OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Gun Song, who came within a neck of upsetting Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes on Sept. 21 at Parx Racing, is pointing to the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose on Oct. 26 at Aqueduct, trainer Mark Hennig said.
On Friday at Belmont, Gun Song worked a half-mile in 49 seconds over the training track.
“Just kind of a first work back kind of thing, hopefully come back next week and do a little more, but she’s pretty fit right now,” Hennig said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When it comes to where he is going to prepare his horses for this year’s Breeders’ Cup, trainer Todd Pletcher said he is staying put.
Instead of assembling all his horses at Keeneland, which he did a year ago ahead of a trip to Southern California, Pletcher will have his potential runners for this year’s Breeders’ Cup event based at three different venues until they ship out later this month. This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – If not for a bad start, Reckoning Force might have pulled off a 42-1 shocker in last month’s Grade 2 Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs. With a better break Sunday, Reckoning Force would be no surprise in the Grade 3, $175,000 Knickerbocker Stakes at Aqueduct.
In a six-horse field seemingly void of pace, Reckoning Force looks likely to be on or near the lead under Eric Cancel in the Knickerbocker, scheduled for 1 1/8 miles over the outer turf course.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A couple of Grade 2 stakes winners who between them have earned well more than $1 million racing exclusively on dirt, Steal Sunshine and Maryquitecontrary, may be looking for another outlet to showcase their talents after working over the Tapeta surface at Gulfstream Park within minutes of one another Friday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – There are some scores to be settled in Sunday’s Grade 2, $350,000 Franklin Stakes for fillies and mares sprinting on the Keeneland turf.
The last time Star of Mystery lost to a filly, it was Frost At Dawn in March at Meydan. And the last time Roses for Debra lost, she finished behind Future Is Now – who herself dropped a summer decision to Dontlookbackatall. They all meet up as part of an overflow field of 16 entrants, 12 of whom will be permitted to start in a race that could have Breeders’ Cup implications.
When Mind Control went to stud in New York in 2023, he was not only one of the most accomplished stallion prospects to retire directly to the state in recent years, he had the crucial support of major outfits behind him.
On Tuesday, Mind Control has 23 first-crop weanlings and nine mares in foal cataloged for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale, meaning he has a hand in more than 10 percent of the catalog – dramatic representation for a young stallion.
For a horse he has never ridden in a race, jockey Assael Espinoza is well-acquainted with Lammas, his mount in Sunday’s $50,000 Bull Dog Stakes at the Big Fresno Fair in central California.
Twice last spring, Espinoza was beat by Lammas in allowance races at Golden Gate Fields. More recently, Lammas won the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields in April and the Pleasanton Mile on dirt at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton in July.
ARCADIA, Calif. – As it turned out, a $750,000 turf sprint two weeks ago at Santa Anita was too tough for a pair of veteran California-breds who finished off the board.
No worries. Be right back.
Fifteen days after running five-six in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes, Fast Buck and Johnny Podres wheel back Sunday on the same downhill course in the $100,000 California Flag Handicap.
Front-runner Fast Buck and late-runner Johnny Podres top the California Flag, a 6 1/2-furlong turf sprint for California-breds. Class relief, yes. Easy spot, no.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Cairo Caper drops out of the Grade 1 Summer and goes back to the Tapeta in Sunday’s $125,000 Display, one of two seven-furlong stakes for 2-year-olds on the Woodbine card along with the $125,000 Glorious Song for fillies.
Cairo Caper graduated second time out on the main turf and then doubled up in the 6 1/2-furlong Soaring Free Stakes. When reaching out a mile in a fast renewal of the Summer, he flattened out to finish fifth in a race dominated by the closing English invaders New Century and Al Qudra.
Penguin Power will attempt to win a West Virginia Breeders’ Classic race for the sixth consecutive year Saturday night when he goes in the $75,000 Dash for Cash at Charles Town.
The sprint is one of 10 stakes on a card led by the $300,000 Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic that drew the up-and-coming Jubawithatwist and past winner Muad’dib. Purses for the West Virginia-bred races total more than $1 million.
