DEL MAR, Calif. – Though she hasn’t raced since January, Hard to Resist has been raring to go for a while, with trainer Pete Eurton desperately searching for a spot. He seems to have found an ideal one in the $85,000 seventh race Thursday at Del Mar, because there’s plenty of speed to set up Hard to Resist’s late run.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Fiftyshadesofhay, winner of the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks and Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes in her last two starts, will step up and take on the elite of the 3-year-old filly division in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 17 following an impressive workout at Del Mar on Tuesday morning, trainer Bob Baffert said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - D. Wayne Lukas made official on Tuesday what had been widely speculated for the last week - Preakness winner Oxbow will not run in the $1 million Travers Stakes here on Aug. 24.
Thus, the anticipated showdown between this year's three Triple Crown winners will have to wait for another day, if it ever happens at all.
Holiday Mischief and Sunbean put on a show in the $100,000 Prelude last Saturday at Louisiana Downs, when the pair finished a head apart in the prep for next month’s Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby. But whether both horses return for the big dance is still being determined. Holiday Mischief is being tentatively pointed for the race, according to his trainer, Joe Offolter, while Sunbean’s next start is yet to be determined, said his trainer, Ron Faucheux.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Trainer John Sadler and owner Kosta Hronis will try to sweep this weekend’s graded stakes races at Del Mar, with Greeley Awesome representing them in the Grade 2, $150,000 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds on Saturday, and the tag team of Journaliste and Lady of Shamrock in the Grade 2, $250,000 John Mabee Stakes for older female turf horses Sunday.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Kinsale King, who won the 2010 Dubai Golden Shaheen and recently returned from a lengthy layoff to finish second in a turf sprint at Betfair Hollywood Park, was retired from racing Tuesday owing to a damaged ligament in an ankle, trainer Carl O’Callaghan said.
Kinsale King, an 8-year-old gelding, will be retrained as a stable pony, O’Callaghan said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer David Duggan hopes to celebrate his 45th birthday in style Thursday when he sends out Palace Dreams in the $100,000 Statue of Liberty division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Saratoga.
“I’m going to try to emulate Bill Mott,” said Duggan, referring to the Hall of Fame trainer who has won a race on his birthday in 15 of the last 20 years at Saratoga.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – After working a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.80 this past Saturday on the main track at Churchill Downs, Little Mike is on track for an attempt to do something no horse ever has done: Win the Arlington Million two years in a row.
Little Mike led from start to finish in the 2012 Million, setting a slow pace and powering to a 1 1/2-length victory over Afsare. Two starts earlier, Little Mike had won the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, and two starts later he won the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Dry Summer won four of his first nine starts, including stakes at Del Mar and Sunland Park.
He is no longer the same horse.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though ontrack business picked up some last week – thanks to mostly gorgeous weather and a successful Whitney Day – handle and attendance remain down through the first 16 days of this year’s Saratoga meet compared to 2012, according to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form .
All-sources handle, which had been up 2.8 percent following the first 10 days of the meet, is now flat, or down 0.2 percent compared to last year. A total of $232,737,975 has been wagered at Saratoga compared with $233,343,246 wagered last year.
