Sun, 03/06/2016 - 17:42

Big Macher gets extended vacation to heal injury

Benoit & Associates
Big Macher is not expected to resume racing until late summer or fall.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Big Macher, the five-time stakes winner, has been turned out with a soft tissue injury, trainer Richard Baltas said over the weekend.

Baltas said Big Macher will not return to racing until the late summer or autumn.

“He’s getting a little rest,” he said. “He’ll be out for three to six months. I don’t think it’s career-ending. The horse isn’t 100 percent.”

Sun, 03/06/2016 - 17:26

Mandella has been patient getting Bal a Bali to Kilroe Mile

Shigeki Kikkawa
Bal a Bali won the Grade 3 American Stakes in May at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Plans have changed frequently for Bal a Bali in the last two years.

When Bal a Bali arrived in the United States in the summer of 2014, trainer Richard Mandella hoped the horse could be a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup. A bout with laminitis ended those plans and delayed Bal a Bali’s debut in this country until last May.

Sun, 03/06/2016 - 14:09

Wood Memorial next goal for Shagaf

Debra Roma
Shagaf (center) was the only non-front-runner to win on Saturday's 10-race program at Aqueduct.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - With his perfect record intact, Gotham Stakes winner Shagaf will continue down the Triple Crown trail with his next stop being the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.

Sat, 03/05/2016 - 14:35

Imperative, Beholder work on busy Saturday morning

Barbara D. Livingston
Beholder, shown training at Santa Anita two weeks ago, had her first workout of the season Tuesday, going three furlongs in 36.60 seconds.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Saturday was an exciting and somewhat hectic morning of workouts at Santa Anita. Stables scurried to complete final major exercises for leading runners before graded stakes races next weekend and an expected rainstorm that is likely to curtail main-track training Sunday and possibly Monday.

Fri, 03/04/2016 - 16:26

Rainbow 6 jackpot must be distributed by March 26

Gulfstream Park  officials have designated March 26 as the day they’ll disperse the Rainbow 6 jackpot if the popular wager is not hit before then. The Rainbow 6, which had a carryover of $2,273,704 entering Friday’s card, has not been hit since returning $76,799 to one bettor Jan. 13. The largest payout of the current meet was $262,634 on Jan. 7.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only if there is one unique ticket with the winning combination.

Fri, 03/04/2016 - 16:23

Awesome Banner gets another shot going long in Tampa Bay Derby

Barbara D. Livingston
Awesome Banner, fifth in the Fountain of Youth, will be given another chance to show he can handle two turns in the Tampa Bay Derby.

After conferring with the horse’s owner, trainer Stanley Gold has decided to give Awesome Banner one more chance around two turns and will bring him back next Saturday in the Tampa Bay Derby. Awesome Banner tired badly after setting the pace, finishing far behind the undefeated Mohaymen, in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

Fri, 03/04/2016 - 16:13

Tomlinson turns down invite for Barbados to Golden Shaheen

SV Photography
Barbados is targeting the Commonwealth at Keeneland in April.

Trainer Mike Tomlinson said he has been approached by officials from Dubai about the possibility of sending Barbados to the Golden Shaheen, but he has already decided to keep his sprint specialist at home.

Fri, 03/04/2016 - 15:56

Cutacorner fires bullet for Rebel Stakes

Cutacorner worked a bullet five furlongs in 59.80 seconds Friday at Oaklawn. The allowance winner is being pointed for the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel Stakes here March 19, said trainer Jack Van Berg.

“He worked awful good,” Van Berg said.

Cutacorner breezed after the renovation break under jockey Alex Birzer. Oaklawn clockers had him galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.40.

Van Berg ranks sixth in the current standings at Oaklawn, with the barn having won nine races from 52 starts through Thursday.

Fri, 03/04/2016 - 15:46

Multiple stakes winner Awakino Cat retired at 11

Barbara D. Livingston
Awakino Cat won 17 races, including three stakes at Saratoga, during his 72-race career.

The 11-year-old gelding Awakino Cat, who won stakes at Saratoga and Suffolk Downs, was retired Thursday night after he finished sixth in the seventh race at Penn National, a $4,000 claiming race, in the 72nd start of his career.

Before the race, David Neilson, the owner and trainer of Awakino Cat, agreed to give the horse to Samantha Randazzo, an assistant to trainer Linda Rice, who had the horse for the first six years of his racing career. Randazzo said Awakino Cat was her favorite horse.

“He was a little difficult to train, but he was a joy to be around,” Randazzo said.

Fri, 03/04/2016 - 15:39

Seymourdini needs more time

No horse has come closer to defeating Mohaymen than did Seymourdini, who finished a half-length behind Mohaymen when both debuted at Belmont Park last Sept. 19.

While Mohaymen has gone on to win four graded stakes and become the early Kentucky Derby favorite, Seymourdini went on to win a maiden race in November but has yet to run since.

Seymourdini, a son of Bernardini, returned to the work tab Feb. 27, and trainer Linda Rice said the colt is at least six weeks away from returning to the races.