Family Tree, a Grade 2 winner and earner of more than $700,000 who last raced at Sam Houston, has been retired, trainer Wayne Catalano said Monday. She is to be bred to Medaglia d’Oro, according to Benny Glass, the racing manager for owners Gary and Mary West.
Glass said Family Tree will be based in Kentucky. She last raced Jan. 29, finishing third in the Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Win the Space, who placed in two Grade 1 races last year but was eased in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last November, has returned to trainer George Papaprodromou’s stable at Santa Anita.
Win the Space arrived last weekend and is expected to return to racing this spring.
“We gave him 60 days off,” Papaprodromou said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Twice last year, Ohio was tried in graded stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita. Twice, he encountered trouble and was beaten three lengths.
“It was horrible,” trainer Paulo Lobo recalled on Wednesday.
There are no more hillside races in Ohio’s short-term future. Instead, Ohio will start in Saturday’s Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes at a mile on turf, his first start at the distance since a third behind Midnight Storm and Om in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile last August.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Champagne Room’s third-place finish in last Sunday’s Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita has left trainer Peter Eurton contemplating an out-of-town option for her.
The champion 2-year-old filly of 2016, Champagne Room was beaten 10 lengths by the upstart Unique Bella in the $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile. The Las Virgenes was Champagne Room’s first start since she won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies here last November.
Maryland racing pulled off a somewhat amazing triple last Saturday when Laurel Park-based El Areeb scored his fourth consecutive victory in the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct and Irish War Cry and Tequilita won Grade 2 stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Holy Bull Stakes winner Irish War Cry, trained by Graham Motion, and the Michael Matz-conditioned Tequilita, the $31 winner of the Forward Gal, were based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., during their 2-year-old seasons before being shipped to Florida in late fall.
High Ridge Road has done little wrong since joining Linda Rice’s stable early last year and will shoot for her first graded victory a week from Saturday in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie at Laurel Park. The $300,000 Fritchie, a seven-furlong race for fillies and mares, will be the headliner on a six-stakes card that will include the Grade 3, $250,000 General George, a seven-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Ivan Fallunovalot emerged from his fourth-place finish in the $125,000 King Cotton on Saturday in good order, trainer Tom Howard said Monday. The horse, making his first start since winning the Grade 3 De Francis Memorial Dash on Nov. 19 at Laurel, finished four lengths behind Storm Advisory.
“We just got a little short down in the deep going,” Howard said. “We’ll get ready for the Hot Springs.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Robertino Diodoro has made a splash in sprint stakes at the past few Oaklawn Park meets, but the barn is set for some action in route stakes in the immediate future courtesy of Mishegas and Way Striking.
Excitations got an education as well as a maiden win in his second start last Thursday at Fair Grounds.
A close second to the talented Girvin in his debut, Excitations was rated behind the speed while racing along the rail in a maiden dirt sprint Thursday. He came off the fence before the quarter pole to find running room, inhaled the leaders, and went on to a very easy victory. Excitations ran six furlongs in 1:10.44 and got an 81 Beyer Speed Figure.
