DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey David Flores is retiring this weekend.
Flores said Wednesday that he plans to ride at least through Friday at Del Mar, and possibly through the weekend, before relocating to Ocala, Fla., to begin a training operation focused on pinhooking yearlings.
Flores has spent time working in a similar capacity in Florida in recent years, but said he wants to train full time. He said he could have runners at Florida’s racetracks in 2018.
Trainer Chris Hartman said this week he is still undecided on the next start for Wilbo, who was along in time under leading jockey Corey Lanerie to win the $50,000 Don Bernhardt Stakes as the 6-5 favorite last Saturday at Ellis Park. Wilbo, a 5-year-old Candy Ride gelding, now has won 7 of 20 starts and $332,396, all for owner Chris Wilkins.
“We’ll have to map out something for him,” said Hartman. “He’s just a really neat horse to train.”
$170 debut winner runs back
Trainer Doris Harwood said Little Dancer came out of her $27.40 upset win in the $79,250 Washington Oaks last Sunday in excellent shape and is being considered for the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks at Hastings on Sept. 9. She is eligible for the $25,000 bonus that goes to the winner of both races.
“We are certainly looking at coming up there,” said Harwood, who won the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby at Hastings with Winning Machine in 2009.
Harwood wasn’t surprised by Little Dancer’s gutsy win over Daddyalwayssays in the Washington Oaks.
It was five years ago next week that Brad Cox got a phone call from an attorney informing him that 30 horses owned by his only client were being removed from his Churchill Downs barn.
The split with Midwest Thoroughbreds taught Cox not to put all his eggs in one basket. He found himself in full rebuild mode during that first week of August 2012.
“It all seems like such a long time ago now,” Cox recalled by phone this week from Saratoga. “I was disappointed, I guess you could say. I decided it was time to go out and recruit some horses.”
Trainer Donna Hurtak was pleased to report that Conquest Big E came out of his seven-length win in the $50,000 Coast Is Clear Handicap last Sunday in excellent shape and will be pointed to the Grade 3, $100,000 Philip H. Iselin Stakes on Aug. 26 at Monmouth Park.
“He’s doing great,” Hurtak said. “He’s very proud of himself right now. When I come to his stall in the mornings, he has his ears pricked and is eager to do something. He’s just full of life.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar reported strong handle figures and no catastrophic injuries for the first week of racing, a far more encouraging start to the meet than last summer, when a rash of fatalities set a tone from which the meet never fully recovered.
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DEL MAR, Calif. – Gracida, who was a debut winner Saturday, will be pointed to the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity for 2-year-olds on the meet’s closing day, Sept. 4, trainer Doug O’Neill said.
O’Neill said Gracida would bypass the Grade 2, $200,000 Best Pal Stakes on Aug. 12.
“We’re going to relax and shoot for the Futurity,” O’Neill said. “It’s tempting to come back in the Best Pal, but we’re going to hit the patient button.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally, who has spent 60 straight summers at Del Mar, was eager to get back to work after being released from the hospital late Monday following a fall at a fundraiser Sunday night. He was kept overnight at Scripps Encinitas Hospital for observation.
Galactica, who won the $100,000 colts-and-geldings division of the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity on Saturday night at Lone Star Park, could see stakes action next at Saratoga, trainer Bret Calhoun said Monday. He said the horse is scheduled to van to Kentucky and could catch an Aug. 3 flight to Saratoga.
Calhoun said Galactica could run next in either the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special at 6 1/2 furlongs Aug. 13 or the $100,000 Skidmore at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf Aug. 18.
Texas Chrome has a chance to become the all-time leading Texas-bred earner before the year is out. He became his home state’s second millionaire, joining Groovy, on Saturday night at Lone Star Park, according to the Texas Thoroughbred Association, and success in upcoming stakes races would lift him past the $1,346,956 banked by Groovy, the late champion sprinter of 1987.
