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.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Something Extra, who wired a quality field in the Connaught Cup Stakes, will cut back from seven to six furlongs in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Highlander Stakes, a top-notch supporting feature on Queen’s Plate Day at Woodbine.
[QUEEN'S PLATE: Get PPs, watch Sunday's full card live]
Something Extra fractured a splint bone in winning last year’s Connaught Cup. He was off until the fall, when he won the Mt. Sassafras and ran third here in the Grade 3 Kennedy Road, both Polytrack races.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Todd Pletcher had high hopes for Micromanage, especially after the colt easily won his debut at the tail end of last year’s Saratoga season.
When those expectations didn’t pan out after the initial victory, the $170,000 yearling purchase by the Repole Stable was given an extended vacation.
Micromanage can rekindle that early optimism Sunday at Monmouth Park in the $100,000 Long Branch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Three stakes will be run here next weekend, with the $150,000 Ontario Damsel and $125,000 Passing Mood set for Saturday and the $125,000 Shady Well going Sunday.
Dance Again, fifth in the June 9 Woodbine Oaks for trainer Malcolm Pierce, heads the prospective field for the Ontario Damsel, a one-mile turf race for Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies.
The Ontario Damsel was run over 6 1/2 furlongs of turf until 2010, when it was switched to its current distance to serve as a prep for the Wonder Where Stakes.
