Cedartown, who won his stakes debut in the $200,000 Zia Park Derby last Wednesday in New Mexico, is settled in at Fair Grounds and is a candidate for some of the meet’s route stakes, according to trainer Mike Stidham.
Cedartown earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96 for his Zia Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race that he won in 1:43.76. Cedartown rallied for a 1 3/4-length victory.
Adam Beschizza has been at Fair Grounds before, working as an exercise rider for trainer Mike Stidham in 2009 and for trainer Joe Sharp in 2015. But this year the 25-year-old English rider is back in New Orleans as a full-time jockey, and he had his first three U.S. winners this past racing week. All three horses, including two Sunday, are trained by Sharp, who met Beschizza when Sharp was an assistant to Stidham the year Beschizza came over.
Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens said Monday he plans to winter at the Oaklawn Park meet that opens in January. He is scheduled to ride the opening-day card Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, then get on the road to Hot Springs, Ark. Stevens said he plans to be working horses at Oaklawn no later than Jan. 2. The meet starts Jan. 12.
Trainer Mark Casse has some sorting to do with an excellent group of 2-year-old fillies.
Road to Victory won the Grade 2 Golden Rod on Saturday at Churchill Downs, adding to the strong roster of young female talent in the far-reaching Casse string. Road to Victory is headed for Florida, with the Gulfstream Oaks and the Kentucky Oaks atop the list of her 2018 targets. Wonder Gadot, a troubled sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, ships from Florida to New York for the Demoiselle Stakes this Saturday at Aqueduct.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It is no surprise that trainer Mike Maker is loaded and ready for Saturday’s Claiming Crown races, which highlight opening day of the 2017-18 Gulfstream Park championship meet.
Maker said Tuesday he plans to enter 18 horses for the nine Claiming Crown races, with a half-dozen of the horses belonging to his principal owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Maker and the Ramseys have dominated the series since its inception nearly two decades ago, with 15 victories apiece.
Trainer Jeremiah Englehart, who won a pair of stakes Friday at Aqueduct, will send out Indy Union in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle for 2-year-old fillies.
Indy Union, a daughter of Union Rags, enters the Demoiselle off a seven-length maiden win going a one-turn mile at Belmont. Two starts before that, she finished third, beaten three lengths by Caledonia Road, in a seven-furlong race at Saratoga. Caledonia Road came back to run second in the Grade 1 Frizette before winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Joining trainer Dallas Stewart and owner Charles Fipke in a run of Grade 1 success in November was John Velazquez, who guided Forever Unbridled to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Seeking the Soul to an upset score in the Clark Handicap.
Velazquez actually joined the team when he guided Eskenformoney past the Fipke-owned Verve’s Tale in the last jump of the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm on Oct. 28. Joel Rosario had ridden Verve’s Tale and her trainer, Barclay Tagg, felt he moved too soon in that race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The roll that trainer Dallas Stewart has been on the last four weeks actually began Oct. 28 at Belmont Park, when Tom’s Ready turned in the performance of his life winning the Bold Ruler Handicap.
Stewart knows Tom’s Ready will have to bring every bit of that effort if he is to end his career a Grade 1 winner when he runs in Saturday’s $750,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Gigantic Breeze, who upset Melmich in the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes on Nov. 12, will make his next start in the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, trainer Alexander McPherson said.
Gigantic Breeze is eligible for the Claiming Crown after running for a $20,000 claiming tag last November. McPherson said he is hopeful Gigantic Breeze can maintain his strong 2017 form following the long journey to Florida.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – About an hour after Ami’s Mesa was beaten a nose by Bar of Gold in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 4, trainer Josie Carroll and owner-breeder Ivan Dalos went from the agony of defeat to the thrill of victory as, back at Woodbine, Gamble’s Ghost won the Grade 3 Maple Leaf Stakes by three-quarters of a length.
It was the third consecutive win for the daughter of Ghostzapper, following an allowance score in October and the Belle Mahone Stakes in September.
