Fri, 08/30/2013 - 17:36

Saratoga: Saginaw euthanized after fracturing sesamoids

Tom Keyser
Saginaw was euthanized Friday after fracturing both sesamoids in his left foreleg during the running of the third race at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer David Jacobson stood a few yards away from where Saginaw was standing in his stall, munching on his hay rack as veterinarians performed X-rays on the gelding’s injured left foreleg.

“I can’t believe we’re standing here,” Jacobson said. “I thought we’d be back here after standing in the winner’s circle.”

A few minutes later disbelief turned to despair when Jacobson was told that Saginaw had fractured both sesamoid bones in his left ankle. Jacobson was advised that Saginaw, a 7-year-old gelding, would have to be euthanized.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 17:15

Del Mar notes: Dance With Fate to get test in Futurity

Shigeki Kikkawa
Dance With Fate had a troubled debut last month at Betfair Hollywood Park, but rebounded Sunday for his maiden victory.

This content is part of a free preview of DRF Plus. Click to learn more.

DEL MAR, Calif. - After an eighth-place finish in his debut in July and a stylish win Aug. 11, Dance With Fate will start in Wednesday’s $300,000 Del Mar Futurity with high expectations.

But the extent of his ability is still largely an unknown to trainer Peter Eurton.

“They are all so young, and no one knows who is who,” he said of the prospects for the Del Mar Futurity in general. “I feel good about the way he’s training.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 17:11

Beulah: Unbeaten filly Needmore Flattery goes for five in a row in Tah Dah

Needmore Flattery will try to extend her unbeaten record to five races in the $50,000 Tah Dah for Ohio-bred 2-year-old fillies at the River Downs at Beulah Park meet Sunday.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 17:06

Emerald Downs: Wright among several trainers shuttling between tracks

AUBURN, Wash. – In a figurative sense, trainer Blaine Wright will send out Rocky’s Quest to compete in Sunday’s $30,000 feature race at Emerald Downs, but in reality, Wright will be some 700 miles away at Golden Gate Fields, where he keeps a second string of horses. While Wright tends to his runners in California, his assistant, Mark Rheinford, will give jockey Juan Gutierrez a leg up on Rocky’s Quest.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 17:04

Saratoga: Corfu leads three for Pletcher in Hopeful

Tom Keyser
Corfu (right) beat Wired Bryan by a nose in Sunday's Saratoga Special. They might meet again Sept. 2 in the Hopeful Stakes.

This content is part of a free preview of DRF Plus. Click to learn more.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher entered Friday’s action having won 15 races for juveniles at Saratoga, including two stakes. He had a plethora of 2-year-olds still to run and entered a trio of horses in Monday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful Stakes on the closing-day program.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 16:45

Del Mar: Sahara Sky turned out, might miss Breeders' Cup

Tom Keyser
Sahara Sky has won 7 of 16 starts and $886,680.

This content is part of a free preview of DRF Plus. Click to learn more.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Sahara Sky, winner of the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park in May and two other stakes earlier this year, has been turned out for at least a month, casting doubt on his participation in the Breeders’ Cup this fall.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Thursday that Sahara Sky was sent to a farm in mid-August, with a return to training scheduled in late September.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 15:56

Emerald Downs: Two breeds share spotlight

AUBURN, Wash. – A Quarter Horse riding a 10-race winning streak and a stakes-winning Thoroughbred looking to snap a losing skid will share top billing Sunday on a nine-race card at Emerald Downs.

Chicks Special Angel, who last tasted defeat more than two years ago, headlines the $54,000 Bank of America Emerald Downs Championship Challenge for Quarter Horse at 440 yards, while Winning Machine, a four-time stakes winner at Emerald, tops the co-feature for Thoroughbreds, a $30,000 no-conditions allowance at one mile.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 15:26

Monmouth: Plesa has 2-year-old stakes covered

Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Yes I'm Lucky, with Paco Lopez aboard, outlasts stablemate Run for Logistics (left) to win the Tyro Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths Sunday.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Eddie Plesa Jr. hopes to cap a very successful summer at Monmouth Park with a pair of stakes wins on Sunday in the meet’s premier races for 2-year-olds.

Plesa is well positioned with two strong contenders in both the Grade 3 Sapling, and the Sorority for fillies. The six-furlong races, each worth $100,000, are the final major stakes of a season that concludes on Oct. 6.

Plesa saddles Yes I’m Lucky, unbeaten in three starts, and Run for Logistics in the Sapling. The colts ran one-two in the Tyro Stakes, the Sapling prep run on the turf last month.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 15:25

Del Mar Derby: Gabriel Charles has found his calling

Tom Keyser
Gabriel Charles, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Preview at Santa Anita last November, will make his 2013 debut in Wednesday's $100,000 Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar.

This content is part of a free preview of DRF Plus. Click to learn more.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Gabriel Charles has always been a colt with more promise than big-race results.

A stakes winner last year at 2, Gabriel Charles was a fast-closing second in a division of the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar on July 17, his first start of 2013. The result left trainer Jeff Mullins looking forward to Sunday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby over 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Mullins has plenty of company.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 14:38

Del Mar: Beholder starts her second season in Torrey Pines

Tom Keyser
Garrett Gomez's agent says he is unsure when the jockey will be ready to resume riding..

This content is part of a free preview of DRF Plus. Click to learn more.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Just as Labor Day weekend arrives, a summer vacation ends for Beholder, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2012.

Beholder has not started since finishing second to Princess of Sylmar in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 3. Following that race, she was turned out briefly at a Southern California farm before returning to the racetrack with trainer Richard Mandella.