On speed figures alone, Little to No Money would appear to have little to no chance of prevailing in race 4 at Emerald Downs on Saturday.
The Howie Gibson trainee is one of two 3-year-olds in the $24,000 allowance, which drew five geldings who will cover 5 1/2 furlongs. Little to No Money’s lone win came at age 2. In five career starts, his best Beyer Speed Figure is a 44 at Turf Paradise in January.
Still, Gibson gives him a puncher’s chance.
Maybe you think of the trainer Wesley Ward as “Mr. Keeneland.” Ward owns a farm that sits just across Rice Road from the Keeneland property. His horses walk across the street and over to the Keeneland track to train. Over the last 15 spring meets, Keeneland has run 119 dirt races for 2-year-olds, and Ward has won 65 of them.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One Hundred Kings got into a bumping incident immediately after the start, switched leads late, raced a bit greenly while lugging in down the stretch, yet was still good enough to win his career debut in impressive fashion earlier this spring. Trainer Victor Barboza Jr. is confident his promising 3-year-old can build off the experience when returning against entry-level allowance and optional-claiming opposition in Friday’s $70,000 main event at Gulfstream Park.
Bob Baffert has a bunch of talented horses who have posted May workouts at Churchill Downs. It’s just that Baffert either doesn’t yet know or isn’t willing to publicly state where many of them will next race.
The $3 million auction horse Brant might or might not run in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens next month at Saratoga. Crude Velocity, brilliant winner of the Pat Day Mile last out, could run in the Stephens or try two turns in the Matt Winn at Churchill.
Burnham Square appears to be in great shape following his easy win in the Louisville Stakes on Saturday night at Churchill Downs. The 4-year-old gelding now has put up triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures winning the first two 1 1/2-mile grass races of his career – the Elkhorn at Keeneland preceded the Louisville – by 14 1/2 combined lengths.
For an encore, trainer Ian Wilkes plans to run this blossoming grass star June 13 at Churchill in the $225,000 Chorleywood, a listed race over 1 3/8 miles on grass.
After a half-mile workout May 16 at Churchill Downs, the 3-year-old filly Meaning probably is bound for Saratoga for the Grade 1, $500,000 Acorn on June 5.
Meaning’s drill, officially listed as 48.40, marked her first breeze since a second-place finish May 1 in the Kentucky Oaks.
“We’ve got a circle around the Acorn – that’s what we’re thinking,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “Seems like she bounced out of the Oaks well, and she’s been an easy horse to read all along.”
Meaning won the Santa Anita Oaks on April 4 and trained fabulously into the Kentucky Oaks.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Rarely does trainer Rick Dutrow think his horses won’t run a big race. Over and Ollie is that rare individual that gives Dutrow cause for pause when it comes to his confidence level.
Friday, Over and Ollie returns to what he does best – sprinting – in Aqueduct’s featured conditioned allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs. But given Over and Ollie’s last-place finishes in his two most recent starts, both stakes, Dutrow tempered his enthusiasm.
For the third consecutive year, the Downs at Albuquerque will host the Ruidoso Downs race meeting in New Mexico that begins on Friday. Unlike in 2024 or last year, when only part of the Ruidoso Downs meeting was held in Albuquerque, the entirety of this year’s season will be conducted at the northern New Mexico venue.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Independence Rise, who was a dominant winner of the Turf Paradise Derby, could make his next start in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows, according to his trainer, Robertino Diodoro.
Independence Rise is now based at Lone Star Park. He had been working toward an intended start in the Texas Derby, which will be run Monday,
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – The Hell We Did, the Grade 3 Lexington runner-up who finished seventh of 14 in the Preakness Stakes, is scheduled to arrive at Lone Star Park on Thursday, according to trainer Todd Fincher.
Fincher has a division of horses at Lone Star.
He said the The Hell We Did emerged from the Preakness in excellent condition and that plans for his next start are to be determined. The Hell We Did is a half-brother to $12 million earner Senor Buscador.
