It took a little longer than expected, but Beholder, the two-time champion, had her final major workout on Wednesday for the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on Aug. 1 at Del Mar.
The nine-race West Virginia Breeders’ Classics card at Charles Town on Oct. 10 will be comprised entirely of stakes and offer a total of $1.08 million in purses.
Though she he has won all three of her starts in 2015, including the Grade 1 Just a Game, Tepin will still have questions to answer when she runs in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Diana Stakes at Saratoga.
When Catch a Flight finished third as the 8-5 favorite in the $501,500 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 27, the most frustrated person involved with the horse was jockey Gary Stevens. The chance for redemption arrives on Saturday when Catch a Flight starts in the $200,000 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar.
Corey Lanerie, who won his eighth Churchill Downs riding title during the spring-summer meet there, will be a regular here for the second summer in a row. Lanerie is looking to get off to a fast start with five mounts on opening day.
In a perfect world, trainer Leah Gyarmati would love to give Wonder Gal a little confidence booster against allowance company before the prestigious Alabama Stakes here on Aug. 22. But with the timing for that “not quite right,” Gyamati will instead try to get Wonder Gal that elusive first Grade 1 win in Sunday’s Coaching Club American Oaks.
Moment Is Right will likely go to post the favorite as the only stakes winner among the eight 2-year-old fillies who will contest the $150,000 Schuylerville on Friday’s opening-day card at Saratoga. But trainer Wesley Ward cautions not to discount the “other” filly he has in the Grade 3 dash, Banree.
By most established handicapping criteria, Toh’s Grey Cat seems a standout in the fourth race Friday at Gulfstream Park, a $36,000 starter allowance with a $50,000 claiming option going a mile on the main track that serves as the nominal feature. The only thing Toh’s Grey Cat is unlikely to offer is betting value.
Todd Pletcher has been the dominant trainer at Saratoga over the last five summers based primarily on the success of his 2-year-olds, with 83 of his 174 wins (47.7 percent) coming from his juvenile crop.
Keeneland has added a new condition of sale in which buyers of yearlings and horses in training that are being exported to Great Britain, or other countries the British Horseracing Authority considers to have similar policies, may test for anabolic steroids and substances banned by the BHA within 60 days of purchase. Other countries included in the condition include France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, and Sweden.
