Mon, 06/18/2018 - 10:36

Mr Havercamp may hit road in search of turf race

Michael Burns
Mr Havercamp wins the Steady Growth Stakes easily as the favorite Saturday at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mr Havercamp returned from a six-month layoff to win the $125,000 Steady Growth Stakes by 4 3/4 lengths over Where’s the Widget on Saturday at Woodbine. He was wide throughout the race over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta, but came home strongly under jockey Eurico Da Silva.

“He’s such a good horse,” trainer Catherine Day Phillips said. “Eurico said he had so much horse. He said at the half-mile pole everyone was riding and he was sitting there cruising. He thought he would stay out of everyone’s way and go wide.”

Mon, 06/18/2018 - 10:30

Pink Lloyd targets Shepperton Stakes

Michael Burns
Pink Lloyd received a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the Achievement Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pink Lloyd extended his Woodbine stakes winning streak to 11 with a three-length victory in the Achievement Stakes in his most recent start on June 3, and will now be pointed to the $100,000 Shepperton Stakes at Woodbine on July 8.

The Shepperton will be run over 6 1/2-furlongs on Woodbine’s Tapeta for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and upward.

Sun, 06/17/2018 - 19:26

Justify returns home to California, eyes Haskell or Travers next

Shigeki Kikkawa
Fans gathered to take photos of Justify as he returns to Santa Anita on Sunday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The only thing that can stop Justify these days is Southern California traffic.

On Sunday, Triple Crown winner Justify was flown from Kentucky to California and then vanned from Ontario International Airport to trainer Bob Baffert’s stable at Santa Anita. The early-afternoon trip from the Ontario airport to the stables was delayed briefly while the motorcade accompanying the horse van negotiated its way past a traffic accident despite police sirens blaring.

Sun, 06/17/2018 - 17:21

Anonymity has stakes on horizon after comeback win

Shigeki Kikkawa
Trainer Richard Mandella believes 4-year-old filly Anonymity can compete in a stakes race this year.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 4-year-old Anonymity returned from a layoff of more than eight months to win an allowance race with a $40,000 claiming option at Santa Anita on Saturday, leaving trainer Richard Mandella optimistic that the filly can be a stakes runner this year.

Ridden by leading jockey Flavien Prat, Anonymity disputed the pace for the first half-mile before pulling clear to win by 4 1/4 lengths as the 1-2 favorite. Anonymity ran six furlongs in 1:10.17, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 93.

Sun, 06/17/2018 - 17:00

Ollie's Candy likely to try turf in San Clemente Stakes

Benoit Photo
Ollie's Candy fought past Thirteen Squared for a neck victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Summertime Oaks.

ARCADIA, Calif. – After success on the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields and dirt at Santa Anita, the undefeated stakes winner Ollie’s Candy is scheduled to start on turf for the first time at Del Mar next month.

Ollie’s Candy won her stakes debut in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Saturday. Trainer William Morey said on Sunday she is likely to run in the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf July 21.

Changes in surfaces or distances do not seem to affect Ollie’s Candy.

Sat, 06/16/2018 - 14:43

Dana Whitney rides 4,000th winner

Penn National-based Dana Whitney scored his 4,000th career victory in the second race Friday evening when he guided Vicksburg Bluffs to a front-running 1 1/2-length victory in a $9,000 claiming race.

Whitney, 48, has been a top five rider at Penn National ever since he shifted his base of operations 250 miles to the east from Mountaineer Park in 2009. He has topped the Penn National standings three times – 2014, 2011, and 2010. John Trulock has been Whitney's agent since he made the move at Penn National.

Fri, 06/15/2018 - 15:36

Devileye, Puntsville eye Canterbury stakes

Coady Photography
Devileye earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 101 for his victory in the June 2 Addison Cammack Stakes.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Devileye and Puntsville, Illinois-bred stakes winners on the June 2 card at Arlington, could ship to Canterbury Park for their next start, trainer Michele Boyce said.

Devileye is possible for the $50,000 Dark Star Cup over 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt, while Puntsville could run in the $50,000 Hoist Her Flag over six furlongs on dirt, a race she won last summer. Both races are next Saturday. Devileye and Puntsville are half-siblings.

Fri, 06/15/2018 - 15:30

South American pipeline widens for Correas

Tom Keyser
Dona Bruja, an Argentine import trained by Ignacio Correas, is set to make another attempt in the Grade 1 Beverly D. on Aug. 11.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The success Argentine native Ignacio Correas has found in the U.S. – first training the good older horse Kasaqui and more recently the even better mare Dona Bruja, both Argentine imports – apparently has opened a new channel in his operation.

Team Valor International earlier this year sent Correas four stakes winners purchased from Brazil and imported to North America, and on Sunday at Arlington, Love ‘n’ Happiness will be the first of those horses to race here.

Fri, 06/15/2018 - 15:26

Claim of Justify's half-sister proves a smart investment

Coady Photography
Trainer Neil Pessin claimed Holiday Music, an older half-sister to eventual Triple Crown winner Justify, for $30,000 in January.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Trainer Neil Pessin dropped a claim slip before the second race Jan. 1 at Fair Grounds on a 4-year-old filly named Holiday Music. Pessin and the group of owners that ponied up $30,000 for the claim were the only ones in for the horse. Holiday Music won, but that hardly was the point. The filly resided at Pessin’s Fair Grounds barn for one day before being shipped off the racetrack and on to Kentucky. Then the waiting game began.

Fri, 06/15/2018 - 15:20

Longtime trainer Willis enjoying career year

Emily Shields
Mindy Willis, a 62-year-old native of Burbank, Calif., has won 31 races from 160 starters this year for purses of $472,623.

Mindy Willis is on pace to have the best year of her training career, which dates to 1982. She finished third in the Sam Houston standings in March behind Steve Asmussen and Karl Broberg and has brought that momentum to Lone Star Park.

Willis through Thursday was tied for fourth in the standings behind Broberg and Asmussen, whose local divisions had won a combined 91 of the 234 races run at the meet through Sunday.