Mo Town, who finished fifth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 25, returned to the work tab Wednesday at Payson Park in Florida, breezing a half-mile in 49.60 seconds.
Trainer Tony Dutrow said he is considering the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on April 1 or the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 8 for the colt’s next start.
:: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays, and analysis
Southwest Stakes runner-up Petrov emerged from a Saturday workout in good order, and there’s a “90 percent” chance he’ll make his next start in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on March 18, trainer Ron Moquett said Monday. Petrov worked five-eighths in company, covering the distance in 59.60 seconds and galloping out strongly in his first breeze since the Southwest.
“This was kind of a maintenance breeze and letting him kind of tell me where he’s at,” Moquett said. “He was very happy and did it all the right way.”
Moquett said Jose Ortiz will have the mount in the Rebel.
Trainer Mark Casse suggested just after Valadorna had finished third in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes that the 3-year-old filly could bypass the Fair Grounds Oaks and race instead in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. On Sunday, Casse confirmed that was the plan.
“She came out of that race very good, has come back and trained well,” Casse said. “We’re still working shipping arrangements and keeping an eye on the weather. We’ll probably go 10 days, two weeks before the race.”
Farrell, one of the top 3-year-old fillies in North America, will make her next start in the Fair Grounds Oaks on April 1, trainer Wayne Catalano said Sunday.
Farrell easily won the Golden Rod at Churchill to cap her 2-year-old season and has won the Silverbulletday and Rachel Alexandra stakes this winter at Fair Grounds. Catalano said the day after the Feb. 25 Rachel Alexandra that he would consider training Farrell up to the Kentucky Oaks, but the decision has been made to race her again at Fair Grounds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The promising 3-year-old filly Elate is scheduled to run Saturday at Oaklawn Park in the Grade 3, $200,000 Honeybee, according to trainer Bill Mott. She will be invading from Florida, and her flight was to arrive Tuesday.
Elate enters the Honeybee off a runner-up finish to Tapa Tapa Tapa in the Suncoast Stakes on Feb. 11 at Tampa Bay Downs. She was beaten three lengths in her first start since winning her career debut at Aqueduct by 12 1/2 lengths on Nov. 26.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Green Gratto beat All Star Red by a head in the Grade 3 Toboggan Stakes on Jan. 16. Those two will get a rematch in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct.
Green Gratto, a 7-year-old New Jersey-bred son of Here’s Zealous, will be making his 52nd career start in the Tom Fool, a race in which he finished third in 2015. He won the Toboggan on the lead under Kendrick Carmouche. All Star Red, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Five Star Day, has not won since taking a second-level allowance last April over Aqueduct’s main track.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott had a terrific weekend, winning six races at three tracks.
Shortly before Suffused won the Grade 3 The Very One at Gulfstream, Isabelle galloped to a 12-length victory in Aqueduct’s $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational.
Left by herself on the lead under Kendrick Carmouche, Isabelle was never threatened and earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance. The 6-year-old mare now has two stakes wins and a second in three starts since stretching out in distance.
Classic Rock, who defeated the Tampa Bay Derby-bound Beasley in winning a high-level optional-claiming/allowance race here Jan. 6, was back on the work tab Sunday, going an impressive three furlongs in 35.65 seconds while under a strong hold throughout. The work was the first for Classic Rock since returning from California, where he missed the Grade 2 San Vicente after taking sick a week before the race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Dolphus, a half-brother to champion and Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra, has been transferred by owner Dede McGehee to trainer Jimmy Jerkens. He will make his first start for Jerkens on Sunday at Aqueduct in the $125,000 Stymie Stakes.
Dolphus, a 4-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky previously trained by Joe Sharp, has won 3 of 9 starts. Most recently, he finished last of nine in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 14, when he got used up in a speed duel. It was after that race that McGehee moved the horse to Jerkens.
