Thu, 07/07/2016 - 12:40

Sedin will stretch out after dull sprint

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Sedin could be the one in what appears to be a wide-open optional $25,000 claiming race at Hastings on Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses and anchors a seven-race card that begins at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.

Thu, 07/07/2016 - 11:36

Invested Prospect's speed should help her bounce back

Erin Palmer/Emerald Downs
Invested Prospect easily won the Seattle Stakes, posting a career-high Beyer figure.

Invested Prospect is the one to catch and beat in a second-level allowance race at Emerald Downs on Saturday. The six-furlong dash for fillies and mares drew seven horses and has plenty of other speed, however. If Invested Prospect falters, Bonus Spin looks like the one with the best chance of picking up the pieces.

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 16:13

Stidham plans to stable 10 horses at Saratoga

Taylor Ejdys/Equi-Photo
The 4-year-old filly Zipessa, winner of the Dr. James Penny Memorial on Monday at Parx, could be among the horses Mike Stidham takes to Saratoga.

Trainer Mike Stidham will have a 10-horse string at Saratoga this summer, a new satellite stable for the Arlington-based operation.

“We’ve run at Saratoga but never stabled there,” Stidham said. “We’re not going to Del Mar this summer. We have four or five New York-breds to run, some 2-year-olds, and some turf horses we’re thinking about.”

One of those turf horses could be the 4-year-old filly Zipessa, who scored a front-running, two-length win in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial on Monday at Parx Racing, equaling her career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 15:36

Groves fondly recalls Assault's 1946 Triple Crown

Helen Kleberg Groves has had an appreciation for a good horse since childhood, when her playground was her family’s famed King Ranch in south Texas. Her father, Bob Kleberg Jr., was the driving force behind such horses as Assault, who won the 1946 Triple Crown.

But before there was Assault, who will be honored with a stakes race Saturday night during the Stars of Texas program at Lone Star Park, there was Mr. Bones. He had no ties to King Ranch, but he became a favorite of little Helen’s.

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 15:26

The Pizza Man tries same path to Arlington Million

Barbara D. Livingston
The Pizza Man will try to regain his good form in the 1 1/2-mile Stars and Stripes.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Pizza Man used the 1 1/2-mile Stars and Stripes Stakes as a springboard to his rousing win in the 2015 Arlington Million, and his connections are sending him down the same path this summer.

The Pizza Man was one of 10 horses entered Wednesday in the Stars and Stripes, which is one of four Grade 3 turf stakes Saturday at Arlington designed as preps for races on the Aug. 13 Arlington Million card. The Stars and Stripes is worth $100,000, while the American Derby, Modesty, and Arlington Handicap are $125,000 races.

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 15:06

Lost Raven should get nice setup in Victory Ride

Barbara D. Livingston
Lost Raven came from well off the pace to win the Miss Preakness. She will have plenty of speed to run at in the Victory Ride on Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Lost Raven showed a new dimension when she rallied from eighth to win the Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 20. That off-the-pace style might suit her well again in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong race that has plenty of speed types in its nine-horse field.

Lost Raven, a daughter of Uncle Mo, won the Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct on the lead prior to the Miss Preakness. She will break from post 8 under John Velazquez.

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 15:06

Private Zone gets season going in Belmont Sprint Championship

Barbara D. Livingston
Private Zone is being pointed to the True North at Belmont Park on June 10.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Private Zone will finally get to make his 7-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Belmont Sprint Championship, a race he won last year.

Private Zone was entered in the Grade 2 True North on June 10 but had to scratch after trainer Brian Lynch surrendered his license after a failing a random drug test. Lynch has since been reinstated.

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 14:50

Guillot sends Laoban in Dwyer

Debra A. Roma
Laoban may be a live longshot in the Blue Grass Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Eric Guillot won the Dwyer Stakes three years ago with Moreno, who was coming off a maiden victory three weeks earlier. This year, Guillot will try to win the Dwyer with Laoban, who, despite having competed in four graded stakes, remains a maiden.

Laoban, a son of Uncle Mo, finished third in the Grade 3 Sham at Santa Anita in February and second in the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct in March. After finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass, he didn’t have enough points to make it into the Kentucky Derby field. He ran in the Preakness and finished sixth.

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 14:46

Once a “playboy,” Eagle now a player in Suburban

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Eagle captured his first graded stakes win in Saturday's Ben Ali Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It has been five years since trainer Neil Howard last started a horse at Belmont Park. But he returns here Saturday with Eagle, a top-flight contender in the Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Handicap.

Eagle, a son of Candy Ride, is running back just three weeks after he finished second, a half-length behind Bradester, in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. Though the Suburban means running him back on short rest, Howard said the opportunity to run Eagle 1 1/4 miles “was appealing.”

Wed, 07/06/2016 - 14:06

Mokat fresh for Del Mar Oaks

Barbara D. Livingston
Mokat has been rested since finishing 13th in the Kentucky Oaks on May 6.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mokat, who was second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in April and 13th in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 6, has resumed training for a summer campaign geared toward turf races at Del Mar.

Trainer Richard Baltas said Mokat will be pointed for the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf Aug. 20. Mokat was rested after the Kentucky Oaks and has responded well, Baltas said.

“I gave her 35 days off,” he said. “She was a little stiff behind. It looked like the rest helped her a lot.”