HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For those of you who may have thought International Star had been retired to stud or something, think again. The 7-year-old horse is in the Thursday entries at Gulfstream Park, nearly two years since his most recent start – and nearly four years since being scratched on the morning of the 2015 Kentucky Derby.
“Bout time we got him back,” trainer Mike Maker said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Attention jockey agents! Horse with more than $4 million in earnings seeking rider for $12 million race later this month. Send all inquiries to trainer Antonio Sano at Gulfstream Park West.
It is hard to imagine that finding a jockey for a horse with the résumé of 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Gunnevera for such a prestigious event as the upcoming Dubai World Cup would be much of an issue. But that’s the dilemma Sano finds himself trying to solve just 19 days out from the event.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Bill Mott wouldn’t have been able to wipe the smile off his face if he tried. The Hall of Fame trainer was absolutely beaming in the aftermath of the Tampa Bay Derby, ecstatic with the way Tacitus had just become his latest chance to win a Kentucky Derby.
“I’ve left out of Tampa too many times shaking my head,” Mott said Sunday, less than 24 hours after Tacitus rolled to victory in the annual showcase event at Tampa Bay Downs.
The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed as a lukewarm favorite over the Bob Baffert pair of Improbable and Game Winner after three days of betting into Pool 3 of the 2019 Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The pool opened Friday at noon Eastern and closed Sunday evening when coinciding with the only futures pool toward the 2019 Kentucky Oaks.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Do Share, the impressive winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap, and Vino Rosso, a determined winner of Saturday’s Stymie Stakes, could meet in the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 6.
Do Share took advantage of a wicked pace to score a decisive 6 1/2-length victory in the $200,000 Tom Fool. He ran six furlongs in 1:08.77 and earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Bob Baffert has been dieting. Not that he wanted to lose weight, but he said he’d lost five pounds in recent days from not eating while dealing with the stress of relocating horses from Santa Anita while still trying to make important races for a number of them.
Having secured only 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in winning Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park, Somelikeithotbrown is below the customary threshold of around 30 points that is typically required to gain entrance to the May 4 race, though he will receive a chance to add to his total in the weeks ahead.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Same time, next year.
In 2018, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin won the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct with Enticed. The horse would finish second in the Wood Memorial, but end up 14th in the Kentucky Derby and has not run since.
On Saturday McLaughlin again won the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct with Haikal. He hopes the similarities end there.
With his victory in the Gotham Haikal earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, more than enough to secure a spot in the starting gate for the $3 million race at Churchill Downs on May 4.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will implement an application system for workouts, create a new position for a Director of Equine Welfare, and allow owners and trainers to have full access to veterinary records of claimed or purchased horses as part of new policies to enhance safety this spring, the track announced on Friday.
The policies will be put in place later this month when racing resumes after a gap of more than 2 1/2 weeks. The main track is currently closed for inspection for the second time in as many weeks following 21 equine fatalities since late December.
CYPRESS, Calif. - Omaha Beach, the nine-length winner of a maiden race at Santa Anita on Feb. 9, is scheduled to have his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park on March 16.
What Omaha Beach displayed in a workout at Los Alamitos on Saturday left trainer Richard Mandella eager for the colt’s upcoming test. Working in company with stablemate Keystone Field, Omaha Beach zoomed six furlongs in 1:10.60 under jockey Flavien Prat.
