Swipe, second to Nyquist in four consecutive stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 31, underwent surgery to have a bone chip removed from an ankle last month, trainer Keith Desormeaux said. Desormeaux said over the weekend he is hopeful that Swipe can return to training in early 2016 and run in prep races for the Triple Crown in March and April.
Doug O'Neill's stable is led by Nyquist, the unbeaten winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 31. Lurking behind him in the O’Neill stable are Frank Conversation and Sorryaboutnothing, who are scheduled to start in the $300,000 Los Alamitos Futurity next Saturday.
This was a key prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile four weeks later as it was run at the same distance and the same track as the championship event for the division. BRODY’S CAUSE stamped himself as a legitimate contender for the BC Juvenile by rallying from well back with a terrific stretch kick, the abrupt stretch run to the early finish line proving no bother.
Heza Dasha Fire ran the best race of his accomplished career Saturday in the $600,000 Champion of Champions for Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos, a victory likely to lead to him being named World Champion Running Quarter Horse for 2015 next month.
A Shin Hikari, Highland Reel, Maurice, and Peniaphobia won seven-figure Group 1 races on turf Sunday in Hong Kong on a program in which Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Mongolian Saturday could finish only fifth behind Peniaphoabia in the $2.38 million Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin Racecourse.
The New York stewards have disqualified Box Office from his first-place finish in the fourth race Dec. 4 at Aqueduct and fined that horse’s owner-trainer Diane Balsamo, as well as trainer David Jacobson, for failure to disclose that Jacobson, who also ran a horse in that race, had a hidden financial interest in Box Office.
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The death of Shared Belief two weeks ago and the retirement of Tonalist last week were unexpected. And since Shared Belief was a five-time Grade 1 stakes-winning champion who lost but twice in his career and Tonalist was a winner of highly prestigious Grade 1 events at such varied distances as one mile, 1 1/4 miles, and 1 1/2 miles, it goes without saying that they will be sorely missed in next year’s older dirt male division.
The $51,400 Eleanor Casey Memorial was over seconds after the gates opened as Aye a Song jumped to a clear early lead and never looked back en route to a seven-length victory.
A two-night carryover in the pick five at Yonkers Raceway will produce a unique opportunity for handicappers on Sunday afternoon. Not only will the seventh race wager feature a $12,601 carryover, but the entire pool must be paid out with Sunday being the last card of the year at the Westchester oval.
