Two horses who finished 10th in their most recent start, Howard Wolowitz and Khaadem, will be the favorites to finish first in the $2 million Turf Sprint on Saturday at Kentucky Downs.
Howard Wolowitz last saw racing action in February, chasing the pace and backing up to finish 10th in the 1351 Turf Sprint, another $2 million race, this one halfway across the world in Saudi Arabia.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After coming within a neck of winning it last year with Two Sharp, trainer Phil Bauer gets another crack at capturing the Grade 3, $175,000 Prioress Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga when he sends out Delightful Claire in the six-furlong dirt race on Saturday.
The Pacific Classic tops a great Saturday of stakes action and holds special appeal because of something that’s engineered not to happen in American racing – a top 3-year-old facing a top older horse in August.
Nysos or Journalism, Journalism or Nysos: I have no idea. Fierceness is supposed to be the value but probably isn’t. Queen Maxima in the Green Flash almost made the cut. In the end, Del Mar stakes for me are a spectator sport.
Nashville Derby
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – La Mehana is probably not as good as her last race makes it seem. How far away she is from that level is the question handicappers must grapple with when deciding whether to play her at a relatively short price in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl Stakes at Saratoga.
La Mehana was the only who relished the yielding turf when she galloped to an 8 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Glens Falls here on July 27. Her performance earned her a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, equaling the highest figure for a turf runner in races beyond one mile.
With two exceptions in which he had genuine excuses, Formidable Man has been impossible to beat in the last 13 months, which is why he will be favored to win Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf.
Formidable Man has won five stakes since mid-July of 2024, all on turf. Two of them were Grade 1 races – the Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar last November, and the Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March.
Trainer Michael Trombetta has the morning-line favorites in a pair of state-restricted $100,000 handicaps at Colonial Downs on Saturday, doubling his chances with runners coming off major breakthroughs in their most recent starts. Virginia-bred gelding Determined Kingdom will run with a distinct class edge in the Meadow Stable, while Maryland-bred mare Hollywood Walk will try to earn her second straight victory in the Camptown.
Kehoe Beach last Sept. 8 made her first start in a one-turn turf race and won a first-level allowance by 8 1/2 lengths. She ran seven furlongs in 1:20.46, a Kentucky Downs course record. Four-year-old Kehoe Beach returns to Kentucky Downs on Saturday for the $2 million Ladies Turf Sprint. The forecast looks favorable, no rain, the course likely fast and firm, just the way Kehoe Beach likes it.
DEL MAR, Calif. – It is widely known 3-year-old fillies have few stakes opportunities on dirt in summer at Del Mar, and they receive even less recognition. It’s unfortunate, because the Grade 3 Torrey Pines on Saturday includes two bright lights in the filly dirt division.
Tenma, a four-time graded stakes winner, and Om N Joy, a three-time California-bred stakes winner, are principals in the Torrey Pines, race 6 on the Pacific Classic card. The stakes is the first leg of the pick six and Del Mar’s only graded stakes on dirt for 3-year-old fillies.
If things had gone just a bit differently for Cheshire Dancer, she could have been in the United States earlier.
Trainer Hugo Palmer revealed that after the filly finished third in the Kensington Palace Stakes in June at the renowned Royal Ascot meeting, the Manor House Stable Syndicate was in serious talks to sell Cheshire Dancer to a U.S. buyer. However, that unnamed party was dissatisfied with the filly’s veterinary examinations.
Gold Phoenix has won the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap for the last three consecutive years, often in a dramatic way.
Gold Phoenix won the first stakes of his career in the 2022 Del Mar Handicap with a six-wide move, prevailing by a head. A year later, he overcame traffic and a wide trip to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Last year, Gold Phoenix rallied on the inside to win by a neck.
