Thu, 10/03/2024 - 11:10

Sunbird, Infinite Patience target stakes repeats

Last year’s winners Infinite Patience and Sunbird will return in the 2024 renewals of the $100,000 Ballerina and the Grade 3, $100,000 BC Premier’s Handicap, respectively, on Saturday afternoon at Hastings.

The Premier’s will be contested over the traditional distance of 1 3/8 miles, with a trio of 2024 Hastings stakes winners set to face Sunbird. Only Sunbird and At Attention, who finished second in the race last year, have competed at the 11-furlong distance.

Thu, 10/03/2024 - 11:05

Fev Rover taking final bow in Dance Smartly

Michael Burns
Fev Rover comes off two recent defeats, a third in the E.P. Taylor and a second in the Beverly D.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Fev Rover makes what figures to be her final career start in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Dance Smartly over 1 1/16 miles on the main turf at Woodbine.

A 6-year-old owned by Tracy Farmer, Fev Rover lost a heartbreaker to Moira two back in the Grade 2 Beverly D. at Colonial. She ran third behind Full Count Felicia and Moira most recently in the E.P. Taylor, a Grade 1 fixture that she won impressively last year.

Thu, 10/03/2024 - 11:05

Carl Spackler's tactical speed and acceleration can give Brown first Turf Mile

Carl Spackler wins Fourstardave at SAR Aug 11 2024
Barbara D. Livingston
Carl Spackler has won five of his last six starts, including the Fourstardave (above). His early foot allows him to steer clear of trouble in his races.

Chad Brown has three chances, one of them a very strong chance, to win the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland for the first time.

Brown always wins the First Lady Stakes on the same card as the Turf Mile, but fewer male turf milers have passed through his barn than females, and this race, a Grade 1 worth a record $1.25 million, has eluded him.

Brown entered one-third of a nine-runner field, Running Bee and Spirit of St Louis joining likely favorite Carl Spackler.

Thu, 10/03/2024 - 11:05

Baffert holds all the cards in American Pharoah

Benoit Photo
Getaway Car will have blinkers removed in the Grade 1 American Pharoah in an effort to settle him down.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Despite summerlike temperatures this week in the high 90s, unmistakable signs are that autumn has arrived at Santa Anita – a meet loaded with Breeders’ Cup prep races, including five Saturday, and graded stakes for 2-year-olds with one trainer’s name all over them.

The first and last 2-year-old stakes Saturday go through Bob Baffert. He trains four of the eight fillies in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf, race 3; he trains the key entrants in race 9, the Grade 1 American Pharoah, a race he has won a record 12 times.

Thu, 10/03/2024 - 10:40

Ferocious looks tough but competition is deep in Breeders' Futurity

Barbara D. Livingston
Off a second in the Hopeful at Saratoga, Ferocious leads Saturday's Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland.

Maybe Ferocious simply is too much horse for the 10 entered against him in the Breeders’ Futurity on Saturday at Keeneland. He cost the most money. He comes out of the best race. He has the highest Beyer Speed Figures.

Maybe, but not necessarily. And if Ferocious doesn’t deliver, a host of talented colts stand ready to step forward in the Grade 1, $600,000 Breeders’ Futurity, a key early-autumn dirt route test for 2-year-olds that offers a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Thu, 10/03/2024 - 10:30

Late-bloomer Walkathon brings winning streak into First Lady

Walkathon wins Ladies Turf at KD Aug 31 2024
Coady Media
Walkathon has won four stakes this year at age 5, most recently the Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Walkathon was a fine runner earlier in her career, posting a Grade 3 victory in 2022. But this year, she has truly blossomed, with an uptick in her talent following physical development. Cutting a fine picture with dapples rippling over her muscles, Walkathon has won four stakes in 2024 as a 5-year-old, including three straight as she heads to the Grade 1, $750,000 First Lady Stakes for fillies and mares going a mile on the Keeneland turf Saturday.

Wed, 10/02/2024 - 13:40

Breeders' Cup Sprint: West Coast loaded to end win drought

Benoit Photo
Raging Torrent has won his last three starts, including the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien on Aug. 24 at Del Mar.

It’s been six years since a West Coast-based horse won the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint, when Roy H went back-to-back to capture the event in 2017 and 2018 for trainer Peter Miller.

But that somewhat surprising drought could well end come Nov. 2 at Del Mar with the strength of this year’s sprint division concentrated on the Southern California circuit. Six of the top 10 horses on Daily Racing Form’s first list of BC Sprint contenders are currently stabled at Santa Anita, a group led by The Chosen Vron, Prince of Monaco, Straight No Chaser, and Raging Torrent.

Wed, 10/02/2024 - 13:40

McKulick needs to up her game in Waya

McKulick at SAR Aug 1 2024
Barbara D. Livingston
McKulick finished an even third at 2-1 in the Flower Bowl Stakes at Saratoga. She will try to bounce back in Friday's 1 3/8-mile Waya Stakes.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though she’s won 7 of 19 races and earned nearly $2 million, McKulick has never won consecutive starts. That may bode well for her Friday, when McKulick looks to rebound from a disappointing third-place finish in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl at Saratoga last out in the Grade 3, $200,000 Waya Stakes at Aqueduct.

Wed, 10/02/2024 - 13:35

Under Who's Radar will be left as heavy Futurity favorite

Barbara D. Livingston
After the scratch of Chasing Liberty, Under Who's Radar will be left as the favorite for Friday's Futurity at Aqueduct.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Under Who’s Radar beat Chasing Liberty on the track in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint last month, but the results were flipped in the stewards’ stand when it was deemed that Under Who’s Radar impeded Chasing Liberty in deep stretch in a 50-50 call that took about 10 minutes to adjudicate.

Wed, 10/02/2024 - 13:30

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Distance suits Vosburgh hero Mufasa better than BC Sprint

Mufasa earned a fees-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint by winning the Vosburgh but is likely headed to the BC Dirt Mile, according to trainer Ignacio Correas.

Mufasa has returned home to Keeneland following his win in the Vosburgh at Aqueduct and his connections are leaning toward running him back in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

Trainer Ignacio Correas said the horse is scheduled to fly to Southern California on Oct. 22.

Mufasa earned a berth into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at six furlongs for his win in the Vosburgh, which was run at seven furlongs. But the Dirt Mile, which will be a two-turn race at Del Mar, might be the better distance for the horse, Correas said Wednesday.