DEL MAR, Calif. – Minor variations in turf sprint distances do not seem to bother Motorious, the California gelding who could make international news this fall.
Motorious won the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in March and was a fast-closing second in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at 5 1/2 furlongs on May 6 at Churchill Downs.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – General Partner, a four-length maiden winner going seven furlongs on Saturday, will target the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes on Oct. 7 at Aqueduct, trainer Chad Brown said.
General Partner, a son of Speightstown, finished fourth to Valentine Candy in his debut July 22. On Saturday, General Partner was sent to the lead by Irad Ortiz Jr. and led at every pole, winning by four and earning a solid 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Crimson Advocate, the George Weaver-trained 2-year-old filly who shipped to England to win the Grade 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot in June, returned to the work tab Sunday, breezing three furlongs in 38.73 seconds over the Oklahoma turf course.
Weaver is targeting the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita for Crimson Advocate, but has not yet decided if she would have a start in between.
It’s not easy winning races at Kentucky Downs, where 354 horses have started during the first three days of this seven-day meeting. It’s not just the huge fields, but the fact many horses don’t care for the quirky nature of this course.
Brendan Walsh is doing just fine. He won an allowance race opening day, a maiden race on Sunday, the $1 million Music City Stakes with Secret Money on Saturday, and on Thursday has horses he trains in six races, including Viareggio in the featured One Dreamer Stakes.
“We like Kentucky Downs,” Walsh said Monday, reached by phone.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association wants to hold the next two runnings of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga, the company’s president said Sunday.
“If things go according to how we’re planning, right now that is the plan,” said Dave O’Rourke, NYRA president and CEO. “Ideally, the ’26 Belmont Stakes will be at Belmont. The building might not be completely fitted out, but the tracks will be way ahead of schedule.”
Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox have won multiple Eclipse Awards for champion trainer. They were to square off Monday with 2-year-olds in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga. On Wednesday, under lights much less bright, each can win an Indiana-bred stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
If it seems like trainer Michele Boyce’s name has been coming up with unusual frequency regarding the limited Hawthorne stakes schedule this season, it has. Boyce has gone 7-4-0-1 in stakes during this Hawthorne meeting, and she stands to add another victory to that total Monday in the $75,000 Polar Expedition Handicap.
Through 25 racing seasons, between 1998 and 2022, trainer Chuck Spina won a total of three stakes races. During the 2023 meet at Monmouth Park, which ends next week, Spina has won . . . three stakes races. Spina’s summer to remember can become even more memorable Monday when he sends out There Are No Words in the $100,000 Red Bank Stakes.
There Are No Words is one of seven in the Red Bank, a one-mile turf race, and he’s the one to beat if he runs back to his second-place finish Aug. 13 in the $120,000 Oceanport Stakes.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There are two key changes to Monday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful Stakes, the closing-day feature at Saratoga.
First, morning-line favorite Muth has been scratched from the race and has been re-routed to the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes on Oct. 7 at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert said Monday.
In the Hopeful, Baffert said he would have been running back in three weeks from his second-place finish to stablemate Prince of Monaco in the Grade 2 Best Pal on Aug. 13.
Beware of the skunk tail in the Grade 1, $3 million All American Futurity on Monday at Ruidoso Downs.
Dark Nme and her colorful fly swatter bring a 6-for-6 record into the Quarter Horse classic that closes the meet in New Mexico.
The All American, which will be run over 440 yards, is being showcased on a 12-race card that includes six stakes. The champion Kj Desperado, who won the All American Futurity in 2021, leads the field for the Grade 1, $250,000 All American Gold Cup.
