Flying Connection has emerged from her win in the $300,000 Sunland Park Oaks in excellent condition and is being pointed for the Kentucky Oaks, trainer Todd Fincher said Thursday.
Fincher said Flying Connection would ship to Churchill Downs in about 10 days. She is currently stabled at Sunland, which is in New Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Ah Jeez and Tall Boy, who finished ninth and last in a field of 13 in the Group 2 United Arab Emirates Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai last Saturday, are likely bound for Grade 2 stakes worth $500,000 at Churchill Downs on May 6.
Kazushi Kimura, the leading rider at Woodbine the last two years who has spent recent months at Santa Anita, has been booked to ride the Japanese import Mandarin Hero in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 8.
Sentell “Sonny” Taylor, who has worked at the New York Racing Association for 58 years, will retire from the company following the races at Aqueduct this weekend, it was announced Thursday.
“I’m tired of coming over to Aqueduct,” Taylor, who lives in Floral Park, about seven minutes from Belmont Park, said by phone Thursday. “It’s gotten too much for me, back and forth to Aqueduct, especially going home at night.”
Louisiana Downs will run the Super Derby for the first time since 2019 on Sept. 2, the Bossier City, La., track announced Wednesday.
Louisiana Downs has a new ownership group, which is bringing the race back at a distance of 1 1/8 miles. The purse will be $200,000.
Louisiana Downs is set to open a 61-date for Thoroughbreds on May 6. The season will run through Sept. 12.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Kavod took co-owner Michael Robinson on a Grade 1 ride last April when he ran in the Arkansas Derby.
The horse, who finished fifth, was one of the first runners owned by the 46-year-old family practitioner from Sayre, Okla.
Robinson will again see action in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday, as the co-owner of Two Eagles River.
How fast did Derma Sotogake run Saturday when he dazzled in the UAE Derby? The colt’s time was the second-fastest UAE Derby since the race moved to Meydan and lengthened to 1 3/16 miles in 2010.
But compared to the Dubai World Cup time, Derma Sotogake probably ran “faster” than UAE Derby winner Mendelssohn, who won in a record 1:55.19 over a quick Meydan surface in 2018. That year, Thunder Snow won the 1 1/4-mile Dubai World Cup in 2:01.38, fastest at Meydan.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The first Saturday in April is Frank Fletcher’s first Saturday in May.
The owner of Rocket Can is seeking to win the Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. It’s the dream he’s been chasing since he got into racing in 1989.
“This is why I race,” Fletcher said.
“I was born in Arkansas, and I’ve lived here all my life. Oaklawn is my very favorite track and what makes racing fun is for all the people you know joining you in the celebration. We’ve got friends coming from one end of Arkansas to the other for this race.”
