OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Derby winner Broadway Empire has a handful of options for his next start, ranging from the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile to the Zia Park Derby, trainer Robertino Diodoro said Monday. The Oklahoma Derby, which was run Sunday at Remington Park, was the third straight stakes win for the horse, whose streak includes a victory in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who finished last in Saturday’s $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, will most likely not run again this year and no decision has been made on whether he will return as a 4-year-old, co-owner Stuart Janney III said Monday.
“I would suspect he’s done racing this year,” Janney said by phone Monday morning. “We’ll figure out what we want to do next year.”
Trainer Peter Miller said Monday that Reneesgotzip, arguably the top female sprinter on the West Coast, will not be pre-entered in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and will go against male rivals in the Sprint or Turf Sprint.
Also from California, trainer Bob Baffert said he likely will run both Book Review and Executiveprivilege on Saturday in the ungraded L.A. Woman Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong race that also is expected to get another Filly-Mare Sprint hopeful, Teddy’s Promise.
Saving ground going around three turns is imperative at Northlands Park, and Deputy Lass has a good chance of making amends for flopping as the favorite when she breaks from the rail in a $12,500 claiming race that will serve as Wednesday’s feature.
The one-mile race for fillies and mares drew six horses and goes as race four on an eight-race card that begins at 6 p.m. Mountain.
Woodbine Entertainment Group canceled a profit-sharing program for its 2,000 employees and cut the pay of its top executives earlier this year in response to a demand from the provincial government, the chairman of the company’s compensation committee and its chief executive said Monday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As if his weekend hadn’t been great enough after being in New York to see Little Mike win the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Saturday at Belmont Park, Dale Romans got off an airplane Sunday in Louisville just in time to be on hand to tie for the Churchill Downs training title.
Going into the closing-day Sunday program, Romans trailed Steve Asmussen by two winners (8-6) at the 12-day September meet.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The first four finishers from last year's Breeders’ Cup Classic plus the beaten favorite in that race all appear headed to a rematch in this year’s $5 million Classic on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita following victories by Fort Larned, Mucho Macho Man, and Ron the Greek in their final preps Saturday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – One could have been forgiven for thinking that Moonlit Beauty was past her “best before” date heading into last Sunday’s Classy ’n Smart Stakes.
After all, Moonlit Beauty had finished no better than fourth in her four previous starts this season and had been beaten by double-digit lengths in her two most recent stakes appearances.
Check N Fetch won the most prestigious race of her career in Sunday’s $150,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap for Quarter Horse fillies and mares, giving owner Lorena Velazquez Rodriguez of Arizona her second automatic qualifier for the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 14.
Sent off favored, Check N Fetch ($8.60) ran 400 yards in 19.55 seconds under jockey Ramon Sanchez, finishing a nose in front of 30-1 Zoomdasher. Shes Jess Toxic was a head behind Zoomdasher in the field of 10.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Quality speed will be on display in the $100,000 Apelia Stakes at Woodbine on Wednesday, when the hotshot 3-year-old Goldstryke Glory meets the aptly named Youcan’tcatchme in the six-furlong dash. Both are contenders for a Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion female sprinter of 2013.
Goldstryke Glory was one of the better 2-year-old fillies here in 2012. Following a winter layoff, she resurfaced in the spring at Hastings, where she finished second and third in a pair of dirt stakes. She subsequently joined trainer Kelly Callaghan’s Woodbine string.
