GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Express Kid, the runner-up in the Sunland Park Derby who had been under consideration for the Preakness Stakes, had a minor physical setback and is scheduled to return to action in the fall, according to his trainer, Justin Evans.
Express Kid is based at Lone Star Park. Last year, he won the Springboard Mile at Remington Park.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – It was 29 years ago this spring when Southern California-based trainer Bob Baffert traveled to Lone Star Park during its inaugural meet and saddled Anet to win the track’s Derby.
Fast forward to Monday, and Baffert will be looking for his fifth win in the race when he sends out Desert Gate in the $300,000 Texas Derby.
For the fourth time in 10 racing days this month, the $2 pick six has a carryover at Santa Anita on Friday.
There were no winning tickets on Sunday, the most recent day of racing, leaving the pick six pool with a start of $60,494. The pool of new money may exceed $400,000.
The pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a nine-race program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific. The pick six consists of three dirt and three turf races. The races have fields of six, eight, eight, seven, 10, and eight before scratches.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pietro Moran’s five-win Sunday gave him a 17-14 lead in the Woodbine jockey standings over Rafael Hernandez heading into this week.
Moran, last year’s Eclipse and Sovereign Award-winning apprentice, rides the consistent comebacker Foxy Diva in Friday’s sixth race at Woodbine, a mare the now journeyman is quite familiar with.
Two comeback horses hold the key to a pair of rich allowance contests Thursday evening at Churchill Downs.
Race 6 has a basic fourth-level allowance condition, a $175,000 claiming option, offers a $148,000 purse, and is carded for older horses at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Among its 10 entrants is Ole Crazy Bone, who makes his first start since Sept. 5, a layoff horse at the wrong price and the wrong distance,
While only three starters from this year’s Kentucky Derby ran back in last Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park, there are as many as seven Derby alumni who are under consideration for a start in the $2 million Belmont Stakes to be run June 6 at Saratoga.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The wins, at two venues, came more than eight months apart and were accomplished in the same manner.
He’s a Knockout was quick enough to set the pace and too fast to catch in sprint races for California-bred maidens on turf at Del Mar last August, and again at Santa Anita on April 19 in an allowance race.
For his third start, He’s a Knockout has a significantly different assignment in Saturday’s $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes for statebreds at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
LAUREL, Md. – Two years ago, after a lengthy period of frustration, Chad Summers was about to quit training horses.
The breaking point came on Aug. 17, 2024, when veterinarians at Monmouth Park were giving him a difficult time regarding running Instant Coffee in the Grade 3 Philip Iselin Stakes. Summers said he was forced to train the horse the morning of the race in order to satisfy the vets. In a race Summers felt he had a chance to win, Instant Coffee, owned by Al Gold, ultimately finished fifth in a six-horse field.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.– The first time Unwritten Rule shipped to Gulfstream Park was earlier this spring to run in the Texas Glitter Stakes, but when rain forced the race to be switched from turf to Tapeta trainer Tom Proctor opted to scratch his lightly raced but promising 3-year-old sprinter.
Proctor is hopeful Mother Nature will be a little more cooperative on Sunday, when Unwritten Rule returns locally to face six rivals in the $100,000 Roar Stakes. The Roar, like the Texas Glitter, is scheduled to be run at five furlongs on the turf.
