Dream Shake, third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 3, will start in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on May 1 at Churchill Downs and not the Kentucky Derby on the same day, trainer Peter Eurton said Friday.
The decision was made after conversations through the week between Eurton and the partnership that owns the colt – Exline-Border Racing, Philip Hausman, and SAF Racing. The Pat Day Mile distance compared to the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles was the difference.
ARCADIA, Calif. – At 6 o’clock every morning here at Santa Anita, Ron McAnally arrives to watch his handful of horses train. He’s kept the same routine for decades, back when he was the nation’s champion trainer three times, before he got into the Hall of Fame. He craves the stability, the familiarity, and, most of all, the horses. They have given him everything. And he came from nothing.
Jockeys Junior Alvarado, Pablo Fragoso, and Manny Franco, as well as their mounts, all appeared to have avoided serious injuries in a spill in Thursday’s eighth race at Belmont Park.
The $40,000 maiden-claiming race for fillies and mares bred in New York was run at six furlongs on the turf.
Alvarado and Fragoso were alert following the spill and were transported to a local hospital, according to a social media post by a New York Racing Association representative. The post also stated that Franco walked off and was cleared by first aid at Belmont.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following the recent defections of California fillies Soothsay and Beautiful Gift, a full field has firmed up for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks, with the Brad Cox-trained Coach being the latest to secure a spot in the 14-horse lineup. Entries for the Friday race will be drawn Monday.
Medina Spirit has been a constant presence in 3-year-old stakes at Santa Anita since the beginning of the year, and consistent enough to merit a start in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1.
Medina Spirit won the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30, and was second in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in early January, the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 6, and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 3.
The California Horse Racing Board voted to enact stricter penalties for excessive whip use on Wednesday, granting track stewards the right to issue higher financial penalties than currently allowed.
By a vote of 6-0, the racing board approved a rule establishing a minimum fine of $500 and possible suspension of at least three racing days for whip violations. The current sanction calls for a maximum fine of $1,000 and possible three-day suspension.
In addition, the new rule does not set a maximum fine in the event of “egregious or intentional” violations.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – C Z Rocket is being considered for a start at two turns, perhaps in the Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park, according to his trainer, Peter Miller.
C Z Rocket has won back-to-back sprint stakes at Oaklawn Park and is coming off a win in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. He has returned home to Southern California.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The William Walker is the veritable tip of the iceberg of a Churchill stakes schedule that peaks next weekend with the blockbuster Oaks and Derby Day cards.
The Tuesday card will be anchored by the $120,000 Isaac Murphy, a 1 1/2-mile main-track race expected to get Ry’s the Guy and You’re to Blame as major players. Two-year-olds take the spotlight Wednesday in the $125,000 Kentucky Juvenile at five furlongs, while a pair of grass stakes, the $150,000 Unbridled Sidney and $120,000 Opening Verse, are the features Thursday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Richard Klein didn’t exactly invent Brad Cox, but he sure was in on the ground floor of the making of an Eclipse Award-winning trainer.
Not long after Cox went out on his own in the fall of 2004, Klein and his late parents, Bert and Elaine, were the first owners with considerable means to employ Cox.
“I guess you could say we were onto him early,” recalled Klein. “We saw his work ethic and how his mind works, so we gave him a few of our cheaper horses to help get him started.”
