Saturday’s Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes will show whether Sacred Wish and Be Your Best have benefited from finding soft spots or have risen to become top-level grass mares.
Those two are among nine entered in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley, which, thanks to overseas runners, has come up a tough race.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Carl Spackler’s reappearance Friday at Keeneland in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile marks the first salvo in what could be a barrage of Chad Brown-trained graded stakes runners this spring in Kentucky.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The addition of blinkers appeared to make quite the difference for Pretty Magical when she showed grit and determination to win her maiden race by two lengths last month.
On Thursday, Pretty Magical takes on winners for the first time in a first-level allowance/optional $80,000 claiming race for 3-year-old fillies that serves as the feature on Aqueduct’s eight-race card.
While the Triple Crown is rapidly approaching, first-time starter Goal Oriented won a maiden race for sprinters on Sunday at Santa Anita to suggest he can be an important 3-year-old later this year.
Ridden by Juan Hernandez for trainer Bob Baffert, Goal Oriented closed from sixth in a field of seven to win a six-furlong race by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:10.01. Goal Oriented earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91.
A win by Raging Torrent in Saturday’s Group 2 Godolphin Mile in Dubai and a surprise second by Mixto in the $12 million Dubai World Cup later that evening gave California trainer Doug O’Neill the most lucrative payday of his 30-year training career.
Raging Torrent, a 7-2 chance in American pools, won the $1 million Godolphin Mile by 3 1/2 lengths, which was worth $580,000 for owners Zhang Yueshang and Great Friends Stable.
“He ran lights out,” O’Neill said.
Lambeth made the move to three turns for the first time in his career for the $200,000 Temperence Hill late last month at Oaklawn Park and wired his rivals in the 1 1/2-mile race to earn a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 100.
He’s now settled in at Churchill Downs and targeting another marathon race. Trainer Joe Sharp said Lambeth is being pointed for the $200,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon, a 1 1/2-mile race April 30 at Churchill Downs.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap will share a card with the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on Saturday at Oaklawn, and Booth has been made the 123-pound highweight. The six-furlong race is for 4-year-olds and up and others set to start include Grade 2 winner Anarchist and $1.5 million earner Tejano Twist.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna put in a sharp work Monday at Oaklawn Park in advance of her appearance in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap on Saturday.
She is the 124-pound highweight for the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares.
Thorpedo Anna worked five furlongs in company in 1:00, which was the bullet move as of late morning. The drill came on a fast track on a sunny but crisp morning in the mid 40s.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Nobody who participated in Saturday’s Dubai World Cup program had more of a right to be thinking “what could have been” at the end of their race than trainer Bobby Dibona, who watched his Steal Sunshine finish fourth despite breaking far behind the field in the Godolphin Mile.
English Law won’t be found at the top of trainer Mark Casse’s deep roster of 3-year-old turf runners, but he does look well spotted to get a win Wednesday in a first-level allowance race that serves as the feature on the eight-race program at Tampa Bay Downs.
