LEXINGTON, Ky. – A very good week for Team Valor International could get even better Sunday at Keeneland when Mansa Musa makes his American debut in the $250,000 Palisades Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds.
Mansa Musa races for Team Valor and Gary Barber, the owners of Facteur Cheval, who on March 30 won the $5 million Dubai Turf on the Dubai World Cup card. Thursday at Santa Anita, Team Valor’s Nadette landed the Grade 3, $100,000 Wilshire Stakes.
Five Star General has made himself at home in racing jurisdictions throughout North America and on Saturday night the Grade 3 winner returns to Opelousas, La., to defend his title in the $100,000 Evangeline Downs Mile.
“He’s been able to take his track wherever he needs to go,” said trainer Grant Forster.
The Evangeline Mile is for 4-year-olds and up and is one of two stakes on the card. The $60,000 Lafayette for 3-year-olds at six furlongs drew a diverse field that includes multiple stakes winner Sweet Soddy J.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Fortune smiled on 3-year-old colt Stronghold during this wet winter at Santa Anita. While excessive rain led to racing cancellations, track closures, and interrupted training, Stronghold plowed onward.
The hope, shared by trainer Phil D’Amato and owners Rick and Sharon Waller, was that Stronghold would improve enough to return in spring to Churchill Downs, where he entered training last summer. But before shipping plans are finalized, Stronghold faces one more hurdle.
Fresh off boldly forecasting a Hades defeat of Fierceness, things can hardly get worse with this Weekend GamePlan. Sure, process, not results, but rewatching Fierceness’s pre-Florida Derby breezes, he looks as invincible as he proved. Can anyone in New York, Kentucky, or California unseat him as the Derby favorite? Nope.
Madison
Stablemates Shady Tiger and Tom Seaver may be moving as a team on the turn of Saturday’s $125,000 Echo Eddie Stakes at Santa Anita.
Both run from off the pace and should have a lively tempo to follow in the race for California-bred 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs. Their closing styles, combined with the presence of several other talented runners who race closer to the front, should make for a thrilling stretch run.
“Maybe Shady Tiger has a little more speed than Tom Seaver,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “Both are tactical.”
Out of nowhere, Pounce evinced star potential this winter at Gulfstream Park, but after generally escaping attention in Florida, the filly is difficult to overlook Saturday at Keeneland in the Appalachian Stakes.
Pounce began her career winning a dirt sprint last fall at Churchill, then performed modestly over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park. The filly is a turf horse. She overcame post 11, crossing, clearing, setting a fast pace, and winning a first-level Gulfstream allowance in her grass debut after trainer Mark Casse took her to Florida.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mischief Magic is looking to recapture the magic that made him a standout juvenile as he returns to Keeneland, the site of his biggest win, as one of the biggest names in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2, $350,000 Shakertown Stakes, which drew an overflow field of turf sprinters on Saturday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While a good many Northern-based horsemen have already packed their bags and headed back home with the close of the Gulfstream Championship meet here last Sunday, not all the big names have abandoned ship just yet. Saturday’s $61,000 allowance feature for 3-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles on turf attracted horses from the barns of such notable New York- and Kentucky-based trainers as Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, Mark Casse, and Brendan Walsh.
