HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Ferocious, currently 19th in the point standings for the 2025 Kentucky Derby, has been taken off the Derby trail, his connections reported on Friday.
Ferocious, two-time Grade 1 placed at 2 who finished fourth making his 3-year-old debut earlier this month in the Grade 2 Holy Bull, suffered a muscle tear after the race, according to Gustavo Delgado Jr., a part owner of the horse and the son of trainer Gustavo Delgado.
Rookie Card, a 3-year-old allowance winner in Florida, could make his next start in the $150,000 Bay Shore Stakes on April 19 at Aqueduct, trainer Danny Gargan said.
Rookie Card won a Florida-bred allowance by three lengths going seven furlongs on Sunday at Gulfstream, earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure. That was a good bounce-back effort after he was interfered with going into the far turn of the Pasco Stakes. He crossed the wire fifth but was elevated to fourth when Owen Almighty, who caused the interference, was disqualified from first.
Though Silvology won her second straight race since going a marathon distance on turf, trainer Shug McGaughey said he will be in no hurry to run her in a stakes race.
“We’ll bring her along slowly, and hopefully by the middle of summer, we’ll find a [stakes] spot for her,” McGaughey said.
Silvology, a 4-year-old daughter of Blame, lost her first two starts on dirt and then dropped her first three starts on turf, though none were farther than 1 1/8 miles. At Gulfstream this winter, Silvology won a 1 3/8-mile maiden race and then a 1 1/2-mile allowance on turf.
The three-day racing weekend at Santa Anita from Friday through Sunday may help determine whether George Papaprodromou can remain in the top 10 of the trainer’s standings at the current winter-spring meeting. It will also dictate whether he can pull a surprise in a graded stakes.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Gulfstream Park management has announced that effective immediately there will be an additional run up of 85 feet added to the start of all 1 1/16-mile races and 53 feet for all future races run at 1 1/8 miles over the main track.
The change will have its first significant impact with Saturday’s running of the mile and one-sixteenth, Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.
The presence of J B Strikes Back and Katonah in Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap is an accomplishment for trainer Doug O’Neill and two of his clients.
J B Strikes Back was claimed for $25,000 at Del Mar last August and has won his last three starts, including the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. Since being claimed, J B Strikes Back has earned $173,960 for the Purple Rein Stable of Jeanie Buss. The Buss family is the majority owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers.
The 2024 stakes winners Hang the Moon, Motorious, and One Magic Philly recently rejoined trainer Phil D’Amato’s stable after wintertime rests.
Hang the Moon, a 5-year-old mare, won a pair of Grade 2 turf stakes last summer and fall – the John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar in September and the Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita in October. She was later last of 12 in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November, and last of six by 1 1/4 lengths as the 7-10 favorite in the Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 27.
After briefly entertaining the idea of bringing the multiple stakes winner Mo Plex back to the races in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes, the decision was made to skip that race and instead run him in the $125,000 Gander Stakes for New York-breds on March 8.
Nilo’s Rose, a probable longshot in Saturday’s $200,000 Busher Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, will have to scratch from that race after being injured during a training incident Tuesday morning at Belmont Park, trainer Robert Falcone Jr. said.
