Tue, 02/20/2018 - 17:02

Lukas firing with two barrels

Emily Shields
Bravazo (7) paid $44.00 to win the Risen Star at Fair Grounds on Saturday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Trainer D. Wayne Lukas is coming off a big weekend on the Kentucky Derby trail, sending out Bravazo to win the Grade 2 Risen Star on Saturday at Fair Grounds and saddling Sporting Chance to a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes on Monday at Oaklawn.

Tue, 02/20/2018 - 15:50

Combatant targets Rebel after runner-up finish in Southwest

Churchill Downs/Coady Photography
Combatant, shown winning his maiden Oct. 29, most recently was second in the Smarty Jones Stakes.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Combatant has been knocking on the door in Kentucky Derby points races since December, and he will get a shot at another such stakes next month at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday.

Combatant was second in the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest at the track Monday, the third straight points race in which he has been the runner-up. He also was second in both the $400,000 Springboard Mile in December at Remington Park and the $150,000 Smarty Jones in January at Oaklawn.

Tue, 02/20/2018 - 14:01

Hawley hoping for Dubai World Cup invite for Hawaakom

Coady Photography/Oaklawn
Hawaakom's victory Monday in the Razorback Handicap has trainer Wes Hawley thinking big.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – After winning the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap on Monday at Oaklawn, Hawaakom was headed back to his Fair Grounds base on Tuesday morning. But there could be a much bigger trip on the immediate horizon.

Trainer Wes Hawley said that if Hawaakom was extended an invitation to the $6 million Dubai World Cup, he would seriously consider running him.

“It’s a mile and a quarter and my horse would definitely run that,” said Hawley, who owns Hawaakom with Steven Smoot.

Tue, 02/20/2018 - 13:20

Prat wins Group 1 race – with a trotter

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Flavien Prat can add Group 1-winning owner to his résumé – with a French trotter.

Prat, whose family has a background in French Standardbred racing, is the owner of Folelli, who won Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Comte Pierre de Montesson, a $240,000 race for 3-year-old fillies at Vincennes Racecourse in southeast Paris.

Between workouts Sunday morning, Prat watched the race on his phone. Later that day, he beamed while discussing the accomplishments Folelli, who has won 4 of 9 starts, including two stakes.

Tue, 02/20/2018 - 12:26

Santa Monica might get cream of female sprinting crop

Benoit Photo
Selcourt paid $4.20 to win the Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for female sprinters March 24 at Santa Anita could feature an intriguing matchup among the stakes winners Paradise Woods, Selcourt, and Skye Diamonds.

Selcourt and Skye Diamonds were first and third in the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at six furlongs Sunday at Santa Anita. Paradise Woods, a two-time Grade 1 winner last year, recently resumed training after being sidelined earlier this year by illness and a minor foot ailment.

Tue, 02/20/2018 - 12:20

Prat picks up mount on World Approval for Kilroe Mile

Tom Keyser
World Approval wins the Tampa Bay Stakes on Saturday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Flavien Prat will ride Breeders’ Cup Mile winner World Approval for the first time in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf March 10 at Santa Anita, trainer Mark Casse said.

Prat won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes on Feb. 10 at Santa Anita aboard Om, who will now be ridden by Mike Smith in the Kilroe Mile, trainer Dan Hendricks said.

Smith has never ridden Om.

“I’ve won a lot of big races with Mike,” Hendricks said.

Mon, 02/19/2018 - 15:16

Jockey David Cabrera has found the American dream at Oaklawn

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – David Cabrera left his home in Mexico at 14 to chase the American dream. He’s captured it at Oaklawn.

Cabrera, 25, led the jockey standings heading into Monday’s holiday card. He’s a new face in Arkansas after plying his trade in Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. He’s won two stakes at the meet, including the $125,000 King Cotton with Wilbo.

“Everything just came together,” Cabrera said. “We work hard in the morning, with a good attitude, and I think people notice it. They gave us a chance. I think the horses can feel it, too. The horses are running well.”

Mon, 02/19/2018 - 14:10

Plans in flux for New York horses excluded from Laurel stakes

Chelsea Durand/NYRA
Quezon opened her 2018 season with a win against New York-breds in the La Verdad Stakes.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – New York horsemen who couldn’t ship their horses to Maryland for Saturday’s two graded sprint stakes at Laurel are considering their options for next starts for their horses.

After a barn at Belmont Park was placed under quarantine Friday due to a case of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy, Laurel Park prohibited New York-based horses from shipping to that track.

Mon, 02/19/2018 - 14:06

Nine Route surprising even his trainer

Robert Mauhar
Dylan Davis rides Nine Route to a three-length win in the Gander Stakes.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The 3-year-old New York-bred Nine Route has won all three of his starts since being transferred to trainer Jeremiah Englehart, and no one is more surprised about that than Englehart himself.

Nine Route made it three straight wins taking Sunday’s $100,000 Gander Stakes by three lengths. Nine Route, a son of The Factor, is owned by Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells, who races under the name August Dawn Farm.

“I didn’t like him in any of his races, and he’s done nothing but prove me wrong every time,” Englehart said.

Mon, 02/19/2018 - 14:00

Gotham a good fit for Kanthaka

Emily Shields
Kanthaka, by Jimmy Creed, wins the Grade 2 San Vicente at Santa Anita.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Kanthaka, impressive winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente on Feb. 10 at Santa Anita, is expected to make his next start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes on March 10 at Aqueduct, Terry Finley, president of owner West Point Thoroughbreds, said Monday.