Wed, 06/14/2017 - 15:06

Two stakes share spotlight with Rainbow 6

Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography
Enterprising, winning the Muniz Memorial at Fair Grounds, will be a heavy favorite in the Soldier's Dancer on Saturday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There will be a pair of stakes races on Saturday’s card, the $100,000 Soldier’s Dancer and its filly-and-mare counterpart, the $100,000 Ginger Punch, but they will be overshadowed by the mandatory payout of the large Rainbow 6 jackpot, which if it is not hit on Thursday or Friday will approach $1 million when the day begins.

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 14:18

Statebred juveniles in spotlight Friday

Benoit & Associates
Sircat Sally won the Senorita Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths over Beau Recall.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Experience could be the difference in two maiden races for California-bred 2-year-olds at five furlongs at Santa Anita on Friday.

Empress of Lov and Spiced Perfection start in the second race, for fillies, having finished second in their career debuts after troubled starts. Spiced Perfection, trained by Brian Koriner, is making a quick turnaround. She was third, beaten a head, in a maiden race at 4 1/2 furlongs on June 1.

Trainer Jeff Bonde runs the first-time starter Native Jaylo, who is out of Go Jaylo, the dam of seven winners.

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 14:14

No trip to Royal Ascot for Run Away

Shigeki Kikkawa
Run Away wins his racing debut on May 26 at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Run Away, a maiden-race winner in his debut at Santa Anita on May 26, will not be sent to England for the Royal Ascot meeting next week and is likely to start in a stakes at Churchill Downs or Santa Anita in the coming weeks.

Trainer Simon Callaghan said on Wednesday that Run Away did not breeze as well as expected in a half-mile workout in 48.20 seconds on turf at Keeneland last Sunday. Run Away was under consideration for the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at five furlongs on turf at Royal Ascot on June 22.

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 14:13

Van Dyke set to return from injury Friday

Shigeki Kikkawa
Drayden Van Dyke, 22, has little recollection of the bad spill he took at Santa Anita on Jan 26.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Drayden Van Dyke resumes riding Friday at Santa Anita for the first time since breaking his arm in a frightening spill in January. The timing of his comeback could be ideal for his goal of having a successful summer season.

The popular Del Mar summer meeting begins in less than five weeks on July 19, giving Van Dyke ample time to regain the momentum he had when injured Jan. 26.

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 14:00

Gun Runner draws post 3, will face seven in Stephen Foster

Barbara D. Livingston
Gun Runner drew post 3 for Saturday's Stephen Foster Handicap.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Gun Runner will break from post 3 when making his return to action as the highweight and heavy favorite in a field of eight older horses entered in the Grade 1, $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap, to be run Saturday night at Churchill Downs.

Florent Geroux has the mount back on Gun Runner, who finished second to Arrogate in his most recent start, the March 25 Dubai World Cup. The 4-year-old colt, an earner of more than $4.3 million, will carry 124 pounds when spotting his rivals five to nine pounds in the 1 1/8-mile Foster.

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 11:36

Anderson gets 1,000th win of training career

SV Photography
Sisters For Ever wins a maiden claiming race at Finger Lakes on Monday, giving trainer Bruce D. Anderson his 1,000th career win.

Bruce D. Anderson has been a fixture at Finger Lakes since 1980. On Monday in race 6, he scored the 1,000th win of his training career when Sisters For Ever scored a nose upset at 23-1 under jockey Joshua Navarro.

Sisters For Ever, a 3-year-old filly whom Anderson bred and trains for his wife, Judy, was making her career debut in the $12,500 maiden-claiming race.

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 11:36

Irish War Cry freshening up for Haskell

Barbara D. Livingston
Belmont favorite Irish War Cry gallops 1 5/8 miles Thursday.

Belmont Stakes runner-up Irish War Cry vanned back to trainer Graham Motion’s stable at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland on Monday and will spend the next seven weeks preparing for the 50th running of the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 30.

Irish War Cry, a New Jersey-bred, is owned by Isabelle de Tomaso, 86, the daughter of Amory L. Haskell, the first president of Monmouth Park. The Haskell has long been Irish War Cry’s summer goal.

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 10:15

Honorable Duty can add to Walsh's strong meet in Stephen Foster Handicap

Amanda Hodges Weir/Hodges Photography
Honorable Duty, trained by Brendan Walsh, wins the Mineshaft Handicap last Saturday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On paper, there’s a ton of speed in the 36th Stephen Foster Handicap, with Gun Runner, Bird Song, and Stanford among the older horses expected Saturday night for the Grade 1, $500,000 race at Churchill Downs.

Brendan Walsh will saddle one of the stalkers in the 1 1/8-mile Foster in Honorable Duty, but he’s not necessarily counting on a meltdown up front.

“Maybe the pace will favor us, but who knows?” said Walsh. “Those are good horses you’re talking about. They still have to come back to you. They don’t stop like some other speed horses sometimes do.”

Wed, 06/14/2017 - 08:50

Texas Chrome taking swing at Stephen Foster

Coady Photography
Texas Chrome will be honored as 2016 Texas-bred of the Year on June 24 at Lone Star Park.

Texas Chrome ran second to Mor Spirit in last month’s Grade 3, $200,000 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park. Mor Spirit came back to win the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park with a 117 Beyer Speed Figure. Now, Texas Chrome is scheduled to run Saturday at Churchill Downs in the Grade 1, $500,000 Stephen Foster.

Owner Danny Keene had been debating a start in the Stephen Foster on Tuesday and later in the afternoon sent the horse to Kentucky from his base at Lone Star Park.

“It made me feel good the way Mor Spirit ran,” said Keene.

Mon, 06/12/2017 - 15:26

Miller has big weekend of his own

Ronnie Betor
Roy H paid $14.80 in winning the True North at Belmont Park on Friday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Peter Miller may not have had as good a weekend as his fellow Californian Bob Baffert did, but he still enjoyed a successful stay in New York, winning two stakes races from five starters at Belmont Park.

Miller won Friday’s Grade 2 True North with Roy H, then came back Sunday and took the $150,000 Jersey Girl Stakes with Chalon. Miller got to watch the Jersey Girl on his iPad right before he boarded a plane to return to Southern California.

“I love New York,” Miller said.