OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Shotski, who won the Grade 2 Remsen here on Dec. 7, is “90 percent” certain to run in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes here on Feb. 1, trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer said Friday.
O’Dwyer said Shotski would also be nominated to the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds on Jan. 18, but “the Withers is highest on the list.”
“Don’t have to ship as far,” O’Dwyer said. “He’s been training at Laurel. We can take advantage of a course and distance we know he likes. Why not?”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Joe Lee, who has worked as Kiaran McLaughlin’s Belmont Park-based assistant for the last five years, will open up a public stable.
Lee, 57, will be getting a few horses who previously raced under McLaughlin’s name, including Spice Road, Holland Park, Flush, Spring Drama, Cairo Queen, and Larceny. It is likely, though not definite, that the New York-bred Pauseforthecause will stay with Lee following her run in Saturday’s La Verdad Stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. – John Wilson, a longtime private clocker in Southern California who helped bring daily clocking reports to the public four decades ago via the ontrack tip sheet Baedeker’s Guide, died unexpectedly last week at age 74.
Wilson was known for his unfailing integrity, sense of humor, and devotion to his only child, a daughter, Mia, whom he raised as a single parent after his marriage dissolved.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After a sustained period of wet weather in South Florida, there’s been nothing but blue skies here recently – and so it goes for the foreseeable future. Turf races will remain on turf, and that’s good news for the Sunday co-features, a pair of $52,000 dashes with virtually identical conditions.
Both are second-level allowances with a $62,500 claiming option, with the only difference being that race 7 is for older males and race 9 for older females. Both are part of the Rainbow 6, which spans races 5-10 on a card that starts at 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Bodexpress on Friday turned in the first of his three scheduled works leading up to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park, going six furlongs from the five-eighths pole in 1:14 at Gulfstream Park West.
Bodexpress closed out his whirlwind 3-year-old campaign by finishing third as the even-money favorite in the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday here on Dec. 14, tiring late after setting a blistering early pace. The outing was his first locally since finishing second in the Grade 1 Florida Derby as a maiden eight months earlier.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The start of a new year is a time to look forward, not back – and doesn’t Dale Romans know it.
Romans, back at Gulfstream Park for another winter away from his Kentucky home, is over the bitter disappointment of the Breeders’ Cup and harbors every intention of being front and center at the May 2 Kentucky Derby.
“Everything we’re doing down here is with the Derby in mind,” he said.
Horseplayers have long complained about high takeout rates at Parx Racing. As of Jan. 1, the Bensalem, Pa., track has given them some relief.
Starting last Wednesday, Parx lowered its takeout on trifectas and superfectas from 30 percent to 25 percent. The surcharge on picks threes and pick fours was reduced from 26 percent to 25 percent.
The takeout on win, place, and show wagers remains at 17 percent. Exactas and daily doubles stay at 20 percent.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who relocated from Hong Kong to California last month, recorded his first win in the United States in Wednesday’s 10th race at Santa Anita on 4-1 Musawaat.
Musawaat was Rispoli’s eighth mount since the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on Dec. 28. On the weekend of Dec. 28-29, Rispoli had three second-place finishes in stakes, including Originaire in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile.
“With a win, I’ll have a little better sleep,” he said, while walking back to the jockeys’ room. “I hope it’s the first of many.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer John Sadler has made tentative plans for Gift Box and Higher Power, his top older horses, and may start both away from California in coming months.
Higher Power is a candidate for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25, a $3 million race run at 1 1/8 miles. Higher Power has not raced since he finished third by 8 1/2 lengths to Vino Rosso in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. Earlier in 2019, Higher Power won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August.
