Wed, 08/16/2017 - 13:00

Trainer Eddie Graham ‘humbled' by second Million Day victory

Four-Footed Fotos
Postulation gave trainer Eddie Graham his second graded stakes win in last Saturday's Grade 3 American St. Leger at Arlington Park.

Trainer Eddie Graham has had a busy but satisfying week.

On Saturday, he won the Grade 3, $250,000 American St. Leger on the Arlington Million undercard with Postulation. On Tuesday, he worked his 2014 Arlington Million winner Hardest Core five furlongs in 1:02 over the Tapeta track at Fair Hill Training Center.

Graham, 46, has two graded stakes wins in his career. That they both came at Arlington Park on Million Day is amazing. That he legged both horses up for their victories in the minor Cape Henlopen Stakes at Delaware Park borders on the unbelievable.

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 11:56

Classic Empire back to Ocala, still targeting Pennsylvania Derby

Barbara D. Livingston
Classic Empire walks off the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga after pulling himself up during a scheduled workout on Aug. 14.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Classic Empire is starting over. Again.

For the second time this year, trainer Mark Casse has shipped Classic Empire – last year’s 2-year-old champion – to Winding Oaks Farm in Ocala, Fla., with hopes of preparing him for success in a Grade 1 race.

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 11:36

Jockey McMahon taking second crack at Kentucky circuit

Coady Photography
Jockey C.J. McMahon will miss the final three days of the Lone Star meet.

Jockey C.J. McMahon, who briefly tried the Kentucky circuit in 2013, is back in town, this time hoping to become a more permanent fixture.

McMahon, 22, rode primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, and his native Louisiana in recent years before moving in April to Gulfstream Park, where he had 25 wins from 276 starters (9 percent).

“I believe he belongs here as much as anyone,” said his new agent, Joe Santos, whose former client Didiel Osorio has been suspended indefinitely on suspicion of carrying an electrical device in a race last Friday at Indiana Grand.

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 11:36

Great-grandmother Martin rides winner at 63

SV Photography
Jockey Sue Martin

No one is quite sure whether it’s a record, but when Sue Martin, 63, won the first race Sunday at Ellis aboard Golden Fire Fly, she might have become the oldest female jockey ever to win a race in North America.

News archives say Diane King also was 63 when she rode a winner at Thistledown in August 2013, when it is believed she set the record in that category.

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 11:26

Miss Temple City eyes Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf

Coady Photography

Miss Temple City is considered a possible starter by trainer Graham Motion for the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf on Sept. 9, although he has not ruled out another race elsewhere to use as a prep for the Oct. 7 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland.

If the 5-year-old mare does in fact make the trip from her Maryland base, surely she will be the most accomplished horse to ever set foot on the Kentucky Downs course. She’s a three-time Grade 1 winner and an earner of more than $1.4 million, with two of those Grade 1 victories coming against males at Keeneland.

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 11:26

Ten City rerouted to Ellis Park Juvenile

Coady Photography/Churchill Downs
Ten City wins the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes on Friday, the first of three stakes wins on the card for jockey Robby Albarado and the first of three straight victories for trainer Ken McPeek.

Ten City, the colt who defeated Copper Bullet in the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs, will make his next start Sunday in the $75,000 Ellis Park Juvenile in western Kentucky.

“He needs to run,” said trainer Kenny McPeek, who initially intended to wait until the Sept. 16 Iroquois at Churchill for the colt’s next race. “He’s been training, training, training, and I finally decided this is the best way to go.”

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 10:46

Irish Freedom hasn't lost a step

Benoit & Associates
Irish Freedom returned from a four-month layoff to win an allowance race on Sunday.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Irish Freedom was so highly regarded that he ran in the Santa Anita Derby in only his third start, and his second off a layoff, earlier this year. He was off for four months after that race, but returned with an impressive score against allowance company Sunday.

“He had been working really well,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “He needed time off after the Santa Anita Derby because he got real sick. The very next day, he had a temperature of 103 or 104.”

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 10:36

Bal a Bali, Om all set for Del Mar Mile

Benoit & Associates
Bal a Bali paid $8.20 in winning the Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on Saturday.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Bal a Bali and Om are expected to meet Sunday in the Grade 2, $200,000 Del Mar Mile on turf, and each turned in a short, sharp workout on the dirt on a drizzly Tuesday morning in their final serious preparations for the race.

Om, trained by Dan Hendricks, worked three furlongs in 36.80 seconds. Bal a Bali, trained by Richard Mandella, went a half-mile in 47.40.

Tue, 08/15/2017 - 20:58

Pacific Classic a re-proving ground for Arrogate

Emily Shields
Arrogate drew post 8 for Saturday's Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The Pacific Classic came into being in 1991, seven years after the first Breeders’ Cup. This year marks the first time that the Breeders’ Cup will be run at Del Mar, and that is one of the reasons the Pacific Classic this Saturday is so vitally important for the participants, especially Arrogate, for it mirrors the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4, a 1 1/4-mile dirt race at Del Mar.

Tue, 08/15/2017 - 13:13

Arrogate among early entries for Pacific Classic

Shigeki Kikkawa
Cupid wins his first Grade 1 race in Saturday's Gold Cup at Santa Anita.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Led by Arrogate, a field of six or seven was expected to be entered on Tuesday morning for the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Saturday at Del Mar, posts for which were to be drawn late Tuesday afternoon at the local restaurant The Brigantine.