ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Pizza Man will make his next start in the Arlington Million, according to owner Rich Papiese of Midwest Thoroughbreds.
The Pizza Man, 7, has raced in the Million the past two years, winning in 2015 and finishing sixth, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths, last summer. In 2014, he won the $400,000 American St. Leger on the Million card.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – At 29, Blake Shinn is an established Australian jockey. Australian, not American. Shinn finishes a five-week stint at Arlington on Saturday, and during his brief stay in America, he has worked on becoming an American kind of rider.
“I think the biggest difference for me is the style change that I’ve had to sort of adapt a little bit to,” Shinn said Thursday. “That’s something that I’ve had to work very hard with because the American trainers, I suppose, aren’t really that accepting to the European style of riding.”
Trainer Mark Casse summed up the 7-year-old Spring Up in just four words: “He likes to win!”
Spring Up won for the 10th time in 23 career starts, and the fourth time in five outings since joining Casse’s stable last summer, at Gulfstream Park last Sunday. He rallied to a three-quarter-length victory in the oddly run Mecke Handicap, in which Diamond Bachelor opened up a lead of more than a dozen lengths down the backstretch. Diamond Bachelor was overtaken by Spring Up, who attended the pace from the outset, at midstretch of the nine-furlong overnight stakes for older horses.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Battle of Midway and American Anthem, two of the best 3-year-olds based on the West Coast, both will be taking their acts on the road in the coming weeks, with Battle of Midway headed to the Haskell at Monmouth on July 30 and American Anthem going to the Allen Jerkens, formerly the King’s Bishop, at Saratoga on Aug. 26.
Both will decamp for summer training at Del Mar, but before heading south, they each turned in workouts on a warm Friday morning at Santa Anita.
Brass Hat, one of the most popular horses on the Kentucky circuit in the last decade, will be paraded before what is expected to be a sizable crowd Sunday at Ellis Park.
It’s Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Day at the western Kentucky track, with a number of activities and tributes honoring retired racehorses on the docket. Brass Hat is the literal poster boy: Free posters will be given to those in attendance, with owner and trainer Buff Bradley and Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel available for autographs.
The harsh implications of starting Donworth against Arrogate in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 22 stings trainer Doug O’Neill.
“He’s a nice horse, but you feel like he’s an up-and-comer going against LeBron James,” O’Neill said. “You hope for the best.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – McCraken was sent through another swift workout Thursday as the standout 3-year-old colt continues to prepare in the relative quiet of Churchill Downs for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.
Trainer Ian Wilkes said he is elated with how McCraken came out of his 2 1/4-length victory in the June 17 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill, where the colt will train until leaving a few days before the July 30 Haskell at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Chantal Sutherland will not ride until Wednesday’s opening day of the Del Mar summer meeting after bruising her leg in a frightening paddock accident at Los Alamitos on Thursday.
Sutherland was injured when her mount for the seventh race, Be a Lady, reared and knocked the rider down. Be a Lady stepped on Sutherland’s leg before the 4-year-old filly was brought under control.
Sutherland was taken from the paddock on a stretcher. She underwent X-rays at nearby Los Alamitos Medical Center, which were negative, according to her agent, Tommy Ball.
El Areeb, who won four consecutive races from November to February for trainer Cal Lynch, including the Grade 3 Withers and Grade 3 Jerome, will begin a new phase in his rehabilitation from a knee injury this week at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
The lineup for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational picked up both Hence and Girvin in recent days, according to Monmouth Park officials.
The prospective field for the 1 1/8-mile Haskell now stands at nine despite dropping Always Dreaming from the list of probables. The Kentucky Derby winner is expected to compete in the July 29 Jim Dandy at Saratoga the day before the Haskell.
