Wed, 09/18/2024 - 15:02

Santa Anita to cut purses at upcoming meet

By Steve Andersen
Barbara D. Livingston
The purse for a maiden race at the upcoming meet will be $54,000, down from $61,000 at last year's fall meet.

Facing a significant deficit in the purse account, Santa Anita has reduced overnight purses for its fall meeting, which runs from Sept. 27 to Oct. 27.

The reduction continues a troubling trend that has led to lower purses at two other Southern California tracks this year – Del Mar and the Los Alamitos Thoroughbred meetings.

According to the Santa Anita condition book, which details proposed races for the five-week meeting, a maiden race will be worth $54,000, down from $61,000 in the autumn of 2023.

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 14:56

Wire job in debut sets up Fibonaccis Ride for stakes on Breeders' Cup weekend

By Steve Andersen

Fibonaccis Ride won her debut in a maiden race for California-bred 2-year-old fillies at Los Alamitos on Sunday, giving owner and breeder James Shenouda and trainer Cesar DeAlba the hope she will be racing in stakes very soon.

Fibonaccis Ride, who was ridden by Diego Herrera, led throughout a five-furlong race, drawing away by six lengths as the 2-1 second choice in a field of six.

The victory could lead to a start in the $175,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies for statebreds at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 1, the first day of the Breeders’ Cup races.

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 14:43

Off third in Korea, Anarchist pointing for Breeders' Cup Sprint

By Steve Andersen
Barbara D. Livingston
Anarchist's last victory came in the 2023 Pat O'Brien Stakes.

Anarchist, the multiple graded stakes winner and recent world traveler, is a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2, trainer Doug O’Neill said on Wednesday.

Anarchist finished third by eight lengths in the $941,400 Korea Cup Sprint in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 8, the 5-year-old horse’s first trip away from North America. Anarchist recently returned to O’Neill base at Santa Anita.

“He’s on the track and he looks well,” O’Neill said. “We’ll probably try the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.”

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 13:55

Win and You're In Princess Rooney draws 10

By Mary Rampellini
Ryan Thompson
Beth's Dream drew the outside post in a field of 10 for Saturday's Princess Rooney.

The Grade 3, $220,000 Princess Rooney Invitational on Saturday at Gulfstream drew 10 fillies and mares led by Soul of an Angel and Beth’s Dream.

The field will meet over seven furlongs in a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

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Wed, 09/18/2024 - 13:50

Keeneland stakes on agenda for Orseno pair

By Mary Rampellini
Ryan Denver
Beauty of the Sea will be pointing at the Grade 2, $350,000 Franklin Stakes Oct. 13 at Keeneland.

Trainer Joe Orseno is pointing a pair of Gulfstream Park turf sprint winners, Beauty of the Sea and Etrurian, to races at Keeneland.

He said Beauty of the Sea is targeting the Grade 2, $350,000 Franklin. The 5 1/2-furlong turf race for fillies and mares is Oct. 13.

Beauty of the Sea blazed five furlongs in 54.43 seconds winning an overnight handicap in April, then went on to win the Goldwood at Monmouth Park and the Andy Guest at Colonial Downs.

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 13:47

Legacy Downs opens four-day 2024 meet in Nebraska

By Matt Hegarty

Legacy Downs, one of six tracks running live race dates in Nebraska this year, opens its four-day meet Friday with a four-race card, including a $20,000 stakes race for certified Nebraska-breds.

Legacy, which is located in Lincoln, is one of two tracks in Nebraska running under the brand of WarHorse Casino, one of the new casino operators in Nebraska authorized under a 2020 referendum tying casino licenses to racetracks. WarHorse is owned and operated by the state’s Winnebago Tribe.

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 12:15

Flat Hanby likely for Oklahoma Derby

By Mary Rampellini
Coady Media
Flat Hanby has won five races in a row, including the Canterbury Derby (above) by six lengths.

Flat Hanby, who has won his last five starts, is under serious consideration for the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 29 at Remington Park, according to his trainer, Boyd Caster.

Entries for the race, which is part of a card of eight stakes, will be taken Saturday.

Flat Hanby has won stakes in each of his last three starts, the latest a division of the Oklahoma Stallion Stakes over seven furlongs Sept. 6 at his base of Remington. He won by 6 1/4 lengths for a Beyer Speed Figure of 81.

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 12:15

Uno Mas Bourbon's Super Derby win gives Wilkes one of his own

By Mary Rampellini
Uno Mas Bourbon wins Super Derby at LAD Sept 14 2024
Ann Switalski Photography
Super Derby winner Uno Mas Bourbon was trainer Ian Wilke's first starter at Louisiana Downs. When he worked for Carl Nafzger, he accompanied Home At Last and Unbridled to the track for the Super Derby.

Uno Mas Bourbon, who won the $250,000 Super Derby last Saturday at Louisiana Downs, was trainer Ian Wilkes’s first starter at the Bossier City, La., track – but not his first experience with the meet’s most prestigious race.

“The last time I was there was with Unbridled and Home At Last with Carl Nafzger,” Wilkes said of his time as an exercise rider and later assistant to Nafzger.

Mon, 09/16/2024 - 13:10

High-priced juvenile featured on Friday Churchill card

By Nicole Russo

The 2-year-old set features prominently on Friday’s 10-race card, which begins at 12:45 p.m., with two divisions of a $120,000 maiden special weight for juvenile fillies.

The first of those, the day’s fourth race, marks the debut of the well-bred Ensorcell for Ron Moquett. The daughter of rising star sire Not This Time is out of the locally popular Grade 1 winner On Fire Baby.

Alyeska and Geez Eloise are both daughters of prominent freshman sire Vekoma, who leads his class by individual winners and is represented by last weekend’s Iroquois winner, Jonathan’s Way.

Mon, 09/16/2024 - 12:55

Zeitlos could still have turf in her future

By Nicole Russo

Zeitlos has won three stakes sprinting on dirt this year. She is winless in her two turf starts. But still, trainer Steve Asmussen said another try on the grass could be in the future for the filly, who notched her latest victory in the Open Mind Stakes last Saturday at Churchill Downs.

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