OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Regally Ready went four years between starts on dirt. But when he returned to that surface three months ago, he ran the race of his life, winning a stakes at Mountaineer by 12 1/2 lengths.
Now riding a three-race winning streak – with two of those wins on dirt – the 7-year-old Regally Ready will need to once again be in top form when he starts in Saturday’s Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, the final Grade 1 race of the year on this circuit.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Big fields have been entered for the twin 2-year-old stakes that anchor a terrific Stars of Tomorrow card Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Twelve colts and geldings are in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, while the same number of fillies is in the Golden Rod Stakes. Both are Grade 2, $200,000 races at 1 1/16 miles.
Lord Nelson, who owns the two highest Beyer Speed Figures (92 and 90) in the field, ships in from California as the likely Kentucky Jockey Club favorite for trainer Bob Baffert. He was assigned post 9 with Martin Garcia to ride.
DEL MAR, Calif. – California Chrome, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, on Wednesday had his most extensive day of training since arriving at Del Mar over the weekend, his morning tasks including schooling in the starting gate and then galloping a bit more than 1 1/2 miles around the main track.
Later Wednesday morning, his trainer, Art Sherman, marched over to the racing office to enter California Chrome in the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby, which will be run Saturday and will mark the first start for California Chrome on turf.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Still seeking her first graded stakes victory, the ultra-consistent 6-year-old New York-bred mare Willet will start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Go for Wand Handicap for a third consecutive year when that one-turn, one-mile race is run here Friday.
Willet, a four-time restricted stakes winner, was beaten a head by Neffertini in the 2012 Go for Wand. Last year, she finished fourth in the Go for Wand, just one of two times in her 20-race career that she finished out of the money.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A field of nine 3-year-olds and up has been entered for a well-matched renewal of the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap, to be run Friday for the 141st time at Churchill Downs.
Pick of the Litter and Departing, the respective 1-2 finishers in the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes last month at Keeneland, are 121-pound co-highweights in the 1 1/8-mile Clark. A pair of lightly raced 3-year-olds, Hoppertunity and Constitution, also figure among the top contenders.
From the rail, and with weights and jockeys, this is the Clark lineup:
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though it has been more than two years since Secret Circle has raced beyond six furlongs, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert doesn’t believe distance will be an issue when the 5-year-old horse runs in Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.
“He’s more of a miler. A mile is not going to be a problem,” Baffert said Tuesday. “I ran him short because there’s more money in the Breeders’ Cup [going short].”
Stryker Phd, the 122-pound highweight after winning three straight stakes at Emerald Downs, including the Grade 3 Longacres Mile, and then running second in a Santa Anita stakes, tops the list of eight runners confirmed for Sunday’s Berkeley Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Golden Gate Fields.
Also confirmed are G. G. Ryder (118), Mr. Bowling (120), and Pepper Crown (121), who ran 1-2-3 in an allowance here Nov. 13; Are You Kidding Me (117); Marino’s Wild Cat (116); Bellarmine (115); and Polytechnicien (115).
The Jerry Hollendorfer-trained duo of Lutine Belle and Seduire will run in Saturday’s $50,000-added Golden Gate Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs at Golden Gate Fields.
Lutine Belle nipped Can Can Babe, who is listed as possible for the Debutante, in her last start. Seduire won the Wine Country Debutante at Santa Rosa, beating Can Can Babe and Wedding Blush, who is listed as probable for Saturday’s race after running second in the Pike Place Dancer.
Cruisingtheharbor and Indian Rocket are other possibilities.
