Sun, 08/19/2018 - 19:13

Trainer Gonzalez, jockey Toledo take Laurel titles

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Jevian Toledo, 23, has now won two Maryland riding titles.

Trainer Claudio Gonzalez and jockey Jevian Toledo led their respective divisions at the Laurel Park summer meet, which concluded Sunday.

Gonzalez, a 41-year-old native of Chile, long ago clinched the training title. He won 23 races at the meet, eight more than runner-up Hamilton Smith, who won the final race of the meet to break a tie for second with Dale Capuano.

The summer meet is Gonzalez's second title this year. He also topped the standings at the Laurel winter-spring meet, which ran from the first of the year to early May.

Sun, 08/19/2018 - 14:56

Accelerate points to Awesome Again Stakes as last BC Classic prep

Emily Shields
Accelerate rolled to a 12 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Saturday at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Accelerate seemed to come out of his runaway victory in the Pacific Classic on Saturday in good condition, trainer John Sadler said Sunday morning at his Del Mar barn, allowing Sadler to move forward with the overall plan he has to attack this year’s Breeders’ Cup, with Accelerate headed toward the Classic and stablemate Catalina Cruiser to the Dirt Mile, both on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.

Sun, 08/19/2018 - 14:12

Eskimo Kisses eyes Spinster as final Breeders' Cup prep race

Barbara D. Livingston
Eskimo Kisses drew off to a 6 1/2-length victory in Saturday's Grade 1 Alabama Stakes under Jose Ortiz.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Eskimo Kisses, the dominant winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, likely will step out of the 3-year-old filly division and point to the Grade 1, $500,000 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 7 for next race as her connections plot out a path to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.

Sun, 08/19/2018 - 13:03

Gronkowski, Bravazo, Tenfold among Travers workers

Debra A. Roma
Gronkowski (right) breezes five furlongs in 1:00.02 with Instilled Regard on Sunday ahead of next Saturday's Grade 1 Travers Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Topped by Belmont Stakes runner-up Gronkowski, Preakness runner-up Bravazo, and Jim Dandy winner Tenfold, six of the expected 12 entrants for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes put in workouts Sunday morning at Saratoga.

Gronkowski, working with Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Instilled Regard, went five furlongs in 1:00.02, getting his last three furlongs in 35.81 seconds. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.71 while pulling away from Instilled Regard.

Sun, 08/19/2018 - 11:33

Hofburg to miss Travers Stakes with fever

Debra A. Roma
Hofburg posted a five-length victory under Irad Ortiz Jr. in Friday's Curlin Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hofburg, the dominant winner of the Curlin Stakes here on July 27, will miss Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes due to a temperature, trainer Bill Mott said Sunday morning.

Mott said while he expects Hofburg to be fine by Travers Day, he missed a couple of days of training – including a planned final workout Sunday morning – that will keep him out of the Mid-Summer Derby.

“He has a fever, and his bloodwork was a little out of whack,” Mott said. “I suppose he’d be over it by Travers Day, but we’re going to miss the race.”

Sat, 08/18/2018 - 23:03

Apocalyptical Jess, Pilot Points Moon top qualifiers for All American Futurity

Gay Harris/Ruidoso Downs
Apocalyptical Jess is the fastest qualifier in the All American Futurity trials at Ruidoso Downs, covering 440 yards in 21.34 seconds.

The field for the Grade 1, $3 million All American Futurity for Quarter Horses next month at Ruidoso Downs has been determined after 32 trials were contested at the New Mexico track Friday and Saturday. Apocalyptical Jess ($6.40) was the fastest qualifier on Day 1 and Pilot Points Moon ($13.20) set the standard on Day 2.

The finale will be run on Sept. 3. Horses with the five fastest times Friday and the five fastest times Saturday earned the 10 available spots in the gate for the All American.

Sat, 08/18/2018 - 14:38

Veteran jockey Rivera gets first win as trainer

Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Luis Rivera Jr. celebrates his win in Saturday's first race.

Luis Rivera Jr. rode his 1,559th winner and trained his first when Strawberry Red won race 1 at Monmouth Park on Saturday.

The win was Rivera's first as a rider since June 2017. Strawberry Red, the only horse Rivera trains, was making his third start of the meet.

Trevor McCarthy, Carlos Hernandez, and Jose Ferrer had ridden Strawberry Red in his prior starts, but Rivera climbed aboard for Saturday's $8,000 claiming race. It was his first mount since last October.

Fri, 08/17/2018 - 15:30

Telekinesis will cut back for H. Allen Jerkens Stakes

Michael Burns
Telekinesis trains at Woodbine in June.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Wonder Gadot won’t be the only 3-year-old trainer Mark Casse will be running at Saratoga on Travers Day.

Casse plans to cut Telekinesis back in distance and try him in the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes at seven furlongs. Telekinesis, a son of Ghostzapper, finished fifth to Wonder Gadot in the Queen’s Plate after winning the Plate Trial going 1 1/8 miles over Woodbine’s synthetic surface.

Fri, 08/17/2018 - 15:26

Breaking Lucky returns in intriguing allowance

Barbara D. Livingston
Breaking Lucky (No. 2), who finished fourth by a neck in the 2016 Woodward, will be racing at Saratoga for the third straight year.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – While the $100,000 Summer Colony Stakes for fillies and mares may technically be the featured event on Sunday’s 10-race card at Saratoga, a $95,000 allowance race for older sprinters looks more intriguing.

The seven-horse field includes the return of the graded stakes winner Breaking Lucky, who makes his first start in 11 months and first for trainer George Weaver. The field also includes Behavioral Bias, Petrov, and Favorable Outcome.

Fri, 08/17/2018 - 15:16

Evangeline Training Center victim of economics

The shuttering of the Evangeline Training Center near Lafayette, La., on Aug. 15 marked the end of an era in Louisiana. The facility was the original Evangeline Downs racetrack, which moved operations to Opelousas, La., in 2005.

Carrol Castille, a Louisiana breeder and owner, operated the Evangeline Training Center for more than 10 years. The decision to close the facility, which as a racetrack launched the careers of numerous prominent riders and once hosted John Henry, was dictated by economics.