ELMONT, N.Y. - Jockey Rosie Napravnik said she plans to make her return to the saddle on opening day of Saratoga.
Napravnik sustained a shoulder separation June 16 when a horse she was working at Churchill Downs suffered a fatal breakdown. Napravnik began getting on horses at Belmont on July 5, and she had considered riding this Saturday at Arlington Park but opted to give herself one more week.
Honor Code, knocked off the Triple Crown trail this year with a tear in his right hind suspensory, was scheduled to arrive at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland on Saturday to continue training toward a comeback that trainer Shug McGaughey hopes takes place in the fall.
Honor Code has been based at WinStar Farm in Kentucky, where he has been jogging every other day for a couple of weeks, according to McGaughey.
“I’m going to get him [to Fair Hill] and jog him for four or five days, just to get him used to the track, and then start galloping him,” McGaughey said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Typically, the Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes doesn’t attract a large field. In three of the last four years, the opening-day feature at Saratoga has drawn only six juvenile fillies. This year, the racing office could be scrambling to get that many.
The race for leading jockey at the Belmont spring-summer meet most likely will come down to Sunday’s closing-day card.
Entering Thursday’s action, Javier Castellano held a 49-48 advantage over Irad Ortiz Jr. Castellano was named on three horses Thursday, while Ortiz was serving the final day of a three-day suspension. Both were named on five horses Friday. Ortiz was named on nine horses Saturday, while Castellano will be at Delaware Park to ride Princess of Sylmar in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap.
Nobody should feel sorry for owner-trainer John Ross because he sold Lexie Lou before she swept the Woodbine Oaks and the Queen’s Plate. Ross did get a pretty penny for the powerful bay, a reported $400,000, and his current crop of 2-year-olds looks promising.
Ross runs R U Watchingbud in the Clarendon Stakes off a third behind the runaway winner Conquest Tsunami in the Victoria Stakes. He was beaten a half-length for second in that open, five-furlong dash and has since breezed a half-mile in 48.80 seconds.
Seffeara makes his much-anticipated second start in Saturday’s $150,000 Clarendon Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong test for Ontario-bred 2-year-olds.
Seffeara covered 4 1/2 furlongs in a Polytrack record 51.01 seconds June 8 to earn his diploma first time out by nearly 12 lengths under a hand ride from Gary Boulanger. He earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure in the maiden special for Ontario-sired stock.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – On Rainbow Bridge locked horns with the likes of Lexie Lou and Paladin Bay last year before missing the second half of her 2-year-old season. She will try turf for the first time Saturday at Woodbine in the $125,000 Passing Mood Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies with a field that also contains the swift Executive Allure.
CYPRESS, Calif. – California Chrome is scheduled to return to trainer Art Sherman’s stable next Thursday from a monthlong summer break, two weeks earlier than expected, and could make his comeback in a new race at Los Alamitos in September.
Sherman visited California Chrome at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., on Wednesday and decided to move forward the colt’s return to training from Aug. 1 to mid-July.
Social Inclusion turned in his first official work Thursday since finishing third as the favorite June 7 in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park. He breezed an easy three furlongs in 35.77 seconds and galloped out a half-mile in 47.20 around the dogs over a sloppy and sealed racetrack at Gulfstream Park.
