Santa Anita has raised the purses of two leading stakes for older horses – the Santa Anita Handicap and San Antonio Stakes – but eliminated the Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds for the track’s upcoming winter-spring meeting, which runs from Dec. 26 to April 19.
The Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 7 will be worth $1 million, an increase of $250,000 from 2014. The Santa Anita Handicap, run at 1 1/4 miles on dirt, offered a purse of $1 million from 1986 to 2009.
The Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot and Grade 3, $400,000 Delta Downs Princess both drew overflow fields on Tuesday, when entries were taken for the Saturday features. The route races for 2-year-olds anchor a card of eight stakes worth $2.3 million. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has the morning-line favorites for both stakes, with Mr. Z installed the track’s 5-2 choice in the Jackpot and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Take Charge Brandi made 2-1 for the Princess.
Wake Up Nick will find himself in an unfamiliar situation on Saturday when he starts in the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot. He will be looking to get back into the win column after suffering his first loss in six career starts earlier this month at Santa Anita.
Wake Up Nick ran second in the $196,000 Golden State Juvenile on the Breeders’ Cup undercard Nov. 1. He was beaten
1 1/4 lengths after having to go around horses when unable to advance along the inside at a key point in the race, said his trainer, Leandro Mora.
A three-furlong workout by Shared Belief on Tuesday at Golden Gate was a maintenance move, nothing more. Still, it was meaningful – the work confirmed the gelding's condition after his tough-trip fourth as the Breeder’ Cup Classic favorite on Nov. 1.
“He’s doing very well," trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. "It was his first breeze out of the race and he did it very nicely. Russell Baze was on him like usual, and he did real well.”
Shared Belief was timed in 36.80 seconds.
California Chrome is ready for more.
Trainer Art Sherman called the Kentucky Derby winner a “sharp horse” on Tuesday, a day after an energetic half-mile Monday work at Los Alamitos that keeps him on target for his first start on turf, which comes Nov. 29 in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar.
Victor Espinoza was aboard California Chrome, whose time for the Monday workout was 47.80 seconds. It was his first recorded work since a close third-place finish Nov. 1 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Espinoza had his hands full on Monday, according to Sherman.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning canceled its 10-race Wednesday card because of unseasonably cold conditions and a frozen racetrack.
About three inches of snow fell early Monday in the Louisville area, and despite the Churchill maintenance crew harrowing the track around the clock since last Thursday, they could not prevent it from freezing. Training was canceled Tuesday morning and was expected to be canceled Wednesday, too, following an overnight low in the mid-teens.
Trainer Mark Casse has long been a Jackpot Day participant at Delta Downs, and he could have three runners among the eight stakes Saturday on this year’s card: Conquest Tsunami in the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot, Miss Mandate in the Grade 3, $400,000 Delta Downs Princess, and Spring in the Air in the $200,000 Treasure Chest.
MIAMI - Happy My Way has come a long way since defeating Speechify under allowance conditions at Gulfstream last December, winning 3 of 7 subsequent starts, including the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap at Pimlico. He was also second in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga.
Happy My Way is on his way back to south Florida following Saturday’s second-place finish behind upset winner Zee Bros in the De Francis Memorial at Laurel Park, a performance his trainer Joe Orseno was excited about even in defeat.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Nominations have been released for the four graded stakes that conclude the fall meet on Thanksgiving weekend, with easily the most notable name for the Nov. 28 Clark Handicap being Bayern. However, Churchill officials believe trainer Bob Baffert will be starting only Hoppertunity in the Grade 1 Clark, while Baffert said Monday by text: “Bayern not coming.”
The other stakes for closing weekend, all Grade 2 races, are the Falls City on Nov. 27 and the twin 2-year-old stakes, the Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod, on Nov. 29.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The expanding dominance of Midwest Thoroughbreds came to the fore again Sunday when a 2-year-old filly named Scadadle ran off to a 6 1/2-length victory in what had looked like a contentious maiden race on paper.
Trained by Chris Richard, Scadadle, by Scat Daddy, earned a 78 Beyer Speed Figure.
Midwest, based in Chicago and operated by Richard and Karen Papiese, is well on its way of being the North American wins leader for the fifth straight year. The stable won its first Breeders’ Cup race when Work All Week captured the Nov. 1 BC Sprint.
