DEL MAR, Calif. – With Victor Espinoza sidelined for the remainder of the Del Mar meeting after fracturing his C-3 vertebra last Sunday, trainer John Sadler will need a replacement rider should Accelerate start, as planned, in the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 18.
Sadler said he’s not in a big hurry to make a decision, but that whoever does ride Accelerate would work him before the race.
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DEL MAR, Calif. – City of Light, one of the top older horses in the country, is back in serious training and pointing to the Grade 1, $600,000 Forego on Aug. 25 at Saratoga.
City of Light had been a potential candidate for next week’s Whitney at Saratoga, but was removed from consideration for that race after he developed “a stubborn foot bruise,” trainer Michael McCarthy said this week at Del Mar.
The one-day Far Hills Race Meeting scheduled for Oct. 20 in New Jersey is set to go ahead this year with live parimutuel wagering for the first time, the chief official of the meeting said on Tuesday.
Wagering will be offered this year on all seven races, including the Grade 1, $450,000 Grand National, according to Guy Torsilieri, the chairman of Far Hills. While the wagering menu has not yet been set, Tolisieri said the meeting will likely offer straight bets, exactas, trifectas, and a number of daily doubles throughout the day.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Justify, the Triple Crown winner, continues to walk daily at Del Mar, and though no official announcement has yet been made regarding his future, as the calendar creeps toward August the window is closing for him to get back into training and have enough time to make a prep race before the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which was expected to be his final start.
Though Justify will not run at Del Mar, he will be paraded in front of fans at the track on Saturday following the fourth race, according to a release from Del Mar.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Bitten by Mother Nature and a shortage of entries, Saratoga’s opening-week business was down compared to last year.
All-sources handle through the first four days of the meet was $71,671,188, an 8.3-percent decline from the 2017 figure of $78,132,020. Ontrack handle was $16,320,098, down 3.2-percent from last year’s opening-week figure of $16,866,750.
A year ago, Good Samaritan made his dirt debut a winning one, defeating Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness winner Cloud Computing in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.
Now, those same connections – trainer Bill Mott and an ownership group that includes WinStar Farm and China Horse Club – are considering a similar surface switch with the 4-year-old Yoshida.
Trainer Karl Broberg’s stable leads North America in wins this year, and he has started to focus on adding more 2-year-olds to the mix. The barn’s most accomplished young horse Wakefield could be bound for Evangeline Downs next.
Wakefield won the $107,000 colts and geldings division of the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity in his most recent start July 15 at Lone Star Park. The gelded son of Munnings is now 2 for 2, both for longtime Broberg client Jerry Namy. Wakefield earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 70 in the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott’s focus when it comes to his 3-year-old Hofburg is to get him to the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on Aug. 25 in the best way possible.
As of Monday, Mott believes the best way to do that is to run Hofburg in Friday’s $100,000 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga. It’s not as prestigious or as lucrative as Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes, but it’s supposed to be easier.
Pickett, winner of the $75,000 colts and geldings division of the D.S. “Shine” Young Memorial at Evangeline on July 14, is being freshened, according to trainer Glenn Delahoussaye.
“Pickett and I are going to take a little break,” Delahoussaye said last week when driving to the beach for a short getaway.
Pickett, meanwhile, will spend his time enjoying the surroundings at his base, the Copper Crown training center near Evangeline.
Retama Park near San Antonio and Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico both have significant stakes coming up this week.
Retama on Friday night will run five stakes for Quarter Horses, including one that drew past world champion Jrc Callas First. The track’s card on Saturday night features the $479,196 TQHA Sales Futurity and the $139,300 Retama Park Derby, both for Quarter Horses.
Retama is running a mixed meet this year, and its first races for Thoroughbreds are scheduled for Tuesday, July 31.
