Chocolate Ride, a minor Fair Grounds institution the last two race meetings, soon will ship to New Orleans from Churchill Downs and is set to start Dec. 17 in the $75,000 Buddy Diliberto Stakes.
He’s just one of many horses whose names could be prominently mentioned in the coming months for trainer Brad Cox, who has a stronger Fair Grounds presence this season than last, when his 28 wins ranked fourth in the trainers’ standings.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Miss Sky Warrior won her third straight race in the Grade 2 Demoiselle Saturday at Aqueduct, but the most impressive 2-year-old filly to run on the card was Elate, who won a one-mile maiden race by 12 1/2 lengths for trainer Bill Mott.
The win elicited memories of Royal Delta, a former Mott trainee who won her career debut going a mile by 12 lengths at Belmont in the fall of 2010. Royal Delta became a two-time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (now Distaff) and earned $4.8 million.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The final week of the Churchill Downs fall meet is an absolute whirlwind, with too many important happenings crammed into too short a period. On a lesser scale, it’s not unlike the Breeders’ Cup, or a typical week in the National Football League.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Ghostly Presence stamped herself as a contender for next June’s Woodbine Oaks with an upset win in the $251,200 Princess Elizabeth Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta on Nov. 12. She has since traveled to Florida, where she’ll get a freshening before resuming a winter campaign.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Last year, trainer Kathleen DeMasi won the allowance prep for the Lightning City Stakes with Joya Real, but the mare could only finish fourth in the stakes race itself. This year, DeMasi is hoping for a better result after Everything Lovely’s impressive win last Saturday in the prep for the $100,000 Lightning City.
The newly structured pick six at Del Mar, which includes a jackpot payoff to the holder of a unique winning ticket, has led to higher pools in the popular multirace bet this fall compared with the 2015 season.
Josh Rubinstein, Del Mar’s chief operating officer, said the bet handled more than $3.1 million through the first 11 racing days of the fall meeting, through Sunday, compared with $2.44 million during a similar time frame last year.
“So far, we feel it’s been a success,” Rubinstein said. “We’re looking forward to trying it during the summer with a longer meet.
Los Alamitos has added a stakes race to its winter meeting to give California Chrome a local prep race before the final start of his career in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28.
The Winter Challenge will be run Dec. 17 at 1 1/16 miles with a purse structure designed to entice owners and trainers to run against California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Texas Ryano won the most prestigious race of his career in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar last Friday and may not race again until late winter at Santa Anita, trainer Carla Gaines said.
Gaines said on Sunday that Texas Ryano’s 2017 campaign will be geared toward the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4. Early-season turf races such as the $200,000 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on Feb. 4 and the $200,000 San Luis Rey Stakes on March 25 could be considered.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The Saturday stakes winners Journey Home and Ring Weekend are likely to be part of the Southern California racing scene this winter. Graham Motion trains Journey Home and Ring Weekend and said on Sunday they are likely to be part of his small stable at Santa Anita this winter.
“What we’re trying to do is keep a presence out there,” said Motion, who has a year-round base in Maryland. “It’s a question of the numbers.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – Songbird, beaten a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita on Nov. 4 in the first loss of her career, recently passed an extensive physical examination in Kentucky and is being pointed for a 2017 campaign as a 4-year-old.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Saturday that Songbird will remain at a farm in Kentucky through December before rejoining his stable at Santa Anita.
“We scanned her from head to toe and didn’t find anything significant,” he said. “We found nothing.
