HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Amy’s Challenge, who worked a bullet half-mile in 46.20 seconds Saturday at Oaklawn, is scheduled to be ridden by Mike Smith in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy, trainer Mac Robertson said Monday. A Kentucky Oaks points race, the Fantasy is April 13 at Oaklawn.
Amy’s Challenge emerged from her work in good order, said Robertson, and galloped on Monday. It was her first day back to the track following her work, which was the fastest of 114 at the distance here on Saturday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s spring, allegedly, in Kentucky, but you can’t tell by sight nor feel. The final spasms of winter’s grasp will make for an uncomfortable opening weekend at Keeneland, where a slew of major stakes will be run amid unseasonable cold and intermittent rain.
The 16-day spring meet opens Friday with Analyze It as a heavy favorite in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes – although it’s not certain the race will remain on turf, since rain and a high temperature of 48 are in the forecast.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Terra Promessa, who won four stakes races Oaklawn Park, has been retired, according to her trainer, Steve Asmussen. He said she has returned home to the Kentucky operation of her breeder and owner, Stonestreet Stables.
Terra Promessa retires with a record of 7 wins from 16 starts for earnings of $920,350. She is a 5-year-old by Curlin – the two-time Horse of the Year who raced for Stonestreet and was trained by Asmussen – and she is out of the multiple stakes-winning mare Missile Bay.
Turf racing is back on at Evangeline Downs.
The Opelousas, La., track opens Wednesday night with a rejuvenated turf course after the surface was closed down for much of last season due to maintenance procedures that took longer than anticipated. The first races over the turf will come at the end of April or the first part of May, said Chris Warren, director of racing for Evangeline.
“The quality of the turf course should be the best it’s been in years,” he said. “We’ve been working diligently for the last year with our consultant.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Famer Bob Baffert is well positioned to win the training title at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, which ends Sunday.
Through last Sunday, Bob Baffert led with 31 wins, one more than Peter Miller, who had two wins on Sunday. Richard Baltas was third with 28 victories.
Miller cannot catch Baffert, and could be passed by Baltas.
Miller began a seven-day suspension Monday for displaying aggressive or abusive behavior toward a stable employee in an incident at the San Luis Rey Downs training center last September.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Paved, a 3-year-old filly by Quality Road, laid the groundwork for an outstanding 2018 season with wins in her first two starts this year.
A victory in a maiden race on turf for fillies Jan. 6 was followed by a win as the 2-1 favorite in the El Camino Real Derby against males on the Tapeta track at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 17.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher won the only two races he was in on Sunday to cap a meet at which he won 69 races and captured his 15th straight Gulfstream Park trainer's title.
Pletcher, who won his record fifth Florida Derby on Saturday with Audible, finished 33 wins ahead of Jorge Navarro and Mike Maker, who finished tied for second with 36.
ARCADIA, Calif. – After finally getting a chance to see McKinzie for the first time in a week, assessing his status, and looking at the calendar, trainer Bob Baffert on Monday morning here at Santa Anita said it was “not looking good” for McKinzie to make the Kentucky Derby on May 5 at Churchill Downs.
