Tue, 08/01/2017 - 07:46

Haskell, Jim Dandy upsets muddy 3-year-old picture – and open up Travers field

Joe Labozzetta/Equi-Photo
Girvin (outside) got his nose in front of McCraken and Practical Joke at the wire in Sunday's Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The 3-year-old male division was turned upside down over the weekend when longshots Girvin and Good Samaritan won two important graded stakes while classic winners Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing and the previously undefeated Timeline faltered.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 19:54

Gaffalione aboard Wine List in Thursday allowance

Barbara D. Livingston
Florida Derby runner-up Majesto will depart for Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby on Friday.

Wine List will have leading jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard for the first time when a four-day race week begins at Gulfstream on Thursday with a $43,000 allowance as the highlight of a nine-race card.

Wine List, a 7-year-old gelding with a couple of long layoff lines in his past performances, was one of 12 horses sent to Gulfstream earlier this year by Louisiana-based trainer Ron Faucheux partly because of the suspension of turf racing at Evangeline Downs for the balance of the year. Gaffalione has surged again to his customary spot atop the Gulfstream jockey standings.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 19:46

Gunnevera’s return spices up weekend stakes action

Barbara D. Livingston
Gunnevera got a brief freshening after finishing fifth in the Preakness.

A five-week drought between six-figure stakes at Gulfstream Park will come to an end this weekend, but it’s not just the leadoff events in the popular Florida Sire Stakes series that will catch the attention of racing fans.

Gunnevera also will be back in action at the south Florida track as a huge favorite in the $100,000 Tangelo Stakes, adding to the allure of a weekend that also will include the $100,000 Dr. Fager and $100,000 Desert Vixen on Saturday.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 15:40

Arklow tries to rebound in Hall of Fame Stakes

Emily Shields
Arklow and jockey Mike Smith score by one length in the American Turf Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Arklow, the winner of the Grade 2 American Turf at Churchill Downs in May, tops a field of nine 3-year-olds for Friday’s Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes.

Arklow rallied to a one-length victory over Good Samaritan in the American Turf, a performance obviously flattered on Saturday when Good Samaritan upset the Grade 2 Jim Dandy here. Trained by Brad Cox, Arklow will attempt to rebound from an 11th-place finish in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby. Florent Geroux will be aboard for the first time.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 15:36

Mojovation earns start in Hopeful

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – On Saturday, trainer Todd Pletcher won four races on the Saratoga card, including a maiden special weight race with the 2-year-old colt Mojovation, who scored a front-running victory by two lengths. He covered six furlongs in 1:11.14 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 86.

“He trained well all summer,” Pletcher said. “It was nice to see him perform up to the way he had been training.”

Mojovation, a son of Quality Road owned by Zayat Stables, likely will make his next start in the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 4.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 15:36

Brown puts together eight-race winning streak

Debra A. Roma
Paid up Subscriber took his first victory in 13 months with Sunday's Shuvee Handicap.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In between disappointments in Saturday’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga and Sunday’s Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, trainer Chad Brown won eight consecutive races, including seven straight on Sunday.

Brown’s streak started in Saturday’s 11th race at Saratoga, where Durable Goods won a maiden race on turf. Wake Island, also trained by Brown, was second.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 14:00

Sadler wants BC Distaff win, Eclipse Award for Stellar Wind

Benoit & Associates
Stellar Wind is now a perfect 3 for 3 at Del Mar with Sunday's repeat victory in the Clement Hirsch Stakes.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Stellar Wind finished second in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and fourth last year after stumbling at the start. Her third and final try in the race will be at Del Mar on Nov. 3, a date that trainer John Sadler is constantly reminded is fast approaching.

“They’ve got that countdown sign outside the track,” he said Monday of a sign prominently displayed at the corner of Via de la Valle and Jimmy Durante. “It dropped under 100, now it’s in the 90s. That’s not that far away.”

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 13:56

Avenge tops large field for Yellow Ribbon Handicap

Shigeki Kikkawa
Avenge earned a fees-paid to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf by leading throughout in the Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Avenge, third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, is set to make her second start of the year Saturday in the Grade 2, $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile grass race for older females. The field is shaping up as the largest of the four stakes at Del Mar this weekend.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 13:56

Eramia loaded with mounts on all-stakes program

Coady Photography
Mr. Al's Gal, with Richard Eramia aboard, scores by 3 1/2 lengths over a sloppy track in the Azalea.

Louisiana Downs will run nothing but stakes races on Saturday. The nine-race program features the $60,000 Prelude, which is a prep for the Super Derby; the annual Louisiana Cup of divisional stakes for Louisiana-breds; and a couple of turf stakes moved north from Evangeline Downs.

Purses for the card total $460,000. The program is the first of two major stakes days at Louisiana Downs, and the races are expected to produce starters for the Super Derby card of stakes Sept. 9. First post Saturday is 3:15 p.m. Central.

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 13:50

Texas Chrome draws rail for Downs at Albuquerque Handicap

Dustin Orona Photography
Texas Chrome is the second Texas-bred to become a millionaire.

Texas Chrome is scheduled to arrive in New Mexico on Thursday morning for Saturday night’s $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap, trainer Allen Milligan said Monday. Texas Chrome is the 122-pound highweight.

The Downs at Albuquerque Handicap is the meet’s premier offering for Thoroughbreds. It will be run over 1 1/8 miles and drew a field of 10. Lindey Wade has the mount on Texas Chrome, who will break from the rail, a draw that suits the horse, said Milligan.

“I think it’s fine with him,” he said. “I’d rather be on the inside than the outside.”