DEL MAR, Calif. – R Sunday Surprise, a 3-year-old full-sister to two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome, won for the first time in her eighth start in a turf maiden race for California-bred fillies and mares in Thursday’s eighth race.
Ridden by Israel Ocampo, R Sunday Surprise ($16.40) closed from sixth in the final quarter-mile to win by a head over 2-1 favorite Halo Ahead.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Drayden Van Dyke escaped serious injury after his mount in Thursday’s sixth race reared back and struck the rider in the face, causing a bloody nose and cut lip.
The incident happened shortly after the post parade began for the sixth race. Callie Mesa was startled by another 2-year-old filly and reacted by throwing her head back, Van Dyke said.
“She hit me right in the face, more on the nose and the lip,” Van Dyke said Friday morning. “It did hit my front two teeth, but not directly.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Klosters, a winner in the United Kingdom in June, has been acquired by a partnership and will have her American debut in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf for 2-year-old fillies on Sept. 4, new trainer Doug O’Neill said.
Klosters, by Kodiac, has worked twice on turf at Del Mar in recent weeks. Previously trained by Roger Charlton, Klosters was third in an allowance race in her debut in May before winning a six-furlong allowance race for novices at Chepstow Racecourse on June 16.
Klosters is owned by Steve Keh, Great Friends Stable and Kevin Bogart.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though trainer Todd Pletcher stopped just short of committing him to the race, Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming took a significant step toward a start Aug. 26 in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers with a sharp half-mile workout Friday morning.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mind Your Biscuits turned in the third-fastest of 18 five-furlong works on the main track here Friday and easily the quickest of those recorded before the renovation break. But trainer Chad Summers wasn’t exactly exuding superlatives a short while later when asked to comment on the move, which came under jockey Joel Rosario and was timed in 1:00.41.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Abel Tasman, the leading 3-year-old filly in the country, will not run in the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama on Aug. 19, trainer Bob Baffert said Thursday.
“I just want to freshen her up a little bit,” Baffert said from Southern California. “I want to try to save a little bit. I’ve been squeezing on her pretty good.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Shaman Ghost worked five furlongs in 1:01.51 on Thursday over the Saratoga main track, but afterward, Jimmy Jerkens wasn’t uttering the familiar trainers’ refrain of, “It was just what I wanted.”
Instead, a refreshingly candid Jerkens said, “It was disappointing.”
The work, done after the 8:45 a.m. renovation break, did not go smoothly as Shaman Ghost prepares for the Grade 1 Woodward on Sept. 2.
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.”
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.
