Southern California-based trainer Doug O’Neill has entered a pair of notable 3-year-olds for stakes at Sunland Park on Sunday. The $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby is the local stepping-stone to next month’s Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby, and O’Neill has entered Irap.
Irap is coming off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita and last year was second to Mastery in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity. Mario Gutierrez has the mount for Reddam Racing.
Guest Suite, who won the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 21 in his 3-year-old debut, had his final Risen Star workout on Tuesday, going a half-mile in 48 seconds. On a damp, drizzly morning, trainer Neil Howard did not hesitate to work Guest Suite over a wet, sealed Fair Grounds surface.
“On this racetrack, very rarely does anything get in your way of training,” Howard said.
NEW ORLEANS – The first multistakes card of any significance at the Fair Grounds meet on Dec. 17 sounded a steady drumbeat of Brad Cox-trained stakes winners. Green Mask won the Bonapaw, Cash Control won the Blushing K. D., and Western Reserve won the Buddy Diliberto.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Agapito Delgadillo was found to have a hairline fracture of his collarbone on Tuesday, two days after he was involved in a one-horse spill at Santa Anita and later won the $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes on Cuddle Alert.
Delgadillo was scheduled to undergo further medical tests late this week, according to his agent, Sue McBrayer. On Wednesday, it was unclear how long Delgadillo will be sidelined.
“He’s not riding this week, definitely,” McBrayer said.
Page McKenney emerged unscathed from his adventurous journey in the John B. Campbell Stakes at Laurel Park last Saturday, according to trainer Mary Eppler.
Page McKenney finished second in the 1 1/8-mile Campbell while making his second start following a nine-month layoff.
“He’s perfect,” Eppler said. “He came out of the race like his old self. His legs are ice cold and tight.”
Bodhisattva launched a wide bid from last to overpower Page McKenney from the outside in upper stretch. He won by 3 3/4 lengths after lagging far behind the field on the backstretch.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, out since December after undergoing hip-replacement surgery, is moving closer to a comeback.
On Wednesday at Santa Anita, Stevens rode his first workout since being cleared by doctors to resume exercise. Stevens rode Pioneerof the West for trainer Vladimir Cerin through a five-furlong workout in 1:03.80.
“I feel better than expected,” Stevens said. “I’m not blowing like I thought I would. I feel good.”
Lacey Gaudet had a career year running her family’s racing operation in 2016, winning 31 races and more than $850,000 in purses. Additionally, she made a tremendous claim in July at Laurel Park on behalf of owner Matt Shera, taking John Jones for $25,000.
John Jones has since developed into one of the leading older horses in Maryland, winning five of six starts, including a pair of Maryland-bred stakes, and earning $222,000. In his lone loss since being claimed, John Jones finished third, beaten two lengths, in the $190,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Gulfstream Park.
Parx-based horseman Luis Carvajal Jr. said he was relieved after Imperial Hint won the Grade 3 General George last Saturday at Laurel Park. The win was the first in a graded race for the horse, trainer, and owner Raymond Mamone.
“For me, having a small stable, it is a big deal to win a race like this,” Carvajal said Monday. “Going to the races that day, driving to Laurel, I knew he had a shot, and I was very nervous.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – McCraken, one of the favorites for the 143rd Kentucky Derby on May 6, is back in a daily training routine at the Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach, Fla., following his victory in the Feb. 11 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. McCraken is being pointed to a return to Tampa for the March 11 Tampa Bay Derby.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – LeRoy Jolley can walk virtually unnoticed among the crowd at Gulfstream Park. It wasn’t always this way.
More than a generation ago, Jolley was the trainer of the moment in much the same way that Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, and Bob Baffert are today. He was destined for greatness at a very young age; when he was just 24, he trained Ridan, the heavy favorite and third-place finisher in the 1962 Kentucky Derby. He accomplished so much during the quarter-century that followed that his plaque was enshrined in the Racing Hall of Fame in 1987.
