HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Steve Asmussen has done all he can to get Gun Runner ready for the $16 million Pegasus World Cup on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. That’s in his control. What he couldn’t control was the draw for the race Wednesday, and it made him anxious, what with 12 horses drawing for a 1 1/8-mile race that has an abrupt run before they all turn left.
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ARCADIA, Calif. – When Coniah won the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes at Santa Anita last Saturday, the occasion marked career win No. 1,568 for trainer William E. Morey. More importantly, Morey finally had his first graded stakes win, a victory that brought a sense of relief.
“We can put that to rest,” Morey reflected in his stable office last Sunday.
International riding star Frankie Dettori figured he’d get accustomed to the Gulfstream Park racing surface prior to riding Toast of New York in the Pegasus World Cup on Saturday. Dettori is named on three horses, all trained by Dale Romans, in consecutive races Friday – Izzy the Warrior (race 8), Sportscaster (race 9), and Driver’s Girl (race 10).
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One allowance (race 10) and one optional-claiming starter (race 5) are part of an 11-race Friday card otherwise filled with maiden and/or claiming races on yet another Gulfstream Park program for which the Rainbow 6 is the main storyline.
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 will span races 6 to 11, with first post set for 12:35 p.m. Eastern and the Rainbow sequence to kick off at 3:02. The Rainbow 6 began Wednesday with $3,129,358 in a jackpot pool that has not been swept by a solo winning ticket since Dec. 7.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Champagne Room, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2016, has been retired and sold privately to Japanese interests, trainer Peter Eurton said Wednesday.
Champagne Room was recently diagnosed with a hairline fracture in a foot that would have required a lengthy recovery time. Last week, Eurton said the partnership that owns the filly was contemplating a private sale, or keeping Champagne Room in training.
On Wednesday, Eurton said Champagne Room is at his stable at Santa Anita but is expected to be exported to Japan in coming weeks.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Caledonia Road, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and a top contender for the Eclipse Award in that division, which was to be announced Thursday night, is “about a month behind” getting set for her 3-year-old debut after having surgery to remove a small chip from a front ankle, trainer Ralph Nicks said Wednesday morning at Gulfstream Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mokat, a Grade 2 winner that occasionally ranked among the top grass fillies in California, has been retired from racing, trainer Richard Baltas said this week.
The 5-year-old mare, winner of the San Clemente Handicap in 2016 at Del Mar and runner-up in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine in 2017 at Santa Anita, was intended to race this year at age 5. However, recurring ankle problems flared up again after she worked Jan. 13 at Santa Anita, and Baltas called off the comeback.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture lifted the quarantine of Barn 20 at Laurel Park on Tuesday evening after the horse English Tudor tested negative for the equine herpesvirus, according to Georganne Hale, vice president of racing for the Maryland Jockey Club.
"I received a call tonight from Dr. Stevens of the Maryland Department of Agriculture that English Tudor had tested negative," Hale said. "Barn 20 at Laurel Park has been released from the quarantine."
Russell Road, one of only two West Virginia-breds to earn more than $2 million, died last weekend of colic at age 12, according to James W. Casey, who trained him for nine seasons.
Russell Road went over $2 million in earnings in his final career start, the $100,000 Northern Panhandle Stakes at Mountaineer Park in August 2016. He came out of that race with a "little suspensory pull," according to Casey and was retired the next month when it was determined that he would not sufficiently recover to continue racing.
