LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sandman and Coal Battle, first and third, respectively, in the Arkansas Derby, both turned in maintenance moves toward the Kentucky Derby on a brisk and windy Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs.
Working on a fast track at about 7:15 a.m., just after the first renovation break, Sandman was credited with a half-mile in 49.60 seconds by the Churchill Downs clockers.
"We just wanted him to stretch his legs," said assistant trainer Allen Hardy, who oversaw the work.
Journalism, the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby after overcoming trouble to win the Santa Anita Derby by three-quarters of a length, is tentatively scheduled for his first work back this coming weekend at Santa Anita.
“I have to figure out his travel schedule first,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “He’ll work this weekend.”
McCarthy added that Journalism is “doing very well, seems like he’s in a pretty good groove at the moment.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The best 3-year-old who is not already qualified for the Kentucky Derby worked an easy half-mile Monday morning at Santa Anita in preparation for a potential Derby start.
Baeza, runner-up to Journalism in the Santa Anita Derby, needs defections to make the Kentucky Derby lineup. He ranked 24th on the points list as of Monday morning, and only 20 horses can start. Trainer John Shirreffs is proceeding as if Baeza will get in. Monday’s workout was slow, by design.
Tampa’s leading jockey, Samuel Marin, who surpassed the 100-win mark at the meet when he rode five winners on Friday’s card, is serving a three-day careless riding suspension.
Marin, whose 103 wins lead Samy Camacho’s 88 with 11 days remaining in the meet, began his suspension Sunday and will not be riding Wednesday or Friday. He is eligible to return on Saturday.
Though he has spent the last several weeks in the hospital recovering from a heart attack, trainer Dennis Ward’s barn hasn’t missed a beat.
When Bahamian Moon won an off-the-turf allowance/optional $32,000 claiming race on Saturday, it was Ward’s ninth win from 27 starters at the meet. Three of those wins have been supplied by Bahamian Moon, an 8-year-old mare who has won 12 of 51 career starts. Since the meet began last November, Bahamian Moon has three wins, two seconds, and a third in six starts.
“How about her? She’s something else. They can’t beat her,” Ward said.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Skippylongstocking will start as the 123-pound highweight Saturday when he attempts to win the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap for the second year in a row. He is part of a field of eight for the 1 1/8-mile race and will start from post 4.
INDIANTOWN, Fla. – Tappan Street and Sovereignty, two of the six top-ranked 3-year-olds in the latest Daily Racing Form Derby Watch and the first- and second-place finishers, respectively, in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, got back to work Friday morning. Both breezed easy half-miles over a fast track at their winter home of Payson Park.
Haulin Ice has returned home to South Florida after her win in the $250,000 Matron at Oaklawn Park, and plans for her next start are to be determined, according to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Haulin Ice, who is the reigning Arkansas-bred of the year, was a five-length winner of the Matron. She defeated open company in the race and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 101. Haulin Ice covered six furlongs in 1:09.20.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Aqueduct will hold a live racing program on April 23, a previously scheduled dark day, to make up for the cancellation of the March 30 program, the New York Racing Association announced Friday.
NYRA was forced to cancel the March 30 card due to “unacceptable noise levels” coming from an auto and bike show being held in a parking lot just beyond the fence from the quarter pole of the track. Adding the April 23 program will make for a five-day race week, which follows a three-day week. There will not be live racing on April 20 due to the Easter holiday.
