OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Sunday’s $125,000 Stymie Stakes at Aqueduct features a game of jockey musical chairs that includes the return to New York – at least for one day – of John Velazquez and Jose Ortiz.
Velazquez, who hasn’t ridden in New York since Dec. 2, will be here to pilot Send It In for Todd Pletcher in the Stymie. Manny Franco has ridden Send It In to victory in six of his last eight starts but is committed to ride Sunny Ridge, on whom he won the Jazil Stakes in January.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Abel Tasman, the Grade 1 winner whose runner-up comeback last weekend at Santa Anita reaffirmed her status as one of the country’s top 3-year-old fillies, was transferred Thursday from trainer Simon Callaghan to Bob Baffert.
The move, orchestrated by co-owner China Horse Club, was the result of an apparent mix-up in silks worn by jockey Joe Talamo last weekend when Abel Tasman finished second to Unique Bella in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The undefeated Sircat Sally has won two stakes for California-breds and is probably not leaving home soon.
Sircat Sally will race outside of the statebred division for the first time Saturday in the $75,000 China Doll Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Santa Anita. She won the California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf here Jan. 28.
“She’s been very steady,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Thursday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Champagne Room, the 2016 champion 2-year-old filly, will be out of training until early summer after undergoing surgery to have a bone chip removed from an ankle Wednesday.
Trainer Peter Eurton said Thursday that Champagne Room emerged from the operation with no complications and will be given a 90-day rest before an expected return to training in the second half of June.
“It went very well,” Eurton said. “I’ve had so many comebacks from this type of injury. She’s only 3, and I’d love to run her at 4.”
Uncontested, the winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes in January at Oaklawn, emerged from a March 2 work in good order, and plans for his next start are being discussed with owners Harry Rosenblum and Bob LaPenta, trainer Wayne Catalano said this week. The Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on March 18 at Oaklawn is one of those options, and another is the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass on April 8 at Keeneland.
The Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot got a boost last weekend when Gunnevera, who won the race in November, captured the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. In addition, J Boys Echo, who was fourth in the Jackpot, came back to capture the Gotham at Aqueduct.
Chris Warren, director of racing for Delta, hopes the results will lead to a higher grade for the 1 1/16-mile race that in the past has been won by such horses as Exaggerator, Big Drama, and Goldencents. He said the results of last weekend’s Kentucky Derby preps were meaningful for Delta.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It Tiz Well has come to Oaklawn Park from her base at Santa Anita in search of Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. She will be one of the top contenders Saturday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Honeybee, which drew a field of 11 when entries were taken Wednesday.
The Honeybee, at 1 1/16 miles, carries 85 eligibility points for the Kentucky Oaks. The points are to be divided among the top four finishers 50-20-10-5.
Trainer Al Stall started the Fair Grounds meet on fire, and after an inevitable cooling-off period, he has maintained an excellent strike rate. Through last Sunday, Stall had won with 25 of his 86 starters at the meet, a 29 percent win rate.
Stall, who has been the leading trainer twice at Fair Grounds, won’t come near his career-best Fair Grounds win total, 42 in 1997-98, but if his stable’s form holds, he’ll finish the season at his home track with his highest win percentage since that meet. Stall, too, has been a boon to his backers, producing a $2.31 return on investment.
With four racing weeks remaining in the 2016-17 Fair Grounds meet, the race for leading trainer is up for grabs. Through Sunday, six trainers each had 22 to 31 winners at the meet, all of them one hot streak away from a title.
Brad Cox has been atop the leaderboard much of the winter and still has a meet-best 31 winners, but no Fair Grounds barn has been rolling like Steve Asmussen’s.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Leon Blusiewicz turned 86 last month. Blusiewicz acknowledges that he’s not as strong as he used to be despite swimming and riding a stationary bicycle every day, but he’s still as ambitious.
“I’m prehistoric,” Blusiewicz said. “I’d never thought I’d last this long. I’ve had a good life, had a lot of fun, met a lot of nice people. The game’s been good to me.”
