LEXINGTON, Ky. – Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano enjoyed such a fast start to the Keeneland spring meet in April that he nearly won the riding title with 14 winners, even after missing the last eight dates.
Well, Castellano is at it again. Through the opening weekend, he leads all jockeys with seven wins and $904,654 in mount earnings.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Brendan Walsh was making his way through the Keeneland crowd Sunday, minutes after Vitalogy had come up a neck shy of catching Peace Achieved in the Dixiana Bourbon Stakes.
He stopped to give a weary smile and a mild complaint.
“Nearly a perfect weekend,” said Walsh, the trainer of Vitalogy.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown still hasn’t decided in which Breeders’ Cup race he plans to run Bricks and Mortar. If he elects for the Mile, one of the main competitors could come from Brown’s own barn.
Uni, who set a course record winning Saturday’s Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland – she ran a mile in 1:32.87 – is likely to be supplemented to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile, co-owner Michael Dubb said Sunday at Belmont Park. The supplemental fee would be $100,000 according to a Breeders’ Cup spokesperson.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A day after Omaha Beach scored a hard-fought win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, trainer Richard Mandella was contemplating the 3-year-old colt’s next start with the Breeders’ Cup Sprint here on Nov. 2 at the fore of the discussion.
In his first start since a win in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in April, Omaha Beach rallied through the stretch to catch the graded sprint stakes winner Shancelot in the final strides.
Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park would be deeded to government entities in Maryland and redeveloped as new racing centers under a plan proffered by the track’s owners, the state’s horsemen, and various government officials, the coalition supporting the plan announced on Saturday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Stella d’Oro, a winner in Ireland and the United States in his brief career, was euthanized after suffering an injury to his right foreleg during the fourth race at Keeneland on Friday, the track’s opening day.
Stella d’Oro, who was making his third start in the United States after starting his career in Ireland last summer, “took a bad step” coming out of the second turn in the 1 1/2-mile turf race, according to jockey Joel Rosario who immediately stopped on the horse and dismounted while holding the horse’s reins until track personnel could arrive to assist.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The multiple stakes winner Sharp Samurai has been turned out until early 2020, trainer Mark Glatt said on Friday.
Sharp Samurai was second in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf on Aug. 18. He had one workout in September before the decision was made to give the 5-year-old gelding a rest.
“He had some things that were nagging at him and we thought this would be a good time,” Glatt said. “He’ll be out until the first of the year.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mitole, widely regarded as the leading contender for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 2, had his first major exercise at Santa Anita on Friday.
Mitole worked an easy half-mile in 50.60 seconds with minimal urging in the final furlong.
“That’s about as slow as you can go with him,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “It was his first time over a new track.”
Mitole, a 4-year-old colt owned by William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, galloped out five furlongs in 1:04, Blasi said.
The Saddling Paddock Chalet, a temporary structure overlooking the paddock from the parking lot side of the grandstand, has been reinstalled at Keeneland and will be in place for the next three years during the September sale, the fall meet, and the November sale, Bob Elliston, the track’s vice president of racing, said on Friday, opening day at the track. That will include the 2020 Breeders’ Cup.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Twelve 3-year-old turf fillies have been invited to the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, which will be run next Saturday as the highlight of the coming weekend at Keeneland.
Chad Brown has three of the invitees, all of whom will be among the favorites for the 36th running of the 1 1/8-mile QE II, the sixth and last Grade 1 of the fall meet. The Brown fillies are Cafe Americano, Cambier Parc, and Regal Glory.
