Thu, 01/22/2015 - 20:24

NYRA horsemen, management meet after another fatal breakdown

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Following another equine fatality at Aqueduct Thursday – the 14th in 26 full cards of racing since the inner track opened on Dec. 3 – several horsemen met with New York Racing Association management, the second such meeting in 12 days.

Unlike the meeting held on Jan. 10, this one was attended by Chris Kay, NYRA president and CEO, as well as owners and NYRA board members Anthony Bonomo and Michael Dubb. Ten trainers – most of them on the board of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association – also attended the meeting.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 15:13

Hushion making stakes plans for sprinters

Barbara D. Livingston
Captain Serious won the Holly Hughes on Monday, giving trainer Mike Hushion his sixth win in the race.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Mike Hushion is mulling his options for Scarly Charly and Captain Serious, both of whom won sprint races over the weekend at Aqueduct.

On Sunday, Scarly Charly won a high-caliber second-level allowance race, earning a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. He ran six furlongs in 1:11.07 over a sloppy track. A 6-year-old gelding, he was running in blinkers for the first time.

“I do think the blinkers made a difference with him,” Hushion said. “He’s a horse that looks around a lot.”

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 15:11

Sweet Reason starts on road back to races

Nikki Sherman
Sweet Reason is unlikely to run before the Belmont spring meet.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Sweet Reason, the multiple Grade 1-winning filly who was an Eclipse Award finalist in two categories, recently rejoined trainer Leah Gyarmati’s Belmont Park stable and has begun training toward her 4-year-old debut.

Sweet Reason was sent to a New Jersey farm following her eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita in November.

Gyarmati said Sweet Reason had her first day of galloping Wednesday and is likely several weeks away from a breeze.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 15:09

Tencendur shows stakes potential in maiden win

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Tencendur could be headed to the Withers after overcoming trouble to win a maiden race on Monday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The narrow margin of victory hardly does justice to Tencendur’s maiden win against New York-breds at Aqueduct on Monday. The 3-year-old Tencendur overcame significant adversity to record his three-quarter-length victory and may be on to bigger and better things in a few weeks.

With limited options for 3-year-old maiden winners, Tencendur could make his next start in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes here Feb. 7, trainer George Weaver said.

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 15:44

Switch to turf likely for Lucky Player

Nikki Sherman
Lucky Player, shown at the 2014 Breeders' Cup with trainer Steve Asmussen, will likely switch to turf for his next start.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Lucky Player, the winner of the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs in September, likely will make his next start on grass, said trainer Steve Asmussen. Lucky Player finished eighth in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park on Monday.

“I don’t think he handled the racetrack at all, watching the replay,” Asmussen said. “He just jumped up and down in the sand, swapped leads in the dirt, wasn’t holding his head the way he does when you watch him train on a good day. We know he’s better than that. He trains like too nice of a horse.”

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 15:39

Angelica Zapata among eight for Houston Ladies Classic

Kenny Martin/Coglianese Photos
Angelica Zapata, a 10-time stakes winner, ships in from Florida for Saturday's $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic.

Angelica Zapata will be looking for the 11th stakes win of her career Saturday night in the $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston Race Park.

She has invaded from south Florida to be part of an eight-horse field that includes defending champ Rose to Gold, probable favorite Cassatt, and multiple stakes winners Shanon Nicole and Kiss to Remember.

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 15:37

Shared Belief puts in work for San Antonio

Benoit & Associates
Shared Belief (left) wins the Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Shared Belief, the winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, worked six furlongs in 1:13.20 at Golden Gate Fields on Wednesday, moving closer to a start in the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 7 at Santa Anita Park.

The San Antonio Stakes will be a showdown between Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, and California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male. Bayern, the Breeders' Cup Classic winner, is a possible for the race.

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 15:12

Instant Replay could move on to Southwest Stakes next

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Instant Replay could get a shot at next month’s Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park after winning a first-level allowance at the track in eye-catching fashion Monday. Instant Replay was returning to two turns and finished with a flourish in the 1 1/16-mile race run right before the featured $150,000 Smarty Jones.

“He had been working very well and ran to those works,” said Wayne Catalano, who trains Instant Replay for Gary and Mary West Stables. “We were happy with the performance and hope to move forward.”

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 15:03

Bourbon Cowboy shows up in turf sprint allowance

Hodges Photography/Amanda Hodges Weir
Notte d'Oro, ridden by James Graham, wins by a length in the Marie Krantz Memorial Handicap.

Trainer Richie Scherer said last week he was aiming Bourbon Cowboy at the Black Gold Stakes, but Scherer, evidently, found a better spot sooner. Bourbon Cowboy, a sharp second to Cinco Charlie in the Sugar Bowl Stakes here last month, is one of eight horses entered in Friday’s featured eighth race, a first-level, turf sprint allowance for 3-year-olds that’s also open to $50,000 claimers.

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 14:56

Eagle fine after Lecomte flop, likely to run in Risen Star

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Eagle, seventh in last weekend's Lecomte as the 3-1 favorite, remains a candidate for the Feb. 21 Risen Star.

Trainer Neil Howard said Eagle had come out of his seventh-place finish in the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds in apparently good physical condition, to the extent that Howard decided to send Eagle back to the track on Tuesday. Many horses get more than just two walk days in the barn after racing.

“He was getting pretty high on me already,” Howard said.

Howard said he and owner-breeder Will Farish plan to push on to the Risen Star unless Eagle gives Howard cause to think otherwise in coming weeks.