HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dale Romans is hoping the wonders of equine medicine will once again make Cherry Wine a player on the big stage.
After nailing Nyquist for second behind Exaggerator in the Preakness last May, Cherry Wine failed to hit the board in all four subsequent races. But a throat operation after his last start Nov. 19 at Churchill Downs appears to have remedied the root of the colt’s problems, said Romans.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Fans of turf racing are suffering under their umbrellas in Southern California this winter.
While much-needed rain continues to aid the environment and fill the state’s reservoirs, turf racing at Santa Anita has been a victim of the conditions. There are no turf races at Santa Anita on Saturday, and wet weather over the weekend makes turf racing doubtful for Sunday.
The last few weeks have seen persistent rain throughout the state.
“We didn’t expect this much weather,” said track senior vice president Joe Morris.
It was a solid year in 2016 for veteran trainer Wes Hawley, but it was a great year for owner Wes Hawley.
Hawley, a 53-year-old Oklahoma native, owns outright the 6-year-old mare Steel Cut, who earned $226,550 last year. He owns three-quarters of Hawaakom, who banked $310,953 during 2016 while campaigning for Hawley and his partner Stephan Smoot. That’s a half-million right there, less the other sundry and considerable purses Hawley picked up owning horses himself or in partnership, though less, of course, expenses and reinvestment.
NEW ORLEANS – You can still find 57-year-old David Carroll out on the Fair Grounds oval most every morning doing what he has done since he was a 6-year-old in Ireland – riding horses.
Carroll has wintered at Fair Grounds for the better part of two decades. Things right now are both better and worse than they were a year ago.
Worse because Carroll, his stable down to a handful of modest runners, finally gave up being a head trainer at the end of the 2015-16 Fair Grounds meet, but better because he has settled comfortably into his job as an assistant to trainer Mark Casse.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The recent wet weather in Southern California has forced trainers to work around the rain, but even though Arrogate’s preparation for the $12 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park could have been more severely impacted, he looked sensational during an extended gallop Wednesday at Santa Anita as he nears his final prerace workout this weekend.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Gormley and Mastery, a pair of Grade 1-winning 3-year-olds, both worked a half-mile Wednesday in preparation for stakes, which might even include a head-to-head matchup.
Gormley, the winner of the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes last fall, went in 51.20 seconds under Victor Espinoza in his first drill since capturing the Sham Stakes on Jan. 7. Trainer John Shirreffs said Gormley could run next in the Grade 3, $150,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4 or await the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 11.
“He came out of the race well,” Shirreffs said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 winner Ralis has replaced the stakes-placed Semper Fortis as a starter for owners Paul and Zillah Reddam in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28.
Trainer Doug O’Neill said they made the decision after watching the two train.
Semper Fortis will be redirected to the $400,000 Poseidon Stakes on the Pegasus World Cup undercard. Both races are run at 1 1/8 miles on dirt.
“We swapped those two,” O’Neill said on Wednesday. “Ralis is doing a little bit better.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Melatonin, the winner of two Grade 1 races in 2016 who was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, has been taken out of training because of a foot issue, trainer David Hofmans said this week.
Hofmans said Melatonin is scheduled to leave his stable for a four-month break at a local farm.
“We’ll be ready for the fall,” Hofmans said. “It’s been one little problem after another.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Stallwalkin’ Dude finished third behind Green Gratto in Monday’s Grade 3 Toboggan Stakes, trainer and co-owner David Jacobson still hopes the gelding can make it to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen on March 25.
Jacobson is considering sending Stallwalkin’ Dude to Santa Anita for the Grade 2, $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes on Feb. 4 as a prep for Dubai. Jacobson said he first wants to evaluate how Stallwalkin’ Dude comes out of the Toboggan, in which he was beaten just a neck after being forced to steady entering the far turn.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – That Aqueduct’s inner track has been kind to inside speed lately doesn’t just favor certain horses, it favors certain riders.
Kendrick Carmouche is known as an aggressive rider, and his style certainly has paid dividends this winter at Aqueduct. Last week, Carmouche won 7 races from 22 mounts, including three stakes, at Aqueduct. He has moved into a tie for third in the inner-track standings with 19 wins, five behind leader Irad Ortiz Jr.
