OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Last Saturday, Michelle Nevin watched with pride as her former charge Paulassilverlining won the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland. A few hours earlier, Nevin’s Grade 1-winning mare By the Moon returned to the work tab with a half-mile move in 50.88 seconds.
The work was the first for By the Moon since she was beaten a neck by High Ridge Road in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie at Laurel Park on Feb. 18. Nevin said she backed off By the Moon after that race and gave the filly a break.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Yorkiepoo Princess bled while finishing eighth in the Grade 2 Gazelle Stakes last Saturday at Aqueduct, a problem trainer Eddie Barker said can be rectified, which is why he still plans on running the filly in the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 5.
Barker said that owner Danny Chen paid the $1,500 late-nomination fee to make Yorkiepoo Princess eligible for the Oaks. Yorkiepoo Princess earned 50 qualifying points toward the Oaks for her victory in the listed Busher Stakes on Feb. 25.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saturday’s 11-race card at Gulfstream Park features a $43,000 optional-claiming/allowance race at six furlongs that lured a field of seven older horses led by Easy to Say, who is expected to be favored over a well-matched group that includes Mach My Day, The Son Wind, and Call to Honor.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 2016-17 Gulfstream Park championship meeting got off to a fast start and never looked back, with the total handle of $867 million for the 87-day session smashing the old mark of $807 million set the previous winter.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Midnight Storm drew post 3 in a field of seven for the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday. Entries were drawn Wednesday.
The field from the rail is: Texas Chrome, Domain’s Rap, Midnight Storm, Madefromlucky, Inside Straight, Cutacorner, and Goats Town.
Accelerate was intended for the Oaklawn Handicap upon his Tuesday arrival from Southern California, but he spiked a fever Wednesday morning and was withdrawn from the race, according to trainer John Sadler. Sadler said Accelerate will return home to Santa Anita.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Last year’s juvenile male champion, Classic Empire, will break from post 2 in a field of 12 for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday. The race was drawn Wednesday and picked up a few new faces following the Monday defection of One Liner.
Classic Empire was scheduled to arrive on the Oaklawn backstretch later Wednesday following a flight from south Florida.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The connections of Mo Town are searching for answers after the 3-year-old’s seventh-place finish in last Saturday’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial.
Mo Town was sent to Kentucky, where he will be evaluated by veterinarians to see if there’s a physical issue that has yet to be discovered.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Unified came out of his neck defeat to Green Gratto in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter in good order and is under consideration for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on June 10 at Belmont Park, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Wednesday.
Jerkens said he was worried about Green Gratto’s presence in the Carter because of the early speed he possesses.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer John Kimmel has been considering running Bar of Gold on turf since last summer. On Saturday, the turf experiment commences with Bar of Gold running in the $100,000 Plenty of Grace Stakes, scheduled for one mile over Aqueduct’s turf course.
Bar of Gold, a multiple New York-bred stakes winner on dirt, is a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro and out of the Grade 3 turf-stakes winner Khancord Kid. Bar of Gold is 5 for 16, with all five of her wins coming over wet tracks, including an 18-length romp in last October’s Empire Distaff at Belmont.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Iliad, fifth as the 3-1 favorite in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby last Saturday, will be considered for the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 20.
Trainer Doug O’Neill said on Wednesday that he does not think Iliad will have sufficient qualifying points to gain one of the 20 berths in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6. As of last weekend’s leading prep races, Iliad had 20 qualifying points and ranked 24th among candidates.
