Senor Friday turned in a game performance to win the $50,000 Turf Paradise Derby and Free My Soul out-dueled numerous challengers to win the $30,000 Arizona Oaks Saturday at Turf Paradise.
 
Turf Paradise Derby
Favored Senor Friday ($4.80), with Francisco Arrieta aboard, found clear sailing in the final sixteenth of a mile to beat a fast-closing Parking Permit by 2 ¼ lengths with Prince Pierce third in a field of eight 3-year-olds. Senor Friday was able to beat Parking Permit straight up after inheriting victory from that one following a disqualification in the Startac Stakes.
 
Owned by Charles Garvey and trained by Robertino Diodoro, Senor Friday, a son of Curlin, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.44 for his fourth win in six starts for earnings of $65,762.
 
Arizona Oaks
The 4-5 favorite Free My Soul with Scott Stevens up shook free of two hard pressing rivals and went on to post a 2 ¼ length victory over Dress Shopping with Frances Anna third in the field of six 3-year-old fillies.
 
Owned by Joe Beuttenmuller, John Gallagher and Saratoga West, Free My Soul ($3.80), winning for the third time in seven outings for trainer Jeff Metz, covered the one mile in 1:38.19 for earnings of $50,184.

Three-year-olds looking to polish their resumes will be featured in the $50,000 Turf Paradise Derby and $30,000 Arizona Oaks Saturday at Turf Paradise.
 
The Derby, at 1 1/16 miles, attracted field of eight while the Oaks, at one mile, drew a field of six. Post time will be 12:55 pm.
 
Turf Paradise Derby, 7th Race
The key to the Derby may lie in the January 26th Startac Stakes, won by Parking Permit but later disqualified and placed third behind Senor Friday and Prince Pierce. All three are back in the Derby along with Startac competitors Tequila Cowboy(5th) and Keyson(8th).
 
The DQ’d Parking Permit kicked in the after burners late to catch the pace-setting duo of Senor Friday and Prince Pierce. This scenario might play again, except for the undefeated Dr John H, who won his maiden at first asking, then followed with in win in the Lost in the Fog Stakes, winning both outings on the front end. The son of Harbor the Gold will be making his first start as a 3-year-old and stretching out for the first time.
 
Of interest is the Chicago shipper Charlie Irish, who has won two of three outings at Hawthorne, with each start as the favorite.
 
The Arizona Oaks, 4th Race
The lone stakes winner in the compact field of 6 fillies is Free My Soul, who edged out Stormy Music and Dress Shopping in the Jack Coady Stakes. Those two return in the Oaks along with Let Me Fly (4th in the Coady), Frances Anna (5th in the Coady) and Twitterati. The top three finishers in the Coady were separated by necks at the wire. The Oaks should be just as close at the finish.
 

Minister of Soul came out the victor of a hard-fought battle in the $75,000 Phoenix Gold Cup Saturday at Turf Paradise.
 
Ridden by Glenn Corbett, Minister of Soul ($5.60) went head-to-head with 6-5 favorite Mr. Jagermeister thru early blistering splits of :21.45, 43.33 and :55.36 before the latter tired to finish third to eventual runner-up Never Give In in the field of five older horses.
 
Owned and trained by Esteban Martinez, Minister of Soul completed the 6-furlongs in 1:08.41, and was 3 ¼ lengths clear for his sixth win in 11 starts and his third – and arguably biggest - local stakes tally. His $46,500 for winning the Gold Cup boosted his lifetime earnings to $128,203.
 
Sun City Handicap
All jockey Scott Stevens had to do with the 4-5 favorite Medaglia Gold ($3.60) was, to secure the lead and the 4-year-old filly did the rest with her patented wire-to-wire style, posting a 2 ¼ length victory over Panoe with last year’s winner Paddy’s Secret third in the field of six fillies and mares.
 
Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams and guided by the patient training style of Shawn Davis, Medaglia Gold covered the one mile over firm turf in 1:37.12, for her sixth win in 16 outings for earnings of $143,831.
 
Turf Paradise Handicap
Longshot Spooky Channel ($48.20) with Denny Velazquez aboard edged away in a three way tussle to defeat a determined 9-5 favorite Gato Guapo by a head with Cleanup Hitter a length behind in third in the field of nine older horses.
 
Owned by Terry Hamilton and trained Clay Brinson, Spooky Channel covered the 1 1/16 miles over the lawn in 1:42.61 for his third win in five efforts for $39,006.

The track’s marquis sprint stakes, the $75,000 Phoenix Gold Cup heads a trio of stakes which includes the $30,000 Turf Paradise Handicap and $30,000 Sun City Handicap Saturday at Turf Paradise.
 
The day, known as Super Saturday, will reward the first 5,000 fans with a free T-shirt. There will be a Jockeys Meet and Greet and a free photo of the current jockey colony. There will also be free multiple bounce inflatables for the kids and live music on the grandstand apron. The post time for the first of eight races is 12:40 pm.
 
The Gold Cup, 7th Race
The 63rd running of the Gold Cup attracted a competitive field of six sprinters, dived out between two shippers and four entrants locally based.
 
The California ship-in Make It a Triple has been facing tougher on the west coast circuit. Off since August 18 at Del Mar’s meet, Make It a Triple had his final tune-up, a bullet 6-furlong work of 1:12.2 on Jan. 26, for trainer Keith Craigmyle.
 
Locally-based trainer Valorie Lund sends forth Canterbury campaigner Mr. Jagermeister, a deserving 6-5 favorite, as he is a winner of five of eight efforts in 2018 for $205,975. Mr. Jagermeister, a son of multiple stakes winner Atta Boy Roy, concluded last year’s efforts with three consecutive stakes wins at the Minnesota track. Lund has back-to-back wins in the Gold Cup with Absolutely Cool in 2014-2015.
 
Leading trainer Robertino Diodoro sends forth a trio of stakes winners in Bourbon Cowboy, Never Give In and Izzy the Warrior.
 
Turf Paradise Handicap, 8th Race
The 1 1/16 mile turf test drew a field of 11 four-year-olds and up, including Cotton Fitzsimmons’ runner-up Theglorysallmine and third place finisher Gato Guapo, the lukewarm 3-1 choice. Also entered is Rate for Me who’s looking for his fourth consecutive win over the lawn.
 
Sun City Handicap, 5th Race
A field of eight fillies and mares are entered for the one mile grass stakes. A standout is the 4-year-old filly Medaglia Gold trained by Shawn Davis, who just missed in the Glendale Handicap after winning four straight races, including the Queen of the Green Handicap. She’ll open at 6-5.
 

Northern Arizona University’s Alliance Bank Economic Policy Institute and two private sector analytics firms have reached out to Turf Paradise after the Phoenix-based racetrack issued a public call for assistance to study and address a recent increase in equine injuries and deaths.

While a team of experts made up of horse trainers and owners, jockeys, veterinarians, and track officials has been diligently studying the unexplained increase for many months, Turf Paradise believes a fresh set of eyes may be needed to look at statistical factors and patterns that may not be evident to those within the racing industry.

Turf Paradise General Manager Vince Francia is now compiling statistics to be reviewed. “Safety is and has always been our top priority. It is my hope that a statistician may see a hidden trend in the numbers,” said Francia.

These experts will look at everything from the number of starts on a given day to post times and jockey silk colors. Francia added, “Horseracing is an industry that thrives on statistics in terms of odds-making and handicapping the past performances of horses. It’s time to use those numbers to help us to improve the odds when it comes to horse safety.”
Turf Paradise takes equine deaths very seriously and is proposing a long list of reforms in addition to assistance from statistical experts.

Turf Paradise wants to expand the current system of 15 pre-race exams of horses which are selected by the stewards on a live racing day to all horses racing that day. This would require an additional veterinarian.

Turf Paradise would also like to form a new committee to look at the horse injury rate that would include statisticians, veterinarians, and university instructors and researchers.

Flat Track motorcycle racing, which had been taking place after the season concludes, will no longer be held at the racetrack.

As recently as the 2015/2016 season the fatality rate was within industry norms. Turf Paradise has some of the strictest drug testing polices in the nation and has a number of longstanding policies and projects in place specifically for equine safety.

Turf Paradise is one of four of the 82 race tracks in the country that provides an Equine Therapy Swimming Pool that provides a complete cardio vascular workout for the horse without subjecting it to the stress on to its legs associated with regular training and workouts.

The track recently purchased two brand new harrows that groom the one mile main dirt track. The dirt track also undergoes weekly renovation every Thursday during the race meet. The Turf Course (grass track) has separate protocols which are followed to determine if the surface is race-able or not.

At the conclusion of the race meet, the sand and dirt are removed from the main track. At the start of the new meet, fresh sand and dirt are used. The Turf Course is maintained via an automated watering system, periodic re-seedings, fertilization and aeration. The moisture content of the Turf Course is constantly monitored. At the end of the season old grass is removed and taken down to the earth base, and re-seeded  for the next season.

In the event of rain or any unusual circumstances, the dirt and turf tracks are inspected for safety by horsemen, jockeys, and track officials.

A Safety Review Committee meets once a month and is composed of the General Managers of Turf Paradise, Rillito Park (Tucson) and Arizona Downs (Prescott Valley), the Director of the Division of Racing, the Enforcement Officer of the Division, a representative of the Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (AzHBPA), and three veterinarians.

 For each horse that suffers a fatal breakdown a necropsy is performed by Midwestern University College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health Institute. Following the issuing of the report the Safety Review Committee gets together with the trainer of the horse to go over all facets of the report.

Turf Paradise General Manager Vince Francia said, “Turf Paradise has been entertaining fans in Arizona for more than six decades. We have stayed in business this long by solving problems. We are confident we will solve this latest challenge and we are grateful for those who have stepped forward to assist us.”