Chase the Chaos made trainer Ed Moger Jr. look like a sharp prognosticator when the gelding won his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s $101,350 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
In the days before the race, Moger described Chase the Chaos as “a really talented horse” who had shown improvement in day-to-day training through January, a fairly strong statement from the normally reserved trainer.
Upsets by Papi On Ice ($54.50) and Bells On Her Toes ($33.60) in back-to-back races Sunday at Aqueduct resulted in an early pick-5 carryover of $285,092 into Friday’s card. There is also a pick-6 carryover of $40,771.
Papi On Ice and Bells On Her Toes were the second-longest shots in their respective races and followed victories by Zeebar ($9.20), Hypnocurrency ($11.60) and Funny How ($12.60). There were no winning favorites in the early pick-5.
The early pick-5 is a $0.50 minimum wager.
Friday’s sequence has betting interests of 6,7,8,7 and 8.
Toxic Gray, a horse nobody seemingly wanted before he ever ran, seems to be drawing a bandwagon following his first two starts.
On Saturday at Aqueduct, Toxic Gray won a six-furlong maiden special weight race by a head over well-regarded first-time starter Everso Mischievous, who was sent off as the 3-5 favorite. It was 12 1/2 lengths back to third. Toxic Gray, a 3-year-old son of Verrazano, earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.
The connections of Drew’s Gold will resist any temptation to try and stretch their unbeaten 3-year-old out in distance for the time being and will point him toward the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore Stakes going seven furlongs at Aqueduct on April 8.
The Bay Shore is run on the same card as the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial run at 1 1/8 miles. There is also the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham going a one-turn mile on March 4.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Hit Show made a successful off-Broadway debut winning Saturday’s Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct and it likely earned him a return engagement to New York for the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial here on April 8, his connections said Sunday.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Litigate came out of his breakthrough victory in the Sam F. Davis in good order, trainer Todd Pletcher reported early Sunday, with a next start for the Blame colt still to be determined.
Pletcher extended his own record for most wins in the Grade 3 Sam Davis to seven when Litigate, ridden by Luis Saez, rolled to a convincing 1 1/4-length triumph in the $200,000 race on a rainy late Saturday afternoon at Tampa Bay Downs.
Trainer Brad Cox won one of the last 40-point Kentucky Derby qualifying races when Hit Show captured the Withers Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct, and Cox now has three chances to land the first 100-point Derby qualifying race, the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Joel Rosario will sweep into Oaklawn Park for mounts next Friday and Saturday.
Agent Ron Anderson said Rosario is coming in from Gulfstream Park because trainer Brad Cox has booked him to ride West Will Power in the Grade 3, $600,000 Razorback Handicap next Saturday, Feb. 18, at Oaklawn. Last fall, Rosario guided West Will Power to victory in the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland.
The District Court judge in a Louisville court who presided over a hearing last week involving the trainer Bob Baffert and Churchill Downs has admonished Baffert’s legal team in an official court document over accusations the attorneys made about improper communications between the judge and Churchill’s attorneys.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Folks get tired of the same-old-same-old, which is one reason the Kentucky Derby result last year was so refreshing. The connections of 80-1 winner Rich Strike were unknowns in racing, their stories a welcome change.
One can imagine how Derby fans, through the years, grew weary of hearing about Colonel Bradley, then Calumet Farm and the Jones Boys, then Lukas and Zito, and now Baffert and Pletcher. People do embrace the novelty of a Derby stranger, if only as a diversion from a worn-out script.
