Ride On Curlin galloped about 1 1/2 miles Friday at Oaklawn to move closer to his first work since winning an allowance sprint at the track in his 4-year-old debut Jan. 15. Ride On Curlin was the runner-up in last year’s Preakness.
“We might breeze him Sunday, depending on the weather – maybe this weekend, probably Sunday,” trainer Billy Gowan said Thursday. “He came out of that [Jan. 15] race really good.”
Private Prospect, a multiple stakes winner who finished a troubled ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is being pointed for the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest at Oaklawn on Feb. 16, trainer Mike Campbell said Friday.
Private Prospect made his 3-year-old debut Jan. 19 in the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn and finished fourth, 2 3/4 lengths behind the winner, Far Right. He breezed Thursday at Oaklawn, traveling five furlongs in 1:03.
Jockey Ramsey Zimmerman, who hasn’t ridden since Jan. 16, apparently is having issues again with substance abuse. According to a Tuesday post on his Facebook page, Zimmerman sought treatment recently from the Opiate Recovery Center Associates (ORCA) program in Ocala, Fla.
Zimmerman’s agent, Gil Graell, said Friday he had not heard from the jockey for a while and that he did not expect Zimmerman to be riding anytime soon. The Gulfstream stewards said they are not aware of what is going on with the jockey.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Lea and Commissioner are the biggest names in the prospective lineup for the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, a race Gulfstream Park racing officials hope attracts at least eight older horses.
The $500,000 Donn, to be run next Saturday for the 60th time, is the first Grade 1 handicap on dirt of the year in North America and leads off the Jockey Club Tour on FOX series of racing telecasts. The San Antonio at Santa Anita, which includes Horse of the Year California Chrome, is also part of the Fox telecast
ARCADIA, Calif. – Exercise rider Guadalupe Leyte has been suspended 10 days and fined $1,000 for poor treatment of a pony horse in the Santa Anita stable area, according to a ruling released by track stewards.
Leyte, 45, was suspended 30 days, but 20 days of the suspension will be stayed if Leyte does not have any violations of animal-welfare rules while holding a California Horse Racing Board license.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Bad Ju Ju is having a fortunate run in recent starts.
After beating maidens in her second start in December at Los Alamitos, Bad Ju Ju won an optional claimer for California-bred 3-year-old fillies Thursday. The win has led trainer Mike Machowsky to aim Bad Ju Ju for the $200,000 Evening Jewel Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs for statebred 3-year-old fillies April 4.
“That’s the goal,” Machowsky said. “I’d like to run her in an open allowance [as a prep race].”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Ocho Ocho Ocho seems eager to start his 3-year-old campaign.
The winner of the $1 million Delta Jackpot Stakes in Louisiana in November, Ocho Ocho Ocho worked a half-mile in 47.60 seconds Thursday at Santa Anita, a time quicker than trainer Jim Cassidy would have preferred. The half-mile workout was the first recorded work for Ocho Ocho Ocho this year.
“I’m not happy with the workout, but I’m happy with the horse,” Cassidy said.
NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Richie Scherer said he’s planning to run the multiple stakes-placed colt Bourbon Cowboy next around two turns in the Black Gold Stakes at Fair Grounds. That race Feb. 28 for 3-year-olds is scheduled for about 7 1/2 furlongs on turf.
Bourbon Cowboy has raced twice at this meet, finishing second, a half-length behind Cinco Charlie, in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 20 and winning a first-level optional-claiming sprint Jan. 23.
“I’ve really wanted to get him on the grass,” Scherer said. “His breeding, [sire] Cowboy Cal was a pretty good grass horse.”
Monmouth Park has made a few tweaks to its stakes schedule for 2015, but the program’s core races remain the same.
The meet’s two Grade 1 races are the $1 million Haskell and the $500,000 United Nations. The 1 1/8-mile Haskell, for 3-year-olds, will be run Sunday, Aug. 2, and the United Nations, a 1 3/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, is scheduled for Sunday, July 5.
Last year, Bayern won the Haskell by 7 1/4 lengths. He went on to win the Pennsylvania Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Phil Bauer isn’t making excuses for Another Lemon Drop’s fourth-place finish in the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 17 at Fair Grounds.
Another Lemon Drop, who broke from post 10, had a clean trip, and jockey Calvin Borel was able to save ground along the rail around the final turn, Bauer said. The colt simply lacked the stretch punch that Bauer was expecting.
“That was the frustrating part,” Bauer said. “He’s never not finished.”
