Mon, 07/09/2018 - 13:46

Red Ruby earns 104 Beyer for Delware Oaks romp

Hoofprints, Inc.
Red Ruby ran her record to 4 for 6 with a dominant win Saturday in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks.

Red Ruby earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for her 13-length tour de force in the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks on Saturday. The figure is by far the highest for a 3-year-old filly this year.

The second-best 3-year-old filly Beyer belongs to division leader Monomoy Girl, who earned a 98 winning the Grade 1 Acorn.

Four 3-year-old fillies have recorded a 97 Beyer this year – Monomoy Girl in the Kentucky Oaks, Athena in the Belmont Oaks on turf, Mia Mischief in the seven-furlong Eight Belles, and the late Amada Rafaela in her debut maiden victory.

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 13:40

Elate, Unbridled Mo top nine in Del Cap

Barbara D. Livingston
Elate is returning to training after recovering from a splint injury.

The complexion of the $750,000 Delaware Handicap changed over the weekend when Bob Baffert decided not to send Abel Tasman cross-country for the 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares. The Del Cap instantly went from a small field with a heavy favorite to a larger, more wide-open affair.

Grade 1 winners Elate and Unbridled Mo should vie for favoritism in Saturday’s nine-horse Del Cap when they break from posts 6 and 5, respectively.

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 13:16

Divisidero possible for Million

Coady Photography
Arlington Handicap winner Divisidero is a candidate for the Arlington Million.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The top three finishers from the 1 3/16-mile Arlington Handicap on Saturday are on different tracks. Divisidero, who won his first graded stakes race away from Churchill Downs in the Arlington Handicap, returned in good shape to trainer Kelly Rubley’s base at Fair Hill in Maryland. He got a Beyer Speed Figure of 100 while winning beyond 1 1/8 miles for the first time. Divisidero was sixth in the 2017 Arlington Million and could get another shot in the race next month.

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 13:16

Real Story could come back in Secretariat

Coady Photography
Real Story earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for his American Derby win on Saturday at Arlington.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – All Real Story wants to do is run free.

Try to restrain the horse and you are in for a battle you both will lose. Let Real Story dictate his race, as happened Saturday in the American Derby, and he’ll show his best.

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 13:06

Del Mar Oaks could be next for Colonia

Coady Photography
Colonia impressed in her North American debut, winning the Hatoof Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths on Saturday.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Graham Motion has several horses under consideration for stakes races on the Aug. 11 Arlington Million card, but Colonia, a sharp winner of the $100,000 Hatoof Stakes here Saturday in her North American debut, is not among them.

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 12:56

Dixie Moon targeting Wonder Where Stakes

Michael Burns
Dixie Moon returned $8.60 as the second choice in Saturday's Woodbine Oaks.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine Oaks winner Dixie Moon did not have the best of it in the $1 million Queen’s Plate on June 30, as she was shuffled back at the start and was eased into the stretch. Trainer Catherine Day Phillips said Dixie Moon came out of the race with no issues and will fight another day.

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 12:06

Best Pal likely next for sharp debut winner Owning

CYPRESS, Calif. – The 2-year-old colt Owning won his debut in a maiden special weight race Sunday in a style that left owners Paul and Zillah Reddam and trainer Simon Callaghan planning for graded stakes at Del Mar next month.

Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, Owning ($8.60) was always near the front and pulled away in the final furlong to win the 5 1/2-furlong race by 2 1/2 lengths over Tariq. Owning was timed in 1:04.20.

“We couldn’t ask for much more,” Callaghan said. “He broke sharp and placed himself nicely and drew off.”

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 11:50

John Martin planning for Del Mar string

John Martin, a leading trainer in Northern California, will have about a dozen horses at Del Mar this summer, his largest stable there.

Martin, who won training titles at two meetings at Golden Gate Fields last year, said Sunday that he was finalizing the runners who will be sent to Del Mar and expects to send 12 to 14 horses total. The summer season begins July 18 at Del Mar.

“It’s a meeting I need to be at, and I need to make it work,” Martin said. “I have some nice horses, but I need to place them strategically.”

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 11:46

Ax Man, Blended Citizen expected to top Los Alamitos Derby

Debra A. Roma
Ax Man is one of two 2018 stakes winners expected for the Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday.

CYPRESS, Calif. – The candidates for the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday are led by 2018 stakes winners Ax Man and Blended Citizen. They will not have many rivals in the $150,000 race at 1 1/8 miles.

Sun, 07/08/2018 - 18:58

Battle of Midway has first breeze on comeback trail

Debra A. Roma
Battle of Midway wins the 2017 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Battle of Midway, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar last November, worked three furlongs in 39.20 seconds at Santa Anita on Saturday, his first major exercise since returning to training earlier this year.

Battle of Midway was sent to stud in Kentucky last winter but was found to be subfertile, leading to a decision to place the 4-year-old back in training.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said little was expected of Battle of Midway in Saturday’s workout.

“It was slow,” Hollendorfer said. “That was by design. He’s coming off a layoff.”