Are You Kidding Me carried his strong form from the start of the season into a win in the Grade 2 Nijinsky Stakes on July 19 and will be looking to keep the momentum going Sunday in the Grade 2, $200,000 Sky Classic Stakes over 1 1/4-miles on Woodbine’s turf course.
The obvious question is whether Huasca can handle the switch in surfaces, assuming the $75,000 Summer Winds isn’t rained off the turf Sunday at Gulfstream.
Hammersly: How I'd play Del Mar for Saturday, Aug. 15
Colonial Downs in Virginia has filed an application with the state racing commission to conduct one day of all-turf racing Dec. 3, but the president of the state’s recognized horsemen’s group has called the filing a “sham.”
Trainer Terry Genecco saddles True Shot (#9, ML 12-1) in Friday’s fifth race at Finger Lakes, the six-furlong Niagara Stakes. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Genecco is winning at a 35 percent clip when saddling a horse in a sprint, for a return on investment of $3.69. Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
In the Belmont Oaks on July 4, won in a runaway by Lady Eli, there was a virtual triple dead heat for fourth. Strict Compliance and Senterio Italia finished in an actual dead heat for fourth, with Consumer Credit just a neck behind them in sixth. Now, those three return as the favorites in a field of five for the Grade 2 Lake Placid, the Friday feature at Saratoga.
Scooter's Choice (#10, ML 20-1) returns in Friday's eighth race at Remington Park, a five-furlong allowance on turf. It will be her first start since finishing first by three lengths in a claiming race June 12 at Lone Star Park. The second- and third-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts. Get the Key Race report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Free: Del Mar pick three play for Saturday, Aug. 15
BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, August 15th by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore.
Sam Grossman, better known as “Sam the Bugler,” is on a temporary leave from the New York Racing Association and will not return to play the “Call to Post” during the remainder of the Saratoga meet, the company announced Thursday.
