Lady Apple helped lift Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen to one of his winningest days in racing Sunday when she captured the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks. It was the sixth of Asmussen’s seven wins on the card, tying his personal record for a single program. He first won seven races on a card on July 14, 2002, at Lone Star Park.
Imperial Hint earned himself yet another trip to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with his hard-fought victory over Firenze Fire in Saturday’s Grade 1 Vosburgh.
But Imperial Hint may not be the only horse going back to the Sprint for a third straight year. On Friday, Whitmore will try to earn his way back to the race for the third straight time when he faces 10 rivals in the Grade 2 Phoenix at Keeneland, which awards the winner a berth in the Sprint.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – An outstanding renewal of the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes is expected Sunday, with Elate sure to be favored in a lineup to include Blue Prize, She’s a Julie, Dunbar Road, and a few more fillies and mares.
Secondary features on the Sunday card are the Grade 3 Bourbon and the Indian Summer. All three races are Win and You’re In events toward the Breeders’ Cup. Sunday entries were to be drawn Thursday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rusty Arnold says he doesn’t have much to run this fall at Keeneland, which is somewhat ironic. Arnold is closely identified with his hometown track, and he’s enjoying his best year yet in a remarkable training career dating to his late teens.
“I do like Keeneland,” quipped Arnold, 64, “but I also like the money they were giving away last month at Kentucky Downs and Churchill Downs.”
Preakness Stakes winner War of Will is under consideration for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita, trainer Mark Casse said Monday.
“We’re going to look at the Dirt Mile and also the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” he said. “We’re going to point toward both, just kind of see how things go.”
McKinzie will have a new rider in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.
Trainer Bob Baffert on Tuesday said that he has decided to make a switch from Mike Smith, who has ridden McKinzie in all 13 of his career starts. This follows a second-place finish as the odds-on favorite in the Awesome Again Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, the colt's fourth second-place finish this year in six starts.
Totally Boss punched his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint by winning the Grade 3 Runhappy Turf Sprint on Sept. 7 at Kentucky Downs, a Win and You’re In event.
The gelding had previously won the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint Stakes on Aug. 4 at Ellis Park, putting himself in line for a $1 million bonus if he could add wins in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes on Oct. 4 at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.
The most important cluster of preps toward the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint will come within a span of just a few hours this Sunday. The Futurity at Belmont, the Indian Summer at Keeneland, and the Speakeasy at Santa Anita figure to significantly impact the composition of the field.
A pair of key preps for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint will be run Saturday and will go a long way in determining just who the top challengers will be to the likely favorites Covfefe and Come Dancing.
