Justify has resumed galloping at Santa Anita and could have a workout as soon as next week.
The Triple Crown winner has impressed trainer Bob Baffert with his condition and exercise in recent days.
“We used to say he looks like a million dollars, but we can’t say that anymore,” Baffert said. “He looks incredible. He looks healthy, and he’s moving well.”
CHICAGO – The Illinois Racing Board during a regular monthly meeting Tuesday voted 7-0 to create a committee to help formulate rules that would govern the implementation of historical horse racing machines at Hawthorne Racecourse near Chicago and Fairmount Park near St. Louis.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Grade 2 Princess Rooney is one of only three races in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series providing a fees-paid berth into the Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3, and the only one until the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 25. But even with the added incentive of a $250,000 purse, the race drew a field of only eight on Wednesday, including defending winner Curlin’s Approval, as the highlight of Saturday’s Summit of Speed program at Gulfstream Park.
Bill Mott has returned the rented formalwear for his trip to Royal Ascot, which must mean it’s time to turn the page and move onto the next chapter of Yoshida’s career.
Yoshida, with Mott in attendance, finished a respectable fifth last week in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, the first race of the Royal Ascot meeting, and Thursday was to be his first day back training with Mott’s string at Saratoga.
“He’s back and doing well,” Mott said Wednesday.
Mocito Rojo ran the race of his life Saturday night at Evangeline Downs, getting the jump on 2-5 favorite Dazzling Gem in the $100,000 Evangeline Mile and scoring a 1 3/4-length victory. Mocito Rojo was 10-1 and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 94.
“He ran a big one,” said trainer Shane Wilson.
Mocito Rojo won his first stakes in the Evangeline Mile. Earlier in the meet, he captured an optional $30,000 claiming race at the same distance in a sharp 1:37.53. His final time Saturday was 1:37.69.
The Downs at Albuquerque has been riding a wave of momentum the last few years and on Friday night will open its 55-date meet with record stakes purses, large fields, and a new starter series that features New Mexico’s longest race for Thoroughbreds.
The Downs at Albuquerque, which races through Sept. 23, also is housing Jessies First Down, the two-time reigning world champion Quarter Horse.
Andesh, an Irish-bred colt who finished second to Mendelssohn in a maiden race last year, recently joined trainer Phil D’Amato’s stable and is scheduled to have his American debut in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf at Del Mar on July 18.
Andesh has one win in five starts, having won a maiden race on the all-weather surface at Dundalk Racecourse in Ireland last October. River Boyne, a two-time stakes winner on turf at Santa Anita this year, finished fourth in that race.
Andesh, by Medicean, was previously trained by Michael Halford.
Del Mar is adding an early pick four and a late pick five to the betting menu for the summer meeting, which begins on July 18.
A 50-cent early pick four will start on the second race. The 50-cent late pick five will encompass the final five races. There will be a late pick four on the final four races and a 50-cent pick five on the first five races.
Santa Anita had similar bets at its meeting earlier this year.
The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships is nearing its midpoint, and Pimlico-based trainer Mary Eppler is off to a quick start with Page McKenney and Oak Bluffs.
“I’m a big fan of the MATCH series,” Eppler said. “I like the concept. The bonus money is good. And my horses fit these races. I like everything about it.”
The Herringswell Stables of trainer Graham Motion announced on social media Tuesday that Messi has been retired “happy and sound” following his seventh-place effort in a high-level optional-claiming race at Belmont Park on Sunday.
Messi, 8, won two of 12 starts, all in Germany, between 2012 and 2014 and was sent to Motion in 2015 for his 5-year-old campaign. The long-winded turf runner won three of his first four U.S. starts, including the Grade 3 Knickerbocker at Aqueduct.
In 2016, Messi won the Grade 2 Sky Classic at 1 1/4 miles over the Woodbine turf.
