The sale that landed Capture Your Dream in Mark Casse’s barn paid quick dividends when the 2-year-old filly flashed her considerable potential Saturday in winning the $100,000 Desert Vixen at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.
“It was pretty much a win-win for everybody,” Casse said less than 24 hours after Capture Your Dream earned a 60 Beyer Speed Figure with her 1 1/4-length triumph in the six-furlong Desert Vixen.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Ranson the Moon, the winner of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes on July 28, has earned another start at the current Del Mar summer meeting.
Trainer Phil D’Amato plans to run Ransom the Moon in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on Aug. 25.
“He’s galloping so strongly I’m looking toward the Pat O’Brien,” D’Amato said. “I think he’s one of those horses that knows he won and he’s back on his game. I’ve wanted to see that for some time.”
DEL MAR, Calif. - A small field may keep the Grade 1 stakes winner Moonshine Memories at Del Mar for Sunday’s Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap.
As of the weekend, the $100,000 Rancho Bernardo for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs had six probable starters, led by 2017 winner Skye Diamonds. Other candidates are Anonymity, Deer Valley, Munny Spunt, and Turkish Tabby. Munny Spunt and Turkish Tabby were supplemented for $1,000 last Sunday.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though Rick Violette has already shown it’s a trainer’s prerogative to change his mind, he seemed pretty certain Sunday morning that he would point Grade 1 Whitney Stakes winner Diversify to the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Sept. 29 and not the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 1.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Corey Nakatani will be sidelined for an undetermined period of time with back injuries sustained in a two-horse spill in Saturday’s 10th race at Del Mar.
Nakatani, 47, was hospitalized overnight on Saturday and was scheduled to return to his home in the Los Angeles area on Sunday, according to his son and agent, Matt Nakatani.
“We’re going to go home to LA and see a specialist for evaluation,” Matt Nakatani said. “We’ll schedule something in a couple of days.”
Hence has now won two of the most significant races in New Mexico after he stormed to a 6 1/2-length victory over Oh So Regal in the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap on Saturday night. The race was the meet's marquee offering for Thoroughbreds. Hence also is a winner of the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby.
The Albuquerque Handicap shared a card with the $55,000 Albuquerque Distaff, won by K P Wildcat.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockeys Corey Nakatani and Geovanni Franco were taken to a local hospital after they were involved in a two-horse spill in early stretch of Saturday’s 10th race at Del Mar.
Both riders were taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in nearby La Jolla for further evaluation about 40 minutes after the incident. Track chief executive officer Joe Harper was told by paramedics that the riders were moving their arms and legs.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Brill, the outstanding juvenile filly prospect, worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 at Del Mar on Saturday, part of preparations for an expected stakes debut in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 1.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for Larry Best, Brill won her debut in a maiden race at five furlongs on July 18, overcoming a stumble at the start to win by 1 1/4 lengths after a wide trip.
Brill’s workout on Saturday was her second since that race. She worked a half-mile in 48 seconds on July 28.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Lava Man, the popular Hall of Famer who was a multiple stakes winner in the late 2000s, is scheduled to leave a local equine clinic in the coming days after undergoing emergency surgery for colic last Tuesday.
“It’s all good,” trainer Doug O’Neill said on Saturday. “I think in a day or two, he’ll go to the farm.”
O’Neill said Lava Man will continue his recovery at a farm “somewhere near Santa Anita.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – Go On Mary ran fourth in a $50,000 claimer at Santa Anita in January. She may leave Del Mar at the end of the summer as a multiple stakes winner.
Go On Mary won her first stakes in Friday’s $81,330 Daisycutter Handicap at five furlongs on turf for fillies and mares. Her next objective may be the $75,000 CERF Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs on Sept. 3, according to trainer Doug O’Neill.
The CERF Stakes may be the next time Go On Mary is seen at Del Mar.
