Last year, 43-year-old trainer Whit Beckman took his first trek down the Kentucky Derby trail with Honor Marie, and Beckman’s high opinion of 3-year-old filly Simply Joking suggests he harbors strong hope she’ll take him to his first Kentucky Oaks.
Beckman regarded Simply Joking highly enough to debut her in the $100,000 Letellier Stakes on Dec. 21, and having won that sprint debut, Simply Joking stretches to one mile and 70 yards Saturday in the $150,000 Silverbulletday.
Banks, already a two-time winner around two turns at Turfway, makes his stakes debut in Saturday night’s $125,000 Leonatus Stakes, a one-mile tilt for 3-year-olds hopeful of getting on Turfway Park’s road to the Kentucky Derby. The Leonatus Stakes also kicks off the late pick five, which starts Saturday's card with a $97,874 carryover.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Steve Asmussen said after Dimatic’s last race that he believed about 60 days between starts might best suit the stakes winner, and that’s the kind of timeline Dimatic has been on heading into the Friday feature at Oaklawn Park.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saudi Crown is in, Skinner is out, and Imagination remains on the fence. That was the latest update regarding the potential starting lineup for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup as of Wednesday, when the third and final invitation list for the big event was released by the Gulfstream Park racing office.
A trainer with a horse entered in the Lecomte Stakes related a recent conversation with another Fair Grounds horse person, the conversational companion suggesting connections of the 3-year-old colt Built might scratch the horse from the Lecomte because he drew poorly in post 13.
Built’s trainer, Wayne Catalano, reached Tuesday by phone, never mentioned the possibility of scratching.
“He seems to have a lot of talent. If you’re going to be a good horse, you’re going to have to overcome obstacles,” Catalano said.
The talented Smash It and the unbeaten Take Charge Tom will both be looking for their first wins around two turns Friday, when they meet in the $100,000 Riley Allison Derby at Sunland Park.
The one-mile race is the local prep for the $400,000 Sunland Park Derby on Feb. 16. The Riley Allison is being showcased on a card with three other stakes and the races are designed to produce starters for the Sunland Derby Day card that also includes the $250,000 Sunland Park Oaks.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The lightly raced Dolomite looks to jump-start her career in a second-level allowance/optional $45,000 claiming heat for New York-bred fillies and mares going one mile Friday at Aqueduct.
Dolomite, a 4-year-old daughter of Unified, has two wins from five starts for Alpha Delta Stables and trainer Chad Brown. In July, Dolomite came off a near eight-month layoff to win a first-level allowance for statebreds by 3 1/4 lengths at Saratoga. Catalina Cruiser, the runner-up in that July 25 race, came back to win her next two starts.
A new era for Maryland racing will officially begin Friday when Laurel Park kicks off its first season under the control of a state-owned nonprofit company tied closely to the state’s horsemen.
Laurel has not raced since the end of 2024, when it was still nominally owned and operated by an entity owned by 1/ST Racing and Gaming. The racing license for that company has now been transferred to a company controlled by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority.
