Handle numbers were down significantly at the recently concluded Monmouth-at-the-Meadowlands all-turf meet in New Jersey despite a well-publicized cut in the track’s takeout rate to 15 percent across the board, the lowest in the country, according to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form that were confirmed by officials at the track.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Led by Travers winner Arrogate, trainer Bob Baffert on Tuesday morning at Santa Anita worked four of the nine horses he said he has pre-entered in the 13 Breeders’ Cup races that will be run Nov. 4-5 at Santa Anita. When the morning was done, Baffert was in a jovial, light-hearted mood, an indication that all had gone well.
“Everything went really well,” Baffert said. “I feel good. All you can ask for is that they still have some life.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Before trainer Charlton Baker makes his maiden voyage to Southern California and the Breeders’ Cup with Joking in the Sprint, he will run Rachel’s Temper in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap at Belmont Park.
Rachel’s Temper, a 5-year-old daughter of Flatter, won the Summer Colony Stakes at Saratoga in her first start after being claimed for $62,500 by Newtown Anner Stud. Rachel’s Temper then stepped into Grade 1 company in the Beldame but finished sixth of seven behind winner Forever Unbridled. The race was run over a muddy surface.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown won his first Saratoga training title quite easily this past summer, but his quest for a fifth straight Belmont fall title will be a battle. Brown and Rudy Rodriguez enter the final week of the meet tied with 26 wins apiece, but Rodriguez has the upper hand based on the entries Wednesday through Friday.
Rodriguez has 13 horses entered from Wednesday through Friday, including eight horses in seven races on Thursday’s card. Brown has just six horses entered in four races over that span and does not have a starter Thursday.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Roca Rojo, a 3 1/4-length winner of Sunday’s Grade 3 Athenia Stakes at Belmont, could make her next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch at Del Mar on Dec. 4, trainer Chad Brown said Monday.
Roca Rojo, an Irish-bred daughter of Strategic Prince, showed an explosive turn of foot in the stretch to win the Athenia and improve her record to 5 for 6.
ELMONT, N.Y. – While still living in the moment of Bar of Gold’s 18-length victory in last Saturday’s $250,000 Empire Distaff Handicap – for which she was assigned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure – trainer John Kimmel couldn’t help but think about the 4-year-old filly’s future.
“She quickened so fast, she might be a freak on the grass,” Kimmel said Monday at Belmont Park. “We’ll try the grass next year at some point.”
Are You Kidding Me won last year’s Grade 2, $200,000 Autumn Stakes on his way to becoming Canada’s champion older male of 2015, and a repeat win in the Autumn on Nov. 6 at Woodbine would bolster his case for another Sovereign Award.
Are You Kidding Me, a 6-year-old trained by Roger Attfield, most recently won the Grade 3 Durham Cup on Sept. 24. Prior to that, he finished second in back-to-back starts in the Grade 2 Sky Classic Stakes and the Grade 3 Seagram Cup and won the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes on May 28.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Daniel Vella will return to the Breeders’ Cup for the first time since 2010 when he sends out Channel Maker in the Juvenile Turf on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
“We’re going to go to the big dance and see just how good he is,” Vella said. “We had a bit of a troubled trip last time, and I think we’re competitive, so we’re going.”
