HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Free Like a Girl emerged from her runner-up finish in Saturday's Azeri Stakes in good order and was scheduled to ship to her new base of Evangeline Downs with the goal of returning to Oaklawn Park for the Apple Blossom, according to trainer Chasey Deville Pomier.
“She cooled out well, bucking and playing in the test barn, her normal self,” Deville Pomier said Sunday. “She cleaned up. Everything seems to be good.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Kenny McPeek’s canine best friend Sonny spent Sunday morning enjoying the spoils of Thorpedo Anna’s victory in the Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
The reigning Horse of the Year was an authoritative winner of Saturday’s race, storming home by 3 1/2 lengths to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 95 in her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. McPeek on Sunday morning said Thorpedo Anna emerged from the race in excellent condition and is to ship back to her Fair Grounds base early Monday.
Sierra Leone, the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and 3-year-old champion of 2024, will likely make his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 2, $500,000 New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds on March 22, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.
Brown, after having to scrap plans to run Sierra Leone in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 22 due to a foot abscess, had said he was pointing Sierra Leone to the Oaklawn Handicap on April 19. But the horse has come to hand quickly since resuming training following his foot issue.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - While Brown came up a bit short in the Tampa Bay Derby, he won two turf stakes on the card with Saffron Moon taking the Grade 2 Hillsborough for fillies and mares and Zulu Kingdom in the listed Columbia Stakes for 3-year-old males.
Saffron Moon won the Hillsborough by three-quarters of a length over Gimme a Nother, her second straight stakes win over the Tampa Bay course this winter. Saffron Moon earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure for both wins.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Mark Casse has done a terrific job keeping his two 3-year-old turf fillies Nitrogen and Vixen apart this winter and they have combined to win four stakes races. Now they are likely to wind up in the same races with both aiming at the Grade 2, $500,000 Appalachian Stakes on April 5 followed by the Grade 2, $600,000 Edgewood on May 2.
“Our hopes and plans were for them to meet there, that was one of the reasons we separated them early on,” said Casse, who trains both fillies for D J Stable. “[The Appalachian] is a huge race, it leads to the Edgewood.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. - When it comes time to sit down with his owners to discuss future plans for Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty, trainer Brian Lynch will have plenty of evidence to make his case for running him in the Grade 2, $600,000 Pat Day Mile instead of the $5 million Kentucky Derby at 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs on May 3.
But will it be enough to cure that sometimes dreaded disease known as Derby Fever?
Jockey C.J. McMahon was transported to a local hospital on Saturday in the aftermath of a spill in Oaklawn Park’s third race, in which two other riders and the three horses involved all appeared to have escaped serious injuries.
McMahon was awake and moving and complaining of back pain, said agent Anthony Martin, who was awaiting further updates. The stewards later received word McMahon had two fractured ribs.
The stakes program for the Belmont at Aqueduct spring/summer meet, to be conducted in three parts, will have a somewhat different look to it in 2025.
Despite the fact eight stakes were furloughed for this year - including the Grade 2 Brooklyn - there will be 55 stakes worth $17.25 million offered over 37 cards from May 1 through July 6 compared to 56 stakes worth $16.85 million in 2024.
Of those 37 racing programs, 28 will be held at Aqueduct and nine at Saratoga.
Four trainers based out of Penn National Race Course in Pennsylvania have been charged with multiple violations of a rule prohibiting intra-articular injections of corticosteroids within prescribed stand-down periods before races or workouts, according to records posted on the website of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit.
Every race fan has a favorite phrase made popular by track announcer Trevor Denman, who announced his retirement on Thursday from calling the action at the Del Mar summer meetings.
If your pick was “moving like a winner,” rest assured there would be a payoff.
Opening day at Del Mar each July had a common phrase to describe the start of the first race: “There’s the roar from the crowd.”
There always was a hearty cheer from an enthusiastic crowd.
