Valid just needs to find a race
Valid looked good blowing out three furlongs from the quarter pole in 35.60 here Friday. The question is: what does trainer Marcus Vitale do with him next?
David GreningAug 14, 2015
Valid looked good blowing out three furlongs from the quarter pole in 35.60 here Friday. The question is: what does trainer Marcus Vitale do with him next?
While Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile attracted a full field of 12, including a handful of Californians with flashy credentials, the forecast isn’t terribly complicated. Stryker Phd, the defending champion and winner of six consecutive stakes races at Emerald Downs, is likely to be a short-priced favorite.
Karakontie makes his first start since an impressive upset win in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Mile last fall at Santa Anita when he starts Sunday at Deauville in the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois.
Kathleen Rose won three optional claimers last year, but never had a breakthrough in stakes. Her best result in a stakes was a second by a neck in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita. The 5-year-old mare will make her first start for trainer Mike Puype in Sunday’s $150,000 Solana Beach Handicap, and she may finally get her stakes win.
Everett Dobson, a prominent owner and breeder, has been appointed to the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, according to the organization, replacing David Willmot, who was required to step down from the committee after nine years under term-limit bylaws.
Sunday, Sam’s Sister starts in the $100,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar. A win would put her closer to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
Crius could be ready to fire a big shot when he runs in the $25,000 optional-claiming race that serves as the Sunday feature at Hastings. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds drew nine horses, and if Crius runs as well as expected, he could be pointed to the Grade 3, $250,000 British Columbia Derby on Sept. 13.
The eight entrants in the $60,000 Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sunday are coming from many different directions.
Queen’s Plate runner-up Danish Dynaformer will look to score a Canadian classic victory on his preferred surface Sunday in the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on Woodbine’s turf course.
Two dominant wins at Pleasanton to start his career send Smokey Image into Sunday’s $50,000 Cavonnier Juvenile at Santa Rosa an overwhelming favorite.