At Santa Anita on Monday, Potente, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up trained by Bob Baffert, was credited with a six-furlong workout in 1:13.40. Baffert said he put the filly Cash Call - last year's Grade 3 Summer Oaks winner - in front of Potente to give the horse a target.
“I was very happy with his work. He galloped out strong,” Baffert said. “He’s doing very well right now, looks healthy.”
The NFL Draft begins Thursday night, and for weeks leading up to it, everyone is looking for tangible evidence of which player is the best fit for their team. The NFL Scouting Combine, held roughly two months out, plays a role in defining which college players move up or down the draft board.
The Kentucky Derby is May 2. A series of stakes races held globally over the course of several months help comprise the field for the race. Key workouts conducted in between those races and the Derby itself play a role in defining which horses move up or down handicappers’ boards.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Chief Wallabee bandwagon suddenly got a lot more crowded after the relatively inexperienced but extremely talented 3-year-old turned in his penultimate Kentucky Derby workout Monday at Churchill Downs.
Chief Wallabee was the lone Kentucky Derby contender to breeze Monday, doing so under clear but chilly skies at 7:30 a.m. during the special Derby/Oaks training session. The racetrack was on the quick side throughout the morning, perhaps even more so following the 7 a.m. renovation break.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Pink Ruby brings the coveted combination of speed and class into Thursday’s ratings handicap at Oaklawn Park.
The 1 1/16-mile route for fillies and mares is slotted as the eighth of nine races. It drew a competitive field of 10 that includes Morning Miracle, who is moving back to dirt off a runner-up finish in a $12,500 claiming route on turf at Sam Houston, and Mo Sense, who won for a $12,500 claiming price in February at Oaklawn.
The $75,000 Wait For It Stakes might offer the smallest purse of three Pennsylvania-bred stakes on the Wednesday card at Parx Racing, but it could earn the most eyes. Shane’s Wonder, an undefeated 3-year-old gelding, will make his stakes debut as an obvious standout, and trainer Alfredo Velazquez isn’t the only one expecting another big effort at six furlongs.
“He’s doing real good, and as time goes by, he’s only getting better,” Velazquez said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On the Ledge had seemingly found himself a new home on turf before he had to go to the sidelines last summer. Nothing major, trainer Bruce Brown said, but he knew the horse well enough not to press on.
“No surgeries or anything, just him tailing off a little bit,” Brown said. “Just figured rather than keep running him into the ground, freshen him up. He’ll give you his best races fresh. He’ll give you good races, half a dozen if you’re lucky.”
There’s something for everyone as Keeneland kicks off the final three days of its spring stand with an appealing eight-race Wednesday card offering everything from juveniles sprinting 4 1/2 furlongs on dirt to older horses routing 1 1/2 miles on turf. There is a pick six carryover of $54,038 to start this final week.
The highest purses on the day belong to a pair of $140,000 allowance-level sprints for fillies and mares, the sixth race on turf and the seventh race on dirt. The fourth race is the a $120,000 allowance for older horses at 1 1/2 miles.
Trainer Dan Ward is joining Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s Midwest team as an assistant in advance of the Churchill Downs meeting that begins Saturday.
Ward, who in the past has assisted two other Hall of Fame trainers in Bobby Frankel and Jerry Hollendorfer, has had a stable at Oaklawn Park this year that included Majestic Oops, winner of the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes in March.
Baffert is expected to have more than 30 horses at Churchill Downs this spring, including many of his leading runners. The stable is scheduled to travel from California to Kentucky this week.
It took Duchessa four starts to earn her maiden victory, but since breaking through on Feb. 1, she has turned the winner’s circle at Tampa Bay Downs into a second home. The filly will go for her third straight win in the seventh race on Wednesday, a starter allowance for 3-year-old fillies.
“She’s a neat filly,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “She tries hard. She’s a little bit complicated, a little bit nervous to ride, but it seems that she’s figuring it out now. I’ve been happy with her.”
Generally, the racing year has gone great for trainer Brian Lynch. The afternoon of Feb. 14 did not go so great.
Lynch ran five horses that day at Gulfstream, the highest-placed finisher third at odds-on. The 4-year-old filly Shred the Gnar went off the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Royal Delta and lost by nearly 20 lengths.
