Sun, 07/29/2018 - 12:35

War Heroine taken out of training due to undisclosed problem

Benoit Photo
War Heroine wins the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes on July 21.

DEL MAR, Calif. – War Heroine, the winner of the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on July 21, has been taken out of training, owner Gary Barber said on Saturday.

“She didn’t come out of it well,” said Barber. “I’m going to give her time.”

Barber did not state the nature of War Heroine’s ailment. Trained by Peter Miller, War Heroine has won 4 of 6 starts and earned $240,945. She won the Sweet Life Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in February.

Sun, 07/29/2018 - 12:30

Paradise Woods getting a break due to bone bruising

Barbara D. Livingston
Paradise Woods finished fourth in the Santa Monica Stakes.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Paradise Woods, winless in three starts this year after winning two Grade 1 races in 2017, will be turned out “for a couple of months” to recover from bone bruising detected in a scan on Friday, trainer Richard Mandella said.

A 4-year-old, Paradise Woods will resume training with Mandella later this year.

“There is the thought of bringing her back next year,” Mandella said.

Sun, 07/29/2018 - 12:25

Jockey Frey out two to three weeks with knee injury

Coady Photography
Jockey Kyle Frey has two Grade 3 wins this year.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Kyle Frey will miss the first half of August after spraining his knee when he was unseated during warmups prior to the eighth race at Del Mar last Friday, his agent, Bill Sadoo, said over the weekend.

“He’ll be out of action for two to three weeks,” Sadoo said. “Until we get a couple of days away, we won’t have a clear idea. It’s so early in the process.”

The incident occurred a few minutes before the start of a maiden claimer on dirt. Frey’s mount, Beat the Chalk, flipped and was withdrawn.

Sun, 07/29/2018 - 12:21

My Boy Jack to miss rest of year with ankle chip

Barbara D. Livingston
My Boy Jack has competed in four preps in four different states en route to the Kentucky Derby.

DEL MAR, Calif. – My Boy Jack, a three-time stakes winner who was fifth in the Kentucky Derby in May, has been diagnosed with a bone chip in an ankle that will require surgery.

My Boy Jack will miss the remainder of the year. Kirk Godby of Don’t Tell My Wife Stables, which co-owns the colt with Monomoy Stables, said My Boy Jack is expected to return to racing as a 4-year-old in 2019. The injury was detected after My Boy Jack finished eighth of nine in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby on July 7.

Sat, 07/28/2018 - 20:00

Casse thinking Travers, not Alabama, for Wonder Gadot

Michael Burns
Wonder Gadot defeated males in the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Travers may have picked up a significant contender Saturday and she didn’t even run.

Trainer Mark Casse told the New York Racing Association publicity team Saturday that Wonder Gadot, winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown, is likely to face males in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 25.

Sat, 07/28/2018 - 15:24

Tapwrit, Velazquez work half-mile in Whitney prep

Barbara Livingston
Tapwrit, with John Velazquez aboard, works on the Oklahoma training track Saturday morning.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez have teamed up to win the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga three times. Next Saturday, they will seek a fourth victory with Tapwrit, a horse Velazquez will ride for the first time in the $1.2 million race.

Sat, 07/28/2018 - 15:09

CHRB investigating claim of Arch Prince

DEL MAR, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the $20,000 claim of winner Arch Prince from Thursday’s fifth race at Del Mar, focusing on the relationship between previous trainer Val Brinkerhoff and new trainer Bobby Wayne Grayson.

Brinkerhoff and Grayson’s son, Bobby Jr., co-own Restrainedvengence, the winner of the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar on July 18. Bobby Grayson Jr. was listed as the owner of Arch Prince on the claim slip, with Bobby Wayne Grayson listed as trainer.

Sat, 07/28/2018 - 14:59

Take the One O One targets Del Mar Derby

Benoit Photo
Take the One O One and Joe Talamo won Friday's Real Good Deal at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif. – In consecutive starts, Take the One O One won the $192,345 Snow Chief Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on June 2 and Friday’s $150,345 Real Good Deal Stakes at seven furlongs on dirt at Del Mar.

Those races, for California-bred 3-year-olds, have padded Take the One O One’s earnings to $341,181 and displayed the colt’s versatility in two-turn turf races and main-track sprints. The next objective will be a more difficult race – the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf Sept. 2.

Fri, 07/27/2018 - 18:21

Monmouth to offer pick four wager combining horse racing, baseball

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The William Hill Sports Book at Monmouth Park on Sunday will offer a horse racing/Major League Baseball pick four, which is being calling the Grand Slam. Head-to-head proposition wagers on some horses in the Haskell Invitational will also be available, as will betting on the margin of victory.

The bets will only be available at Monmouth.

Fri, 07/27/2018 - 15:00

Jockeys Santana, Irad Ortiz, fined

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The stewards fined jockeys Ricardo Santana Jr. and Irad Ortiz Jr. $2,000 each for careless riding in separate incidents on Thursday’s card.

Though the fines were the same, the stewards’ rulings were not.

In race 5, Ortiz rode Brimstone to a three-quarter-length victory over Imperatore. Ortiz drifted out several paths, carrying Top of the Page out with him. Top of the Page, ridden by Jose Ortiz, Irad’s brother, was beaten a half-length for second.

The stewards posted the inquiry sign but ultimately did not make a change.