CYPRESS, Calif. – Trainer Eoin Harty could have juveniles in as many as three stakes in the first two weeks of the Santa Anita autumn meeting.
Harty said Sunday that City Plan, the winner of a maiden race at Los Alamitos on Sept. 7, is a candidate for the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Sept. 30. The winner of the FrontRunner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Edwin Maldonado is scheduled to resume riding Thursday at Los Alamitos after missing part of Saturday’s and all of Sunday’s card because of a mild concussion sustained in a spill.
Maldonado was unseated from Discreetly Leah on Saturday after the filly suffered a severe injury on the turn of a $20,000 claimer for maidens in Saturday’s second race. Maldonado was taken to a local hospital, where he underwent tests before being released.
Saul Marquez, Maldonado’s agent, said the rider had a “mild concussion.”
CYPRESS, Calif. – Run Away, who finished third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 4, is a possible starter in the $100,000 Barretts Juvenile at Los Alamitos on Sept. 23.
Run Away was beaten 5 1/2 lengths as the 5-2 favorite in the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs. He fought for the lead on the turn before fading in the final furlong and finishing behind Bolt d’Oro and Zatter.
Live racing will resume at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, track officials announced Monday morning in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which passed through the area on Sunday. The facility will reopen for simulcast wagering on Wednesday.
The racetrack was scheduled to be open for training again on Tuesday.
Gulfstream Park escaped the wrath of Hurricane Irma with a minimum of damage according to P.J. Campo, general manager and vice-president of racing at Gulfstream, who cited only some minor damage to roofs on several of the older barns on the backstretch.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mondialiste and World Approval top a field of 11 expected in Saturday’s Grade 1, $800,000 Woodbine Mile.
Mondialiste rallied to win the Woodbine Mile over Lea in 2015. A 7-year-old son of Galileo, Mondialiste is winless in seven starts this year, all overseas, with his most recent victory coming in last year’s Grade 1 Arlington Million. He is one of four European shippers expected in the field.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Kevin Attard is making a habit of turning claimers into graded stakes winners, with his latest being 4-year-old filly Starship Jubilee.
Claimed for $16,000 at Gulfstream Park this past winter, Starship Jubilee has won the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes and Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine this season, and will aim for her third graded stakes win in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Canadian Stakes.
Gulfstream Park officials said damage to the grounds from Hurricane Irma was minimal after the worst of the storm had passed through the area by late Sunday afternoon.
Officials said that except for some palm fronds littering the area, the barn area and racetrack appeared to suffer no effects from the monster storm, the eye of which passed well to the west of Gulfstream Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Oscar Performance, the dual Grade 1-winning 3-year-old turf horse, worked an easy half-mile in 51.31 seconds over Belmont Park’s inner turf course Sunday as he prepares for a start in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic here on Sept. 30.
Under exercise rider Antonio Orellano, Oscar Performance went off slowly and got his last quarter in 23.95 seconds.
“It was probably a little easier than what I wanted, but Antonio has a tendency to be a bit conservative,” trainer Brian Lynch said.
Trainer Chad Brown has gotten off to a strong start at the Belmont fall meet, winning four races over the first three days, including the opening-day stakes with Rubilinda.
This weekend, Brown will have his sights set on the Grade 3, $400,000 Sands Point Stakes, the first graded event of the Belmont fall meet, where he will send out multiple runners. His lineup for the race as of Monday was still not finalized.
Two female champions and another filly who is a Grade 1 winner were among the workers at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Stellar Wind, the dominant older female in California this year and the champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, worked a half-mile in 48 seconds. Trained by John Sadler for Hronis Racing, Stellar Wind is a leading candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 3. She won the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar in July in her last start.
