HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Skelly has some unfinished business this meet at Oaklawn Park.
The winner of the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap for the second year in a row last Saturday could make one more local appearance, according to his trainer, Steve Asmussen.
“I’m probably going to run him back in the Lake Hamilton,” Asmussen said Tuesday. “I want to keep him at three-quarters of a mile and we know he loves Oaklawn.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Where’s Randy will attempt to keep trainer Randy Morse’s highly productive group of Arkansas-breds on a roll Friday, when he seeks to spring a mild upset in the ninth race at Oaklawn Park.
The first-level allowance is for 3-year-olds and up bred in Arkansas, and the six-furlong race carries an optional claiming price of $30,000. Mahomey, who defeated a number of these rivals last out, is the probable favorite in search of his third straight win.
The 25-year-old jockey Jaime Torres came out of the Fair Grounds meet full of momentum.
The leading apprentice rider in New York during 2023 with 37 winners, Torres lost his five-pound apprentice allowance last October. He moved his tack to Kentucky, picked up a new agent, Liz Morris, and between September and November went 4 for 69 at Keeneland and Churchill Downs.
The Grade 1 Just a Game over one mile at Saratoga on June 7 could be the next stop for Beaute Cachee, who ran the race of her life posting a 25-1 upset of last Saturday’s Grade 1 Jenny Wiley. Leading from just after the start under Frankie Dettori, Beaute Cachee won by 1 1/2 lengths and earned a 100 Beyer, easily a career best.
Trainer Chad Brown said no plans have been set for the mare, who came out of the race in good shape.
In Kentucky, New York, and points beyond, Godolphin horses trained by Charlie Appleby will be showing up through the 2024 Breeders’ Cup.
Appleby already has run five horses at the Keeneland meet and said Tuesday, reached by telephone in England, that he plans to keep more horses in America this year, about a dozen, than during any previous season.
“We’ve got those older horses, a few 3-year-olds, that would suit the turf package. We felt we’ve got enough horses we can assemble a nice team of permanent imports,” Appleby said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – While an unusually wet winter fades into memory at Santa Anita, the spring meet begins Friday with an optimistic forecast of sunny skies, a fast track, and firm turf.
The change is welcome following a winter frequently disrupted by rain. Santa Anita canceled or postponed multiple programs, racing and training schedules were altered, and momentum was elusive. Finally, spring is in the air.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The lightly raced Dylan’s Ruby may have the most upside of seven 3-year-olds entered in a six-furlong $50,000 starter allowance/optional claimer scheduled as the third event on Friday’s eight-race Aqueduct card.
Based at Parx with trainer John Servis, Dylan’s Ruby was a debut winner on Feb. 7, rallying along the rail to win a maiden $50,000 claimer by 5 1/2 lengths. Evolutionary, the runner-up from that race, came back to run second for maiden $40,000 in his next start, though he improved his Beyer Speed Figure by eight points.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Michael Yates sent out Dorth Vader to a fifth-place finish in the 2023 Kentucky Oaks and at the moment is planning to be back at Churchill Downs to try his luck again in the prestigious Grade 1 event for 3-year-old fillies with Fiona’s Magic.
Encino
Colt by Nyquist – Glittering Jewel, by Bernardini
Bred in Kentucky by Godolphin
The big question for Encino coming into last Saturday’s Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland was how he might handle dirt after making his first three starts on Turfway Park’s Tapeta. But the colt, who won gamely to move himself into the Kentucky Derby field based on points, has a classic-type dirt pedigree.
