LEXINGTON, Ky. – When Hit Show turned for home with a decent position this past Saturday in the Dubai World Cup, his trainer, Brad Cox, was watching from Kentucky. Good, Cox thought, the horse will grind his way to a rich placing.
Hit Show, previously only a Grade 2 winner, did more than that, hitting a gear Cox didn’t know he had to run down Mixto and win the $12 million World Cup.
“He’s never run like that before,” Cox said Sunday at Keeneland.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Carl Spackler’s reappearance Friday at Keeneland in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile marks the first salvo in what could be a barrage of Chad Brown-trained graded stakes runners this spring in Kentucky.
If the opening week was any indication, the battle for top jockey honors during the spring-summer meet should be a good one. Three riders – Paco Lopez, perennial leader Edgard Zayas, and Miguel Vasquez – are currently deadlocked atop the standings with six wins apiece over the first four days of the session, with Leonel Reyes right behind with five victories.
While the Triple Crown is rapidly approaching, first-time starter Goal Oriented won a maiden race for sprinters on Sunday at Santa Anita to suggest he can be an important 3-year-old later this year.
Ridden by Juan Hernandez for trainer Bob Baffert, Goal Oriented closed from sixth in a field of seven to win a six-furlong race by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:10.01. Goal Oriented earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91.
A win by Raging Torrent in Saturday’s Group 2 Godolphin Mile in Dubai and a surprise second by Mixto in the $12 million Dubai World Cup later that evening gave California trainer Doug O’Neill the most lucrative payday of his 30-year training career.
Raging Torrent, a 7-2 chance in American pools, won the $1 million Godolphin Mile by 3 1/2 lengths, which was worth $580,000 for owners Zhang Yueshang and Great Friends Stable.
“He ran lights out,” O’Neill said.
Lambeth made the move to three turns for the first time in his career for the $200,000 Temperence Hill late last month at Oaklawn Park and wired his rivals in the 1 1/2-mile race to earn a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 100.
He’s now settled in at Churchill Downs and targeting another marathon race. Trainer Joe Sharp said Lambeth is being pointed for the $200,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon, a 1 1/2-mile race April 30 at Churchill Downs.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap will share a card with the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on Saturday at Oaklawn, and Booth has been made the 123-pound highweight. The six-furlong race is for 4-year-olds and up and others set to start include Grade 2 winner Anarchist and $1.5 million earner Tejano Twist.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna put in a sharp work Monday at Oaklawn Park in advance of her appearance in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap on Saturday.
She is the 124-pound highweight for the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares.
Thorpedo Anna worked five furlongs in company in 1:00, which was the bullet move as of late morning. The drill came on a fast track on a sunny but crisp morning in the mid 40s.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Nobody who participated in Saturday’s Dubai World Cup program had more of a right to be thinking “what could have been” at the end of their race than trainer Bobby Dibona, who watched his Steal Sunshine finish fourth despite breaking far behind the field in the Godolphin Mile.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has canceled live racing for Saturday and moved the races from that card to Sunday, according to a press release from the track.
The races that made up the Sunday card have been canceled, with the exception of the $150,000 Rainbow Stakes, which will be run as the 12th race on Sunday, according to a text notification from the racing department at Oaklawn. First post for the Sunday card will be 11:45 a.m. Central.
Oaklawn has canceled training for Saturday and expects to resume training Sunday.
