Hot City Girl, the winner of the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks on Sept. 19, worked five furlongs in 1:01.10 on Friday over the Belmont Park training track in preparation for the Grade 2, $250,000 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland next Sunday.
Trainer David Jacobson will double-down on this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint as he plans to run both Salutos Amigos and Stallwalkin’ Dude in the $1.5 million race at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
The featured race Sunday at Belmont Park is a highly competitive running of the Grade 3 Knickerbocker for older turf routers, but that race is supported by several other interesting betting races. These are the races I am focusing on from a wagering perspective.
The improving 3-year-old will Silver Sassy, coming off a win at 36-1, not be nearly as big a price when she wheels right back under similar conditions as one of the favorites in Sunday’s $39,000 allowance feature, scheduled for a mile on turf at Gulfstream Park West.
Square Dancer is the clear favorite to win the Grade 3, $100,000 BC Premier’s Handicap at Hastings on Monday. Trained by Steve Henson, Square Dancer hasn’t lost in three starts at Hastings, and he overcame adversity to win the $100,000 Redekop Classic in his last start. However, another horse in Henson’s barn could be the sleeper in the 1 3/8-mile feature.
Burns Folly will put a notable win streak on the line in his stakes debut Sunday in the Grade 2, $297,831 Hobbs America Quarter Horse Futurity at Zia Park. Burns Folly is out to win his fourth straight race after getting on a roll this summer at Ruidoso Downs.
The Alcibiades was Gomo’s second victory from five starts for Reddam Racing, and she is likely to join the same stable’s Nyquist at the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland. It is too early to tell whether Uncle Mo’s early success will lead to a revival of the Grey Sovereign male line, but he clearly represents the best chance of survival for a once-proud stirp of the Nasrullah male line.
With the changing of the seasons comes the arrival of the weanling and breeding-stock portion of the North American auction calendar, which has its first major sale in central Florida. The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. fall mixed sale catalog has grown in recent years, with more entries in its traditional mixed portion and the introduction of a session for horses of racing age last year. However, this year’s renewal follows a 2014 sale that saw significant declines in major indices after a run of steady growth.
Steve Klesaris claimed Three for Me for $25,000 about a year ago, thinking the gelding would be a useful turf horse. It took several months, but Klesaris was proven correct.In six starts on the turf since that claim, Three for Me has three wins, a second and a third and has earned $131,114. On Sunday, Three for Me, a New York-bred 4-year-old gelding by Frost Giant, will seek his fourth win for Klesaris when he competes in a seven-furlong, first-level, open-company allowance that serves as the feature on Belmont Park’s 10-race program.
All nine runners in the $70,000 Anoakia Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Sunday at Santa Anita are eligible for the first allowance condition. Don’t be fooled.
