OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When Blazing Sevens rallied from last to win Saturday’s $500,000 Champagne Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths, it gave trainer Chad Brown his fourth victory in the last seven runnings of the storied Grade 1 dirt stakes for juveniles. He also has a second-place finish in the race over that span.
“Not bad for a turf barn,” Brown quipped Sunday morning.
Dancing Buck, the five-length winner of Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint at Aqueduct, could be supplemented to the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint for a fee of $100,000, part-owner Thomas Newkirk said Sunday.
“If the horse comes out of the race healthy and in good shape and Michelle says he can be competitive then we’ll probably go,” said Newkirk, part of the J and N Stables that co-owns Dancing Buck with Diamond Stable.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Epicenter, the leader of the 3-year-old male division, led a group of quality workers for trainer Steve Asmussen as he turned in his first local move toward the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Classic on Sunday morning at Keeneland.
Epicenter, working solo under regular exercise rider Wilson Fabian, went a half-mile in 51 seconds in the second set of a mild fall morning. It was his fourth work since winning the Travers Stakes on Aug. 27, but his first of those at Keeneland, as he arrived in Lexington from Saratoga last Wednesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Echoes of the Kentucky Derby reverberated far and wide Saturday with a thrilling renewal of the Grade 2 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, where Hot Rod Charlie posted a hard-fought triumph.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senor Buscador ran his way to Keeneland and an automatic spot in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, proving clearly best Saturday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs.
Speaker’s Corner, the 7-5 favorite, and Fulsome, the 3-1 second choice, both came up empty while Senor Buscador, using a looping outside surge, sweeping past front-running Surly Furious en route to his first stakes score since he won the Springboard Mile at Remington Park in December 2020.
ARCADIA, Calif. – It was only a five-furlong workout by a horse whose next start is still five weeks away, but as trainer John Sadler said Saturday morning at his Santa Anita barn, “It’s standard stuff with an exceptional horse.”
Flightline worked five furlongs after the 6:30 a.m. break Saturday at Santa Anita, where he cruised 1:00.40 under exercise rider/assistant trainer Juan Leyva.
One Timer, a 4 1/4-length winner of the $525,750 Franklin-Simpson Stakes on Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs, is getting a 45-day break in Florida and won’t contest the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, trainer Larry Rivelli said earlier this week.
One Timer was beaten only two lengths when ninth last fall in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar, but Rivelli said the 3-year-old is better at distances longer than the BC Turf Sprint’s 5 1/2 furlongs, and Rivelli isn’t eager to tackle the likes of Golden Pal in the Breeders’ Cup.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Chocolate Gelato was the flavor of the month heading into her debut on opening day of the Saratoga meet only to leave her backers with a bad taste in their mouths when she finished third as the 1-2 favorite.
A daughter of Practical Joke, Chocolate Gelato made amends with a mouth-watering 8 1/2-length maiden victory in her second start, a performance that may make her the horse to beat in Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – I’m Very Busy, a good-looking debut winner at Saratoga, heads a field of 12 – 10 maiden winners and two maidens – entered to run in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim Stakes for juvenile males at Aqueduct.
I’m Very Busy, a son of Cloud Computing trained by Chad Brown, unleashed a powerful stretch to kick to win his debut by 3 3/4 lengths on Aug. 13 at Saratoga. Reckoning Force, third in that race, came back to win a stakes as a maiden in his next start at Kentucky Downs.
Speed Boat Beach had a nearly flawless performance at Del Mar in his debut in a maiden special weight race at 5 1/2 furlongs on Sept. 10. He broke sharply, set a rapid pace, and sustained the effort to the finish, setting a track record of 1:01.86.
The impressive win is the foundation for a new assignment on Sunday for Speed Boat Beach – his debut on turf in the $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes at five furlongs at Santa Anita.
