Woodbine Harness: Horses to watch from Apr. 2 - Apr. 6
Horses to watch from Woodbine Harness.
Ken WaltersApr 07, 2015
Horses to watch from Woodbine Harness.
Without the use of the turf course and with a depleted horse population, New York Racing Association officials carded only eight races for Thursday and Friday at Aqueduct. Thursday’s card has one $70,000 maiden special weight for fillies and mares at a mile, otherwise the richest race on the program is for $40,000 claimers running for a pot of $55,000.
Rain was in the forecast for this region every day from Tuesday through Friday, so severity and timing will determine whether turf races at Keeneland during that span will have to be transferred to the main track or not. Ken Ramsey is hoping the weather is spotty enough for a high-end allowance to remain on the grass Thursday. The perennial leading owner at Keeneland has a stable coupling in the richest race of the afternoon, a $68,000, classified turf mile carded as the first of four allowances on a nine-race program.
A lot has been expected from Carpe Diem since before he ever raced, owing to his $1.6 million purchase price as a 2-year-old in training. He has lived up to expectations.
The bet-processing company AmTote has filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and intellectual-property theft against Kentucky Downs and a company associated with the track over the operation of Kentucky Downs’s historical-racing betting machines.
The horse with one of the best names on the backstretch is also one of the best horses at Oaklawn. Ivan Fallunovalot – pronounced “I’ve been falling off a lot” – is the highweight Thursday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. He brings three straight triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures into the race, including a 108 for a January allowance score and a 105 for a win in the $100,000 King Cotton Stakes in February.
Brad Free's Horses to Watch for Santa Anita.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has a trio of horses targeting stakes on Saturday’s closing-day card at Oaklawn Park, and all were due to arrive in Arkansas on Tuesday.
After running second to Carpe Diem in Saturday’s Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Danzig Moon was shipped to Churchill Downs on Monday morning to join trainer Mark Casse’s string in Louisville.
Jeremey Day's analysis of the Wednesday 4/8 card at Northfield Park.