SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Richard Migliore, who left his position as a racing analyst for the New York Racing Association two weeks ago, has been hired as the East Coast correspondent for XBTV, an online horse-racing network owned and operated by The Stronach Group.
During the Saratoga meet, Migliore will provide insight into morning workouts and interview trainers about upcoming races.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Salty already has lost twice to Abel Tasman in Grade 1 races this year, and she will try again when the two 3-year-old fillies head a seven-horse field for Sunday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.
Salty will have some company in the starting gate from her own barn as trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber supplemented Summer Luck and Corporate Queen to the 1 1/8-mile race, which serves as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Alabama on Aug. 19.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Faversham, a 2-year-old full brother to California Chrome, has gone to the sidelines with minor shin soreness and will get back to training in the fall, trainer Art Sherman said.
“He started to get a little shinny on me, and he’s a later foal than Chrome, so we’re giving him some time off at Harris Farm,” Sherman said.
Faversham was up to five furlongs in his workouts at Los Alamitos before the decision was made to give him time off. His last work was June 3, when he went five furlongs in 1:01.20.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Fresh off winning three races on opening day, jockey Flavien Prat was busy Thursday morning at Del Mar working several of his top stakes horses, most notably Battle of Midway.
Battle of Midway went seven furlongs in 1:26.40 in preparation for the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on July 30. Battle of Midway, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, is scheduled for one more work here early next week before traveling to New Jersey.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After winning the Commentator Stakes at Belmont Park for the second straight year, the hard-knocking 7-year-old Weekend Hideaway is ready to kick off the Saratoga session the same way he did last summer, in the 6 1/2-furlong John Morrissey for New York-breds next Thursday.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The 2-year-old filly Just a Smidge ran to expectations in Wednesday’s fifth race for maiden fillies at Del Mar, scoring a hard-fought win over Tyfosha in what could be a preview of major stakes for the division.
Just a Smidge, the 2-1 favorite, and Tyfosha were within a head of each other before Just a Smidge drew off in the last sixteenth to win the five-furlong race by 1 1/4 lengths in 58.12 seconds. Tyfosha, the 5-2 second choice, was 7 3/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Varanasi, the 7-2 third choice.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Bowies Hero may have a busy Del Mar summer meeting.
After winning Wednesday’s $120,660 Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf, trainer Phil D’Amato was contemplating two more starts on turf for the colt in the coming weeks: the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 6 and the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 3.
The $250,000 Del Mar Derby is the main goal for D’Amato and owners Mark Martinez and Jeff Hebert.
“We could consider the La Jolla,” D’Amato said Wednesday. “If not, we’ll look at the Derby.”
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Carl Moore became so interested in racing in high school that he took a summer job as a groom in 1972 at Ruidoso Downs. The experience made a lifelong impression on the Texan, and in 2010 he became a Breeders’ Cup-winning owner when Chamberlain Bridge captured the Turf Sprint.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has only one starter on Friday’s opening-day card at Saratoga, but he may have the most interesting horse on the 10-race program.
Via Egnatia, a 3-year-old son of Distorted Humor out of the Grade 1-winning dam Honest Lady, is entered in a first-level allowance going six furlongs on the dirt. Honest Lady, a half-sister to Empire Maker, produced First Defence, who in 2008 won the Grade 1 Forego here for Bobby Frankel.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Only three horses have beaten Lady Eli in her brilliant 11-race career. One of those horses, Dickinson, will be Lady Eli’s chief nemesis in Saturday’s $500,000 Diana Stakes, the first Grade 1 of the Saratoga meet.
Dickinson, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Godolphin Racing, defeated Lady Eli by a head in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April. For Dickinson, it was her fourth start of the year. For Lady Eli it was her first.
