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.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mo Town, No Dozing, and Takaful – the first three finishers in Saturday’s Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct – are headed to various parts of Florida in the coming days and could all take different paths to try to get to the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.
Mo Town won the Remsen by 2 1/2 lengths over No Dozing, with Takaful, the 4-5 favorite, another 3 1/2 lengths back in third.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Rafael Bejarano continues to recuperate from a soft-tissue injury to his right hand and will miss the final week of Del Mar’s season that closes Dec. 4, according to his agent, Tora Yamaguchi.
Yamaguchi said Bejarano has a follow-up appointment with a specialist on Dec. 5.
If all goes well, Bejarano “should be getting back up on horses shortly after that,” Yamaguchi said.
“We’ll have to play Los Alamitos by ear so we can definitely be 100 percent for the Santa Anita meeting,” which begins Dec. 26, Yamaguchi said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar officials and track stewards met Sunday morning to see what could be learned from the unusual situation in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes on Saturday, when protective pads blew onto the turf course during a rainstorm and forced a number of the runners to try to dodge them.
