ARCADIA, Calif. - Forever Darling, the winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Jan. 2, has been acquired privately by Katsumi Yoshida of Japan, trainer Richard Baltas said on Sunday.
Baltas said the deal was finalized after Forever Darling won her first stakes in the Santa Ynez for a partnership that includes Baltas, Hebert Bloodstock, and JK Racing.
Baltas said Forever Darling was purchased as a broodmare prospect, but will remain in the United States this year.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Any stakes win by Imperative this winter at Santa Anita will be well-earned.
On Jan. 9, Imperative was a game second to California Chrome in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes. Two weeks later, California Chrome was in Dubai to begin preparation for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 26.
Imperative starts in Saturday’s $500,000 San Antonio Stakes. Even without California Chrome in the field, Imperative will not be favored. That role will go to Dortmund, the winner of the 2015 Santa Anita Derby.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Four of the five winners of California Cup stakes for statebreds at Santa Anita on Saturday are likely to run in graded stakes in their next start, with some under consideration for seven-figure and Breeders’ Cup races later this year.
Smokey Image, who extended his unbeaten record to six races with an easy win in the $245,000 California Cup Derby at 1 1/16 miles, is a candidate for the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on March 12. The Grade 2 San Felipe is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - In Sunny Ridge, owner Dennis Drazin believes he has a nice 3-year-old who deserves the opportunity to run in a classic race. Whether that classic is the Kentucky Derby, well, that’s another story.
Noting that the Derby usually attracts a 20-horse field and many horses come out of that race needing time off, Drazin said Sunday morning he would be more inclined to skip the Derby and try to get Sunny Ridge to either the Preakness or Belmont Stakes, the other two legs of the Triple Crown.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin reported Sunday morning from his Palm Meadows base that all was well with Mohaymen in the aftermath of the Shadwell Stable colt’s smashing victory the previous day in the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Making his 3-year-old debut, Mohaymen left little doubt that he is the leading East Coast contender for the May 7 Kentucky Derby – and surely sparked speculation that he might now even be the overall division leader – when he cruised to a 3 1/2-length victory over Greenpointcrusader. He earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg has sent out a promising pair of 3-year-old winners during the young Oaklawn Park meet and at least one of them is bound for the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes.
Cutacorner is set for the 1 1/16-mile Southwest on Feb. 15 after winning an optional $62,500 claiming route at the same distance Jan. 21. Cutacorner earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 84.
“I’m going to go back in the Southwest,” Van Berg said. “He’s maturing real good. He’s come around.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When wagering concludes at Aqueduct Sunday it will mark the end of an era in the annals of parimutuel wagering.
On Sunday, Pat Mahony retires as the director of mutuels for the New York Racing Association. Starting Monday, there will not be a Mahony supervising wagering in North America for the first time in over a century.
Beginning Sunday, Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. will alter its regular Sunday post time from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern, while reducing its Sunday programs from nine races to seven.
The change comes in response to slow business on Sundays for the track, Turfway Park general manager Chip Bach said. TVG1 carries Turfway’s races on Fridays and Saturdays, but not on Sundays, giving the track less national exposure that day.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Donn undercard got a real plum when trainer Roger Brueggemann said Friday that The Pizza Man will be shipping in for the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on Feb. 6.
A 2015 Eclipse Award finalist for older turf horse, The Pizza Man had been intended for the San Marcos at Santa Anita (also Saturday), but suitable travel arrangements could not be made, said Brueggemann. Instead, the 7-year-old Illinois-bred gelding will be vanned here from his winter headquarters at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
General a Rod looked like the General a Rod of old when he splashed to an easy 7 1/2-length victory over Midnight Cello Thursday at 1 1/16 miles under optional-claiming conditions at Gulfstream Park.
General a Rod was among the leading 3-year-old prospects on the grounds here two winters ago, winning the Gulfstream Park Derby before finishing second in the Fountain of Youth and third in the Florida Derby. He participated in all three legs of the Triple Crown that season, with his best effort a fourth-place finish in the Preakness.
