ELMONT, N.Y. – It appears trainer Shug McGaughey is becoming a big fan of the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
Just a few hours after Data Link’s fourth-place finish as the 3-5 favorite in Thursday’s Poker Stakes at Belmont Park, McGaughey shipped Data Link to Fair Hill, where he will join stablemates Orb and Imagining.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A minor stakes on Sunday at Betfair Hollywood Park has major implications for 3-year-old fillies whose summer campaigns will be determined after racing one mile on turf in the $70,000 Le Cle Stakes.
The sharp sprint form of Wednesday stamps her as a favorite, even if her two-turn form is a mystery. She lost two maiden routes, but trainer Carla Gaines still believes she can stay two turns and hopes Wednesday can be a candidate this summer for the Grade 2 San Clemente or Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Fearless Jacq and Bella Castani have both won overnight stakes at Belmont Park this summer, with Fearless Jacq victorious at six furlongs and Bella Castani at a mile.
Sunday, the two 3-year-old fillies will meet in the middle when Fearless Jacq and Bella Castani head a field of seven entered in the $100,000 Diamondrella Stakes going seven furlongs on turf at Belmont Park.
Deniro nearly ran out of time to be ready for the Vessels Maturity time trials at Los Alamitos on June 16.
Following a win in the Los Alamitos Super Derby last November and a fifth-place finish in the Champion of Champions last December, Deniro underwent surgery on his throat and ankle earlier this year.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Currency Swap, on the comeback trail following extensive throat surgery, should soon return to action.
The winner of the 2011 Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga has been sidelined since finishing seventh in the Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing last September.
“He’s getting there,” trainer Terri Pompay said Friday at Monmouth Park. “He’s pretty much ready to go. Perhaps one more breeze, and then we’ll look for an allowance race at Saratoga to get him started. Something not too hard because he hasn’t run in so long. He’s doing fine. It’s just been a long time.”
The $50,000-added Everett Nevin Stakes on Sunday at the Alameda County Fair rematches Skydreamin and Tupelo Cush, who were separated by a head as the one-two finishers in the Lost in the Fog Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on June 15. A full field of 10 2-year-olds will contest the 5 1/2-furlong race at the Pleasanton, Calif., racetrack.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Chief Havoc is “probably headed east” for his next start after winning the first stakes of his career in Thursday’s $150,000 Swaps Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park, trainer Peter Miller said on Friday.
Chief Havoc could run in the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 27, or the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park the following day. Miller said a start in one of those races would provide Chief Havoc with a vital test against a top group of 3-year-olds.
Benny Perkins Jr. won the Jersey Shore Stakes here Thursday with his unbeaten 3-year-old sprinter Rainbow Heir.
Perkins entered Well Spelled and The Hunk, two of his veteran sprint stars, in the $75,000 Mr Prospector, the supporting feature Sunday.
Both are coming off lengthy layoffs, and Perkins was planning on running only one. He was sitting squarely on the fence when it came to making a decision.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Last year’s Clarendon Stakes was won by Uncaptured, who went on to be Canada’s champion 2-year-old and Horse of the Year for 2012.
And while trainer John Ross certainly isn’t looking that far ahead he does have a solid prospect for Sunday’s $125,000 Clarendon in Go Greeley, who will be an odds-on choice at Woodbine in the 5 1/2-furlong race for Ontario-bred 2-year-olds.
Go Greeley was no secret when he began his career here May 19, scoring by 3 3/4 lengths under jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden dash.
