Thu, 08/10/2017 - 14:11

American Gal likely to race once more before BC Filly and Mare Sprint

Debra A. Roma
American Gal, by Concord Point, wins the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga.

DEL MAR, Calif. – American Gal, the winner of the Grade 1 Test Stakes last Saturday at Saratoga, likely will have one start prior to her main goal, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint here Nov. 4, trainer Simon Callaghan said Thursday.

Callaghan said the L.A. Woman Stakes during the fall meeting at Santa Anita was the lone local option. Otherwise, he would have to ship out of town, perhaps to Keeneland or Belmont Park.

“She’s back here, looks great,” Callaghan said. “She takes these journeys really well.”

Thu, 08/10/2017 - 14:10

McCraken beats the rush with Travers work

Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Girvin's late surge to win the Haskell Invitational (outside, #7) was only the most recent thrill for his breeders, Bob and Alice Austin.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – McCraken, beaten a nose when second in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational last out, worked four furlongs in 48.97 seconds Thursday over the Oklahoma dirt course as preparations for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 26 are beginning to pick up.

Working at 6:20 a.m. under exercise rider Yoni Orantes, McCraken went his first quarter in 24.54 seconds and his second quarter in 24.43 while doing it mostly on his own. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.22.

Thu, 08/10/2017 - 13:06

Sunset Ridge runs off screen and into stakes

Chelsea Durand/NYRA
Sunset Ridge wins a New York-bred allowance by 16 3/4 lengths on Wednesday. She will wheel back in the Fleet Indian Stakes on Aug. 25.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Sunset Ridge kept her record perfect and turned a few heads in winning a second-level New York-bred allowance by 16 3/4 lengths here Wednesday. Sent off at 1-5, she received a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

:: Just reduced! Save on Clocker Reports for Del Mar and Saratoga

Thu, 08/10/2017 - 12:16

Miller unhappy with Del Mar surface, plans to cut back on runners

DEL MAR, Calif. – Peter Miller has been the most active trainer in the first three weeks of Del Mar’s summer season, with 69 starters through Wednesday, the 16th day of the 36-day meeting.

Miller had 10 starters on the July 19 opening-day program. He is unlikely to have that many during the current five-day racing week, which goes through Sunday.

Expressing concern about the condition of the track and how his horses have performed, Miller said Wednesday he plans to cut back his number of runners.

Wed, 08/09/2017 - 15:40

Lockdown works for Alabama Stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Lockdown works five furlongs in 1:00.21 Tuesday on Saratoga's Oklahoma training track.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Lockdown, the third-place finisher in the Kentucky Oaks, worked a sharp five furlongs in 1:00.21 on Tuesday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for the Grade 1 Alabama here on Aug. 19.

Lockdown went in company with Length, who was credited with a half-mile in 47.47 seconds. The two were head and head for most of the drill, with Lockdown going out an extra eighth of a mile.

Wed, 08/09/2017 - 15:40

Sagamore Farm and DePaz go for more juvenile glory

Barbara D. Livingston
Southampton Way benefited from the addition of blinkers in her second start, capturing her first win.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Sagamore Farm and trainer Horacio DePaz have won five 2-year-old races from 10 starters this year, including the Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park with He Hate Me. This weekend, they will look for more success with runners in Saturday’s Adirondack and Sunday’s Saratoga Special – Grade 2, $200,000 stakes for juvenile females and juveniles, respectively.

In the Adirondack, Sagamore and DePaz will send out Proportionality and Southampton Way in the eight-horse field.

Wed, 08/09/2017 - 15:30

Oklahoma Derby among options for Colonelsdarktemper

Coady Photography
Colonelsdarktemper paid $16 in winning the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer on Saturday.

Colonelsdarktemper, the winner of last Saturday’s West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer, came out of the race in good condition and could make his next start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Sept. 24, trainer Jinks Fires said.

Fires said he is also considering other races, including the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 23, but his suspicion is that the latter race will prove a far more demanding spot.

Wed, 08/09/2017 - 15:30

Time Test experiments at a mile in Fourstardave

Barbara D. Livingston
Time Test (left), seen here training with Takeover Target, has finished second at 1 1/8 miles and 1 1/4 miles this year. Trainer Chad Brown is hoping a shorter distance will benefit him in the Fourstardave.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Time Test was sent from Europe to the U.S. by Juddmonte Farms with the hope that he would have a campaign similar to Flintshire’s in 2016. It has not quite worked out that way.

After two runner-up finishes in graded stakes at distances of 1 1/8 miles and 1 1/4 miles, Time Test will shorten up to a mile in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga.

Wed, 08/09/2017 - 15:26

Groupie Doll Stakes shaping up tough

Churchill Downs/Coady Photography
Walkabout wins the Grade 3 Matron Stakes in May.

The signature race of the Ellis Park meeting, the Grade 3, $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes, takes place Sunday, with a field of eight or more expected to be entered when the race is drawn Thursday. Contested at a mile on the main track, the race is shaping up to be competitive.

Two probable starters trained by Brad Cox, Tiger Moth and Pinch Hit, will garner mutuel support, as should Walkabout, a graded stakes winner at Churchill Downs this spring, and Put Da Blame On Me, a winner of two straight one-mile allowance races at Churchill.

Wed, 08/09/2017 - 15:26

Lady Aurelia turns in final U.S. work for Nunthorpe Stakes

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Lady Aurelia is the likely favorite for the Group 1 King's Stand.

Elite grass sprinter Lady Aurelia, the winner of the Group 1 King’s Stand at Royal Ascot on June 20, is ready for another British invasion after working an effortless five furlongs in 1:02 on the Keeneland turf Tuesday as she prepares for the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Aug. 25.

Trainer Wesley Ward, reached by telephone Tuesday in New York, where he was attending the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, was thrilled with her breeze, in which she outworked Grade 1-winning older horse Hootenanny under a hammerlock from jockey Julio Garcia.