Big John B, the winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap last August but last of eight in the Grade 3 Last Tycoon Stakes on April 25, will skip Sunday’s $200,000 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita.
Beholder, the two-time champion who missed a scheduled start in the $300,000 Vanity Stakes on May 9 because of illness, worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Thursday.
In her last three starts, all in stakes, Ashley’s Sassy strained a knee in one race, broke slowly in another, and was too eager in a third. Understandably, there were no wins in that span.
Trainer Jeremiah Englehart saddles Secret Fortune (#5, ML 3-1) in Thursday’s seventh race at Belmont Park, a seven-furlong allowance on turf. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Englehart is winning at a 26 percent clip in allowances, for a return on investment of $2.55.
The $75,000 Majestic Light Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday has attracted a deep field of 11 runners, based at the New York tracks, the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, and yes, Monmouth itself.
The Maryland Racing Commission on Tuesday approved threshold levels for cobalt, the naturally occurring mineral that has allegedly been abused worldwide in horse racing, according to the commission’s executive director.
What would a filly and mare stakes at Gulfstream Park be without trainer Marty Wolfson? In the case of Saturday’s $60,000 Alachua Handicap, probably nothing at all.
If Patrioticandproud runs to the Beyer form he showed at Del Mar and Santa Anita, he will be difficult to beat in Saturday’s Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs.
Meg Giry and Sailingforthesun were very impressive winning maiden special weight races at Hastings in their first races as 3-year-olds. Something has to give when they meet in a first-level allowance race that will serve as Saturday’s feature. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew six horses, including last year’s $75,000 Fantasy winner, Ambleside Park.
Gryvon (#3, ML 3-1) makes his return in Thursday’s seventh race at Gulfstream Park, a seven-furlong optional claimer. It will be his first start since a first-place finish by four lengths in a six-furlong optional claimer April 4 at Gulfstream Park. The second- and third-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts.
