Mon, 01/21/2019 - 09:43

Laurel cancels Monday card

Laurel Park canceled its Martin Luther King Jr. holiday card early Monday morning due to freezing temperatures and strong winds. Laurel will next race Thursday.

It was 12 degrees with winds from 15 to 25 miles per hour in Laurel, Md., on Monday morning. The arctic blast also caused cancellations in the region at Aqueduct and Parx Racing.

Laurel and Maryland OTB outlets will be open for simulcast wagering Monday, but the scheduled South American simulcasts from Valparaiso in Chile have been canceled.

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 19:06

Plans uncertain for Manny Wah, Liora

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Manny Wah will enter the Lecomte off a runner-up finish in the Sugar Bowl Stakes on Dec. 22 at Fair Grounds.

It’s possible that neither Manny Wah, who was third in the Lecomte, or Liora, who was fourth in the Silverbulletday, will return for the next round of stakes races on Feb. 16 at Fair Grounds.

Both horses, trainer Wayne Catalano said Sunday morning, appeared to have come out of their respective races in good shape, but Catalano said he would take a measured approach in planning a winter schedule.

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 18:59

Needs Supervision targets Rachel Alexandra

Hodges Photography / Amanda Hodges Weir
Needs Supervision returned $7 to win the Silverbulletday on Saturday.

Trainer Jerry O’Dwyer posted a video on social media Sunday morning showing Needs Supervision bucking and playing in a little round pen outside the Fair Grounds barn in which she’s housed. A video, expanding on the cliché, must be worth well over a thousand words, and it was clear Needs Supervision had bounced out of her Saturday win in the $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes full of life.

“She’s bright-eyed today, looks great,” O’Dwyer said. “She’ll have two days [of] walking, maybe three, depending on her energy level.”

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 18:46

Hog Creek Hustle ready for War of Will rematch

Hog Creek Hustle, who ran well finishing second in the Lecomte, will try War of Will again in the Risen Star if all goes well, trainer Vickie Foley said Sunday.

“It looks like he came out of the race good. We’re looking forward to moving on to the Risen Star,” Foley said.

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 18:37

Risen Star next in line for War of Will

Hodges Photography / Lou Hodges Jr.
War of Will paid $5.20 to win the Lecomte on Saturday.

Though barely 12 hours earlier he had run the best race of his career in winning the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds by four lengths, War of Will on Sunday morning still had plenty of will to return to war, from all reports.

“He acts like he didn’t even really run,” trainer Mark Casse said Sunday after departing New Orleans for Florida, where he spends most of the winter.

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 15:27

Something Awesome looks sharp in Pegasus drill

Barbara D. Livingston
Something Awesome breezed five furlongs in 1:00.36 Sunday in preparation for Saturday's Pegasus World Cup.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Wet weather on the South Florida coast Sunday morning resulted in less-than-perfect track conditions for two participants in Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup program - Something Awesome, one of the outsiders in the $9 million World Cup Invitational, and Yoshida, the likely favorite for the $7 million World Cup Turf.

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 14:57

Stormy Liberal to ship for Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint

Debra A. Roma
Stormy Liberal

ARCADIA, Calif. – Stormy Liberal, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3, will start in Saturday’s $150,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint at five furlongs, trainer Peter Miller said on Sunday.

Stormy Liberal was second in his only start since the BC Turf Sprint, the Grade 3 Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Jan. 1. Miller was critical of the way he prepared Stormy Liberal for the Hernandez, saying he “undertrained” the 7-year-old gelding.

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 14:51

Game Winner drills for San Felipe during busy morning training session

Emily Shields
Undefeated BC Juvenile hero Game Winner had his first timed work of 2019 on Wednesday at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Pick a graded stakes at Santa Anita in the next few months, and chances are a leading contender for that event had a workout on Sunday.

On Sunday, there were 312 recorded workouts – 260 on the main track, 51 on the training track, and one on turf. At times, particularly immediately after the track was renovated, it was difficult to keep up with all the action.

The most prominent runner was Game Winner, the undefeated 3-year-old who is expected to be named champion 2-year-old male of 2018 at Thursday’s Eclipse Awards in Florida.

Sun, 01/20/2019 - 14:36

X Y Jet shifts focus to Dubai Golden Shaheen after loss

Barbara D. Livingston
Defending Sunshine Millions Sprint winner is expected to mount a title defense in this year's renewal.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jorge Navarro was definitely not a happy man after watching his sprint star, X Y Jet, get run into the ground in a suicidal speed battle with Ray’swarrior in defense of his title in Saturday’s $100,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint. But Navarro remain composed when reflecting on the turn of events that led to his horse’s fourth-place finish in his 2019 debut.

Sat, 01/19/2019 - 13:39

Top contenders have final Pegasus works

Barbara D. Livingston
City of Light, with Javier Castellano up, goes through his final workout before the Pegasus World Cup.

HALLANDALE, Fla. – City of Light, Audible, and Gunnevera – the top challengers to Accelerate in the Pegasus World Cup – were out for serious breezes Saturday morning, when virtually all of the top contenders for the $9 million extravaganza had their final pre-race works.

City of Light went in 47.20 seconds at Gulfstream, site of the third running of the Pegasus here Saturday, Jan. 26. Meanwhile, Audible went in 48.40 at the Palm Beach Downs training center, and Gunnevera went six furlongs in 1:13.20 at Gulfstream Park West.