Owner and trainer Karl Broberg has purchased a training center near Delta Downs in Vinton, La., he said Monday. He is a perennial leading owner and trainer at the track, which opens its meet in October.
The training center is the former Toomey Downs. Broberg said it’s a 76-acre facility with a five-furlong track. There is a 50-stall barn on the grounds, and Broberg plans to build a second barn of the same size. The facility is located 1 1/2 miles from Delta.
Warrant’s next move is to be determined after the talented 3-year-old won his second notable race of the year Sunday in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.
The win came two starts after his victory in the $300,000 Texas Derby at Lone Star Park. Warrant, who is based in Kentucky, will now head home to Churchill Downs, trainer Brad Cox said Monday.
“Honestly, in regards to races, I don’t have anything picked out,” Cox said. “We’ll see how he comes out of it and dig up a spot.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Jockeys Jose Ortiz and Jalon Samuel are expected to return to action this week after avoiding injury in separate mishaps on Sunday’s card.
Ortiz was unseated when Happy Happy B broke down just before the wire in the $150,000 Bertam F. Bongard Stakes. Happy Happy B had to be euthanized. Ortiz went to the hospital where X-rays on his left ankle were negative.
Ortiz, the leading rider at the meet with 10 wins, was not named to ride Thursday, owing to previous plans. He is expected to return on Friday.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Stakes winners Gunite and Wit are expected to take on flashy debut winners Jack Christopher and My Prankster in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne, a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 5.
Gunite, trained by Steve Asmussen, won the Grade 1 Hopeful, defeating Wit by 5 3/4 lengths. Wit, who won the Grade 3 Sanford by eight lengths on July 17, stumbled at the start of the Hopeful but made a sustained bid, finishing three lengths clear of the remainder of the field in second.
ELMONT, N.Y. – A multiple Grade 1 winner at 3 and owned by one of the more influential farms in Kentucky, Code of Honor seemed like a prime stallion candidate at the end of 2019 and 2020. As the calendar nears the final quarter of 2021, the 5-year-old Code of Honor remains in training, still looking to add to his glowing résumé.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After a revision of the final times following a malfunction of the timing system during the running of both Florida Sire Series stakes decided here Saturday, Octane has been awarded a 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the $400,000 In Reality while Outfoxed received a 70 for her easy win in the $40,000 My Dear Girl.
Both races were run at 1 1/16 miles, with Octane’s final time nearly 2.4 seconds faster than Outfoxed covered the same distance an hour earlier over the fast track.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Joe Orseno’s goal all season was to get Imprimis back to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint after he lost all chance a year ago in the race due to a very unlucky trip at Keeneland. But those plans have been shelved, with Imprimis back in Ocala where he was scheduled to undergo another throat surgery Monday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Action on the South Florida circuit, which traditionally has shifted to Gulfstream Park West during the months of October and November, will remain at Gulfstream Park for the next eight weeks with the fall meet to open Thursday and run through Nov. 21. Gulfstream Park West closed permanently at the end of the 2020 season.
Thursday’s opening-day program is expected to feature the first races to be run over the new Tapeta course, with four of the eight events on the card scheduled to be run over the all-weather surface.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown had Pocket Square pegged as a middle-distance runner when the filly first came to his barn earlier this year.
Based on the way she finished her 2 1/2-length-victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Athenia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Belmont Park, Brown may be changing his mind.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher could have two top contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 6 at Del Mar after weekend stakes victories by Life Is Good and Mind Control.
Life Is Good did what was expected of him in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Kelso Handicap when he scored a 5 1/2-length front-running victory as the 1-20 favorite.
Mind Control won for the first time around two turns when he battled back after being passed by Silver State to capture the Parx Dirt Mile by a head.
