Mon, 04/08/2013 - 15:32

Kentucky Oaks decisions on Emollient, Close Hatches loom for Mott

Coady Photography/Keeneland
Emollient runs away with Ashland just a week after being beaten 30 lengths in the Gulfstream Park Oaks.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Bill Mott was back in south Florida late Saturday, but the Hall of Fame trainer certainly had to have Kentucky on his mind after winning two major prep races for the May 3 Kentucky Oaks in a 45-minute span Saturday afternoon.

At Aqueduct, Close Hatches kept her undefeated record intact with a 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Gazelle. At Keeneland, Emollient, running back one week after losing the Gulfstream Oaks by 30 lengths, romped to a nine-length victory in the Grade 1 Ashland over Keeneland’s Polytrack.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 15:10

Aqueduct: Swagger Jack's Carter win no shock to Wolfson

Michael Amoruso
Swagger Jack wins the Grade 1 Carter Handicap under Irad Ortiz Jr.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Marty Wolfson wasn’t nearly as surprised by Swagger Jack winning Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct as was the betting public, which sent him off at a generous 15-1.

Swagger Jack had finished second with what Wolfson felt were legitimate excuses in a pair of graded stakes at Gulfstream to Carter candidates Discreet Dancer and Fort Loudon, so he thought it was worth taking a shot in the Carter. He was rewarded when Swagger Jack rallied from fifth and beat Sahara Sky by three-quarters of a length.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 14:57

Keeneland notes: Rosario takes early riding lead

Barbara D. Livingston
Joel Rosario, riding his first full Keeneland meet, had four winners on the nine-race Sunday card.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Joel Rosario wasted little time in making it known that he is a serious threat to snap the five-meet streak that Julien Leparoux has amassed as leading jockey here.

Rosario, riding his first full Keeneland meet, had four winners on the nine-race Sunday card to take the early lead atop the jockey standings even after missing Saturday to ride in New York.

Rocco due back after illness

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 14:50

Keeneland: Lezcano to ride Wise Dan

Coady Photography/Keeneland
Jose Lezcano gave Wise Dan a flawless ride in winning the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile last fall at Keeneland.

Trainer Charlie LoPresti is calling on Jose Lezcano to ride Wise Dan again when the 2012 Horse of the Year makes his 6-year-old debut Friday in the Grade 1, $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile.

Lezcano will be filling in again for John Velazquez, who suffered what has been reported as “minor fractures” in a spill Sunday at Aqueduct. Last fall, Lezcano gave Wise Dan a flawless ride here in winning the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile, a race that Velazquez missed because of a scheduling conflict. It was the only time Lezcano has ridden Wise Dan in the gelding’s 20-race career.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 14:26

Keeneland: Chad Brown changing horses for Blue Grass

Coady Photography/Keeneland
Balance the Books, here winning the Bourbon last year, ran 11th in his 3-year-old debut, the March 23 Spiral Stakes over the Turfway Park Polytrack.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Chad Brown is swapping out Noble Tune in favor of Balance the Books for the Blue Grass Stakes, a move that changes up things in his own stable – but not the bulkiness of the field for the 89th running of the Keeneland showcase Saturday.

Keeneland officials are expecting more than the 14-horse limit when entries are drawn Wednesday at the annual media breakfast for the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass, a situation that likely will necessitate having an also-eligibles list for the 1 1/8-mile Polytrack race.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 14:21

Keeneland: Beijoca taking on Twirl in Wednesday feature

Tom Keyser
Beijoca was most recently third in the Grade 3 The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jimmy Baker will send out a long-striding filly named Beijoca on an abbreviated Wednesday program at Keeneland against a promising Irish-bred whose trainer, Bill Mott, “has some pretty good fillies right now,” Baker said Monday in joking understatement.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 12:49

Aqueduct: Track bias a concern for Flying Zealous

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The competition doesn’t concern Peter Kazamias as much as the racetrack does when he brings Flying Zealous back to New York for Wednesday’s $62,000 allowance feature at Aqueduct.

Kazamias is the owner, trainer, and breeder of Flying Zealous, who used his speed to win a pair of New York-bred allowance races over the inner track, part of a five-race winning streak the 6-year-old gelding brings into Wednesday’s six-furlong race.

But watching the races unfold on Aqueduct’s main track, Kazamias fears that the surface is favoring off-the-pace types.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 12:40

Tampa Bay: Wild About Chrome proves sharp claim with Sprint win

Tom Cooley Photography
The 7-year-old Hooh Why, ridden by Ronnie Allen, wins the Distaff Turf for the second time.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Trainer Jim McCullough spent many seasons racing at the bush tracks of western Canada, and dealing with bottom-level runners during those years taught him to spot the problems and negative aspects of a particular horse.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 09:35

Santa Anita: Amazombie's 2013 debut delayed by quarter crack

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Bill Spawr said that Amazombie’s first objective for 2013 is likely to be the $250,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 13.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 2013 debut of Amazombie has been postponed by a quarter crack, trainer Bill Spawr said Monday at Santa Anita. Winner of the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Eclipse Award winner as outstanding sprinter, Amazombie  was expected to make his first start of the season April 27 in the $125,000 Tiznow Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

“I got behind a week, maybe 10 days, and to have him ready to go seven and a half-furlongs, I couldn’t do it,” Spawr said.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 00:22

Flashback off Kentucky Derby trail with knee chip

Shigeki Kikkawa
Flashback (above) will be joined by stablemates Super Ninety Nine and Power Broker in the Santa Anita Handicap, but not by Hear the Ghost, who has been sidelined by an injury.

Flashback, who finished second to Goldencents in the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, was found on Sunday afternoon to have a small chip in his right knee, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday night. He is off the Kentucky Derby trail, but is expected to make a full recovery after having surgery in Kentucky with Dr. Larry Bramlage.

"There was heat in his right knee and we took X-rays and had them sent to Bramlage," Baffert said Sunday night. "He's got a chip. It's small. It's fresh. When you take it out right away they can make a full recovery."