ARCADIA, Calif. – The hottest stable at Santa Anita the past three weeks will enter summer with momentum. Trainer John Sadler has won with 13 of his last 22 starters, and even the ones that fell short are likely to improve when the circuit moves to Del Mar next month.
Those include The Goat, a Group 1 winner in Chile aiming for the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 18, and Full Serrano, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner also under consideration for the San Diego.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Nearly 50 years has passed since Happy Intellectual won three consecutive runnings of the New York Turf Writers Steeplechase at Saratoga.
The race has a different name now, honoring the late trainer Jonathan Sheppard. A modern top-class runner may soon join Happy Intellectual on the race’s honor roll.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tough losses are becoming frequent for the 5-year-old mare Grand Job.
After finishing second by a nose to Eclatant in the Grade 1 Madison Stakes at Keeneland on April 4, Grand Job was beaten a nose by Ways and Means in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs at Saratoga on Friday.
Grand Job set the pace in the Bed o’ Roses Stakes, and led by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining before she was caught at the finish.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – On Sunday afternoon, trainer David Fawkes was driving through Pennsylvania, roughly four hours into a 24-hour journey from Saratoga to his base at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.
Behind Fawkes, in a trailer, was his star turf sprinter Reef Runner, the winner of the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga on Saturday. After an early Sunday meal and a walk, Reef Runner was loaded onto the van for the lengthy trip.
“We made sure he was okay and got things packed up,” Fawkes said. “We’re on the road.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Zulu Kingdom and Salamis are Grade 1 winners pointing to similar such races later in the year. For now, however, Sunday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Poker Stakes at Saratoga serves as a nice bridge toward those more prestigious spots later this summer.
Eddie Owens Jr. didn’t offer any predictions ahead of the $75,000 John J. Reilly Handicap, but it’s hard to knock his chances. With a stout trio entered in the field of 10, the trainer should be in the mix at every stage of the six-furlong sprint for New Jersey-breds.
Barkley, winner of his first six career races at 2 and 3, and at age 5 the Longacres Mile, is one of the most accomplished horses in Emerald Downs history. So when one of his daughters, the 3-year-old Storm Harbor, romped to a 7 1/4-length victory while posting a 76 Beyer Speed Figure here May 9, it couldn’t be considered entirely surprising.
The 2-year-olds Fall Classic and Dulce Dreams won 300-yard Quarter Horses maiden races less than two hours apart on March 22 at Remington Park.
Fall Classic has now won three races, including the $1.1 million Heritage Place Futurity on May 30 at Remington Park.
Dulce Dreams can win her third race in Sunday’s $1 million Ruidoso Futurity at the Downs at Albuquerque. Both Fall Classic and Dulce Dreams are trained by James Gonzales III. His father, also James Gonzales, is banking on Dulce Dreams providing a second seven-figure win for their shared stable in as many weekends.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In three wins since mid-November, Slay the Day has led or disputed the pace in sprints. The same style could be key to a potential second stakes win in Sunday’s Grade 3 Soaring Softly Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Saratoga.
“She’ll leave there running and you want to leave her where she’s comfortable,” trainer Brian Lynch said.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The road to the Aug. 15 King’s Plate begins in earnest Sunday at Woodbine when Military Time heads a field of six Canadian-bred 3-year-olds in the $125,000 Queenston Stakes at seven furlongs.
Trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber and St. Elias Stable, Military Time earned a big 80 Beyer Speed Figure when romping on debut in a Tapeta sprint last August. After a flat fifth in a subsequent turf experiment in the Cup and Saucer Stakes, the son of Gun Runner ran second as the favorite in the Coronation Futurity before getting the winter off in Florida.
