LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Even with three victories in the last 10 runnings of the Kentucky Derby, Calvin Borel has no prospective mount for the 2017 renewal. And yet the Hall of Fame jockey says he has seldom been happier in his life.
The reason? At age 50, Borel will become a father this fall for the first time. His girlfriend, Renee Falkner, is expecting their child.
“I’m happy, man,” said Borel. “Things are looking up for me.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Paquita Coqueta led for the most important stride of Saturday’s $84,425 Mizdirection Stakes for fillies and mares on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.
After leading narrowly with a furlong to go, Paquita Coqueta was passed by Coniah but fought back late to win the race at about 6 1/2 furlongs by a nose. The result was a surprise to trainer Richard Mandella.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Inordinate has gone from being a pacemaker for then-stablemate Flintshire at Saratoga last summer to becoming a graded stakes winner at Santa Anita last weekend. On Saturday, Inordinate won the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes, the lengthiest stakes that has been continuously run on the California calendar.
The victory in the about 1 3/4-mile race came in Inordinate’s third start for trainer Richard Baltas. The win left Baltas thinking of races at Del Mar this summer for Inordinate.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The 4-year-old colt Collected is progressing so rapidly this spring that co-owner Peter Fluor has aspirations of a start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
Saturday, Collected won his second race of the year, and fifth career stakes, in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita. Ridden by Martin Garcia for trainer Bob Baffert, Collected was always near the front and drew off to win by 3 3/4 lengths as the 3-5 favorite.
“This was a big race for him,” Fluor said in the winner’s circle.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Without a guaranteed berth for the Kentucky Derby on May 6, there is no certainty Royal Mo will be sent to Churchill Downs next weekend. That has not kept trainer John Shirreffs from preparing the colt in the event a spot develops in coming days.
Shirreffs and owners Jerry and Ann Moss already have a starter with Gormley, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby on April 8. Royal Mo was third in that race, beaten a length.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Battalion Runner and Cloud Computing, the second- and third-place finishers behind Irish War Cry in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 8, both put in workouts Saturday over the training track at Belmont Park in preparation for different Triple Crown races.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Songbird, the two-time champion filly, is likely to have her first start of 2017 in early June, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Saturday.
Songbird worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Saturday. Afterward, Hollendorfer said two Grade 1 races for fillies and mares are being considered – the $400,000 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita on June 3 or the $750,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Belmont Park on June 10. The Beholder Mile was previously known as the Vanity Mile.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Gormley and Battle of Midway, the first two finishers in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, worked independently at Santa Anita on Saturday in advance of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6.
Gormley, trained by John Shirreffs, worked six furlongs in 1:15.80 in company with stablemate Oregon.
Battle of Midway, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, also worked in company and was timed in 1:00.60 for five furlongs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Looking to take advantage of growing interest in turf racing and a lack of races run at marathon distances on that surface, the New York Racing Association will increase purses for turf races at 10 furlongs or longer to $90,000 at the Belmont spring-summer meet, which begins Friday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Shagaf, the winner of the 2016 Gotham Stakes, returns from a layoff of nearly one year in a third-level allowance race Sunday at Aqueduct. It will be Shagaf’s first start since he was eased while finishing last in the Kentucky Derby.
Shagaf came out of the Derby with chips in his left knee and left front ankle that were surgically removed. Shagaf rejoined trainer Chad Brown’s stable at Palm Meadows this winter and returned to the work tab in mid-January.
