Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said plans for Tonito M., who won the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park, are to be determined. The horse returned to his Santa Anita base Tuesday. Tonito M. came into the Oklahoma Derby off a third-place finish in the Los Alamitos Mile.
“We’ll look for another race for him,” Hollendorfer said. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.”
Hollendorfer said he liked Tonito M.’s off-the-pace score under Rafael Bejarano.
Just three weeks after a successful stakes invasion at Louisiana Downs, Kentucky-based trainer Mike Maker returned to the region Sunday and won the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks with Shanon Nicole. And he’ll be back again later this month with a starter for a major stakes at Retama Park near San Antonio.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A field of 13 2-year-old fillies was entered Tuesday for the Grade 1, $400,000 Alcibiades, the highlight of Keeneland's opening-day card Friday.
Fashion Alert, the winner of the Astoria and Schuylerville stakes in her only two career starts, will be favored when starting from the rail in the 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades. Velazquez will ride for Todd Pletcher.
All-sources handle at the 12-day September meet that ended Sunday at Churchill Downs was down 16 percent, according to figures released by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Gross wagering was $38.8 million and equated to a daily average of $3,234,190. The 2014 schedule matched the same 12 dates run in 2013, the first year that Churchill held a September meet after taking over the spot on the calendar formerly occupied by Turfway Park. Average daily handle in 2013 was $3,857,160.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Papacoolpapacool, the winner of a maiden race for 2-year-olds on turf last Saturday, could make his next start on dirt, trainer Jeff Mullins said.
In Saturday’s race, Papacoolpapacool led throughout a one-mile race, winning by 2 3/4 lengths in his third start. Papacoolpapacool was third in the Oak Tree Juvenile Turf over a mile at Del Mar on Sept. 3.
“He works really well on dirt,” Mullins said. “For obvious reasons, we want to try it. He’ll run all day.”
Papacoolpapacool, by Temple City, is owned by Ali Nilforushan.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Everyone is talking about the new dirt track in place at Keeneland after eight years of Polytrack, but once racing action gets under way this weekend, a major focus will be on a different surface.
That’s because Wise Dan, the reigning two-time Horse of the Year, will be racing on the Keeneland turf Saturday in the richest race in track history, the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Julien Couton was suspended indefinitely by Santa Anita stewards on Sunday after failing to appear at a hearing that morning regarding his recent arrest on felony charges of spousal abuse in Pasadena, Calif.
The arrest took place in recent weeks, according to a California Horse Racing Board investigator.
Couton, 33, was suspended for failing to appear at the hearing, for conduct detrimental to horse racing, and for violating rules that are grounds for suspension or revocation. He is not allowed on racetrack grounds during the suspension.
ARCADIA, Calif. – On Tuesday, trainer Bob Hess Jr. was seeking a rider in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship for Merit Man to replace Kent Desormeaux. Desormeaux was hospitalized Sunday after being kicked in the chest during a frightening incident in the post parade for the eighth race.
Desormeaux remained hospitalized as of Tuesday morning with a fractured rib and a bruised lung, Hess said. It was unclear Tuesday how long the 44-year-old Desormeaux would be sidelined.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Rich Tapestry, a stakes winner in Hong Kong and Dubai, will make his American debut in Saturday’s $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, a race that trainer Michael Chang hopes will lead to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 1.
Rich Tapestry cleared quarantine Monday and trained at Santa Anita on Monday and Tuesday.
“He’s settling well,” Chang said Tuesday. “It’s a new environment.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With Gulfstream Park now having established a year-round circuit in south Florida, Northern-based horsemen are expressing more interest in having a presence in this area. The latest example is David Jacobson, who expects to have 20-25 horses stabled on the grounds by the time the championship meet opens later this fall.
