Gormley and Mastery, both Grade 1 winners and two of the top 3-year-olds in California, both worked six furlongs on Monday at Santa Anita, and they could face one another in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 11.
Gormley, with regular rider Victor Espinoza up, was timed in 1:11, the fastest time of 14 at the distance. Mastery was timed in 1:15.
Yorkiepoo Princess, who aced her two-turn debut with a 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Busher Stakes, will attempt 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct on April 8, trainer Ed Barker said Monday.
Barker said Yorkiepoo Princess came out of the Busher “a little bit tired, but no bumps, no bruises” and noted that she will have six weeks between races.
“That’s perfect,” Barker said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Action Everyday has won both of his starts, trainer Todd Pletcher believes the horse has more to give. So, when Pletcher runs Action Everyday in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, he plans to equip the son of The Factor with blinkers for the first time.
Pletcher noted that when Action Everyday won a first-level allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 27, he was a bit reluctant to load, and when he made the lead at the top of the stretch, he thought the race was completed.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mind Your Biscuits is scheduled to leave with other American prospects for the Dubai World Cup Carnival on a transatlantic flight out of Fort Lauderdale International Airport on March 14, trainer Chad Summers said following the colt’s narrow loss to Unified in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint here Saturday.
Mind Your Biscuits closed stoutly while earning a 101 Beyer Speed Figure, his fourth straight triple-digit mark. The New York-bred colt runs next in the $2 million Golden Shaheen on March 25 at Meydan in Dubai.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The eye-catching victory by Blue Buff in his career debut Saturday at Gulfstream Park resulted in short-lived joy for trainer Joe Orseno.
The next day, all 16 of the horses trained by Orseno for the DJ Stable of Leonard Green – including Blue Buff – were moved a couple of barns down at Palm Meadows and into the shed row of John Servis.
“The DJ folks told me they wanted to make a change,” said Orseno. “This is a tough one, I’ll tell you. What an unbelievably difficult business this can be. I’m numb.”
McCraken had his first workout since his latest victory when breezing a half-mile in company in 48.80 seconds Monday at his winter base at the Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach, Fla.
With regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. in from New Orleans, McCraken worked alongside his Ian Wilkes-trained stablemate Fifth Title, a 4-year-old maiden.
“I got him galloping out in 1:12 flat, then another eighth in 13 and 1,” said Wilkes. “I’m very pleased with the horse. All’s good.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A long layoff, a bad post, an eventful trip – in the end, none of that mattered to Highland Sky, who made an impressive return from a 7 1/2-month vacation with a game three-quarter-length triumph over a strong optional-claiming/allowance field here last Saturday.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – It was anything but a lazy Sunday for No Dozing, who turned in a bullet workout at Tampa Bay Downs to remain under consideration for the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby here on March 11. No Dozing breezed half a mile in 47.80 seconds, the fastest of 62 works at the distance here that morning, as he tries to bounce back from a disappointing 3-year-old debut.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A field of up to 10 3-year-olds is taking shape for the second of three major Kentucky Derby preps to be run this winter at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth on Saturday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The importance of an American horse race is now partly measured by the number of supporting stakes that surround it that day. So, yes, the Fountain of Youth here Saturday at Gulfstream Park will be a big one: Eight other stakes, all but one of them graded, will accompany the key Kentucky Derby prep on a 13-race card.
Here follows a rundown of those races, all of which were to be drawn Wednesday:
