Runaway Ghost and Reride could start as the top two choices Sunday in the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park. The race is the final local stepping-stone to the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby.
The Mine That Bird Derby, at 1 1/16 miles, has drawn a field of nine. It shares a card with the Island Fashion, the local prep for the $200,000 Sunland Park Oaks.
Neither the 3-year-old filly Chocolate Martini nor the 3-year-old colt Dark Templar broke the clock, but both at least ran decently in winning first-level dirt-route allowances Sunday and Monday at Fair Grounds.
Chocolate Martini, claimed for $30,000 out of her previous start by trainer Tom Amoss and owner Double Doors Racing LLC, won by a neck Sunday and got a solid 82 Beyer Speed Figure. Chocolate Martini started under the race’s $50,000 claiming option and thus could run back at the same level, but Amoss said the filly would be considered for races like the Fair Grounds Oaks.
Trainer Mark Casse hopes Holding Gold gets invited to the party in Dubai.
Holding Gold’s first start in 2018, the Col. Power Stakes on Feb. 17 at Fair Grounds, produced an encouraging half-length win over the up-and-coming Will Call, and if things go as hoped, the race will have served as a prep for the $1 million Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup card March 31.
The Al Quoz is an invitational, and Casse hopes Holding Gold, owned by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation, is on the Dubai Racing Club’s list of invitees.
The five-week break between the Rachel Alexandra Stakes and the Fair Grounds Oaks is long enough that horses can start in both races without fear of a strong showing in the first leading to regression in the second.
Nonetheless, Monomoy Girl, who won the Grade 2, $200,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes last Saturday at Fair Grounds, looking like a major Kentucky Oaks player in a division lacking standouts, is likely to pass on the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 24 in favor of the Ashland Stakes on April 7 at Keeneland.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine has announced its 2018 stakes schedule, comprising 96 races, including the 159th running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate on the blockbuster June 30 card.
Other highlights of the 133-day meet will be the Grade 1, $800,000 Woodbine Mile on Sept. 15; the Grade 1, $800,000 Canadian International on Oct. 13; the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks on June 9; and the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes, the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, on Aug. 18.
ARCADIA, Calif. – As training hours wound down Sunday morning at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert turned to a few visitors and said, “I’ve got big plans for that colt this afternoon.”
A few hours later, Justify turned in the most impressive debut effort among 3-year-olds this year, crushing maidens while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 104, a performance strong enough to put him into this week’s Derby Watch top 20.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Carlo Vaccarezza is eternally thankful that his two sons, Nick and Mike, escaped the wrath of a deranged gunman last week when 17 of their schoolmates were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. That’s a major reason why Vaccarezza is reaching into his own pocket to host a major fundraiser Sunday at the Boca Raton, Fla., restaurant he co-owns, Frank and Dino’s.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although he’s won three of the last five renewals of the Grade 1 Florida Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher has won the primary prep for the race, the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, just once since 2010. That victory came three years ago with Itsaknockout following the stewards’ disqualification of Upstart, who had crossed the wire first.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- My Boy Jack’s long range target is established – the Kentucky Derby the first Saturday in May.
The path he will take get there is to be determined, trainer Keith Desormeaux said on Tuesday, a day after the horse won the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn. My Boy Jack earned 10 eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby for his4 1/2-length victory, giving him a total of 12.
