LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As the Triple Crown hoopla unfolds over the coming weeks, Gun Runner will be going through his paces quietly at Churchill Downs, waiting for his time to shine again.
Most recently a game second to the mighty Arrogate in the March 25 Dubai World Cup, Gun Runner has returned to a daily regimen of light exercise as his connections consider what comes next.
“He just started back jogging,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “He’s looking good and feeling good.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Del Mar will limit stall allocations to a maximum of 40 runners per trainer at its summer meeting, the track announced Tuesday in a letter to owners and trainers.
The plan is part of an effort to reduce backstretch capacity from approximately 2,100 horses last summer to closer to 1,850 to 1,900 this year, according to Tom Robbins, Del Mar’s vice president in charge of racing.
ARCADIA, Calif. – For two years, Prospect Park has carried a lofty reputation, the consequence of a second-place finish in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes and a fourth in the Santa Anita Derby in 2015.
Since then, Prospect Park has been 4-1 or less in all 10 of his starts, including a third in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 3-10 and a win at even-money in an optional claimer on turf at Santa Anita on March 9.
Just one month into spring, this already has been an outstanding year for New Jersey-breds.
Irish War Cry has won the Wood Memorial and Holy Bull Stakes and is a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby. The old warrior Green Gratto won the Grade 1 Carter on the Wood undercard. And on Saturday, Sunny Ridge will aim for his third consecutive stakes victory in the $1.25 million Charles Town Classic.
Kentucky Downs officials on Wednesday released the stakes schedule for its abbreviated meet in September, when purses for five days of racing could average nearly $1.7 million per card – tops in North America – when supplementary funds for Kentucky-bred horses are included.
Two stakes at turf-only Kentucky Downs were granted Grade 3 status over the winter: the $400,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint and the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf. They join the only race previously graded at the south-central Kentucky track, the Grade 3, $600,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Cup.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jorge Navarro is about ready to welcome Grade 2 winner Sharp Azteca back to his barn to begin preparations for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile this spring at Belmont Park.
Sharp Azteca is coming off a somewhat disappointing third-place finish in the Godolphin Mile at Meydan, where he was beaten a length by Second Summer after holding the lead until deep stretch. Sharp Azteca has spent the last several weeks at his owner’s farm in Ocala, Fla., since returning to the U.S.
Trainer Chad Brown on Monday said he is “leaning towards passing” the Kentucky Derby with Cloud Computing, a decision that has implications regarding the potential field for the May 6 Derby at Churchill Downs.
Cloud Computing currently sits 20th on the Derby points list, pending a decision by the connections of Conquest Mo Money as to whether to supplement for $200,000 and run.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Tom Bush lost a talented 3-year-old turf filly when Grade 3 Florida Oaks winner Fifty Five was sold privately and transferred to trainer Chad Brown.
He may have found a replacement in Dance Queen, who made it 2 for 2 with a hard-fought nose victory in a first-level allowance at Aqueduct last Thursday.
She had a much smoother trip in the race than she had in getting to New York for the race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Michael Dini, who wintered at Tampa Bay Downs and summers at Delaware Park, will have runners for each of the two turf stakes that highlight closing weekend of the Aqueduct spring meet.
In Saturday’s $100,000 Woodhaven Stakes for 3-year-olds, Dini will send out Bird’s Eye View. In Sunday’s $100,000 Memories of Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, Dini will saddle Dynatail.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Having won three races for 2-year-olds at Keeneland so far this spring, trainer Wesley Ward now has his sights set on New York, which runs its first juvenile races of the year this week at Aqueduct.
On Wednesday, Ward has two of the six entrants in a 4 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies. On Thursday, Ward sends out Magnanimus Man in a 4 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old males.
