Two course records were set over the firm Laurel Park turf last weekend.
Heiko went 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.47 over the Bowling Green layout in race 3 on Sunday, breaking the mark of 1:40.96 set by Relentless Ride on April 17. Heiko’s record came in a $7,500 starter race.
In Race 8, a first-level allowance, Coastal Sea was timed in 1:01.00 for 5 1/2 furlongs over the Bowling Green course, breaking the previous mark of 1:01.04 set by Whatsnottolike on Sept. 26, 2012.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The talented 3-year-old Stradivari underwent surgery Tuesday to repair the right front ankle he fractured during training here last week.
On Wednesday morning, trainer Todd Pletcher said doctors at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital here “were pleased late yesterday afternoon after the surgery and after recovery.”
“So far, so good,” Pletcher said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Bill Mott often marks the occasion of his birthday with a trip to the Saratoga winner’s circle. Mott, who turns 63 on Friday, has won at least one race at Saratoga on his birthday in 15 of the last 20 years that racing was conducted on the day. In four of the last 24 years, the track was dark.
Mott, who went winless with his only starter last year on his birthday, sends out two runners Friday. Danny’s Rush runs in the fifth, a 2-year-old New York-bred maiden turf sprint. Daring Duchess runs in the eighth, a $35,000 claimer on turf.
The millionaire Sunbean will make a rare appearance on turf next month at Louisiana Downs. Trainer Ron Faucheux said Wednesday that Sunbean is being pointed for the $75,000 Louisiana Cup Turf Classic on Aug. 6. The 1 1/16-mile race is part of a program of seven stakes. The races will be drawn Saturday.
Sunbean has made just one start on grass, finishing fourth in the $60,000 Dixie Poker Ace on Feb. 27 at Fair Grounds. There are several reasons to give him another chance on grass, said Faucheux, including the fact that the horse is a son of turf specialist Brahms.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Flintshire, the dominant winner of the Grade 1 Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day, will meet four rivals when he makes his second start for trainer Chad Brown in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on turf.
Flintshire is using the Bowling Green as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational on Aug. 27, a race he won here last year when in the barn of Andre Fabre.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Jim Dandy Stakes may have lost Preakness winner Exaggerator to Sunday’s $1 million Haskell, but it still came up a solid race led by Belmont Stakes one-two finishers Creator and Destin as well as Mohaymen, who makes his first start since finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby.
Destin seeks to give trainer Todd Pletcher a sixth victory in the Jim Dandy, which is the local prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 27.
What a difference a year makes.
In 2015, American Pharoah came into the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park with seven straight wins, including all three legs of the Triple Crown. He already had locked up the title for champion 3-year-old male, and his popularity was so high that Monmouth created a weekend-long festival in his honor.
The 3-year-old filly division, on the other hand, was wide open.
This year, the tables are turned. Songbird is the undisputed leading filly, and Nyquist is holding onto a tenuous lead in the male division.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Hard Aces and Quick Casablanca finished a half-length apart when they were first and second in the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on dirt last Sunday. They could meet again in a turf marathon next month.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Midnight Pleasure, the upset winner of a maiden race for 2-year-olds last Sunday, is likely to have his next start in the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 5.
Midnight Pleasure gave trainer Shelbe Ruis, 25, her first win at Del Mar. In the spring, Ruis began training a stable owned by her parents, Mick and Wende.
Shelbe Ruis said she would prefer to wait for the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs and skip the $200,000 Best Pal Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 13.
