Just Might took a tough disqualification Saturday in the Duncan Kenner Stakes, but might have grander goals than $100,000 races in New Orleans.
Michelle Lovell, who trains, co-owns, and co-bred Just Might said Monday that Just Might has been nominated to the $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint on the March 26 Dubai World Cup undercard. She expects Just Might to receive an invitation to run from the Dubai Racing Club and is seriously considering accepting it.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Apprentice jockey Abdul Alsagoor won for the first time in Sunday’s second race at Santa Anita. The win came in his 18th mount.
A native of Saudi Arabia, Alsagoor, 21, began riding in November and has been based in Southern California since last year when he began exercising horses.
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Knicks Go, sure to be named Horse of the Year for 2021, had the last track workout of his career Sunday morning at Fair Grounds.
And, as always, it was a good one.
Knicks Go’s official work was recorded as 1:00.20 for five furlongs, but he also recorded robust gallop-out times of 1:13.20 for six furlongs and 1:26.60 for seven furlongs, a typically powerhouse breeze for him.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Dark Vader for the first time when the 7-year-old gelding has his first start in 17 months in Saturday’s Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs at Santa Anita.
Trainer Peter Eurton said the $200,000 Palos Verdes is an opportunity to give Dark Vader a foundation for the rest of the year. Dark Vader has not raced since a last-place finish in a field of six in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles at Del Mar in August 2020.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Letruska, the widely presumed filly-mare champion of 2021, breezed for a second time since returning from a freshening when going a half-mile Sunday at the Palm Meadows training center in a bullet 46.80 seconds.
Trainer Fausto Gutierrez has pinpointed the Feb. 26 Royal Delta at Gulfstream Park as the 6-year-old debut for Letruska, whose four Grade 1 wins last year made her an obvious choice for a divisional Eclipse Award. The latest work followed a three-furlong breeze on Jan. 16.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Rattle N Roll, unraced since winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in early October, returned to the work tab early Saturday at Gulfstream Park when breezing three furlongs in company.
Working alongside Creative Minister, an unraced 3-year-old like Rattle N Roll trained by Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll went in 36 seconds as McPeek looks to make up for time lost to a minor rear-foot injury.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The 4-year-old filly Distractedprincess remained undefeated after two starts with an easy win in an allowance race at a mile at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Distractedprincess has won two starts by a combined 19 1/2 lengths despite showing a lack of experience on Sunday, according to winning rider John Velazquez. Distractedprincess led throughout and pulled clear by 6 1/2 lengths, but raced in an erratic manner entering the stretch while leading comfortably.
“She got a little quirky and drifted out and I had to make her pay attention,” Velazquez said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Preparing a horse to win a Grade 1 turf race at 1 1/8 miles following a layoff of nearly eight months has to be one of the more difficult assignments a horse trainer can tackle.
If Hall of Fame credentials are what’s required, well, Todd Pletcher hereby accepts. Enshrined in racing’s Hall in August, Pletcher will saddle Colonel Liam for a title defense Saturday in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park.
Indian Buzz, winner of the first race Sunday at Tampa at a $17.80 mutuel, marked the first starter for trainer Reynaldo Nobles since December 2013. Nobles is best known for his success with Deputy Minister in the early 1980s and Dehere in the early 1990s.
Nobles has trained off and on, including a stint from 2011-13 that followed a hiatus dating to 2004, while also intermittently working for years in security at the Palm Meadows training center on the Atlantic Coast.
Mr. Jagermeister goes next in the Pelican Stakes on Feb. 12 at Tampa Bay Downs after becoming the only horse to earn a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure at the 2021-22 meet at the Oldsmar, Fla., track so far.
Trainer Valorie Lund, who co-owns Mr. Jagermeister with breeder Kristin Boice, said the six-furlong Pelican is a logical next spot after the Minnesota-bred star earned a 100 Beyer with a seven-length victory in a six-furlong allowance on Jan. 9.
