DEL MAR, Calif. – The standard of excellence for Beholder is so high that there is only one outcome of the 2015 season that will satisfy trainer Richard Mandella. She must be champion older female.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Mandella said last weekend.
Monmouth Park will finally get its Triple Crown winner when American Pharoah runs in the Haskell Invitational on Sunday.
American Pharoah is the eighth Triple Crown winner dating back to 1941. Of the seven preceding winners, five raced in New Jersey either before, during or after their series sweeps. Oddly, none of the five raced at Monmouth, which opened in June 1946.
The West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer on Saturday drew a competitive field of 11 when entries were taken Monday, with Peter Pan winner Madefromlucky the likely favorite and Preakness runner-up Tale of Verve a top contender.
An up-and-comer in the group is Bent On Bourbon, who has been successfully moving up the ladder in both class and distance for trainer Eddie Kenneally and Bourbon Lane Stable. Bent On Bourbon will try to take another step forward in the 1 1/8-mile West Virginia Derby, which will be his toughest test to date.
DEL MAR, Calif. – American Pharoah is ready for his second act. He completed his preparation for the Haskell on Tuesday morning at Del Mar, with an easy half-mile drill in 48.80 seconds, and now is set to head to New Jersey’s Monmouth Park for Sunday’s race, his first start since becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner nearly two months ago.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Business was booming at Saratoga through the first four days of the meet, with double-digit increases in all-sources and ontrack handle from last season.
All-sources handle was $68,653,296, an 11.8 percent increase over the 2014 figure of $61,386,762. Ontrack handle was $17,304,651, a 17.1 percent increase over the 2014 figure of $14,776,040. Ontrack handle figures include money wagered on Saratoga’s races at Aqueduct, Belmont and through NYRA Rewards.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Drawing the rail in 5 1/2-furlong turf sprints is usually a recipe for trouble, and Shore Runner found plenty of that before finally getting clear to surge past Sharp Sensation at the wire for a nose decision in Monday’s $100,000 Lucky Coin Stakes at Saratoga. The victory was the sixth in a row for Shore Runner and first in a stakes.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Seven 3-year-olds were entered Monday for Friday’s $100,000 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga, but expect a shorter field than that come post time.
The Curlin is one of four stakes in the region for 3-year-olds over a three-day period, and several horsemen will be entering their horses in more than one race this weekend.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It’s supposed to heat up at Saratoga, with temperatures soaring into the 90s by midweek. Mother Nature still has a ways to go to get as hot as Bill Mott, a nine-time leading trainer at Saratoga who won six races over the first four days of the meet, including two on Monday.
An extra week of racing, terrific weather, and the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years helped the New York Racing Association post gains in total handle at the recently concluded Belmont spring-summer meet.
All-sources handle for the 59-day meet was $636,621,791, up 7.5 percent from the mark of $591,988,056 during 2014’s 54-day meet. Ontrack handle on Belmont Park’s races this year was $88,293,037, up 4.3 percent from $84,626,885 last year.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The connections of Magna Light have appealed the Saratoga track stewards’ decision to disqualify that horse from first place in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Sanford Stakes.
Magna Light finished first by three-quarters of a length, but was disqualified by the stewards after he drifted out severely under jockey Jose Ortiz’s left-handed whip then veered back in toward Percolator, who finished third, a half-length behind second-place finisher Uncle Vinny.
