Fri, 04/26/2013 - 18:17

Woodbine: Acting Naughty set for Whimsical Stakes

Sunday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Whimsical Stakes drew a field of nine that includes supplementary entrants Acting Naughty, Northern Passion, and Sisterly Love.

Acting Naughty, a 4-year-old filly owned by John Hillier and trained by Don MacRae, will be seeking her first stakes win in the six-furlong Whimsical.

Claimed for $40,000 from her fourth career start as a 2-year-old, Acting Naughty won two $32,000 claiming races plus a first-level allowance and later finished second, beaten a head, in the seven-furlong Jammed Lovely for Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies.

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 18:04

Lone Star Park: Worldventurer targets division of Stallion Stakes

Reed Palmer Photography
Worldventurer, a three-time stakes winner, is being pointed toward a division of the $75,000 Texas Stallion Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile at Lone Star on May 11.

Worldventurer, who brought $150,000 during a Fasig-Tipton Texas auction April 3, now races for Peter Redekop, according to Bret Calhoun, who continues to train the horse he had for original owner Wesley Melcher.

Melcher offered Worldventurer at auction during a new horses-of-racing-age session conducted at the tail end of Fasig-Tipton’s annual sale of 2-year-olds in training at Lone Star. Bryan Anderson, agent, signed the ticket for Worldventurer, the highest-priced lot at the auction.

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 17:52

Hollywood Park: Breeder Lovingier scores with pair of juveniles

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Breeder Terry Lovingier swept the first two juvenile races in Southern California on Thursday and Friday with the filly Pay the Debt and the colt Time for a Hug at Hollywood Park.

The win from Time for a Hug in a maiden race for California-breds on Friday was the first winner for Lovingier’s stallion Time to Get Even, who stands at his Lovacres Ranch near Warner Springs, Calif.

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 17:41

Isn’t He Clever targets Lone Star Park Handicap

Coady Photography
Isn’t He Clever turned in a bullet workout Friday and is targeting the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap on May 27.

Isn’t He Clever, who had been pointing toward the Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star, was forced to miss the race and is now targeting the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap on May 27, trainer Henry Dominguez said.

“He had a minor setback, and we didn’t get to enter in the race [Wednesday],” Dominguez said of the Texas Mile. “We didn’t think he was 100 percent. He’s just now getting there. We had to skip it, but hopefully we’ll be fine for the Lone Star Park Handicap.”

Isn’t He Clever on Friday worked a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.80 at Lone Star.

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 17:20

Kentucky Oaks: Princess of Sylmar must pass inspection in final workout

Barbara D. Livingston
Princess of Sylmar likely will run next in either the Kentucky Oaks or the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

Todd Pletcher has several fillies slated for next Friday’s Kentucky Oaks, headed by Dreaming of Julia and Unlimited Budget, but said that Princess of Sylmar’s status was hinging on her performance in her final workout this weekend, likely Saturday.

Pletcher said Princess of Sylmar “was fighting the track” in her previous work at Churchill Downs, and he wanted to make sure she was comfortable over this surface.

“Her last work wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what we’re used to seeing from her,” Pletcher said.

Abreu recovering from heel surgery

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 17:14

Penn National adds five stakes for horses bred or sired in Pennsylvania

Penn National bulked up its 2013 stakes lineup by adding five stakes for Pennsylvania-bred or Pennsylvania-sired horses, including two on its biggest night of the racing season.

The track in central Pennsylvania near Hershey announced Friday that the newly created E Dubai Stakes for 3-year-olds and up and the Silver Train Stakes for fillies and mares will be included on the June 1 six-stakes program headed by the inaugural running of the $500,000 Penn Mile. The restricted stakes will be worth $60,000 apiece and will be contested at six furlongs on the main track.

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 17:07

Kentucky Derby: Orb gets familiar with Churchill starting gate

Barbara D. Livingston
Orb came out to the track later than usual Friday morning so that he could get accustomed to the Churchill Downs starting gate.

Trainer Shug McGaughey altered Florida Derby winner Orb’s training schedule on Friday, sending him out during the Derby/Oaks training session at Churchill Downs instead of at 6 a.m. as he had the previous two days. Part of the reason for the switch was to give Orb an opportunity to visit the starting gate in the midst of his 1 1/2-mile gallop.

[DERBY WATCH: Top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders with odds and video]

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 17:00

Kentucky Derby: Special bridle keeps Vyjack under control

Barbara D. Livingston
Vyjack has been training in a special bitless bridle, known as a hackamore, which enables his rider to exert more control of the 3-year-old.

Although he worked Friday in a conventional bit at Churchill Downs, Vyjack has done all his training locally in a hackamore, a head piece that does not contain a bit but has a special type of noseband that helps a rider exert a little more control over a horse.

[DERBY WATCH: Top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders with odds and video]

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 16:55

Emerald Downs: Metz thriving in new locale

AUBURN, Wash. – In the midst of a big winter at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Jeff Metz began scouting around for a place to spend his summer. The trainer had been to Arapahoe in previous summers and wasn’t interested in going back. Nor was he inclined to follow the herd to Canterbury to chase its pumped-up purses.

Metz settled on Emerald Downs, arriving in March with 25 horses in tow, and judging by his performance during the opening week of the meeting, he might be inclined to stick around for a while.

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 16:54

Kentucky Derby workouts: Golden Soul breezes brisk five furlongs

[bc_video_id:290504:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With Kentucky Derby Day just more than a week away and rain in the forecast for the weekend, workout activity began to pick up at Churchill Downs on Friday. Three potential Derby starters, including the once-beaten Vyjack, breezed during the special session following the renovation break, with at least a half-dozen more works now on the schedule for Saturday.[:slideshow-right:]