HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – After winning the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap on Monday at Oaklawn, Hawaakom was headed back to his Fair Grounds base on Tuesday morning. But there could be a much bigger trip on the immediate horizon.
Trainer Wes Hawley said that if Hawaakom was extended an invitation to the $6 million Dubai World Cup, he would seriously consider running him.
“It’s a mile and a quarter and my horse would definitely run that,” said Hawley, who owns Hawaakom with Steven Smoot.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Flavien Prat can add Group 1-winning owner to his résumé – with a French trotter.
Prat, whose family has a background in French Standardbred racing, is the owner of Folelli, who won Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Comte Pierre de Montesson, a $240,000 race for 3-year-old fillies at Vincennes Racecourse in southeast Paris.
Between workouts Sunday morning, Prat watched the race on his phone. Later that day, he beamed while discussing the accomplishments Folelli, who has won 4 of 9 starts, including two stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for female sprinters March 24 at Santa Anita could feature an intriguing matchup among the stakes winners Paradise Woods, Selcourt, and Skye Diamonds.
Selcourt and Skye Diamonds were first and third in the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at six furlongs Sunday at Santa Anita. Paradise Woods, a two-time Grade 1 winner last year, recently resumed training after being sidelined earlier this year by illness and a minor foot ailment.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Flavien Prat will ride Breeders’ Cup Mile winner World Approval for the first time in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf March 10 at Santa Anita, trainer Mark Casse said.
Prat won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes on Feb. 10 at Santa Anita aboard Om, who will now be ridden by Mike Smith in the Kilroe Mile, trainer Dan Hendricks said.
Smith has never ridden Om.
“I’ve won a lot of big races with Mike,” Hendricks said.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – David Cabrera left his home in Mexico at 14 to chase the American dream. He’s captured it at Oaklawn.
Cabrera, 25, led the jockey standings heading into Monday’s holiday card. He’s a new face in Arkansas after plying his trade in Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. He’s won two stakes at the meet, including the $125,000 King Cotton with Wilbo.
“Everything just came together,” Cabrera said. “We work hard in the morning, with a good attitude, and I think people notice it. They gave us a chance. I think the horses can feel it, too. The horses are running well.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – New York horsemen who couldn’t ship their horses to Maryland for Saturday’s two graded sprint stakes at Laurel are considering their options for next starts for their horses.
After a barn at Belmont Park was placed under quarantine Friday due to a case of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy, Laurel Park prohibited New York-based horses from shipping to that track.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The 3-year-old New York-bred Nine Route has won all three of his starts since being transferred to trainer Jeremiah Englehart, and no one is more surprised about that than Englehart himself.
Nine Route made it three straight wins taking Sunday’s $100,000 Gander Stakes by three lengths. Nine Route, a son of The Factor, is owned by Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells, who races under the name August Dawn Farm.
“I didn’t like him in any of his races, and he’s done nothing but prove me wrong every time,” Englehart said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Kanthaka, impressive winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente on Feb. 10 at Santa Anita, is expected to make his next start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes on March 10 at Aqueduct, Terry Finley, president of owner West Point Thoroughbreds, said Monday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The brilliantly quick colt Justify joined trainer Bob Baffert’s deep list of contenders for the major stakes for 3-year-olds this year with a win in a seven-furlong maiden race in his debut Sunday at Santa Anita.
Justify, by Scat Daddy, was always near the front and won by 9 1/2 lengths in 1:21.86. Ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, Justify earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 104, the highest given to a 3-year-old this year.
“That was pretty impressive,” Baffert said Monday. “We knew he was special. He came out of it good, so we’re happy with that.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Robby Albarado will begin riding here on a regular basis Thursday, accepting two mounts on the 11-race card.
Albarado has transferred his tack from Fair Grounds in Louisiana and will have his engagements handled by Walter Blum Jr. while in south Florida.
Albarado made the switch, in large part, at the behest of trainer Dale Romans.
