ARCADIA, Calif. – Three starts into his American career, Proud Pedro is showing the sort of ability that could lead to an appearance in a graded stakes at Del Mar in August.
Friday at Santa Anita, Proud Pedro starts against winners for the first time in an allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option at a mile on turf. Trainer Leonard Powell hopes Friday’s race will lead Proud Pedro to the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 4.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Summit of Speed program on June 29 figures to have a distinct local flavor. Although trainer Michael Stidham is stabled outside South Florida, he is considering shipping horses to town for the two main events on the card, the Grade 2 Princess Rooney and Grade 3 Smile Sprint.
Stidham said he is looking at the Princess Rooney with his lightly raced but steadily improving Saguaro Row and the six-furlong Smile for his sprint specialist Proforma. Both horses are stabled with Stidham at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Though trainer Mark Casse entered Wings of Dawn in Saturday’s $100,000 Wild Applause Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on turf, he is likely to scratch her and point to the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes on dirt June 29.
ARCADIA, Calif. – John Toffan, who co-owned Grade 1 winners such as Bien Bien, Came Home, and Free House in the 1990s and early 2000s, died after a lengthy illness Monday, according to his wife, Cheryl.
Toffan was 83. He was living in Hidden Hills, Calif.
John Toffan, who had a business background in oil exploration and gold mining, rose to prominence in racing with the success of a stable he operated with Trudy McCaffery, his partner at the time. They won such races as the Santa Anita Derby with Free House in 1997 and Came Home in 2002.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Sir Winston, the Belmont Stakes winner, will join Country House, the Kentucky Derby winner, on the sidelines at least through the major races in the 3-year-old division this summer.
Trainer Mark Casse said Sir Winston is dealing with an injury to his left front ankle and will be out of training for a little while. Shortly after the Belmont Stakes, Casse brought Sir Winston to his farm in Ocala, Fla., where he is simply walking.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mia Mischief, a last-out winner of the Grade 1 Humana Distaff on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill, is among a short field of filly and mare sprinters expected for the highlight of the coming weekend at Churchill Downs, the $120,000 Roxelana on Saturday.
Others expected for the six-furlong race are Honey Bunny and Astrollinthepark, the one-two finishers in the Grade 3 Winning Colors here May 25. Honey Bunny, a 5-year-old mare trained by John Ortiz, is riding a five-race win streak.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Covfefe is scheduled to breeze again this weekend at Churchill, marking her fourth work since the 3-year-old filly set a track record for six furlongs (1:07.70) in her last start, the May 17 Miss Preakness at Pimlico.
Trainer Brad Cox said Wednesday he is still unsure whether Covfefe will run in the July 5 Victory Ride at Belmont Park or train straight into the Grade 1 Test on Aug. 3 at Saratoga. Cox also has the undefeated Break Even pointing to the Test.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Joe Woodard just couldn’t stay away.
“The horses, they get in your blood,” said Woodard, who recently restarted a small public stable at the High Pointe training center near LaGrange, Ky., after being out of racing for more than two years. “It doesn’t go away. You can ignore it all you want, but it’s still there.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Owner-trainer Angus Buntain is taking a shot with Krachenwagen in next Saturday’s $1 million Queen’s Plate, but he believes the oddly named gelding can pick up some of the pieces in the prestigious event for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
Buntain said Krachenwagen didn’t have the best of trips in the nine-furlong Plate Trial Stakes on June 8, when he rallied from eighth to finish fifth – 2 3/4 lengths behind victorious Pay for Peace – under Jeffrey Alderson.
ELMONT, N.Y. – In an era of instant gratification, trainer Jimmy Jerkens still likes the old-school approach to developing horses.
But now that Timber Ghost and Preservationist have gone through their conditions, both are likely headed to stakes company for their next start. Timber Ghost, who won a third-level allowance race at Belmont Park on Sunday, is a candidate for the $100,000 State Dinner Stakes on July 7, closing day of the Belmont meet.
