OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Stallwalkin’ Dude, sixth behind Mind Your Biscuits in the Dubai Golden Shaheen last month at Meydan, has resumed galloping and likely will resurface early in the Belmont Park spring-summer meet, trainer and co-owner David Jacobson said.
Stallwalkin’ Dude could run in the Diablo Stakes – he finished fifth behind Joking in that race last year – on May 7 or wait for the Grade 2, $250,000 True North on June 9.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Joking, the Grade 1-winning sprinter who got sick after shipping west last fall, forcing him to scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, has returned to the East Coast, but not yet the racetrack.
Joking, an 8-year-old gelding by Distorted Humor, has been turned out at Patty Hogan’s farm in central New Jersey, having arrived there about three weeks ago from Southern California, according to owner and trainer Charlton Baker. Joking will remain at the farm for up to three more weeks before rejoining Baker at Belmont Park.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Timeline may have earned himself a spot in the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan at Belmont Park on May 13 with an eye-catching 13 1/2-length romp in the slop Thursday at Aqueduct.
Facing winners for the first time after winning a seven-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream on March 4, Timeline stalked the pace for more than five-eighths of a mile before taking command in upper stretch and gliding away from the first-level allowance field.
The 2016 race for leading trainer at Emerald Downs came down to the last week of the meet, and with two wins on closing day, Blaine Wright edged Jeff Metz and Frank Lucarelli to capture his first title. Wright won 39 races. Lucarelli and Metz tied for second with 37.
Metz was the leading trainer the previous three years. Lucarelli led the trainer standings five times, most recently in 2012. All three are back with strong stables for the 2017 meet, which begins Saturday.
Del Mar has increased its incentive program to lure horses from out-of-state or international circuits to the track’s summer meeting from July 19 to Sept. 4.
This summer, the track will pay owners a $1,500 bonus to start horses from outside of California who have not raced in the state in the last 12 months. The bonus has been increased from $1,000 in past years.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The $1,199,286 payoff to a single ticket holder in Thursday’s pick six was the fifth-largest in Santa Anita history.
Thursday’s big prize included a scoop of the single-ticket jackpot portion of the pool, a format the track launched at the start of the winter-spring meeting Dec. 26.
According to Santa Anita publicity, the ticket was purchased for $14,400 at Sammy’s satellite wagering location in Lake Forest, Calif., about 60 miles south of Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Three major stakes-winning mares – Finest City, Stellar Wind, and Vale Dori – worked at Santa Anita on Friday and could all meet in the $400,000 Beholder Mile on June 3.
Stellar Wind, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park on April 14. Stellar Wind was second to the champion Beholder in the 2016 Vanity Mile, a race that has since been renamed the Beholder Mile. Stellar Wind has not raced since finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff here last November.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Aside from death and taxes, there aren’t many certainties in life – unless you count Wesley Ward winning with 2-year-olds every spring at Keeneland.
Ward began the 15-day meet by sending out Fairyland to win the meet opener Friday, a 4 1/2-furlong baby race.
“We’re really excited about this filly,” said Ward, who trains Fairyland, a daughter of Scat Daddy, for the Coolmore partnership. “She’s going to be a tiger at Royal Ascot” in June.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Lady Eli is among several fillies and mares scheduled to breeze Sunday over the Keeneland turf in preparation for perhaps the deepest race of the entire 15-day spring meet, the Grade 1, $350,000 Jenny Wiley.
Time and Motion, the winner of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup here last fall, and Catch a Glimpse, the winner of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland, also will breeze toward the Jenny Wiley, one of four stakes set for next Saturday, April 15.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Tyler Gaffalione had one tough decision to make after the championship meet ended: whether to keep riding locally or move his tack to New York for the spring.
Now, the Eclipse Award-winning rider may find himself facing another difficult decision in the weeks ahead: which of two potential mounts to ride in the Kentucky Derby.
