Though few 3-year-olds transition successfully from maiden victory to Grade 1, few have as much natural ability and pedigree power as Baeza. The well-bred colt’s dominating maiden route victory Feb. 14 at Santa Anita stamps him as a legitimate contender in the Santa Anita Derby on April 5.
WHO’S HOT
Magnitude was hot, then not. Magnitude crushed the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds by nearly 10 lengths and would have been favored this week on the Daily Racing Form Derby Watch Top 20. But days after his romping victory, Magnitude was off the trail. Trainer Steve Asmussen told DRF reporter Marcus Hersh the colt was to undergo surgery for a bone chip in his left ankle.
A group of racing industry participants have formed a group to lobby against a bill that would allow Gulfstream Park to decouple its racing and casino licenses, an effort that has met steep resistance in the training and breeding communities across the U.S.
The question of whether Magnitude can duplicate his brilliant performance in the Risen Star Stakes will not be answered for a while. Magnitude has been diagnosed with a bone chip in his left ankle and will have surgery to remove the chip Wednesday, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday morning.
Asmussen said Magnitude was being shipped to Kentucky, where Dr. Larry Bramlage will perform the surgery. A timeframe for Magnitude’s return to action won’t be established until after Bramlage can perform a post-surgical assessment.
Volponi, the upset winner of the 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic, has died in Korea at age 27.
Volponi, by Cryptoclearance, resided in Korea since moving there to continue his stallion career in the 2006 season. Korea Racing Authority records show that he died last Friday. A cause of death was not listed.
Vassimo, an aspiring Kentucky Derby candidate trained by Todd Pletcher who has been entered in this weekend’s Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, tested positive for a regulated medication, betamethasone, after winning the first start of his career late last year, according to records posted by the Horseracing Integrity and Wagering Unit (HIWU) on Wednesday afternoon.
In 1998, Bill Knauf went straight from the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program to Monmouth Park in New Jersey. For the next 26 years, he steadily climbed the ladder, rising eventually to the track’s vice president of business development.
A dozen Quarter Horses tested positive for the banned medication carmoterol in major stakes at The Downs at Albuquerque last September, the New Mexico State Racing Commission announced in a press conference on Wednesday.
The 12 horses that tested positive – including Hezgothelook Z, the winner of the $3 million All American Futurity – earned $2,900,761 in four races on Sept. 2. All are trained by Toby Keeton and Heath Taylor, who were summarily suspended on Wednesday by the New Mexico commission for the positives.
Brendan Walsh’s first training job came about 43 years ago. A horse-crazy kid growing up on a farm in Ireland that raised cattle and grew crops, 8-year-old Walsh received as a gift from his father a pony. The creature, unfortunately, as Walsh once described him, was a rogue. A couple years and many challenging lessons later, Walsh had brought the pony to heel.
WHO’S HOT
Sand Devil defeated just four New York-breds in the Damon Runyon Stakes last Saturday at Aqueduct, but the 3-for-3 colt was fast and game. Sand Devil is the only new face this week on the Derby Watch Top 20. Daily Racing Form linemaker David Aragona opens him at 40-1, replacing Poster.
