DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Juan Ochoa appeared to escape serious injury Sunday morning at Del Mar when he was tossed from a horse he was working and was hit by the horse's hoof, sending him to a local hospital for observation.
Ochoa was aboard a horse trained by Sal Gonzalez Jr. The horse broke from the gate, then stumbled, dislodging Ochoa. The rider lay on the ground for several minutes before being attended to by medical personnel.
SARATOGA S PRINGS, N.Y. - New Money Honey is a multiple Grade 1 winner on turf, but the 3-year-old filly may be heading to the dirt for her next start.
New Money Honey worked a half-mile in 48.64 seconds over the Saratoga main track Saturday morning in what could be a first step toward a start in the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes here Aug. 19. Under Javier Castellano, New Money Honey worked outside of the 3-year-old maiden filly Devine Union. The two went their first quarter in 23.93 seconds and the second quarter in 24.71 going very easily.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Union Strike, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante last September, will miss the Grade 1 Test Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga on Aug. 5 because of an undisclosed injury.
Owner and trainer Mick Ruis said Saturday that Union Strike will be out of training for 90 days.
“We’ll back off for 90 days,” Ruis said. “She has a little issue. She doesn’t need surgery.”
Ruis said he hopes Union Strike can resume racing “after Christmas” at Santa Anita’s winter meeting.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher was all smiles when reflecting on Keen Ice’s final work for next Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney, an easy half-mile in 49.11 seconds punctuated by a sparkling gallop-out into and around the clubhouse turn.
Working in company Saturday with the 3-year-old Patch, Keen Ice began to assert his class nearing the wire, edging two lengths clear while well in reserve before accelerating into the clubhouse bend, completing five-eighths in 1:01.52 and three-quarters in 1:13.84 before pulling up seven furlongs in 1:27.41.
DEL MAR, Calif. – One week after Arrogate’s shockingly dull try in the San Diego Handicap, trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday at Del Mar said he still intended to make the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic here on Aug. 19 with Arrogate, but he left open the possibility of heading to Saratoga for the Woodward Stakes on Sept. 2 if he deems Arrogate needs more time.
For most owners, being on the wrong side of a photo in a $500,000 race might take years to get over. But for Brad Grady, there was a silver lining to last month’s Ohio Derby, where his Girvin finished second by a nose to Irap. It was a good advertisement for the pinhooking side of his business.
“We actually bought Irap as a yearling, sold him as a 2-year-old in training,” Grady said of himself and agent Bobby Dodd. “He’s a graduate of ours.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Only three horses were entered in Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee Handicap at Saratoga. One mare conspicuous by her absence was Forever Unbridled, the multiple Grade 1-winning mare who is sitting this one out to await the Grade 1 Personal Ensign here on Aug. 26.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – World Approval is a four-time graded stakes winner going a route of ground, but for his next trick, the 5-year-old gray will attempt to win a Grade 1 stakes going a mile. World Approval is being pointed to the $500,000 Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 12 in what will be his first race at one mile since November 2014, when he ran third in a maiden race on the dirt at Aqueduct.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Add Tom’s d’Etat to the list of potential contenders for the Grade 1 Woodward on Sept. 2 following his nine-length allowance win over a “good” track on Thursday. The victory was the fourth in the last five starts for the steadily improving son of Smart Strike, and it earned him a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Oaklawn Racing Club has been formed to give fans an opportunity at Thoroughbred ownership, the Hot Springs, Ark., track announced Friday. There will be up to 200 shares available at $500 each in a horse that will be purchased privately and trained by Ron Moquett.
The plan is to purchase an unraced 2-year-old who would launch his career this fall, then be based this winter and spring at Oaklawn, which opens Jan. 12.
