Fri, 01/04/2019 - 12:40

Lukas sees maturation in Bravazo ahead of Pegasus World Cup

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas (right), atop his pony, with Bravazo on Oct. 30 at Churchill Downs, ahead of the Breeders' Cup.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said millionaire Bravazo appears to be sitting on a strong 4-year-old season that he will launch Jan. 26 in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park.

Bravazo, who won last year’s Risen Star at Fair Grounds before running second in both the Preakness and Haskell and third in both the Travers and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, has been working at his base of Oaklawn Park.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 15:00

Tackett targets Lecomte; Synchrony to Fair Grounds Handicap

Emily Shields
Synchrony returned $11.00 to win the Fair Grounds Handicap on Saturday.

Trainer Mike Stidham on Wednesday confirmed Tackett as an intended runner in the Jan. 19 Lecomte Stakes. Third sprinting at Laurel in his career debut, Tackett won a two-turn maiden race at Fair Grounds and captured a first-level route allowance Dec. 22 by a neck over Owendale.

“It wasn’t anything jaw dropping, but he put in a good, workmanlike effort and came out of it in good shape,” Stidham said.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 14:56

Sharp barn looks to stay red-hot in new year

Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography
The undefeated 2-year-old filly Midnight Fantasy heads a team of seven stakes runners for trainer Joe Sharp on Saturday.

In the endless form cycle that is horse racing, Joe Sharp’s Fair Grounds barn got caught in an early-December trough. “We went through a bit of a lull,” Sharp said.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 14:56

Tom's d'Etat to get his shot in Pegasus World Cup

Hodges Photography / Amanda Hodges Weir
Tom's d'Etat returned $3.40 in winning the Tencious Stakes on Saturday.

Tom’s d’Etat isn’t getting any younger. The Fair Grounds-based horse just turned 6 this week. He comfortably won his stakes debut last month, capturing the $73,000 Tenacious Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths while giving weight.

Owner GMB Racing and trainer Al Stall could keep Tom’s d’Etat at home and set the New Orleans Handicap in late March as a goal. Instead, they’ve decided to hunt bigger game, and Tom’s d’Etat on Monday was pre-entered at a cost of $100,000 for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 14:16

Gray Magician among seven expected for Sham

Barbara D. Livingston
Coliseum is the likely favorite for Saturday's Grade 3 Sham Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gray Magician will have his stakes debut in Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile at Santa Anita, the first stakes of the year for the division in California in the buildup to the Triple Crown.

Gray Magician, owned by Wachtel Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Gary Barber, won a maiden special weight race at a mile by 9 1/2 lengths at Del Mar on Nov. 24. That was his first start for trainer Peter Miller after having been trained by Hector Palma for his first three starts.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 13:56

Koriner fined $3,000 for medication overage

Shigeki Kikkawa
Brian Koriner's penalty is related to an overage of the anesthetic procaine.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Brian Koriner has been fined $3,000 for a medication overage detected in one of his runners after a victory at Del Mar last August.

In a stipulated agreement with the California Horse Racing Board, Koriner was fined and suspended for 30 days, but the suspension was stayed if Koriner does not violate terms of a probation through 2019. One term of the probation is that Koriner cannot have any medication violation for drugs in classes 1, 2, or 3 in 2019.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 13:50

The Mackem Bullet looks like Ward's latest star

Over the past few years, trainer Wesley Ward has utilized the Polytrack surface at Turfway Park during the winter months to breeze and race some of his better stakes horses. Royal Ascot conqueror Lady Aurelia was one, working there in 2017 and 2018, while Bound for Nowhere made racing appearances, winning a maiden race in January 2017 and a Turfway allowance this past March, a prep for a victory in Grade 2 Shakertown at Keeneland.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 13:50

Caribou Club may target Kilroe Mile

Shigeki Kikkawa
Caribou Club may test deeper waters after winning his second consecutive stakes in the Grade 3 Joe Hernandez on Tuesday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Caribou Club may have his Grade 1 debut in the $400,000 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on March 9 after winning his second consecutive stakes in Tuesday’s Grade 3 Joe Hernandez on the hillside turf course.

Craig Bernick, whose Glen Hill Farm owns Caribou Club, said on Wednesday that the Kilroe Mile is a logical option for the 5-year-old gelding, who has won five stakes and is trained by Tom Proctor.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 13:46

Glorious Empire to miss Pegasus World Cup Turf

Brianna Vitt/Coglianese Photos
Glorious Empire may start in the Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream on Jan. 26.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Glorious Empire, who earned a career-high 108 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale here last month, has been removed from consideration for the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 26 because of a minor ankle injury.

Trained by Chuck Lawrence for Matt Schera, Glorious Empire is expected to be able to resume training in due course toward a 2019 campaign. Last year at 7, the gelding won three graded turf stakes, including the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on the Travers undercard in August.

Wed, 01/02/2019 - 13:36

Well Defined can lift O'Connell's spirits by winning Mucho Macho Man

Kenny Martin/Coglianese Photos
A 7 1/2-length romp in Saturday’s In Reality Stakes may have earned Well Defined a shot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – These are bittersweet times for Kathleen O’Connell. She just concluded one of the most productive seasons of her 38-year training career, but on the personal side of things, the losses are mounting.

Reached Wednesday morning by phone, O’Connell was tending to her 90-year-old mother, Arlene, who was gravely ill in the intensive-care unit of a Michigan hospital. Heavily weighted with sadness, the words barely made their way to Florida.

“I don’t think she’s going to make it,” said O’Connell. “I flew in to Lansing last night. It’s very hard.”