SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Monomoy Girl put in a workout Saturday morning over Saratoga’s main track, but her connections are sticking with their plan to skip next Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama here and point to the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 22.
In her first breeze since winning the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on July 22, Monomoy Girl went a half-mile in 49.93 seconds in company with the 3-year-old New York-bred filly Purely Lucky.
Dennis Ward, a former jockey and the father of trainer Wesley Ward, hit 1,000 career Thoroughbred training wins in North America on Thursday at Gulfstream when Greely Is Back ($17.80) won the fifth race. Dennis Ward added to his win total one race later, taking the sixth with Dreaming of J C ($21.80).
Ward won the first race of his training career on Oct. 29, 1983 at Turf Paradise, according to Daily Racing Form records. He is a 71-year-old native of Seattle and was a jockey at Longacres in Washington from 1962 to 1968, according to a press release from Gulfstream.
Curlin’s Approval is the ultimate horse-for-course at Gulfstream Park. She’s registered all eight of her wins over the main track for local earnings of $584,190. Sunday, the multiple Grade 2 winner will be out to add to her stellar local record when she starts as a strong favorite in the $75,000 Sugarloaf Key Handicap.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Gorgeous George is a poor man’s version of Good Bye Greg. Or is he, at this stage, close to his equal?
Probably not, but the featured third race Sunday at Arlington brings them together and will reveal more than the past performance lines can show.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Jacinto Herrera, something of a legendary jockey in South America, is giving North America another try.
Herrera, a 46-year-old native of Lima, Peru, was to have his first Arlington mount on Saturday. He also has rides on the Sunday card. All are for trainer Ignacio Correas, who came to the U.S. from Argentina after operating a very successful stable there. It’s Correas who has engineered Herrera’s move to Arlington. Herrera won’t have an agent for a time and Correas is the de facto manager of his career.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Apprentice jockey Assael Espinoza is named to ride five of Sunday’s nine races at Del Mar after receiving a stay of a 10-day suspension for careless riding.
Espinoza, 18, was granted the stay by a San Diego County superior court judge on Thursday. The suspension was scheduled to begin on Sunday and continue 10 racing days, through Aug. 25.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The multiple stakes winner Selcourt is a notable omission from the entries for Sunday’s Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for female sprinters at Del Mar.
With luck, Selcourt could be part of the major races for the division this fall.
Trainer John Sadler said on Friday that Selcourt is scheduled to return to his stable on Wednesday after an extended rest prompted by bone bruising. Sadler said he would like to train Selcourt toward the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 and that she is unlikely to have a prep race in October.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The course of the 2018 season changed remarkably for Pavel with his win in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 16.
The victory gave Pavel a fees-paid berth for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 and his first win in a Grade 1 race. He will try for his second in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 18.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Randi Persaud began serving a 20-day suspension Friday for possession of vials of injectable controlled substances, according to a ruling issued Thursday by the New York State Gaming Commission.
The suspension was originally for 30 calendar days, but 10 of those days were stayed for Persaud waiving his right of appeal.
