Sun, 05/01/2016 - 14:44

Sherlock will wait to decide whether Uncle Lino tries Preakness

Benoit & Associates
The results of the Kentucky Derby will help determine whether California Chrome winner Uncle Lino points to the Preakness.

CYPRESS, Calif. - The result of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs next weekend will play a key role in whether Uncle Lino progresses to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21 following his win in Saturday’s $151,035 California Chrome Stakes at Los Alamitos.

Trainer Gary Sherlock said on Sunday that he wants to assess Uncle Lino’s condition in coming days and analyze the outcome of the Kentucky Derby before finalizing plans.

“He’s acting okay,” Sherlock said. “We have the extra week and we’ll watch the Derby and see what happens there.

“I have no plan B.”

Sat, 04/30/2016 - 13:31

Danzing Candy works for Derby; Kobe's Back drills for Churchill Downs

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Clifford Sise wants Danzing Candy to train at San Luis Rey because he feels the surface closely resembles the main track at Churchill Downs.

Going a little quicker than expected, Danzing Candy worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds at the San Luis Rey Downs training Center in Bonsall, Calif., on Saturday, the colt’s final major exercise before the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.

Trainer Clifford Sise said he expected a workout time closer to 1:01, but Danzing Candy showed enthusiasm. Danzing Candy galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.60, Sise said.

“He’s as good as he can be,” Sise said. “He’s probably doing better than he’s ever done.”

Sat, 04/30/2016 - 13:14

Exaggerator, Brody's Cause put in final Derby works

Barbara D. Livingston
Exaggerator, with jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard, breezes five furlongs in 1:02.42 on Saturday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Exaggerator, the Santa Anita Derby winner, on Saturday at Churchill Downs turned in his final work for the Kentucky Derby seven days hence, one of five potential Derby runners who worked at two different locales.

Exaggerator and Brody’s Cause, the Blue Grass Stakes winner, worked at Churchill Downs, as did Dazzling Gem and Cherry Wine, both of whom currently have insufficient points to make the 20-horse Derby field.

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 14:43

Munger wins Emerald Downs race at age 92

After winning an $8,000 maiden-claiming race with Jima last Sunday, 92-year-old trainer Don Munger said he has no plans to slow down. Munger is the oldest trainer to win a race at Emerald Downs. Noble Threewitt is recognized as the oldest trainer to win a race in North America. He was 95 when Three at Once won a maiden-claiming race at Santa Anita in 2006. Florida-based trainer Jerry Bozzo, who turned 95 last October, is still active and will take over the honor if he wins a race before he retires.

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 14:36

My Heart Goes On set for Seattle

Erin Palmer/Emerald Downs
My Heart Goes On (inside), the top 2-year-old filly in Washington last season, will make her second start of the year in the Seattle Stakes.

Trainer David Martinez is happy with the way My Heart Goes On is training leading up to the $50,000 Seattle Stakes at Emerald Downs next Sunday. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies is the first added-money event at the meet.

My Heart Goes On was voted the champion 2-year-old filly in Washington last year. She won the Angie C. Stakes, but her best performance was probably her race with the boys when she was the runner-up going 1 1/16 miles in the Joe Gottstein Futurity.

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 14:20

Venezia Award voting open

ELMONT, N.Y. – Joe Bravo, Javier Castellano, Aaron Gryder, Mario Pino, and Cornelio Velasquez are the five nominees for this year’s Mike Venezia Award, created in 1989 by the New York Racing Association to honor the jockey who displays extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship. It is named after the jockey who died from injuries he suffered in a spill in 1988.

The award is voted on by the fans, who may cast their votes here from now until midnight May 16.

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 14:20

Frosted looks headed to Met Mile

Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club
Frosted won the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (above) and then finished fifth in the Dubai World Cup.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Frosted, fifth in the Dubai World Cup in March, likely will return to the work tab next week at Saratoga and could make his next start in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin was thinking of bringing Frosted back in the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont Park on July 9, but “that’s a long time away,” he said.

“Maybe the Met Mile is worth taking a look at,” he said. “We’ll look at pointing that way with four or five works before then.”

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 14:16

Sheepshead Bay Stakes filled with newcomers

Tom Keyser
Selenite and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. win the Statue of Liberty division of the New York Stallion Stakes on Monday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Foreign-bred fillies and mares who have made a total of four starts in the U.S. will make up the bulk of the field for next Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay Stakes at Belmont Park.

Chad Brown, whose stable is always laden with turf females, is expected to send out Guapaza and Sea Calisi. Guapaza, a Group 2 winner in Chile, was third, beaten a length, in the Grade 3 The Very One at Gulfstream in March. Sea Calisi, a Group 2 winner in France, will be making her U.S. debut.

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 14:16

Ironicus tries to pick up where he left off in Fort Marcy

Barbara D. Livingston
Ironicus set a Saratoga course record for 1 1/16 miles winning the Bernard Baruch in August.

ELMONT, N.Y. – With two graded stakes victories, Ironicus seemed on his way to becoming a significant player in the male turf division last year before being sidelined last fall by a cracked cannon bone.

Following surgery and a recuperative period, Ironicus will look to make a new charge to the upper echelon of the turf division when he kicks off his 5-year-old campaign in next Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Fort Marcy Stakes at Belmont Park.

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 14:10

Brandy's Girl upstages big brother

It was a good two days at Gulfstream Park for Edwin Broome, who won the Wednesday feature with Posse Dreamin, a horse he bred, owns, and trains, and came right back to win the Thursday feature with Posse Dreamin’s full sister Brandy’s Girl.

The siblings are by Posse and out of the West Acre mare Don’t Stop Dreamin, who unfortunately foundered and died recently in Florida, Broome said. Broom, 64, a racetracker since he began galloping horses in New Jersey at age 11, still owns one other mare himself and another in partnership.