Fish Trappe Road, the winner of the Grade 3 Dwyer in July at Belmont Park, wrapped up his season last Sunday with a third-place finish in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby.
“We’re going to rest him now,” said Bret Calhoun, who trains the horse for Martin Racing Stable.
Calhoun said Fish Trappe Road, who will get some farm time in Texas, will be brought back into training after the first of the year. He will join the trainer’s division at Fair Grounds.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Last year, Wavell Avenue used a good second-place finish in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom at Belmont Park as a springboard to a 10-1 upset in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
On Saturday, she will again try to convince her connections to head to the Breeders’ Cup when she again runs in the Gallant Bloom Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs.
ELMONT, N.Y. – X Y Jet, who recorded two dynamic stakes victories in the winter at Gulfstream and ran a terrific second in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, returns from an eight-month layoff in Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Vosburgh at Belmont Park.
X Y Jet came out of the Golden Shaheen needing surgery to remove a chip in a knee. Prior to that, he won the Sunshine Millions Sprint and the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint in impressive, front-running fashion.
Taghleeb closed with a flourish to win the $100,000 Remington Park Green last Sunday, and now more distance looks to be in his future. Trainer Mike Maker said the horse, who has returned home to Kentucky, could run next at Keeneland.
Taghleeb won over 1 1/8 miles in the Remington Green, covering the distance on firm turf in a brisk 1:46.97. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.
“The further, the better for him,” said Maker, who trains the horse for Michael Hui. “We might try the Sycamore at Keeneland. It’s still up in the air.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – The prospect of a wet track has trainer Dallas Stewart wavering on whether to run probable favorite Forever Unbridled in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park.
Forever Unbridled has never raced on a wet track in 12 career starts.
“I’m very concerned,” said Stewart, who trains the horse for Charles Fipke. “I’m trying to figure it out. We’ll make the call at the appropriate time.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Flintshire’s biggest opponent in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park could be Mother Nature.
Only three horses were entered against Flintshire on Wednesday for the Joe Hirsch, the highlight of an 11-race program at Belmont Park that begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. Flintshire has already defeated two of his rivals, stablemate Money Multiplier and the hard-trying Twilight Eclipse. Ectot, a Group 1 winner three years ago in Europe, completes the field.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has won nine Breeders’ Cup races. Five times he has won the Distaff, twice the Classic, and twice the Turf, but in the BC Mile, Mott has sent out 19 starters and failed to land the big prize – so far.
Mott has two possible Mile runners this year, Tourist and Celestine, and while neither is a household name like Tepin, both horses have turned in races during 2016 that are good enough to make them legitimate Mile contenders.
At least some of the Breeders’ Cup winners this fall at Santa Anita are expected to have run in prep races at the host track of Santa Anita in the coming weeks. But at this stage, it seems unlikely that the Nov. 5 Filly and Mare Turf is one such race.
The strength of the female turf division, both among older fillies and mares and with 3-year-old fillies, comes from the East Coast and Europe this year, not from California, where no one has been dominant. Not a single filly or mare has recorded more than one graded turf victory in Southern California this year.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Despite the imposing presence of the undefeated pair of Three Rules in the In Reality and Cajun Delta Dawn in the My Dear Girl, the starting gate will be surprisingly full for the final legs of this year’s Florida Sire Series for 2-year-olds at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The dominance of older horses such as California Chrome in the Breeders’ Cup Classic division is so profound that there won’t be a single 3-year-old in the Awesome Again Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
In addition, there is the possibility that none of the winners of this year’s Triple Crown races will compete in this year’s Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita, and if that happens, this year’s Classic might have the smallest representation of 3-year-olds ever.
