HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Lea, who has not started since his upset victory over Will Take Charge in the 2014 Donn Handicap, will launch his comeback here next Saturday going a mile in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope.
Lea, a son of First Samurai, got sick about a month after the Donn and never recovered sufficiently to race again last season, explained trainer Bill Mott.
Wonder Gal, beaten a length when third to Take Charge Brandi in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, returned to trainer Leah Gyarmati’s Belmont Park barn this week to begin training for her 3-year-old season.
Following the Breeders’ Cup, Gyarmati sent Wonder Gal – along with the graded stakes winners Sweet Reason and Noble Moon – to Fair Winds Farm in Cream Ridge, N.J., for a break.
Classy Class, a good-looking maiden winner who finished fourth in the Remsen Stakes, was forced to miss Saturday’s Grade 3 Jerome Stakes due to a foot issue, assistant trainer Art Magnuson said.
Magnuson said Classy Class threw a shoe in his last workout for the race and had a tender foot.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – America, who won her first stakes race Thursday, will stay in training throughout 2015, trainer Bill Mott said Friday.
After losing her previous eight stakes attempts, America got up to edge Penwith by a nose in Thursday’s $100,000 Affectionately Stakes. It was her third consecutive victory, and she earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 88.
Mott, who trains America for celebrity chef Bobby Flay, said he wasn’t sure if America would get a break or run in the $100,000 Ladies Handicap here Jan. 31.
At the moment, the strength of the newly turned 3-year-old division appears to reside in California in the form of Texas Red, American Pharoah, and Dortmund.
But every racing fan knows things can change very quickly on the road to the Kentucky Derby, which is set for a 141st running May 2 at Churchill Downs. And considering that eight of the last 14 Derby winners have wintered in south Florida, top Derby contenders emerge more often than not from Gulfstream Park and the handful of training facilities in the region.
Trainer Robertino Diodoro has been fined $750 for failing to note that Ten To Show was racing as a gelding for the first time in the seventh race Dec. 7 at Los Alamitos. Ten To Show finished fourth in a maiden special weight race over a mile as an 11-1 shot.
Trainers are required to note that a horse is racing as a gelding for the first time when entries are submitted in the days before a race.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There was no late-night celebration for Hall of Fame jockey Alex Solis in the hours after he won the 5,000th race of his career in North America on Lutine Belle in Thursday’s $79,250 Blue Norther Stakes at Santa Anita.
“I went to sleep at 9 and slept until 6:30,” he said Friday morning. “I think I slept a lot better. It felt like a lot of weight was lifted off my shoulder.”
NEW ORLEANS – Top Decile, the runner-up in the Alcibiades and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, will open her 2015 campaign in the Silverbulletday on Jan. 17 at Fair Grounds, trainer Al Stall Jr. said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Top Decile worked a half-mile in 48.20 seconds, her third workout at Fair Grounds. She’ll work twice more before the Silverbulletday, Stall said.
Mike Smith will replace the retired Rosie Napravnik as Top Decile’s jockey, Stall said.
Buena Vista possible for La Tia
NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana-bred gelding Sunbean, who is on a three-race winning streak and surpassed $1 million in career earnings with a victory Dec. 13 in the Louisiana Champions Day Classic at Fair Grounds, is in “light training right now,” trainer Ron Faucheux said Wednesday. “We’ll probably gear up for Premier Night at Delta.”
He was referring to the Louisiana Premier Night Championship, a $200,000, 1 1/16-mile race for Louisiana-bred older horses Feb. 7 at Delta Downs.
NEW ORLEANS – With a decisive victory against first-level optional-claiming company last Sunday at Fair Grounds, War Story made a quick return on a private purchase by Ron Paolucci’s Loooch Racing Stable and Chris Dunn.
A Northern Afleet gelding racing for the first time for the new owners and trainer Tom Amoss, War Story was trying two turns for the first time. His trip wasn’t ideal; War Story was bumped at the start and slightly squeezed entering the backstretch. But with a strong late run, he pulled away to win by 2 3/4 lengths, completing the mile in 1:39.75.
