LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Everybody has a story to tell about their Kentucky Derby weekend experience. Al Stall’s might be a little more eventful – and fun and successful – than most.
Stall saddled five winners during the opening six-day span of the Churchill Downs spring meet, including a 3-year-old colt named Masqueparade who earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure in winning a 1 1/8-mile first-level allowance on the Derby undercard by 11 3/4 lengths, getting his final eighth in slightly under 12 seconds.
Quarter Horse trainer Kelly Heltzel was summarily suspended by Remington Park stewards last Thursday after San Lorenzo Tay tested positive for clenbuterol following a win in the $926,500 Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity on April 17.
Heltzel, 41, is not allowed to train, pending a hearing. The suspension was first reported by TRACK magazine.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will launch its five-week autumn meeting with 13 six-figure stakes from Oct. 1-3 designed as prep races for the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.
The five-week season runs through Oct. 31 at Santa Anita and includes 21 stakes worth $3.29 million, compared to 24 stakes worth $3.69 million in 2020.
The opening three days have seven stakes in the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering fees-paid berths to Breeders’ Cup races.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Week-by-week through the spring, the 2-year-old filly Big Treat progressively had quicker workouts for trainer Ryan Hanson at Santa Anita.
Big Treat worked a half-mile from the gate in 48.60 seconds on April 10. Two weeks later, she went a half-mile from the gate in 47.80.
Those workouts were the foundation for an attractive debut when Big Treat won a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race for 2-year-old fillies by 10 lengths under apprentice jockey Emily Ellingwood last Friday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Madone has had five starts, all at a mile on turf, and is already a three-time stakes winner.
The distance does not define the 3-year-old filly’s ability from trainer Simon Callaghan’s perspective.
Madone won her 2021 debut in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, but will be given a loftier target in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks on July 10. The $700,000 Belmont Oaks is run at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-old fillies on turf, a race within Madone’s ability, Callaghan said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Juan Hernandez remained at Santa Anita over the weekend while several of his prominent colleagues rode at Churchill Downs.
Staying home was a profitable decision. Hernandez won five races from Friday through Sunday, including a sweep of the two stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday with Astute in the Angels Flight Stakes at seven furlongs and Madone in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at a mile on turf.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As of Tuesday morning, at least 10 3-year-olds are under consideration for the May 15 Preakness in Baltimore, with the victorious Medina Spirit among three Kentucky Derby starters whose connections are talking about wheeling back two weeks later in the second jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course.
Trainer Brad Cox told Steve Byk on his Sirius radio show that Essential Quality, fourth as the favorite in the Derby, would bypass the Preakness.
LOUISVILLE, Ky, - Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale has set his plan in motion, and the early Kentucky Derby odds are reflecting it.
McIngvale is running a promotion at his popular buiness, Gallery Furniture, that will repay customers who purchase a mattress set for $3,000 or more if the Kentucky Derby favorite wins. The expected favorite all along has been Essential Quality, and with McIngvale hedging his promotion by betting several million to win on him, Essential Quality’s position of Derby favorite is assured.
Total betting on this year’s Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville was down 9.5 percent compared to the record total bet on the race in 2019, the last time the race was held in its traditional spot on the calendar, according to charts of the races.
Total handle on the race this year was $17.46 million, compared to the 2019 record of $19.29 million. This year’s race had 13 horses, while the 2019 edition of the Oaks had a full field of 14 horses.
