Trainer Rick Dutrow has obviously been pleased with what he’s seen from Captain Cook on the racetrack, the 3-year-old having won both of his starts for him, including the Withers Stakes two weeks ago.
Dutrow is only just now starting to like what he’s seeing from Captain Cook at the barn.
Hypnus, who announced his presence with an eye-catching debut maiden route win Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds, remains a candidate for the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
The colt’s trainer, Kenny McPeek, told Daily Racing Form he was considering the Risen Star Stakes, the Rebel, and a first-level allowance for Hypnus, a son of Into Mischief and Dream Tree who made short work of eight rivals last month while earning an 85 Beyer Speed Figure.
Apprentice jockey Manny Americano has been suspended three days, from Feb. 21-23, for an infraction for excessive use of the whip in the third race at Santa Anita last Friday.
Americano, 24, was cited for excessive use of the whip for the third time in less than three months, having been penalized for similar infractions at Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Nov. 21 and at Pleasanton in Northern California on Nov. 23.
In Friday’s third race, Americano struck eventual fourth-place finisher Winds of Freedom seven times, once more than the permitted limit, according to the ruling.
California-based trainer Peter Miller has been suspended 15 days and fined $2,500 after one of his starters tested positive for the analgesic tramadol at Del Mar last August.
The violation was found in a post-race test taken from Forgiving Spirit, who finished third in a turf sprint for $28,000 to $32,000 claimers, but was disqualified and placed sixth for causing interference.
Miller was also fined $2,500 for the infraction, according to the national Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit.
Derby Watch member Coal Battle pulled a page out of the Mystik Dan playbook last month when he traveled from his Arkansas base to Louisiana to maintain an uninterrupted training schedule ahead of a major 3-year-old prep at Oaklawn Park.
Mystik Dan traveled from Oaklawn to Fair Grounds in January 2024 just before a major snowstorm hit Arkansas and disrupted training at Oaklawn. He logged three works in Louisiana and returned to win the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn and eventually the Kentucky Derby.
Santa Anita-based Bullard is headed to Oaklawn for the Rebel, and armchair handicappers might view his past performances and conclude he is merely a late-running sprinter. His first two starts were last-to-first sprint wins, including the Grade 3 Bob Hope on Nov. 17 at Del Mar, followed by an even-paced third in the seven-furlong San Vicente on Jan. 4 at Santa Anita.
“I sprinted him [again in the San Vicente] strictly because I didn’t want to wait another month to run him,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “The winner of the San Vicente [Barnes] is a fast horse.”
Plans are fluid for California 3-year-olds, but well-seasoned Citizen Bull could start just once more before the Kentucky Derby, while lightly raced Barnes and Rodriguez have time for two more starts beginning with the Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn Park or Grade 2 San Felipe on March 1 at Santa Anita. Citizen Bull, Barnes, and Rodriguez are trained by Bob Baffert.
“I might wait for the Santa Anita Derby with” Citizen Bull, Baffert said last weekend.
The 3-year-old filly Ballerina d’Oro won’t start Saturday at Fair Grounds in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Her trainer, Chad Brown, said Ballerina d’Oro developed a fever shortly before she was to have shipped from the Payson Park training center in Florida earlier this week.
Quickick, a Saratoga maiden winner before finishing second in the Grade 1 Alcibiades and third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, was not quite ready for Saturday’s Rachel Alexandra Stakes and instead will make her 3-year-old debut on Feb. 22 in the Honeybee at Oaklawn.
“Our goal was to run [in the Rachel Alexandra], but I felt like we needed one more work to really be confident in her fitness,” trainer Tom Amoss said.
Disco Time, 3 for 3 to start his career and a late-rallying winner last month in the Lecomte, has been notably absent from the Fair Grounds work tab since that race and is not entered in Saturday's Risen Star Stakes.
“He’s fine. We just had a little setback with him,” said Brad Cox, who trains Disco Time for his breeder, Juddmonte.
Disco Time won a pair of one-turn races in Kentucky before closing from 10th to win the Lecomte with a modest 77 Beyer. Cox said the colt is in training and will be pointed toward the Louisiana Derby, Arkansas Derby, or Blue Grass.
