Fri, 02/02/2024 - 13:05

Sibelius continues to follow same route to Dubai

Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos
Sibelius won last year's Mr. Prospector and Pelican Stakes before winning the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Sibelius on Friday completed preparations for his start in next Saturday’s $100,000 Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs with a half-mile workout in 48.20 seconds at the Palm Meadows training center.

With jockey Junior Alvarado aboard, Sibelius followed another horse from the barn of trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer catching that one at the wire.

Fri, 02/02/2024 - 12:55

Kinza owns the big Beyer but Kopion far from a pushover in Las Virgenes

Kopion wins Santa Ynez at SA Jan 7 2024
Benoit Photo
Kopion, untested in two starts, rolled by 5 3/4 lengths in the seven-furlong Santa Ynez under Flavien Prat.

ARCADIA, Calif. – If stakes-winning filly Kopion acquires an inferiority complex, it is understandable.

Despite launching her career with two runaway wins, Kopion plays second fiddle Sunday in the Grade 3 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita. The historically predictable stakes race is headed by debut winner Kinza, whose 96 Beyer Speed Figure is the highest by any filly foaled in 2021.

Fri, 02/02/2024 - 12:45

Lothenbach dispersal adds quality to Fasig-Tipton February

Emily Shields
Bell's the One, winner of the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff in 2020, will go through the sales ring on Tuesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale marks the end of the breeding stock sale season in North America, and the end of an era. The sale’s catalog has gotten a boost from the addition of dispersal stock from the late Robert Lothenbach’s Lothenbach Stable, with his broodmares and yearlings lined up here.

Fri, 02/02/2024 - 12:40

Planetario needs rain to hold off for prep in San Marcos

Benoit Photo
Planetario has been off since Nov. 24, when he won the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles over the Del Mar turf.

A grim weather forecast in California this weekend will affect the way Planetario is prepared for an intended start in the $2.5 million Red Sea Handicap in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 25.

Ideally, expected rain will be minimal or hold off long enough to allow Sunday’s Grade 3 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf to be run at Santa Anita. Trainer Richard Mandella has planned the San Marcos as a prep for Planetario for the Red Sea Handicap at 1 7/8 miles on turf.

The weather may not cooperate.

“I’m not sure if we’ll get to run,” Mandella said.

Thu, 02/01/2024 - 14:40

Weekend GamePlan: Picks for Southwest, Withers, Sweetest Chant

Common Defense wins maiden at OP Jan 13 2024
Coady Photography
Common Defense looks set to take a big step forward in the Southwest Stakes following his Oaklawn maiden victory.

Saturday marks the first big coast-to-coast day of early-season 3-year-old racing, and two of the division’s fastest, Fierceness and Nysos, make their first start of 2023.

They can’t be played at the expected miniscule odds, but neither can Fierceness in the Holy Bull nor Nysos in the Robert Lewis be easily opposed. One might imagine Nysos as the more vulnerable favorite since he tries two turns for the first time, but if you watched him dispose of the solid older horse Reincarnate in a recent team workout, you’d be hard-pressed to bet against Nysos.

Thu, 02/01/2024 - 14:40

Denim and Pearls searches for Kentucky Oaks points in Martha Washington

Coady Photography
Denim and Pearls has won two of three races and headlines Saturday's Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Denim and Pearls will be looking to nail down some Kentucky Oaks points on Saturday when she starts as the probable favorite in the $250,000 Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park.

The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies will offer its first five finishers points on a scale of 20-10-6-4-2. The race is part of the annual Southwest Stakes Day card featuring four stakes on a 12-race program that begins at 11:30 a.m. Central.

Thu, 02/01/2024 - 14:10

Never Explain should get right setup in Tampa Bay Stakes

Never Explain wins the Dinner Party at PIM May 20 2023
Barbara D. Livingston
Never Explain must overcome a five-month layoff and a distance that is shorter than optimum in the Tampa Bay.

When you think of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, you first think of New York racing. McGaughey also winters in Florida, but one mainly associates his name with Gulfstream Park.

Quietly, however, McGaughey has made hay at Tampa Bay. Over the last three years, McGaughey-trained turf horses at Tampa Bay have gone 36-13-2-10, a robust 36 percent strike rate that has produced a $2.60 return on investment. Saturday, he has the probable favorite, Never Explain, for the Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile grass race McGaughey has won three times since 2016.

Thu, 02/01/2024 - 14:05

Wide-open Southwest field of 11 makes for a terrific betting race

Coady photo
Liberal Arts proved he could get two turns and handle a wet track by upsetting the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Save some cash for the Grade 3, $800,000 Southwest Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

It’s scheduled as the last of four Kentucky Derby preps being run around the country, and the 11-horse field that includes graded stakes winners Liberal Arts and Wynstock might make for the best betting race of them all.

There’s no clear-cut favorite in the 1 1/16-mile points race (20-10-6-4-2) that is one of four stakes on a 12-race card that has a first post of 11:30 a.m. Central.

Thu, 02/01/2024 - 14:00

R Harper Rose gets back to best game in Forward Gal

Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos
R Harper Rose cuts back to one turn for Saturday’s Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The two-turn experiment behind her, speedy R Harper Rose will return to what she does best, sprint, when she takes on six other 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs in Saturday’s $125,000 Forward Gal Stakes.