CYPRESS, Calif. – Powerfulattraction, a debut winner in a five-furlong maiden special weight race for 2-year-old fillies at Los Alamitos on Saturday, will have her stakes debut in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at six furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 3.
Trainer Peter Eurton does not have many other options. The $200,000 Sorrento Stakes is the first of two lucrative stakes for 2-year-old fillies at the Del Mar summer meeting, followed by the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs on Aug. 31.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Queen Bee to You joined trainer Andrew Lerner’s stable in mid-June. By the end of the month, she had provided the 30-year-old trainer with his first stakes win.
Queen Bee to You recorded an upset victory in the $100,351 Bertrando Stakes for California-bred milers at Los Alamitos on Saturday, holding on by a nose over 16-1 Tule Fog. Queen Bee to You was the only filly or mare in a field of six.
“I knew she was sharp,” Lerner said. “She was on her toes. I knew she’d put in a good effort.”
CYPRESS, Calif. – Soi Phet, the popular 11-year-old multiple stakes winner, had his 64th and final start in the $100,351 Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos on Saturday.
There was not much for Soi Phet’s supporters to cheer. The gelding raced at the back of the field of six throughout the one-mile race and was never a factor, finishing last.
“Someone must have told him he was retired,” trainer Leonard Powell said after the race.
Soi Phet returned to the unsaddling area to a warm reception.
“I think the fans were happy to see him one more time,” Powell said.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Trainer William Morey was suspended 45 days and his assistant, Miguel Delgado, was given a 30-day ban on Saturday for violations of California Horse Racing Board rules related to the improper administration of a feed supplement in the hours before two horses were scheduled to start at Santa Anita on March 29.
The rulings were published on Saturday at Los Alamitos by Grant Baker, Luis Jauregui, and Kim Sawyer, the stewards at the Santa Anita meeting.
The penalties were announced even though Morey has apparently left racing.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Spinoff, who competed in two legs of the Triple Crown, will switch surfaces for his next start when he runs in next Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational at Belmont Park.
On Saturday morning, Spinoff put in his final breeze for the Belmont Derby when he worked a half-mile in 49.06 seconds over the Belmont turf. He worked in company with Social Paranoia, who will also represent Pletcher in the Belmont Derby. The two completed their final quarter in 23 seconds.
ELMONT, N.Y. – In an about face from a week ago, the New York Racing Association will not allow trainer Jerry Hollendorfer to run horses at its tracks under his name, the Hall of Fame trainer and his attorney told Daily Racing Form on Saturday.
The decision came a week after The Stronach Group announced it had banned Hollendorfer from stabling, training, or racing at its tracks after he had a fourth horse sustain a fatal breakdown during a six-month span.
Plus Que Parfait, winner of the Group 2 UAE Derby and the ninth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will return to the turf for next Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational, trainer Brendan Walsh confirmed Friday.
Plus Que Parfait has not run on the grass since he finished third over it in his career debut as a 2-year-old. Plus Que Parfait, who has not raced since the Kentucky Derby, has worked twice over the turf at Churchill and Walsh has been pleased with what he’s seen. The Belmont Derby is run at 1 1/4 miles.
Beginning with the Saratoga meet, which opens July 11, the New York Racing Association will charge a 1.5 percent fee on all claims, with that money going to Thoroughbred aftercare.
In addition, the existing owner’s contribution to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) of $5 per starter at a NYRA track will increase to $10.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Moro Said Ready became trainer J.R. Caldwell’s fourth 2-year-old winner of the Lone Star Park meet last Sunday when he won his maiden in the $65,000 Staunch Avenger division of the Texas Stallion Stakes.
The Staunch Avenger was the first 2-year-old stakes of the meet for colts and geldings. Caldwell’s other juvenile winners have come in maiden special weight races, starting with Midknightwar on May 25. Caldwell also won with Tap and Spin on May 27 and Tick Tack Mo on June 13.
