Morse high on juvenile winner Texas Red Hot
Randy Morse has won graded stakes with top horses such as Jonesboro, Moonshine Mullin, and Morluc – so when he says good things about a 2-year-old named Texas Red Hot, it probably means something.
“He’s as good a horse as I’ve had in a while,” Morse told Ellis Park publicity after the colt closed resolutely to win a Sunday maiden-special at seven furlongs. “I hope he proves it.”
Texas Red Hot, owned by the D D Stables of Donna Clark, capped a memorable afternoon for Morse as he also saddled the 2-year-old filly Verylittlecents to win a maiden-special earlier on the card. The horses are candidates for the $125,000 Juvenile and $125,000 Debutante, the 2-year-old fixtures set for the biggest day of the Ellis meet, Aug. 15.
Morse, 59, ran his first winner more than 40 years ago, on May 1, 1981, at Atokad in South Dakota. He now has 1,037 wins. The training double was his second this year, following wins with Pintxos and Mahomey on Jan. 24 at Oaklawn Park.
Life Is Good headed to Spa
Life Is Good had his third workout since returning from injury when he breezed a half-mile Tuesday in 48 seconds at Keeneland. He is scheduled to move into the Todd Pletcher stable at Saratoga sometime this week, according to Destin Heath, who has been overseeing the training of the unbeaten colt.
Life Is Good, a 3-year-old Into Mischief colt owned by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, was the leading candidate for the Kentucky Derby before being sidelined in March with a chip in a hind ankle when still trained by Bob Baffert. The last of the colt’s three wins was the March 6 San Felipe at Santa Anita with a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.
With the training track at WinStar undergoing renovation in recent weeks, Heath has been managing a string at Keeneland.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my team and the work they have done with Life Is Good,” he posted on Twitter.
Privet Moon sets record
Privet Moon lowered the Ellis track mark for seven furlongs to 1:20.69 when he edged Flags Up by a head in a first-level allowance last Friday. Trained by Brad Cox for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms, the 3-year-old Malibu Moon colt earned a relatively modest Beyer of 86, reflecting how fast the main track has been playing since the 31-day meet began June 27.
Cox, the leading trainer at the Churchill Downs spring meet, already has opened daylight on his colleagues atop the Ellis standings with seven wins through the first eight programs. Cox has taken most of his top horses to Saratoga for the summer.
In the meantime, Flags Up was purchased privately early this week by the new RSLP racing venture of Brook Smith. The gray gelding had been trained by Jimmy Baker for Miacomet Farm.
Leparoux on brief break
Julien Leparoux is in his native France with family this weekend for the wedding of a close friend and therefore went unnamed on mounts at Ellis, where he is riding regularly for a second straight summer.
Leparoux intends to leave Ellis periodically for races elsewhere, including Aug. 7, when he’ll be aboard War Like Goddess in the Glens Falls at Saratoga. The two-time Eclipse Award winner had been a Saratoga regular since his apprentice year of 2005 until the pandemic led him to remain in Kentucky last summer. He rode last Saturday in New York, guiding Cellist to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby.
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Three allowances on tap
A trio of allowances anchor a solid eight-race card as another three-day weekend gets under way Friday at Ellis. All three are for 3-year-olds and upward and are slotted as races 4, 6, and 7.
The weekend highlight at Ellis is the $75,000 Good Lord on Saturday. Bango, winner of the Aristides and Kelly’s Landing to end the Churchill meet, heads a field of seven older horses in the Good Lord, a 6 1/2-furlong fixture formerly known as the Don Bernhardt. Marcelino Pedroza has the mount on Bango for trainer Greg Foley.
Weekend action runs through Sunday. First post daily is 12:50 p.m. Central, with televised action on TVG and TVG2.
◗ Eddie Kenneally notched the 1,000th victory of his training career when He’s Pretty Lucky prevailed by a head in the fifth race Saturday at Ellis. Kenneally, a 55-year-old native of Ireland, saddled his first winner in December 1993 and has gone on to win 35 graded stakes, including six Grade 1’s.
◗ Handicapping tournaments presented by Daily Racing Form will be held throughout the six-day Kentucky Downs meet in September. Three two-day tournaments in the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge are scheduled for Sept. 5-6, 8-9, and 11-12. Full details are available at kentuckydowns.com/racing/news.