LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Steve Capps did a fine job of mimicking the underdog tale of a fellow Lexington-based trainer when racing resumed Thursday evening at Churchill Downs following a five-day break in action.
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Acclimate, a former maiden claimer who won four graded stakes on turf and was unplaced in two runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, has been retired and will be retrained for a second career as an event horse.
“He had a little issue,” trainer Phil D’Amato said on Friday. “He’s long in the tooth and he’s done a lot for us.
“At this stage, we’d have to give him a couple of months. It’s not worth doing that age-wise.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – The comparisons between Early Voting and Cloud Computing are natural and meaningful and are among the main storylines heading into next Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
Trainer Chad Brown and owner Seth Klarman hope the comparisons are equally as natural and meaningful coming out of Preakness 147.
Trainer Richard Baltas, who operates one of the leading stables in Southern California, faces an uncertain short-term future after a horse in his care was euthanized after suffering an injury last weekend at Santa Anita and another horse was a late scratch after being administered a substance not allowed within 24 hours of a race, according to people familiar with the matter.
Baltas did not return a phone call or a text message on Thursday.
Rich Strike pulled off an 80-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, and on Thursday his connections came with another shocker, taking the colt out of consideration for the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, on May 21 at Pimlico. He will instead await the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, on June 11 in New York.
Both Rick Dawson, who owns Rich Strike, and Eric Reed, the colt’s trainer, said they believed running back in two weeks was not in the best interests of Rich Strike. They said giving him five weeks between starts was more suitable.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The 2022 Hastings meet got under way last Saturday with a large and enthusiastic crowd. For many in the industry, it was a day to remember the horseman Glen Todd, who died in late March. He was 75.
Todd’s love for horse racing began at an early age. His parents met at Hastings in 1939, and as a boy, Todd loved going to the races with his father. One of his first involvements with the industry was as a public handicapper as a teenager. After a close brush with death in 2006, he decided to get seriously involved as an owner.
Bella Sofia, the Test winner of 2021, will make her 4-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Bella Sofia, unraced since running fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, will face just five rivals led by six-time stakes winner Frank’s Rockette.
Bella Sofia and Frank’s Rockette are the last two winners of the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint stakes run here during the fall.
Rougir, a Group 1 winner in France in 2021 for trainer Cedric Rossi, is now in the care of trainer Chad Brown and will make her 4-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Beaguay Stakes at Belmont Park.
Rougir is now owned by Peter Brant.
At 3, Rougir won the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera, which led to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. In the Breeders’ Cup, Rougier was taken up going into the first turn when she was trying to get position, and basically ran evenly after that.
Trainer Rodolphe Brisset entered two horses in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes for 3-year-olds, including Western River, a full brother to 2016 Belmont Stakes winner Creator.
It took Creator six attempts to win his first race, something he did on Feb. 27, 2016 at Oaklawn Park. Creator won the Arkansas Derby before a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He got a brilliant ride from Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Belmont to get up by a nose over Destin.
The England-based trainer Charlie Appleby enjoyed great success in the U.S. last year, winning six stakes - five of which were Grade 1’s - from 15 runners. Yibir was responsible for two of those wins, taking the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont Park in September before capping Appleby’s brilliant Breeders’ Cup by winning the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar.
Yibir will be Appleby’s first runner in the U.S. in 2022 when he runs in Saturday’s Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War Stakes at 1 3/8 miles over Belmont’s inner turf course.