DEL MAR, Calif. – Bellafina, the winner of the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes on Aug. 5, worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 at Del Mar on Friday in advance of her Grade 1 debut in the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 1.
Bellafina’s time was the fastest of 61 works at the distance Friday.
“I liked the way she galloped out,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “We’re going into it with two races under our belt. She got a good foundation from the Sorrento.”
Four K’s seeks to become the sixth next-out winner to emerge from a May race at Gulfstream Park when she runs in the track’s featured eighth race on Sunday. She is part of an eight-horse field for the first-level allowance sprint for Florida-breds.
Gunnevera worked Friday morning at his Gulfstream Park West base as he continues preparations for the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward next Saturday at Saratoga. He is scheduled to arrive in New York this Sunday, according to trainer Antonio Sano.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The desire to have just one more race between now and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint is what kept Ransom the Moon out of the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien on Saturday at Del Mar. Now, the focus will be on whether to go in the De Francis Dash at Laurel on Sept. 15 or the Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 6.
Trainer Phil D’Amato on Friday morning was giving serious consideration to the De Francis, as the timing would be a nice bridge between the Grade 1 Bing Crosby, which Ransom the Moon won on July 28, and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, to be run at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tom Ludt remembers the phone conversation he had with Chad Brown to discuss sending him Gronkowski to train. Let’s just say it was met with muted enthusiasm.
Though Gronkowski qualified for the Kentucky Derby via the European Road to the Derby series, he was forced to miss that race due to a temperature. Despite Gronkowski having never raced beyond a mile or on dirt, his connections wanted to target the Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Dabster, purchased for $1 million at a 2-year-olds in training sale in 2016, won his first stakes in Wednesday’s $79,162 Harry Brubaker Stakes at Del Mar.
Trainer Bob Baffert said in a text message from Saratoga on Thursday that he does not have plans for Dabster yet. One logical spot would be the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 29.
Ridden by Joe Talamo, Dabster disputed the pace throughout the one-mile race and prevailed by 1 1/2 lengths over 7-2 Isotherm.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Apprentice jockey Heriberto Figueroa, who tied for the riding title at the Los Alamitos summer meeting last month, escaped serious injury when he was unseated from his mount shortly after the start of Wednesday’s eighth race at Del Mar.
Figueroa was expected to miss his mounts Thursday, according to his agent, Nelson Arroyo, who said the 18-year-old jockey sustained a sore foot in the fall. Figueroa was taken to a local hospital for precautionary examination Wednesday evening, Arroyo said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Los Alamitos will launch a $100,000 restricted race at 1 1/4 miles during the Los Angeles County Fair meeting next month.
The Los Alamitos Special on Sept. 16 will be restricted to horses that have not won a first-place purse of $50,000 at a mile or over in their career. Track officials are hopeful the race will draw stakes-placed and allowance-class runners.
Sky Promise, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, will break from post 4 in the Grade 3, $200,000 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park on Saturday. The 1 3/8-mile race drew nine horses and will go as the last of 12 races on the final day of Thoroughbred racing at Northlands. There is a $50,000-guaranteed pool for the late pick four.
