Max Player, the third-place finisher behind Tiz the Law in both the Belmont Stakes and Runhappy Travers Stakes, has been transferred from trainer Linda Rice to Steve Asmussen and will be pointed to the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5, according to majority owner George Hall.
Hall, who owns the horse along with SportBLX Thoroughbreds – a racing syndicate that sells shares in a portfolio of horses led by Max Player – did not give a specific reason as to why he removed the horse from Rice’s care.
Colonial Downs-based jockey Trevor McCarthy has tested positive for COVID-19, leading Colonial to cancel its Tuesday and Wednesday racing programs, the track announced Tuesday.
McCarthy, who tops the Colonial jockey standings with 14 wins, took off his mounts Sunday and Monday after experiencing “flu-like symptoms” on Saturday night, according to his agent, Scott Silver. McCarthy attempted to get tested for COVID-19 on Monday, was unable to, went for testing on Tuesday, and returned a positive result.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Lorne Richards became the 100th different trainer to win a race at the pandemic-shortened Woodbine meet when he sent out Hell N Wild to win last Sunday’s featured second-level optional claimer.
Richards will have bigger fish to fry Saturday when he sends out the fleet-of-foot British Columbia-bred Infinite Patience in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks.
Denny Velazquez, a leading rider at Canterbury Park in Minnesota, has been issued a one-year suspension and a $10,000 fine for possessing an electrical device that can be used to shock horses, the maximum penalty that stewards could levy under Minnesota racing rules.
Bodenheimer, an impressive debut winner July 29 at Canterbury Park, will make his next start Sept. 5 in the Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Valorie Lund had either the one-mile Iroquois or the six-furlong Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows in mind for Bodenhemier, and opted this week for the longer, stronger spot.
There were times earlier this year when Larry Rivelli, perennial leading trainer at Arlington, wondered if there would be a 2020 meeting at Arlington. And when it finally became clear, in late June, that the track was on course to run an abbreviated season this summer, Rivelli was more than ready.
Rivelli enters the third week of the Arlington season with a record of 18-9-8 from 47 starters, which would be dominant on the face of things, and is an even stronger mark considering Rivelli usually has multiple entries in a single Arlington race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott is planning to have a runner in Sunday’s $500,000 Saratoga Oaks with recent acquisition Ricetta, a daughter of Camelot owned and bred by Juddmonte Farms. Ricetta won 2 of 3 starts in Europe, where she was trained by trainer John Gosden.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Harvey’s Lil Goil is a stakes winner on turf and dirt. Some speed figures have her faster on turf, others dirt.
Naturally, trainer Bill Mott has two options this weekend in which to run Harvey’s Lil Goil – Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama on dirt, or Sunday’s $500,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational, an ungraded race, on turf.
:: Get DRF's Betting Strategies for Saratoga's weekend cards
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Both trainer Todd Pletcher and the betting public were expecting big things from the highly touted 2-year-old prospect Mutasaabeq when he debuted here last Saturday. And in the end neither was disappointed after the promising juvenile drew off to a 4 1/2-length victory as the 4-5 favorite in the 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight dash.
Mutasaabeq, a son of Into Mischief owned by Shadwell Stable, had posted a pair of bullet gate works in the weeks leading up to his first start.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Saratoga meet reaches the halfway point Wednesday, and New York Racing Association officials can only hope business remains as robust during the second half of the summer as it was the first.
All-sources handle through the first 19 days of the 40-day meet was $362,577,261, a 17.3 percent increase over the $309,125,934 handled through the same time period of 2019.
