Mon, 08/19/2019 - 15:50

Personal Ensign top two solid in final works

Barbara D. Livingston
Elate wrapped up her Personal Ensign prep with a half-mile work at Saratoga on Sunday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Midnight Bisou, leader of the older female dirt division, and the multiple graded stakes winner Elate have put in their final workouts in preparation for a showdown in Saturday’s Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign at Saratoga.

On Monday, Midnight Bisou worked a half-mile in 49.79 seconds over the Oklahoma training track, which was rated good. Midnight Bisou went her first quarter in 25.70 and her second quarter in 24.09. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.67.

“She moved so pretty this morning,” trainer Steve Asmussen said.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 15:20

For Farish, two in Travers a double honor

Barbara D. Livingston
Code of Honor works four furlongs in 49.49 seconds over the Oklahoma training track on Monday morning.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – William Farish and his family will be in Saratoga this week to watch two colts he owns participate in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes. It was not supposed to be that way.

Farish put both Code of Honor and Highest Honors through the auction ring as yearlings at Keeneland in September 2017, but neither horse brought the reserve placed on them. The bidding on Code of Honor, a son of first-year stallion Noble Mission, topped out at $70,000. Meanwhile, Highest Honors, a son of the hot stallion Tapit, brought a last bid of $750,000.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 14:36

Mo See Cal well spotted in optional claimer

Benoit Photo
Show It N Moe It gets some class relief in Thursday's allowance feature at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif. – One of the best plays at Del Mar for years has been a horse turning back from a two-turn race to seven furlongs, and that’s among the numerous reasons Mo See Cal stands a strong chance to take down Thursday’s feature race, a seven-furlong optional claimer for older females.

Mo See Cal came off a six-month layoff Aug. 9 and turned in a terrific effort in the one-mile Solana Beach Stakes on the turf. She set a sharp pace in that stakes for California-breds and only got caught in the waning strides, finishing fourth while beaten just a half-length for it all.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 14:16

Shancelot sharp in final work for Jerkens

Tim Whitaker
Shancelot comes into the H. Allen Jerkens off a blockbuster performance in the Amsterdam on July 28.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – While the Travers is obviously the highlight on Saturday’s card, the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens figures to draw plenty of attention as well with the return of Shancelot off his memorable performance here four weeks ago in the Grade 2 Amsterdam.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 14:00

King Jack putting record on the line in Shared Belief

Emily Shields
King Jack is 2 for 2 heading into Sunday's Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif. – King Jack had been under consideration for the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on Saturday at Saratoga, but he will stay at Del Mar for the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes on Sunday.

King Jack is 2 for 2, with a maiden win and a first-level allowance to his credit. Dan Ward, the assistant to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer who was the trainer of record for King Jack’s allowance victory at Del Mar on July 17, said respect for Amsterdam winner Shancealot was among the reasons to stay home for now.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 14:00

Rainbow 6 likely won't be forced out until Sept. 29

Lauren King/Coglianese Photos
Chance It pulled clear to a 3 1/4-length victory in Saturday's Florida Sire Stakes Dr. Fager division.

Gulfstream Park officials have made no plans for a mandatory disbursement of another growing Rainbow 6 jackpot, saying they probably will wait until the last day of the current summer meet, Sept. 29, for a so-called “force-out.”

The Rainbow 6 has not been emptied by a solo winning ticket since July 6, a span of 26 racing days. Heading into a 10-race card Thursday, the pool stands at $763,478.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 13:56

Catalina Cruiser staying home for Pat O'Brien

Emily Shields
Catalina Cruiser scores a workmanlike one-length victory in the San Diego Handicap.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Catalina Cruiser will remain at Del Mar to defend his title in the Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes on Saturday, with trainer John Sadler electing that spot instead of the Grade 1 Forego the same day at Saratoga. Both races are at seven furlongs.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 13:56

Second time the charm for Ginobili

Emily Shields
Ginobili won his maiden at second asking on Saturday at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The 2-year-old colt Ginobili left trainer Richard Baltas stunned when he finished a well-beaten fourth at 2-1 in a maiden special weight race at Los Alamitos on July 14.

“I didn’t think I could be that wrong about a horse,” Baltas said.

For Ginobili’s second start at Del Mar on Saturday, Baltas changed the colt’s bit. Instead of stalking the pace as he did in his debut, Ginobili took the lead at the start under jockey Florent Geroux and won the six-furlong race by 2 1/2 lengths in a 19-1 upset.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 13:56

Del Mar Handicap winner Acclimate has come a long way in a year

DEL MAR, Calif. – Less than a year after he won a $20,000 claimer for maidens at Los Alamitos, Acclimate is bound for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 as a multiple graded stakes winner on turf.

Saturday at Del Mar, Acclimate won the richest race of his career in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap, leading throughout the $250,702 race at 1 3/8 miles on turf. As the winner of the Del Mar Handicap, Acclimate received a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles.

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 13:16

Addition of Mucho Gusto brings expected Travers field to 12

Benoit Photo
Mucho Gusto wins the Affirmed Stakes on Sunday - the first time he has won stakes in consecutive races.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bob Baffert will have a horse in the Runhappy Travers after all.

Mucho Gusto, runner-up to Maximum Security in last month’s Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, worked so well Monday morning at Del Mar that Baffert has elected to put him on a plane Tuesday bound for New York and Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga. Baffert had been pointing Mucho Gusto to the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing on Sept. 21.