HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man got the opportunity to really stretch his legs for the first time since his return from Santa Anita when he galloped early Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Kathy Ritvo had not allowed Mucho Macho Man to do little more than jog since getting him back to the track last weekend.
“I just wanted him to go easy and get reaccustomed to this track here before letting him start galloping again,” said Ritvo.
Casiguapo, runner-up behind Strong Mandate earlier this season in the Grade 1 Hopeful, was scheduled to van Sunday from Florida to Delta Downs, where he will attempt to become the third Calder-based juvenile to win the Delta Jackpot in the last six years. The Grade 3, $1 million Delta Jackpot will be decided at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday.
Casiguapo will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Big Drama and Gourmet Dinner, the 2008 and 2010 winners of the Delta Jackpot.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Will Take Charge has come out of his narrow defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in such fine shape that trainer D. Wayne Lukas is going full speed ahead toward one more race in the 2013 season, the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on Nov. 29 at the horse’s home track, Churchill Downs.
Lukas sent out Will Take Charge for his first workout since the Classic when the 3-year-old colt breezed an easy half-mile Saturday morning in 49 seconds over a fast track at Churchill. Will Take Charge was second by a nose to Mucho Macho Man in the Nov. 2 Classic at Santa Anita.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A day after dumping his rider and getting loose when scheduled to work, Silentio behaved much better on Saturday morning at Betfair Hollywood Park, turning in a drill that encouraged his trainer, Gary Mandella, to believe he was on course for the Citation Handicap later this month following an outstanding effort last time out in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Silentio on Friday was supposed to go six furlongs under jockey Rafael Bejarano, but he dumped Bejarano and ran loose on the track before being corralled by an outrider.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ian Wilkes knows all too well that the minute you think you can enjoy the fruits of your labor in racing is when you can’t.
Wilkes swept the late double Wednesday at Churchill Downs with a pair of homebreds for Marylou Whitney: Prescott Brown ($7.40) won the ninth race and Bird County ($12.40) led all the way in the 10th, a maiden special weight race at 1 1/16 miles – but that just couldn’t suffice as the end of a nice story, could it?
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Bare Is Best.
That’s the name of the 4-year-old colt who was a 45-1 upsetter in a $12,500 starter allowance at 1 1/4 miles here Wednesday evening.
It also describes the philosophy of Bare Is Best’s trainer, Marc Blouin, who celebrates the racehorse in its natural state.
That methodology involves keeping all of his horses on the farm, turning them out daily, eschewing the use of horseshoes and Lasix, and keeping intact the males when at all possible.
Dashingly, the world champion Quarter Horse in 1983, is one of six individuals to be inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame during a Saturday night gala at Retama Park near San Antonio. The program will be emceed by Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg.
Following the ceremony, there will be a stakes doubleheader featuring Texas Bling in the $50,000 Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame and Lasting Bubbles in the $50,000 Fiesta Mile.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Todd Pletcher and the rest of his training colleagues from up North will not start running horses at Gulfstream Park in earnest until the championship meeting begins Nov. 30. But there were some early signs of winter around here last weekend, when Pletcher and jockey Edgar Prado teamed up to win a pair of races, including Saturday’s main event, the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Classic Preview, with Mordi’s Miracle.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For the first time since Churchill Downs began hosting night racing, a Downs After Dark program will directly conflict with a University of Louisville football home game at nearby Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on Saturday, calling into question whether track attendance might be adversely affected.
Clearly, it wasn’t planned that way. A 7 p.m. Eastern kickoff for the Houston-Louisville game Saturday was not announced until Nov. 4, while Churchill long ago scheduled a 4:30 p.m. start for the only night card of its fall meet.
Golden Gate Fields held a prep race for the Nov. 29 Berkeley Handicap last Friday. Old rivals Positive Response and Hudson Landing signed up, even though the race was on turf and the Berkeley will be run on the main track.
Alas, the rivalry didn’t get its renewal.
Positive Response, the 6-5 morning-line favorite, was scratched. Hudson Landing, who went off as the 6-5 favorite in a field of four, ran last every step of the way. Neither of the veteran stakes winners will compete in the Berkeley.
