ARCADIA, Calif. – With slight urging in the stretch, Bolt d’Oro worked seven furlongs in 1:24.20 at Santa Anita on Sunday, his second-to-last major exercise before the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 5.
Second in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 7, Bolt d’Oro worked alone on Sunday under jockey Victor Espinoza, who will ride the colt for the first time in the Kentucky Derby.
The top three finishers and beaten favorite Diversify were all doing well Sunday morning following the previous day's $1.2 million Charles Town Classic.
Something Awesome defeated War Story by a neck under Hall of Famer rider Edgar Prado in the 1 1/8-mile Classic, with the late-running Fear the Cowboy a length farther back in third. Diversify dropped back through the field following a little more than six furlongs and finished last, with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. protecting him after it was clear he had no more to give.
The smile that has been a seemingly permanent fixture on trainer Chad Brown’s face throughout April at Keeneland, as his barn continues a strong meet and he prepares juvenile champion Good Magic for the Kentucky Derby, slipped for just an instant.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Monomoy Girl sharpened up for her upcoming engagement in the Kentucky Oaks when breezing a half-mile in company on a cold but pleasant Saturday morning at Churchill Downs.
Working outside of her Brad Cox stablemate Compass Zone during the exclusive training period (7:30-7:45 a.m. Eastern) being reserved daily for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses, Monomoy Girl went in 47.40 seconds, with a five-furlong gallop-out of 59.80. Florent Geroux, her regular rider, was aboard.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The unbeaten and lightly raced Justify, the current favorite for the Kentucky Derby on May 5, turned in his penultimate drill for the race early Saturday morning at Santa Anita, officially going six furlongs in 1:13 after breaking off at the five-furlong pole.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hawkish was a strong allowance winner going a mile on turf at Aqueduct on April 15, and trainer Jimmy Toner is eager to see how the 3-year-old son of Artie Schiller will do going longer.
Thus, Toner plans to run Hawkish in the Grade 3, $200,000 Pennine Ridge at 1 1/8 miles at Belmont on June 2.
“I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t stretch out,” Toner said Friday at Belmont. “I’d like to find out, anyway. He was just awesome last week. He’s a good horse.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The veteran New York-bred gelding Kharafa will make his 9-year-old debut in the $125,000 Elusive Quality Stakes next Saturday at Belmont Park, trainer Tim Hills said.
It will be the third straight year that Kharafa will begin his campaign in the Elusive Quality. He finished second behind Disco Partner last year and fifth behind A Lot in 2016. Hills said he is using the Elusive Quality as a stepping-stone to the Kingston Stakes for New York-breds on May 28.
Kharafa has won 12 races, including seven stakes, from 45 starts and has earned $1.1 million.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The debut winners Retonova and A True Giant seem to have found a relatively soft spot to make their stakes debuts – and second career starts – in Sunday’s $100,000 Times Square division of the New York Stallion Series on closing-day at Aqueduct.
Retonova, trained by Chris Englehart, broke a step slowly but got a patient ride from Trevor McCarthy and pulled away to win by four lengths at odds of 10-1 on March 17. Englehart said Retonova had shown potential in the morning, but he wasn’t expecting a first-out victory.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Xten, a 3-year-old maiden colt, was euthanized on Friday after being involved in an apparent collision during a workout that led to the cancellation of training on the main track.
Trainer Tim Yakteen said on Friday afternoon that Xten was found to be suffering from neurological issues and could not be saved.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Favorable weather and large fields led to a sharp increase in all-sources handle at California’s racetracks in the first three months of the year.
Handle for the year surpassed $764 million through March, a gain of 11.85 percent from the corresponding period in 2017 for Thoroughbred meetings at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields, the nighttime harness meeting at Sacramento, and the nighttime mixed meeting at Los Alamitos, according to figures released at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting.
