Fri, 11/24/2017 - 14:26

Stallwalkin' Dude points to Gravesend

Joe Labozzetta/NYRA
Stallwalkin' Dude is being pointed for a title defense in the Gravesend Stakes on Dec. 23.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Stallwalkin’ Dude came out of his 1 3/4-length victory in Thursday’s Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap “great,” according to trainer and part-owner David Jacobson who said the 7-year-old gelding would likely be aimed at the $100,000 Gravesend Stakes here Dec. 23. Stallwalkin’ Dude won last year’s Gravesend after finishing second in the Fall Highweight.

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 14:00

Shivermetimbers to skip CashCall Futurity

DEL MAR, Calif. – Shivermetimbers, who won a highly rated maiden race for 2-year-olds going one mile Thursday at Del Mar, won’t be wheeled back in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Los Alamitos in 16 days, but hopes are high for him, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Friday.

“I was very happy with the way he handled himself,” Hollendorfer said of Shivermetimbers, who earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 89 when defeating Peace by a head in 1:36.94 on the fast main track.

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 13:26

Three graded stakes highlight Los Alamitos meet

Los Alamitos on Thursday will launch its three-week winter meeting, a 12-day season that will include three graded stakes.

The meeting, which runs through Dec. 17 on a Thursday-through-Sunday basis, is led by two Grade 1, $300,000 races for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 9 – the CashCall Los Alamitos Futurity and the Starlet Stakes for fillies.

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 13:16

Bolt d'Oro targets three preps at Santa Anita

Barbara D. Livingston
Bolt d'Oro trains on Nov. 1 and will likely next start in the San Vicente Stakes.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Bolt d’Oro, one of the nation’s leading 2-year-old males, is tentatively scheduled to have a three-race campaign at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.

Owner and trainer Mick Ruis said Thursday that Bolt d’Oro is likely to have his first start of 2018 in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs in early February. The Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles March 10 and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles April 7 are other race goals, Ruis said.

“I’m going in all three races,” Ruis said.

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 13:16

Navarro returns to Florida with strong stable

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Jorge Navarro

MIAMI – Anybody wondering whether trainer Jorge Navarro would be returning to south Florida at full strength for the upcoming Championship meeting at Gulfstream Park had only to look at the entries for the final two cards of the Gulfstream Park West session this weekend.

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 12:26

Turfway opens season Wednesday night

Danielle Eilerman/Coady Photography
Turfway Park will conduct racing four nights per week during the track's holiday meet.

Four months of winter racing over Polytrack starts Wednesday night at Turfway Park as the Florence, Ky., oval continues to lag well behind other Kentucky tracks in purse offerings.

:: Save on PPs, digital subscriptions, and more with DRF's Black Friday sale!

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 12:20

Trainer Pat Byrne ends winless streak

Barbara D. Livingston
Patrick Byrne

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At his career peak, Pat Byrne came within one vote of being named the Eclipse Award-winning trainer of 1997. Twenty years later, with a stable just a fraction of the size it once was, Byrne won a race for the first time in more than a year when Run Tappy captured a Thursday maiden race on the Churchill turf.

“I’ve just been going at my own pace these last six or seven years, kicking along with the same people,” said Byrne, 61. “I’m fine. I’m pretty well set because of how I did years ago. Nobody needs to feel sorry for me.”

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 12:16

Undefeated C Z Rocket under consideration for Malibu

Keeneland/Coady Photography
C Z Rocket rallied from well back to win a first-level allowance race at Keeneland on Oct. 11 in only his second start.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – C Z Rocket could make his next start in the Grade 1 Malibu on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita after staying unbeaten in three career starts with a two-length victory in a one-mile, second-level allowance Thursday at Churchill.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. said “we’re considering” the seven-furlong Malibu after C Z Rocket, racing closer to the early pace than in his two prior starts, outkicked J Boys Echo down the stretch to earn a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

Fri, 11/24/2017 - 12:16

Top Churchill riders prepare to decamp for winter destinations

Coady Photography
Corey Lanerie, Churchill's top rider this fall, will winter at Fair Grounds.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They’ll scatter like dust in the wind when the Churchill Downs lights are dimmed following the 12th race Sunday. Horsemen and other racetrack affiliates with Florida, Louisiana, or Arkansas as their next stop will pack their bags in an end-of-November ritual long familiar in these parts.