Miso Phansy, second by a nose in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes on turf at Santa Anita last Sunday, will be withdrawn from Saturday’s $125,000 Melair Stakes for 3-year-old California-bred fillies, trainer Leonard Powell said.
Entries for the Melair were taken last Sunday morning. Powell said the Melair was an option for Miso Phansy if she did not perform to expectations in the Honeymoon Stakes.
Shocking Grey, the 6-year-old mare entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at Santa Anita, was briefly at the center of attention in California racing in mid-January.
Shocking Grey won the first stakes of her career in the $126,500 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Jan. 18 in her 14th start. Three days later, she was purchased for $170,000 at the California winter mixed sale in Pomona, the most expensive hip of the one-day auction.
Trainer Todd Pletcher is in no rush to commit to where he intends to run Mindframe next off his game victory earlier this month in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes. Nor was Mindframe himself in any real rush when he breezed for the first time since that outstanding performance, cruising an easy half-mile in 52.48 seconds in company with Candytown over a “fast” but dull Oklahoma training track in unseasonably cold weather Friday morning at Saratoga.
The consistent Epic Ride turned in one of his strongest career performances when second in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint to Booth, who continued a win streak that has him among the division’s leaders. Despite his strong effort on the Pimlico dirt, trainer John Ennis is likely going to pursue his long-stated wish to put Epic Ride on turf this summer.
The four-time graded stakes winner Hong Kong Harry was retired earlier this year and is being retrained for a second career.
“He had a little arthritis set in,” trainer Phil D’Amato said on Thursday. “It was time to stop on his racing career.”
An Irish-bred gelding who is now 8, Hong Kong Harry won 10 of 18 starts and earned $815,097. Hong Kong Harry raced in England at the start of his career, winning four minor races in 2020 and 2021.
Todd Pletcher was among the trainers dodging rain drops Thursday while trying to figure out his best strategy for breezing the Met Mile-bound Fierceness. Pletcher ultimately sent him out about 15 minutes after White Abarrio worked a quick five furlongs on the main track, albeit over the back-raked Oklahoma training track.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. drove approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes from Long Island to Saratoga on Wednesday afternoon to spend 58.50 seconds working White Abarrio five furlongs the following morning for his upcoming start in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. And from the looks of the work, all that time on the road was well spent.
Canterbury Park is making a concerted effort to appeal to horseplayers during its 51-date meet that opens Saturday night in Shakopee, Minn, and runs through Sept. 20.
The track is focused on increasing field and pool sizes, and it will again offer both a strong dose of turf racing and a reduced takeout on its pick five wager.
“I think what’s kind of become our calling card is the 10 percent takeout pick five,” said Jeff Maday, spokesman for Canterbury. “We’re going to offer that and we’ve moved it to start in race 2 every race day.
Margie’s Intention, winner of the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on May 16, will most likely make her next start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park on June 14, Elliott Walden, president and CEO of racing operations for WinStar Farm said.
Walden said he favored the Delaware Oaks over a race like the Grade 1 Acorn in part because it gives Margie’s Intention one more week and the field won’t include undefeated Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer, who is pointing to the Acorn at Saratoga on June 6.
Handle at all racetracks in California showed a 5 percent decline through April compared to the first four months of 2024, according to figures announced by the California Horse Racing Board last week.
All-sources handle, including ontrack, satellite, and account wagering sources, was more than $816.3 million compared to more than $863.3 million in 2024. Compared to the first four months of 2023, when all-sources handle was $932.9 million, the amount wagered has declined 12.5 percent over the past two years.
