LOUISVILLE, Ky. – El Kabeir made it through the harsh New York winter to get to Churchill Downs, but he won’t make the starting gate for Saturday’s 141st Kentucky Derby.
Due to a bruise of his left front foot – the extent of which is not yet completely known – El Kabeir was officially scratched Friday afternoon from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
Diva’s Diamond has been put on a Prairie Meadows program following her runner-up finish to champion Untapable in last month’s Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap. Karl Broberg, the leading trainer at Lone Star Park, said Friday that Diva’s Diamond has a summer objective of defending her title in the $100,000 Iowa Distaff. The 1 1/16-mile race will be contested June 26.
“We’ve taken her to Iowa to run her back in the stakes that she won last year, and hopefully, there will be a prep race for her before that one,” Broberg said. “She’s doing really good right now.”
Two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan began a light routine of jogging on the track earlier this week, with an eye toward stepping up his training in about a month.
Wise Dan jogged a lap on Keeneland’s synthetic training track, accompanied by a pony, on April 25. It was the first trip to the track for the 8-year-old gelding Wise Dan since he was sidelined with a non-displaced fracture at the bottom of his right front cannon bone in his right front fetlock last October. He has been tack-walking at trainer Charlie LoPresti’s Keeneland base since early March.
AUBURN, Wash. – Robert Geller, Emerald Downs’s longtime track announcer, said he will leave his post in early June to become the race-caller at a higher-profile track that he declined to name.
Geller, 55, has called races at Emerald since the facility opened in 1996. He previously was an announcer in his native Australia and in Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. In addition to Emerald Downs, Geller serves as the announcer for the winter meeting at Sunland Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Sunday Rules will start in the $150,000 Spring Fever Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares May 23 after extending her unbeaten streak to four races in an optional claimer Thursday.
Ridden by Tyler Baze, Sunday Rules ($2.80) led throughout the 6 1/2-furlong race to win by 2 1/2 lengths over Wasted at Midnight in 1:15.24. Scherzinger, winner of the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes in 2014, finished third in her first start of the year.
Sunday Rules earned a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure.
ARCADIA, Calif. – She’s a Classic became the first 2-year-old winner of the year in Southern California with a surprising performance in Thursday’s third race.
Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, She’s a Classic ($50.40) led throughout a maiden race for California-bred fillies at 4 1/2 furlongs, winning by four lengths in 52.53 seconds.
She’s a Classic, trained by Edward Freeman, is by Square Eddie and is owned by breeders Paul and Zillah Reddam. She’s a Classic could return in the $125,000 Landaluce Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs June 21.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The showdown between the upstart and the veteran looms in the $300,000 Vanity Stakes at Santa Anita on May 9.
Warren’s Veneda, unbeaten in three stakes this year, will face the two-time champion Beholder in the Grade 1 Vanity Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt. They are unlikely to have many rivals.
On Thursday, Warren’s Veneda had her final workout for the Vanity, going five furlongs in 59.20 seconds, the third fastest of 22 recorded works at the distance.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Jockey Marklee Buchanan made a strong impression in his first weekend of riding at Hastings. He won with four of his nine mounts, and none of his wins came aboard a favorite. The shortest-priced horse he won with was Lornefivehundred, who paid $7.50 for his win over Bearrock N Roll in a $16,000 claiming race last Saturday.
Buchanan is originally from Jamaica and has been riding in Ontario since 2011.
Eighty Nine Red got his season off to a winning start for the second year in a row April 18 at Woodbine in the prep for the $125,000 New Providence Stakes, defeating 2013 Canadian champion male sprinter Phil’s Dream in the process, and he will make his next start in the New Providence on May 10, trainer Mike De Paulo said.
