chaos who were both also circling outside the Top 2; Perform came home in 6th where benefited a late move off CoffeewithChris after the early race contender (CoffeewithChris) just couldn’t find the execution he badly needed to pass National Treasure out of Turns 3 & 4.

Now that the 2nd Triple Crown race is done with no repeat triumph to carry on from the Kentucky Derby opener by Mage, we look forward to the 155th Belmont Stakes in New York on Saturday 10th June (US Time)/Sunday 11th June (Australian time in the morning). The only change to this next event is that Fox will be replacing NBC as the main broadcaster there for the 3rd & final Triple Crown event of the year.

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Mage runs down Two Phil’s & Angel of Empire in time towards a sprint to the finish line with the 2023 Kentucky Derby win at Churchill Downs

by Sports Benches

Wow!! What a race that is to close down another unreal Kentucky Derby for the 149th running this year over at Churchill Downs. There were a mix of early front-runners who put their names earlier on for the majority, while others chose to save their best for last like race favourite Angel of Empire. But then we saw the climax going into the last two corners & the front stretch that all changed everything.

Two Phil’s may have secured the first move where he tried to hold off top spot towards the finish line after he kept the other front-runners in check for the whole time. But look out for Mage who supercharged his way from mid-pack past Two Phil’s side-by-side before they closed them out with the big win followed by race favourite Angel of Empire in 3rd.

Congratulations to the team at Mage who is celebrating that huge breakthrough moment right now, having pulled the curtains down on both Two Phil’s & the resurgent Angel of Empire that capped off such a close three-way battle in the end.

I’m sure there will be many more memorable & mind-blowing finishes like this one as the next Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing heads off to Pilmico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, in two weeks’ time.

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Horse Racing: Ushba Tesoro wows Algiers en route to his breakthrough win for Japan in the 2023 Dubai World Cup

by Sports Benches

Great to watch some different kind of racing in the horses with the 27th Dubai World Cup 2000m running under lights & also on dirt over at Meydan Racecourse. 

It’s been a quiet three-way battle from the start that lasted for the majority between No.2 Bendoog, No.9 Panthalassa & No.10 Remorse, with 2nd favourite Algiers not far behind in the hunt. Then this changes everything going into the final homestretch where Algiers starts to work its way up front past Bendoog after gaining a few spots along the way. Algiers was almost there to cash in his frontrunner status but the winner belongs to Ushba Tesoro, having gone out of nowhere to surprising Algiers with 100m to go before he pulled off a sensational performance in 2:03:25. 

Good to see Bendoog & Remorse firing off well as who entered this race as the outsiders. But then they later lost track on the run home where they ended up on the back half of the field, particularly when Bendoog was unlucky to have fell away from Top 2 with only a few hundred meters to go while Remorse just didn’t have the energy to go all the way past Turn 4. 

Wow!! That is amazing to see from the new champion in Ushba Tesoro & jockey Yuga Kawada who just gifted Japan their 2nd Dubai World Cup title since Victoire Pisa back in 2011. From one prestigious horse race to another, next up is the 175th Grand National edition from Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, UK on Saturday 15th April (3 weeks from now).

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Gold Trip supercharged his way on the front straight with the 2022 Melbourne Cup win at Flemington Racecourse

by Sports Benches

How good was that finish right on the front straight for the 2022 Melbourne Cup trophy, as Gold Trip just took home the ultimate prize alongside at Flemington Racecourse.

The first half was quiet before gradually building up the hype when Smokin’ Romans fired off well ahead of the entire field through the opening stretch, before Serpentine took over top spot and stayed there for the majority between the first two corners and the backstretch.

By the time we entered the 2nd half distance, more and more new contenders entered the mix for the run towards the Melbourne Cup trophy going into the final stretch. Tralee Rose, Knights Order & Deauville Legend ended Serpentine’s time up top at Turns 3 & 4, while Smokin’ Romans briefly regained the lead in a bid to take home the $8 million AU prize. 

But at the end of the day, this year’s Cup race belongs to Gold Trip where he made the winning move past Deauville Legend with 250 metres to go and he has done it after Gold Trip crossed the finish line in 1st.

What a day for owners/trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, as well as jockey Mark Zahra for the Gold Trip organisation who hails from France; We saw 22 riders in the running earlier this afternoon for the race that stops the nation, with most of the field came from outside of Australia.

For now, we have two huge Melbourne Cup Carnival events on display at Flemington before the 163rd Melbourne Cup edition returns here in a year’s time: Oaks Day on Thursday and Stakes Day this Saturday.

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Horse Racing News, Rich Strike has written history as the outsider who just won this year’s 148th Kentucky Derby

by Sports Benches

We are so speechless after what just happened in this year’s 148th edition of the Kentucky Derby, and it’s an outsider from entry No.21 in Rich Strike with jockey Sonny Leon & owner Eric Reed.

He even mentioned during the post-race ceremony that it took him last minute to compete in this Triple Crown opener at Churchill Downs, because of Ethereal Road who was scratched from the running yesterday.

He was running at the back behind everyone earlier on before he waited patiently through the turns they go, and eventually struck his sweet spot on the homestretch where Rich Strike just shocked the entire race field, including race favourite Epicenter, who had to settle for the runner-up spot.

It’s also a great day for some punters out there where they will walk away with $254 because of Rich Strike’s shock victory, as per NSW TAB. The 2nd and 3rd placed horses in Epicenter and Zandon were even valued at around $2, having been placed within the first ten entries up front.

What a story it has been from someone out of nowhere as a last-minute replacement to a breakthrough star that wrote history in the world of Triple Crown horse racing and the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

The next Triple Crown race will head off to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, for the 147th Preakness Stakes running in two weeks time.

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