Wed, 05/30/2018 - 11:56

Aristides, Mighty Beau form late-night double

Coady Photography
Wilbo (right) finishes second to Whitmore in the Count Fleet last time out.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Catering, evidently, to the late-night crowd, Churchill has carded its two Saturday stakes as the last two of 11 races on the Downs After Dark card. First post is 6 p.m. Eastern, with the $100,000 Aristides (race 10) going at 10:42 and the $75,000 Mighty Beau (race 11) going at 11:10.

The 30th running of the Grade 3 Aristides at six furlongs drew a well-matched field of seven older horses, with Wilbo and Mr. Crow the likely favorites over Smart Spree, Awesome Saturday, and Chief Cicatriz.

Wed, 05/30/2018 - 11:56

Oaks also-rans look to get back on track in Friday allowance

Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club
Rayya may possibly race in the Kentucky Oaks on May 4.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It’ll be a reunion of sorts Friday afternoon at Churchill Downs when three fillies from the Kentucky Oaks get together again.

None of them hit the board in the May 4 Oaks, but their respective connections have a right to expect better things the rest of the year from Kelly’s Humor (eighth), Classy Act (10th), and Rayya (13th). They’re part of the race-5 feature on a terrific nine-race Friday card that includes four allowances.

Tue, 05/29/2018 - 15:52

Lynch wins Pimlico riding title

A year ago, Fergal Lynch finished in a three-way tie for leading rider during the 12-day Pimlico mini-meet. On Sunday, he won the title outright.

Lynch, 39, rode nine winners at the meet, two more than both Horacio Karamanos - who also tied for last year's meet lead - and Rosario Montanez. Lynch scored riding triples on both May 13 and 24.

Mon, 05/28/2018 - 19:55

Audible sent to Kentucky for a physical exam

Barbara D. Livingston
Audible will bypass the Belmont Stakes, and will be freshened before beginning a summer campaign.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Audible, the Grade 1 Florida Derby winner and third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, has been taken out of training and sent to a clinic in Kentucky for a complete physical, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.

Last Friday, Pletcher said Audible was not training to his satisfaction and he was removed from consideration for the Belmont Stakes. Audible shares common ownership with Justify, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who will be aiming for a Triple Crown in the June 9 Belmont.

Mon, 05/28/2018 - 15:26

Good Samaritan in Met Mile mix

Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography
Good Samaritan could turn back to a mile for a start in the June 9 Metropolitan Handicap.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Good Samaritan, a multiple graded stakes winner on dirt going 1 1/8 miles, will turn back to a one-turn mile race when he runs in the Grade 1, $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap on June 9.

Though it appeared Good Samaritan was pointing to the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs on June 16, trainer Bill Mott said: “We’ve been thinking about the Met Mile all year. He ran well at a mile as a 2-year-old, albeit on turf, but we’ve always wondered ‘What if?’ This is our chance to try and find out.”

Mon, 05/28/2018 - 15:26

Catholic Boy, Analyze It in final works for Pennine Ridge

Barbara D. Livingston
Catholic Boy is set to make his first start on turf since the Breeders' Cup in Saturday's Pennine Ridge Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The undefeated Analyze It and the dual-surface stakes winner Catholic Boy both put in workouts at Belmont Park Monday morning and were then part of an eight-horse field drawn that afternoon for Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park.

Turf works, usually conducted on Sunday, were moved to Monday due to rain on Sunday.

Catholic Boy, who has not run since having been found to have bled in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 31, found a solid workmate in the 5-year-old New York-bred mare Kundray.

Mon, 05/28/2018 - 15:20

Bolt d'Oro sizzles in Keeneland work

Barbara D. Livingston
Bolt d'Oro is pointing for the June 9 Metropolitan Handicap.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mick Ruis has moved on from Bolt d’Oro’s 12th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Apparently, the horse has as well.

On Monday, at Keeneland, Bolt d’Oro blitzed five furlongs in 57 seconds in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.2 Metropolitan Handicap here on June 9. According to owner-trainer Ruis, Bolt d’Oro started four lengths behind workmate Orbit Rain and finished three in front.

Ruis said, “we didn’t even try to” go that fast.

Mon, 05/28/2018 - 15:16

Brown fine-tuning Belmont Day runners

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Robert Bruce heads into the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan off a win in the Fort Marcy Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It was quite the busy Monday morning for trainer Chad Brown, who worked a bevy of runners for the Belmont Stakes week programs.

In addition to Beach Patrol, Brown is planning to start the undefeated Robert Bruce in the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan. On Monday, Robert Bruce, winner of the Fort Marcy stakes in his U.S. debut, worked five furlongs on turf in 1:01.95 in company with Almanaar, who has not run since winning the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf in February 2017.

Mon, 05/28/2018 - 15:06

Social Misfit, at 9, finally a stakes winner

Social Misfit delivered a big upset Saturday night when he defeated Mobile Bay in the $100,000 Louisiana Legends Classic at Evangeline Downs. But aside from taking down a two-time Louisiana-bred horse of the year who was 1-2 to win his sixth straight stakes, Social Misfit achieved an additional milestone.

“It’s amazing that he was finally able to get his first stakes win – it doesn’t happen very often at the ripe old age of 9,” said Karl Broberg, who co-owns and trains Social Misfit.

Mon, 05/28/2018 - 14:56

Double Star targets Prelude Stakes

Double Star is back at his Louisiana Downs base after winning his second straight Evangeline Downs stakes on Saturday, and trainer Bob Schultz said the horse could make his next start at home in the Prelude Stakes.

The $60,000 Prelude, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds, will be run Aug. 4 at Louisiana Downs.

“We could take a shot in there if they don’t have anything for straight 3-year-old Louisiana-breds,” Schultz said Monday.