OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Plans for Wonder Gal, the 13 1/2-length winner of the Ladies Handicap last Friday, were in flux Monday as her new connections decide whether to breed her or race her again.
Trainer Leah Gyarmati said Wonder Gal came out of the Ladies in good order and that owner Bernard Cleary is contemplating options for the 5-year-old New York-bred mare. Cleary, who races as Clearview Stable and owns Clearsky Farm, purchased Wonder Gal a few weeks ago primarily as a broodmare prospect.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Sunny Ridge, the winner of Saturday’s $125,000 Jazil Stakes at Aqueduct, likely will make his next start in the $125,000 Stymie Stakes at Aqueduct on March 12.
Owner Dennis Drazin said Monday that he was willing to entertain an offer to wheel his horse back in two weeks for the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream, but the last slot for that 12-horse field was taken Monday by Noble Bird, whose connections made a deal with Earle Mack.
Three weeks after returning from severe rib injuries sustained in early September, jockey Edwin Maldonado won Sunday’s second race for maiden claimers at Santa Anita, his first victory since August.
Maldonado fractured six ribs when he was unseated in a workout at Del Mar on Sept. 4. He was hospitalized for more than a week and underwent surgery to stabilize the ribs.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Champagne Room, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5, worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Santa Anita on Monday, continuing to progress toward her 3-year-old debut in the $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 5.
Champagne Room was prominent among 234 recorded works Monday. There were a large number of workouts as trainers play catch-up following persistent rain last week and expected wet weather later this week.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – And then there were none.
The final spots in the prospective lineup for the $12 million Pegasus World Cup here Jan. 28 were filled Monday when deals were finalized to bring Grade 1 winner Noble Bird and the 9-year-old Prayer for Relief into the race.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Classic Empire moved closer to a likely start in the Grade 2 Holy Bull here on Feb. 4 by breezing five furlongs at Palm Meadows on Monday. Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Vesce caught him going five furlongs in 1:02.60 and galloping out strongly in 1:15.40 for six furlongs before pulling up seven-eighths in 1:28.40.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito sent out his 2,000th career winner here Monday, when Forever Plus captured the second race under jockey Nik Juarez.
“The way these young trainers are today – they win 4,000, 5,000 – I feel like the oldest guy in Little League,” said Zito. “On the other hand, it’s great, a long journey. Thank God I’m probably still at the top of the stretch and have a quarter-mile left.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Coco as in Chanel, the winner of the $100,000 Stormy Blues Stakes last June at Pimlico, turned in a strong 4-year-old debut Sunday at Tampa Bay Downs, winning a second-level, $21,250 allowance by three-quarters of a length over Sweet Nkosi. Coco as in Chanel ($5.80) finished the five-furlong race on firm turf in 56.63 seconds after carving out fast fractions of 21.35 and 44.77.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – When it comes to taking on trainer Arnaud Delacour’s next top sprinter, resistance is Futile.
Delacour, who trains A. P. Indian, a finalist for an Eclipse Award as champion sprinter of 2016, scored an impressive victory at Tampa Bay Downs on Sunday with Futile, who won a no-conditions, $25,750 allowance by one length over Tiger Blood. With leading jockey Daniel Centeno aboard, Futile tracked the pace in second place early before surging to the front in the stretch and stopping the clock in 1:09.91 for six furlongs.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mike Smith has a concise idea of how to campaign the multiple stakes winner Vale Dori this year: Hit the road for big money races.
Pardon Smith if he has a vested interest in where and when Vale Dori races. He is the regular rider of Songbird, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2015 who is widely expected to gain the 3-year-old filly title for 2016 at the Eclipse Award ceremony in Florida on Saturday. Songbird is nearing a return to training for a 2017 campaign, and Smith would prefer to keep the mount on both her and Vale Dori as long as possible.
