ARCADIA, Calif. – Zellda, a 2-year-old filly out of famous 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, arrived at trainer John Shirreffs’s stable at Santa Anita in late September and is in early training.
Zellda, owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, has been jogging in recent days.
“She’s just getting used to it,” Shirreffs said of the filly’s new surroundings. “She’s learning her way around here.
“It’s fun to have her in the barn.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Bolo had a spring to remember and a summer to forget.
After missing all of 2018 because of injury, Bolo won the most prestigious race of his career in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on May 27 at Santa Anita, but had only one start at Del Mar, finishing eighth of 10 in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 18.
While the field for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will pick up a few starters this weekend, the race did lose a significant player when the connections of Hopeful winner Basin revealed their horse will miss the race and the remainder of the year.
Basin has an issue with his right hind ankle, according to Ryne Poncik, the son-in-law of Terry Green, whose Jackpot Farm owns Basin. Poncik said Basin will be getting 60 days off and be pointed to the series of 3-year preps at Oaklawn Park next year.
“It’s just bad timing,” Poncik said.
In 2001, the 2-year-old filly Tempera won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Belmont Park at 11-1 after a nine-week gap from her third in the Del Mar Debutante.
This year, Eoin Harty, who trained Tempera, is hoping to follow a similar plan with Fair Maiden in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 1. Fair Maiden was third in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine on Sept. 15. She will not race again until the Breeders’ Cup.
“With fillies on the turf, you can get away with a lot,” Harty said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The temperamental Paradise Woods is like a roller coaster. Sometimes she goes up, other times down.
Trainer John Shirreffs has the best seat on the ride, but all year an element of uncertainty has shadowed Paradise Woods. Sometimes she dazzles, other times she fizzles.
When she minds her manners, Paradise Woods makes it simple. Sunday at Santa Anita, she scored a solid, pace-pressing victory in the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes to emerge as the top California candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The West regional to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies was won last week by the race’s pro-tem favorite, Bast, and this weekend finalists will emerge from races in Kentucky and New York, with top contenders set to go in the Alcibiades on Friday at Keeneland and the Frizette on Sunday at Belmont Park.
MIAMI – Friday’s feature at Gulfstream Park West is a $45,000 optional-claiming dash carded at five furlongs on the turf for fillies and mares. The headliner lured a wide-open field of seven, led by the speedy Fallen Leaf, Catharsis, and Nikee Kan.
Fallen Leaf may be favored off a three-length victory in a race taken off the turf and moved to a sloppy main track on Aug. 29 at Gulfstream Park. The win was the first in just four starts this season for Fallen Leaf.
MIAMI – In Reality winner Chance It isn’t the only locally based 2-year-old who may have earned a trip to the Breeders’ Cup after winning a stakes last Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The connections of both Onyx, who captured the $75,000 Our Dear Peggy to remain undefeated on turf, and Graceful Kitten, who remained unbeaten after his victory in the $75,000 Armed Forces, also are strongly considering tossing their hats into the Breeders’ Cup ring for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and Juvenile Turf, respectively, on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.
A celebration of life for David Pettinger, the retired jockey whose brother Don Pettinger followed him into race riding, is scheduled for Saturday in Holly, Colo. David Pettinger died Sept. 22 in Eads, Colo. He was 66.
David Pettinger was a Holly native who launched his riding career in 1970 and went on to win more than 60 stakes, including the Grade 2 Cornhusker twice, with Win Stat and Hold Your Tricks. David Pettinger also was aboard Win Stat when he set a world record at Oaklawn. The jockey was a regular in the Midwest and was closely aligned with trainer Don Von Hemel.
Gold Standard made an impression in her stakes debut Sunday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks, when she finished second by a half-length to Lady Apple. Gold Standard dueled between horses for much of the race, and was coming back along the rail in the late stages. She had won three straight races leading up to the Remington Oaks.
