The snow and the brutally cold temperatures that forced raceday cancellations in the Northeast over the weekend have also impacted training, as Aqueduct, Parx, and Laurel have all had to cancel training several mornings.
The loss of training is weighing on the minds of several trainers as they decide whether to enter or run in Saturday’s $200,000 Withers Stakes for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct.
ARCADIA, Calif. – An easy win by Nafisa in Saturday’s Grade 3 La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita gives Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert an even deeper bench of older fillies and mares.
Nafisa, bought for $1.8 million as a yearling in 2022, is part of a group that includes Splendora, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar in November; Hope Road, who won the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga last summer; Seismic Beauty, winner of the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar last August; and Cavalieri, winner of the Grade 1 Beholder Mile last March.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Full Serrano, third in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, is under consideration for a trip to Dubai in late March. The race to target will be a discussion point in coming weeks.
Full Serrano, best known for winning the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar in 2024, has two options at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on March 28 – the Group 2 Godolphin Mile or the $12 million Dubai World Cup at 1 1/4 miles.
Trainer Todd Pletcher will be well-represented in the next round of stakes for 3-year-olds at Tampa Bay Downs, as he plans to run Renegade in the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis for boys and undefeated Demoiselle Stakes winner Zany in the listed $125,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Both races are on Feb. 7.
Trainer Gary Capuano has nominated three horses for the $200,000 Withers at Aqueduct on Jan. 31.
While Let’s Go Lando will probably take more time after a Laurel allowance victory on Jan. 10, Capuano is still considering Hollywood Import and Wild Warrior for the trip to Aqueduct. The two colts worked a mile together at Laurel in 1:51.20 on Jan. 22.
“I was thinking of possibly running both in there, but I'm not positive that I'll run two,” Capuano said. “I'm probably leaning on Hollywood Import for that.”
Probably Dreaming, a two-time stakes winner as a juvenile, has departed trainer Gary Capuano’s barn following a private sale earlier this month. He is now based at Oaklawn Park with trainer Phil D’Amato, who is pointing him to the Grade 3 Southwest for his 3-year-old debut on Jan. 31.
“We're going to duck him,” Capuano said of his new rival.
Sold by Paul L. Fowler Jr., Probably Dreaming is now owned by Agave Racing and Evan Trommer. As of Jan. 22, the colt had not made a published workout at his new home base, but D’Amato confirmed the Southwest as his goal on Friday.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., resumes racing next Friday, Jan. 30, after a three-week winter break, and entries for its first card back were fast and furious on Friday.
The 10-race program drew 122 horses, with nine of them on also-eligible lists. The featured $150,000 Fifth Season, which is for 4-year-olds and up at a mile, drew a field of nine that includes Southern California-based Pony Express, who is trained by John Sadler.
First post next Friday will be 12:30 p.m. Central.
A portion of the purse of a $10,000 claiming race at Del Mar last August was ordered redistributed by Santa Anita stewards earlier this month, citing a Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority rule regarding excessive use of the whip.
Riders are allowed to strike a horse six times during a race. Jockey Armando Aguilar was cited for using his whip 11 times, according to a complaint filed by the California Horse Racing board on Aug. 28, four days after the race.
Jockey Antonio Fresu, who has not ridden since Dec. 28 because of injury, may return to riding at Santa Anita on the weekend of Jan. 30-Feb. 1, he said on Friday.
Fresu sustained a broken toe and severe cut on his left foot when his mount, Anmer Hall, struck the inside rail on the hillside turf course.
On Wednesday, Fresu underwent a procedure to have a stabilizing wire removed from the injured toe. The stabilizing wire was inserted to aid healing days after the incident.
Incredibolt, winner of the Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs on Oct. 26, worked five furlongs in 1:02.30 at Palm Meadows on Friday morning for a scheduled start in the Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 31.
Trainer Riley Mott, who actually caught Incredibolt slightly faster (1:01.80), said his horse tracked a stablemate, the unraced maiden Wine Country, and finished on even terms. It was Incredibolt’s sixth work since Mott brought him down here following a brief respite at Pin Oak Stud.
