HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Heartwood, who won the $100,000 King Cotton on Saturday at Oaklawn, is one of the senior members of trainer James Chapman’s stable – and he’s just turned 5.
“We’ve got 25 babies coming up,” Chapman said of the 2-year-olds in his stable.
Heartwood has been teaching them the ropes. He won his third stakes Saturday when fought for a half-length win in the King Cotton. Heartwood was always prominent, covered six furlongs in 1:09.99, and earned a Beyer Figure of 94.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Heavy Roller has put himself in the running for a stakes start after he defeated three Grade 3 winners in the Sunday allowance feature at Oaklawn. Heavy Roller closed from next to last in the slop and endless rain and won off by seven lengths at 12-1.
Heavy Roller earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 99 in the mile race.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher sent the 3-year-olds Outshine and Orra Moor out to impressive allowance victories on Sunday.
Outshine, idle since a fifth-place finish in the Tremont Stakes last spring at Aqueduct, returned to post a two-length victory going seven furlongs against a strong field of entry-level optional-claiming rivals in Sunday’s main event. The son of Malibu Moon received an 83 Beyer Speed Figure.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Former Major League Baseball player turned horse owner Mike Napoli got his new career off to a pretty good beginning here over the weekend, winning with just his second starter, Queen’s Bird, who went wire to wire in Sunday’s fourth race.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sunday’s sixth race was made official with the wrong horse posted in fourth place before the order of finish was corrected several minutes later.
The sixth race was made official with Tamit (No. 2) as the fourth-place finisher. But Kailee (No. 1) actually finished fourth, and Gulfstream officials quickly corrected the error.
Miss Munnings won the sixth race, a one-mile allowance race on turf, with Ferdinanda and Underestimate finishing in a dead heat for second.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Nobody held a hotter hand last weekend at Gulfstream than trainer John Kimmel, who sent out a trio of winners from four starters, all going a mile on turf: Mega Fortune ($85.80) and Jerome Avenue ($40.20), both in maiden-special races, and Miss Munnings ($9) in a first-level allowance.
“It’s a good thing, because we were getting kind of parched over here,” Kimmel said with a laugh. “It’s kind of been like the weather in California – drought or flood.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Like most everyone else, George Weaver would rather be lucky than good. If not for the fickleness of South Florida weather, nobody would yet know how good Point of Honor is on the dirt – and Weaver surely wouldn’t be one race from having a live contender for the Kentucky Oaks.
“Luck plays a big part in a lot of things we do in this game,” Weaver said Monday, less than 48 hours after Point of Honor became an Oaks consideration by dominating the Suncoast Stakes on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.
NEW ORLEANS – Bob Baffert said in a text message Sunday that the two horses he entered in stakes races Saturday at Fair Grounds weren’t shipping here from California.
Both horses drew poor outside posts in their respective races, the filly Chasing Yesterday post 10 for the Grade 2, $200,000 Rachel Alexandra and the colt Kingly post 13 for the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes.
NEW ORLEANS – On balance, Saturday turned out all right for the trainer Mark Casse.
Early in the morning, Casse watched Lecomte Stakes-winner War of Will turn in a sharp half-mile work for his engagement here Feb. 16 in the Risen Star Stakes. Tot that up in the “good thing” column.
A few hours later, the Fair Grounds racing office drew the Feb. 16 card and War of Will landed post 14, a dreadful draw, for the Risen Star. Not so good
