When he’s not running in Grade 1 company, Hudson Steele is tough to beat. Going back to the summer of 2010, Hudson Steele has five wins and a neck loss in six starts outside of Grade 1 competition. Sunday, Hudson Steele is scheduled to meet 10 rivals in the Grade 3, $150,000 Oceanport Stakes run at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Monmouth Park.
Leading trainer Frank Lucarelli has yet to win a stakes race at the meeting, but he’ll have two chances Sunday when he sends out Mebossman and Mizzo’s Gold in the $50,000 Emerald Express.
Donald Roberson, a trainer at Delaware Park, has been ruled off the grounds of the track after a search of his barn turned up “injectable medications, syringes, and needles,” according to a ruling posted on the website of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission.
Declan’s Warrior, who had a three-race winning streak snapped with his second-place finish in the Woody Stephens, will have a chance to avenge that setback when he matches strides once again with Stephens winner Forty Tales and five other 3-year-old sprinters in Sunday’s $200,000 Amsterdam at Saratoga.
Minakshi has run competitively in three U.S. starts for trainer Michael Matz. Her breakthrough win could come Sunday at Monmouth Park in the Grade 3, $150,000 Matchmaker Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf.
On Sunday, Verrazano would like to get back into contention among the season's top 3-year-olds when he faces Preakness winner Oxbow and five others in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.
The deadline for stallion managers to submit their Reports of Mares Bred to The Jockey Club for the 2013 breeding season is August 1.
Saratoga stakes analysis for Saturday, July 27 by Dave Litfin, Mike Watchmaker, and Mike Welsch.
Success over the standard sprint distance makes Comma to the Top the one to beat in Sunday’s $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes over six furlongs at Del Mar.
Stormin for Becka is finally developing into the horse trainer Craig MacPherson thought he could be when he won his 2-year-old debut in impressive style last August. He is coming off back-to-back wins in allowance sprints and will be stretching out to 1 1/16 miles for the first time when he runs in the $50,000 Stellar’s Jay for 3-year-olds on B.C. Cup Day.
