OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Zandon has recorded six triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in his career and amassed earnings just shy of $2 million, yet his career record stands at 2 for 12.
His string of second-place finishes in graded stakes is impressive, considering the roster of horses he has finished behind – Epicenter, Taiba, Repo Rocks, Cody’s Wish, and White Abarrio.
Trainer Ray Ashford Jr. sometimes refers to Wildatlanticstorm – who launches his 3-year-old season Saturday night in the $100,000 Iowa Breeders’ Derby at Prairie Meadows – as Big Red.
The operative word here is big.
The strapping chestnut weighed in at more than 1,200 pounds last year at 2, when he won the $400,000 Springboard Mile on Dec. 17 at Remington Park.
The Breeders’ Derby will be his first start in nine months. During that time, Wildatlanticstorm has grown.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A year ago, trainer Bill Mott used the Grade 2 Vosburgh as an introduction to stakes company for Elite Power. That horse would dominate a modest field, come back and win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint to earn an Eclipse Award, and reel off three more graded stakes wins this year.
Sunday, Mott hopes to use the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh as a stepping-stone to more glory for his highly accomplished Cody’s Wish, who looks to rebound from having a six-race winning streak snapped in the Grade 1 Whitney last month at Saratoga.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In six of her last seven races, Caramel Swirl has run Beyer Speed Figures in the mid-to-upper 90s. Sometimes, though, she runs them against the upper echelon of the female sprint division and that’s not good enough to win.
Sunday, if she runs a mid-to-upper 90 Beyer that should be good enough to get the job done in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom Stakes at Belmont at Aqueduct where she does not face the upper crust of female sprinters.
The well-bred and well-regarded Stage Raider finally found center stage when he earned his first career stakes win last month at Ellis Park. He looks to keep that spotlight as he faces stiffer competition in the Grade 3, $400,000 Ack Ack Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The summer didn’t go as hoped for Rebel’s Romance. With a change of seasons – and perhaps more importantly a change of circumstances – the expectation is the fall will bring a better results for the Godolphin homebred who is aiming for a repeat victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
There were high hopes last winter that Hong Kong Harry would develop into a contender for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita in November.
The year has not gone as expected. Hong Kong Harry was winless in three starts from early March to late May.
Now, there are high hopes Hong Kong Harry can rebound and win his fourth graded stakes in the last 18 months in Saturday’s Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on turf at Santa Anita.
The $200,000 City of Hope Mile is the start of an intended campaign of turf stakes at Del Mar later this year and Santa Anita over the winter.
Lane Way was relegated to a lengthy list of also-eligibles when pre-entries were announced for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland last year. He failed to draw into the race.
The BC Turf Sprint will be run on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita, and Lane Way will be all but assured of a spot in the field provided he can win Saturday’s Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” trainer Richard Mandella said.
Rattle N Roll turned in a slightly disappointing performance Sept. 2 in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. About three weeks earlier at Saratoga, Americanrevolution returned from a long layoff with a starkly disappointing performance in the Evan Shipman Stakes for New York-breds.
These are the two shortest prices on the morning line for the Grade 2, $500,000 Lukas Classic, the featured race Saturday at Churchill Downs. Both are worth trying to beat.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Remember when National Treasure and Skinner ranked among the top 3-year-olds in California? Remember when Defunded and Stilleto Boy were the state’s best older horses and Slow Down Andy was just starting back?
Those were good times. Then everything fell apart.
National Tresure misfired in both starts after he wired the Preakness Stakes in May. Skinner, third in the Santa Anita Derby, has not won since a maiden race in February. Defunded tailed off in summer, again, and Stilleto Boy was eased in the Pacific Classic.
