ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Joshua Tree, winner of Woodbine’s Grade 1 Canadian International in 2010 and 2012 and second in the 2011 running, is under consideration for this year’s renewal, the Woodbine media department reported Thursday.
The $1 million Canadian International, a 1 1/2-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, attracted 17 nominees, while 24 fillies and mares were listed for the same day’s E.P. Taylor Stakes, a Grade 1, $500,000 stakes at 1 1/4 miles on the grass.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jeranimo, winner of the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar in July, will be pre-entered for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and the $2 million BC Mile on turf.
Trainer Mike Pender said earlier this week that by pre-entering for both races “we can see what each one shapes up like.”
Owned by B.J. Wright and Robert LaPenta, Jeranimo, 7, finished ninth in his last two starts – the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 25 and the $250,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 28. The Eddie Read Stakes in his most recent race on turf.
Trainer Christophe Clement entered a pair of contenders in both of Saturday’s graded turf stakes at Belmont Park, but given the forecast it is uncertain whether either will run.
In Za Approval, Clement would have the horse to beat in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Knickerbocker Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. But the forecast for rain Thursday and Friday and the likelihood of less than firm ground Saturday could result in him scratching the horse.
Already this year, Clement has scratched Za Approval from the Fourstardave and Bernard Baruch, a pair of Grade 2 events at Saratoga.
ELMONT, N.Y. – There is never a good time for a jockey to get injured, but the timing of Joel Rosario’s broken foot could not have been worse.
On Aug. 23, Rosario was injured when his mount, Casual Elegance, stumbled past the finish line, unseating him, resulting in a broken bone in his foot. The following day, Rosario was scheduled to ride Kentucky Derby winner Orb in the $1 million Travers at Saratoga. The day after that, he was named to ride Game On Dude, the leading older horse in the country, in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A field of nine 3-year-old fillies has passed the entry box for Saturday’s 30th running of the $400,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, the sixth and last Grade 1 race of the Keeneland fall meet.
Alterite, a French import who made her North American debut a winning one last month in the Grade 1 Garden City at Belmont Park, was assigned post 4 as the likely favorite in the 1 1/8-mile turf race. John Velazquez has a return mount for trainer Chad Brown.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Three-year-olds Broadway Empire and Holy Lute will be pre-entered for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, run at Santa Anita on Nov. 1, their trainers said Tuesday.
Broadway Empire, trained by Robertino Diodoro, won the Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Sept. 29 for his third consecutive stakes win, Broadway Empire will make his first start against older horses in the BC Dirt Mile. He would be the first Breeders’ Cup starter for Diodoro and jockey Rico Walcott.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – There are some proven stakes performers in Saturday’s $150,000 Carotene, such as Smartyfly and Professor’s Ride, set for the 1 1/8-mile turf race for Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies. But trainer Danny Vella will look to play spoiler with Blessed One, who has seen action just twice and is coming off a nice maiden score at a mile on grass here on July 27.
“She was injured last year – that kept her from racing,” said Vella, who conditions Blessed One for Derek Chin. “We took our time getting her ready this year. We always liked her.”
MIAMI – You can take the trainer out of Calder, but apparently you can’t take Calder completely out of the trainer.
Case in point is Bill Kaplan, who was a longtime mainstay at Calder before relocating his entire stable to Gulfstream Park this summer. Kaplan will return to Calder on Saturday, and in a big way, having entered eight horses in the four stakes races on the Festival of the Sun program, including three each in the My Dear Girl and Frances Genter stakes.
New Jersey horsemen will get a few more opportunities to run their turf horses this fall, and fans will have one last chance to view live racing from the four-story, glassed-in grandstand when the Meadowlands launches its 10-day, all-turf meet Friday.
There are no stakes scheduled and just six races per day during the afternoon programs that begin at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. There will be four weekends of action on Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 2, plus a pair of Monday cards on Columbus Day (Oct. 14) and Oct. 28.
