OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Napoleon Solo, the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes winner who finished fifth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 28, worked five furlongs from the starting gate in 59.65 seconds Thursday morning at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida.
The April 4 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct is among the races trainer Chad Summers and owner Al Gold are considering for Napoleon Solo.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Nic’s Style won seven of her first eight career starts. Win number eight has thus far been elusive.
After a trio of runner-up finishes at Gulfstream Park this winter, Nic’s Style has left the warm climes of Florida for chilly New York, where she looks well spotted to earn that eighth win in a conditioned allowance at Aqueduct on Saturday. The seven-furlong race for older fillies and mares and a third-level allowance for males going one mile are the co-features on a nine-race card that does not have a stakes.
Gary Capuano is currently striking at a 37 percent clip at Laurel Park, but those odds weren’t good enough for the trainer in the $100,000 Private Terms Stakes on Saturday. Better make it a coin toss, as he has entered three of the six horses in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds.
Early speed – that’s what American racing, especially on dirt, is all about. We’ve got three plausibly live front-runners in Saturday stakes races. Let’s see if they can press their pace advantage.
Jeff Ruby Steaks
Eisenhower was president the last time Richard Mandella ran a horse at Turfway Park.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Skippylongstocking likes to operate on “Skippy Time,” and that might lead to a stalking trip Saturday when he starts in the Grade 3, $500,000 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park.
The 1 1/8-mile race for 4-year-olds and up is one of two notable offerings on an 11-race card. It includes the $135,000 Lapatourel, a 1 1/16-mile overnight stakes for older fillies and mares. The Essex drew a field of eight, with Grade 3 winner Accelerize cross-entered in the New Orleans Classic on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
The $1 million Louisiana Derby – and its implications on the Kentucky Derby six weeks hence – is the marquee event on Saturday’s 14-race Fair Grounds card. For the fans of Louisiana racing, however, it is far from the only highlight on the program.
NEW ORLEANS – Program Trading drew the outside post and faces six rivals Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds. And in this case, being on the outside looking in probably is a good thing.
Program Trading last started Jan. 24, the 13-10 favorite to beat 11 foes in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf. Settled in midpack down the backstretch and around the far turn on the Gulfstream turf course, Program Trading turned for home and had a seam along the rail.
In a nearly flawless career against California-breds, Grand Slam Smile is a head loss away from a perfect record on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.
The 5-year-old mare won for the second time in three starts on the hillside in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Classic for statebreds at about 6 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 17. She is back on the same course in Saturday’s $100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes for statebred fillies and mares.
NEW ORLEANS – Two come from California, three from Florida, but the horses front and center in the Louisiana Derby have been in New Orleans all winter.
Chip Honcho won the Gun Runner in December, endured an impossible trip when fourth in the Lecomte in January, and was second in the Risen Star last month behind Paladin, one of the top contenders for the Kentucky Derby.
Golden Tempo went last to first in a debut sprint score the same day as the Gun Runner, won the Lecomte in January and, racing against the grain of the track, and closed for third in the Risen Star.
