HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Twenty-three years after running his first and only horse in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Joe Orseno is one good performance away from making it back to the world’s most famous horse race.
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Seize the Grey will get a chance to earn more Kentucky Derby points following his third-place finish in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks last Saturday at Turfway Park.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Tuesday the horse is scheduled to make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass on April 6 at Keeneland.
Seize the Grey has 27 points for the Kentucky Derby and is 15th on the list administered by Churchill Downs.
Lukas said he was encouraged by Seize the Grey’s effort in the Ruby.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Stronghold’s impressive team work this week at Santa Anita solidified the Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby winner as a contender April 6 in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
Stronghold and jockey Antonio Fresu broke off behind graded turf stakes winners Gold Phoenix and Motorious in the March 25 drill, took dirt, angled outside, and ran past his older workmates in a blazing 58.40 seconds, the fastest five furlongs of the day.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Florent Geroux, who has played an important role in the development of Timberlake, will be watching the horse closely in the Arkansas Derby – from Dubai.
Geroux is traveling overseas to ride Saudi Crown in the Godolphin Mile. He was overseas last month for the $20 million Saudi Cup when Timberlake won the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel at Oaklawn Park.
WHO’S HOT
Catching Freedom took advantage of a pro-closers race flow in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby to score a last-to-first victory at Fair Grounds and cement his Kentucky Derby credentials. Catching Freedom and runner-up Honor Marie, who rallied from next-to-last, were both exiting the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes won by Derby Watch favorite Sierra Leone. Subsequently, linemaker David Aragona lowered Sierra Leone to 6-1 and Catching Freedom to 8-1 second choice. Honor Marie was trimmed to 15-1 co-sixth choice.
Seating and ticketing options for the 2024 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Nov. 1-2 were posted on the Breeders’ Cup website on Tuesday, four weeks in advance of tickets to the event going on sale.
Breeders’ Cup is planning to spend $5 million to create temporary seating and hospitality areas at Del Mar, a strategy it has used at the track and other similarly sized venues over the past decade. As a result, fans will have a wide variety of options for seating and ticketing for the Del Mar event.
Three Thoroughbreds died and four others were transported to a veterinary clinic with injuries following a trailer crash on a Kentucky highway early Monday. The horses, trained by Eddie Kenneally, were traveling in a Creech Horse Transportation van, bound for Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., where the spring meet opens next week.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Vlahos was the subject of a private purchase after his authoritative win in a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on March 9 for trainer Luis Mendez.
Now based with Doug O’Neill and owned by Ty Leatherman and Todd Cady, Vlahos may be bound for a nationally prominent race later this spring.
O’Neill said on Sunday that the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile, a $600,000 race for 3-year-olds on dirt at Churchill Downs on May 4, is under strong consideration. The Pat Day Mile is part of the undercard of the Kentucky Derby program.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Two years ago in Britain, Missed the Cut reeled off three consecutive wins, ending with an easy victory in the Golden Gates Stakes at the world-famous Royal Ascot meeting.
Missed the Cut is arguably in better form this year, evidenced by his second consecutive Grade 3 win in Saturday’s $100,000 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Santa Anita.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Repo Rocks, a four-time stakes winner in 2023 who has been away from the races since a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap last June, is now with trainer Rick Dutrow and could be about six weeks from a return to the races.
Repo Rocks, previously trained by Jamie Ness, was recently sent to Dutrow from Willowbrook Stables, a rehab, training and breeding facility in upstate New York. He had his first published workout last Friday, a three-furlong move in 38.20 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.