HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – All the rain here Saturday and into Sunday morning altered the training schedules of many horses based at Gulfstream Park, with Monday’s work tab not only far larger than normal but star-studded as well.
Among the big names to breeze under unseasonably cool and windy skies here Monday morning were Mr Freeze, Mischevious Alex, Ny Traffic, and Chance It.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Swiss Skydiver’s final work prior to her much anticipated 4-year-old debut may not have gone exactly as trainer Ken McPeek planned here last Saturday, but it certainly went well enough for the Eclipse Award winner to get the green light to launch her 2021 campaign this coming Saturday in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. –Trainer Robertino Diodoro found himself at a crossroads in his early 20s. He could make the final push needed for a career in hockey after being a goalie since the age of 6 or he could turn to the other sport he grew up in, horse racing.
Diodoro at that point had dedicated most of his life to both, making the year-round commitments hockey requires of athletes one step from the pros, while working alongside his family at the tracks on the circuit in his native Alberta, Canada.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Dayoutoftheoffice, runner-up in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in her most recent start, breezed a half-mile Friday at Tampa in 49.40 seconds in her first timed workout since Jan. 24.
Trainer Tim Hamm has been insistent that he can make the April 30 Kentucky Oaks with Dayoutoftheoffice, with one qualifying prep in the interim. Dayoutoftheoffice, winner of the Schuylerville and Frizette last year in New York, was 22-1 in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager that closed Sunday.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A day after Life Is Good recorded a commanding win in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert reflected on the colt’s ability three races into his career.
“He’s very green,” Baffert said. “What we witnessed yesterday was raw, green talent. He’s shown us that from day one.”
Life Is Good led throughout the $301,000 San Felipe Stakes, was never challenged by his six rivals, and pulled clear to win by eight lengths despite drifting out noticeably through the stretch under jockey Mike Smith.
Since Lake Avenue seems to flourish at Aqueduct, trainer Bill Mott is likely to give the royally bred 4-year-old filly one more start here this spring, perhaps in the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap on April 2.
“If she would fit in that race there, I would probably prefer that,” Mott said Sunday from Florida.
Lake Avenue ran her record at Aqueduct to 3 for 4 with a convincing 6 3/4-length score in Saturday’s $125,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational. At age 2, Lake Avenue won a maiden race and the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct.
Trainer Rob Atras is being realistic about his sprinter Chateau, who earned a 100 Beyer Speed figure for his 3 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap.
That most likely means keeping Chateau in races run at six furlongs and not looking to run in a race like the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter going seven furlongs here April 3.
“I don’t know if this horse wants to go seven-eighths,” Atras said Sunday morning. “You nominate to the race, take a look at it, but you probably consider other options as well.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Search Results passed a class test by winning Saturday’s $250,000 Busher Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct. Next month, she’ll get tested for distance when she attempts 1 1/8 miles for the first time in the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle Stakes on April 3.
Search Results, whose only previous start was a six-furlong maiden win at Gulfstream on Jan. 3, was able to outfinish Miss Brazil to win the one-mile Busher by a half-length. It was nearly six lengths back to The Grass Is Blue in third.
Search Results ran a mile in 1:39.75 and earned an 84 Beyer Speed Figure.
Three of the sharper dirt-sprint maiden winners of the Fair Grounds season will square off in the featured sixth race Thursday. He’s in Charge, Shackleford Strong, and Blameworthy are among seven 3-year-olds entered in a six-furlong, non-winners-of-two allowance race.
