HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Undefeated at Gulfstream Park and coming off an unwavering performance in his return to the races last month, Grande looks for his first stakes victory in Saturday’s $175,000 Ghostzapper Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The last two horses to beat Ombudsman are not involved Saturday’s Group 1 Dubai Turf Stakes at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
Delacroix beat Ombudsman by a neck in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park near London last July and is now at stud. Calandagan beat Ombudsman by 2 1/4 lengths in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot last October and is an odds-on favorite to win the Group 1 Sheema Classic at Meydan on Saturday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The late Terry Wallace, who for decades was the announcer at Oaklawn Park, will enter the Arkansas Walk of Fame during a Tuesday ceremony in Hot Springs, Ark., according to member Tom Nichols. It will begin at 11 a.m. Central at The Vapors.
Nichols, a longtime broadcaster who has a radio station, said speakers are scheduled to include Eric Jackson and Nancy Holthus, both of Oaklawn, as well as organizers from charities that Wallace worked with closely in Arkansas.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Redland Rebels is a fresh face on the Kentucky Derby trail. On Saturday, he gets an opportunity to try to secure a spot in the starting gate for the classic in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.
He’s cross-entered in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, but was to have arrived Wednesday at Oaklawn, according to his trainer, Patrick Biancone. Redland Rebels, who is based in South Florida, ran in his first Kentucky Derby prep last out, when he set the pace and finished fourth, beaten 2 3/4 lengths, in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7.
Michael Ball was 22 years old in 1980 when he trained a 3-year-old named Summer Advocate who he thought had potential to be a Kentucky Derby horse. Through April of his 3-year-old year, Summer Advocate was a multiple winner though his one stakes performance to that point was a third in the Spiral Stakes.
“He could have beat half of them,” Ball said of the colt he trained for his parents, Don and Mira Ball. “I was 22 years old and I thought I would have one next year that could run better than this one, we don’t need to run him.”
When Resilience last ran at Aqueduct in April 2024, he was preparing for the race of his life. Winning the Grade 2 Wood Memorial catapulted him into contention for the Kentucky Derby, where he finished sixth at 31-1. He was among the best in his class, but the road from there was tough.
After a poor effort in the Belmont Stakes, trainer Bill Mott was forced to put the Into Mischief colt on the shelf for nearly a year. He has not run in another stakes since and lost seven straight allowances as a 4-year-old.
WHO’S HOT
Emerging Market (Louisiana Derby) gave Chad Brown a third winner of a Kentucky Derby points-scoring race this year, joining Paladin (Risen Star) and Iron Honor (Gotham). Emerging Market was courageous in wearing down Pavlovian, who herded him late. He debuts at 15-1 on David Aragona’s Derby Watch morning line.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Lincoln’s Law, whose career got off to a belated but promising start here earlier this winter, will try to take another step forward when facing five rivals – including the more accomplished Cannoneer – going one mile in Friday’s $86,000 main event at Gulfstream Park.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Mark Casse will attack North America’s richest Kentucky Oaks prep, the Grade 2, $1 million Fantasy, with a trio of fillies Friday at Oaklawn.
Each will bring a different running style to the table, with Empath a candidate to set the pace. Search Party could get a stalking trip, while Counting Stars figures to be making her case in the lane.
Counting Stars could go favored with the defection of Explora, the millionaire who she finished second to in the Grade 3 Honeybee on March 1 at Oaklawn.
