Obviously, unraced since winning the Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park in June, will start in the $200,000 City of Hope Mile on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 8.
Trainer Phil D’Amato said a plan of running in the Woodbine Mile in Toronto on Sept. 17 was unworkable because of travel difficulties from California. D’Amato said the Breeders’ Cup Mile on turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 5 is the main goal for the autumn.
“Hopefully, this will set us up for the Breeders’ Cup,” he said.
Beholder, the three-time champion who was second to California Chrome in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 20, worked five furlongs in 1:02.20 at Santa Anita on Friday.
The workout was the first for Beholder since trainer Richard Mandella moved his stable from Del Mar to Santa Anita earlier this week, and left the 6-year-old mare on schedule for the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 1.
“It was very easy,” Mandella said. “She was by herself. Next week, we’ll tighten it up a little bit. We’ll do a serious work next time.”
CYPRESS, Calif. – Stewart Elliott’s first three-win day in California, and his first anywhere since April 2014 at Keeneland, occurred on Thursday’s quiet opening day of the Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Los Alamitos.
For Elliott, best known for winning the 2004 Kentucky Derby on Smarty Jones, the hat trick showed how he has adapted to Southern California racing after sitting out 2015. On Thursday, Elliott, 51, rode winners for trainers Mark Rheinford, Bob Baffert, and Mike Puype.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Four years after he nearly won the Travers and 21 months since he last competed, Fast Falcon returns to the races in a second-level allowance race Sunday at Belmont Park.
A 7-year-old son of Awesome Again owned by Richard Pell, Fast Falcon makes his first start since winning a first-level allowance on Dec. 31, 2014, at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Nick Zito then, he runs Sunday for Mark Casse.
Trainer Scooter Dickey said he will be looking for a suitable next race for Flatlined, who led throughout in posting a 12-1 upset Thursday in the $149,625 Old Friends Stakes at Kentucky Downs.
It was the first stakes victory for Dickey, 75, since he won the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in October 2011 with a horse of a similar name: Flat Out.
Acapulco breezed an easy half-mile Friday in 51.80 seconds over a firm Keeneland turf course in preparation for her next likely start in either the Oct. 8 Woodford or the Oct. 14 Franklin County at the fall meet at the Lexington track.
Trainer Wesley Ward had intended to run Acapulco overseas this summer but withheld the 3-year-old filly from making the trip alongside stablemate Lady Aurelia. “I just needed a little more time with her,” he said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Runhappy will get a feel for the Churchill Downs surface this week as the 2015 sprint champion draws closer to his first start as a 4-year-old.
Regular rider Edgar Prado will be flown in to get reacquainted with the star colt for a serious breeze, most likely Thursday, according to Laura Wohlers, who trains Runhappy for her brother-in-law, Jim McIngvale.
“That’s the plan,” Wohlers said Friday. “I’ve been watching the weather, and now it looks like it will be good all week.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Rated R Superstar, the winner of the Grade 3 Carry Back at Gulfstream Park two starts back, will make his turf debut in Sunday’s $100,000 Allied Forces Stakes at Belmont Park. The six-furlong race drew a field of six and will be run as the fifth race.
Rated R Superstar is by Kodiak Kowboy and out of the dam Wicked Wish, who has thrown one turf winner, Share the Sugar, by Heatseaker. Ken McPeek trains Rated R Superstar and also trained Share the Sugar.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After being shut down for 52 days, the Belmont Park training track reopened Thursday to positive reviews.
The track was closed for the summer so it could be widened to accommodate more horses. The stretches were widened by about 17 feet. The far turn was widened by 18 feet, and the first turn was widened by about 13 feet. The project was overseen by Glen Kozak, the New York Racing Association’s vice president of facilities and racing surfaces.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Jorge Abreu, who has worked for Chad Brown for nine years, is going out on his own.
Abreu was working for Brown this summer, but he also had his own horse, Woodville, who went 2 for 2 at the Spa. Abreu 42, said he is anticipating getting two 2-year-olds next week and is hoping to claim a horse or two.
