HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Agent Kiaran McLaughlin celebrated a “throwback” win of sorts last month when the rider he represents, Luis Saez, guided Bigwrigdude to a maiden victory Feb. 26 at Oaklawn. The horse is trained by Greg Burchell, who also co-bred and co-owns the son of Sticksstatelydude.
“That was fun,” McLaughlin said. “Greg and I go back over 50 years. We were best buddies at 10 years old. That’s how I got in the business. His dad owned horses.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Taken by the Wind, a multiple stakes winner who suffered her first career defeat when eighth in the Grade 3, $750,000 Honeybee earlier this month at Oaklawn, emerged from the race with a case of horse hiccups, according to her trainer, Kenny McPeek.
“She came out of the race with the thumps, which is kind of a rarity,” he said. “That was kind of a surprise to us. That’s an easy one to handle. She settled down pretty quickly after the race.”
McPeek said Taken by the Wind will remain on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Mark Casse has had three notable fillies shine over the Oaklawn meet, and Counting Stars, Search Party and French Friction are all being pointed to upcoming Kentucky Oaks preps.
Counting Stars ran in one earlier this month, when second in the Grade 3, $750,000 Honeybee on March 1 at Oaklawn. She finished three-quarters of a length behind Explora, who is arguably the early favorite for the Kentucky Oaks.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Luis Saez, who has been wintering at Oaklawn Park, will be based at Gulfstream Park beginning on Thursday, according to his agent, Kiaran McLaughlin.
Saez was based at Oaklawn for the first time this meet and ranked fourth in the current standings through Sunday. He has won 31 races from 167 starts, for mount earnings of $2.3 million.
Saez won local stakes races with Oscar’s Hope and Standoutsensation, and last week won two Ratings Handicaps aboard Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown and multiple stakes winner Asternia.
There is a carryover of $67,798 in the $2 pick six at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Stakes wins by Final Boss ($64.50) and British Isles ($16.40) in consecutive races on Saturday clinched the carryover.
Sunday’s carryover was announced with one race remaining on Saturday’s program.
Sunday’s pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific.
The pick six races on Sunday have fields of 7, 10, 7, 8, 7 and 9 before scratches, which will be announced on Sunday morning.
Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and its horsemen group are expecting to add bonuses for Florida-bred horses to an array of races at the track held later this year, according to officials.
Details of the plans have not yet been hashed out, according to Tom Cannell, the president of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, but the two groups expect to design the program to provide bonuses for Florida-breds “across-the-board.”
“We’ve got the money,” Cannell said on Friday. “We want to spend the money.”
A federal judge in an Illinois bankruptcy court on Wednesday approved motions that will allow Hawthorne Racecourse in Stickney to tap a line of credit to pay back wages to its employees and convert its racing surface from a Standardbred track to a Thoroughbred track, according to officials who attended the hearing.
WHO’S HOT
Commandment and Chief Wallabee threw it down in the Fountain of Youth and put their names atop the list of Derby contenders.
Commandment, who edged Chief Wallabee by a neck in the Fountain of Youth, won for the third straight time and both horses earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures (101-100). Commandment and Chief Wallabee, the latter making just his second career start in the Fountain of Youth, are now co-second choices on David Aragona’s line at 8-1. A rematch is likely in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, and won’t that be fun if it happens?
After some disappointing results in several points-scoring races, trainer Brad Cox started to get concerned about his prospects of participating in Kentucky Derby 152.
“You start worrying, how good’s your group?” said Cox, who watched horses such as Cannoneer, Confessional, Quiet Mischief, Rancho Santa Fe, and My World fail to make an impact in recent Derby preps. “You start getting a little concerned because it is important to me. . . . The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks mean a lot to me and our team.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The last time trainer Mark Glatt and his children saw his wife, their mother, was the evening of Feb. 11. Dena Glatt, a patient at USC Arcadia Hospital, was blowing kisses from her hospital bed.
Across the street at Santa Anita, Glatt’s 3-year-old colt So Happy was safely tucked away in his stall. So Happy had won his first two starts, including the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes a month earlier. Things were looking up.
