Niassa stamps ticket to California Oaks
Niassa may be the local favorite in the Feb. 7 California Oaks after a nine-length victory in a one-mile optional claimer here last Thursday.
Chuck DybdalJan 13, 2015
Niassa may be the local favorite in the Feb. 7 California Oaks after a nine-length victory in a one-mile optional claimer here last Thursday.
The top four finishers in last month’s one-mile Gold Rush Stakes – Stand and Salute, Broughton Kitten, Sandor the Hound, and Rye Patch – are expected to hook up again in Saturday’s $100,000 California Derby at 1 1/16 miles.
Bench Warrant’s run on the Triple Crown trail largely ended with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity last month. The new goal of focusing on sprints begins with an optional claimer for 3-year-olds on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Thursday.
Fasig-Tipton Co. will adjust the dates for two of its regional sales in 2015 from their original spots on the calendar.
On Sunday night, Carolyn Mendes celebrated her 54th birthday by eating salmon rigatoni, lots of French bread (with butter!), and dessert.
Todd Pletcher couldn’t ask for much better circumstances for Got Lucky when the stakes-seasoned filly makes her 4-year-old debut on Thursday in the feature race at Gulfstream Park in south Florida.
The conditions of Thursday’s feature at Aqueduct are written as such that horses who have won multiple allowance races at Finger Lakes remain eligible for this $57,000, first-level allowance condition.
The opening session of the Keeneland January Horses of all ages sale was practically devoid of headline-grabbing fireworks, but the consistency of the middle market helped propel gains in average sale price and a steady median.
General a Rod, one of only three horses to run in all three legs of the 2014 Triple Crown, returns to allowance competition when launching his 4-year-old campaign against six rivals that includes the highly regarded Three Alarm Fire in Wednesday’s $50,000 optional claiming and allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.
Salutos Amigos, winner of three stakes in his last four starts, will most likely make his next start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes here on Feb. 7, trainer and part-owner David Jacobson said Sunday.