Former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli is now the team's first base coach, but lately he has also relied on his good eye to help him buy mares at auction, breed them to stallions, and sell the foals.
Law Enforcement, an 11-year old son of Posse who stood the last three seasons at stud in Minnesota, returned to the work tab Tuesday at Fonner Park, breezing a bullet three furlongs in 37.20 seconds.
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation’s longstanding Share the Wins program got off to a quick start for 2016 with John Oxley, Heaven Trees, and Speedway Stables becoming the first three owners to pledge earnings from potential graded stakes wins on the Kentucky Derby trail to equine research. Each owner has pledged to donate 1 percent of net purses (minus entry fees and trainer and jockey fees) for graded stakes up to and including the Kentucky Derby to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.
Oratory, one of the leading stallions in Oklahoma, was euthanized after an accident following a recent surgery, according to a joint release from his ownership and the farm at which he stood, River Oaks in Sulphur, Okla. He was 14.
Alpha Bettor, Canada’s champion older male of 2013, has been retired from racing and will join the relocating Mast Track at Daehling Ranch in Elk Grove, Calif. for the 2016 breeding season.
Vicar, a Grade 1 winner and prominent sire in Korea, died in that country on Jan. 24. The 20-year-old son of Wild Again stood at the Korean Racing Authority’s Jeju Stud Farm in the southwest corner of the country. His listed cause of death was a throat obstruction, as reported by the Racing in Korea website.
Outwork kicked off what would become a phenomenal freshman season for young sire Uncle Mo last April when he won his debut at Keeneland, becoming his sire's first starter and first winner. The colt subsequently went to the sidelines for physical reasons, but made a smashing return Saturday at Tampa, rolling by 4 ¼ lengths in an allowance optional claiming event for 3-year-olds and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 77 in the process.
Perennial leading owner and breeder Godolphin, once again an Eclipse Award finalist under the Darley banner in 2015, has picked up right where it left off. On Saturday, the operation sent out two blue-blooded homebreds to capture their first graded events, with Penwith taking the Grade 2 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park and Dancing House upsetting the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel. Both mares returned from long layoffs last month and appear to be in the best form of their careers.
Those zeroing in on unbeaten Mohaymen and champion Nyquist will have a difficult time finding value as early wagering on the Kentucky Derby continues. But the savvy pedigree players participating in Churchill Downs's inaugural Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager last November may have locked in the best value by looking to their sires.
Littleprincessemma, dam of American Pharoah, delivered a half-sister to the Triple Crown winner the night of Feb. 13 at Summer Wind Farm in Georgetown, Ky.
