LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Veteran jockey Robby Albarado said this week that he continues to heal on schedule from the fractured left tibia he sustained in an April 23 spill at Keeneland. Albarado was the regular rider for J Boys Echo but was replaced by Luis Saez for the Kentucky Derby.
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DRF Past Performances
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Neil Pessin would have driven his mother in from Lexington, Ky., to watch Scatter Gun run Sunday in the featured race at Churchill Downs, but they recently took a longer trip to St. Louis.
“It probably [would] be a little much for her,” Pessin said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Cistron may appear in all sorts of stakes for 3-year-olds this year.
Already, Cistron has finished third in the Pasadena Stakes for turf milers at Santa Anita in March and won the Northern Spur Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on dirt at Oaklawn Park on April 15.
The next objective is something new – Saturday’s $75,000 Desert Code Stakes for 3-year-olds at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.
Cistron has never started in a turf sprint but has won on grass at Santa Anita in an optional claimer at a mile in February.
ARCADIA, Calif. – American Pastime won his debut in March in a manner suggesting that the 3-year-old was bound for an immediate stakes appearance.
Such high-class races are on the mind of trainer Bob Hess Jr. and the partnership that owns American Pastime, but Saturday’s Grade 3 Lazaro Barrera Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Santa Anita is not. Instead, American Pastime will start against older horses in an optional claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs on the same program.
The distance played a pivotal role in the decision.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Battle of Midway, a well-beaten third in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs last Saturday, is likely to have his next start in the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita on June 24, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Thursday.
The $100,000 Affirmed Stakes is run at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds.
“He may very well run in the Affirmed,” Hollendorfer said. The Derby “was a tough race. He ran very well.”
OCEANPORT, N.J. – The mantra at Monmouth Park as it begins its 72nd season Saturday is "down but not out."
Monmouth is the only track in the Mid-Atlantic region that doesn’t have alternative gaming or receive a casino subsidy, placing it at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to maintaining purses high enough to attract horses while remaining fiscally solvent.
Last year, Monmouth struggled to fill race cards and ran fewer races. When the dust cleared, handle was down 25 percent.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The single-ticket jackpot pool of the $2 pick six begins with a carryover of $64,964 on Thursday at Santa Anita.
The jackpot portion was last hit on May 4.
Thursday’s pick six covers the third through eighth races on a program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific. The sequence includes four races on the main track and two on turf. The final two races are optional claimers – one on the main track at 6 1/2 furlongs and one on the hillside turf course.
Mor Spirit is establishing himself as an older horse of significance. He has earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in his three starts as a 4-year-old, his latest a 107 for his 5 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $200,000 Steve Sexton Mile on Sunday at Lone Star Park.
Mor Spirit came into the race off a clear win in the Essex Handicap in March at Oaklawn. In that race, he covered 1 1/16 miles in a sharp 1:41.60 and earned a 105 Beyer. In his other start this year, Mor Spirit was second to Hoppertunity in the Grade 2 San Antonio at Santa Anita with a 101 Beyer.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Graham Motion scratched Miss Temple City out of last Saturday’s Grade 2 Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile because of soft turf. He may have another dilemma on his hands because rain is forecast for Saturday in New York, where Motion has Miss Temple City entered in the Grade 3 $150,000 Beaugay Stakes at Belmont Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer John Kimmel certainly wouldn’t mind if Belmont’s main track came up sloppy on Saturday, when he sends out Bar of Gold in the Grade 2, $250,000 Ruffian Stakes at a mile, her 12th attempt at winning her first graded stakes.
Bar of Gold was entered in the Grade 3 Vagrancy last Friday at Belmont, and though she is 5 for 5 over wet tracks and the track came up sloppy, Kimmel opted not to run her at the Vagrancy’s 6 1/2-furlong distance.