HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – When Ruby Nell runs in Saturday’s $1 million Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf it will represent the first starter at Gulfstream Park for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella since March 10, 2001 when Shutup and Dance won the Candy Eclair Stakes.
Much like that filly, who went gate to wire in that six-furlong overnight stakes, Ruby Nell is a speed filly who has won three of her last four starts, including the Lady of Shamrock Stakes on Dec. 31 at Santa Anita.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – As far back as November, owner Jake Ballis figured there would not be a superstar running in the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January and he wanted to have a horse to run in the race.
It took until mid-December, but Ballis and several of his partners got a deal done to purchase the multiple listed stakes winner Nimitz Class, who will break from the rail in a field of 12 in Saturday’s Pegasus.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Florida-breds will be in the spotlight Friday at Gulfstream Park with a pair of restricted allowance races headlining the 10-race program. The fifth race is for older fillies and mares on the turf, the final race on the card is for 3-year-olds at six furlongs on the main track. Both offer a purse of $59,000.
Following the cancellation of both of last weekend’s cards, racing returns to Aqueduct on Friday with a nine-race card that includes a stakes-caliber allowance for older males going 1 1/8 miles.
The in-form New York-bred Olympic Dreams seeks his third straight win against open company in this spot where he faces open stakes winners Law Professor and Tabeguache and Queens County Stakes runner-up Quality Chic.
It’s premature to say that Father Time is catching up with Greeley and Ben.
“He’s a war horse,” trainer Horacio De Paz told Daily Racing Form last week. “Very easy to work with. Considering he is a 10-year-old, he’s a happy horse on the racetrack. He actually wants to play around a little bit more than a 10-year-old would want to do.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Bourbon Bash showed a level of talent early on that earned him a chance against stakes competition, but he truly appears to be coming to hand now, said trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will saddle the 4-year-old in Friday’s ninth race at Oaklawn Park.
The entry-level allowance is for 4-year-olds and up and highlights the first local card since Jan. 13. A winter storm forced the cancellation of racing Jan. 14 and on Jan. 19-21 and led to nine days of lost training through Monday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A pair of California-bred sprinters venture into the unknown Friday at Santa Anita by stretching to two turns in the first and last legs of the $3 turf pick three on races 4, 6, and 8.
More Try could be loose on the lead in race 4, a turf mile for older California-bred maidens. Foiled pressing fast fractions in his first four starts in sprints, More Try might be gone Friday in his initial route.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Robert Falcone Jr. is just one scratch away from getting his improving Castle Chaos into the field for Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. But with Castle Chaos also cross-entered earlier on the card in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper, the question is: Will Falcone and the connections of Castle Chaos opt to run in the main event should the opportunity ultimately present itself later in the week?
It is expected to be another big night for Godolphin Racing when the Eclipse Awards for outstanding achievement in Thoroughbred racing in 2023 are announced Thursday night at the Breakers Palm Beach in South Florida.
In 2022, Godolphin, the racing arm of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, won Eclipse Awards for outstanding owner and breeder and had its Modern Games recognized as champion male turf horse.
