Wed, 03/31/2021 - 11:40

I Get It gives Spatz a parting gift with Sanibel Island win

Barbara D. Livingston
I Get It notched her first stakes win in last Saturday's Sanibel Island at Gulfstream.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Despite sending out I Get It to register the most important victory of her career, a half-length decision over favored World Tour in Saturday’s Sanibel Island Stakes, trainer Ron Spatz had to say a sad good-bye to the big horse in his barn earlier this week. I Get It joined trainer Mark Casse’s stable, having been purchased privately by owner Gary Barber following her troubled fourth-place finish (placed third by disqualification) four weeks earlier in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride.

Wed, 03/31/2021 - 09:46

Keeneland spring meet signals return to normalcy

Barbara D. Livingston
Fire At Will wins the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at 30-1. In his lone dirt start, he won the off-the-turf With Anticipation.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sports fans in the Bluegrass region got accustomed to being very spoiled at this time of year. Not only would the Keeneland spring meet bring an end to the misery of winter, but their beloved Kentucky Wildcats were mainstays in the NCAA Final Four, making four trips in five seasons from 2011 to 2015. The party was always on in early April.

Tue, 03/30/2021 - 17:40

Aqueduct winter meet handle rises 17 percent

Barbara D. Livingston
While other sports have been allowed to host some fans, racetracks in New York are awaiting government guidance.

The 2020-21 Aqueduct winter meet generated all-sources handle of $349,962,356, an increase of 17.2 percent over the 2019-20 winter meet, according to figures released Tuesday by the New York Racing Association.

Tue, 03/30/2021 - 15:05

Ontario owner-breeder Joan Agro dies at age 89

Longtime Ontario owner-breeder Joan Agro passed away last Friday at 89.

Agro campaigned stakes-winning homebreds Sophia’s Prince and Michael’s Bad Boy at Woodbine.

Sophia’s Prince shattered the 6 1/2-furlong track record when taking the 2005 Shepperton Stakes, one of his 10 victories under the guidance of trainer John LeBlanc Jr. Michael’s Bad Boy won 14 races, most notably the 2009 Steady Growth Stakes for trainer Nick Gonzalez.

Agro was married for 68 years to Louis Agro, who shared her passion for horse racing.

Tue, 03/30/2021 - 12:01

Del Mar fatality rate far below national average

Benoit Photo
The Del Mar meet has benefited from dry weather. Last year, two racing days were rained out.

Del Mar, which will play host to the Breeders’ Cup for the second time this November, received outstanding marks as one of the safest tracks in the country, according to the data released Monday by The Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database.

Tue, 03/30/2021 - 09:41

Fatal Bullet, Formal Gold, Fipke head nominees to Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

Michael Burns
Fatal Bullet was the Canadian Horse of the Year in 2008.

Charles Fipke, Fatal Bullet, and Formal Gold are among the 2021 Thoroughbred nominees to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

A total of 18 people and horses, comprised of nine Thoroughbred and nine Standardbred candidates, have been selected to appear on the voting ballot. A 20-person election committee for each breed will determine the one individual to be inducted in each category, with the results to be announced April 13.

The three categories selected by the nominating committee for the 2021 Thoroughbred ballot are Builder, Male Horse, and Veteran Horse.

Mon, 03/29/2021 - 14:10

Keepmeinmind headed to Keeneland for Blue Grass Stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Keepmeinmind will make his next start in Saturday's Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Keepmeinmind ran some of the best races of his career last year at Keeneland, and he will be returning to the track for the Grade 2, $800,000 Blue Grass, trainer Robertino Diodoro said Monday. The Kentucky Derby points race is Saturday.

Keepmeinmind is based at Oaklawn, where he also had been under consideration for the Arkansas Derby on April 10. Keepmeinmind worked here Saturday, going five-eighths in 1:00. Diodoro said shortly after the work that a decision had not yet been made on the horse’s next start, but he expected to have plans by Monday.

Mon, 03/29/2021 - 14:00

Mojo Man possible for Count Fleet

Barbara D. Livingston
Mojo Man is being considered for a start in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mojo Man is being considered for a start in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn, trainer Jimmy DiVito said. The stakes is part of the Racing Festival of the South and runs April 10.

Mojo Man won a local allowance sprint in his last start Feb. 28, equaling his best Beyer Speed Figure of 95. He races for Arkansas resident Dash Goff.

Mon, 03/29/2021 - 13:06

Capo Kane will add blinkers for Wood Memorial

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Harold Wyner wants Capo Kane to be forwardly placed in the Wood Memorial.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Capo Kane will make his fourth consecutive trip to Aqueduct when he runs in the Wood Memorial. Capo Kane won the Jerome on New Year’s Day, finished third in the Grade 3 Withers, and was sixth in the Grade 3 Gotham.

Trainer Harold Wyner said he wants Capo Kane to be forwardly placed and to help achieve that objective he will add blinkers to the son of Street Sense for the Wood.

“He’s a forwardly placed horse, he needs to be out there and set his own pace and run his race,” Wyner said.

Mon, 03/29/2021 - 13:00

Velazquez confident Brooklyn Strong is ready for Wood Memorial

Barbara D. Livingston
Brooklyn Strong (left) wins the Grade 2 Remsen by a neck on Dec. 5. His 3-year-old debut has been delayed by winter weather.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It will be 119 days between starts for Brooklyn Strong when he makes his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, but his trainer, Danny Velazquez, couldn’t be more confident in his gelding’s chances for success.

“In my head, I’m going in for the kill, I’m not even thinking of losing,” Velazquez said by phone from Parx Racing where he is based. “I’m very confident, extremely confident in my horse. I see him doing everything I want him to do.”