SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Nick Zito did a bit of a double take when handed the overnight for Saturday’s Travers Day card. That reaction coming after he got his first glance at the field for the Grade 1 King’s Bishop, which surprisingly drew a field of 14 3-year-olds, including Zito’s horse Declan’s Warrior.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Reneesgotzip, winner of the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap in track-record time last Sunday, will make her next start in a Breeders’ Cup race at Santa Anita on Nov. 1 or 2. A decision on a specific race may not be made until the preceding weekend.
Strategic Leader will be making his seventh appearance in the $50,000 Red Earth when he runs in Friday night’s renewal of the Oklahoma-bred fixture at Remington Park. A field of 12 will start in the 7 1/2-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-olds and up.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In recent years, trainers Kiaran McLaughlin and Tom Albertrani have won the Travers with horses from whom big things were expected.
Saturday, in the 144th Travers Stakes at Saratoga, McLaughlin and Albertrani are back in the race with horses that could be intriguing longshots in a field highlighted by Haskell winner Verrazano, Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice, and Kentucky Derby winner Orb.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar officials are considering dividing the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 1, provided the race receives sufficient entries and that business continues to show improvement over last year.
Director of racing Tom Robbins said Wednesday that the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Derby would need at least 16 intended runners to be divided. Ten can start in each race.
BOSSIER CITY, La. – Everything is going according to plan these days for Charlie Smith and his blue-collar runner String King. If you are the owner, breeder, and trainer of a horse who regularly takes down six-figure stakes events, that kind of order can be a wonderful thing.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Andallthatitmeans is going to be a very short price and should be tough to handle when he runs in the colts-and-geldings division of the CTHS Sales Stakes for 2-year-olds at Hastings on Friday.
The fillies division also will have a solid favorite, Architecture, but she might have her hands full with Elusive Lily, who appears primed to pull off a small upset.
Each race is worth $50,000 and covers 6 1/2 furlongs. Post time for the first of seven races is 7:15 p.m. Pacific.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Timing is everything in sports, and the timing of the Grade 3, $200,000 Canadian Derby for Broadway Empire last Saturday at Northlands Park worked out perfectly. A few hours later, and Broadway Empire wouldn’t have made the race. Luckily for his connections, he did, and his display of speed and stamina in winning the 1 3/8-mile race with Rico Walcott aboard was very impressive.
SARATOGA, N.Y. – The $100,000 Chowder’s First Stakes for New York-bred sprinters would normally garner little attention on a card that is highlighted by a race like the Grade 1 Ballerina.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The longer, the better, it seems for the turf filly Topic. Winless in five races at distances ranging from 6 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, she finally broke through with a victory against maidens going 1 3/16 miles, then stretched out to 1 1/4 miles and was a good third last time out in the Grade 1 American Oaks at Betfair Hollywood Park.
