The 3-year-old Chiropractor, the upset winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 29, is expected to make his next start in the $200,000 San Gabriel Stakes against older horses at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Jan. 2.
Craig Bernick, whose family’s Glen Hill Farm owns Chiropractor, said the distance of the Grade 2 San Gabriel has greater appeal than the one mile of the $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile for 3-year-olds on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.
Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Runhappy worked six furlongs in 1:11.80 at Santa Anita on Tuesday, preparing for his first start in the state in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26.
The Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs is part of the opening day of the track’s winter-spring meeting.
Runhappy arrived at Santa Anita earlier this month. Tuesday’s workout was Runhappy’s third since the BC Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Anybody in south Florida unfamiliar with the name Dane Kobiskie quickly became acquainted with the former rider after he saddled three winners and also sent out two 2-year-olds to finish second in stakes races on the Nov. 28 card at Gulfstream Park West.
A week after she would have been favored to win the $100,000 Soviet Problem Stakes for California-bred 2-year-old fillies at Los Alamitos, Patriotic Diamond is being given a tougher task in Saturday’s $300,000 Starlet Stakes at the same venue.
The prestige of the Grade 1 Starlet was the deciding factor for owner Kin Hui and trainer Patrick Biancone.
“We decided to take a shot,” Biancone said. “I think it’s a very open race. A week more won’t hurt her. It’s time to see how good she is.”
The victory by Cathryn Sophia in the $100,000 Gin Talking Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday was the latest in a string of recent powerful efforts by 2-year-old fillies in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Cathryn Sophia, who races for trainer John Servis and the Cash Is King stable of Chuck Zacney, romped by 16 1/4 lengths in the Gin Talking, earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure, and is now 2 for 2. She won a Parx maiden race in her debut by 12 3/4 lengths and received a 92 Beyer.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., announced on Tuesday plans to give out American Pharoah “bobblehorses” on Jan. 18. It will be the same afternoon the track begins its 3-year-old series, with the running of the $150,000 Smarty Jones.
Fans will receive the bobblehead with a $2 donation to the Arkansas Racetrack Chaplaincy. The bobbleheads will be available while supplies last. There is no charge for general admission at Oaklawn.
Saturday’s Louisiana Champions Day card was drawn last weekend, and is headed by Louisiana-bred grass star String King, who will be favored in the Champions Day Turf. String King – bred, owned, and trained by Charlie Smith – drew post 1 in a 10-horse field and was installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite under Richard Eramia.
The Champions Day Classic, at $150,000, is the richest race on the card, and it attracted nine entrants, headed by The Pickett Factor, Mobile Bay, and One King’s Man.
The 13-race card starts at 12:30 local time with three Quarter Horse races.
Mike Stidham is leading trainer at Fair Grounds after three racing weeks, and it’s not just that 10 of his 25 starters have won, but that 20 of them have finished third or better. Pretty much every horse Stidham has saddled at the meeting has at least run to expected form, if not beyond it. Horsplayers savvy enough to jump on the bandwagon from the start have been richly rewarded: Stidham’s $2 win return on investment stands at $3.07 entering this week’s racing.
