OKLAHOMA CITY – Politicallycorrect was bright and alert walking the shed row Monday at Remington Park, the day after he won the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby and a few hours before he was to board a flight to Southern California to begin preparations for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 3.
“We’re headed to the California sunshine,” trainer Wesley Ward said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Fresh off a sweep of Belmont’s Grade 2 stakes for juveniles on Sunday, trainer Todd Pletcher now turns his attention to this Saturday’s pair of Grade 1 stakes for 2-year-olds, where again he will be expected to do quite well.
Pletcher won Sunday’s $200,000 Futurity with Overanalyze and $200,000 Matron with Kauai Katie.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There might not be a happier person than trainer Bob Baffert that the Breeders’ Cup will be at Santa Anita next month. This is the track at which Baffert has been the dominant figure for nearly two decades, and he served notice Saturday that he will be a formidable presence in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Nov. 2-3 by sweeping three Grade 1 stakes races, two with runners who could be favored in their respective BC races.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Slim Shadey has taken a liking to the right turf course in 2012.
For the second time this year, Slim Shadey won a graded stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf in Sunday’s $150,000 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita. A 4-year-old gelding, Slim Shadey will make his next start in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf here on Nov. 3.
Slim Shadey will be easy to find in the BC Turf. He is likely to be on the lead in the race over 1 1/2 miles on turf.
OKLAHOMA CITY - The talent trainer Wesley Ward and jockey Kent Desormeaux saw in Politicallycorrect emerged at an opportune time on Sunday, when the horse roared down the middle of the track to win the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park and set himself up for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Politicallycorrect won the Oklahoma Derby by three-quarters of a length over 2-1 favorite Willy Beamin, while it was another head back in third to Called to Serve. The race was the richest of the meet, and it anchored a card of five stakes worth more than $1 million.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The first thing that jockey Rafael Bejarano wanted to do after he was unseated in a spill at Santa Anita on Friday was get back to work.
“I told the guys, ‘I’m fine,’ ” he said on Sunday, recalling his conversation with ambulance personnel. “I could have kept riding.”
Bejarano was not injured. He missed his final three rides on Friday and went home to rest. Saturday morning, he was back at the track for workouts. That afternoon, he showed why he is the leading rider in Southern California.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Kauai Katie proved she doesn’t have to be in front early to be in front at the end.
In dominating Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Matron Stakes by 7 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park, Kauai Katie sat off Baby J for more than three furlongs before taking over coming to the top of the stretch and running away from the field down the lane.
Baby J held second by 1 1/2 lengths over Seasoned Warrior. Unabashed and Doubled completed the order of finish.
Battle of Marengo won his second consecutive stakes, and earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, with a victory in the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at the Curragh in Ireland on Sunday.
It was not immediately clear whether Battle of Marengo would be sent to Santa Anita for the BC Juvenile Turf on Nov. 3. Trainer Aidan O’Brien told the press after the race that the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster, England, on Oct. 27 was a consideration, but that Battle of Marengo could be finished for the year.
ELMONT, N.Y. - At the beginning of 2012, trainer Bill Mott thought it was possible he could get back to the Breeders’ Cup and attempt to duplicate his 2011 feat of winning the $5 million Classic and the $3 million Ladies Classic in the same year.
That possibility became even more realistic with the results at Belmont Park of Saturday’s major stepping-stones towards the Breeders’ Cup which will be held Nov. 2-3 at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif.- There might not be any NHL hockey for a while, but Bob Baffert and Rafael Bejarano each scored a Grade 1 hat trick on Saturday, capped off by an easy, 3 1/4-length victory by Game On Dude in the $250,000 Awesome Again Stakes before 17,565 at Santa Anita.
