Mon, 05/21/2018 - 12:36

Smith will serve two suspension days this week

ARCADIA, Calif. –Jockey Mike Smith, who rides Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Justify, will serve two days of suspension this week for careless riding May 6 at Santa Anita.

Smith was to serve a four-day suspension last Thursday-Sunday, but he sat out only Thursday and Sunday and rode in graded stakes at Pimlico on Friday and Saturday. Smith won the Preakness on Saturday aboard Justify.

Under California racing rules, jockeys are allowed to ride graded stakes while under suspension for routine infractions as long as they serve the days at a later date.

Mon, 05/21/2018 - 12:36

Catalina Cruiser to get some route experience

ARCADIA, Calif. – Catalina Cruiser won an optional claimer Saturday at Santa Anita to remained unbeaten in two starts, both sprints, and will stretch out to two turns in his next few starts, trainer John Sadler said.

On Saturday, in his first start of the year, Catalina Cruiser led throughout going six furlongs under Drayden Van Dyke and won by 2 1/4 lengths. He was timed in 1:08.64 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 101. Owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, Catalina Cruiser won a maiden race last October.

“He’s a very talented horse,” Sadler said.

Mon, 05/21/2018 - 12:36

What a View will try to go the distance in Whittingham

Shigeki Kikkawa
What a View (right) beats Colonist to win the Grade 3 American Stakes in April.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Five weeks after a hard-fought win in the Grade 3 American Stakes at a mile on turf, the 7-year-old What a View will be asked to do something he has never done in Saturday’s Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita – start at 1 1/4 miles on turf.

The assignment is achievable from trainer Kenny Black’s point of view.

“I believe my horse is training and acting as good as I’ve ever had him,” Black wrote in a text message Sunday. “He should be sitting on a big race.”

Mon, 05/21/2018 - 12:26

Five-way battle for spring-meet riding title

Lauren King/Coglianese Photos
Jockey Edgard Zayas's 34 victories puts him fourth on the rider standings for the spring meet.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For the past several seasons, when the Gulfstream Park Championship meet ended it became pretty easy to predict who would win the spring and summer riding titles: either Tyler Gaffalione or Edgard Zayas.

Mon, 05/21/2018 - 11:50

Sire Scat Daddy has big weekend

Debra A. Roma
Tap Daddy, with Ricardo Santana Jr. aboard, wins the James W. Murphy Stakes.

Scat Daddy’s legacy was already growing Saturday, even before Justify emerged from the fog to win the Preakness Stakes and set himself up for a Triple Crown bid for his late sire.

Mon, 05/21/2018 - 11:06

Pimlico, Preakness futures may be clear within year

Debra A. Roma
Saturday's Preakness at Pimlico Race Course had an announced attendance of 134,487.

BALTIMORE – With the 143rd Preakness in the books, Tim Ritvo, The Stronach Group’s chief operating officer, is hopeful decisions will be made during the next 12 months regarding Pimlico Race Course’s future and where the Preakness will be held in the years to follow.

Phase 2 of a Maryland Stadium Authority study on Pimlico is under way, and its results could be issued this fall. Phase 1, completed in February 2017, estimated it would cost $300 million to renovate the dilapidated but somehow homey racetrack.

Sun, 05/20/2018 - 17:58

Unique Bella breezes six furlongs for Beholder Mile

Barbara D. Livingston
Unique Bella and jockey Mike Smith win the Santa Maria Stakes by nine lengths in February.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Unique Bella, the champion female sprinter of 2017, breezed six furlongs in 1:14.20 on Sunday in advance of the Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares on June 2.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Unique Bella's workout was “real nice. It wasn’t fast, but it was breezing. She did it quite easy.”

A 4-year-old, Unique Bella was second in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 13 after a troubled start. She won the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles by nine lengths here on Feb. 10 in her only other start this year.

Sun, 05/20/2018 - 17:52

Pavel points to Gold Cup, not Shoemaker Mile

Barbara D. Livingston
Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf and Grade 1 Gold Cup on dirt are both under consideration for Pavel.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Pavel, fourth in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 31, is likely to run in Saturday’s Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on dirt and not the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf, trainer Doug O’Neill said Sunday.

Pavel has never run on turf, and has had mixed results at 1 1/4 miles on dirt, the distance of the $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita. Last year, Pavel was third in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Belmont Park, but 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at the same distance at Del Mar.

Sun, 05/20/2018 - 17:39

Jockey Baze sore from spill but plans to ride Thursday

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Tyler Baze is expected to return to racing on Thursday.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Tyler Baze was off his mounts Sunday, a day after he was unseated in a one-horse spill and briefly hospitalized.

Baze plans to resume riding Thursday, according to his agent, Craig O’Bryan.

Baze was aboard Fast Munny, who fell nearing the finish of an allowance race with a $40,000 claiming option at six furlongs. Fast Munny suffered an apparent heart attack, veterinarians told track stewards.

Sun, 05/20/2018 - 17:30

Prat to serve three days' suspension

Barbara D. Livingston
Flavien Prat has been suspended Dec. 30 and 31.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Flavien Prat, the leading rider at Santa Anita's spring-summer meeting, has been suspended three days for careless riding in a race last Thursday, the stewards wrote in a ruling issued Friday.

The suspension covers racing from Friday through Sunday of the upcoming week. There are no plans for an appeal, according to Prat’s agent, Derek Lawson.

Prat was cited for his ride on Brave Helios, who finished fourth and was disqualified and placed fifth in Thursday’s first race for drifting out in the stretch.