ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Noholdingback Bear, Canada’s champion male sprinter of 2016, has returned to trainer Mike De Paulo’s barn at Woodbine after a brief stint with trainer Brian Lynch in New York.
Noholdingback Bear shipped back to Woodbine last Wednesday night. De Paulo said he was pleased to have Noholdingback Bear back in the barn and was going to evaluate his condition before deciding on his next race.
ARCADIA, Calif. - September Stars, pulled up after winning the $77,995 Possibly Perfect Stakes on June 4, recently underwent a battery of tests that showed no significant injuries, trainer Paddy Gallagher said last week.
Gallagher said he plans to give September Stars a one-month rest before she is reassessed. The condition of a front ankle caused some concern and will be examined this summer, Gallagher said.
“We’ll back off and give her some time,” Gallagher said. “We’ll rescan her in 30 days and go from there.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Cat Burglar, the winner of the 2016 Santana Mile and an optional-claimer in March in his only start this year, is likely to represent leading stakes trainer Bob Baffert in the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Faypien won her graded stakes debut in Saturday’s Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita, a distance that may not figure in her plans in coming months.
Trainer Bob Baffert considers Faypien to be equally effective at shorter distances.
“It was important to get that Grade 2 in her,” Baffert said. “I wouldn’t be afraid to back her up to one turn.”
Baffert mentioned the Grade 1 Test Stakes at seven furlongs for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga on Aug. 5 as a possible race for Faypien.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Sircat Sally has compiled a seven-race victory streak since November by winning a sprint, two stakes for California-bred fillies, a minor stakes against open company, and three graded stakes.
After winning the Grade 2 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, her most prestigious win, attention has turned toward the Del Mar summer meeting, where Sircat Sally is expected to have two starts in graded stakes on turf for 3-year-old fillies.
Her unbeaten status will face a stern test in coming weeks.
Jockey Horacio Karamanos won his 2,000th race in North America on Sunday at Laurel Park when he guided Liquid Aloha to victory in race 3.
Karamanos, who will turn 44 on June 28, also has more than 1,500 wins in his native Argentina.
Liquid Aloha, who is trained by Kelly Breen, paid $12.60 in the starter allowance race on turf.
Karamanos' wife Veronica and daughter Milagros were on hand to see his milestone victory and participated in the post-race winner's circle celebration.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Arrogate, the world's top-rated horse, the champion Stellar Wind, and the 2017 Grade 1 winners Cupid and Paradise Woods were among 238 horses with recorded workouts at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Arrogate, unraced since winning the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 25, worked a half-mile in 46.80 seconds. Trainer Bob Baffert timed Arrogate in a slightly slower 47 seconds.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The rest of the local riding colony may not like the news, but his legion of fans in south Florida will be delighted to know that jockey Tyler Gaffalione has decided to remain at Gulfstream Park through the summer. Gaffalione had been considering trying his luck at Saratoga.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Nominations for the Summit of Speed program on July 1 close at midnight Saturday. The card includes a pair of Win and You’re In races for this year’s Breeders’ Cup, the Grade 2 Princess Rooney (Filly and Mare Sprint) and the Grade 2 Smile Sprint (Sprint).
Preakness starter Conquest Mo Money is scheduled to arrive in New Mexico next week to rehab from injuries he sustained while preparing for the Grade 2 Woody Stephens on the June 10 Belmont Stakes card. The progress he makes will dictate whether he returns to the races at Zia Park, which opens in September and runs into December, or Sunland Park, which starts its season on the heels of Zia.
“We’re not going to push him,” said Tom McKenna, who races Conquest Mo Money with his wife, Sandra.
