Moonshine Mullin is through racing for the year and will return to action at Oaklawn Park next winter, said trainer Randy Morse.
Moonshine Mullin, owned by Randy Patterson, earned an expenses-paid berth to the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic by winning the Grade 1 Stephen Foster here in June, but what Morse termed “a minor issue” precluded the 6-year-old horse from racing again in 2014.
Silver Max was among the handful of workers over the Keeneland turf course Thursday as activity continued to build toward a 17-day fall meet that begins Oct. 3 at the Lexington, Ky., track. He was timed in 1:01.40 for five furlongs.
Silver Max will be rematched with Wise Dan in the first $1 million race in Keeneland history, the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile on Oct. 4. Silver Max won the Shadwell last fall over Polytrack when the race was rained off turf and remains the only horse to defeat Wise Dan in the last 14 starts for the reigning two-time Horse of the Year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Garry Simms has won with five of his last eight starters at Churchill Downs and elsewhere, but he hasn’t been around to go to the winner’s circle. He has the future to consider.
Simms has been making a conscious effort to conserve his precious energy to shop at the Keeneland yearling sale.
“I’ve bought five of them for a little more than a half-million dollars,” Simms, a Churchill-based trainer since 1992, said Thursday evening.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Game On Dude, a top older horse in recent years and the only horse to win three runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap, was retired Thursday after three consecutive losses, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Game On Dude won 16 of 34 starts and earned $6,498,893, including eight Grade 1 races from 2011 to earlier this year.
Little Alexis gave a good account of herself when she went from a listed stakes win to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Test last month at Saratoga. Trainer Carlo Vaccarezza said he believes she will again be competitive when Little Alexis makes her first start around two turns in the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes going 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Parx.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Atreides might not be the only locally based 3-year-old with designs on the Grade 3 Indiana Derby on Oct. 4. Trainer Bill Kaplan is considering the race for East Hall, who is exiting a troubled sixth-place finish in the Super Derby.
“He’s nominated to Indiana,” Kaplan said. “We’ll wait and see who’s going in the race and how he’s doing over the next couple of weeks before making a final decision.”
BENSALEM, Pa. – While all eyes – and cell-phone cameras – were focused on Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome on Wednesday morning at Parx, Haskell Invitational winner Bayern went about his morning routine with nary a glance.
That was just fine with Jimmy Barnes, the assistant to trainer Bob Baffert who accompanied Bayern here from Southern California.
“Doesn’t matter to me, I don’t pay attention to it,” Barnes said.
BENSALEM, Pa. – The curiosity seekers were not out in full force like they were a decade ago, the last time a Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner roamed the backside at Parx. Still, a few dozen people, cell-phone cameras at the ready, lined the rails Wednesday morning as California Chrome walked onto the track shortly after 8:30 a.m. on a cloudless, comfortable late-summer day.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Departing was scheduled to have a final breeze this weekend in preparation for the $125,000 Homecoming Classic at Churchill Downs, the highlight of closing weekend next Saturday, Sept. 27.
Departing, a 4-year-old War Front gelding, has not raced since finishing eighth in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 2. He has worked three times in the interim, the latest being a half-mile breeze Sunday in 48 seconds at Churchill.
