Mon, 02/23/2026 - 12:08

Spirit Dragon starts for a new barn – again

Walter Wlodarczyk/NYRA
Shoot the Nickel would be starting for the third consecutive week if he stays in Thursday's sixth race.

OZONE PARK. N.Y. – For the second time this meet, there will be a seven-race card when racing resumes Thursday at Aqueduct. Typically, weekday programs in the winter on this circuit consist of eight races.

Even after holding over entries from Friday to Saturday, only 45 horses were entered over the seven races. On Jan. 15, there was also a seven-race card.

Race 6 is a starter allowance for horses who have started for a claiming tag of $50,000. It will be contested at the rarely run distance of 5 1/2 furlongs.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 10:57

Jockeys Loveberry, Lopez on the mend

Barbara D. Livingston
Jareth Loveberry said he hopes to ride on Thursday’s card.

Jockey Jareth Loveberry apparently escaped serious injury when unseated from his mount, Monsieur Candy, before the sixth race Saturday.

The field had assembled behind the starting gate when Monsieur Candy became agitated, rearing straight up and twisting, Loveberry said in a Sunday text message. Fearing that the horse was about to flip, Loveberry “went to get away from him,” and after coming out of the saddle, crashed into the inner rail, hitting his hip and forearm.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 10:49

Synthetic stays put after big win

Despite some reportedly high-dollar interest, the standout Louisiana-bred filly Synthetic was not sold after an especially eye-catching performance Jan. 31, trainer Bobby Felks reported on Saturday.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 10:48

Pick six carryover is $198K; Sunset Six is $69K

Barbara D. Livingston
The Friday pick six at Santa Anita is on races four through nine. The Sunset Six is made up of the final three races from Santa Anita and the last three from Gulfstream Park.

ARCADIA, Calif. – There is a two-day carryover of $198,741 in the $2 pick six at Santa Anita on Friday.

The pick six carryover was clinched on Sunday when Vicky Lyn ($9) won the 10th race. She edged 8-1 Goje, who would have also caused a carryover.

Friday’s pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.

The pool of money bet on Friday may exceed $1 million.

Friday’s pick six races have maximum fields of 5, 10, 6, 10, 7, and 10 before scratches, which will be announced on Friday morning.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 10:47

Waters get deeper in next start for undefeated Gratefully

Gratefully (blinkers) wins Wishing Well at SA Feb 21 2026
Benoit Photo
Gratefully improved her record to 5 for 5 in the Wishing Well. Her next start could come in the Grade 3 Monrovia at Santa Anita or the Giant's Causeway at Keeneland.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gratefully extended her unbeaten streak to five races with a hard-fought win in the Wishing Well Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday. Gaining a sixth consecutive win will not be easy, however.

Trainer Robert Falcone Jr. said on Sunday that Gratefully will be considered for two stakes in early April – the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes at Santa Anita on April 4, or the Grade 2 Giant’s Causeway Stakes at Keeneland on April 12.

Either race will present a fierce test.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 10:37

Bella Ballerina to Fair Grounds Oaks

Amanda Hodges Weir/Hodges Photography
Bella Ballerina, unbeaten after three starts, scored a narrow victory Feb. 14 in the Rachel Alexandra.

Bella Ballerina will make her next start on March 21 in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

And why wouldn’t she?

After toying – unless that’s too strong a word – with running in the Ashland Stakes two weeks later at Keeneland, owner-breeder Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh have settled on the Fair Grounds Oaks as a final prep for the Kentucky Oaks, Walsh said over the weekend.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 10:32

Versatile Greenwich Village may move to Tapeta in Jeff Ruby

Greenwich Village wins the Pasadena at SA Feb 22 2026
Benoit Photo
Greenwich Village has won on dirt and is a two-time stakes winner on turf. She was up for a nose victory in Sunday's Pasadena Stakes at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – After winning on dirt in early December and collecting two stakes wins on turf at Santa Anita this year, the 3-year-old Greenwich Village may be tried on a different surface for his next start.

Following Greenwich Village’s win in Sunday’s Pasadena Stakes at a mile on turf, trainer Bob Baffert said he will consider starting the colt in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby at 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic track at Turfway Park on March 21.

“We’ll look at that,” Baffert said.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 09:50

Allowance could catapult youngsters into stakes; $14,967 pick six carryover

Coady Media
Scot’s Law made her stakes debut last out and was third in the $150,000 Year’s End on Dec. 27.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Scot’s Law is among a handful of promising 3-year-old fillies who could use Thursday’s eighth race at Oaklawn Park as a springboard to upcoming stakes races like the local Fantasy.

The first-level allowance will be run over 1 1/16 miles. There is a pick six carryover of $14,967.

Scot’s Law, who is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Scottish Lassie, will start as one of the top choices in an eight-horse field that includes stakes winner Actis, notable maiden winner Sticker Shock, and the stakes-placed Spitfire.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 08:18

Ennis deciding between Kentucky Derby preps for Battaglia winner Great White

Coady Media
Great White is being considered for both the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway or the Blue Grass at Keeneland for his next start.

Great White, winner of the John Battaglia Memorial on Saturday night at Turfway Park, will make his next start in a major Kentucky Derby prep race in the Bluegrass State, but which race and track will be determined by how he trains over the next month.

“We’ll see. We’ll train him how he looks,” said trainer John Ennis, who also co-owns the gelding with Three Chimneys Farm.

Ennis noted that the massive Great White, a May foal, is still developing and building strength.

Mon, 02/23/2026 - 08:10

Brown may run Emerging Market in Louisiana Derby

Tom Keyser
Emerging Market earned a huge 96 Beyer Speed Figure in his debut, a maiden win at Tampa on Feb. 7.

Emerging Market, an impressive albeit narrow winner of his debut at Tampa on Feb. 7, could possibly to step into stakes company in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 21, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.

Brown said by running in the Louisiana Derby it doesn’t necessarily mean Emerging Market is a Kentucky Derby prospect, and that running a horse in the Kentucky Derby off two career starts “would be a real unorthodox move” for him. Emerging Market could be a Preakness or Belmont Stakes type of horse, according to the trainer.