HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park will open its stable area to horses from Fair Grounds on Monday, provided those horses meet certain conditions, according to officials with the Hot Springs track.
Oaklawn had banned horses from Fair Grounds when the New Orleans track reported positives for the equine herpesvirus. A quarantine has since been lifted at Fair Grounds.
Oaklawn on Friday accepted entries from Fair Grounds horses for races that will run Thursday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Oaklawn-based 3-year-old Balandeen has seen his stock rise in the months since he ran second in the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. The race’s winner, McCraken, returned in his next start to take the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, while its third-place finisher, Guest Suite, went on to win the Grade 3 Lecomte.
Balandeen, meanwhile, has been working at Oaklawn, where he is scheduled to launch his 3-year-old season, said trainer Chris Hartman. The horse last raced Nov. 19, finishing fifth in the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jose Ortiz, the standout jockey based on the New York circuit, has committed to ride at Gulfstream in March before moving his tack to Keeneland in April.
“I think it’s the right time for me to try,” Ortiz told Gulfstream publicity this week.
Ortiz, 23, was an Eclipse Award finalist for top jockey in 2016 after his mounts won 351 races, tops in America, and earned more than $22.7 million. He ventured outside of New York last October to ride much of the Keeneland fall meet.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Sharp Azteca, most recently second in the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, was scheduled to breeze Sunday at his Gulfstream West base in preparation for the Gulfstream Park Handicap next Saturday, Feb. 11, according to trainer Jorge Navarro.
Assuming a good effort, Sharp Azteca would run next in the $1 million Godolphin Mile on March 25 at Meydan in Dubai.
“He’s already invited, and we are 100 percent to go to Dubai if he runs good here next weekend,” said Navarro. “He is really doing well.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Before Lookin for Eight even passed under the wire an impressive maiden winner on the Pegasus World Cup undercard last Saturday at Gulfstream Park, it was easy to envision Mike Tomlinson’s cellphone blowing up.
It’s the reality of the day: A smaller outfit showcases a promising young horse, and the big guys swoop right in to buy it.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Miss Southern Miss is getting another chance to prove that she can be effective on dirt in Sunday’s $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.
Trainer Keith Desormeaux does not expect Miss Southern Miss to win the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes against Unique Bella, the brilliant winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes at seven furlongs on Jan. 8. The one-mile Las Virgenes also includes Champagne Room, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2016.
Unique Bella is the one Desormeaux fears.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The only two-time Group 1 winner in race 7 at Santa Anita on Sunday is also the runner with the most to prove. Can Some in Tieme translate his successful Brazilian form from 2015 and 2016 to American racing in the optional claimer at 1 1/8 miles on turf?
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Doug O’Neill will be dividing up his 3-year-olds among several races locally and out of town in the upcoming weeks, with the newly acquired Iliad remaining home while So Conflated and the filly Shane’s Girlfriend will head to Fair Grounds.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Diversify, the undefeated New York-bred gelding, likely will make his next start in the $125,000 Stymie Stakes at Aqueduct on March 12, trainer Rick Violette said Thursday.
Diversify is one of 15 horses nominated to the $100,000 Haynesfield Stakes for New York-breds on Feb. 11, but Violette doesn’t plan on running him there.
“I’d like him for the rest of the year,” Violette said. “I’m thinking of running him in the Stymie.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Bavaro dropped the ball in his attempt to go two turns for owner Bill Parcells in last week’s Gander Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds. On Saturday, Parcells will see if his backup, Small Bear, is a prospect for the future.
Small Bear will bring a two-race winning streak into the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. Though the Withers is considered a prep race for 3-year-olds with Kentucky Derby dreams, Small Bear was conspicuous by his absence among the 419 3-year-olds nominated to the Triple Crown series last month.
