DEL MAR, Calif. – Veteran turf sprinter Motorious continues to outrun Father Time, and on Saturday at Del Mar he will run in a stakes he has already won but that no horse his age has ever won.
Winner of the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at ages 5 and 6, Motorious seeks his third straight victory in the five-furlong turf sprint. But now he is another year older, and 7-year-olds and up never win the Green Flash – 18 tried, none won, three finished second.
The 45-year-old English trainer James Owen never has started a horse in America, never even has traveled here himself, and if Owen has been on the outside looking into American racing, the same can be said of his first American runner, Wimbledon Hawkeye.
Lured Stateside by a monster purse, the Owen-trained Wimbledon Hawkeye unceremoniously drew post 12 for the Nashville Derby Invitational, featured race among five stakes Saturday at Kentucky Downs.
While he’ll occasionally enter one of his many horses in a stakes race, trainer Jorge Rosales has largely been content to ply the claiming ranks at Emerald Downs, a tendency that will come to the fore again when Clubhouse Drama runs in Saturday’s six-furlong sixth race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Wagstaff didn’t get much respect in the wagering during his three-race win streak at Woodbine this summer. The Kentucky-bred son of Yorkton moves up to stakes company in Saturday’s $125,000 Toronto Cup and shouldn’t be out of his league in the one-mile inner turf event.
Trained by Nathan Squires for owner Andrew Ritter, the wonderfully versatile Wagstaff took some time to come around. He graduated over 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf in his sixth start June 12 and then doubled up at a fat 23-1 in a 1 1/16-mile allowance on the Tapeta on July 13.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rated by Merit, who went 4 for 4 and swept the Florida Stallion Series as a 2-year-old when in the barn of Michael Yates, is now with trainer Chad Brown.
Rated by Merit’s four victories came at Gulfstream Park by a combined 25 3/4 lengths, including a 3 3/4-length win in the Affirmed that earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure . He was sidelined in January due to mild bone bruising.
Since being transferred to Brown by owner Vinnie Viola, Rated by Merit has had four works – all in the month of August – and is being pointinged to a fall return.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With Mindframe and Antiquarian running in Sunday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Fierceness starting in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, Pletcher has Locked aiming for the Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct on Sept. 27.
Pletcher pointed out that last fall, when returning from a length layoff, Locked won an allowance race and the Grade 2 Cigar Mile over Aqueduct’s main track.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – While most will focus on Mindframe in Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, trainer Todd Pletcher said it would be a mistake to overlook his other entrant in the race, Antiquarian.
Mindframe is 3 for 3 this year and coming off two Grade 1 victories. He will likely vie for favoritism in the Gold Cup with Sierra Leone, who finished second to Mindframe in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 28 before winning the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 2.
A Louisiana-bred colt by Aurelius Maximus brought $95,000 on Tuesday to top the Texas summer yearling sale at Lone Star Park.
Terry Stephens purchased the unnamed April foal from the consignment of Scott Mallory, agent. The colt is from the stakes-placed mare Too Much to Bear.
Other top sellers were an Arkansas-bred filly by Yaupon who brought $87,000 from OCL and a Louisiana-bred filly by Drain the Clock who brought $82,000 from Patricia’s Hope.
Mister Omaha is scheduled to make his next start in the $250,000 Super Derby on Sept. 6 at Louisiana Downs, according to his trainer, Joe Offolter. Entries for the 1 1/8-mile race will be taken Saturday.
Mister Omaha is one of the top 3-year-olds based at Remington Park. He has been working over the Oklahoma City strip since finishing third to Magnitude in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows.
“I thought he ran good last time,” Offolter said. “We just hooked a bear.”
The distance of Friday night’s $50,000 colts and geldings division of the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap at Remington Park is a question mark for 122-pound highweight Colonel Yorke and the capable Joe Offolter trainees Night Passage and Cajun Stoops.
The horses will all start as top betting choices, but none of them have won at the seven-furlong distance of the race, which is restricted to 3-year-olds by eligible stallions. The card also includes the $50,000 fillies division of the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap, led by Eireann.
