Jonathan’s Way rated behind horses much more effectively in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes than he’d done finishing seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Problem is, while Jonathan’s Way sat back in fifth, First Resort pressed a slow 49.30 half-mile split, getting first run on Jonathan’s Way and beating him by more than two lengths in the KJC. Still, the performance encouraged connections enough that Jonathan’s Way remains a Kentucky Derby hope.
Trainer Brad Cox saddled the undefeated Godolphin filly Good Cheer to comfortably win the Grade 2 Golden Rod last weekend, but she wasn’t the most eye-catching among four Cox winners on that Nov. 30 card, composed only of 2-year-old races.
The Into Mischief colt Patch Adams in his second start won a seven-furlong maiden race by more than 10 lengths, his raw time of 1:20.77 yielding a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, just one point lower than the highest 2-year-old figure of 2024, Rated By Merit’s 99 from a Florida sires stakes in late October.
Several days before the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs, trainer Eoin Harty lamented the impatience with which First Resort, a 2-year-old colt he trains for Godolphin, approached the Saratoga Special on Aug. 10. Making his second start following a debut victory at Ellis Park, First Resort held gamely to finish second of eight in the Saratoga Special after compromising his chances dueling for the lead on a fast pace.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Frosted Over has seen better days, but the classy Canadian champion could end a drought when making his way down to an enticing level in Sunday’s Woodbine headliner, a nine-furlong allowance with a $32,000 claiming option.
Trained by Mark Casse, Frosted Over was the champion male 3-year-old in 2021, during which he captured the Grade 3 Ontario Derby and ran second to his favored stablemate Sir Winston in the Grade 3 Valedictory.
Hong Kong racing has lacked standout performers recently. Golden Sixty is retired. Romantic Warrior carries the flag not only as Hong Kong’s best, but as Hong Kong’s only horse anywhere near the top of international ratings. The jurisdiction could use a rising star – and has one named Ka Ying Rising.
Ka Ying Rising has won eight of 10, and what’s remarkable is that he twice went down to defeat. Winner in a pair of Group 2s this fall, Ka Ying Rising makes his Group 1 debut Sunday at Sha Tin in the $3.34 million Hong Kong Sprint.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – You won’t find too many horses campaigning in the United States that can confidently be called a two-mile specialist. But in light of his recent accomplishments, it seems safe to hang that label on The Grey Wizard.
Saturday at Gulfstream Park, The Grey Wizard figures to go postward a heavy favorite when taking on 10 rivals, including his younger half-brother The Ginger Wizard, at two miles in the $115,000 H. Allen Jerkens Handicap.
Romantic Warrior already belongs in the pantheon of Hong Kong-based racehorses, a 16-time winner from 21 starts, half those victories at the Group 1 level, two of them abroad, in the Cox Plate in Australia and the Yasuda Kinen in Japan. Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse, Romantic Warrior can do something no horse based in Hong Kong or anywhere else has done – win the Hong Kong Cup for a third time.
Fresh off Copper Tax’s Richard W. Small Stakes victory at Laurel Park last weekend, trainer Gary Capuano looks to keep his barn’s momentum strong as Sacred Thunder and It’s Hammertime face a competitive field in Saturday’s $100,000 Maryland Juvenile for statebred or -sired 2-year-olds at seven furlongs.
Sacred Thunder has won three of his last four races, including Laurel’s open James F. Lewis III on Nov. 9.
