Mandaloun, Proxy, and Midnight Bourbon filled the top three slots in the Lecomte Stakes in January and in the Risen Star Stakes in February, and now the leading trio of 3-year-olds stabled this winter in New Orleans top the eight entries for the March 20 Louisiana Derby.
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Rush hour Saturday in New Orleans came at 5:45 a.m. out on the Fair Grounds dirt oval.
Dozens of horses, whose connections wanted a piece of a pristine, freshly groomed track surface, worked within about 15 minutes, including three Louisiana Derby hopefuls who breezed one after the other. Among that trio was the likely race favorite, Mandaloun, the Risen Star Stakes winner who went in company with recent Fair Grounds maiden winner Warrant and got an official clocking of 1:00.60 over five furlongs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Risk Taking, the Withers Stakes winner, and Nicky the Vest, winner of the Gander Stakes, both put in workouts Saturday morning over the Belmont Park training track in preparation for the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 3.
Risk Taking, working in company with the 4-year-old maiden winner Mister Winston, went five furlongs in 1:02.23 seconds. Nicky the Vest, working in company with the unraced 3-year-old War Terminator, went five furlongs in 1:03.28. The training track did not yield quick times most of a cold, dry morning.
Greatest Honour turned in the first of his two scheduled works in preparation for the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 27, breezing an easy half-mile in company Saturday morning at Payson Park.
The work was his first since rallying to a 1 1/2-length victory over Drain the Clock in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park two weeks ago.
Trainer Rudy Rodriguez looks to be on his way to winning a fifth Aqueduct winter meet training title, but this has not been a pleasant week for the veteran conditioner.
On Wednesday, Rodriguez was putting the 3-year-old Hyperactive Chris through a workout when that horse broke down near the wire on the Belmont training track. Rodriguez was thrown hard to the track and said he felt some discomfort in his ribs, neck, and back. Unfortunately, Hyperactive Chris, who had finished second in his lone start, had to be euthanized.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – As part of his Hall of Fame career, trainer Jonathan Sheppard dominated the Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup Steeplechase, winning the summer staple at Saratoga a remarkable 15 times.
Beginning this year, the race will now literally have his name on it.
The New York Racing Association and the National Steeplechase Association announced Friday that the New York Turf Writers will be renamed for Sheppard beginning with this year’s running on Aug. 19.
Dream Shake will have a California-based campaign in advance of a potential start in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
Third in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 6, Dream Shake will start in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 3, trainer Peter Eurton confirmed Friday.
United, the dominant turf marathoner in California in 2020 but a disappointing eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland last November, will have his 2021 debut in the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf March 20 at Santa Anita.
Trained by Richard Mandella for the LNJ Foxwoods stable of Larry, Nancy, and Jaime Roth, United will have a campaign geared toward a third appearance in the BC Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. United was second at 51-1 to eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the 2019 BC Turf at Santa Anita.
Idol, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6, is likely to have a two-race campaign this spring in Arkansas and California.
Trainer Richard Baltas said Friday that Idol will be strongly considered for the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 17 at Oaklawn Park. The $1 million Oaklawn Handicap is run at 1 1/8 miles and would be followed by an appearance in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on May 31 at Santa Anita.
“I think those are the two races,” Baltas said. “Physically, he’s been doing great.”
Mystic Guide completed his major preparation for the $12 million Dubai World Cup on March 27 at Meydan Racecourse with a five-furlong breeze early Friday morning at Fair Grounds, a work trainer Mike Stidham called “a beautiful move.”