HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Fausto Gutierrez had Letruska out grazing on a beautiful Sunday morning at Oaklawn Park, and was enjoying time with the mare who a day earlier added her name to a long list of outstanding winners of the Apple Blossom Handicap.
She also established herself as one of the top members of her division.
Churchill Downs
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 51
Track: Fast
LOUISVILLE, KY. - Mandaloun may have stolen a little thunder from his undefeated stablemate and Kentucky Derby favorite Essential Quality with an extremely impressive six-furlong workout in 1:11.47 early Saturday morning at Churchill Downs.
Rock Your World, the undefeated winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 3, worked five furlongs in 59.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Saturday in advance of a start in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1.
Trained by John Sadler, Rock Your World galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.80, according to Santa Anita clockers.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Though Crowded Trade put in a sharp workout Saturday morning at Belmont Park, trainer Chad Brown said afterward the horse remains on target for the Preakness on May 15 and he still plans to run Blue Grass Stakes runner-up Highly Motivated in the Kentucky Derby.
Highly Motivated is scheduled to breeze Sunday at Keeneland before vanning over to Churchill Downs on Monday.
“As long as Highly Motivated works well and comes out of it well on Monday, I’m going to ship him over to Churchill,” Brown said Saturday at Belmont Park.
A project to replace the entire cushion of Laurel Park’s one-mile main track will likely take no more than three weeks, officials for the track and its parent company told horsemen during a conference call on Friday afternoon.
Work on the project will occur on a nearly 24-7 basis, the officials said, with daily breaks that will allow horsemen to gallop on the parts of the surface that are not being replaced. Track officials said that they will send daily and weekly reminders to horsemen about the training hours, due to the uncertainty over the work schedule.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Danny Velazquez said that Brooklyn Strong, his stakes-winning 3-year-old gelding who finished fifth in the Wood Memorial on April 3, is targeting the Preakness on May 15 at Pimlico. Over the weekend, Velazquez and Brooklyn Strong’s owner Mark Schwartz were planning to decide whether to run in the Federico Tesio at Pimlico next Saturday beforehand.
The Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on April 30 may not be in the plans for Soothsay, the undefeated winner of the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 3.
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Rombauer, the winner of the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in February, worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Friday in his first major exercise since finishing a well-beaten third in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 3.
The workout is part of preparation for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1 or the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 15.
