Silver Dust, who turns 6 on Jan. 1, and By My Standards, who will be a 4-year-old next year, are gearing up at Fair Grounds.
Silver Dust, who was second in the New Orleans Handicap (now called the New Orleans Classic) last March, won the Grade 3 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes in August and was second in the Grade 3 Lukas Classic in September, his most recent race. He’s logged three Fair Grounds works following a freshening, but won’t be ready to start until January, trainer Bret Calhoun said.
Belmont Stakes winner to Woodchopper Stakes starter – that’s not a route Triple Crown race winners typically travel, but that’s what’s on the agenda for Sir Winston.
Sir Winston won the Belmont by one length on June 8 and hasn’t started since, but he worked steadily at Casse Farm in Florida in October, November, and on Dec. 1, and posted a half-mile drill in 47.60 Dec. 8 at Fair Grounds, fastest of 94 works at the distance that morning.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Gulfstream Park stewards have handed down a five-day suspension to jockey Paco Lopez for careless riding aboard The Brother Slew, the winner in Sunday’s last race, the $300,000 Clasico del Caribe. The Brother Slew, who went postward at odds of 45-1, lugged in under right-hand pressure nearing the wire, putting runner-up Gran Omero in tight quarters and forcing him to steady sharply under jockey Javier Castellano. Following an inquiry and claim of foul by Castellano, the results stood as is.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saturday’s 63rd renewal of the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale Stakes will have a pretty big act to follow. Namely, the 62nd edition of the 1 1/8-mile Fort Lauderdale, which brought together a 13-horse field that included five Grade 1 or Group 1 winners including three horses exiting the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Turf six weeks earlier.
The $400,000 Springboard Mile, which is a points race for the Kentucky Derby, drew a full field of 12 horses when entries for the Remington Park fixture were taken Wednesday. The 2-year-old stakes anchors a 13-race card that closes out the meet on Sunday. There are a total of six stakes on the program. First post is 3 p.m. Central.
There will be an all-stakes pick four on races 10-13 and it will have a minimum guaranteed pool of $100,000, according to Matt Vance, vice president of racing operations for Remington. The Springboard Mile will go as race 12.
The three-time stakes winner Omaha Beach continues to record fast workouts in advance of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.
Tuesday at Santa Anita, Omaha Beach worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds. Trainer Richard Mandella clocked Omaha Beach in a slightly quicker 59 seconds.
“He’s doing terrific,” Mandella said.
Omaha Beach worked a half-mile in a quick 46.60 seconds at Del Mar on Nov. 23.
Umberto Rispoli, a former champion jockey in Italy who has ridden in Hong Kong in recent years, is relocating to Southern California.
Rispoli is scheduled to begin riding at Santa Anita on the opening day of the track’s winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.
Trainer Mac Robertson plans to have a division of horses at Sam Houston Race Park for the first time when the meet opens Jan. 10. Robertson said he was granted 16 stalls. He also will maintain a division at his longtime winter base of Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Sam Houston has been able to increase purses for the upcoming meet due to favorable legislation in Texas. It’s drawn a number of new barns.
Robertson said he will be starting his first horses at Sam Houston.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The $500,000 Great White Way Stakes, a division of the New York Stallion Series, drew a full field of 14 2-year-olds when entries were taken Wednesday.
The New York breeders in conjunction with the New York Racing Association raised the purses of the Great White Way and Sunday’s Fifth Avenue Stakes from $150,000 a year ago. Both races, to be run at seven furlongs, are restricted to progeny of stallions based in New York.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A hearing scheduled for Dec. 18 by the New York State Gaming Commission to discuss the possibility of revoking or suspending the license of trainer Linda Rice has been postponed until Feb. 26-27, according to a spokesperson for the commission. The commission is also holding March 3-4 as additional days for the hearing in case more time is needed.
