Kid Cruz, one of the graded stakes-winning 3-year-olds who trained in New York last winter, returned to the work tab Saturday, breezing an easy half-mile in 52.20 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
It was his first work since he had a bone chip removed from his left foreleg following a fourth-place finish in the Travers last August.
“He looks great. He’s really matured, strong, powerful, fresh,” trainer Linda Rice said. “He wanted to do a lot more [Saturday].”
Majestic Affair, who galloped to a 5 3/4-length victory in last Friday’s Fred “Cappy” Capossela Stakes, likely will remain sprinting for the near future, trainer Chad Brown said Monday.
“I don’t have any immediate plans to stretch the horse out,” Brown said by phone from south Florida. “I’m not sure where his next start will be. Obviously, we’re thrilled with his performance. We think he has a chance to be a factor in the division on dirt going one turn.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Anthony Granitz won his 1,000th career race as a trainer Sunday at Tampa Bay Downs when Antonio Gallardo guided Wedding Savior to victory in a route at a mile and 40 yards for $8,000 claimers.
Granitz, who has been training for 30 years, is a Chicago native who also has a residence in nearby Safety Harbor, Fla. He has developed such good ones as Grade 3 winner False Promises and stakes winners Darley Dancer and Coni Bug.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Despite the season’s coldest temperatures and even the threat of snow this week, the connections of El Kabeir appear intent on traveling the New York route to the Kentucky Derby.
El Kabeir emerged from his 4 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Jerome Stakes in good order, according to trainer John Terranova, and if all remains well, the 3-year-old son of Scat Daddy could make his next start Feb. 7 in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Tim Padilla has spent winters at places like Oaklawn Park and Hawthorne Race Course, where a trainer is often forced to walk and shed-row his stock when winter storms and frigid weather keep tracks closed for training.
So, when Padilla, a native of Phoenix with 23 years of experience as a trainer, shipped into Oldsmar, it took only a few days of blue skies and balmy temperatures to convince him that his decision to race at Tampa Bay Downs this winter was a wise one, at least from a climate standpoint.
Dortmund, considered one of the top 3-year-old prospects of the winter, worked a half-mile in 48.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday, his first workout since winning the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 20.
Owned by Kaleem Shah and trained by Bob Baffert, Dortmund is unbeaten in three starts, including a maiden race for sprinters at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, and an allowance race at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29.
Hoppertunity, winner of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 on Sunday in advance of Saturday’s $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
Trained by Bob Baffert for Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Hoppertunity won for the first time in the Clark since the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park last March. He was sidelined after a second to California Chrome in the Santa Anita Derby last April, returning to racing in October.
Saturday's victory in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita is likely to lead to further turf stakes in coming months for Finnegans Wake, beginning with the $200,000 San Marcos Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf on Feb. 7. A trip to Dubai for a $5 million turf race in March is doubtful, Miller said.
“We mentioned a race in Dubai but we’ve got a nice series of races here,” Miller said. “You know he likes the course and we don’t have to ship.
“We might consider, down the road, trying him on dirt.”
ARCADIA, Calif . - A sore foot followed a month later by an illness kept Calculator from starts in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 1 and the Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 20.
Judging from a six-furlong workout in 1:11.60 at Santa Anita on Sunday, nothing will stop Calculator from playing a leading role in the $100,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday.
El Kabeir came out of his dominant victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Jerome Stakes in good order and if all remains well he could make his next start in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 7, trainer John Terranova said Sunday.
“When they’re doing well you run them,” Terranova said. “We’ll see. He really looks good this morning. We’ll take it day by day, week by week. I would be fine with [the Withers]. If not, we got the Gotham after that.”
