Tue, 02/18/2025 - 14:14

Turfway moves Wednesday card to Sunday, cancels Thursday due to storm

Turfway Park Jan 12 2024
Barbara D. Livingston
Winter weather has caused a number of cancellations over the last few months.

Turfway Park will run the card drawn for Wednesday on Sunday, normally a dark day, and has canceled its Thursday card due to another winter storm moving into Central Kentucky.

The Sunday card will start at 4:15 p.m., Turfway said. The races planned for Thursday will be added as extras to upcoming cards, according to the track.

Temperatures are set to plummet in Central Kentucky and much of the Midwest on Wednesday, which also includes a forecast for morning snow. Overnight temps are supposed to reach single digits on Thursday night.

Tue, 02/18/2025 - 12:15

With storm approaching, Oaklawn rearranges calendar; Rebel Day is now Sunday

Coady Media
Racing on Friday at Oaklawn has been canceled. That card will now be run Saturday. The Rebel Stakes program has been moved from Saturday to Sunday and what was the Sunday card will now be held Monday.

In advance of a winter storm system, Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has moved the Rebel Stakes card to Sunday, according to track president Lou Cella. The card featuring the Kentucky Derby points race was originally scheduled for Saturday. 

Oaklawn also is shifting Friday's program to Saturday and Sunday's program to Monday. The races will be run as originally drawn. The decision to change the schedule came Tuesday morning, said Cella.

Mon, 02/17/2025 - 14:12

Just F Y I nearing return; Resilience back on work tab

Barbara D. Livingston
Just F Y I has worked seven times at Payson Park this year but trainer Bill Mott doesn't have a return race picked yet.

Just F Y I, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2023 who went winless in three starts in 2024, is nearing her return to the races.

Just F Y I has worked seven times at Payson Park since New Year’s Day, including a five-furlong move in 1:03 on Sunday. Trainer Bill Mott said he has not yet picked out a return race for Just F Y I.

“I want to make sure she’s ready,” Mott said Monday from Florida. “She’s doing well. I could run her here [Gulfstream], or run her at Keeneland, or wait for New York for that matter.”

Mon, 02/17/2025 - 13:40

Cox will skip Fountain of Youth, point to Florida Derby with Tappan Street

Barbara D. Livingston
Tappan Street, second in the Holy Bull, is scheduled to make his next start in the Florida Derby.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The much-anticipated rematch between Burnham Square and Tappan Street, the first- and second-place finishers, respectively, in the Grade 3 Holy Bull here earlier this month, will not take place as many had hoped a week from Saturday in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.

Mon, 02/17/2025 - 13:29

Straight No Chaser works in Saudi for Riyadh Dirt Sprint

Debra A. Roma
Straight No Chaser won the Breeders' Cup Sprint, en route to winning the Eclipse award for the top male sprinter in 2024.

Straight No Chaser, the champion sprinter of 2024, worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds in Saudi Arabia on Monday in advance of Saturday’s Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in that country, trainer Dan Blacker wrote in a text message.

Blacker described Straight No Chaser’s exercise as “in hand.”

The $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint at six furlongs will be Straight No Chaser’s first start since a title-clinching win in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2

Mon, 02/17/2025 - 13:27

Journalism gearing up 3-year-old debut in San Felipe

Barbara D. Livingston
Journalism, winner of the Los Alamitos Futurity, will make his 3-year-old debut in the San Felipe.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Journalism, unbeaten in two starts around two turns, worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of his scheduled 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 1.

The $300,000 San Felipe Stakes is run at 1 1/16 miles and is a key prep race for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 5.

Journalism is rated as one of the leading 3-year-old Triple Crown prospects in California.

Sun, 02/16/2025 - 17:35

Aqueduct cancels Monday racing due to expected high winds

Barbara D. Livingston
Monday's canceled card is the third of the winter meet at the Big A.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Monday’s eight-race live program at Aqueduct has been canceled due to forecasted high winds, the New York Racing Association announced Sunday.

Monday’s card follows the cancellation of Sunday’s card for the same reason.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory from 6 p.m. Sunday through 6 p.m. Monday. It calls for winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 miles per hour.

Sun, 02/16/2025 - 16:57

Roll On Big Joe looks to Oaklawn after Palos Verdes score

Benoit Photo
Roll On Big Joe was set to head to Oaklawn until Big City Lights withdrew from the Palos Verdes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Roll On Big Joe may eventually get to Oaklawn Park this year after winning his first stakes in Saturday’s Grade 3 Palos Verdes at Santa Anita.

Trainer Bob Hess Jr. had Roll On Big Joe slated to start in the $145,000 Commodore Stakes for sprinters at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 22 until expected heavy favorite Big City Lights was withdrawn from the $100,000 Palos Verdes Stakes on race morning.

“I’d rather run here anyway,” Hess said on Sunday.

Sun, 02/16/2025 - 15:31

Good Cheer headlines trio of fast 3-year-old fillies for Cox

Amanda Hodges Weir/Hodges Photography
Good Cheer got a different kind of trip Saturday than in any of her four starts at age 2.

With leading foes Ballerina d’Oro and Simply Joking scratched, Good Cheer did what she was supposed to do at odds of 1-9 Saturday: Score an easy win over just three rivals Saturday in the Grade 3, $250,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Regardless of competition, or lack thereof, Good Cheer, who's won all five of her career races, got a different kind of trip than in any of her four starts at age 2. She earned a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure, fast enough to suggest she’s moved forward at age 3, but not so fast as to trigger regression in her next start.

Sun, 02/16/2025 - 15:21

Chunk of Gold, Built weigh next-race options

Coady Media
Chunk of Gold made his first two starts at Turfway and may return in the Jeff Ruby Steaks.

Connections for the Risen Star’s second- and third-place finishers, Chunk of Gold and Built, haven’t set plans for their horses’ next race, but Ethan West, Chunk of Gold’s trainer, narrowed the possibilities to the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds or the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway, both on March 22.