Sat, 02/23/2019 - 16:58

Trainer Allen Milligan saddles 1,000th career winner

Coady Photography
Trainer Allen Milligan (center) celebrates his 1,000th career winner.

Allen Milligan reached a milestone of 1,000 career Thoroughbred training victories in North America on Saturday, when Soul P Say captured the fifth race at Oaklawn Park.

Channing Hill was aboard Soul P Say ($31.40) in the $30,000 claiming route. The horse is owned by Keene Thoroughbreds, for which Milligan is a private trainer.

Milligan won the first race of his career on July 30, 1999 at Louisiana Downs, according to Daily Racing Form records. He has had 8,529 starts and those horses have combined to earn more than $16.6 million.

Sat, 02/23/2019 - 15:18

Battle of Midway injured in workout, euthanized

Barbara D. Livingston
Battle of Midway was euthanized as a result of injures sustained in a workout on Saturday at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Battle of Midway, the winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar and five other stakes, was euthanized on Saturday after sustaining a hind leg injury during a workout at Santa Anita.

The incident was reported by Santa Anita publicity through Rick Arthur, California’s equine medical director.

Battle of Midway was 5. By Smart Strike, Battle of Midway won 8 of 16 starts and earned $1,589,049. He was in training for a start in the $12 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 30 when injured.

Sat, 02/23/2019 - 13:29

Mind Control, Tax drill for upcoming stakes

Annette Jasko/NYRA
Withers winner Tax (No. 1) had his first work since that victory on Saturday at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mind Control and Tax, the two leading 3-year-olds based on the New York circuit this winter, both put in workouts Saturday morning at Belmont Park in preparation for upcoming stakes engagements.

The two worked moments apart on the training track following the 9 a.m. renovation break.

Sat, 02/23/2019 - 11:21

Broberg gets win No. 3,000 as trainer

Emily Shields
Karl Broberg has led all trainers in North America in wins in each of the past five years.

Less than two months after becoming the third trainer in history to get 500 wins in North America in a calendar year, Karl Broberg has hit a milestone of 3,000 career training victories.

Broberg reached that summit Friday night at Sam Houston when Sarge’s Daughter ($2.80) won the seventh race. She was the last of five winners Broberg had on Friday.

Fri, 02/22/2019 - 15:36

Construction of arena at Belmont may be delayed

Barbara D. Livingston
The Belmont Park paddock and surrounding backyard area.

The start date of construction on a new hockey arena on the grounds of Belmont Park could be pushed back slightly to the point that the racing and training schedules for the Belmont spring/summer meet may not be impacted at all.

Fri, 02/22/2019 - 11:20

Hidden Scroll takes 104 Beyer into Fountain of Youth

Barbara D. Livingston
Hidden Scroll enters the Fountain of Youth off a first-place finish in a Jan. 26 maiden race.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After Bill Mott finally had an opportunity to spend an appreciable amount of time around Hidden Scroll this fall at Payson Park, he phoned his longtime assistant, Kenny McCarthy, about the colt.

“Bill half-jokingly said to me, ‘You said this horse was nice,’ ” recalled McCarthy, who oversaw the colt’s training last summer at Churchill Downs while his Hall of Fame boss was otherwise occupied in New York. “But you didn’t tell me he was this nice.”

Fri, 02/22/2019 - 10:11

Anothertwistafate to get one more shot at making Kentucky Derby

Shane Micheli / Vassar Photography
Anothertwistafate returned $4.40 with the El Camino Real triumph.

Anothertwistafate, the Northern California-based colt with three runaway wins on the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields, will race on a dirt surface next out in a one-shot attempt to earn a berth in the Kentucky Derby trainer Blaine Wright said Thursday.

“His next race is going to be on dirt, no matter what,” Wright said. “People are going to say, oh, he doesn’t like dirt. I’m not putting any stock in that. A racehorse is a racehorse.  If he is going to be on the Derby trail, he’s going to have to overcome it.”

Thu, 02/21/2019 - 15:00

Maximum Security likely for Florida Derby after dominant win

Lauren King/Coglianese Photos
Maximum Security wins a seven-furlong starter allowance by 18 1/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park on Wednesday.

Trainer Jason Servis said Thursday that Maximum Security probably will stretch out to 1 1/8 miles when making his next start in the March 30 Florida Derby after the unbeaten 3-year-old colt earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure in winning a seven-furlong starter allowance in 1:21.72 the previous day at Gulfstream Park.

“It’s hard not to think about a race like that for him,” said Servis. “I know it’d be asking a lot, but he is 3 for 3 over the track, and I’ve been careful in hand-picking his races so far.”

Wed, 02/20/2019 - 12:36

Shang targets Crescent City Derby

Coady Photography
Shang wins the Louisiana Premier Night Prince Stakes on Feb. 9 at Delta Downs.

Shang was one of the most impressive winners during the Louisiana Premier Night program Feb. 9 at Delta Downs. He was up for a neck win in the $100,000 Prince, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds that marked his stakes debut. Shang earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 85.

“Man, he came home well,” said Steve Asmussen, who trains Shang for Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt.

Wed, 02/20/2019 - 12:16

Derby Watch: Hollendorfer, due for some luck, has 3 contenders

Benoit Photo
Gunmetal Gray enters Saturday’s Robert Lewis Stakes off a one-length win in the Sham Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Just a few minutes after Galilean won the California Cup Derby on Monday here at Santa Anita, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer saw Jeff Lifson, the former TVG personality who for years has worked as the executive vice president for West Point Thoroughbreds, and they congratulated one another on the victory with a colt West Point had purchased at auction 10 months ago and placed with Hollendorfer.

“You guys have been so kind I can’t believe it,” Hollendorfer said. A mischievous grin came across his face. “But I’ll accept more kindness.”