Wed, 08/25/2021 - 14:10

C Z Rocket taking a look at Pat O'Brien Stakes

Benoit Photo
C Z Rocket (No. 3) finishes second behind Dr. Schivel and Eight Rings in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby.

C Z Rocket closed with a rush to finish a fine third in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs on July 31 at Del Mar. But the loss left trainer Peter Miller aggravated and convinced the track was not suited to the five-time stakes winner’s closing style.

C Z Rocket will have another chance for a Del Mar stakes win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs, if Miller chooses to run the 7-year-old gelding.

“We entered him,” Miller said Wednesday morning. “We’ll take a look and see how the field looks and how the track plays.”

Wed, 08/25/2021 - 13:46

Daily Double took on new meaning for Arlington chart caller on Jeopardy!

Courtesy of Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
Arlington chart caller Nicolle Neulist (right) on the set of "Jeopardy!" with guest host Joe Buck.

You could frame it like this: Nicolle Neulist might have the most unusual “blank” in North American racing? What is, “career trajectory.”

Wed, 08/25/2021 - 13:36

Bell's the One will next start in Open Mind at Churchill

Barbara D. Livingston
Bell's the One (left) comes off a victory in the July 28 Honorable Miss at Saratoga.

Bell’s the One, among the top older female dirt sprinters in North America, will make her next start Sept. 18 at Churchill in the $300,000 Open Mind Stakes, trainer Neil Pessin said.

Pessin shipped Bell’s the One from Arlington to win the July 28 Honorable Miss at Saratoga. The mare came out of that start in good shape and was scheduled to have her first work since Aug. 26 at Arlington.

Wed, 08/25/2021 - 12:40

Calderon hopes he can make history

Earlier this week, jockey Francisco Calderon made the nine-hour drive from Ruidoso, N.M., to San Antonio to spend a few dark days at his Texas home. The journey gave the 27-year-old Calderon plenty of time to reflect on what he accomplished last Saturday and the assignment he faces on Labor Day.

Calderon is the regular rider of Jess Savin Candy, who will start favored in the $3 million All American Futurity on Sept. 6 with a chance at Quarter Horse racing history.

Wed, 08/25/2021 - 11:16

Iselin winner Code of Honor likely to try Woodward next

Ryan Denver/Equi-Photo
Code of Honor earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure for winning the Iselin off a seven-month layoff.

Code of Honor showed everything his connections might have hoped for off a seven-month layoff Aug. 21 in the Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth. He ran fast, he won easily, and he appears to have come out of his race in good shape.

“He seems fine,” trainer Shug McGaughey said Tuesday. Code of Honor shipped back to McGaughey’s barn at Saratoga following the Iselin. “We walked him a few days and we’ll take him back to the track tomorrow. He’ll bounce out of it quick.”

Wed, 08/25/2021 - 11:06

Safe Conduct's status for Prince of Wales Stakes remains undecided

Julie Wright
Safe Conduct, winner of the Queen's Plate, is uncertain to start in the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Phil Serpe said a decision has yet to be made regarding whether Queen’s Plate winner Safe Conduct will return to Ontario for the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes over 1 3/16 miles on dirt on Sept. 14 at Fort Erie.

Tue, 08/24/2021 - 11:17

Miss Alacrity to scratch from Seeking the Ante

Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Miss Alacrity, a 2-year-old turf sprinter, won the Colleen Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths last Sunday at Monmouth.

Miss Alacrity, who likely would have been favored in Friday’s Seeking the Ante Stakes for New York-breds, will not run in the race, her trainer Wesley Ward said on Tuesday.

Miss Alacrity was one of six 2-year-old fillies entered in the $200,000 Seeking the Ante, scheduled as the second race on a card with six races restricted to New York-breds. She was coming into the race off an open-company win in the Colleen Stakes on the Monmouth Park turf as the favorite, and had won her first start against New York-bred maidens by 10 lengths, running in a race at Belmont at May.

Mon, 08/23/2021 - 15:06

Vequist out for at least rest of the year

Barbara D. Livingston
Vequist, winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies last year, made only one start this season.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Although she’s entered in Tuesday’s mile and 70-yard Cathryn Sophia Stakes at Parx Racing, Vequist was going to return from a six-month layoff in a seven-furlong allowance dash here Thursday.

But Vequist will not run in either race after coming up with another issue that has ended her abbreviated 3-year-old campaign and put her racing career in doubt.

“She had a minor setback coming out of her last work and will be off for rest of the year,” trainer Butch Reid confirmed Monday.

Mon, 08/23/2021 - 15:06

Travers win would put capper on Saratoga's Summer of Saez

Barbara D. Livingston
Luis Saez leads the Saratoga jockey standings with 49 wins, and he rides favored Essential Quality in Saturday’s Travers.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – This is the kind of summer it’s been at Saratoga for jockey Luis Saez: On Aug. 13, he was named on two first-time starters in a New York-bred maiden race. His first call was Makin My Move, who was three deep on the also-eligible list. When she didn’t get into the race, Saez rode his second call, Sue Ellen Mishkin, to a 7 1/4-length victory.

A week later, when the maiden race was offered again, Saez rode Makin My Move to a 12 1/2-length debut victory.

Mon, 08/23/2021 - 14:56

Going Global's long-term goal is the American Oaks

Emily Shields
Going Global's summer goal was the Del Mar Oaks. Her long-term target now is the American Oaks on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

In early spring, after Going Global had won two stakes in her first two starts in the country, trainer Phil D’Amato set a summer goal of winning the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks with the Irish-bred filly.

Going Global won her fifth stakes of the year as the 7-5 favorite in the $302,000 Del Mar Oaks on Saturday, closing from fifth of nine to win by a length.