European jockey Andrea Atzeni, a rising international star, will relocate to California for early winter, adding depth to a Santa Anita colony already strengthened by the return of East Coast jockey Joel Rosario.
Atzeni, 27, was scheduled to arrive Thursday from England, where he is among the country’s leading riders and was the regular jockey for multiple Group 1 winner Postponed. Atzeni, who has won more than two dozen Group 1 races, will make his Santa Anita debut on Friday.
Jose Lezcano, who broke the bridge of his nose in a spill Thursday at Aqueduct, was cleared by a neurologist on Friday to resume riding. He is expected to make his return next Friday when Aqueduct reopens after its Christmas break.
According to Lezcano’s longtime agent, Jason Beides, retired Hall of Fame rider Ramon Dominguez was instrumental in getting Lezcano in to see Dr. Hallie Zwibel at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury on Long Island.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The golf cart that trainer Bob Baffert likes to ride around in on mornings here at Santa Anita has a vanity license plate that reads “Justify,” a reminder of the most-recent Triple Crown winner, who became the fifth horse in the last seven years to win the Kentucky Derby after training during the winter at Santa Anita.
This track again figures to be a focal point in the run-up to the spring classics, and, as usual, Baffert will be front and center. He has won the Derby five times, and his two winners in the last four years went on to sweep the Triple Crown.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The final Grade 1 race of 2018 will be the first career Grade 1 victory for the winner of the American Oaks, a 1 1/4-mile grass race for 3-year-old fillies next Saturday at Santa Anita.
Thirteen were nominated to the $300,000 race, including the locally based Grade 1-placed Californiagoldrush and Paved. East Coast shippers Colonia and Competitionofideas and the Midwest shipper Princess Warrior also are training locally for the final major race of the year.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Joe Talamo is hoping for a fast start to the new season, beginning Wednesday with the launch of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.
Talamo is expected to have mounts in at least three of the five stakes on Wednesday’s program, all on horses trained by Bob Baffert. Talamo has been riding more often for Baffert’s powerful stable in recent months, particularly during the Del Mar autumn meeting,
Scott Becker is stabled in Florida for the first time this winter, having bedded down 10 horses at Gulfstream. A 50-year-old native of southern Illinois and a perennial top-five trainer in Chicago in recent years, Becker trains primarily for Bill Stiritz, the retired chief executive of Ralston-Purina.
Becker told Gulfstream publicity recently that Stiritz has invested heavily in Florida-breds, and he intends to have an increasing presence on this circuit.
Brian Hernandez Jr. didn’t know what to expect in his first meet at Gulfstream Park.
“Coming in new at a meet as tough as this, you really don’t know what to think,” said Hernandez. “But so far, it’s been great.”
From his first 35 mounts, Hernandez rode seven winners, good for a tie for sixth in the jockey standings at the south Florida track. Through Thursday, his $3.02 ROI (for every $2 win bet) was highest among riders with at least 20 mounts.
Trainer Karl Broberg became just the third trainer following Steve Asmussen and Scott Lake to win 500 races in a calendar year.
Broberg’s 500th of 2018 was a no-doubter: Summer Lovin won the second race Thursday at Fair Grounds by 16 lengths.
Broberg has more than a 100-win lead on Asmussen in North American trainer standings by wins this year. Asmussen still wins scores of races but has scaled back his operation since hitting staggering annual totals of 621 wins in 2008 and 650 in 2009, the latter a season’s record.
The Aqueduct pick six was hit for the first time in a week on Thursday and paid $50,449. The wager carried over last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and was $175,909 coming into the card. More than $1.1 million was bet into the pool Thursday.
The winning horses in the pick six were Fuel the Bern ($10.40), Carthon ($13), Moretti ($3.60), Daria's Angel ($20), Playthatfunnymusic ($10.20), and Proximate to Power ($8.10). The winning numbers were 2-4-7-8-3-3. Five winners paid $458.
Racing and training at Tampa Bay Downs have been canceled for Friday because of heavy rain and anticipation of high winds in the Tampa Bay area, according to a release from the track.
The track will remain open for simulcast wagering and poker.
“We’re disappointed to lose a day of racing, but our No. 1 priority is the safety of our horses, jockeys and fans,” said Peter Berube, the track’s vice president and general manager. “Proper track maintenance is virtually impossible with the type of weather we’ve been getting.”
Racing is scheduled to resume on Saturday.
