OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A plan hatched roughly 18 months ago will come to fruition for Amelia Green next month when the current assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher begins training on her own.
Green, 31, a former jockey, has worked for Pletcher for about seven years. She has been an exercise rider, foreman, and traveling assistant. She has been on and/or worked with such notable runners as Life Is Good, Malathaat, Nest, and Audible just to name a few.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Back from Newmarket where he purchased two well-bred yearlings at last week’s Tattersalls auction, trainer Tom Morley is making plans for some of his current stable stars.
Donegal Momentum, who won the Gio Ponti Stakes on Oct. 3 at Aqueduct, will be pointed to the Grade 3, $200,000 Hill Prince Stakes on Nov. 9 at Aqueduct. There is a chance he could be re-routed to the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 30 at Del Mar.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown won both graded stakes run over the weekend at Aqueduct, but there were two other winners he had who may have overshadowed those successes.
Brown won juvenile maiden races with Keewaydin, a son of Instagrand, and Fully Subscribed, a daughter of Tiz the Law. Those horses are now likely stakes-bound in the coming months.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Gun Song, who came within a neck of upsetting Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes on Sept. 21 at Parx Racing, is pointing to the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose on Oct. 26 at Aqueduct, trainer Mark Hennig said.
On Friday at Belmont, Gun Song worked a half-mile in 49 seconds over the training track.
“Just kind of a first work back kind of thing, hopefully come back next week and do a little more, but she’s pretty fit right now,” Hennig said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When it comes to where he is going to prepare his horses for this year’s Breeders’ Cup, trainer Todd Pletcher said he is staying put.
Instead of assembling all his horses at Keeneland, which he did a year ago ahead of a trip to Southern California, Pletcher will have his potential runners for this year’s Breeders’ Cup event based at three different venues until they ship out later this month. This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Well, this is a new one.
Friday’s nine-race Aqueduct card was canceled due to air quality issues after Resorts World, which operates the casino adjacent to Aqueduct, retreated the facility’s entire roof. The smell from the chemicals was stifling, particularly on the upper level where racing officials - including the stewards, the teletimer operator, placing judges and Equibase personnel - are located.
Roxanne Tanner has been named director of racing for Louisiana Downs, the Bossier City, La., track announced Wednesday. She will oversee all aspects of racing operations, including mutuels, at the facility that also houses a casino.
Tanner takes over from Matt Crawford, a 30-year racing official in the Southwest who is retiring, according to a separate press release from Louisiana Downs. Crawford also served as racing secretary for Louisiana Downs. The track has launched a search for a new racing secretary, a position Tanner hopes will be filled by the first of the year.
Jockey Antonio Fresu has been suspended on Saturday and Sunday and fined $500 for riding infractions at the 2023 Del Mar summer meeting that were originally 22 days of suspension and fines of $990, but later significantly reduced by a policy change enacted by the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Unit.
As soon as this weekend, prominent California trainer Phil D’Amato may reach 1,000 career wins.
Through Wednesday, D’Amato has 998 wins in North America. He has one starter at Keeneland on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. At Santa Anita, D’Amato has four runners on Friday and three entered on Saturday. Entries for Sunday were taken on Thursday. D’Amato said he expects to have several starters on Sunday.
D’Amato, 48, has been one of the leading trainers in recent years at Del Mar and Santa Anita.
Nysos, the undefeated colt who won two stakes by a combined 26 3/4 lengths last fall and winter before he was sidelined during the buildup to the Triple Crown, worked a half-mile in 47.60 seconds for trainer Bob Baffert at Santa Anita on Thursday.
The workout was the first for Nysos since late February. Nysos was the morning-line favorite for the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on March 3, but was withdrawn the day before the race. The San Felipe is a key prep race for the Santa Anita Derby.
