Mon, 09/06/2021 - 10:30

Cox, Hernandez win titles at Ellis meeting

Barbara D. Livingston
Brad Cox snagged another trainer title, taking the Ellis Park meet with 23 winners.

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Brad Cox was the leading trainer and Brian Hernandez Jr. was the leading jockey at the 31-day summer meet that ended Saturday at Ellis Park in western Kentucky.

With Jorgito Abrego serving as his on-site assistant while he summered at Saratoga, Cox was represented by 23 winners, nine more than runner-up Ian Wilkes. Cox, the 2020 Eclipse Award winner for outstanding trainer, also topped the standings at the Churchill spring meet.

Hernandez rode 28 winners, nine more than Florent Geroux. Calumet Farm was the leading owner with eight wins.

Mon, 09/06/2021 - 10:26

Sharp gets three-bagger, narrowly misses fourth in Kentucky Downs opener

Coady Photography
Joe Sharp won with 9-1 shot Evie's Prince as well as two other shorter-priced horses on Sunday opener at Kentucky Downs.

FRANKLIN, Ky. – The first winner Joe Sharp ever saddled came at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 10, 2014, when his future wife, Rosie Napravnik, booted home Holiday Drama to a 4 3/4-length score in a $15,000 claiming race.

Sharp has become a force in the seven years that have passed, with the huge opening-day performance of his stable demonstrating as much. With Napravnik and their two young sons on hand, Sharp saddled three winners and barely missed with a fourth Sunday.

Mon, 09/06/2021 - 10:26

Credit Matejka for Accredit's win – and price – in Dueling Grounds Derby

Coady Photography
Accredit wins the Dueling Grounds Derby at odds of 36-1.

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Pavel Matejka has won 60 races in a training career dating to 2005, with his two greatest wins coming in remarkably similar fashion.

Before Matejka saddled Accredit for a 36-1 upset of the $732,325 Dueling Grounds Derby on the opening-day card Sunday at Kentucky Downs, his biggest win had come nearly six years ago, when One Go All Go was a 35-1 winner of the $400,000, Grade 2 Commonwealth Derby at Laurel Park on Sept. 19, 2015.

Sun, 09/05/2021 - 20:43

For Asmussen, it's been a summer to remember

Barbara D. Livingston
Max Player (right) earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - From becoming Thoroughbred racing’s all-time leading trainer by wins, to capturing four Grade 1 stakes and winning a personal-best 18 races at Saratoga, this will go down as one of the more memorable summers for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Sun, 09/05/2021 - 16:52

Corniche impresses with maiden Beyer of 98, highest of year for juvenile

DEL MAR, Calif. - The 2-year-old colt Corniche has been grabbing attention since April, when he sold for $1.5 million at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales sprint auction of 2-year-olds in training as the most expensive hip of the Florida auction.

The attention has continued on the track.

Corniche won his debut in a maiden special weight race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Saturday in a manner that left Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith hoping the colt can start in races such as the Breeder’ Cup Juvenile here Nov. 5.

Sun, 09/05/2021 - 16:39

None Above the Law points to fall turf campaign

Benoit Photo
None Above the Law resuelve a su favor el Del Mar Derby G2

DEL MAR, Calif. - After four stakes wins on synthetic, dirt, and turf courses, None Above the Law will have a turf campaign this fall on the strength of his win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby.

None Above the Law has won four stakes this year at distances ranging from seven furlongs on dirt to the $254,000 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

In coming months, turf races at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds such as the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita on Oct. 31 and the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 27 are planned, trainer Peter Miller said Sunday morning.

Sun, 09/05/2021 - 16:24

Happy Saver will train up to BC Classic, Pletcher says

Barbara D. Livingston
Happy Saver ended 2020 with this win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in October. He worked a half-mile Friday at Saratoga.

Happy Saver, the runner-up to Max Player in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, will train up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6, trainer Todd Pletcher told the New York Racing Association publicity department Sunday morning.

Pletcher felt Happy Saver was bottled up behind a slow pace in the Jockey Club, but that when he got out, he made a decent run to get second over Forza Di Oro.

Sun, 09/05/2021 - 16:13

Baby Yoda's 114 Beyer in allowance race turns heads

Debra A. Roma
Baby Yoda could run in the Vosburgh at Belmont on Oct. 9, or the Phoenix at Keeneland on Oct. 8.

Trainer Bill Mott found a potential stakes performer in his barn that he probably didn’t know he had when Baby Yoda won a first-level allowance race Saturday by 4 1/4 lengths, running 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.33 and earning a whopping 114 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest figure earned by any horse in training this year.

Sun, 09/05/2021 - 15:57

War Like Goddess will train up to Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf

Debra A. Roma
War Like Goddess (3) received a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory in the Flower Bowl at Saratoga on Saturday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - War Like Goddess got her first Grade 1 victory when she won Saturday’s $600,000 Flower Bowl at Saratoga. Now she will aim for an Eclipse Award when she makes her next start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

Sat, 09/04/2021 - 12:26

Turnerloose looks to build on debut win in Aristocrat Juvenile Fillies

Coady Photography
Turnerloose, trained by Brad Cox, wins her maiden on July 16 at Ellis. She is the favorite in the Aristocrat Juvenile Fillies.

Sandwiched neatly around the featured Mint Million, a pair of $500,000 stakes for 2-year-olds are among the supporting events on a terrific Labor Day card at Kentucky Downs in south-central Kentucky.

The Aristocrat Juvenile Fillies and the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile are the co-features that help bring the 11-race Monday program to an end. The one-turn mile races offer purses of $500,000 each as bookends to the final pick three of the day.