ELMONT, N.Y.– Kharafa, the $1.2 million-earning New York-bred, has been retired and will join his old friends Lubash and King Kreesa at Old Friends, a retirement farm in Lexington, Ky., trainer Tim Hills said.
Kharafa, 9, finished sixth in the Mohawk Stakes last weekend on Empire Showcase Day in his 52nd career start. He had a record of 13 wins, 13 seconds and 9 thirds and earned $1,238,622.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher pre-entered eight horses in the Breeders’ Cup, with Current among those with the best chances of winning a race.
Current worked a solid five furlongs in 1:01.01 over the Belmont Park main track Thursday in preparation for his start in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 2. Jockey John Velazquez was aboard for the move in which he went his first three furlongs in 36.84 seconds and his final quarter in 24.17. Current galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.90, and seven furlongs in 1:26.85.
A good horse has a way of coming along when he’s needed most, and Whitmore, one of the favorites in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 3, has proven to be the best of elixirs for his co-owner and trainer, Ron Moquett.
The 47-year-old Moquett was diagnosed with atypical sarcoidosis in March. The complex autoimmune condition can impede organ function, impair breathing, cause general fatigue – and then disappear into permanent remission. It led to a brief hospital stay for Moquett, as well as a sequestered recovery period to protect and strengthen his respiratory system.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A year ago, Blackjackcat was third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar as a 19-1 outsider, the end of a successful 2017 season.
Saturday, Blackjackcat will start in an allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option at Santa Anita in his first start since June. The optional claimer, run at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, is designed to give Blackjackcat a start before he resumes running in stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. – As a young man growing up in Newmarket, England, around the turn of the millennium, Simon Callaghan devoted a Saturday evening each fall to watching the Breeders’ Cup races from various American racetracks.
“I was fascinated with the Breeders’ Cup,” Callaghan recalled last weekend outside his stable at Santa Anita. “It was an amazing spectacle.”
Watching the Breeders’ Cup unfold from venues such as Gulfstream Park, Churchill Downs, and Belmont Park in those years helped Callaghan determine that he wanted to be part of American racing.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A little later than expected, Bellafina, the expected favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2, had her final workout at Santa Anita on Thursday, going a half-mile in 47.40 seconds.
The workout was delayed by approximately 10 minutes to allow a horse ambulance to transport a horse off the track who had pulled up in the stretch while exercising.
:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2018: Pre-entries, odds, comments, and more
ARCADIA, Calif. – Sharp Samurai, who has won five stakes in the last 18 months, will miss the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 because of illness, trainer Mark Glatt said on Thursday.
Sharp Samurai has been diagnosed with a throat infection and is undergoing treatment, Glatt said.
“He’s not going to run,” Glatt said. “You have to be 110 percent ready to run in those races.”
The illness was diagnosed last Saturday. Sharp Samurai was pre-entered for the BC Mile on Monday with the hope the illness would quickly subside.
Bravazo worked worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds Thursday morning at Churchill Downs, after which his trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said he would definitely run in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and not the Classic. Both races are Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs, and Bravazo was pre-entered in both on Wednesday, with the Dirt Mile listed as his preference.
"That's where we're headed," Lukas said.
Lukas said Luis Contreras has the mount.
ELMONT, N.Y. – The New York State Gaming Commission fined AmTote International for two incidents that affected wagering at Belmont Park on Oct. 13.
The commission fined AmTote $7,500 for failure to properly close wagering before the first leg of a pick-four wager combining two races from Yonkers and two from Belmont Park. The commission also fined AmTote $2,500 for failure to inform the stewards that it had closed and then reopened wagering on the sixth race at Belmont that same day.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Coal Front, a multiple graded stakes-winning 3-year-old of 2017, will make his first start in 13 months in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park.
Coal Front, a son of Stay Thirsty, is 4 for 5, with his lone loss being a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga in August 2017. On Sept. 23, 2017, Coal Front won the Grade 3 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx. He came out of that race with a condylar fracture to his right foreleg.
