HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The millionaire Free Like a Girl could be making a return trip to Oaklawn Park next month for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap.
Trainer Chasey Deville-Pomier said the Louisiana-bred is under consideration for the race following her allowance win over the local track Friday. She liked how Free Like a Girl had emerged from the race as of Saturday morning and said she was to ship to Evangeline Downs on Sunday.
Locked, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity last fall, is off the Triple Crown trail due to an injury to his left knee, Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which co-owns the horse with Walmac Farm, said Friday afternoon.
“Locked frayed a tiny part of a ligament in the upper part of his left knee,” Wellman said Friday.
Wellman said Locked will not undergo any surgery and that it will just take time for the ligament to heal. Wellman is hopeful Locked could be back for a late summer or fall campaign.
Trainer George “Rusty” Arnold began serving a seven-day suspension on Friday after one of his horses tested positive for Tramadol, a painkiller used in a variety of human medications, according to the trainer and records from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit.
The California Horse Racing Board has agreed to order the disqualification of 2018 Horse of the Year Justify from the 2018 Santa Anita Derby and pay $300,000 to the owner of the second-place finisher in the race, Bolt d’Oro, under a settlement reached earlier this week.
The settlement will require the redistribution of the Santa Anita Derby’s $1 million purse. Justify earned $600,000 for his dominating three-length win in the race but will now be placed last. Bolt d’Oro, owned by Mick Ruis, who earned $200,000 for his second-place finish, will be elevated to first.
Jose Francisco D’Angelo is winning races. Lots of races. He would like to be able to win more of the better races.
That seems to be on the horizon.
Through Tuesday, D’Angelo has 33 wins this year, which ties him for seventh in the nation. He ranks second in wins at Tampa Bay Downs, fourth at Gulfstream Park.
Larry Lederman, a track announcer for both harness and Thoroughbred racing, died on Tuesday at his home in East Windsor, N.J., at the age of 67, according to friends. Lederman was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011, and his death was related to the cancer.
WHO’S HOT
There’s a new kid in town. Deterministic, off nearly seven months, scored a decisive comeback victory in the Grace 3 Gotham Stakes on March 2 at Aqueduct to emerge as the newest addition to Derby Watch. Deterministic, 2 for 2, opens as 12-1 third choice by linemaker David Aragona.
Deterministic defeated Just a Touch by two lengths in the Gotham, a one-turn mile that was run over a sloppy track. Just a Touch, also making just his second career start, ran well. Aragona lowered his price from 30-1 to 20-1.
Total handle on the Sunday card at Santa Anita that featured the Santa Anita Handicap and several supporting stakes was 20.8 percent lower than the Santa Anita Handicap card last year, when it was held on a Saturday and had two additional races, according to an analysis of charts of the races.
