LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They’re already talking about the Kentucky Oaks, and why wouldn’t they? It’s part of the dream.
Members of the Churchill Downs Racing Club are “over the moon,” said club manager Gary Palmisano Jr., after their 2-year-old filly, Dial Me, rallied to win a maiden race Saturday at Ellis Park in western Kentucky. Because the Ellis winner’s circle isn’t big enough, the win photo of Dial Me and about 80 people was taken on the racetrack itself.
DEL MAR, Calif. -- Illuminant, winner of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita on May 30, has been intended for the Grade 1, $700,000 Beverly D. at Arlington on Aug. 13, but a pulled muscle in her back has delayed her being able to work, and if Illuminant can’t get adequate breezes in time for that race, she instead would await the Grade 2, $200,000 John Mabee Stakes here on Sept. 4, trainer Michael McCarthy said.
DEL MAR, Calif. -- An unexpected victory by the 2-year-old colt Big Score when making his debut in a grass race on Sunday helped buoy the spirits of trainer Tim Yakteen and owner George Krikorian, whose graded stakes-placed filly Big Book suffered catastrophic injuries when working on Saturday morning and whose condition deteriorated to the point that she was euthanized on Monday.
Big Score, like Big Book sired by Krikorian’s Dynaformer stallion Mr. Big, unleashed a terrific closing charge to win the one-mile turf race by 2 3/4 lengths.
DEL MAR, Calif. – American Freedom, who will get tested for class when he takes on Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist in the Haskell Invitational on Sunday at Monmouth Park, completed his serious training for the race with a workout on Tuesday morning at Del Mar that was officially timed in 47 seconds, but that trainer Bob Baffert took out an additional furlong in 59.40 seconds.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- All-sources handle was up but ontrack business was down through the first four days of the 2016 Saratoga meet.
All-sources handle was $73,325,266, a 6.8 percent increase over the first four days of the 2015 Saratoga season when $68,653,296 was wagered. Ontrack handle was $16,315,659, a 5.7 decline from the $17,304,651 wagered in 2015.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has gotten off to a blazing start at this meeting, winning with six of his first eight runners, including Girl Talk in Monday’s first race and Watershed in the seventh.
McLaughlin kicked off the meet with wins on opening day by Sentiero Italia and Takrees. He won two more Sunday with Farhaan and Gap Year, who returned $42.80. Last year, Gap Year won here on closing day as the 2-1 favorite.
“I like this,” McLaughlin said. “We often finish strong. This year, we’re off to a quick start.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tale of Verve, best known for running second to American Pharoah in the 2015 Preakness, ended an eight-race losing streak Saturday when he beat My Man Sam in a first-level allowance race at Saratoga.
Trainer Dallas Stewart hopes that’s a harbinger of success for the summer, as he has several horses pointed to major stakes races here.
Forever Unbridled, a troubled-trip second in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, is being pointed to the Personal Ensign on Aug. 27, though she is nominated to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney on Aug. 6.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jorge Navarro is planning to run three horses in Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga.
Leading the trio is Delta Bluesman, who has won four consecutive races, including the Grade 2 Smile Sprint at Gulfstream Park on July 2. Navarro is also planning to run Catalina Red, the winner of the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes, and Chublicious, a winner of his last two, including the Mr. Prospector at Monmouth on June 26.
Navarro said he was originally intending to give Delta Bluesman a 40- to 50-day freshening.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockeys Alex Jimenez and Tyler Baze were fined $500 for excessive use of the whip, and Florent Geroux was given a three-day suspension for causing interference in a race, according to rulings issued over the weekend by Del Mar stewards.
Geroux was suspended three days for failing to maintain a straight course in the fifth race on Saturday aboard Calculator, who finished third in an optional claimer. Geroux indicated to the stewards that he planned to appeal to the California Horse Racing Board.
