HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Leading jockey Luis Saez, who served a three-day riding suspension last week, wasted little time picking right up where he left off upon returning to the saddle over the weekend. Saez registered a four-bagger Sunday that included a last-to-first triumph aboard Lalibela, a 3-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway trained by Michael Matz, who paid $65 after capturing his career debut in impressive fashion on the turf.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Rainbow 6 jackpot has grown to more than $3.1 million heading into Wednesday’s action after surviving a couple of scares over the weekend. A combination of large and, in many cases, inscrutable fields led to some major upsets during both sequences, leaving three horses alive for the entire jackpot Saturday and two more on Sunday. In both cases, the winner of the finale led to multiple winning combinations, which returned $61,173 for a 20-cent wager Saturday and $30,870 the following afternoon.
Mourinho, winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn earlier this year and fourth most recently in the Southwest Stakes, was euthanized on Monday morning at Santa Anita after suffering a severe sesamoid fracture in a front leg, trainer Bob Baffert said.
“It’s terrible. He was going easily, breezing, head-and-head, when he took a bad step,” Baffert said.
Baffert was at a 2-year-old sale in Ocala, Fla. The work was supervised by his top assistant, Jimmy Barnes, who relayed the information to Baffert.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Between Skyler’s Scramjet and My Boy Tate, trainer Michelle Nevin has two male sprinters who have combined to win eight consecutive races including three stakes.
Keeping them separated will be a nice problem throughout the spring and summer.
Skyler’s Scramjet won his first stakes Saturday, scoring a 1 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct that was more impressive than the final margin might suggest.
ARCADIA, Calif. – City of Light, the winner of the Triple Bend for older sprinters on Saturday, has the Met Mile on Belmont Stakes Day as his long-term goal, trainer Michael McCarthy said Sunday morning.
McCarthy said the Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day might be used as a prep for the Met Mile.
"The horse came out of the race in good order, ate up," McCarthy said. "We'll let him get his feet underneath him. After skipping the race in Arkansas, I was glad he didn't boil over."
ARCADIA, Calif. – John Sadler grew up in Southern California and was a fan of racing even before he began training nearly four decades ago, so he said the Santa Anita Handicap win on Saturday with Accelerate was "very satisfying."
"It's one of the most iconic races on our circuit," Sadler, who had never before won the Big Cap, said Sunday morning. "I'm old enough to remember when it was more important than the 3-year-old races. I grew up watching Quicken Tree. I remember Ack Ack. I love the Big Cap. It was a great win for us."
ARCADIA, Calif. – The controversial disqualification of McKinzie in favor of Bolt d’Oro in the San Felipe Stakes on Saturday was still on the minds of the participants on Sunday morning at Santa Anita, but the fact that both 3-year-olds furthered their Kentucky Derby aspirations, came out of the race well, and likely will meet again in the Santa Anita Derby had many looking forward to Round 2 in their budding rivalry.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – New York’s reconstructed winter road to the Kentucky Derby has been smooth sailing for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing.
Five weeks after winning the Grade 3 Withers with Avery Island, the trainer-owner tandem struck again Saturday with Enticed, who won the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths at Aqueduct.
Now, McLaughlin and Godolphin will set their sights on the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 7, the “most likely” next target for Enticed, McLaughlin said Sunday.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Tears of unbridled joy are easy to spot in the aftermath of the Kentucky Derby, but not necessarily after one of its prep races eight weeks out.
Yet there was Brooke Baker crying her eyes out as Quip made his return to the Tampa Bay Downs winner’s circle early Saturday evening. Baker and Rodolphe Brisset, the trainer of Quip, were married about a year ago, and the colt’s upset triumph in the Tampa Bay Derby meant the world to them.
