Citing a lack of available runners, Golden Gate Fields has canceled racing this Friday and on May 24, the track’s racing office announced midday on Sunday.
The track has lost four days of racing this spring because of insufficient entries in advance of its permanent closure on June 9. Racing was not held on April 19 or May 1 because of a lack of entries.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - On Saturday, Antiquarian gave trainer Todd Pletcher his fifth victory in the Peter Pan Stakes. In four weeks, Antiquarian will try to give Pletcher his fifth victory in the Belmont Stakes.
None of Pletcher’s four previous Peter Pan winners was successful in the Belmont. Of the three who ran back in the Belmont, Sunriver in 2004 managed to finish third. In 2014, the Pletcher-trained Commissioner, who finished second in the Peter Pan to Tonalist, came back to run second, beaten a nose, by Tonalist in the Belmont.
Catching Freedom, the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner who finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby on May 4, will make his next start in Saturday’s $2 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday.
Cox, who typically doesn’t run his Derby starters back in the Preakness, said Catching Freedom came out of the Derby in good shape and that he has been happy with the way the horse has galloped this week at Churchill Downs. The horse will ship to Baltimore by van following training on Monday.
Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan will run in the $2 million Preakness Stakes next Saturday at Pimlico, trainer Ken McPeek confirmed Saturday.
Mystik Dan was scheduled to arrive at Pimlico by mid-afternoon Sunday after leaving Churchill Downs by van at 5 a.m. Sunday, McPeek said. Mystik Dan will be accompanied on the trip by fellow 3-year-old Gould’s Gold, who is being pointed to the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission fined jockey Tyler Gaffalione $2,500 “for touching a rival with his left hand” near the finish of the Kentucky Derby, according to a ruling posted on the KHRC’s website Friday afternoon.
Muth and Imagination, potentially the top two betting favorites for the $2 million Preakness Stakes on May 18, put in their final workouts for the race Friday at Santa Anita going six furlongs in company in 1:11.80, according to the Santa Anita clockers.
Bob Baffert, the trainer of both horses, said the two were basically together from the time the work began at the five-furlong pole. The two horses also worked together last Saturday, covering the same distance in 1:11.40.
Tuscan Gold, the third-place finisher in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, was to scratch from Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct and will run in the $2 million Preakness Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico, trainer Chad Brown said Thursday.
Tyler Gaffalione will ride Tuscan Gold in the Preakness.
Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan returned to the track Wednesday at Churchill Downs, jogging a mile and galloping a mile, but trainer Kenny McPeek reiterated his stance that he will wait several more days before deciding whether or not to send him to Baltimore for the $2 million Preakness on May 18.
McPeek said Mystik Dan walked for three days before returning to the track, which typically is what McPeek does with his horses after a race. McPeek said “all good” when asked how Mystik Dan appears to be doing. “He’s staying in the feed tub, nothing’s out of place.”
Mugatu, who entered the Kentucky Derby but failed to draw in from the also-eligible list, will make his next start in the $2 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 18, trainer Jeff Engler said Tuesday afternoon. Joe Bravo will ride.
