OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Crazy Mason, who won the Grade 2 Carter in April, heads a field of nine entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Vosburgh Stakes at seven furlongs.
The Carter was one of three straight wins Crazy Mason put together at Aqueduct during the winter and spring. Since the Carter, Crazy Mason has finished third in both the Grade 3 True North and Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga and made a trip to Del Mar where he finished sixth in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby in July.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance, his Grade 1-winning Godolphin stablemate El Cordobes, and multiple Grade 1 winner Far Bridge head a field of five entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.
Rebel’s Romance, a winner of 19 of 28 races, including the Group 1 Preis von Berlin in Germany in his last start, and El Cordobes, winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer last month, both stretched their legs Monday morning over the Oklahoma turf course in Saratoga.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Kazushi Kimura won the 1,000th race of his career in North America at Los Alamitos on Saturday and immediately declared a goal for his next milestone – winning the riding title at the upcoming Santa Anita autumn meeting.
Kimura, a former champion jockey in Canada, faces a tough task of winning the most races at the 16-day Santa Anita autumn meeting. He will attempt to surpass Juan Hernandez, who has been the dominant rider on the circuit in the last three years.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Atitlan, a two-time graded stakes winner on turf earlier this year, is out of training because of an injury. The setback takes the 4-year-old colt out of consideration for Saturday’s Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita.
“He has a little injury and it will prevent him from racing,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “He’ll go to Kentucky and he’ll get a little rest. It could be four-week thing or it could be two months."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When it comes to Phileas Fogg, trainer Gustavo Rodriguez has decided there’s no place like home.
Thus, instead of waiting for a race out of town next month, Rodriguez and owner Steve Shapiro have opted to supplement Phileas Fogg in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct for a fee of $1,500.
Although she had never been worse than second in her career, questions swirled around Immersive entering Saturday’s Seneca Overnight at Churchill Downs. Her trainer, Brad Cox, said earlier in the week that her connections had to learn if Immersive was still “wanting to be a racehorse at the top level.”
Brian Hernandez Jr. sustained rib fractures and multiple internal injuries in a fall Sunday at Churchill Downs, putting his fall season in jeopardy.
Hernandez was aboard Sgt. Garcia in Sunday’s third race, a maiden claimer for 2-year-olds. The Kenny McPeek trainee suffered a foreleg injury near the five-sixteenths pole, dislodging the rider.
Field size at the recently completed Canterbury Park meet in Shakopee, Minn., dropped nearly 10 percent, while betting on the track's races followed suit, with total wagering down 12.7 percent during the 50-day meet, according to an analysis by Daily Racing Form.
Average field size for the track’s Thoroughbred races dropped from 7.40 horses per race during last year’s 54-day meet to 6.75 horses this year. With 39 fewer Thoroughbred races held this year, average handle per race dropped 3.2 percent, according to the analysis.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A parade of double-digit-priced winners capped by Blown Cover’s 41-1 upset in Friday’s finale have resulted in a carryover in both the late pick five and pick six wagers Saturday at Aqueduct.
The carryover in the late pick five is $240,923 and the carryover in the pick six, the latter having not been hit for two days, is $123,936. The late pick five is a 50-cent wager while the pick six is a $1 bet.
The late pick five sequence on Saturday will be on races 7 through 11 while the pick six will encompass races 6 through 11.
Lavender Disaster, a bit of an underachiever thus far on turf, will make a surface switch to dirt in Sunday’s featured second-level allowance for filly and mares at seven furlongs at Aqueduct.
A daughter of Into Mischief, Lavender Disaster gave trainer Chad Brown the feel of a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf horse a year ago after she won at first asking at Saratoga. Her second start was a toss-out, as she got carried out badly at the quarter pole of the Grade 2 Miss Grillo and could never recover, finishing last.
