Sharp Azteca could have the first of his four scheduled works leading up to the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday, according to trainer Jorge Navarro. The move would be the horse’s first since he won the Kelso Handicap on Sept. 23 at Belmont Park.
The Dirt Mile is Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
Sharp Azteca was a four-length winner of the Kelso, a one-turn mile for which he earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 112. He is based at Monmouth Park.
For more than three years now, Keen Ice has plied his trade across the country and in Dubai, his 23 starts taking place at 11 different tracks. And while he’s only won three of those starts, there are only a few from his crop still racing at the highest level in the sport.
Early this year, Whitmore was the talk of the sprint division, opening his campaign with four consecutive victories, including a pair of Grade 3 wins, that vaulted him into the upper echelon of the division.
But things have not gone quite as well during the second half of the year. Whitmore has started just twice since defeating A. P. Indian in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint on May 20, finishing third in both the Grade 2 True North at Belmont and the Grade 3 De Francis Memorial Dash last month at Laurel.
There were 525 Thoroughbred foals born in Oklahoma in 2015, representing just 2.5 percent of the registered foal crop in the United States. But a good horse can come from anywhere, as Oklahoma-bred millionaires Lady’s Secret, Kip Deville, and Clever Trevor have already proved.
And among those 525 Thoroughbreds born in the Sooner State two years ago was Lady Ivanka, who will go for the second Grade 1 win of her nascent career in Sunday’s Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park.
All eyes will be on Unique Bella when the top prospect for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint makes her eagerly awaited return to action Sunday in the Grade 3 L.A. Woman at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Arrogate had an easy morning Tuesday at Santa Anita, with a half-mile work in 50 seconds under jockey Rafael Bejarano as he continues his preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Del Mar. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:03, and six furlongs in 1:16, according to Santa Anita’s clockers.
Canterbury-based Amy's Challenge, who has run the fastest Beyer Speed Figures of the year for a 2-year-old filly, has been ruled out of Keeneland's Grade 1 juvenile stakes this weekend after an episode of tying up, a condition causing severe muscle cramping, trainer Mac Robertson said Tuesday morning.
ARCADIA, Calif. – With his victory Saturday in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, Mubtaahij won a free roll to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Del Mar, adding to the power-packed lineup trainer Bob Baffert has pointed to the race.
ELMONT, N. Y. - Trainers Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher split the two graded turf stakes run at Belmont over the weekend and both are likely to send their winners and losers to Del Mar for their respective Breeders’ Cup races.
Pletcher ran first and third in Saturday’s Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes with Seabhac and Maraud, and the Brown-trained Voting Control finished second. All three are likely to move onto the Juvenile Turf on Nov. 3.
ARCADIA, Calif. – With two Grade 1 victories, one around two turns and another at the track where the Breeders’ Cup will be held in 4 1/2 weeks, Bolt d’Oro has firmly established himself as the horse to beat in the Juvenile on Nov. 4 at Del Mar.
He put himself in this position with his powerful victory in the FrontRunner Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
