OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mythical Man will be taking a sharp drop in class Wednesday when he runs in a starter allowance/optional $40,000 claiming race on an eight-race card at Aqueduct.
Typically dark on Wednesdays, Aqueduct is holding this card to make up for the cancellation of the Oct. 12 program due to a forecasted nor’easter. Seven of the eight races on Wednesday were part of that nine-race program.
Explora, winner of the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes on Oct. 4 at Santa Anita, worked six furlongs in 1:13.20 on Monday at Santa Anita in advance of a scheduled start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.
Explora is likely to be favored in the BC Juvenile Fillies for trainer Bob Baffert, who also plans to start Bottle of Rouge in the 1 1/16-mile race. The winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs on Sept. 6, Bottle of Rouge worked five furlongs in 59.40 seconds on Sunday at Santa Anita, the fastest of 75 recorded works at the distance.
A groom based at Del Mar during the summer has been suspended 10 years for possession of an electrical device in the stable area, according to a ruling published Sunday by Santa Anita stewards Grant Baker, Luis Jauregui, and Kim Sawyer.
Victor Donis was found in possession of the illegal device on July 25, according to the ruling. The 46-year-old groom, who worked for trainer Dean Pederson, found the device in the stable area “and decided to keep it,” according to a complaint filed by California Horse Racing Board investigators on Aug. 30.
Multiple stakes winners Alpha Bella and Express Train have been retired after losses in recent graded stakes, their trainers said Sunday.
Express Train won 7 of 28 starts and earned $1,640,300 for Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable and trainer John Shirreffs. Shirreffs said that Express Train is scheduled to be sent to Kentucky, where the 8-year-old will be retrained under the supervision of Jen Roytz.
“He’ll retire,” Shirreffs said. “He’s done enough for us. I’d love to see him become a hunter-jumper.”
Three handicap races proposed for Friday’s program at Santa Anita based on a recently created rating system failed to draw sufficient interest when entries were taken Sunday.
Three ratings-based races will be offered for Saturday’s program, with slightly different conditions for two races. Track officials said ratings-based races will be offered for Sunday’s final day of the track’s autumn meeting. Entries for those days were scheduled to be taken on Monday and Tuesday.
Santa Anita is the first track in the nation to offer handicap races based on ratings.
Sunland Park, the New Mexico racetrack and casino that sits on the western edge of El Paso, Texas, has been sold to Strategic Gaming Management, a casino operator with properties in Nevada and South Dakota.
The sale of the track, which annually runs a mixed meet of around 55 days each year from January to early April, was approved at a Sept. 30 meeting of the New Mexico Racing Commission, effective Oct. 15, according to Ismael Trejo, the executive director of the commission.
The pick six will be more expensive at Del Mar this fall.
Track officials received approval from the California Horse Racing Board on Thursday to increase the minimum wager from $1 to $2.
The 16-day season starts on Oct. 30 and includes the Breeders’ Cup races on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The pick six will have a $1 minimum on Breeders’ Cup race days, according to documents Del Mar filed with the racing board.
Disco Time has won stakes in Illinois and Louisiana and might soon land on the East Coast.
The unbeaten 3-year-old could be headed to New York next month for the $200,000 Dwyer at Aqueduct on Nov. 8, according to his trainer, Brad Cox.
Disco Time, who is based in Kentucky, has come under consideration for the one-mile race following his win in the $250,000 St. Louis Derby on Sept. 19 at Fairmount Park.
So There She Was, who won the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks last month in Oklahoma, and Lemon Zest, who finished second as the favorite, are both under consideration for the Grade 2, $300,000 Mother Goose at Aqueduct, according to their respective trainers.
The 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies will be run Nov. 8.
So There She Was shipped in from Santa Anita for the Remington Park Oaks, where she was a 2 3/4-length winner, one start after running second in the Grade 3 Torrey Pines at Del Mar.
Touchuponastar’s primary objective for the remainder of the year is the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic on Dec. 13 at Fair Grounds, according to his owner, Jake Delhomme. The Grade 2 winner has won the race the last three years.
Touchuponastar remains in peak form for trainer Jeff Delhomme, and last weekend opened the Delta Downs meet with a track-record performance in the $100,000 Gold Cup.
