Whether it’s Saratoga, or Gulfstream, or Southern California, Julien Leparoux typically has been a mid-top-10 kind of jockey in recent years.
But for some reason, when it’s Keeneland, look out – Leparoux is hard to top. For the 10th time since the 2006 spring meet, Leparoux will have won or shared the riding title when the 15-day Keeneland meet ends Friday. Into the final three days, Leparoux held a commanding lead atop the standings.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Purses for the spring-summer meeting at Santa Anita that begins Friday are unchanged from the winter-spring meeting that ended last weekend but vary from purses for the corresponding dates run at Hollywood Park last year.
Purses for maiden special weight and allowance races are higher than at Hollywood Park, while purses for some claiming races are the same or lower.
Wise Dan is ready. Now all Churchill has to do is round up some opposition for the reigning two-time Horse of the Year in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, the race before the Derby on the May 3 card.
In what will be his only workout between races, Wise Dan breezed a half-mile in 47.60 seconds Monday over the Keeneland Polytrack. The 7-year-old gelding won the April 11 Maker’s 46 Mile for his 11th victory in his last 12 starts.
“I just wanted a good workout for him just to keep him kicking over,” said trainer Charlie LoPresti.
Led by the uncoupled Baffert-trained coupling of Bayern and Chitu, a field of 10 3-year-olds has been entered in the 90th Derby Trial, the feature race on a 10-race opening night program here Saturday.
From the rail, this is the field for the Grade 3, $150,000 Trial, run at a one-turn mile: Bayern, Chitu, Big Sugar Soda, Friendswith K Mill, Matador, Embellishing Bob, Laddie Boy, Bitters ‘n Bourbon, Spot, and Myositis Dan.
First post Saturday is 6 p.m. Eastern, with the Trial, the eighth race, set for 10:01.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Beholder, the two-time champion who won her 2014 debut in the Santa Lucia Stakes at Santa Anita last Sunday, is being given a weeklong vacation at a local farm, trainer Richard Mandella said.
Mandella said Beholder has been sent to Julie Adair’s Southern California farm for a week of rest and is expected to return to his stable in the Santa Anita barn area next week. The break will not disrupt plans to start Beholder in the $1 million Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park on June 7, he said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – David Jacobson, who has become the dominant trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit, will have a string of horses at Monmouth Park this summer, he said Wednesday.
Jacobson said NYRA officials plan to limit the number of horses trainers may have stabled at one New York track, prompting the need to send horses out of town. He said he will have 35 horses at Monmouth while maintaining a full barn at Aqueduct.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Although there is little doubt the big favorite will be Untapable, the supporting cast for the 140th Kentucky Oaks is still taking shape as time dwindles toward entry day on Tuesday.
The connections of Room Service and Sweet Reason were debating whether to run their fillies in the May 2 Oaks, and if neither goes, Thank You Marylou and Empress of Midway (in that order) can make the lineup. The Oaks field is limited to 14, with an also-eligibles list of up to four more.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Anniversary Kitty will be asked to try something new in Saturday’s $250,000 Melair Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita. She will race on dirt for the first time in the race over 1 1/16 miles. The lucrative purse was a deciding factor in giving the surface a try, trainer Craig Dollase said.
“For that kind of money, it’s worth taking a shot,” he said.
Delta Downs in Vinton, La., opens a 46-date Quarter Horse meet Friday night, with the Lee Berwick Futurity, a restricted Grade 1 race that last year was worth more than $560,000, again serving as the season’s centerpiece. The 350-yard race for 2-year-olds bred in Louisiana will be held on the closing-night card July 12. Trials are June 21.
Delta will race Wednesdays through Saturdays, with a nightly first post of 6:15 Central.
