NEW ORLEANS – Forevamo did everything right in his Feb. 17 comeback from a six-month layoff – except win.
Pressing the pace in a two-turn, second-level dirt allowance, Forevamo roared up to the lead at the top of the stretch, then waited on rivals and was nipped on the wire by Egyptian.
“Believe me, he wasn’t tired,” trainer Al Stall said Thursday. “He was kicking and squealing back at the barn an hour later. He almost dropped his rider this morning.”
NEW ORLEANS – Fish Trappe Road, who turned into one of the better 3-year-old dirt milers in the country last year, is nearing his 4-year-old debut, trainer Bret Calhoun said.
Last seen finishing third going 1 1/8 miles around two turns in the Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 25, Fish Trappe Road is working steadily at the Evangeline Downs Training Center. He posted a bullet five-furlong workout in 1:00.80 on Feb. 18 and is expected to race March 11 at Oaklawn Park in the $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes over six furlongs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hot City Girl, who won last Saturday’s Broadway Stakes, will get at least one more race and will point to the $125,000 Correction Stakes at Aqueduct on March 18, trainer Linda Rice said Thursday.
Rice said owner Sheila Rosenblum has not committed to racing Hot City Girl the entire year and is taking it one race at a time.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Stallwalkin’ Dude, second as the favorite in the Grade 3 General George last Saturday at Laurel Park, is still being pointed to the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen on March 25, trainer David Jacobson said Thursday.
Jacobson said Stallwalkin’ Dude came out of the General George “excellent,” and Jacobson is doing all the preparatory paperwork and blood work to ship Stallwalkin’ Dude to Dubai on March 14.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Luis Contreras will leave Santa Anita after Saturday’s program.
Contreras is scheduled to begin riding at Oaklawn Park after Saturday and will remain there through the end of that track’s meeting in mid-April, according to his agent, Craig O’Bryan. Contreras will ride the rest of the year at Woodbine in Canada, where he has been among the leading riders in recent years.
Through Monday, Contreras was tied for 10th in the jockey standings at Santa Anita with nine wins.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Drefong, the champion sprinter of 2016, will not be sent to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen for sprinters on March 25, trainer Bob Baffert said on Thursday.
Drefong has not raced since winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint here last November and is only in light training, Baffert said.
“I’m not going to take him,” Baffert said. “I’m not breezing him, just training him.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Finest City, the champion female sprinter of 2016, is scheduled to start in the longest dirt race of her career in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on March 18.
On Thursday at Santa Anita, Finest City worked six furlongs in 1:13.40. Following the workout, trainer Ian Kruljac confirmed race plans for Finest City, who won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint here in November and her only start this year in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs Jan. 21.
Southern California-based trainer Doug O’Neill has entered a pair of notable 3-year-olds for stakes at Sunland Park on Sunday. The $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby is the local stepping-stone to next month’s Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby, and O’Neill has entered Irap.
Irap is coming off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita and last year was second to Mastery in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity. Mario Gutierrez has the mount for Reddam Racing.
Guest Suite, who won the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 21 in his 3-year-old debut, had his final Risen Star workout on Tuesday, going a half-mile in 48 seconds. On a damp, drizzly morning, trainer Neil Howard did not hesitate to work Guest Suite over a wet, sealed Fair Grounds surface.
“On this racetrack, very rarely does anything get in your way of training,” Howard said.
NEW ORLEANS – The first multistakes card of any significance at the Fair Grounds meet on Dec. 17 sounded a steady drumbeat of Brad Cox-trained stakes winners. Green Mask won the Bonapaw, Cash Control won the Blushing K. D., and Western Reserve won the Buddy Diliberto.
