Edgard Zayas is well on his way to being the leading rider at Gulfstream Park West for the second straight year, and he has an excellent chance of extending his lead over Tyler Gaffalione with live mounts in a couple of intriguing 2-year-old maiden special weight races on Sunday.
A pair of Bob Baffert-trained stakes winners are nearing returns to action: Midnight Hawk and Lord Nelson.
Jockey-turned-trainer Tony Locke hasn’t ridden in a race since 1997, nor has he won a race since 1993, but he will return to the saddle on Sunday to ride first-time starter Elprado’s Heirloom in the second race.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said that Shared Belief, idle since being injured in April in the Charles Town Classic, is being brought along slowly in his training at Golden Gate Fields.
The $1 million yearling Seattle Serenade finally debuted on Thursday, as the 3-year-old colt scored a fast win against maidens at Del Mar while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 88.
For the first time, the brothers Kip and George Elser have a horse entered in the Chrfis Elser Memorial, one of two restricted stakes for 2-year-olds on Sunday’s card at Parx Racing.
Maybe, just maybe, the Saturday card at Del Mar includes one logical horse on whom to make a reasonable gamble.
A boost in the purse of the Santa Margarita Stakes and the return of the San Juan Capistrano to its former April position are a couple of the tweaks made to the power-packed stakes schedule at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, which features eight Grade 1 races and runs from Dec. 26 through April 10.
The last Grade 1 races of the year for 2-year-olds highlight the upcoming December meeting at Los Alamitos, a, three-week, 12-day run that begins Dec. 3 and closes Dec. 20.
King’s Palace has won 7 of 11 starts, a record that will make him the favorite in Saturday’s $243,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at 2 9/16 miles over fences at Cheltenham Racecourse.
