Tue, 11/04/2014 - 14:15

Awesome Return starts over in Let It Ride

Benoit & Associates
Snow Chief winner Awesome Return faces runner-up Patriot's Rule and third-place Alert Bay in the Silky Sullivan at Golden Gate on Sunday.

The new autumn meeting at Del Mar that begins Friday will provide a fresh start for the two-time stakes winner Awesome Return.

In July, Awesome Return finished third in an optional claimer on turf at Del Mar. Owner and breeder Richard Kritzski and trainer Mike Puype decided to give the colt a 30-day break from training.

By any measure, the first half of 2014 was successful for Awesome Return, with two stakes wins against California-breds – the Snow Chief Stakes at Santa Anita and the Silky Sullivan Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 15:30

Brown basks in glow of Breeders' Cup triple

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Chad Brown won the Filly-Mare Turf, the Turf Sprint and the Juvenile Fillies Turf during Breeders’ Cup.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown was sitting behind his desk in his Belmont Park office Monday morning, dealing with the present, with the most pressing issue being when and where to ship the horses he has remaining at Saratoga.

But certainly he had time to visit the past – the recent past – as in this weekend, when he won three Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita.

“It’s starting to sink in,” Brown said. “It’s one of those things you wish you could go back and do it again this weekend. Time flies by. We had a lot of fun out there and we had some good luck go our way.”

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 15:22

Horse of the Year still up for debate

Nikki Sherman
From right: Bayern holds off Toast of New York in the Breeders' Cup Classic, with California Chrome third.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Now what?

That’s the question Eclipse Award voters will be asking over the next two months after a Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Santa Anita that had the promise of emphatically deciding both Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male, but ended in controversy.

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 14:41

Jacaranda a candidate for Demoiselle

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Jacaranda broke sharply in the Tempted and led wire to wire under Jose Ortiz.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Constitution's 2-year-old half-sister, Jacaranda, won Sunday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Tempted Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths over Paulassilverlining. She ran a mile under windy conditions in 1:40.24 and earned a 72 Beyer Speed Figure.

Unlike in her maiden win, Jacaranda broke alertly Sunday and led throughout under Jose Ortiz.

“She did it right for a change,” trainer Mike Hushion said. “Experience was her best trainer.”

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 14:14

Pletcher enjoys successful homecoming

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Blofeld earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 93 for this victory in the Grade 2 Nashua on Sunday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though it wasn’t a very good weekend for him at the Breeders’ Cup, trainer Todd Pletcher did quite well at Aqueduct, winning two of the three graded stakes.

On Saturday, Pletcher won the Grade 3 Discovery Handicap for 3-year-olds with Protonico. On Sunday, Pletcher was back from Southern California to saddle Blofeld to a five-length victory over El Kabeir in the Grade 2, $250,000 Nashua.

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 13:01

Midnight Aria on track for Autumn Stakes

Michael Burns
Midnight Aria wins the 2013 Queen's Plate at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Midnight Aria, appears to be on track to make his first stakes start since his Queen’s Plate triumph last year in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Autumn Stakes at Woodbine.

Midnight Aria made his first start since his Queen’s Plate win back on Aug. 8, when he finished sixth in a one-mile starter allowance on the grass. But he bounced back nicely in his next start, taking an optional-claiming field gate to wire on the Polytrack on Sept. 28.

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 12:59

Pohdi Pohdi done for the year

Michael Burns
Pohdi Pohdi wins the Victorian Queen Stakes on Oct. 11 at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pohdi Pohdi appeared poised for a big run as the morning-line favorite in the Fanfreluche Stakes on Oct. 26 at Woodbine, but she had to be scratched after flipping on her way over to the paddock. Trainer Robert Tiller said Pohdi Pohdi escaped the incident without serious injury, but will be given the rest of the year off.

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 12:27

Conquest Stable poised for possible sweep of Sovereign juvenile categories

Barbara D. Livingston
Conquest Typhoon could be named the Sovereign champion 2-year-old male.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – While the Breeders’ Cup World Championships helped to settle several divisional championships for the Eclipse Awards, several horses may have secured Sovereign Award championships as a result of their performances at Santa Anita, Woodbine, and Churchill Downs over the weekend.

The Conquest Stables duo of Conquest Typhoon and Conquest Harlanate could be named champion 2-year-old male and champion 2-year-old female, respectively, after they both participated in Breeders’ Cup races on Friday.

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 08:53

Horse rescued after falling into pond at Los Alamitos

CYPRESS, Calif. - A 2-year-old gelding who got loose during warm-ups and fell into an infield pond on Sunday night was saved from drowning by the efforts of an outrider, a veterinarian and members of the track’s maintenance and starting gate crews.

Walk the Dog, co-owned and trained by Lin Melton, unseated his rider before the seventh race and jumped a rail into the infield. Outrider Eric Najduch ran into the infield and was trying to corral Walk the Dog when the gelding fell into a pond on the westernmost part of the infield, which is not lit at night.

Sun, 11/02/2014 - 22:28

Luzzi badly injured in paddock accident

Tom Keyser
Mike Luzzi has won more 3,420 races since he began riding in 1988.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jockey Mike Luzzi suffered a broken leg and a fractured pelvis in a paddock accident prior to the ninth race at Aqueduct on Sunday.

Luzzi, 45, had just been given a leg up on the 2-year-old filly Tricky Zippy when she flipped over and fell on top of him. On Sunday night, Luzzi’s agent, David Grace, said Luzzi had fractured his pelvis in five places and the tibia of his left leg in two places.