Simply Joking, who has begun her career with two stakes wins and is an early Kentucky Oaks hopeful, was scratched from an intended start in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
Her trainer, Whit Beckman, said in a text message that Simply Joking was off her feed Thursday. Blood tests returned Friday showed that Simply Joking was fighting an illness, which led to the scratch.
“Caught it early but bad timing for sure,” Beckman said.
Tizzy in the Sky, who last month won the Ladies Stakes by three lengths at Aqueduct, has been retired from racing and will be bred to Not This Time, owner Donnie Orenstein said Friday.
Following the Ladies, the tentative plan was to run Tizzy in the Sky one more time in the Azeri Stakes on March 8 at Oaklawn Park. That race became less appealing when the connections of reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna announced their intention for that filly to make her 4-year-old debut in that spot.
Richard T. DeStasio, who trained multiple Grade 1 winners during his career, died Thursday at his home in Coconut Creek, Fla., at the age of 94, after a battle with dementia.
Among the top horses DeStasio trained were Silver Supreme, who, in 1982, won the Grade 1 Brooklyn and Grade 2 Massachusetts Handicap; Tina Tina Too, the Grade 1 Ladies Handicap winner, and Irish Martini, the 1981 Belmont Futurity winner.
Trainer Jamey Thomas will have a stable based at Emerald Downs in Washington state for the first time this year, a result of the absence of racing in Northern California.
Thomas said on Wednesday that he will send “20 to 25” horses to Emerald Downs, while keeping a small number of runners in Southern California. The stable will relocate to Emerald Downs in coming weeks, Thomas said.
“Most of the horses will go to Washington and I’ll have five or six at Santa Anita that will fit there,” he said.
With a measure of good fortune, California-based trainer Doug O’Neill could send three horses to the Middle East for the Dubai World Cup program on April 5, including Anarchist who has his 2025 debut in Saturday’s Grade 3 Palos Verdes Stakes for sprinters at Santa Anita.
O’Neill said on Thursday that Raging Torrent, the winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, has been invited to Dubai for the Group 2 Godolphin Mile, a $1 million race.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Taxed, who finished a fast-closing third in the American Beauty on Feb. 1 at Oaklawn, is being freshened and could return to action in another filly and mare sprint stakes this meet, trainer Randy Morse said.
Taxed, who is a Grade 2 winner around two turns, was cutting back to one mile for the American Beauty. Morse said she would be considered for the $250,000 Matron, a six-furlong race for fillies and mares on March 29.
“She’s going to get a little rest for a while,” Morse said. “We might target that sprint, the Matron. Something like that.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Tejano Twist and Wendelssohn, who both came back to win after finishing second to Banishing in separate races this meet at Oaklawn, could see stakes action next, according to their trainer, Chris Hartman.
Hartman said Tejano Twist is on deck for next month’s Grade 3 Whitmore. He won the King Cotton one start after his runner-up finish to Banishing in a Dec. 20 allowance.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Dreaminblue, who owns one of the top Beyer Speed Figures by a 3-year-old in 2025, is being considered for a start in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel at Oaklawn Park, trainer Randy Morse said Tuesday.
Dreaminblue earned a 94 Beyer when he won a maiden special weight sprint in his most recent start Jan. 25. It’s the best number put up by a 3-year-old this meet at Oaklawn and tied for fourth highest number in North America.
Sovereignty, unraced since winning the Street Sense Stakes on Oct. 27 at Churchill Downs, is on schedule to make his 3-year-old debut in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 1, though trainer Bill Mott has concerns about that 1 1/16-mile race.
Gun Song, who came within a neck of upsetting Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 Cotillion last fall at Parx, is getting closer to her 2025 debut.
On Wednesday, Gun Song breezed an easy half-mile in 48.28 seconds before galloping out five-eighths in 1:01.20. The work was the fifth for Gun Song, who trainer Mark Hennig did not nominate for this Saturday’s Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes.
