It’s a tell-tale sign when top-class riders such as John Velazquez, Edgar Prado, Rajiv Maragh, Irad Ortiz Jr., and Julien Leparoux show up where they don’t regularly compete. Those jockeys will be among those on hand Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla., where the Sam F. Davis Stakes will be run as one of three stakes on a 12-race card.
The 2012 filly crop has been good to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Through midweek, Hollendorfer fillies – 2-year-olds of 2014 and 3-year-olds of 2015 – had won 22 maiden special weight races and six stakes. The total may increase Saturday at Santa Anita. Hollendorfer entered five in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes; four will start – Majestic Presence, turf stakes winner Lutine Belle, and sprint stakes winners Achiever’s Legacy and Light the City. Impressive maiden winner Glory will scratch for another spot.
In the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, I’m going with My Johnny Be Good, whose only outings on dirt in his last two starts were a decided cut above good efforts on Polytrack in his first two starts.
John Sadler, finding himself in his mid-fifties, decided a while back to start taking care of himself like one of the racehorses in his large public stable, which meant a diligent exercise routine and healthy food. “It was a quality of life choice,” Sadler said. “I love what I do, and I want to be able to enjoy it for a long time.”
I was fairly certain Upstart was going to run really well in last Saturday’s Holy Bull Stakes. Any 2-year-old that can get a 102 Beyer in his third start and run well in all four starts on both coasts is dangerous. The horse ran even better than I imagined, blowing away a pretty solid field to win by 5 1/2 lengths, earning a 105 Beyer. Don’t think we will be seeing him in New York-bred races any time soon. Upstart is a serious Kentucky Derby contender. Frosted was second in the Holy Bull and improved on his Remsen number by six points, going from an 89 to a 95.
Yonkers Raceway has scheduled more matinee cards featuring mile and a quarter trotting races for 2015. While these races make for a nice change to the norm, they do not offer fans/handicappers a key element that has been a staple of harness handicapping—final quarter times.
Bob Pandolfo's sharp horses and track trends for January 22 to 25, 2015.
Officials with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and several horseplayers met with an official in the Treasury Department this week in Washington to discuss the NTRA’s request for a change in how gambling winnings are taxed, the president of the NTRA said on Thursday.
American Pharoah, the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male of 2014, and Texas Red, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, were assigned the co-high weight of 126 pounds in the Experimental Free Handicap, a weight-based ranking of the previous year’s 2-year-olds put out annually by The Jockey Club that was released on Thursday.
