HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer David Fawkes said he was never tempted to turn Sheer Drama back to six furlongs for Sunday’s Grade 2 Princess Rooney at Gulfstream Park. Instead, he’ll stretch his Grade 2 winner out to 1 1/4 miles for the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap on July 18. Sheer Drama, second as the favorite behind Frivolous in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 13, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.41, her final half in 47.20, here Thursday.
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Aside from the Kentucky Derby and Haskell Invitational, Wildcat Red has been among the favorites in just about every race he’s competed in. But the multiple graded stakes winner will be among the outsiders when he returns from a layoff of almost six months in Sunday’s Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Ernie Semersky and partner Dory Newell’s Conquest Stables has ascended to prominence after just three years in operation and will have its first Queen’s Plate starter Sunday at Woodbine.
Conquest Boogaloo will represent Conquest Stables and comes into the $1 million Queen’s Plate off a third-place finish in the Plate Trial Stakes on June 14 at Woodbine. Conquest Curlinate also was under consideration for the Queen’s Plate but sustained a minor injury during training Thursday and was withdrawn.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Cocked and Loaded, who shipped from Arlington to win the Tremont Stakes on June 5 at Belmont Park, remained on track for a return trip to New York and a start July 25 in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga when he worked five furlongs in 1:02 last week over Arlington’s main track.
Cocked and Loaded has won both of his starts and was privately purchased after a debut win at Keeneland in April. The two races were on dirt, but trainer Larry Rivelli said Cocked and Loaded traveled at least as well over Arlington’s Polytrack as he does on a dirt surface.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – It’s supposed to be tough times when a jockey loses his apprentice weight allowance, but that hasn’t been the case with Mitchell Murrill, who entered this week’s racing atop the Arlington Park jockey standings with 35 wins, 14 more than the next-best total.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Lewis Vale seemed to find a home on turf last out, winning a first-level allowance race at Arlington Park with a solid closing kick, and should have a chance to make it two straight on Friday in the featured second race, an optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Private Zone, who has won three Grade 1 races in New York, drew post 3 and heads an eight-horse field in Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship at seven furlongs.
Private Zone is coming off a third-place finish behind Honor Code and Tonalist in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. Two starts back, he won the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes at seven furlongs.
In three previous trips to New York, Private Zone has won back-to-back runnings of the Grade 1 Vosburgh at six furlongs and the Grade 1 Cigar Mile last fall at Aqueduct.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After watching Tonalist lose the Jim Dandy and Travers stakes last summer at Saratoga, trainer Christophe Clement removed the blinkers from the colt’s equipment, and Tonalist responded with a 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, a 1 1/4-mile race at Belmont Park.
Clement will hope for a similar result in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Handicap, in which he again removes the blinkers from Tonalist’s equipment in a 1 1/4-mile race at Belmont.
Trainer Bret Calhoun could have a couple of 2-year-olds targeting the Grade 3, $150,000 Sanford at Saratoga. He said discussions are ongoing with the owners of He’s Comin in Hot and Bravura about the next move for the quality runners by Early Flyer, who leads all North American sires in wins by 2-year-olds this year.
He’s Comin in Hot, who races for Doug Scharbauer, won the Grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs last Saturday. Bravura, owned by Victoria Ashford, was an impressive debut winner at Lone Star Park on June 18.