SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Graded stakes winners Wake Forest and Long Haul Bay were pointing to stakes at Saratoga on Saturday but instead are getting a break, trainer Chad Brown said.
Brown was not pleased with the last couple of workouts by either horse and opted to skip Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam with Long Haul Bay and the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green with Wake Forest.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Linda Rice said Monday that she does not plan to run the red-hot Seymourdini here this summer and will point the son of Bernardini to the Kelso at Belmont Park on Sept. 23. Seymourdini has won his last three starts by an average margin of 12 lengths, with the first two of those victories coming at Laurel Park and the most recent a 10 1/2-length triumph in an overnight stakes at Belmont Park for which he received a 113 Beyer Speed Figure.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – This week, the 3-year-old males will be in the spotlight, with the highlight being Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming facing Preakness winner Cloud Computing in Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy.
On Friday, seven lesser-accomplished 3-year-olds will try to earn a shot in the Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 26 when they run in the $100,000 Curlin Stakes, for those who have not won a graded stakes at longer than a mile in 2017.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Sircat Sally was resting comfortably in trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s barn Monday, one day after she suffered a career-ending injury in the San Clemente Handicap when losing for the first time after seven victories.
Sircat Sally has a sesamoid fracture. According to assistant trainer Dan Ward, the injury likely will not require surgery if the horse is not going to race again. Sircat Sally is done racing, and her comfort level in the next two weeks will determine whether surgery is needed for her post-racing life, Ward said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Abel Tasman, the winner of Sunday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks, shipped back to Southern California on Monday. Whether she returns to Saratoga for the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama here on Aug. 19 will be determined at a later date.
Abel Tasman has already shipped three times this year and posted Grade 1 victories in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, the Acorn at Belmont, and the Coaching Club, which she won by a head over Elate.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Drefong, last year’s champion male sprinter, is scheduled to make his first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint when he heads a large, talented field for the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes going six furlongs Saturday.
It’s the first Grade 1 race of the Del Mar meet.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Jason Servis said Monday that Firenze Fire came out of his victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Sanford Stakes in good order and that he’ll be pointed next for the Grade 1 Hopeful at seven furlongs on closing day of the Saratoga meet.
Firenze Fire, a son of Poseidon’s Warrior, rallied to a one-length victory over favorite Free Drop Billy in the six-furlong Sanford to remain perfect in two starts. He is owned and was bred by Ron Lombardi’s Mr. Amore Stable.
The first half of the year was not the smoothest for McCraken, who had to overcome two minor injuries, but the second season for 3-year-olds is just beginning, and there is still time for the Ghostzapper colt to prove that he belongs with the best of the division.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Emancipation, a full brother to 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, and Fayeq, a half-brother to 2009 Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra, are part of a six-horse field entered in Wednesday’s fourth race, a first-level allowance race at 1 1/8 miles.
Emancipation and Fayeq lack the necessary experience to run in Friday’s $100,000 Curlin or Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy, said their respective trainers, Shug McGaughey and Kiaran McLaughlin.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Go Bro notched a massive upset at 44-1 when he won the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes for trainer Mike Keogh and owner and breeder Gustav Schickedanz on the Queen’s Plate card July 2.
It was the first graded stakes score for the 6-year-old son of Proud Citizen, who appears to have found a niche going long. Go Bro made eight starts in 2016, all in sprints, and picked up two victories. He then started in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on opening day April 15, but following that start, Keogh decided to change things up.
