ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown had quite the star-studded lineup out for turf workouts Sunday morning at Belmont Park, a dynamic dozen that included first works back from recent races for Grade 1 winners Newspaperofrecord, Bricks and Mortar, and Raging Bull.
BALTIMORE – As disappointed as he was two weeks earlier, that’s how happy Tyler Gaffalione was Saturday at Pimlico.
Absolutely beaming in the aftermath of his first victory in a Triple Crown event, which came when War of Will raced to victory in the 144th Preakness, Gaffalione said: “This wasn’t about redemption or revenge or anything like that. We were just focused on getting the horse to the winner’s circle.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – While the focus of the racing world was on Baltimore on Saturday, trainer Bill Mott was on Long Island, and his Kentucky Derby winner was in Louisville. Mott seemed perfectly content with that.
Mott was at Belmont to oversee the workouts for several of his horses, most notably Wood Memorial winner Tacitus, who breezed a half-mile in 48.41 seconds as he prepares for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 8.
BALTIMORE – Here are the early odds for the 144th Preakness at Pimlico following Friday advance wagering, as well as $2 will-pays in the two-day Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness double (handle, $810,322) starting with the Black-Eyed Susan winner, Point of Honor (No. 8):
ARCADIA, Calif. – Commander Coil, an unraced 3-year-old gelding, was euthanized Friday after suffering a shoulder injury during morning workouts at Santa Anita, trainer Marcelo Polanco said.
Commander Coil, who had his first published workout May 10, was galloping toward the end of the training session when he was pulled up. Commander Coil was vanned to the stables and could not be saved.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Sunday’s 10-race card at Churchill is topped by a pair of turf allowances, one for 3-year-olds and up at a mile that goes as the eighth race with a $91,000 purse and the other an $87,000 entry-level contest for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles, carded as the fifth.
One of the notable entrants in the eighth is Lamartine, a dual Group 1 winner in his native Brazil. He makes his second start in the U.S. Sunday for trainer Steve Asmussen following a fifth at Keeneland April 20 in which he sped to the lead before fading to be last of five.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby winner Country House returned to Churchill Downs Wednesday after clearing an examination at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. He had been sent there by trainer Bill Mott to get a full checkup after becoming ill in the days after the Derby.
“He looks good and I think the plan is to start him back with some light training,” assistant trainer Kenny McCarthy told Churchill publicity. “We’ll start him off lightly jogging and go from there.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Belmont Park’s main track was fast Friday morning, and no one reflected that more than Honor Up, who blazed five furlongs in 59.03 seconds. Honor Up, who went his first three furlongs in 34.18, is preparing for the $200,000 Commentator Stakes, one of six stakes restricted to New York-breds on May 27.
“We wanted to get a good work; we got it,” trainer Michelle Nevin said.
Honor Up is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Carter going seven furlongs. Prior to that, he won two New York-bred stakes, including the Haynesfield at a mile.
ELMONT, N.Y. – If everyone who’s talking about running in the Grade 1, $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap shows up for the race, it will be an outstanding race.
On Friday, trainer Dale Romans added Grade 1 winner Promises Fulfilled to a cast that is expected to include Mitole, McKinzie, and Coal Front.
At Churchill Downs on Friday, Promises Fulfilled worked a half-mile in 49.80 seconds. It was his first work since he finished third, four lengths behind Mitole, in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Serengeti Empress and her trainer, Tom Amoss, appear to be relishing a little less training pressure a couple of weeks after her front-running triumph in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.
Friday, she took an effortless but speedy half-mile spin at Churchill Downs, breezing the distance in 48 seconds. It was her first workout since the Oaks and served as preparation for the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park June 8. Churchill clocker John Nichols timed her final eighth of a mile in 11.60 seconds on her way to galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.80 and three quarters in 1:14.
