DEL MAR, Calif. – Hunt didn’t make it to Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup. Isotherm did but might as well have stayed home, as he was no factor in the Dirt Mile. It was not a particularly memorable Breeders’ Cup for trainer Phil D’Amato, but he’s ready to regroup with both of those runners at Del Mar, as both are among those he expects to run in graded stakes at the end of the season here.
Hunt was intended for the Mile on turf but did not travel to Kentucky when he spiked a temperature.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Brad Cox said Friday that no decision has been reached on whether Monomoy Girl will resume serious training toward the Jan. 26 Pegasus World Cup, or if the star filly will be turned out ahead of a later 4-year-old campaign.
“We’ll probably revisit it in a week or so,” Cox said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Some trainers bring their entire barn to Del Mar for the fall meet; most only ship in. Richard Mandella brought half his barn, “just enough for a good excuse to stay,” he said.
Mandella, whose main residence is not far from Santa Anita in Pasadena, has a home near here in Cardiff by the Sea. But, as his fellow Hall of Famer Woody Stephens used to say, Mandella is here for the reason, not the season.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Keibar Coa was to ride opening day at Del Mar on Friday, head to Gulfstream Park on Saturday, but be back for Sunday’s races and will ride here this meet, his agent, Joe Griffin, said Thursday morning.
Coa, 26, has won 179 races in a career that began in earnest in 2012. He rode at Delaware Park this summer and fall, his last mount there on Oct. 20, and has had one mount since, riding in a stakes race at Santa Anita for trainer Tom Proctor.
“He’s out here with Proctor,” Griffin said.
Kentucky Downs officials announced this week that Michael Wrona will be the race-caller for the 2019 meet, replacing John Lies, who had called since 2008.
Wrona, 52, has become one of the preeminent callers in American racing as the announcer at Santa Anita and Golden Gate. “We are very excited to have somebody with Michael Wrona’s level of expertise and stature coming to work our meet as we continue to find ways to enhance the Kentucky Downs experience,” said Ted Nicholson, general manager of the turf-only track in south-central Kentucky.
Runaway Ghost, the Sunland Derby winner who was forced to miss the Kentucky Derby due to injury, is back on the work tab. Runaway Ghost has logged a pair of three-furlong works, his latest in 36.80 seconds Nov. 3 at Zia Park.
“He’s doing great,” said trainer Todd Fincher.
Runaway Ghost was diagnosed with a fracture in his right front cannon bone following an April 14 work for the Kentucky Derby. He underwent surgery, was rehabbed, and is now based at Zia.
Mind Control, the Grade 1 Hopeful winner who finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs, could make his next start in the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park, said Rick Sacco, racing manager for the colt’s owner, the Brunetti family’s Red Oak Stable.
Mind Control appeared to come out of the Juvenile in good order and was shipped back to Monmouth Park on Sunday, where he will remain for at least a week. Trainer Gregg Sacco is deciding whether to move the horse to Parx or New York after Monmouth’s stable area closes down.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One of the final opportunities for 3-year-old turf horses to race among their own kind this year will come Saturday at Churchill Downs when the Grade 3, $100,000 Commonwealth Turf is run for the 15th time.
Hot Springs, a last-out winner of the Jefferson Cup on the Churchill turf, surely will be favored after drawing the outside post in a field of seven in the 1 1/16-mile race, especially in light of his 3-for-3 record over the local course. Steve Asmussen trains the Uncle Mo colt for the Woodford Racing partnership, headed by Bill Farish.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will run 60 stakes, including eight Grade 1 races, during its winter-spring meeting, which runs from Dec. 26 to April 7. There are several changes to dates and purses on the Santa Anita stakes schedule.
The purse of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles has been increased from $400,000 to $500,000. The San Felipe Stakes will be run March 9 and is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 6, the richest race of the meet.
