Niall Saville is trying to expand his stable, and Legendary just might be the showcase horse he needs to grab the attention of prospective owners.
Last Saturday at Laurel, Legendary gave Saville his first stakes win by scoring an emphatic victory in the $100,000 Japan Racing Association Stakes. Saville now is pointing the 5-year-old to the Grade 3, $200,000 Knickerbocker at Belmont Park on Oct. 11.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Local sensation Atreides, who is undefeated, unchallenged, and owns three consecutive triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, will take to the road to make his graded stakes debut in the Grade 2, $400,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park on Sept. 27.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Soi Phet and Masochistic, one-two in the Los Alamitos Mile on Saturday, will move up in class at Santa Anita. Soi Phet, who has won eight races and $435,606 since being claimed for $16,000 in May 2013, was nominated to the Grade 1 Awesome Again on Sept. 27.
Soi Phet earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure in the Los Alamitos Mile. His rivals in the Awesome Again are expected to include Pacific Classic winner Shared Belief. Soi Phet, trained by Leonard Powell, finished third in the Awesome Again last year.
The 2-year-old Long Hot Summer might jump into a graded stakes sooner than expected. After she won her first two starts at Del Mar, including the Generous Portion Stakes, trainer Phil D’Amato initially planned to wait for the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies for statebreds Oct. 31 at Santa Anita.
But Long Hot Summer worked an easy half-mile Monday at Santa Anita, and on Tuesday, D’Amato said the filly will be considered for the Grade 1 Chandelier on Sept. 27 at the Arcadia, Calif., track. The Chandelier is the local prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Though she is based most of the year in Arizona, trainer Molly Pearson typically keeps 14 to 15 runners in California from April to October. Those include Thursday allowance contender Winning Vision and a 2-year-old who could be her first Breeders’ Cup starter.
Highway Boss, sixth with a compromised trip Sept. 3 in the Oak Tree Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, will aim for the Zuma Beach on Oct. 5 at Santa Anita.
“He’s an improving horse and did not have the greatest of trips,” Pearson said.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The second- and third-place finishers in Saturday’s Grade 3, $125,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity, Private Prospect and One Go All Go, could make their next start in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, but race winner Recount is more likely to run against Illinois-breds at Hawthorne if he starts again this year.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Less was more during opening weekend of the fall Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos. After replacing the Los Angeles County Fair as the bridge from summer at Del Mar to fall at Santa Anita, Los Alamitos generated higher handle figures than the fair.
Naval Command and My Point Exactly could advance to graded stakes competition following stakes wins at Louisiana Downs last Saturday. Bill Kaplan trains both 2-year-olds and said this week that he was just starting to look into options for the horses, who invaded from Gulfstream Park.
Naval Command got the third win of her career in the $75,000 Happy Ticket, a one-mile turf race on the Super Derby undercard. She is now a candidate for either the Grade 1, $400,000 Alcibiades on dirt Oct. 3 or the Grade 3, $150,000 Jessamine on turf Oct. 8. The 1 1/16-mile stakes are at Keeneland.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Medal Count might not be the most accomplished racehorse in America these days, but he’s certainly among the most interesting.
“We haven’t been afraid to try anything with him,” said Dale Romans, who trains the 3-year-old Dynaformer colt at Churchill Downs for the Spendthrift Farm of B. Wayne Hughes.
Beaten a nose by My Afleet in a grueling stretch drive Saturday in the inaugural running of the $230,417 Dueling Grounds Derby at turf-only Kentucky Downs, Medal Count was racing on a different surface yet again.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With two-time Woodbine Mile winner Wise Dan unlikely to return for a third straight year, a large field of 12 is probable for Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Woodbine Mile.
A trio of horses will exit Saratoga’s Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap to run in the Woodbine Mile, including runner-up Grand Arch and fourth-place finisher Dorsett for trainer Brian Lynch. Grand Arch won his first graded stakes on the Woodbine turf course in the Grade 2 King Edward on June 22 and has been in the money in all 15 of his career starts.
