Trainer Alexander Patykewich finished the 2014 Woodbine season with just one horse in his barn but now returns from the Gulfstream Park meet with three after a productive winter from stable star Skylander Girl.
The Appalachian Stakes has been won by a number of standout fillies in recent years, including Dayatthespa and Winter Memories, but this might be the best renewal yet.
Grade 3 Selene Stakes winner Paladin Bay is back in training at Woodbine after missing the second half of the 2014 season with bone bruising.
Sheer Drama, runaway winner of the Grade 2 Royal Delta Stakes here on March 21, turned in the work of the morning at Gulfstream Park on Friday.
Larry Jones, who already owns a pair of Kentucky Oaks victories, holds a strong hand this year, with Fair Grounds Oaks winner I’m a Chatterbox and Ashland Stakes winner Lovely Maria currently in his barn at Keeneland preparing for the filly classic.
With the beast of the division, Free as a Bird, long gone, a nice opportunity presents itself for those filly and mare turf sprinters left behind in Saturday’s $60,000 Sunset Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Free as a Bird defeated several members of the Sunset lineup despite a harrowing trip in the five-furlong Captiva Island overnight stakes here on March 18, a group that includes Satan’s Mistress, Tizgale, and the speedy Fascinante.
Patrick Husbands and Luis Contreras had quite the battle on top of the Woodbine jockey standings toward the end of last season, but they may have some company this season as former New York jockey Alan Garcia will join the Woodbine colony for the 2015 meet.
Brooklynsway will begin her campaign toward the Woodbine Oaks in Sunday’s $125,000 Star Shoot Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year old fillies at Woodbine.
Call Pat battles a field of seven in Friday's ninth race at Oaklawn Park, the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Apple Blossom. Trainer Brad Cox is winning 31 percent of his starts in route races, for a return on investment of $2.65.
The Virginia Racing Commission expects to conduct a hearing in early May to determine whether Colonial Downs is in violation of the state’s racing law by retaining all of the revenue from its account-wagering operation for nearly a five-month period beginning late last year.
