LEXINGTON, Ky. – What Kiaran McLaughlin accomplished Saturday can best be appreciated through the prism of time.
McLaughlin won with all four of his starters at Keeneland, including in a pair of graded stakes races that ended with a dramatic victory by Dickinson in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes. All four winners are homebreds owned by the Godolphin Racing of Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Union Strike, the winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante last September and the minor Santa Paula Stakes on April 9, will start in the Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs on May 5, owner and trainer Mick Ruis said.
The $200,000 Eight Belles Stakes is run at seven furlongs, the same distance as the Del Mar Debutante.
“We like going seven-eighths,” Ruis said. “We’ll stretch her out later.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Goodyearforroses, a three-time stakes winner at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, finished fifth in her Grade 1 debut in the $350,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday. It will not be long before the 5-year-old mare starts in a similar race.
Trainer Richard Baltas said Sunday Goodyearforroses will be considered for the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes, a $300,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on May 27.
“I like the six weeks,” Baltas said.
ARCADIA, Calif. - By several standards, Follow Me Crev ran the best race of his career when third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 11.
It was his best finish in a graded stakes. He earned $85,000, the biggest payday of his career, and was given a Beyer Speed Figure of 101, another career best in his 20 starts.
Follow Me Crev did all that despite not being in peak condition, trainer Vladimir Cerin said. The Santa Anita Handicap was Follow Me Crev’s second start of the year, preceded by a win in an optional claimer Feb. 20.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Salient, the winner of a maiden race for turf sprinters Saturday, suffered an extended bout of heat stroke after the race, but recovered quickly, trainer Ed Freeman said Sunday.
Salient, a 4-year-old gelding, collapsed after the race and was hosed with cold water while in the winner’s circle and again while being walked to the test barn. Salient recovered sufficiently to be transported to the San Luis Rey Downs training center in San Diego County Saturday evening, Freeman said.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The emergence of Lord Simba in the last month has given owners Charles and Susan Chu and trainer Bob Baffert depth in the California sprint division.
They own Drefong, the champion sprinter of 2016, who is being pointed to a return to racing at the Del Mar summer meeting. Lord Simba won his stakes debut in Saturday’s Grade 3 Los Angeles Stakes at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Battle of Midway and Royal Mo, the second- and third-place finishers in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, worked at Santa Anita on Sunday.
For Battle of Midway, who worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds, the exercise was his first workout in preparation for a scheduled start in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6. For Royal Mo, who went three furlongs in 40 seconds, according to trainer John Shirreffs, the next race is unclear.
Ever So Clever will be considered for the Kentucky Oaks after her sweeping win in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy Stakes on Friday at Oaklawn. She is scheduled to ship Monday to Churchill Downs, and plans for her will be discussed with the ownership of Clearview Stable, trainer Steve Asmussen said Saturday.
“We’ll see what’s best for her,” said Asmussen.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Next Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Elkorn Stakes at Keeneland will be absent last year’s winner, Da Big Hoss, who came out of a work earlier this month with an ankle injury that will keep him out of action until at least this fall.
“He is going to need two months of rest,” trainer Mike Maker said Saturday from his base at the Churchill Downs Trackside facility.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Girvin, the winner of the Louisiana Derby, and Fast and Accurate, the Spiral Stakes winner, breezed Saturday at the Churchill Downs Trackside facility in preparation for the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
Fast and Accurate was the first of the two Derby prospects to breeze after the track-renovation break, going five furlongs in 59.60 seconds in company with On John, a maiden. Trackside clocker Richard McCreery caught him in splits of 12 seconds, 24, 35.80, and 47.60 and timed him galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.80.
