Trainer Guadalupe Preciado reported Wednesday that unbeaten Chub Wagon is only "50-50" to compete in the Grade 2, $350,000 Princess Rooney Invitational at Gulfstream on July 3 due to a recent illness.
The 4-year-old daughter of Hey Chub ran her streak to seven with a game victory in the Shine Again Stakes at Pimlico on June 13. She earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure that afternoon after denying Maryland-bred champion Hello Beautiful following a thrilling stretch drive.
The top Texas-bred runner Direct Dial earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure for his win over Mr Money Bags in the $75,000 Wayne Hanks Memorial earlier this month at Lone Star Park. The 6-year-old earned a Beyer Figure of 91 for his half-length victory. Direct Dial covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.37.
“It was as good a race as he’s ever run,” said Steve Asmussen, who trains Direct Dial. “It was a solid time and it was a quality field. It was his ninth stakes win and it put him over $500,000 in earnings. It was a very significant win.”
Fair Grounds in New Orleans will have its traditional Thanksgiving start date later this year after the Louisiana Racing Commission approved an amended calendar for the track’s upcoming meet.
The original request was to open Dec. 2, but the commission at a meeting approved an updated request for an 80-date meet starting Nov. 25, according to Charles Gardiner, the commission’s executive director. He said the meet will run through March 27.
Jockey Reylu Gutierrez, who earlier this year moved his tack from New York to Texas, is sitting on a busy summer. He has mounts in all four stakes being run Sunday at Lone Star Park, and after the meet closes on July 11 he will head to Colonial Downs in Virginia.
Gutierrez said he will ride the Colonial meet, then base at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said the Grade 3 Curlin on July 30 at Saratoga would likely be next for his 3-year-old prospect Collaborate.
The lightly raced Collaborate bounced back from a disappointing effort as the overwhelming favorite in the Roar Stakes earlier this spring to easily defeat allowance opposition going a mile here Sunday, earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure. The Curlin would mark the second start at nine furlongs for Collaborate, who finished a tiring fifth as the second betting choice in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla – With Bell’s the One opting to stay at home and capturing last Saturday’s Roxelana Stakes at Churchill Downs and trainer Wesley Ward looking elsewhere for Kimari’s next start, Ce Ce becomes the only Grade 1 winner still in consideration for the $350,000 Princess Rooney Invitational here July 3.
Following a 9 1/2-length victory in Tuesday’s $100,000 Crowd Pleaser at Parx Racing, Beren is bound for Saratoga.
A 3-year-old son of Weigelia, Beren has won five of his last six starts. The Crowd Pleaser, an off-the-turf event for Pennsylvania-breds, was the colt’s first journey around two turns.
With the Churchill Downs backside closing for the summer, the stable areas at numerous other tracks and training centers are being filled to capacity, including at Ellis Park in western Kentucky, where stall vacancies have typically abounded, even during the live meet.
The fifth race Friday at Churchill will mark the end of the remarkable training career of William “Buff” Bradley, who announced in early May that he is disbanding his stable while intending to keep his hand in the game as an owner-breeder and also hoping to transition to a yet-undetermined role in the racing industry.
Bradley, 57, will saddle Total Impact in the fifth race, a maiden-special turf route for 3-year-olds and upward. Total Impact was ninth at 64-1 in his only prior start, and he’ll be long odds to send Bradley out a winner.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Silver State, whose unbeaten streak dating to last fall has made him one of the leading older horses on the continent, has resumed a regular breeze schedule and will be among the Steve Asmussen contingent leaving Churchill Downs on Monday for Saratoga.
