HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Some people might have been troubled by Signalman’s seventh-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, but his trainer Ken McPeek wasn’t one of them.
McPeek couldn’t have been more upbeat or confident in his Grade 2-winning Kentucky Derby hopeful when looking back on the effort the following day.
Final pre-race breezes were recorded over the weekend by prospective starters in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, most notably by Win Win Win going a bullet half-mile Sunday morning in 47 seconds at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.
At least 10 3-year-olds are expected Saturday for the Tampa Bay Derby. Win Win Win, who set the track record for seven furlongs in his most recent start, will have Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time when he stretches out to 1 1/16 miles in the $400,000 race. Trainer Mike Trombetta is scheduled to arrive Thursday evening from his Maryland base.
Trainer Hugh Robertson had a stroke last week because of a fully blocked carotid artery, but Robertson, reached by phone Monday morning, said he’s regaining his health.
Robertson was at his Fair Grounds barn before training hours when people around him noticed a problem.
“Luckily they caught it early. No paralysis,” Robertson said. “They went in and cleaned it out, put a stent in. Other than being a little weak, I’m not in too bad a shape. I haven’t been back to the barn yet, but I might go tomorrow afternoon.”
Dream Maker had his final work on Saturday at Fair Grounds for the Tampa Bay Derby, while stablemate War of Will had his first work for the Louisiana Derby.
War of Will, winner of the Lecomte and Risen Star stakes at this meet and the near-certain Louisiana Derby favorite, was merely in maintenance mode, but Dream Maker worked in company, putting the finishing touches on his preparation for the March 9 Tampa Bay Derby. Dream Maker, with Florent Geroux up, was timed in 49 seconds for a half-mile over a track rated good.
Champion filly Monomoy Girl had her third work of the year Sunday at Fair Grounds, going a half-mile in 49 seconds, but while Monomoy Girl is coming around nicely toward her 4-year-old debut, trainer Brad Cox is in no hurry to pinpoint where that will come.
“I don’t want to feel like I have to have her at her very best in mid-April; I want to have her at her best for the Breeders’ Cup,” Cox said Sunday. “I’m not going to put her feet to the fire first race of the year. I’m not going to train her like that.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Alexis Delgado won quite a few stakes in his native Venezuela, but they were nothing to compare with Saturday’s Davona Dale victory at Gulfstream Park.
“This is definitely the peak of my career,” Delgado said early Monday with his friend, the retired Hall of Fame jockey Jose Santos, translating his Spanish. “I could not be more happy.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Carla Gaines has been fined $1,500 after three of her horses were treated with the ulcer medication omeprazole on the morning of scheduled starts on Jan. 11 at Santa Anita, according to a ruling published on Sunday.
Omeprazole is commonly known as Gastrogard. Lucky Stepper, Journal Entry, and Lucky Lately were withdrawn after a member of Gaines’s staff erroneously administered the medication, Gaines in a message on Twitter that day.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Roadster, winner of his 3-year-old debut Friday in his first start since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last September, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.
The $1 million Santa Anita Derby is run at 1 1/8 miles and is a key prep for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – At Pimlico on Sunday, the undefeated Please Flatter Me worked a half-mile in 47.80 seconds, the fastest of 21 breezes at the distance. Please Flatter Me is preparing for Saturday’s $250,000 Busher Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct.
“She did that in an open gallop,” trainer Mark Reid said. “I had [regular jockey] Alex Cintron on her, and he said, “Mark, I never asked her at any point.’ He said, ‘I thought she went in 49,’ which is always a good sign.”
Reid said he moved the breeze up from Monday to Sunday to avoid inclement weather.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The announcement last week that the unbeaten Instagrand was shipping from California for Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham at Aqueduct seems to have prompted a change of plans for some horsemen, reducing what was looking like a full field to one that may number eight when entries are taken Wednesday.
Zenden, High Crime, Mr. Ankeny, and Spun to Run have been withdrawn from consideration for the Gotham. On Monday, trainer Todd Pletcher said Federal Case would skip the Gotham to run in the Grade 3 Hutcheson going six furlongs on March 23 at Gulfstream Park.
