Mon, 10/22/2018 - 13:06

Hofburg wraps up preparations for Fayette

Barbara D. Livingston
Hofburg worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 on Monday at Churchill Downs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Hofburg concluded his major preparations for his next start in the Fayette Stakes when breezing five furlongs in 1:00.60 on Monday over a fast track at Churchill Downs.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said Sunday at Keeneland that he intended to enter Hofburg in the Fayette, provided the Monday work went well. With that, Hofburg figures to come a solid favorite Saturday in what was expected to be a medium-sized field of 3-year-olds and up when entries were taken Wednesday for the Grade 2, $200,000 Fayette, the closing-day feature of the Keeneland fall meet.

Mon, 10/22/2018 - 13:00

Anna Meah sends out first starter in Sekhmet's Revenge

ARCADIA, Calif. – Anna Meah, who launched a stable in late summer, will have her first starter at Santa Anita on Thursday when Sekhmet’s Revenge runs in a $20,000 claimer for fillies and mares at a mile on turf.

The filly is part of Meah’s family. Her husband, David, a bloodstock agent and exercise rider in Southern California, owns Sekhmet’s Revenge with William Marasa.

Mon, 10/22/2018 - 12:56

Baffert planning on 10 runners for Breeders' Cup

Emily Shields
Collected (above) will join West Coast and McKinzie as Bob Baffert’s runners in the BC Classic.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert plans to have as many as 10 runners in Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs, he said Sunday.

Baffert will have three runners in the BC Classic on Nov. 3 – Collected and West Coast, who were second and third in the 2017 running at Del Mar, and the 3-year-old McKinzie, who won the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 22.

Mon, 10/22/2018 - 12:26

Dixie Moon earns downtime; Mr Havercamp gears up

Michael Burns
Dixie Moon (left) concluded her 2018 campaign with a victory in the Carotene Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Dixie Moon capped her 2018 season on a high note with a half-length victory over Avie’s Mineshaft in Saturday’s $125,000 Carotene Stakes on Woodbine’s turf course.

Trainer Catherine Day Phillips said Dixie Moon would spend the next couple of weeks on the farm before determining whether to resume her training ahead of a potential winter campaign.

“We’ll give here a little break now, and she’ll be ready to go again by January,” she said. “We’ll just let her tell us if she wants a little more time or a little less time.”

Mon, 10/22/2018 - 11:06

Robertson mum despite quibble with Beach Flower disqualification

Coady Photography
Mac Roberston has a three-win edge in the training standings going into the closing days of the Canterbury Park meet.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mac Robertson had a minor quibble with the Keeneland stewards the morning after Beach Flower was disqualified Sunday from first to third in the Grade 3 Dowager Stakes, but he has enough experience in racing not to throw a tantrum.

“I thought I had the best horse in the race, and I’m really proud of my filly,” said Robertson, who has won 1,223 races from 5,339 starters and is the all-time leading trainer in Canterbury Park history. “I thought her number probably should’ve stayed up, but nobody likes a crybaby.”

Mon, 10/22/2018 - 10:56

Apprentice jockey Morales looks to cap strong meet

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Edgar Morales has ridden seven winners so far, good enough for a tie for fourth with Florent Geroux in the Keeneland jockey standings.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Edgar Morales is named to ride the entire Wednesday card at Keeneland and has plenty of mounts for the balance of the four-day stretch that ends the 17-day fall meet.

Sun, 10/21/2018 - 17:05

Thomas pleased with Catholic Boy's work for BC Classic

Barbara D. Livingston
Catholic Boy, under jockey Javier Castellano, breezes five furlongs in 1:02.41 on Sunday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Jonathan Thomas wanted to see how Catholic Boy handles the Churchill Downs surface and give him a stamina-enhancing work two weeks out from the Breeders' Cup Classic, and it was thumbs up all around after the Travers winner breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:02.41 under the lights early Sunday morning.

After joining the 5,000-win club Saturday at Belmont Park, Javier Castellano hopped a plane and flew to Louisville that evening to be on hand when the racetrack opened for training at 5:30 a.m. to guide Catholic Boy through the important work.

Sun, 10/21/2018 - 17:00

Sistercharlie looks good breezing five furlongs for BC

Susie Raisher
Sistercharlie (outside) works on the Belmont main track in company with Uni on Sunday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown is expected to pre-enter 11 horses on Monday in the two-day Breeders’ Cup event to be held Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs. On Sunday, led by potential race favorites Sistercharlie and Newspaperofrecord, nine of those horses put in workouts with seven of them at Belmont Park.

Sistercharlie, a three-time Grade 1 winner, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.78 over the good Belmont inner turf course. She worked inside of Uni, and got her last three furlongs in 34.85 seconds with a strong wind at the horses’ backs in the stretch.

Sun, 10/21/2018 - 15:05

Catalina Cruiser drills for Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Benoit Photo
Catalina Cruiser paid $2.40 with his win in the Pat O'Brien Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Unbeaten in four starts, Catalina Cruiser will start as the expected favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 with a growing reputation in the nation’s older horse division.

On Sunday, Catalina Cruiser had his most strenuous workout of October, a seven-furlong exercise in 1:26.60 at Santa Anita. Trainer John Sadler clocked the 4-year-old colt galloping out a mile in “1:39 and change.”

After a five-furlong workout next Saturday, Catalina Cruiser will be sent to Kentucky for the biggest race of his career.

Sun, 10/21/2018 - 10:19

Ninth Street gets first stakes win in Jean Lafitte

Coady Photography
Ninth Street and jockey Diego Saenz win the Jean Lafitte Stakes by six lengths Saturday night.

Ninth Street became a stakes winner Saturday night when he rolled home by six lengths over Shotsoft in the $50,000 Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs. The race was one of two stakes on the card. Sir Genghis was a half-length winner of the $100,000 Gold Cup.

The Jean Lafitte was a seven-furlong race for 2-year-olds run around two turns.