LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With entries for the 145th Kentucky Oaks due in just a matter of days, the connections of would-be contenders on the bubble for the Grade 1 filly classic are getting quite anxious about their chances to make the 14-horse cutoff.
Bellafina leads the list of 14 3-year-old fillies intended for the $1 million Oaks, for which entries will be taken next Monday at Churchill Downs. As many as four more horses can be used on an also-eligibles list.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Epical, who won a stakes for the first time in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita on March 29, is being pointed for the Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park on May 11, trainer Jim Cassidy said on Sunday.
The $700,000 Man o’ War Stakes is run at 1 3/8 miles on turf and will be a class test for Epical, who races for Deron Pearson. A 4-year-old gelding, Epical has won 4 of 11 starts and earned $279,980, but has yet to run in a Grade 1 race. On Feb. 9, Epical was a fast-closing second in the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Saturday was a successful day for jockey Martin Garcia at Santa Anita, both in the morning and afternoon.
Garcia worked two of trainer Bob Baffert’s hopes for the Kentucky Derby – Game Winner and Roadster in the morning. That afternoon, Garcia won the first race on Whoa Nessie, his first victory since September and the 1,500th of his career.
Garcia, 34, returned to riding in late March from a shoulder injury that forced him to the sidelines in November. Whoa Nessie was the 15th mount of his comeback.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The six-week purse increase that takes effect at Santa Anita on Friday will cost approximately $1.5 million and is intended to boost fields at a time when the track’s barn area is well short of capacity.
Last Friday, the racetrack and the Thoroughbred Owners of California announced a purse increase of $10,000 for all overnight races for 19 racing days through June 2. That same day, track officials said five Thursday programs had been eliminated through May 23, with the status of racing on three Thursdays in June to be determined next month.
Trainer Jason Servis’s decision to keep Florida Derby winner Maximum Security in South Florida to train up to the Kentucky Derby certainly paid dividends on Sunday. Whereas two of the three scheduled Derby works at Churchill Downs were postponed on Easter Sunday due to weather and/or track conditions, Maximum Security got in his regularly scheduled one-mile breeze under “ideal” conditions, according to Servis by phone from the Palm Meadows training center later that morning.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Manny Franco, Rudy Rodriguez, and the trio of Mike Repole, Klaravich Stables, and Drawing Away Stables led their respective categories at the 12-day Aqueduct spring meet, which concluded Saturday.
Franco, who won two races Saturday, finished the meet with 18 wins, three more than Jose Lezcano. Irad Ortiz, who won four races Saturday finished third with 11 wins followed by Kendrick Carmouche (9) and Eric Cancel (9). Franco was also the leading jockey at the Aqueduct winter meet.
Gray Magician, the runner-up in the Group 2 United Arab Emirates Derby in Dubai on March 30, worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in California on Saturday in preparation for the Kentucky Derby on May 4.
Gray Magician worked “nice and easy” and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01, trainer Peter Miller said. This was Gray Magician’s first workout since he returned to California from the trip to the Middle East.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Shortly after Game Winner finished off a sharp drill on Saturday morning here at Santa Anita, his work coming a little more than an hour after Roadster also worked impressively, their trainer, Bob Baffert, turned to his wife, Jill, and said, "I'm having a good day, honey."
Then he did a jig. He's dancing his way to the Kentucky Derby.
Arizona Downs, which begins its inaugural season May 24 in Prescott Valley at the old Yavapai Downs, announced that veteran announcer Michael Wrona will be behind the microphone.
The 53-year-old Australian has announced at Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields, Arlington Park, Retama, Lone Star Park, Fair Grounds, Los Alamitos, Turf Paradise, the Sonoma and Fresno fair meets in Northern California, Hollywood Park, and Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita announced on Friday that purses will increase $10,000 for all non-stakes races for a six-week period beginning April 26, a hike funded through existing excess funds in the purse account and monies from the track’s parent company, The Stronach Group.
The announcement came hours after track executives said that racing on five Thursdays would be eliminated because of a horse shortage – April 25 and the first four Thursdays next month – May 2, 9, 16, and 23. There was no racing scheduled for Thursday, May 30, on the original racing calendar.
