Mon, 08/22/2016 - 14:20

Question surrounds dead heat

Photo courtesy of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club
Navy Hymn (top) and Well Measured dead heat for the victory in the eighth race on Sunday. Or did they?

DEL MAR, Calif. – Well Measured and Navy Hymn were ruled to have finished in a dead heat in race 8 on Sunday, but a win picture released by Del Mar following the race prompted trainer Peter Miller to question whether his horse, Well Measured, had won the race outright.

Miller on Monday said he and Well Measured’s owners – including Gary Barber and Michael Wellman – were going to file a complaint with the California Horse Racing Board.

Mon, 08/22/2016 - 14:16

Vyjack to challenge Masochistic in Pat O'Brien

Benoit & Associates
Masochistic earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure for his win in an optional claimer Friday.

DEL MAR, Calif. – With Grade 1 Bing Crosby winner Lord Nelson awaiting the fall Santa Anita meeting, Masochistic will head up a small field in the Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes going seven furlongs on Saturday.

Masochistic returned from an eight-month layoff to win an optional-claiming race at Santa Anita on July 8. His rivals are expected to include Vyjack, who will be making his first start in California and his first since being transferred to trainer Phil D’Amato. Vyjack worked a half-mile on Monday in 48.40 seconds.

Mon, 08/22/2016 - 14:16

D'Amato works two for Torrey Pines

Benoit & Associates
Enola Gray pulls away to win the seven-furlong Fleet Treat Stakes by 7 3/4 lengths.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Phil D’Amato ended the race week with a victory on Sunday by Midnight Storm in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile, and on Monday morning, he set about trying to have similar results this weekend, sending out Enola Gray and Bellamentary to work for the Grade 3, $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes on Sunday.

The Torrey Pines, at one mile for 3-year-old fillies, has proven to be an important stepping-stone in recent years. Stellar Wind won it last year and Beholder in 2013. Both won Eclipse Awards those in years.

Mon, 08/22/2016 - 12:46

Exaggerator, Creator to face full field in Travers

Barbara D. Livingston
Exaggerator breezes five furlongs in 1:00.95 on Saturday for the Travers.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A full field of 14 was expected to be entered Tuesday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga, bringing together two classic winners, four other graded stakes winners, and a host of late bloomers who are looking to find their place in the 3-year-old division.

Mon, 08/22/2016 - 11:46

Super high five carryover kicks off Wednesday card

Bettors who arrive early for a special Wednesday card at Gulfstream Park can take an edge rarely available.

A carryover of $78,838 in the super high five will be up for grabs when the first of eight races is run at the south Florida track. It’s one of a trio of Wednesday carryovers, along with $86,148 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 3-8) and $29,977 in the late pick five (races 4-8).

Mon, 08/22/2016 - 11:26

Strut the Course to defend crown in Canadian Stakes

Michael Burns
Strut the Course (left) wins the 2015 Canadian Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Strut the Course, the 2014 Canadian champion older female, is on track to defend her title from last year’s Grade 2, $200,000 Canadian Stakes when the race is run Sept. 17 at 1 1/8 miles on the E.P. Taylor turf course as part of the Woodbine Mile card.

Mon, 08/22/2016 - 10:40

Del Mar sets handle record on Pacific Classic Day

Shigeki Kikkawa
More than 24,000 people came to Del Mar to watch California Chrome win the Pacific Classic.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar set a single-day track record of $25,060,204 for all-sources handle on Saturday’s Pacific Classic Day program, a boost to a summer meeting that has had a decline in business compared with 2015.

Saturday’s handle figure for the 11-race card included ontrack, satellite, and account-wagering sources. It surpassed the previous track record of $24,667,351 set on Pacific Classic Day in 2007.

Sun, 08/21/2016 - 16:33

Alabama victory toughens Songbird for challenges that lay ahead

Barbara D. Livingston
Songbird, who got a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for her win in the Alabama, will be pointed to the $1 million Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 24.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - After convincingly winning the two Grade 1 route races for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga, Songbird arrived back in Southern California early Monday morning with her unbeaten record intact and with a hardened core for the more difficult challenges that lay ahead.

Songbird came out of her seven-length victory in Saturday’s Alabama “beautifully,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Sunday afternoon.

Sun, 08/21/2016 - 15:50

Hard Aces injured, out until Santa Anita fall meet

Benoit & Associates
Hard Aces wins the Cougar II Handicap by half a length over Quick Casablanca on Sunday.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Hard Aces, the Grade 1 winner who finished eighth of nine in the $1,001,380 Pacific Classic on Saturday, emerged from the race with a cut on a foreleg and will not race again until the Santa Anita autumn meeting.

Trainer John Sadler said Sunday that Hard Aces needed “a few” stitches for the injury. He speculated Hard Aces was struck by a rival leaving the gate. Hard Aces was sixth for much of the race before fading in the stretch under jockey Santiago Gonzalez to finish 25 lengths behind race winner California Chrome.

Sun, 08/21/2016 - 15:41

Baze will be Masochistic's jockey in Pat O'Brien Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Masochistic earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure for his win in an optional claimer Friday.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Masochistic will have a new, but familiar, jockey when he starts as the likely favorite in the $200,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar next Saturday.

Tyler Baze has been booked to ride Masochistic in the Grade 2 race at seven furlongs, replacing Mike Smith. Smith is booked to ride the Travers Stakes program at Saratoga that day. Baze is familiar with Masochistic, having ridden the 6-year-old gelding four times in 2015, including to two stakes wins.