Wed, 02/16/2022 - 14:26

Magic Circle will try to complete Busanda-Busher double

Joe Labozzetta/NYRA
Magic Circle wins the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 23.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Magic Circle, the dominant winner of the Busanda Stakes here on Jan. 23, will seek to further her résumé for a potential Kentucky Oaks bid when she runs in the $250,000 Busher Invitational at Aqueduct on March 5.

Wed, 02/16/2022 - 11:16

Stable virus slows down Joseph's title bid

Barbara D. Livingston
Saffie Joseph Jr. is giving Holy Bull winner White Abarrio plenty of time between races and will skip the Fountain of Youth.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saffie Joseph Jr. was relatively light on entries as another race week began Wednesday at Gulfstream Park. Not to worry, said Joseph – he fully intends to maintain his quest in becoming the leading trainer at the championship meet for the first time.

“We had a virus go through the barn that affected us the last few weeks,” said Joseph. “I knew things would slow down a bit, but the horses are all over it now, for the most part. They’re training back, and we’re going to have a pretty big March, hopefully.”

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 16:48

Jeremiah Englehart suspended seven days for prednisolone overage

Barbara D. Livingston
Jeremiah Englehart won nine 2-year-old races at last year's Saratoga meet.

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart on Monday began serving a seven-day suspension for an overage of the therapeutic medication prednisolone, a corticosteroid that is a Class 4 drug, the second-lowest on the classification system used by the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

Englehart was also fined $500. Englehart said he waived his right of appeal, which reduced the suspension from 10 days. Englehart currently has horses based in New York and Florida.

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 13:50

Joseph works Drain the Clock, A. P.'s Secret for upcoming stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Drain the Clock breezes Monday morning in preparation for the Grade 2 Amsterdam on Sunday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Drain the Clock, among the likely favorites for Saturday’s Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint, looked sharp breezing four furlongs in company in a handy 47.41 seconds here Monday, completing his final quarter in 23.75 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.33.

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 13:46

Pletcher hoping to send Life Is Good, Colonel Liam to Dubai

Barbara D. Livingston
Colonel Liam, trained by Todd Pletcher, won his second straight Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 29.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Stablemates Life Is Good and Colonel Liam were the two stars here on Pegasus World Cup Day, and they will be given the opportunity for a much bigger payday on the world stage at Meydan in Dubai on March 26. Life Is Good makes his next start in the $12 million Dubai World Cup, and Colonel Liam runs in the $5 million Dubai World Cup Turf, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed on Monday.

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 13:20

Pletcher sending seven horses for Risen Star Day

SV Photography
Pioneer of Medina wins a December maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs for trainer Todd Pletcher. He will make his second start of the Fair Grounds meet in Saturday's Risen Star Stakes.

You wouldn’t know from the entry list Saturday at Fair Grounds that trainer Todd Pletcher doesn’t have a string stabled at the track.

Pletcher has seven entrants on the 13-race Risen Star card, all of them shipping from his Palm Beach Downs base in South Florida.

“We had opportunities for some stakes and saw the chance to run some other horses,” said Pletcher, whose large contingent arrives early Thursday in New Orleans.

Pletcher doesn’t make a habit of overmatching his horses, yet none of his Fair Grounds entrants look like surefire win threats.

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 13:16

Smile Happy's reputation has grown while he has rested

Barbara D. Livingston
Kentucky Jockey Club winner Smile Happy works at Gulfstream in January. Three horses who finished behind him in the KJC have come back to win graded stakes.

The 3-year-old colt Smile Happy hasn’t started since late November, but since Jan. 22 his form, impressive enough already, has shined even brighter.

Call Me Midnight, seventh in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 27, won the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds. On Feb. 5, White Abarrio, third in the Kentucky Jockey Club, won the Holy Bull Stakes by more than four lengths. And Feb. 12, Classic Causeway produced an excellent performance winning the Sam Davis Stakes, his first start since a second-place Kentucky Jockey Club finish.

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 11:46

Castellano has up-and-down weekend

Justin N. Lane
Javier Castellano won the feature race last Friday at Tampa Bay Downs but was also disqualified from a first-place finish the same day.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano did not receive a suspension from the Tampa stewards following a review of a Friday race in which his mount, Cyberviking, was disqualified from first to second for interfering with an opponent to his inside while under a right-handed whip.

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 11:46

Classic Causeway still learning but Davis romp was impressive

Tom Keyser
Classic Causeway completed his final sixteenth of a mile in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis in just under six seconds for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – There’s perhaps a minor concern exiting the Sam F. Davis Stakes, but overall, the sky seems the limit for Classic Causeway as his 3-year-old season unfolds.

On the lead from the start Saturday in the Grade 3 Davis at Tampa Bay Downs, Classic Causeway was a dominant 3 3/4-length winner under Irad Ortiz Jr. in an effort that simultaneously validated the considerable potential the colt flashed at 2 while making him one of the early favorites for the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 10:56

Drain the Clock expected for Gulfstream Park Sprint

Barbara D. Livingston
Grade 1 winner Drain the Clock has not raced since finishing fourth in the Jerkens at Saratoga.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Drain the Clock, winner of the Grade 1 Woody Stephens in June, heads the prospective lineup of older horses for the Grade 3, $125,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint on Saturday. Entries are to be drawn Wednesday.

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