OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A favorable forecast void of rain but one with temperatures in the mid-70s should allow for the return of turf racing at Aqueduct, where five of the nine races Thursday are scheduled for the grass, all with overflow, competitive fields.
Two first-level allowance races for New York-breds – one sprint for females and one route for males – highlight the card, which kicks off the final week of the Belmont at the Big A meet.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With blinkers on, stakes-placed Summer Commander could graduate in Thursday’s third race at Woodbine, a hybrid Tapeta sprint for 2-year-olds combining Ontario-sired runners with $40,000 claimers.
Owned by Anne and William Scott, Summer Commander was bet down to favoritism when debuting in a 5 1/2-furlong dash at this level July 16. After dueling for the lead until inside the eighth pole, he faded to fourth about seven lengths behind victorious Pontiac.
Led by his Royal Ascot winning 2-year-old filly Crimson Advocate, trainer George Weaver sent out a quartet of Breeders’ Cup-bound horses for workouts over Saratoga’s Oklahoma turf course Friday morning.
Crimson Advocate, one of three horses Weaver is pointing to the Juvenile Turf Sprint, worked a half-mile in 49.92 seconds. Weaver’s other Juvenile Turf Sprint horses are No Nay Mets and Amidst Waves. No Nay Mets went a half-mile in 47.80 seconds, the fastest of 14 works at the distance, while Amidst Waves went an easy half-mile in 53.63 seconds.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though he couldn’t completely beat the rain that fell Friday morning, trainer Chad Brown was able to get six potential Breeders’ Cup contenders their important workouts over a decent Belmont Park main track in preparation for the Nov. 3-4 event at Santa Anita.
Following a heavy rain shower, Zandon, the Grade 2 Woodward winner and live longshot for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, began the proceedings shortly after 6:30 a.m., going a half-mile in 49.66 seconds. He got his last quarter in 24.19 seconds and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.40.
Avant Glory and Zydeceaux share a last-race company line that points them out as chief contenders in Sunday’s featured eighth race at Gulfstream Park. The horses both exit the $65,000 Jackson Bend, won by Big and Classy.
Avant Glory and Zydeceaux on Sunday meet over six furlongs. They are part of a field of seven entered in a conditioned allowance for 3-year-olds which has a $62,500 claiming option.
Geaux Rocket Ride, one of the nation’s leading 3-year-olds and a contender for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, worked six furlongs in 1:13.80 on Friday at Santa Anita, his first major exercise in more than two weeks.
Trainer Richard Mandella said Geaux Rocket Ride had an elevated temperature for a brief time earlier this month, which prevented the colt from having a workout last week. Mandella said Geaux Rocket Ride recovered quickly from the illness and is on schedule for the 1 1/4-mile BC Classic on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Provided Sunday’s $125,000 Carle Place Stakes remains on the turf – at this stage, does anybody really listen anymore to a weather forecast – trainer Robert Gorham will start his first horse on the New York Racing Association circuit when he sends out Bal a Kazoo in the six-furlong turf stakes.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s going to take a while for the field of nine in the Grade 3, $300,000 Dowager Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland to make their way around the three-turn configuration of the 1 1/2-mile turf marathon for fillies and mares. With a lack of speed in the field, it might take even a touch longer than expected – and that could be good news for the forwardly inclined Vergara, who could seize control.
Dismissed at long odds in last month’s Lite the Fuse Stakes at Pimlico, Dollarization benefited from a hot pace and a sweet pace-tracking, ground-saving trip to upset graded winners Wondrwherecraigis and Jaxon Traveler.
On Tuesday at Parx Racing, Dollarization figures a shorter price when he breaks from the rail in the $100,000 Jump Start for Pennsylvania-bred 3-year-olds and up at seven furlongs.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Since his emergence as a prominent buyer of young horses a little more than six years ago, Larry Best’s OXO Equine silks have become a familiar sight around the country. Best has campaigned Grade 1 winners Cambier Parc and Instilled Regard, both seven-figure auction purchases, along with graded stakes winners Center Aisle, Instagrand, and Travel Column.
