LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg recently underwent surgery for cancer of his inner jaw but continues to train a stable that will move to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas shortly after the Churchill Downs fall meet ends Nov. 26.
Van Berg, 81, was diagnosed earlier this year with squamous cell carcinoma and underwent a second surgery Oct. 31 in Little Rock, Ark., in an attempt to eradicate the disease, said Van Berg’s son and assistant, Tom.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Chickatini, who makes her debut in race 6 on Thursday at Del Mar, is a homebred for Sharon Alesia and Joe Ciaglia. They raced her dam, She’s Cheeky, and then bred the mare to Bernardini.
Chickatini is the second foal by Bernardini and out of She’s Cheeky, but the first who made it to the races, as the first foal died shortly after birth.
“So they bred her back,” said Eurton, who trained She’s Cheeky and now trains Chickatini.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Solid Wager will seek to win the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes for the third straight year when he makes the 39th start of his career in the seven-furlong race for California-bred sprinters on Sunday.
Solid Wager is one of three horses trainer Peter Miller said he will run in the Cary Grant, along with California Diamond and Prime Issue.
Others under consideration for the race include Edwards Going Left, Green With Eddie, Jimmy Bouncer, Love My Bud, Smokey Image, Tribal Storm, and Well Measured.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar’s fall meeting is bookended by the Breeders’ Cup and the turf festival, and the nominations to the closing weekend’s races, released over the weekend, indicate that this meet will finish with a flourish heading to closing day, Nov. 26.
Jockey Richard Eramia said that after the Remington Park meet ends Dec. 17 he will base at Oaklawn Park, which opens in January. Eramia, who ranks second in the standings at Remington Park, said it will be the first time he has ridden a full meet at Oaklawn.
“I want to stay around here, Lone Star, Remington and Oaklawn,” said Eramia, who lives near Dallas.
The owner-trainer team of Jim Helzer and Sleepy Gilbreath reached the heights of the Quarter Horse world with a number of top-class horses, led by Refrigerator. But last week, their roles were reversed at Remington Park.
The Gilbreath homebred So Long Tiger won a maiden race for 2-year-old Thoroughbreds, and the trainer was Jim Helzer.
“I got old Jim Helzer training for me,” Gilbreath said. “I trained for him for 30-something years!”
Conquest Mo Money could return to racing as early as next spring, with his long-range objective the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, co-owner Tom McKenna said Monday.
Conquest Mo Money last raced in May, finishing seventh in the Preakness. He was injured in a June workout and now is based at the New Mexico farm McKenna owns with his wife, Sandra.
“We’ll bring him back, probably late Sunland Park or Albuquerque,” McKenna said of the meets at home in New Mexico. “We’re just starting very light training with him.”
MIAMI – Ralph Nicks learned what it was like to work with champions during his 13-year tenure as an assistant to trainer Bill Mott. Now it appears Nicks has a champion of his own, Caledonia Road, following her eye-catching victory at Del Mar in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
MIAMI – Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. recently announced his intention to return to his roots and race year round in south Florida in 2018. He celebrated that decision on Saturday in the winner’s circle at his old stomping grounds, Gulfstream Park West (formerly known at Calder Race Course), following Mr. Jordan’s 11 1/2-length victory in the Sunshine Millions Classic Preview.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Aheadbyacentury finished off his 2-year-old campaign with a two-length win over Neepawa in the Coronation Futurity on Nov. 5, and will head to Florida for the winter to train in preparation for next year’s Queen’s Plate, trainer John Ross said.
“That makes four races for him and that was the plan I had for him,” he said. “We’re going to take him to Florida and have a great winter. All of those things help, and if you treat them right, there’s a good chance of having a real good horse for the Queen’s Plate. I’m hoping.”
