Wed, 12/06/2017 - 15:16

Absatootly going in Garland of Roses

Viola Jasko/NYRA
Absatootly, cross-entered in stakes in New York and Maryland this weekend, will stay home for the Garland of Roses at Aqueduct.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Absatootly is cross-entered in two stakes with similar conditions Saturday, but trainer Charlton Baker said the New York-bred filly will run in the $100,000 Garland of Roses at Aqueduct.

Absatootly also was entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Willa On the Move Stakes at Laurel, where the filly is undefeated in three starts. Ms Locust Point is another who was cross-entered in both spots, but trainer John Servis has yet to decide where his filly will run. Both the Garland of Roses and Willa On the Move are for fillies and mares and run at six furlongs.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 15:06

Alluring Star to miss Starlet Stakes with fever

Justin N. Lane
Alluring Star (right), who finished second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, will miss Saturday's Starlet Stakes.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Alluring Star, second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 4 at Del Mar, will miss the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes on Saturday at Los Alamitos.

“I’m not going to run her,” trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday. “She came up with a temperature.”

Alluring Star would have been favored in the $300,000 Starlet Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles. She won her debut at Del Mar in a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs Sept. 3 and was second in her stakes debut in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes on Sept. 30 at Santa Anita.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 14:16

Puerto Rico shippers had rough road to Clasico del Caribe

Courtesy of Gulfstream Park
Justiciero, the 2017 Puerto Rican Triple Crown winner, missed considerable training this fall due to Hurricane Maria.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Looking at past performances alone, it would be far from a miracle for Justiciero to win Saturday’s $300,000 Clasico del Caribe at Gulfstream Park. After all, the son of Kentucky-bred Coach Billy G. has won seven of his eight starts at 3, including all three legs of the Puerto Rican Triple Crown.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 13:26

Breakin the Fever extends reign at Finger Lakes

SV Photography
Breakin the Fever paid $5.60 in winning the Leon Reed Memorial on Monday.

For the third consecutive year, Breakin the Fever has been named horse of the meet at Finger Lakes, which concluded its 2017 season Nov. 28.

Breakin the Fever went 5 for 7 this year for Ronnie and Debra Breed, who bred, own, and train the 5-year-old Roaring Fever gelding. Breakin the Fever’s victories included his third consecutive edition of the Leon Reed Memorial and his second straight running of the George W. Baker.

Twenty for 32 in his career, with earnings of $564,000, Breakin the Fever is being given the winter off.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 13:20

Clever Mind, Limited View look to double up in juvenile stakes

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Limited View and jockey Edgar Prado win the Maryland Million Lassie by three-quarters of a length.

Of the four stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday, the 2-year-old races have come up especially interesting.

Clever Mind and Limited View were the most dramatic winners on Maryland Million Day at Laurel. Clever Mind came from the clouds to win his career debut in the Nursery for trainer Graham Motion, and Limited View came from even farther back to take the Lassie for John Salzman Jr.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 13:16

Jockey Black seeks one more win before calling it a career

Barbara Weidl/Equi-Photo
Tony Black gets victory 5,200 and calls it a career after winning on Smart Tori.

Tony Black didn’t ride from September 2015 until this past July, but he never said he was retired. Last summer, he began accepting a few mounts, and last Saturday at Parx Racing, he won his first race in more than three years.

Black, who rode his first winner in 1970 at Liberty Bell Racetrack in Philadelphia, is 66 and now has 5,209 wins, ranking 28th among jockeys in North American racing history.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 13:06

Valadorna makes second start of comeback in allowance

Hodges Photography
Valadorna will likely next race in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Feb. 25.

When she last raced at Fair Grounds, Valadorna was thought to be a candidate for the 2017 Kentucky Oaks. Valadorna didn’t make that race, and in fact, after a third-place finish Feb. 25 in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes, Valadorna didn’t start again until Nov. 1.

Valadorna is back racing at Fair Grounds, but she’s just one of the candidates to win the featured fourth race Friday, a second-level dirt-route allowance also open to $40,000 claimers. Valadorna is one of just six entrants and is the 6-5 morning-line favorite.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 12:56

Forever Unbridled, Seeking the Soul possible for Pegasus World Cup

Barbara D. Livingston
Forever Unbridled (right) prevailed by a half-length over Abel Tasman in the Breeders' Cup Distaff on Friday at Del Mar.

Forever Unbridled, who won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in her last start, and Seeking the Soul, who captured the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on Nov. 26, both are galloping daily at Fair Grounds, but no plans have been set for their next races.

Both horses are owned by Charles Fipke and are under consideration for the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park, trainer Dallas Stewart said.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 12:56

C Z Rocket heads west for Malibu Stakes

Churchill Downs/Coady Photography
C Z Rocket wins a second-level allowance by two lengths at Churchill in November.

Al Stall has gotten off to a great start at the Fair Grounds race meet, and he hopes his hot hand reaches all the way to California this month.

The exciting, undefeated C Z Rocket left Churchill Downs this week, but not for Fair Grounds. C Z Rocket figures to wind up in New Orleans sometime this winter, but leaving Kentucky, he went west to stable in the Richard Mandella barn and prepare for the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 12:30

Stidham gets first Tampa winner

Shigeki Kikkawa
Trainer Mike Stidham has split his stable for the first time between Tampa bay Downs and his longtime winter base, Fair Grounds.

Mike Stidham has won nearly 1,800 races in a training career dating to 1979. One of those came last Friday at Tampa Bay Downs when Meilleur went wire to wire in a maiden-claiming turf mile, giving Stidham his first-ever victory at the Oldsmar, Fla., track.

There will be more. Stidham has split his stable for the first time between Tampa and his longtime winter base, Fair Grounds. He has four entered Friday at Tampa, including Birdsnest Party (race 2) and Hay Baby Girl (race 5) as heavy favorites to get through their maiden conditions.