Retama Park near San Antonio, Texas, will again feature six stakes during its Thoroughbred meet, which opens Aug. 21. The 26-date season will run through Oct. 17.
The El Joven and La Senorita, a pair of one-mile turf races for 2-year-olds, highlight the schedule. The longtime fixtures worth $75,000 each will share a program Oct. 3. The first round of nominations for the El Joven and La Senorita, which is for fillies, close Friday, July 10.
ELMONT, N.Y. – El Deal, the undefeated 3-year-old stakes-winning sprinter, will be given 60 days off and return in late fall, trainer Andrew Lakeman said Friday.
El Deal has not run since winning the Gold Fever Stakes on May 1, making him 4 for 4 in his career. He worked twice in June, but Lakeman said the horse needs to mature physically before running again.
“His joints need to catch up and remold with his body,” Lakeman said. “They can’t take the stress of continuous training. It’s a much better decision to give him time.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Saratoga was not on Untapable’s itinerary during her 2014 championship campaign. Though based there most of the summer, she did not race at the Spa, her connections instead electing to run in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.
Saratoga is in the mix this year for Untapable, though trainer Steve Asmussen said he has not decided in which race the Eclipse Award winner will run. The options are the Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee Handicap on Aug. 2 and/or the Grade 1, $750,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 29. Both races are run at 1 1/8 miles.
Shotgun Kowboy is two works from launching his 3-year-old season, and his first major objective is the Oklahoma Derby, according to his breeder, owner, and trainer, C.R. Trout.
Shotgun Kowboy established himself as a 2-year-old of note last year at Remington Park, where he won two stakes and was edged by a head in the $255,000 Springboard Mile in his season finale Dec. 14. Plans were to target the series for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn, but a physical setback kept Shotgun Kowboy on the sidelines over the winter. He resumed training in March.
ELMONT, N.Y. – For a moment at the top of the stretch of the Belmont Stakes, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin thought his 3-year-old Frosted was gaining ground on American Pharoah, but in a matter of strides, it became evident that was not the case as American Pharoah opened up again en route to a 5 1/2-length victory that capped off the first Triple Crown in Thoroughbred racing in 37 years.
Go West Marie, the winner of four stakes in the last year, may have run her last race.
Trainer Eddie Truman said recently that Go West Marie has sustained an injury that could lead to her being retired at the end of this year and sold as a broodmare prospect. Truman did not disclose the injury.
“We might put her in the broodmare sale or bring her back,” he said. “We’ll see how she looks in a few months.”
Jimmy McNerney checked off yet another box on his racetrack to-do list Friday when he began calling races at Ellis Park, his hometown track.
“It’s a pretty good feeling,” said McNerney, who has been going to the races at Ellis since he was less than a year old.
In recent years, McNerney has been the top jockey agent at Turfway Park and Indiana Grand while raising two young daughters and splitting time between those two tracks. He grew up mostly in Evansville, Ind., just across the state line from Ellis Park in western Kentucky.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Bluegrass Angus passed his first test going a middle distance with flying colors in the $50,000 Chris Loseth Handicap at Hastings last Wednesday. What was impressive about his three-length win over Brother Duster was how he was able to sit just off an extremely fast pace and then go into another gear when jockey Richard Hamel gave him his cue heading into the third turn of the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds. In an instant, the race was over when Bluegrass Angus went from second to opening up a clear lead on the stretch turn.
CYPRESS, Calif.– Warren’s Veneda will have a new but familiar rider when she starts in the $200,000 Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 12.
Trainer Craig Lewis said on Friday that Joe Talamo will ride Warren’s Veneda in the Grade 2 Great Lady M, replacing Tyler Baze, her regular rider this year. Baze is booked to ride the unbeaten Sunday Rules in the Great Lady M, which is run at 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares.
Spanish Queen, the California-bred filly who won the Grade 1 American Oaks and aims to upset the Belmont Oaks on Saturday, officially is trained by Richard Baltas.
But jockey Brice Blanc also has been there every step of the way.
Blanc was the filly’s workout rider before she ever started and has ridden her in all four of her races. Blanc recently talked about Spanish Queen, 3 for 4 and looking for more.
