After finishing a half-length behind Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Secret Circle in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 7, Longview Drive emerged as a viable Kentucky Derby sleeper.
After disappointing as the favorite in the first, and slower, division of the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 20, Longview Drive became a forgotten commodity.
Flashy Dresser, the runaway winner of the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park last Saturday, along with Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Golden Ticket, Sunland Derby runner-up Isn’t He Clever, and Swale Stakes winner Trinniberg, on Monday were announced among the 20 late nominations to the Triple Crown, which brings the total number of Triple Crown nominations this year to 418.
The 20 late nominees are the most at that stage since 1993, when 25 were late nominees.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert had a heart attack early Monday morning in Dubai and was resting comfortably in a hospital there Monday evening after having stents inserted into two arteries, according to Bernie Schiappa, a co-owner of Game On Dude, who is scheduled to run on Saturday in the $10 million Dubai World Cup.
Baffert was feeling ill late Sunday night and into Monday morning, Schiappa said in a telephone call from Dubai.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Ramon Dominguez was honored at Santa Anita on Sunday as the latest recipient of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, a recognition that comes at a time when the champion rider is sidelined with a separated collarbone.
Dominguez, 35, said after the ceremony that he remains hopeful for a return to riding by April 7, the day of the Wood Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct. Dominguez suffered the injury at Aqueduct on March 18.
“I want to be back by Wood Day,” he said. “That will be three weeks from the time of the accident.”
Horses running on dirt surfaces were nearly twice as likely to suffer a fatal breakdown as a horse running on an artificial surface in 2011, according to data released on Thursday by the Jockey Club as part of an ongoing project to collect information on racing injuries at North American racetracks.
The fatality rate for horses running on traditional dirt surfaces was 2.07 per 1,000 starts during 2011, according to the data. The rate on artificial surfaces was 1.09 per 1,000 starts, an 89.9 percent difference. The rate for turf surfaces was 1.53 per 1,000 starts.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board has launched the lengthy procedure to approve rules for exchange betting, a process that may not be completed by July when supporters want to implement the bet at the Del Mar meeting.
Hansen will likely make his final Kentucky Derby prep in the Blue Grass rather than the Wood Memorial, his owner said Thursday. The news led trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to say Alpha will be shipped back to New York for the Wood rather than run in the Louisiana Derby.
Hansen’s owner and namesake, Dr. Kendall Hansen, said he probably won’t confirm the move until next week, but that “it’s very probable” the colt will make his next start in the $750,000 Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 14 rather than one week earlier in the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct as originally scheduled.
Mike Smith, the 46-year-old Hall of Fame jockey who is close to his 5,000th career win, says that with each new serious hurt, a rider develops fears.
“We’re born with fear,” he said. “There’s no getting away from it. If a rider is not nervous before a big race, then he’s not ready.”
