CYPRESS, Calif. – California Chrome continues to show progress from a grabbed quarter sustained when he finished in a dead heat for fourth in the Belmont Stakes on June 7, assistant trainer Alan Sherman said Friday.
The winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in May, California Chrome is tentatively scheduled to be sent to the River Ranch division of Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., on Wednesday for six weeks of rest.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Goldencents, second in the $1,250,000 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on June 7, will have a summer and fall campaign geared toward sprints and one-mile races, co-owner Glenn Sorgenstein said Thursday.
A four-time stakes winner, Goldencents is likely to return to racing in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes over six furlongs at Del Mar on July 27, followed by a potential trip to Saratoga for the $500,000 Forego Stakes over seven furlongs Aug. 30.
Global View, who is developing into one of the better 3-year-old grass horses in North America, has been stabled at Arlington since he finished second to Bobby’s Kitten in the May 31 Penn Mile at Penn National.
Global View has been in steady training here, but his next start has not yet been determined, according to Lindsay Schultz, the Arlington-based assistant to trainer Tom Proctor. Global View could stay at Arlington and race July 12 in the $200,000 American Derby, or travel to Belmont Park for a start in the $1,250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Fashion Plate, the winner of consecutive Grade 1 races at Santa Anita in February and April but unplaced in major stakes in Kentucky and New York in recent weeks, might be switched to turf for the Del Mar summer meeting, trainer Simon Callaghan said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man, who has not started since his fourth-place finish March 8 in the Santa Anita Handicap, remains in light training at Gulfstream Park after being diagnosed with bruising of the hind ankles, according to trainer Kathy Ritvo.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – By now, followers of the Chicago circuit almost certainly have asked themselves, “Where’s Wayne?”
Wayne Catalano has won the Arlington training title 10 times: in 2012-13, from 2005-2010, and in 2002-03. Moreover, torrid starts to the meet have become almost annual for Catalano’s barn, which long has targeted Arlington as its major meeting. Last year, between the meet’s opening and June 12, Catalano went 69-30-9-6-6. In 2010, his barn went 21-15-11 from 74 starters, and in 2008, Catalano somehow won with 24 of 40 starters during that early-season period.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Steve Asmussen said he will monitor weather patterns in determining when to send Kentucky Oaks winner Untapable to New York for her next start, the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes on June 28 at Belmont Park.
Asmussen will be at Churchill Downs early Monday to oversee the penultimate prerace work for Untapable, the standout leader of the 3-year-old filly division.
ELMONT, N.Y. - After winning three sprint races against New York-breds, Captain Serious will step out of his comfort zone in both company and distance when he runs in the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on July 5.
Captain Serious, a son of Successful Appeal, is coming off a three-length victory in the Mike Lee Stakes going seven furlongs here May 31. He covered the distance in 1:20.99 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97. Prior to that, Captain Serious had won a pair of six-furlong races, both by 1 1/4 lengths.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Technically, the $100,000 Astoria for juvenile fillies is the only stakes race on Saturday’s Belmont Park program. One could make a case that both the sixth and ninth races could be quasi-stakes events.
The sixth is a multi-conditioned $90,000 allowance race scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on turf and features three graded stakes winners trying to find their previous form. The ninth is a $75,000 New York-bred allowance scheduled for seven furlongs on turf and features a bevy of stakes winners in the statebred ranks.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It seems as though every trainer at Hastings is trying to find a horse who is eligible to run in the Champions Starter Series that begins July 13. What makes the series – restricted to horses who have started for an $8,000 claiming price or less in 2014 – so attractive is that the final leg of the four-leg series carries a $50,000 purse.
